Another ship trip

15 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Yes there is a free sauna, but not a free steam room. 

Thanks!

I am trying to determine whether there is a sauna or steam room that is available which is not part of the spa package.    I think other ships still have "free" saunas but I specifically want to know if this is the case with the Carnival Vista.  Charging to use  a sauna never happened in the first 20 years of our cruising, but now I have to ask!   Thanks!

I've been on both of these ships.  I tend to like NCL more than Carnival because carnival is redundant across the entire fleet.  All rooms look identical and the activities are identical across the fleet.  They do have nice ships but I definitely prefer the Breakaway.  The NCL ships each have different shows and many of their ships are different because they have different "classes" of ship. The Carnival Improv is good, but after a number of cruises I have started seeing the same comics.  I have seen the same shows on Carnival for a long time.  So the entertainment is not as good to me.   For kids though, I think either would work.  I do think Carnival is very family friendly, but we raised our kid on cruise vacations and he went on more NCL cruises and always had a blast.  My last cruise was on the Breakaway and my next one is on a Carnival.  We primarily choose Carnival since they leave out of a port that is only 90 minutes away.  The closest NCL port to us is about 7 hours away if driving.  We do prefer to drive as we can pack more easily and flying is simply not fun.  So as an adult, I would say I prefer NCL overall.  Their specialty restaurants are mostly good (Italian is just so-so) but we love to eat at the many varied restaurants onboard and their entertainment is a cut above Carnival. We have taken more than 20 NCL cruises and more than a dozen Carnival if that helps.

On our last NCL cruise we also signed up for dinner with the officers. I was very excited about this, until.... we were assigned to the Art Auction Manager/Auctioneer.  I was kind of deflated since he is not an employee of NCL technically, but of Park West.  I was truly expecting it to be "an officer" of the ship who has stripes. I had questions ready for that scenario. 

As others have mentioned, they also corralled us in the atrium where people were having to literally yell the roll call for the various groups  due to a boisterous game show going on in the atrium.  Nevertheless, we still had nice company except for one disgruntled lady who griped for the entire dinner about any and every little thing that was wrong in her opinion.  No wonder why officers don't want to dine with passengers if it is two solid hours of gripes!

On all but our last cruise we have had waiters bring  drinks to the hot tub.  I generally don't use it much (we have one at home), but hubby does.  Having a drink and visiting for a little while is nice.  Just don't bring glass into it.  Why should it matter if someone has a drink in their hand in the hot tub as long as they aren't kids or drunk?  I don't see why anyone would care.  It isn't like someone smoking in the hot tub which would be uncomfortable for the nonsmokers as they would have to breathe that in.    While I don't care, it will matter to him.  What I really wish is that they would ban smoking in the casino.  I like to play but can't stand being around the smoke and dragging that smell on your clothes back to the cabin.

This was my first cruise in summer of 1986 for our honeymoon.  My husband had been on one with his family before we were  married two years earlier on the Song of Norway.  We had a teeny tiny inside cabin.  The bed was turned sideways as you entered the room and was against the wall.  The width of the room was just slightly longer than the bed by maybe 2-4 inches as I recall. I wonder if it was even 100 square feet!  We had done fishing charters and I loved boats in general, so this cruise ship seemed magnificent to me.  I found the information that was in effect on our cruise from 86.  The prices per the brochure started at 895 and topped out at 2055 per person. Back then they had three prices depending on the departure date.  You could get a nominal savings by booking early of from 50-150 dollars.  This was pre-internet, so most all bookings went through real brick and mortar travel agents.  I believe our fare (inside tiny cabin) was 2530.00 total ( next to the cheapest rate available) for a  seven day cruise from Miami leaving on Sunday to Puerta Plata, St. Thomas, San Juan, and Nassau.  I kept that printed information from the cruise brochure. I have a Honeymoon document from the line and also still have the gold picture of the Southward that maybe everyone got.   I won the women's skeet (trap) shooting off the side of  the boat which I really enjoyed.   I have the trophy picture and everything. The ship had seven public decks and had a gross tonnage of 16,609.  Completely full it would carry up to 767 passengers with 300 crew.  It states that it's maiden voyage was December 21, 1969 per my NCL brochure document.  Looking at a photo of her now, she looks like an overgrown yacht compared to current cruise ships.  Fast forward to today and we are about to take our 40th (or maybe 41st) cruise; I'd have to look at our list.  And this time it will be on the Bliss.  That first cruise on this wonderful ship was what began a love of cruising!!  I went back and looked at those pictures tonight from going on 33 years ago.  Wow....good times!

On ‎1‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 7:48 PM, Two Wheels Only said:

 

I already have a stainless steel set. NCL could sell the same in the gift shop (with a NCL logo, of course). It's not a bad idea. 👍

I just bought a set of metal straws with silicon  for our upcoming trip too.  We were on the Breakaway in December and it was hard to drink those fru-fru drinks without a straw!  I found myself missing straws for the slushie drinks, so we are gonna metal-straw it this time.

