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my little Breakaway tip list

ma_t_gus

By ma_t_gus,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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ma_t_gus

ma_t_gus

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Posted (edited)

-There are 3 lights on top of the door, green=make room, red=do not disturb, white=a card is in the room power holder. Regarding the holder, I was told you can put a card of the same size (dd card, subway card, etc and the power will stay on), I wouldn't recommend it but just in case. I found out too late, I had an alarm clock that would turn of when we leave the room. :)

-2 power sockets in the table and one in the bathroom. blow dryer. A foot holder in the shower, I guess for those who shave their legs.

-enough space to put all of your luggage under the bed.

-latitudes pin at front desk

-book your shows/mdr online. Especially if you want to eat during the peak times. For the shows, they will scan your cards to make sure you booked or else you will go to the waiting list line.

-Manhattan dining room has band playing with dancing. They also had the performers from Burn the Floor doing routines at 9:30pm. Try to book a 9pm so you can see them perform.

-the Cirque dinner was worth the money, try to get a seat parallel to the stage. You don’t have to turn your head to see it.

-buy your duty free stuff on the first two days for an extra 10% off

- there are about 20 threadmills

- no self laundry machines

-o’sheenan can saran wrap for to-go and uptown grill has to-go boxes

-you can actually gamble from your tv

-I bought a case of water, taped my name/room number on top and the porters put it in a separate cart just for water when I dropped off my luggage.

-use a porter when disembarking in NYC. Saves a lot of time.

-if you buy duty free liquor, you get it on the night before disembarking. Too bad I can’t finish a bottle by myself in one night or else I would probably open it. Less to carry out. Cigarettes you get right away.

- I got charged cork fee even though I drank the wine in my stateroom.

Edited by ma_t_gus
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MACE

MACE

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Ma: - Question about dinner reservations, which we've already booked online for the MDRs - do you have show your card for the time you reserved, they scan it, and hopefully there is minimal wait for the time you reserved?

 

How early should you arrive for your reserved dinner time?

 

Thanks in advance...

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ma_t_gus

ma_t_gus

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Ma: - Question about dinner reservations, which we've already booked online for the MDRs - do you have show your card for the time you reserved, they scan it, and hopefully there is minimal wait for the time you reserved?

 

How early should you arrive for your reserved dinner time?

 

Thanks in advance...

 

I booked my MDR online and I would show up 5 mins before my reservation time and have a seat in no time. Maybe I was lucky? You have to give them your card and they check against their reservation list. A couple of times, I actually showed up an hour early and they were able to get me seats within minutes. The only thing is that there were only 2 of us. Probably easier to get seats of 2. A couple of times I saw a long line when I was leaving. Not sure if they were the freestyle people who just show up or if they had reservations.

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ma_t_gus

ma_t_gus

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Are the porters just standing around? I remember last time we came in to the cruise terminal, I didn't see any porters until after customs.

 

If you see a person with an empty cart, just call them over. The thing about the porters in NYC is that you bypass all of the people that have their luggage with them. Even if I only have 3 luggages, i would still get a porter just to get out faster. They pretty much have their own line and they actually can cart the luggage across 12th if someone is waiting for you across the street. Worth the $10-20 tip.

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pr0pel

pr0pel

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That's good go know. I used to have to haul it to the upper level where people are getting dropped off to get picked up. If the porters can cross 12th, that's even better since that is where my car will be waiting.

 

Thanks!

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MACE

MACE

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I booked my MDR online and I would show up 5 mins before my reservation time and have a seat in no time. Maybe I was lucky? You have to give them your card and they check against their reservation list. A couple of times, I actually showed up an hour early and they were able to get me seats within minutes. The only thing is that there were only 2 of us. Probably easier to get seats of 2. A couple of times I saw a long line when I was leaving. Not sure if they were the freestyle people who just show up or if they had reservations.

 

Thanks for the feedback and your experience, really appreciate it!

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ma_t_gus

ma_t_gus

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I forgot to add

 

- o'sheenan is open for lunch on embarkation day, in case you don't want to deal with alot of people in the buffet

- if you have kids with phones, download iconcierge when at home (don't want use data from the ship), i used it for texting and calling my teenage daughter. You know, she is too cool to hang with mom and pop. We only went to breakfast and dinner together. Only way to communicate.

- if you happen to have dinner at around 9pm at Cagney's or Moderno, ask to be seated next to the window viewing the Manhattan MDR when the Burn the Floor group is performing. You should be able to see them. I haven't done it but it made sense.

- you never know where the sabrett hotdog guy is, where's waldo? no chilli though. yea, not the same as the "dirty dogs" taste but...

- you can pretty much do alot of things on your tv - make reserv, view your account, etc...

- that rope thing is harder that it looks, sweating bullets because it was winding as hell and I'm 200lbs. :D

- when I got an error on the safe, security came up to check it out, the only thing is that we never called them. Big Brother???

- don't be shy to order more than 1 appetizer or 1 main course. try different foods that you normally wouldn't order but make sure you're not allergic.

- most of the crew is Filipino, so say "Salamat" meaning "thank you". They are always happy when you say that.

- go to the crew talent show, gonna be surprised by this person singing.

