Bostonjetset

Please tell me the bacon comment is a joke? I haven’t been on Carnival in years but will be on the Pride in March as she had the best partial Panama Canal itinerary for my schedule. Do they really not have bacon every day? I already knew about the once daily cabin service and it indeed sucks but I’ll survive for eight nights I suppose.

Haha. I haven’t but my first ever cruise was on the late Fascination. Talk about a pinball machine!!! 😹🤪 From what I’ve seen online of their newest ships, they seem to have gotten their act together design wise but I've yet to sail on one of the newer builds. Mardi Gras and Celebration both look quite nice though.

My cruise didn’t skip any ports. It was just a five night to Cabo and Ensenada. The $21 remains a mystery haha.

Honestly I prefer Princess as I like their aesthetic more. Their ships are more elegant and have a more neutral color palate (think elegant hotel rather than the inside of a pinball machine). They tend to be quieter as well with less of a party atmosphere. That said, my next cruise is with Carnival as they had the best itinerary for what I wanted to do and that’s my primary reason for cruising.

There was no surcharge for it on K’dam this past August. It was wonderful but not sure it would sit well with me if they added a surcharge to it as the meal is already pricey.

I don’t think it’s reasonable to have on demand cabin cleaning but I DO think it’s reasonable to expect one’s cabin to be cleaned whilst one is out for most of the day. On Bliss earlier this month we spent 7.30am -2.30pm in Ensenada and came back to a dirty room only to have our steward knock on the door at 3pm asking to clean when we were there relaxing. With only once per day service we felt pressured to leave so he could clean or else risk having no cleaning that day and thus no new towels, etc. After two trips with Holland America this year where they still have twice daily service it was a disappointment for sure. Other lines DO still offer twice daily service. HAL and Disney do. I believe Princess and Celebrity as well. Carnival is down to once per day but they also didn’t raise their daily tips to $20pp like NCL did.

Things like once per day cabin service and charges for room service are not “one offs”. They are NCL’s current business model. They nickel and dime for everything. Things that are included on HAL. I still maintain that Disney is not a fair comparison because they cost a lot more. You say their service is a lot better but you pay a lot more for that better service so that isn’t surprising. It SHOULD be better for double the cost! Again, I get better customer service when I buy clothes at Neiman Marcus than I do at Macy’s. I also pay more for them. That makes sense and should be expected. I’m still not entirely sure what the core issue is with your booking though. Are you going to be out thousands of dollars by cancelling and rebooking? You said you don’t have any promos and are in an inside stateroom. So if you have the insurance the only thing you should be out is the cost of the insurance and the 10/20% of the deposit that the insurance doesn’t refund. Which can’t be THAT much more than any fees other lines charge for changes. Unless you are on a grand voyage or just booked at a really bad time when there were absolutely no discounted deposits available in which case I’m sorry you did that but there are often cheap deposit deals on HAL.

I really don’t think Disney as a comparison is fair. Of course they have superior service. They are Disney and their cruises can cost double what an HAL cruise costs. That’s like saying Neiman Marcus has better customer service than Macy’s. It’s a given. NCL may have been better terms for moving cruises and keeping the same reservation number but I just got off the Bliss last week and the onboard experience was not nearly as good as HAL (except the Broadway style shows). No free room service. No free on demand movies in stateroom. Only once daily cabin cleaning and always at different times that were inconvenient. Adult area hot tubs closed for the whole cruise. Nightmarish tender operations. The point is that every line has pluses and minuses. NCL has far more minuses IMO than HAL does.

Royal deposits are mostly nonrefundable which is why I rarely look at them. Their refundable deposits cans be hundreds of dollars more than their advertised deals. And if they charge $100pp to make a change, how is it any better than just losing a $100 deposit with HAL to cancel and rebook? $100 is $100. HAL often has discounted deposits when they are nonrefundable. I usually won’t book them unless they are the really cheap $1 or $25 deposits because if I lose that who cares? I would never pay a $500 deposit that couldn't be refunded like Royal often asks for. Some people do though. Just know what you are getting into.

But a refundable deposit could be cancelled and rebooked without any loss to the passenger. Who cares if it’s a different reservation number? You keep mentioning the reservation number changing but why does that matter if you are getting all your money back? It sounds like the real issue is the no refundable deposit. I don’t know any cruise line that lets you move a nonrefundable deposit to a new itinerary without some sort of fee or loss to the passenger.

Oh the Cabo tenders were still a nightmare eh? I do hope they get it together. I was there on Princess in 2019 and the experience was much better. I love Mazatlan. I think that may be my fave port in the area. The town is really cute with lots of local artisan places to shop. You mentioned $21 obc for the cancelation of Six. We got $21 obc early in our cruise and I can’t figure out why. Maybe because I complained about the hot tubs being closed? I never asked for anything and was never told why I got this obc. It just showed up on my account and my husband’s account. If that is a standard amount for unpleasantries maybe I got it for my hot tub issue. That’s all I can think of looking back.