We have the airfare and will be going out on American and back on United.

For my upcoming 15 day cruise our service charges add up to 1.072.50.  That is room grats for our outside cabin and bar grats plus extra fees for the specialty restaurants for the grats.  I don't drink that much, so the average tip per drink for me comes out to about 5-10  bucks or so per drink.  (I only drink about 2-4 a day  on a shorter vacation, and some days I won't drink at all since it is a longer cruise).   I used to add more but after adding up how much my gratuities/service charges are, I will not be adding any more to my cruise.  We don't have any ongoing special requests of the steward  and our room is easy to clean as we are neat. Almost 1100.00 for service charges seems enough for me.  Comes out to   71.50 per day in tips for two of us times 15 days.  Oh, and grats are going up April 1st on NCL, so it will be more after that date.

 haven't read it all, but I remember when...

I shot skeet off the back of the ship,  That was fun!

The crew always performed "If I were not upon the sea, something else I'd rather be"  Some may remember this!

There were no balcony cabins

There were no specialty restaurants

There were only early and late dinner seatings….(I am so thankful for anytime seatings now!)

They gave complementary upgrades  (I didn't get one, but some folks did)

There were two required formal nights on a 7 night cruise and dress codes were observed.

We got perks that were done for hospitality's sake and signed notes from the captain and upper crew (and we weren't platinum!)

The late night buffets were like second dinner but extremely fancy with carved fruits, carved ice, and tons of desserts.

The size of the ship was tiny!  (Think Southward and Skyward back in the 80's.)  17,000 tons compared to 170,000 tons now! You felt the motion on these little guys back then and there were probably 500-600 passengers rather than 3 or 4 thousand.

Shore excursions cost 19-39 bucks on average!  Now they are often more than a full day's passage on the ship!

The slot machines paid out real coins and I would bring them back to the room

They had the Jean O Ryan (or something like that) dancers who were pretty good back then.

Horse races

Decent filet mignon and lobster (like in the pay for restaurants) on formal night and the food was delicious in the regular DR.

And until quite recently, you could bring Coke aboard.  I would do this since I don't drink Pepsi.

All this being said, there have been many changes that NCL has made that were good decisions. (Pepsi wasn't one of them). They have always been trailblazers.  

I was disappointed that on my upcoming cruise, we didn't do sail away and we paid the extra  for the non-sail away rate, and still only got a guarantee cabin.  I see my assignment now and am not thrilled with the location.  But I did not have an opportunity to actually choose my cabin unless I chose a level of that category that was over 500-1000 a person more for the same category and cabin.  I always want to choose my location and should be able to when I don't book a guarantee, but it would not allow me to for this next trip.  

Same here.  NCL used to have Coke products for the first 20 years we sailed with them (or maybe more), but other lines like Carnival serve COKE!  I detest Pepsi, so there will be no Jack and Pepsi or Bourbon and Pepsi on my upcoming NCL cruise. Yes, Pepsi does count in decisions.  The only thing I can do is get my Coke fix on shore.

They should suck up the tiny extra charge for Coke and serve the real thing! I would drink less on the free beverage package and drink a coke half the time, but now they will be serving more alcoholic beverages to me now, thus losing $$ on the booze that would have only been a coke. (unless coke costs more than their booze!)

I just cannot drink Pepsi products...

3 hours ago, JillK said:

I also booked via a TA and received the email to upgrade at the 80 day mark.

 

I have never had the upgrade banner on MyNCL. 

 

I believe someone posted in the earlier upgrade thread that if you are booked with a TA you may never see the banner online. As long as you can click through the link on the email to see your bid options, you are still able to participate.

 

If it's any comfort, my parents were booked on the Breakaway last month through the same TA and they used the email to bid and successfully upgrade from interior to balcony.

 

Hope that eases any lingering concerns and best of luck on your bid(s)!

Thanks for the information. Yes it does ease the concerns!  I will wait patiently.  If I get the upsell, great.  If not, I will just be a little more cramped and my bathing suits won't dry as fast.  

I have never had the banner.  I just found the email and bid from there.  I wonder if I should call someone to be sure that I am not missing something. I have stalked the page every day for the last week hoping to see something.  But haven't yet.  I do show bids though by logging into the email.  Never on the NCL site though.

1 hour ago, Stlcardsfan79 said:

This is what it looks like. 

12 hours ago, Stlcardsfan79 said:

The upgrade banner is back this morning 😊

I have never had the banner, or if I did, I never recall seeing it.  I found the email and bid through the email. Since I have never had the banner on my login site, I am beginning to wonder if my bid is even real.  It does show up when I check the email, but that is the only way I have ever been able to access my bid.  Has anyone else experienced this?  I booked through a TA if that matters.