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bjinouno

bjinouno

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Question about when you had made Dinner reservations at the Main dining room, IF there is a line to go in... Is there a seperate line for those with reservations? OR do you have to wait in the line that is formed with walk ins? Asking because this happened to me on the Gem a few years ago, and the line was really long...

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  • 2 weeks later...
rickysmom

rickysmom

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We just got back today.

To answer the ? On reservations at the MDR. We had reservations and was surprised there was only one line. We didn't try to cut in front of the 100 people in front of us. When we got to the hostess, we told her what time our reservations was for and she never suggested that we skipped the line and just check in with her. That was my only complaint about the dining room experience. When the dancers are scheduled to perform, be prepared to wait, 30 minutes or more.

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bjinouno

bjinouno

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We just got back today.

To answer the ? On reservations at the MDR. We had reservations and was surprised there was only one line. We didn't try to cut in front of the 100 people in front of us. When we got to the hostess, we told her what time our reservations was for and she never suggested that we skipped the line and just check in with her. That was my only complaint about the dining room experience. When the dancers are scheduled to perform, be prepared to wait, 30 minutes or more.

 

Now waiting in a line with XX amount of people when you have a reservation does not make sense... Unless they remembered while seating everyone else that this is the reservation list, and kept those tables free, and now that you are now 30 min late for... So your saying better to show up 30 min before your time, if it's during peak dinner time.

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Champster

Champster

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Just the tips blog that I need:). Couple of questions.

 

1 -How much bottled water can you bring on and does that have to be checked in earlier with your luggage or can you just walk on board with it?

 

2- I bought 2 UDP for me and the wife. Booked every night at 1 of the specialty restaurants ( Cirque-Sun, Moderno-Mon, Cagneys - Tuesday and Thursday, le bistro and Teppanyaki Weds ??, Teppanyaki friday and splurged on Ocean Blue Saturday) and actually made a mistake and booked Le Bistro at 7 and Tappanyaki at 9 (see ??) . Can't figure out how to cancel Teppanyaki on line, so will they allow me to Do both?Or how do i cancel Teppanyaki??

 

3 - Also will they allow me (and I should have thought about this before i went hog wild with the Specialty dinners), to go to Cagneys at 7 on Tuesday and MDR at 9? Not necessarily to eat (although at 226 lbs I could probably put away some more appetizers) but to see how the main dining rooms work? My wife and i plan on bringing our grown children next year on the cruise, and we would like to have some idea of MDR food/atmosphere?

 

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

T- 20 days and counting!!!!

Edited by Champster
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Sauer-kraut

Sauer-kraut

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Just the tips blog that I need:). Couple of questions.

 

1 -How much bottled water can you bring on and does that have to be checked in earlier with your luggage or can you just walk on board with it?

There is no limit. Yes, you can carry it on yourself, a small rolling case is ideal for this.

 

2- I bought 2 UDP for me and the wife. Booked every night at 1 of the specialty restaurants ( Cirque-Sun, Moderno-Mon, Cagneys - Tuesday and Thursday, le bistro and Teppanyaki Weds ??, Teppanyaki friday and splurged on Ocean Blue Saturday) and actually made a mistake and booked Le Bistro at 7 and Tappanyaki at 9 (see ??) . Can't figure out how to cancel Teppanyaki on line, so will they allow me to Do both?Or how do i cancel Teppanyaki??

 

3 - Also will they allow me (and I should have thought about this before i went hog wild with the Specialty dinners), to go to Cagneys at 7 on Tuesday and MDR at 9? Not necessarily to eat (although at 226 lbs I could probably put away some more appetizers) but to see how the main dining rooms work? My wife and i plan on bringing our grown children next year on the cruise, and we would like to have some idea of MDR food/atmosphere?

You can eat in as many free options after or before dining in a specialty restaurant. I was cruising with someone who decided he wanted to eat in the mdr with the rest of the solos before going to the dinner/show Cirque. They will scan your card every time you enter a MDR but it doesn't 'reject' you. You can also do a progressive dinner.... Appetizer in one, mains in another and dessert somewhere else!

 

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

T- 20 days and counting!!!!

 

See responses above.

Edited by Sauer-kraut
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grobma

grobma

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1 -How much bottled water can you bring on and does that have to be checked in earlier with your luggage or can you just walk on board with it?

 

You can carry it on as another reply indicated, or you can do what we did - we brought a case of water, slapped a luggage tag on it, and sent it on with our checked baggage. It showed up in our cabin along with our luggage.

 

On our upcoming trip, we're skipping it. I found out that the tap water throughout the ship is all the same, and is what they pour in your glass at restaurants and what comes out of the tap at the buffet. So we're being a bit more environmentally conscious and bringing refillable bottles which we'll fill-up in our bathroom or at the buffet.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Champster

Champster

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Thanks, ma.

 

Going for the first time in March. I just copied your list to my "Breakaway" tips page.

 

 

Ditto for me (just copied tips to my cruise tips page) for my first cruise this Sunday on BA. Just upgraded to a Haven Front facing suite. Cant figure out the difference between "S7" suites and "H7" suites. Seems like both are the same??!!

 

Countdown....

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