19 decks to learb about, how about some secrets, and tips and...

[2010_cruisers]

- I always seem to forget something when I leave the ship. So we designated the shelf above the safe as our beach shelf. So as we unpacked, everything we wanted to bring to the beach was in one spot.

- Tip for ice cream lovers: If both sides of the buffet are open, they serve different flavors on each side. So if you are on one side and don't see what you want, go over to the other side.

[2010_cruisers]

re: EPIC

- If you can fit things in early on your trip, see was the comedian/magician (he is not around by the end of the week).

[2010_cruisers]

last updated: Sept 14, 2010 10:47 PM, pacific

 

A-Z tips and more:

 

a)Shows: BMG Best time to see Blue Man group without reservations is Saturday night. Lots of open seats and the first two rows is a “splash zone” where they provide ponchos and have plastic seats.

b) Fish and Chips, wings, chicken pot pie, Strawberry pound cake, Apple Crumble or Brownie Sunday very yummy....and milkshakes (extra fee) from O'Sheehans. Best value in beer: Dos

Equis Lager draft beer in O’Sheehans. $6.84 (with tax/gratuity) for a 25 (estimated) ounce glass.

** O’Sheehans (the only 24hr venue with a reservations laptop also)

c) Pretzel Rolls (some call them pretzel balls also)......and for a cool snack...$5 pizza delivery almost anywhere (except to pool side or the casino tables) for a 16" in 1 of 3 flavours.

d) Fat Cats for major blues (amazing show)

e) Bowling at Bliss (but if it is busy, wait there or you will lose your place)

f) A q u a P a r k (expect long lines during busy times or hot weather) - The best time for the waterslides is on embarkation day.

g) Second City Comedy id great...but the Comedic-Magician is ok but not for kids.

h) Lobster Night Monday served in Taste ad Manhattan Club on Monday (TBA)

i) The pistachio cake and lemon pound cake is very yummy at the Atrium Cafe

j) Try the water slides before they close,. less busy time and the green water slide is the fastest and scariest, but go purple if you want short lines

k) Crique show: Go the washroom before you watch the show , they do NOT let anyone leave for the whole 2 hours. Also, the show is a bit risqué and uses double entendres (for kids) and has lots of gay and sexual references. The food also was considered fairly bland and very average.

l) Take a power strip with you. There's only one outlet with two plugs in standard balcony room

m) The spa has an aft balcony with loungers and two wicker couches. Awesome spot to watch the world go by (but you have to pay to be there)

o) On the last sea day they have a big sale on Epic stuff in the shops on deck15. 2 shirts for $10 are a good deal for gifts - some nice sweatshirts, jackets, hats and other items for 50% off. The main gift shops don’t have sales the last day.

p) In the spa, towels are in the huge wall racks, but there are robes hiding in the little basket by the door.

q) The ship doesn't supply conditioner or bar soap. Bring some if you need it.

r) The cruelest joke is the amazing salad bar at Moderno....and the Garlic beef was awesome.

s) There's an awesome out-of-the-way place for shaded lounging... under the sports deck starboard aft

t) There are at least four places to get a made to order omelet in the Garden Café at breakfast.

u)The public sun decks on 18 are virtually empty, even when the pool is full ( seating for about 100 people up there)

v) Feeling ill, go to the front desk for FREE sea-sick pills.

w) Discovered the fix for the sink splashing.......don't turn the faucet on full blast.

x)Wear your shoes while walking on the decks outside ( I kid you not the deck got so hot that we met a woman who got second degree burns on her feet rug runners have been put down but NOT everywhere.

y) SVEDKA Ice Bar: Wear socks and long pants (it will help keep you more comfortable)

z)If you want any fruit-juices throughout the day or evening for yourself or your children (grab some during the breakfast time only - up until 10:30 am). They will offer, cranberry, orange and apple juice and that is it.

 

Bonus Tips:

-"Secret" aft stairs are aft - on either side at the very back of the Epic. If you look at the deck plan you'll see blank spots there. Here are some aft photos - the stairway has cutouts with side view.

- NCL ships include screens around the ship showing restaurant status and whether they have space. Green = plenty of space, Amber = filling up fast and red = full.

- Highly recommended by me is Wasabi, Moderno and the Noodle Bar.

- Specialty restaurants have various covers charges, for extra special items they ask for an additional $10. So if you want the same 32-ounce porterhouse steak at Cagney's, you can have it at Le Bistro and save yourself $5

- Pub Crawl Reunion Tour happens 2x in a week: Saturday and Thursday Night. We met in Martlings Bar at 9 pm. It was $25 per person. We visited 5 bars in 55 minutes. We had 4 large shots. I would say like a double shot size. We also had one whole beer along the way from one of the games and then more beer during the flip cups game, and we finished with a full-size Bahama Mama.