5 hours ago, david_sobe said:

You are comparing apples and oranges.  Check out any fancy restaurant at a tourist destination.  The dress code is more relaxed.  NCL successfully discovered people on vacation want to be comfortable.  This means....(good gosh) jeans, shorts, T shirts, baseball hats in restaurants.  YOU ARE FREE to wear a suit or tuxedo every night to dinner. Please let other enjoy their vacation.  On NCL you can stick to Le Bistro and Manhattan for your suit or collared shirt.  None of us will judge you so please let us on vacation eat in peace without judgments.

I didn't say I was judging.  But  there are plenty who are.  I have way better things to do than to worry about others' apparel.  I stopped wearing formal wear on NCL when they relaxed the requirement.    When I am on vacation, I am going to dress comfortably.  That said, I will still adhere to a dress code for a restaurant if one has been posted.  That's all.

We have been on the Spirit 5 times, the Sun 3 times,  the Windward, which became Wind twice, the Jewel twice, the Dawn twice, Carnival Magic 3 times, and Breeze twice.  The reason we have repeated ships has more recently been because the ship was located in a port within convenient driving distance, and a couple of times it was itinerary driven.  We have done 12 trips from Galveston since it is only 1.5 hours away.  (NCL come back to Galveston!)  The main thing I don't like about repeating a ship is the shows never changing.  For example, how hard would it be for Second City to have several shows and change it up?  On my last Carnival trip, one of the comedians on the ship did the same show three nights in a row ( that's just lazy) while others had completely new shows each night.    And the dance shows--especially on Carnival are the same on many ships which is a negative. I take different ships and get the same dang show!   For me, that is not a plus.  My next cruise is  on the Breakaway  and am really looking forward to this new ship (to me) with new shows and experiences for us.  Our itinerary will be all repeat ports we have been to many times, but really looking forward to the new ship.  

Typically if there is a dress code for a nice restaurant, ball caps are on the no-no list.  Cruise ships have a dress code to promote a certain ambiance and decorum. 

  I was schooled in general etiquette as a kid and caps or hats, especially for men were inappropriate at the dining table.  Don't get me wrong...I wear caps or hats ashore or outside on cruises to help keep the sun off my face and to keep my scalp from burning, but a ball cap in a nice dining venue at dinner is something  at which Miss Manners (for those of us who remember that column), would wag a disapproving finger. (not THAT finger!)  "Don't wear your hat in the house" was a rule.   Over the decades, it is my observation that the younger generations may not be aware of dinner etiquette--many don't even sit down to dinner with their families, so who will teach them?  

Fashion requirements have definitely relaxed over the years though, and likely will continue.  That said, if you defy the requested dress code at a restaurant or any specific venue, some passengers will take note and make their judgments accordingly.  Thus the thousands of posts on dress code topics on this board will continue ad nauseam.

We quit doing the portraits on cruises when packages are not offered, so we wait until our next NCL cruise (or other line) and buy the package when offered, plus we get a platinum discount. But to be honest, we have hundreds of photos from past cruises, and after a while they all start to look the same. (though still nicely done).

We will usually buy the embarkation photo for our scrapbook or one photo we like (maybe two). and that's it....but apparently Carnival has done the math and it is more profitable to charge for their photos one at a time. If it is your first cruise, or a big family cruise, or if you have kids, the line is pretty sure you will want to buy lots of photos.

You are kidding! We just booked this one assuming that it had that bar since it is the same class as Magic. May not get the bar package now.

Just because you don't care for the look doesn't mean it can't be worn. Carnival IS the tacky dress cruise line. The only time I've seen cruisers actually dress nicely is on the longer Journeys cruises. Those cruises attract a more mature cruiser who tends to invest in more formal clothing. For the 7-day cruises and shorter, it's extremely casual.

 

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WE are getting close to our 40th cruise. We dressed to the 9's for about the first 30 or so. We have hundreds of dress-up photos over the last 30 years, so we are all about comfort on vacation. I have to dress professionally every day for work. On vacay I am going to be as comfy as I want to be. I promise not to wear shorts, cutoffs, flip-flops, nor tennies to dinner.

well it sounds like the official answer is no, but some have gotten the discount on board. Not too clear. If I order pre-cruise I get a couple more photos. But if I wait, I might get a discount but no extra pics. Hmmmm......what to do?

I see that I can now buy photo packages. I am platinum and am wondering if I can buy the package on board are receive my 25% off the package. An old poster said they did this, and a more recent post negates this. I am on the Dawn this month and am wanting to know if anyone has seen or experienced this.

Thanks!!

I agree with the upbeat or fun songs. The ballads run me off! I ant to have fun rather than cry in my drink!