Send your foie gras to me please. I love it. It’s so delicious!!

Enjoy your cruise and DL!! Thanks for reading.

The internet was rather slow. I had the 75 minutes included with FAS and I was able to get a few posts on Instagram and get some iMessages sent to family and friends but things took a while. I was not able to check in for my flight home very easily. It turns out it did end up working but it seemed as though it didn’t as it kept freezing.

Haha. You read my review? Or were there people left over from my cruise on yours? Lol. It was the worst tender operation I’ve ever experienced.

There is a free hot tub on 19?!? That would’ve been nice to know. I was on the cruise before you and BOTH hot tubs in Spice H20 were closed the whole cruise. When I asked about other options at the reception desk she didn’t mention deck 19 to me at all; only the four on the loud main pool deck that were always full. 🤬 I’m glad you had a good cruise. How was your tendering in Cabo?

They are clear additional tips are not required but they are a bit disingenuous by saying “unlike most other ships in the industry”. I’ve sailed most major lines and none of them require or expect tips above the daily grats that are auto charged. We sometimes leave more because we want to and they are grateful but the policy on other lines I’ve sailed is the same as NCL except all have lower daily charges than NCL does.

For the Manhattan room we just showed up each night and never had to wait. It was much more seamless than I was expecting though not sure how it would be for a table for 5. There were only two of us. We ate around 7-7.30 each night as well which is prime time in my mind so I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of the process. I did reserve tickets for Six online about a week before the cruise so you should still be able to do that. I highly recommend seeing it. It truly was excellent. Enjoy your cruise! Bring your patience pants though haha.

An extra $70-$105 per 7 night cruise on top on the auto tips?!? For once daily stateroom service? I guess to each their own. I just leave the auto grats and maybe give an extra $20 if service is excellent. With the reduction of service and increase in the auto grats I didn’t leave extra this last cruise though.

FINAL THOUGHTS Now that I am home I can reflect on the cruise and the trip as a whole. As with everything, there is good and bad, plusses and minuses. I will admit that we felt the mega-ships may not be for us. We liked the Breakaway when we sailed her to Bermuda in 2013 but we were 10 years younger then, didn't have to deal with tenders, were docked at one place for 3 days, and NCL was under different management at that time. Things change; people change; that's life. NCL will likely not be our first choice in the future unless we got a REALLY good deal or they had a really interesting itinerary. Or we wanted to easily go to Bermuda again as they leave from both Boston and NYC. The Good: Six: The Musical was truly a wonderful way to spend the evening. Being from the northeast, I get to see my fair share of high quality theatrical performances from opera to ballet to musical theatre and this was really well done. I really hope NCL re-considers the removal of these types of shows from their ships as I would think it's a selling point. I didn't see Jersey Boys but heard others enjoyed it. Hopefully they will at least have one Broadway-style show on each ship even if they don't keep two. Also, the food was pretty good as well; not gourmet but definitely adequate for the price paid. Everything was good whilst some things were really good; nothing we had was awful. The Indian luncheon buffet was excellent. NCL does anytime-dining in the MDR really well and they manage to seat people at two-tops without a wait which is amazing on a ship of over 4000 people. They have this down to a science and it shows. Dinner service was friendly and efficient each night. They also asked about food allergies at every dinner. We don't have any but it's something to note for those who do; they will look out for you in that area. The Bad: Once-daily cabin service sucks. Especially whilst charging the highest daily gratuities of any major cruise line. Our steward was very friendly but twice of the 5 days he wanted to clean our room when we were in it and we had to tell him to come back in 30 min, freshen up, and leave so he could do so. That includes the day we were in Ensenada on an NCL tour from 8am-2.30pm. He knocks on the door at 3pm to clean the stateroom. He couldn't do it when we were off the ship for 6.5 hours?!? And you don't want to miss it since there is no turndown service so if you skip the one service you won't get anything. NOT COOL NCL! Charging for on-demand movies in your stateroom. Cheap! On my HAL cruise this past August we could watch anything we wanted for free whenever we wanted. Charging for room service, even basic breakfast. Again, on HAL we could order any meal from room service for free. They have upcharge items of course but there were items for any meal for free. Even Carnival lets you get continental breakfast and coffee for free from room service! The tiny pools for such a huge ship. Only two small pools, and no quiet pool area, on a ship with over 4000 passengers. The Rotterdam had similar sized pools and had at least 1200 less people on her. Also, 6 hot tubs SHOULD be enough but when two of those are closed for an entire cruise it is not pleasant. Not a dealbreaker or anything but they really should have three elevator banks on a ship of that size; having only two made for a lot of waiting. The Ugly: The tender situation in Cabo was really borderline inexcusable. I understand that many things can go wrong when tendering and sometimes it is out of a cruiseline's control. That said, communication is always within their control and just telling passengers "Sorry we haven't gotten to that group yet. We're still on group 6" or "It's taking longer than expected" is not really good communication. There was a Carnival ship there as well that day and they had tenders going back and forth faster than we did. They also had a better location in the bay, closer to land. Maybe they paid more for a better anchoring spot? Who knows but that wouldn't surprise me. There were a lot of very angry passengers that day, especially people who booked NCL excursions and missed them due to the tender fiasco [later day excursions that then didn't have time due to the delays].