- the rock climbing and rappelling walls were a hoot

- Note that the cabin telephone is very bright. It’s like a giant cell phone that is constantly on. On the upper right of the screen there is a light bulb, touch the bulb and the phone goes to sleep

- If you so desire a super-snack – try ordering ‘the home-made potatoes chips with blue cheese crumble’ trough room service.

- For patrons new to NCL ones or who may not be a Latitudes members yet –for a FEE they offer a private behind the scenes tour. For $55. It was a 2 hour tour that included talks from the entertainment/technical director, head chef, laundry, and other areas. Was very interesting and I really enjoyed it. It gave a new respect for the employees and how they are able to do what they do on such a large scale.

- A simple tip for future cruisers, You don't need to use your key card to keep the lights on. Any card will work. Just put it in the slot by the door.

- To get in contact with people on board or thereafter: we make business cards to hand out that has our home contact information, cruise itinerary as well as the cabin we are staying in. It is a convenient way to give information to the new friends we meet instead of writing our addresses, emails on a slip of paper that eventually gets lost.

- For you sun-worshipers: brings lots of aloe gel or we also highly recommend a product by Berts Bee's called Aloe & Linden Flower After Sun Soother.

- On the outside where your room number is there is a wheel that you can change between Welcome, Do Not Disturb, Please Make up Room, and Please Turn Down Room. That’s convenient. Your cabin steward won’t even knock if it says not to disturb.

- Crème Brule at Cagney's says Raspberry Crème Brule

- Just it case it pertains to you - you are not being allowed to wear flip-flops in Manhattans dining room, but sandals are ok.

- The carpets on the port side of passenger decks are orange. On the starboard side, the carpets are blue. It took me a few days to notice this, but lights on the elevator buttons and the signage near the elevators are also orange on the port side, and blue on the starboard side. In addition, if you are not sure which was is fore or aft, look at the map of the ship, the front faces front everywhere you are.

- If you’re going to play in the casino even a little, sign up for their casino club. The deals and discounts ($5 off slot/BJ tourneys, for instance) make it well worth your time.

- Alaskan King Crab Legs are cut in half at Cagney's so you don't need to crack them to eat them.

- Take cash with you to Howl at the Moon so you can tip the musician to stop playing an awful song... like your rival college football team fight song. ha ha ha

- No recording or flash photography allowed at shows in the Epic Theater or Spiegel Tent. Take your camera anyways for candid shots before the show begins.

- When you order a drink, they will give you a short glass unless you specify a tall glass, which is only a couple bucks more and you can keep the souvenir cup. You may also order a double, double the price and more then double the booze!

- Impossible to keep up with multiple passengers in staterooms going to different events. Take a dry erase board with a magnet on the back and stick it on your door. Leave messages for your friends & family on the board.

- Regarding getting into shows: you should get to the shows about 30 minutes before it begins in order to get good seats (although the Epic Theater didn’t have a bad seat in the house, the comedy club had some terrible sight lines).

- You can drop off of bags at Headliners - to walk around without bags for a couple of hours.

- Spice H20 was a good “away from people” spot for lunch on embarkation day.

- Sports fan - on the big screen in the Atrium they will show games!

- The water fountain in the gym is small and warm because they want you to buy water. Take your water bottle to the buffet, and fill it with cold water before you hit the gym.

- NCL's White Hot Party was at Spice H2O ... Sunday night, starting at 10:15 pm.

- Like to bowl, it is at BLISS - Bowling is $5 per person per game.

- It's never too late unless you have left the restaurant. You can order as many appys and deserts as you like in the specialty restaurants.

- Studio Lounge Area: We liked the snacks they put in the fridge too. There are also coffee, salads, sandwiches, etc. Depending on the time of day. We never did see a bartender though, which is depicted in the brochures. Also, anyone can get in. There is not even a slot to swipe your card, so I am not sure why NCL talks about the exclusive key card access so much. They never even bothered to install one at all.

- all menus for all restaurants are available for viewing through interactive in cabin TV.

- This ship has the most beautiful gym I have ever seen on any ship. Great state of the art equipment that even charges your I POD while you are exercising.

- Pastries in the Atrium coffee shop are free, coffee is free, but specialty coffees cost money.

- Murder Mystery Lunch: Not sure this was worth the added cost. I’d probably recommend just going to see multiple showings of Second City shows during the week rather than this lunch.

