DaisyGoldberg

13 hours ago, cksv said:

Does anyone have any experience with winning a bid on a last minute booking? I’m considering booking about 30 days out in hopes of snagging a cheap Balcony Guarantee and then making a strong bid for The Haven. Just wondering if that’s a viable strategy and if NCL considers the price paid on the original booking when awarding upgrades. From what I read on this thread it sounds like no since they already have your money from the original booking and probably just look for the highest bid, but may consider cabin type booked in order to squeeze out the most dollars for those who want to upgrade from Insides to Balcony, Mini Suite, etc. Anyway any data points would be helpful.

I booked a Breakaway sail away balcony about 5-6 weeks out and was given the chance to upgrade to Haven. They took my bid (which was just a tic into "fair" and in retrospect was probably too much).  It was a changed itinerary (because of hurricanes) and the prices dropped quite a bit those final weeks. They let me know about 10 days out, as I recall.

One note:  Don't get your hopes up about pre-cruise requests being honored.  I've never had them make a bit of difference.  Just speak with the butler on the first day.  He/she will explain how to reach him/her, and generally let you know what to expect.  

If you want room service, call your butler, not the room service number on the phone.  We got yelled at for that once (not really, but room service kicked the call to him and he was embarrassed that we hadn't gone through him).

Eat the chocolate covered strawberries right away while they're cold.  They're not nearly as good once they've reached room temperature.

Last year my sister had a group of recent college frat boys that were drinking and carrying on during the safety demonstration. Of course they ended up in the cabins next to her.  The next morning she went down to see if changing cabins was possible.  Basically nothing could be done.  We followed their progress through the week -- security had asked her to phone any time they were out of line during late night hours. Fortunately, they called her back precisely when they REALLY ramped it up, and were able to witness it for themselves. Security arrived in person and apparently serious warnings were issued, because after that the nighttime antics were curtailed (though the door slamming intensified as they loudly proclaimed their contempt for whoever ratted them out).

They even disrupted one of the comedians' routines, and she tore into them with a VENGEANCE! (Made me suspect she'd been following them all week, too!) She really eviscerated their sense of entitlement and idiocy.  

I can recommend the park and cruise option at the Hilton Garden Inn in Ridgefield NJ (at least in Dec 2017). Very easy to get to off the highway.  At check-in they ask when you want to be picked up and taken to the pier.  The next morning the driver arrives, takes your bags, and away you go!  I got a towncar, but I was alone.  Not sure what kind of vehicle they'd get if they had multiple families wanting to go at once.  They also give you the return voucher with the phone 3 to call when you are ready to be picked up. I can't say how long it takes to get to the terminal because there was a huge accident on the bridge that morning and traffic was rerouted.  Looking at the map, it's not far at all if you go direct.

Hotel note: The room was very nice, the hotel was nice, and they advertised a small restaurant in the lobby, but it seemed haunted.  Like... nobody was there.  There were people at reception, and the lights were on in the restaurant (really a cafe) but nobody seemed to be back there cooking, or seating people... it was peculiar.  I should have asked at reception, but chose not to.

However, they were definitely serving breakfast the next morning (included with package) and it was excellent. 

The hotel itself is located in a large office-park off the freeway, so there really isn't anywhere to go, except there's a multiplex movie theatre within the office park.  I was too tired after my drive, but if you want to go out, that's very close.  Not a lot else seemed to be, and being alone I didn't really want to go exploring after having arrived safely after a big drive.

When they drop you at the pier, they tell you where they will pick you up - it's across the street from where you will exit the terminal.  I called the driver, he told me to meet him at a cross street a block away, and it worked out fine.  If there are members of your party who have difficulty walking, or a big crowd of children to keep together, I imagine this aspect could be more of an issue (though there may be handicapped accommodations I was unaware of). Of course exiting a cruise terminal is always chaotic wherever you are!

Biggest tip -- grab a porter as soon as you collect your bag after the cruise.  They will whisk you into a customs line with virtually no wait, and when you see 1000 people in a single line waiting for customs, it will be worth the $$ you pay him/her.  

Tell them to wear something bright (or when they call you at the cell phone lot, describe the most vivid color somebody in the party is wearing).  It's controlled chaos -- cars stopping 2-3 deep, with staties moving along anybody who isn't actively loading a passenger.  

So if you drive by your friends on your first go-round you can't just pull over and wait for them -- you'll have to make the loop and that could take a while given all the other cars lined up.  

Further along the building there are numbered signs they can stand near to give you an idea of where they are, but wearing or holding something bright and knowing what they're wearing (and having them know exactly what your car is) is your best bet.  Stay on the phone with them if possible -- that way they can give you other clues, like "We're just past the blue minivan with the blinkers and the family in matching Hawaiian shirts."

I've booked sail away balconies twice - both times about 8 weeks out, both times was assigned a midship balcony (I'm platinum, don't know if that helps).

The second time I bid (solo) to upgrade to the Breakaway Haven and got in for about $1500 more than my sailaway rate -- 10 days for about $3300.  (It was an unusual post-Hurricane itinerary and I think a lot of people bailed, so that may not be typical).

