ljrfrm

ljrfrm--Can I stack the deck and fore warn Casey about the couple boarding July 3rd and a hubby that does not smile? tehee.....I think I will....She loves a challenge!! ;p

Haha, yes - that would be such a challenge for her though!! And although we have a small group for our Meet and Greet, it would be fun to have her come!!! Great idea Gravitar!! :)

Awesome jrfrm!! Ty so much-- look forward to hearing from her about you and every one who shouts out to her and it will sure bring a smile to her face!

If she could get my husband to smile in a photo I'd be forever grateful :')

We will be on the July 3rd sailing - and will definitely look for her.

We were all set to try Teppanyaki (it's the only one we haven't eaten in before on any ship) but once I realized you couldn't make reservations until on board, I thought twice about it. I really didn't want to worry about having to rush to make the reservation that first day. We may change our minds but for now, we went with Modernos, Le Bistro and Cagney's. Seems to be the same 3 we always try - but we like them. And, I like that we are set with the reservations and I don't need to worry about anything else unless we change our minds.

Yes, we would definitely book. I don't think we'd pay a bunch more for a smoke-free sailing, but would definitely entertain it if it were just a little higher priced.

We cruised once about 13 years ago on the Carnival Paradise when it was completely non-smoking. We loved it and I wish NCL had that option. I loved being able to go into the casino and spend time there without the smoke. The Paradise however discontinued this as they couldn't bring in enough revenue to keep it going, so I won't hold my breath for this to happen.

The answer is probably different depending on who you ask. Having done both the Haven and Vibe on separate cruises, I see no reason to have both at the same time.

When I was in the Haven, I loved being there and had no desire to leave. When I was at Vibe I loved it there, and didn't miss the Haven (ok, well maybe just a little, LOL). I know some use both to escape being around children, but when we were in the Haven, there was always a quiet place to go and relax.

Here is how we did it:

 

Port of Miami at 8:30 a.m.

Doors to waiting area opened at 9:00 a.m.

Security about 9:45

Head to checkin after filling out Health form

Waiting area to get boarding group number

About 10:30 stood by embarkation entrance

Boarded and took steps down to deck 6

 

We were #'s 22,23,24 and 25 to get the passes.

That's very similar to what we did in Dec, except I think we arrived to port at 8:45 or 9:00 am. The rest was very similar timing. We asked staff to double check we were sitting in the right spot near the embarkation door. We sat right next to the bathrooms, as close to the embarkation door as we could get. When they started to call passengers with priority boarding and wheelchairs, we went and stood by the entrance (not blocking the entrance but just to the side, right where the employee was calling people). That made a big difference for us and once they called our number (boarding group two) we were the first ones on after the wheel chairs.

We didn't run, or even race-walk, but we did move once called without stopping and boarded, and went right down the closest stairs to Headliners. We were #18 and #19.

Good Luck!

Where do you book the complimentary shows at the Supper club? at the venue itself or with guest services?

I booked mine on iconcierge the day we sailed. I also went to the box office on board once to change dates for one of the shows. We saw 3 different shows at the Supper Club last month. We enjoyed them all. One of the shows was no reservations-first come first seated. We got there 45 min before and seated ourselves 30 min before. We were able to sit up front. The show was standing room only-so get there early.

Just curious about the drop slide...Someone said tuck in your tankini so im wondering what's the suggested attire. Would a tankini cause you to be exposed? Does the same apply to the other slides?

The reason I said "tuck in the tankini" is because I got stuck on the slide. When the NCL guy came to get me (when you don't make it and get stuck, there's a trap door they come to open to let you out) he told me that most likely it was my tankini that slowed me down (by catching air).

I had no problems on the other slides with the tankini. It was just the drop slide, when the tankini evidently slowed me down enough that I didn't make it over the hump.

One more thing I forgot to add - the Manhattan hostess told me that historically the 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm time is their busiest. So if you don't have a reservation, you are better working around that time.

Just a few thoughts - I could probably go on all day, LOL.....

On embarkation day, we went to go eat at Taste or Savor. Someone out front told us that both restaurants were full and we'd have to wait. We went up to the hostess anyways and were seated right away. SO, if someone tells you that - check with the hostess before you walk away!

Go to the free shows in the supper club - there are several that are good! They usually offer them at 6:00 or 9:15. The 6:00 shows include dinner. If that time works better for you, just tell them you don't want to eat. They will put something in front of you to let the waiters know you don't want food - and they won't bother you at all.

If there are no chairs in the Atrium during the game shows, we found that we could sit in the back on the window ledge and still see fairly well. One night we even pulled a table over to use while sitting there. We were able to get prime chairs if we showed up about 1 hour before (which usually worked fine since they would have other music or something going)

Do not wear a tankini on the drop slide without tucking it in!! Otherwise, you risk the walk of shame after getting stuck.

On the ropes course, you can't wear anything sleeveless - they will make you go change!!

If there are just two of you, check out Table #79 or #124 in the Manhattan Dining Room.

- I'm sure I'll think of more!

I thought they could earn points but not redeem points until they were 18.

Maybe they don't get to earn points since they were free guests with the promo.

My children earned points before they were 18 but it was never listed and they appeared to not be accumulating. But they were! Once my kids turned 18, their cruises were all there under their latitudes numbers.

I just had the Beef Wellington a few weeks ago (we sailed Dec 3rd) so went back to my review to see when it was. At least for us, they served it on Thursday night, the last Sea Day.