- The slides are fresh water, and the pool is salt water (pulled and filtered locally). So, if going down the slides and you get some in your mouth - you will be fine.

- They have kiosks set up where you scan your card and it will bring up any pictures assigned to your stateroom. If you do posed pictures you present your cruise card so they know where to assign the pictures, otherwise they use facial recognition.

- When you head off to any of the beaches, it is good to bring some OFF-spray....epically if it has deet.

- Debarkation Day - go for breakfast in the Garden Café before 9 AM as it is scheduled to close by then (it will be crowded). Everyone had to be out of their rooms by 9am and off the ship by 10:15 We were never thrown out of our room. As a matter of fact we overslept until 9.

-If you are heading off the ship, need a ride, best transport is a cab. Since it’s only a 15 minute and $24 flat rate drive to the airport. NCL offers transfers for $20 per person, we walked out of the terminal and directly into a cab. $24 versus what would have been $40 and waiting to fill a shuttle.

- On the last full day of the cruise, when the duty-free liquor store is open in the am, they let you take your purchase with you (rather than waiting until the evening to pick it up). This helps make reading the final cruise bill a little easier (and less expensive)!

- NCL has gotten really cheap with certain things. They were very protective over pens and paper. None are provided in the stateroom, so bring a pad-pen yourself.

- The slides are a lot of fun. I waited until the port days to use them since we weren’t getting off the ship anyway. I would recommend doing the same. Even if you’re getting off the ship, maybe before you leave or right after you return, try the slides. The green and purple slides never had more than a 2 minute wait, and the most the orange plunge slide had was about 7-8 minutes, when compared to a wait well over 30 minutes on a sea day.

- If you are in a hurry for breakfast and decide to run to buffet. Go to the end of it to the great outdoors same food for breakfast lots of tables.

- For other games...air hockey was $1.00 and pool was $1.50. You just swiped your card.

- Buffet was well laid out and had a good variety, BUT, was the same every day and by the end I was rather tired of it. Often VERY crowded and hard to find seats. I had read that crew members would direct you to open seats but I never saw this. For a treat (maybe dinner) or for real gourmet dining plan to visit the pay restaurants, but then you will have the best dining experience at sea. I did not find the buffet was "the same every day" simply not true, I could not find something I loved ever again at the buffet. There was always some similar items but usually with different meats or ingredients.

- Never get a drink in a souvenir cup- will save you a good amount of $

- The telephones in the room. The ringers are so quiet, they are not very effective for a wake up call, for me. In retrospect, I did not look to see if there was any way to adjust the volume. Maybe you want to bring an alarm clock to be on the safe side…or use your cell phone for an alarm.

- The batting practice on the sports court is real. They only do it on port days from 11 or so until 1, so I only was able to check on it when we went to Cozumel the second time. They have batting helmets, and the bats were 32 in/22 oz. aluminum. The pitching machine was set to “as slow as it could be to get it to the batter in the air,” maybe 50-55 mph. Wasn’t that hard for this slow pitch softball player to get in some good cuts.

- Well, my advice is don’t bother with the water slides on a day when the ship is in port, as this would appear to be the time they choose to do the processing. And the start of the slides is right next to the funnels. From which the fumes are emitted. However, if you happen to like the stench of burning human waste, you’ll be in your element

- If you are going to tip extra*** do this early in the cruise, don't wait for the last day. It will get you that little extra, even if its just them knowing your name.

- Coconut Ice cream, tasty

- the Manhattan Room is similar to a NYC supper club with a live band and dancing throughout dinner. The only drawback was that it stops serving around 9:30 and that is the end of the dancing and we could not find any other venues on the ship for dancing.

- A tip that I didn't see under "Rooms" is to pull your bed out from under the headboard. This will give your bed a few more inches in length.

- Breakfast at Garden Cafe is loud and busy, get your food and head down to La Cucina. It had a beautiful view of sea for dining. First few days there was hardly anyone else down there. I don't think other cruisers knew it was open

- re: shower – it was great. You do, however, need to request extra towels and use them copiously on the floor

- Be prepared to do a lot of up and down on the stairs. I ended up using stairs most of the time on those days, as I got very tired of waiting and waiting, and then having full elevator after full elevator arrive.

- Perfect Margarita $8.50 (2 types of Patron, THE best margarita I've every had)

- Someone just asked me about using Visa Gift Cards on board & I told her to call NCL & they said: not allowed. Your post just made me realize that she can use her Gift Card to purchase OBC before the cruise.

- for some looking for extra storage (and in most cabins): there are 2 drawers for clothes (or shoes) under the couch bed!