Day 7: [NCL Bliss Day 5 - Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico], 11/04/2023 11.01pm Just got back from Six: The Musical and WOW! Just WOW! What an incredible show with Broadway/West-End level talent. I'm so happy it got reschedule as it was a highlight of this cruise. When NCL gets it right they really get it right and they did with these Broadway shows. I've heard they've started removing these types of shows from their ships which truly is a shame. Six is allegedly leaving in March 2024; hopefully that's just a rumor. Our day in Ensenada was pleasant, with a visit to La Bufadora and a wine tasting at a local winery. While not a city I would want to visit all the time, it was worth coming here at least once. It definitely has a more "authentic" Mexican feel than places like Cabo though there are still plenty of tourist traps. I got a cute silver ring with a mid-century feel to it and of course some fish tacos!

The length of time doesn’t necessarily matter except it CAN mean more favorable port times and docking locations which I believe it does for HAL. In Ketchikan for example, I believe NCL now docks away from downtown which is a pain while Princess and HAL are right in the town center. Also, I maintain that size of ship matters. 4,500 people descending into town is noticeably more than 2,500. I haven’t sailed with Princess since 2019 so I’ll refrain from comparing after covid with both lines but I sailed Alaska with HAL this past August and I sailed on the Bliss last week to Mexico and there were far more up charges or degradations of service on NCL. For example: NCL has the highest daily grats of any major cruise line yet only has once daily cabin service. HAL still has twice daily. NCL charges for on demand movies in cabin. HAL does not. NCL charges for room service. HAL does not. NCL makes you check out towels like a child at the pool. On HAL you just take what you want and throw them in a large wooden bin when you are done. NCL had a library that you could only check out books for one hour each day. On HAL you could take them out all day on the honor system. On HAL if you get the beverage package you aren’t charged gratuities on top of it. It’s just all included in the price of your cruise if you take that option. I do give NCL credit for onboard evening entertainment though. SIX the Musical was Broadway-touring company level. HAL has nothing of that caliber. Their StepOne Dance shows are good but SIX on NCL was excellent. Also, anytime dining is better handled on NCL with almost no waits. HAL has better service when you picked their fixed dining.

That’s so unfortunate. Sorry your meal wasn’t good. I loved the sole when I had it there in August on K’dam. I DO agree about the silliness of that hanging lobster appetizer though. It looks like a cat toy!! Lol. I liked the escargot but didn’t feel it was that different from the MDR. I really wanted the foie gras and they didn’t have it which was a disappointment.

As someone who has sailed all three lines, I would still say HAL or Princess is the best for Alaska. NCL may have been sailing Alaska for over 20 years but HAL has been sailing there since before it was even a state. Over 70 years! Generally the smaller the ship the better for Alaska so I’ve chosen HAL both times I’ve been but I’d still chose Princess over NCL as I find they have a nicer product with less up charges. My uncle just sailed Alaska with Regent and raved about it so if the OP is considering the Haven maybe they want to look into them. I don’t have experience with them but several of my family members love them. The prices aren’t that much off Haven prices and a lot more is included. I guess I’ll never understand the cost of the Haven when there are true luxury lines out there for similar cost and more inclusions.

Day 6: [NCL Bliss Day 4 - Sea Day], 11/03/2023 9.10pm Just back from a soak in the hot tub since it seems 8.30pm is the only time one is available. The two in Spice H20 have been closed all cruise so over 4,000 people have to share the 4 in the main pool area. Ridiculous. I had reservation for SIX: The Musical tonight but it was cancelled. Allegedly one of the performers has an injury. I guess they don't have understudies. Just one more disappointment. They said they will try for tomorrow to reschedule but aren't sure yet. On a positive note, we had dinner in Los Lobos tonight and it was excellent! The table side guac and the beef empanadas were both very good. The carne asada was excellent!! I can't fault the food food on this trip at all so at least that is one good thing.