They used to hand out sliders and fries in the Breakaway Haven as you waited for your rooms to be ready on embarkation day. Along with punch.

Thanks!  Good to know ahead of time.  She'll be content with the balcony and the lounges in the Haven.

17 hours ago, perditax said:

Side question ... will we be able to get assistance from concierge/butler/anyone with disembark? Disembark from BA is apparently a nightmare right now, and we’d like to get out early. 

When I did BA Haven they walked us out in groups (separate exit, and oh, the looks you will get when you walk past the line straight to a dedicated key card checkpoint opened just for your group!)

The very best tip I got and was grateful I had was to grab a porter as soon as you find your bag. Even if you have to wait for him/her to fill the cart with other luggage, it doesn't take long, and when you see the lines of literally hundreds of people at customs/immigration and you just follow him/her to a dedicated customs/immigration line with a handful of people in it... PRICELESS (except for the $5/bag I gave him!)  They will wait on the other side  until you clear and push the cart as far as you need -- I took control of my bag fairly soon, but I saw other porters go as far as the street (It's quite a walk out to the street)

That $10 easily saved me an hour or more.

Will be staying in a Gem Courtyard Haven suite with my mother who's in her 80s. The Haven seemed like a good option for her to have some comfortable mobility outside of the usual mob scene on the public floors.  

I see that there is a private sundeck one floor up. In Gem Haven videos I see a set of stairs which I presume lead up there -- is there any kind of elevator access?  She'd probably mostly prefer the regular Haven Courtyard, but if there's elevator access, I'd like to let her know she has the option of being outside as well.

Thanks for any info - the deck plans appear to show a set of elevators forward towards the Garden Villas, but that may be exclusive to them. The elevators aft of the Haven Courtyard appear to be the ones serving Cagney's/Moderno/midship?

I was on the Breakaway last December and couldn't avoid the Spa people hawking day passes - I actually started avoiding that floor, even though it was the most convenient route for me in some ways. They were RELENTLESS when it came to stepping in front of you and trying the hard sell.  I put in a note to the Hotel Director about it -- hopefully it was a quirky cruise or they've changed their marketing techniques.  Never had that issue on other ships.

I have an acquaintance who raised a service monkey -- like service dogs, before they can receive formal training they need to grow up in a human household and become socialized to life with people. They take many more years than puppies to reach maturity however, so it's a big commitment.

Because they have hands and fine motor coordination, they're able to do things like operate appliances, aid in tooth brushing, etc, that dogs and ponies could never do, which gives the person a little more personal autonomy than they might otherwise have.   

I've only seen one service animal on Norwegian -- a standard poodle.  Not sure what kind of service he provided, but he came into the theatre and curled up tightly at his owner's feet and disregarded the commotion onstage and in the audience, which is what you'd expect of a very well trained service animal.

I second the fact that the bed is extremely close to the ground. I would not put an elderly person or anybody with physical limitations in that bed. The room is fine (you can always keep the door open if you're claustrophobic) but the bed when fully opened is basically the height of a regular sized mattress on the floor.

If she's a really small person, the sofa in the livingroom is quite comfortable, I thought. I'm not a small person and had quite a comfortable nap there. I contemplated moving there for the week and sleeping on it with a blanket (not pulled out and made like a bed) rather than climbing up out of the bed in the 2nd bedroom, but got used to it and dealt with it.

Darn. That blues club was the major selling point for the Breakaway for me ever booking it again. Guess it makes it easier to pass.

We've been doing the $10/pp thing for years now and have never been knocked over with extreme gratitude as if it was incredibly extravagant. We hand them an envelope, or leave it prominently in the room on the last night while we're out, and they open it later. We ask for virtually nothing. Maybe we're overtipping, but we consider it part of the vacation tab.

I should note that we're typically two people. The butler's duties for 2 people aren't significantly less than their duties for 4 people unless you run them ragged, so I think even the $10/day people don't typically mean x 4 people in the cabin. Though if you have little ones that are really making a lot of work, you probably should! My rationale is that even though I might not call on the person a lot, they're assigned to answer when I call, so $20 for that resource for the day isn't out of line as a gratuity when I regularly turn over $15 for someone who took an order, brought plates and drinks to the table and was in my life for maybe an hour. But YMMV.

We usually tip the steward the same as the butler, because he/she is doing the heaviest work. And the concierge the least because we interact even less with them.

I've had luck getting immediately assigned a mid ship balcony about 6-8 weeks out. A $500-600 price differential will easily pay for whichever perks you really want, with money left over.

Only sailed Princess once and the food was awful. It was the final Alaska sailing of the year, so maybe they were just emptying out the freezers or something, but there were no vegetables! Every entree seemed to come with three carrot sticks wrapped in a scallion. Occasionally there was a surprise piece of asparagus. In the buffet, there was one hot vegetable, usually some kind of mixed veg. Other than that... nothing. Even the salad bar was mostly luncheon meat and bread! By day four we treated it as a joke and it just got funnier over the next week.