- and there is a slide-out small table (like a desk) directly above the mini-fridge.

- There is a side entrance to La Cucina for wheelchairs and people that do not want to navigate the stairs on deck 15. The handicapped entrance is on Deck 14 forward, starboard side.

- If you can make it to the game shows (they are very fun to watch).

- Certain shows were cold so ladies bring that sweater with you if you get cold easily.

- I always seem to forget something when I leave the ship. So we designated the shelf above the safe as our beach shelf. So as we unpacked, everything we wanted to bring to the beach was in one spot.

- Tip for ice cream lovers: If both sides of the buffet are open, they serve different flavors on each side. So if you are on one side and don't see what you want, go over to the other side.

- If you can fit things in early on your trip, see was the comedian/magician (he is not around by the end of the week).

- All bar set-ups must be ordered at least one week prior to the sailing date.

[Rock Chick]

Ask any crew member where the best Wi-Fi hot spots are in each of the ports.

[2010_cruisers]

- We were so disappointed that we didn't try to snacks in the spice H2O bar. They had empanadas, and a bunch of other little goodies we didn't know they served there. FREE by the way.

- Ask any crew member where the best Wi-Fi hot spots are in each of the ports.

[2010_cruisers]

--------more tips for the EPIC, anyone.... let me know and I add them thanks

[2010_cruisers]

so...we are wondering if there are anymore tips, suggestions etc thanks...

[Tomct]

Hi All,

 

Just a little tip those pool towels that people leave make a great souvenir at the end of the day...Not saying I do it and never will but I have seen it done....on some one else's dime....That's why we need towel police....

 

Pete

 

Maybe they do? They certainly have the video cameras around to view if they wanted to, but unless you heard someone mention they got snagged, or someone reported theirs being stolen while they were in the pool and they found the culprit on camera, you'd never know.

 

Actually it would be a good idea for them to confiscate the towels from the "chair hogs"!! I'd surely be ticked off if I was in the pool and someone took mine. Maybe they need "Towel Stealer" police, too!

[2010_cruisers]

"Towel Stealer" police, too!, funny....

Anyways - we need more tips, anyone please...thank You...PS We may get more from when people are off the ship ;later on Saturday night (seems we have no...I'm 'LIVE, on board', people this week)...

[2010_cruisers]

In 2 days :p:cool:....we should be getting more suggestions, ideas and TIPS = Cheers everyone and have a great start to your week ends...:)

[erdoran]

Use packing cubes to pack! Sort them by clothing type--undies in one, shirts in another, bottoms in another, etc, etc--whatever makes sense for your packing. You don't even really need to unpack them, other than for things you would hang. This is especially useful for the studio cabins--it was difficult to access half the closet space and there was a safe in there anyway, interfering with the long hang! I lived out of my packing cubes--hung up my shirts, everything else I just pulled out the cube it was in and selected what I wanted!

[2010_cruisers]

- Best friendly bar (note it's a smoking bar) is Waves (Waves Bar is Deck 15, mid ship, just outside of the garden café). Each bartender was nicer than the other, all characters! Second would be the Martini bar, don't know why these two had such great bartenders...but they did.

- Best tips....early bird massages at 8:00 and 8:30 AM for $99.00 for 50 min.

- Another tip is if you are going to pay over $300 for your picture CD, then make sure you have your picture taken all over the ship to make it worth your while.

[2010_cruisers]

Today is my b-day, whhhhoa whoo hoot...

[Tropicalgurl]

Today is my b-day, whhhhoa whoo hoot...

 

 

H A P P Y

B I R T H D A Y !!!!

 

Hope you are having a good one!!!

[2010_cruisers]

Tropicalgurl

 

Thank u dear....stay in touch....all the best....thanks....

[onebzyldy]

Today is my b-day, whhhhoa whoo hoot...

Happy Birthday - wishing u a fabulous year ahead =)

I will be celebrating mine the day we board the Epic on Dec 4th - can hardly wait ! ! !

Happy Cruising...........

DonnaF :D

[sailing-nut]

Today is my b-day, whhhhoa whoo hoot...

 

Happy "B" Day.....

 

17 more days till I cruise with over 200+ CC members....on The Epic...

[2010_cruisers]

thank u everyone...

:o :) :o :)

[2010_cruisers]

Note that the cabin telephone is very bright. It’s like a giant cell phone that is constantly on. On the upper right of the screen there is a light bulb, touch the bulb and the phone goes to sleep.

[coka]

Happy "B" Day.....

 

17 more days till I cruise with over 200+ CC members....on The Epic...