What holiday inn do you normally stay at thanks I loved reading your review

 

 

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Hi, thanks!! I haven't looked at this review for awhile. Just perused through a few pages, fun memories! :)

We stay at the Holiday Inn-Port of Miami.

I was booked on the Escape for April 14, 2018 sailing and got a call about 3 weeks ago that it was canceled. I guess maybe it had something to do with the New York move. I wasn't too worried, I had really just booked it as a place-filler on board with the CruiseNext program and was probably going to change it anyway. It's a great ship and the 12 or 14 day itineraries look great.

I thought in airplane mode you can't do anything with your phone. ??

 

 

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I had in on airplane mode but then enabled wifi.

With the unlimited plan would you occur any Verizon charges?

 

 

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I kept my phone on airplane mode the whole time and had no charges. I was surprised that even when I wasn't logged in to the Internet (we shared the plan with multiple devices so only logged in on my phone occasionally) I still was able to Imessage with my kids. I was worried I'don't somehow have charges but didn't have any.

Thanks, ljrfrm, I followed your posts from last week. We debated between the Haven and a mini suite. We decided on a mini suite and want to get the Vibe tickets. I enjoyed your posts! Can't wait to enjoy my cocktail, enjoying the Vibe! We are first time NCL cruisers. Freestyle dining and reservations for entertainment is new to us. We booked the broadway shows in the theater, just not sure about the supper club.

 

 

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Have a great time!!! I'm back home dieting and detoxing, LOL. I made all our reservations (food and shows, including comedians) on my cell phone with iConcierge right when I got on board the first day. So anything you miss, you can still probably get when you board.

This past week, they had various shows - some at 6:15 which included a free dinner and others at 9:15 without dinner. We saw "Oh What a Night" with the free dinner although we didn't eat it, and then we saw Harry Mauer (magician) and Tezz's show "Showmen" at the later no dinner time. Tezz left the ship this past Sat so not sure what is in his place, but as mentioned previously, shows rotate. They also had Brenda Braxton's show for a fee, and the Wine Lovers show at lunchtime for a fee. So at least on our week, for the evening entertainment, the only paid dinner show was Brenda Braxton's show. The other dinner shows were free (the rotating entertainment). Some of the shows took reservations while others were open seating (but filled up!).

Anyone back from 11/26 or 12/3 sailings that purchased one of the Internet Packages care to provide a review of it?

I had it on the 12/3 sailing and was surprised with how fast it was. Not as fast as home - but I wouldn't consider it slow either - and definitely quicker than when we had Internet on another ship a few years ago which was painfully slow.

There were maybe 3-4 times that I didn't have a connection but it lasted very briefly - like a minute or two - and then I was able to log in. Some times were slower than others, but I was able to do whatever I wanted. At one point I made a video on my phone and uploaded it onto a website and put it into an email and sent it and it went quickly - I was surprised. I also had no issues Imessaging with my kids.

We were on this same cruise, and it's great to read another perspective. I just had to comment about the Sheridan's drink. We also tried it, and it was SO good. We've been looking for it and so far, only found it online, sold in England. I really wanted to buy it, but I wasn't checking in my luggage flying home so I knew I couldn't get it through security. Next time I will buy it for sure - SO good.

We just had Vibe this past week and used it every day. It was very windy on the first two sea days but still warm enough to lay out in bathing suits. We found some chairs in an area that had a wall that blocked some of the wind when we wanted to get away from it. The rest of the week it was very hot and no wind issues at all. Friday was cloudy and gray in Nassau - but still warm and comfortable enough to use Vibe all day.

Do you know if this is the same Ruby who works or did work in howl at the moon/headliners in the summer? It looks like her & we did wonder if it was her that was in vibe now. She was lovely if it's the same one! Hopefully she will be there in January when we go! :)

 

 

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Someone else might know for sure, but my guess is yes. I know she was schduled to work in the Escape theater one night so it could easily have been her in Headliners.

I didn't take many photos at all this trip.

Here is Ruby, Mike and Curly on the last night

And this was taken the first sea day - notice no cushions, it was so windy they didn't want them to blow away.

If someone can help me figure out why the photos keep flipping sideways, I'll post a few more.

One thing I haven't written about yet - when husband got sick. I briefly mentioned that on Sunday night he left the magic show because he wasn't feeling well. He got sick. Really, he got violently sick. He was sick for about 4-5 hours all together - and the following day probably felt "eh" for the first half of the day. While we aren't 100% sure exactly what he ate that was bad, husband thinks it was the fish he had - I wonder if it was the escargot. Whatever it was, I was scared for him at one point and was just about ready to have him see the doctor. It was the middle of the night so he wanted to wait for the morning. By the morning, he was all better.

We decided that we probably should say something to someone, just in case somebody else was sick too. I asked the hostess at Manhatten who we should talk to (I didn't have any phone numbers or contact information from the Meet and Greet unfortunately). The hostess told us to go to Guest Services to make a report. We made a report and they asked if husband needed to see the doctor. He was absolutely fine then so we said no. She told us that if he changed his mind just to let them know and they would make it happen - and that she would give the nurse a heads up about this. We never did hear back from anyone again and we didn't follow up on it.

Really this was our only downer of the trip. It was a huge downer, but it quickly because a distant memory. I sure felt bad for husband though while it was happening!