Had a very nice dinner in the steakhouse, but other than that, it was really astonishingly bad. And the entertainment was not good either -- dancers not in synch, etc.

All that said, Alaska was so fabulous I'd do it again if they were the only ones going. The room was fine, the excursions were good, we sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge... we had fun anyway. But it did move Princess down to the bottom of my cruiseline preference sheet.

I don't have accessibility issues, but last year on the Breakaway I had an H5 Haven penthouse with balcony. I knew going in that it didn't have the shower, but while I prefer a walk in, I got it on an upgrade and didn't really think it was a big deal.

The height of the side of that tub (a soaking tub) was really astounding. I'm 5'5", rather long-legged, and I had to lift my knee well above my waist to step in -- and because it was a soaking tub with slanted sides, also had to step way in. There's no way anybody with mobility issues could handle that, especially in less than calm weather.

It was made much worse by the fact that there was literally nothing to grab onto but the glass doors, which aren't built for that purpose. Getting out I could reach for the vanity, and getting in I could reach across for the gripping bar, but neither was in easy reach or aligned for the purpose. And somebody even marginally shorter probably couldn't have managed.

I noted at the time that the room really should come with a bigger warning than "this room does not have a walk in shower." I'm pretty surprised that they haven't re-designed the shower doors, at the very least.

I've never been in another cabin without a walk in option, so I don't know if this is a fleet-wide issue. But even if you manage fine with a tub at home, I'd expect you to find those tubs challenging. Hopefully at a minimum the newer ships have addressed that issue.

My mother and her friend had to cancel a trip because my sister was hospitalized a couple of weeks before the trip and was going to need my mom taking care of her after she was discharged. Mom had the NCL insurance and we had to provide some documentation from the hospital and my sister's doctor, but they refunded both fares pretty swiftly, everything done via email. I think the only money she lost was the cost of the insurance and some other small item.

Be sure to check your room charges when you leave tips on dining plan meals. Once we tipped our waiter but the room charge showed only the cost of the drinks we had purchased. I went to the desk at the restaurant and asked them to make sure that the waiter received the money we had tipped, because our electronic record didn't reflect that they'd taken the money off our account. Didn't want the guy stiffed.

Took a few minutes for them to understand that I was disputing a charge in their favor (!), but once they did they figured it out and thanked me on his behalf.

I've sailed multiple times in suites and Virginia is the only concierge that I felt "remembered" me or gave me some kind of attention that could conceivably relate to prior experience. So I used to think there were careful records, but maybe they were just her personal notes. Because I can't say the last 4-5 experiences brought any kind of special attention. We're good tippers and ask for virtually nothing, so maybe they all got the word we want to be left alone?

Lobster prices have plummeted since the China tariffs were put in place. Good for lobster eaters, not so good for Maine lobstermen/women. Consider it a kindness to eat as much as you can stand on the U.S. side! ;)

Moxie has just been sold to Coca Cola, so get it before they "improve" it. (Can't stand the stuff, myself, but I know many love it)

Make them in the terminal if you find a table, or as soon as you board. Back in June by Day 2 there was very little availability between 6 and 8 pm for the most popular restaurants, despite the fact that when I was in them, they were not anywhere close to full. Very strange. So snap them up ASAP.

I saw all the warnings and still raised an eyebrow at the language (in a "wow, they actually did go there!" way). Not horrific in the grand scheme of things, but a definite departure from the usual PG (at most) cruise show language. It wasn't an episode of Deadwood, but a little jarring. As I recall it was less about language and more lewd insinuations/gestures, etc.

I personally wouldn't have a problem with middle teens seeing it, or tweens who are mature enough to appreciate that they're watching adult material and won't parrot it for effect later. You know your kids.

However, if you already know you're strict about that sort of thing, I would err on the side of caution.

Second City stopped last year -- unless they're back?

I was on the Dawn in June and had a great time. Only caveat I would give is that if you want specialty dining, book ahead of time. The concierge was not able to get us any reservations before 8 pm in Cagneys all week, and had a tough time adding two people to our already booked meals at Le Bistro and Moderno at 6 and 6:30 on different nights.

At first we just figured they were super booked (which is what he said) but when we went to both Le Bistro and Moderno, there were fewer than 5 tables full in each restaurant, and maybe up to 7 or 8 when we left both places an hour later.

Maybe there was some weird staffing freakiness going on that they were covering up for or something, but it made no sense to me that these top restaurants were half empty at peak times and we literally did not end up using our (free as perk) 3 meal dining plan at all because supposedly the entire ship was "booked solid for the week." (Used our platinum vouchers for the other meals)

We cruise enough that the food aspect isn't paramount, so it wasn't an enormous loss, but had I spent money for the meal plan (come to think of it I did, since I paid the tax!!), or looked especially forward to special meals, I would have been really disappointed/angry. So even though you may not know what you will want any particular day, book something at a time you like anyway - you can always cancel!