 

Hey Sailing-Nut! Have a GREAT time!

 

coka

[coka]

Today is my b-day, whhhhoa whoo hoot...

 

Happy Belated Birthday! Thank you for posting all the tips and updating them.

 

coka

[sailing-nut]

Hey Sailing-Nut! Have a GREAT time!

 

coka

 

Thanks I will....Had a great time on the Pearl....Thanks again...

 

Pete

[2010_cruisers]

- FYI-if you get hurt or need to see the doctor while on board-$100 just to see him.

[2010_cruisers]

last updated 9-23-2010, 8-22pm, pacific

a-Z

 

a)Shows: BMG Best time to see Blue Man group without reservations is Saturday night. Lots of open seats and the first two rows is a “splash zone” where they provide ponchos and have plastic seats.

b) Cheese sticks, I recommend the Tune Melt, and Fish and Chips, wings, chicken pot pie, Strawberry pound cake, Apple Crumble or Brownie Sunday very yummy....and milkshakes (extra fee) from O'Sheehans. Best value in beer: Dos

Equis Lager draft beer in O’Sheehans. $6.84 (with tax/gratuity) for a 25 (estimated) ounce glass.

** O’Sheehans (the only 24hr venue with a reservations laptop also)

c) Pretzel Rolls (some call them pretzel balls also)......and for a cool snack...$5 pizza delivery almost anywhere (except to pool side or the casino tables) for a 16" in 1 of 3 flavours.

d) Fat Cats for major blues (amazing show)

e) Bowling at Bliss (but if it is busy, wait there or you will lose your place)

f) A q u a P a r k (expect long lines during busy times or hot weather) - The best time for the waterslides is on embarkation day.

g) Second City Comedy id great...but the Comedic-Magician is ok but not for kids.

h) Lobster Night Monday served in Taste ad Manhattan Club on Monday (TBA)

i) The pistachio cake and lemon pound cake is very yummy at the Atrium Cafe

j) Try the water slides before they close,. less busy time and the green water slide is the fastest and scariest, but go purple if you want short lines

k) Crique show: Go the washroom before you watch the show , they do NOT let anyone leave for the whole 2 hours. Also, the show is a bit risqué and uses double entendres (for kids) and has lots of gay and sexual references. The food also was considered fairly bland and very average.

l) Take a power strip with you. There's only one outlet with two plugs in standard balcony room

m) The spa has an aft balcony with loungers and two wicker couches. Awesome spot to watch the world go by (but you have to pay to be there)

o) On the last sea day they have a big sale on Epic stuff in the shops on deck15. 2 shirts for $10 are a good deal for gifts - some nice sweatshirts, jackets, hats and other items for 50% off. The main gift shops don’t have sales the last day.

p) In the spa, towels are in the huge wall racks, but there are robes hiding in the little basket by the door.

q) The ship doesn't supply conditioner or bar soap. Bring some if you need it.

r) The cruelest joke is the amazing salad bar at Moderno....and the Garlic beef was awesome.

s) There's an awesome out-of-the-way place for shaded lounging... under the sports deck starboard aft

t) There are at least four places to get a made to order omelet in the Garden Café at breakfast.

u)The public sun decks on 18 are virtually empty, even when the pool is full ( seating for about 100 people up there)

v) Feeling ill, go to the front desk for FREE sea-sick pills.

w) Discovered the fix for the sink splashing.......don't turn the faucet on full blast.

x)Wear your shoes while walking on the decks outside ( I kid you not the deck got so hot that we met a woman who got second degree burns on her feet rug runners have been put down but NOT everywhere.

y) SVEDKA Ice Bar: Wear socks and long pants (it will help keep you more comfortable)

z)If you want any fruit-juices throughout the day or evening for yourself or your children (grab some during the breakfast time only - up until 10:30 am). They will offer, cranberry, orange and apple juice and that is it.

 

Bonus Tips:

-"Secret" aft stairs are aft - on either side at the very back of the Epic. If you look at the deck plan you'll see blank spots there. Here are some aft photos - the stairway has cutouts with side view.

- NCL ships include screens around the ship showing restaurant status and whether they have space. Green = plenty of space, Amber = filling up fast and red = full.

- Music by the pool was also very loud to the point where you couldn't talk to someone without screaming. Some people just want to relax by the pool, without feeling they are at a concert.

- Highly recommended by me is Wasabi, Moderno and the Noodle Bar.

- Specialty restaurants have various covers charges, for extra special items they ask for an additional $10. So if you want the same 32-ounce porterhouse steak at Cagney's, you can have it at Le Bistro and save yourself $5

- Pub Crawl Reunion Tour happens 2x in a week: Saturday and Thursday Night. We met in Martlings Bar at 9 pm. It was $25 per person. We visited 5 bars in 55 minutes. We had 4 large shots. I would say like a double shot size. We also had one whole beer along the way from one of the games and then more beer during the flip cups game, and we finished with a full-size Bahama Mama.

- the rock climbing and rappelling walls were a hoot

- Note that the cabin telephone is very bright. It’s like a giant cell phone that is constantly on. On the upper right of the screen there is a light bulb, touch the bulb and the phone goes to sleep

- If you so desire a super-snack – try ordering ‘the home-made potatoes chips with blue cheese crumble’ trough room service.

- For patrons new to NCL ones or who may not be a Latitudes members yet –for a FEE they offer a private behind the scenes tour. For $55. It was a 2 hour tour that included talks from the entertainment/technical director, head chef, laundry, and other areas. Was very interesting and I really enjoyed it. It gave a new respect for the employees and how they are able to do what they do on such a large scale.

- A simple tip for future cruisers, You don't need to use your key card to keep the lights on. Any card will work. Just put it in the slot by the door.

- To get in contact with people on board or thereafter: we make business cards to hand out that has our home contact information, cruise itinerary as well as the cabin we are staying in. It is a convenient way to give information to the new friends we meet instead of writing our addresses, emails on a slip of paper that eventually gets lost.

- For you sun-worshipers: brings lots of aloe gel or we also highly recommend a product by Berts Bee's called Aloe & Linden Flower After Sun Soother.

- On the outside where your room number is there is a wheel that you can change between Welcome, Do Not Disturb, Please Make up Room, and Please Turn Down Room. That’s convenient. Your cabin steward won’t even knock if it says not to disturb.

- Crème Brule at Cagney's says Raspberry Crème Brule

- Just it case it pertains to you - you are not being allowed to wear flip-flops in Manhattans dining room, but sandals are ok.

- The carpets on the port side of passenger decks are orange. On the starboard side, the carpets are blue. It took me a few days to notice this, but lights on the elevator buttons and the signage near the elevators are also orange on the port side, and blue on the starboard side. In addition, if you are not sure which was is fore or aft, look at the map of the ship, the front faces front everywhere you are.

- If you’re going to play in the casino even a little, sign up for their casino club. The deals and discounts ($5 off slot/BJ tourneys, for instance) make it well worth your time.

- Alaskan King Crab Legs are cut in half at Cagney's so you don't need to crack them to eat them.

- Take cash with you to Howl at the Moon so you can tip the musician to stop playing an awful song... like your rival college football team fight song. ha ha ha

- No recording or flash photography allowed at shows in the Epic Theater or Spiegel Tent. Take your camera anyways for candid shots before the show begins.

- When you order a drink, they will give you a short glass unless you specify a tall glass, which is only a couple bucks more and you can keep the souvenir cup. You may also order a double, double the price and more then double the booze!

- Impossible to keep up with multiple passengers in staterooms going to different events. Take a dry erase board with a magnet on the back and stick it on your door. Leave messages for your friends & family on the board.

- Regarding getting into shows: you should get to the shows about 30 minutes before it begins in order to get good seats (although the Epic Theater didn’t have a bad seat in the house, the comedy club had some terrible sight lines).

- You can drop off of bags at Headliners - to walk around without bags for a couple of hours.

- Spice H20 was a good “away from people” spot for lunch on embarkation day.

- Sports fan - on the big screen in the Atrium they will show games!

- The water fountain in the gym is small and warm because they want you to buy water. Take your water bottle to the buffet, and fill it with cold water before you hit the gym.

- NCL's White Hot Party was at Spice H2O ... Sunday night, starting at 10:15 pm.

- Like to bowl, it is at BLISS - Bowling is $5 per person per game.

- It's never too late unless you have left the restaurant. You can order as many appys and deserts as you like in the specialty restaurants.

- Studio Lounge Area: We liked the snacks they put in the fridge too. There are also coffee, salads, sandwiches, etc. Depending on the time of day. We never did see a bartender though, which is depicted in the brochures. Also, anyone can get in. There is not even a slot to swipe your card, so I am not sure why NCL talks about the exclusive key card access so much. They never even bothered to install one at all.

- all menus for all restaurants are available for viewing through interactive in cabin TV.

- This ship has the most beautiful gym I have ever seen on any ship. Great state of the art equipment that even charges your I POD while you are exercising.

- Pastries in the Atrium coffee shop are free, coffee is free, but specialty coffees cost money.

- Murder Mystery Lunch: Not sure this was worth the added cost. I’d probably recommend just going to see multiple showings of Second City shows during the week rather than this lunch.

- The slides are fresh water, and the pool is salt water (pulled and filtered locally). So, if going down the slides and you get some in your mouth - you will be fine.

- They have kiosks set up where you scan your card and it will bring up any pictures assigned to your stateroom. If you do posed pictures you present your cruise card so they know where to assign the pictures, otherwise they use facial recognition.

- When you head off to any of the beaches, it is good to bring some OFF-spray....epically if it has deet.

- Debarkation Day - go for breakfast in the Garden Café before 9 AM as it is scheduled to close by then (it will be crowded). Everyone had to be out of their rooms by 9am and off the ship by 10:15 We were never thrown out of our room. As a matter of fact we overslept until 9.

-If you are heading off the ship, need a ride, best transport is a cab. Since it’s only a 15 minute and $24 flat rate drive to the airport. NCL offers transfers for $20 per person, we walked out of the terminal and directly into a cab. $24 versus what would have been $40 and waiting to fill a shuttle.

- On the last full day of the cruise, when the duty-free liquor store is open in the am, they let you take your purchase with you (rather than waiting until the evening to pick it up). This helps make reading the final cruise bill a little easier (and less expensive)!

- NCL has gotten really cheap with certain things. They were very protective over pens and paper. None are provided in the stateroom, so bring a pad-pen yourself.

- The slides are a lot of fun. I waited until the port days to use them since we weren’t getting off the ship anyway. I would recommend doing the same. Even if you’re getting off the ship, maybe before you leave or right after you return, try the slides. The green and purple slides never had more than a 2 minute wait, and the most the orange plunge slide had was about 7-8 minutes, when compared to a wait well over 30 minutes on a sea day.

- If you are in a hurry for breakfast and decide to run to buffet. Go to the end of it to the great outdoors same food for breakfast lots of tables.

- For other games...air hockey was $1.00 and pool was $1.50. You just swiped your card.

- Buffet was well laid out and had a good variety, BUT, was the same every day and by the end I was rather tired of it. Often VERY crowded and hard to find seats. I had read that crew members would direct you to open seats but I never saw this. For a treat (maybe dinner) or for real gourmet dining plan to visit the pay restaurants, but then you will have the best dining experience at sea. I did not find the buffet was "the same every day" simply not true, I could not find something I loved ever again at the buffet. There was always some similar items but usually with different meats or ingredients.

- Never get a drink in a souvenir cup- will save you a good amount of $

- The telephones in the room. The ringers are so quiet, they are not very effective for a wake up call, for me. In retrospect, I did not look to see if there was any way to adjust the volume. Maybe you want to bring an alarm clock to be on the safe side…or use your cell phone for an alarm.

- The batting practice on the sports court is real. They only do it on port days from 11 or so until 1, so I only was able to check on it when we went to Cozumel the second time. They have batting helmets, and the bats were 32 in/22 oz. aluminum. The pitching machine was set to “as slow as it could be to get it to the batter in the air,” maybe 50-55 mph. Wasn’t that hard for this slow pitch softball player to get in some good cuts.

- Well, my advice is don’t bother with the water slides on a day when the ship is in port, as this would appear to be the time they choose to do the processing. And the start of the slides is right next to the funnels. From which the fumes are emitted. However, if you happen to like the stench of burning human waste, you’ll be in your element

- If you are going to tip extra*** do this early in the cruise, don't wait for the last day. It will get you that little extra, even if its just them knowing your name.

- Coconut Ice cream, tasty

- the Manhattan Room is similar to a NYC supper club with a live band and dancing throughout dinner. The only drawback was that it stops serving around 9:30 and that is the end of the dancing and we could not find any other venues on the ship for dancing.

- A tip that I didn't see under "Rooms" is to pull your bed out from under the headboard. This will give your bed a few more inches in length.

- Breakfast at Garden Cafe is loud and busy, get your food and head down to La Cucina. It had a beautiful view of sea for dining. First few days there was hardly anyone else down there. I don't think other cruisers knew it was open

- re: shower – it was great. You do, however, need to request extra towels and use them copiously on the floor

- Be prepared to do a lot of up and down on the stairs. I ended up using stairs most of the time on those days, as I got very tired of waiting and waiting, and then having full elevator after full elevator arrive.

- Perfect Margarita $8.50 (2 types of Patron, THE best margarita I've every had)

- Someone just asked me about using Visa Gift Cards on board & I told her to call NCL & they said: not allowed. Your post just made me realize that she can use her Gift Card to purchase OBC before the cruise.

- for some looking for extra storage (and in most cabins): there are 2 drawers for clothes (or shoes) under the couch bed!

- and there is a slide-out small table (like a desk) directly above the mini-fridge.

- There is a side entrance to La Cucina for wheelchairs and people that do not want to navigate the stairs on deck 15. The handicapped entrance is on Deck 14 forward, starboard side.

- If you can make it to the game shows (they are very fun to watch).

- Certain shows were cold so ladies bring that sweater with you if you get cold easily.

- Pool towels: There are pool towels in your room, and a card stating that you have to return to your room every day otherwise you will be charged $25 per towel. At first, I thought this was ridiculous, then I realized that this cuts down on people leaving towels on chairs and walking away. Now they have to take their towels with them to not be charged.

- They have ping pong.

- for extra privacy if you are in a studio cabin and feel your neighbor is being a but curious, put down a towel (between the connecting door)

- Tuesday night they had special buy 40 internet minutes and get 20 min free.

- Try having dinner earlier or later than the 6:30 - 8:30 pm that most people opt for. That way you can avoid the crowd. If you are starving before or after, stop by the buffet and grab a snack! We have cracked it now, the trick is to eat early.

- The fruits that they have in the buffet were incredible - the most sweetest fruits I ever tasted!!

- Soda – don’t get the soda pass....instead go to the vending machine in the Arcade and pay $2.50 /bottle with no gratuity.

- “Code Alpha” calls for medical emergencies. We learned from staff that one of these was a child pulled from the pool in the Villa Courtyard. So I issue a reminder to parents to watch their kids if they are near water as there are no lifeguards...you are responsible for your kids.

- go to the Garden Cafe (buffet) for tea, not the Atrium Café

- Shanghai Noodle. Everything there is ala carte and very modestly priced. I highly recommend the Vegetable Spring Rolls and the Singapore noodles.

- Howl at the Moon entertainers change every 3 wks so it may always seem like it's a "new" team. The early set tends to be "tamer" and things get progressively "adult" by around 11 pm

- "Qwest" game - this is a scavanger hunt game played in the Spinnaker Lounge on the last night of the cruise. Be aware that this is a VERY adult themed game and definitely NOT the place for young/younger children to be at that time.

- Some people bring highlighters for marking up the Freestyle Dailies

- Manhattan room always had a 30 minute wait due to a live band.

- The shower was really nice not so big but the pressure was great. I didn't find the shower steamed up the cabin at all. Just turn up the A/C a bit before going in.

- The toliet...Super load and they use recycled water so it always has a funk smell. A wall deodorizer would have been nice. After 1 night we just keep the lid to the toilet closed when not in use. That keeps the bathroom from having an overpowering odor.

- Vanity Mirror: The light was just underneath the medicine cabinet. You just have to find the switch!

- Service in O'Sheenans was slow unless of course you were ordering DRINKS!

- We didn't mind the loooong walk from the aft to the forward to eat breakfast as it gave us exercise! We usually walked the cabin hallway as it was quicker and less crowded.

- $12 a day is the gratuity charge on NCL or $84 for the week (so budget for that also)

- - There is a side entrance to La Cucina for wheelchairs and people that do not want to navigate the stairs on deck 15. The handicapped entrance is on Deck 14 forward, starboard side.

- If you can make it to the game shows (they are very fun to watch).

- Certain shows were cold so ladies bring that sweater with you if you get cold easily.

- I always seem to forget something when I leave the ship. So we designated the shelf above the safe as our beach shelf. So as we unpacked, everything we wanted to bring to the beach was in one spot.

- Tip for ice cream lovers: If both sides of the buffet are open, they serve different flavors on each side. So if you are on one side and don't see what you want, go over to the other side.

- If you can fit things in early on your trip, see was the comedian/magician (he is not around by the end of the week).

- All bar set-ups must be ordered at least one week prior to the sailing date.

- We were so disappointed that we didn't try to snacks in the spice H2O bar. They had empanadas, and a bunch of other little goodies we didn't know they served there. FREE by the way.

- Ask any crew member where the best Wi-Fi hot spots are in each of the ports.

- FYI-if you get hurt or need to see the doctor while on board-$100 just to see him.

[2010_cruisers]

** Maybe I am missing some keys point abotu the ship and its nuances...so feel FREE to send in some reviews or specfic TIPS - I do not have a ton fo time to scour every board and msg people post....so if you have any key points - please clarify...we would ALL benefit form it and thank you.

 

Gnite