I am On Breakaway 7/31. What do you want to know?

[TifffanyD]

What night is 80s party night? What days are howl at the moon?

[dgakapluto]

At the cirque show, are the standards seats limited/partial view? Is there an age limit? (Ie must be at least 2 etc?)

[Sprasa03]

weird, why would a place be open such short hours?

 

Margaritaville is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on most days.

 

also i'm not familiar with this place. is the food that much better that it's worth paying for

 

I think the Uptown Grill is those hours currently. So maybe the Margaritaville that is filling that spot is also taking those exact hours?

[queenschick9b]

What was the internet like?

[Smitty74]

I know my review is now past due, but Im having some family issues and will get to work on this over the weekend. I have about a hundred pictures to show you. Even after narrowing it down, my review will still be a long thread.

 

Oh, and While Im at it, let me answer a question.

 

What was the internet like?

 

It was bad. barely worth considering kinda bad. even going to Norwegians home page took a minute or two.

[Jezo]

Besides the Free Fall, which I know the restrictions, can smaller kids go on any of the other slides?

[bam1957]

I know my review is now past due, but Im having some family issues and will get to work on this over the weekend. I have about a hundred pictures to show you. Even after narrowing it down, my review will still be a long thread.

 

Oh, and While Im at it, let me answer a question.

 

 

 

It was bad. barely worth considering kinda bad. even going to Norwegians home page took a minute or two.

 

Maybe it was me but my internet connection was pretty darn good. I even commented to my husband that I was able to move around very quickly. I was only checking and responding to emails and reading stories on Yahoo. I took the promotion that was offered for the internet package so that I could just my MacAir in my cabin.

[mking8288]

I think the Uptown Grill is those hours currently. So maybe the Margaritaville that is filling that spot is also taking those exact hours?

Until this changeover to MV (in a matter of weeks) - UG is open for breakfast and then transition to lunch services, complimentary and extra seating added by removing the oversized loungers, replaced with more "regular" tables & chairs - till late afternoon, 4 PM is about right (with DIY coffee/tea/hot water & beverage station opened).

 

MV, from other info posted, on the ships would only be open for 5 hours, 11 AM to 4 PM (and, not 4 AM - OSH would be open almost around the clock for something to eat, or paid Room Service .) Everything is obviously based on best available info & subject to change without notice, for convenience.

[easyboy]

I know my review is now past due, but Im having some family issues and will get to work on this over the weekend. I have about a hundred pictures to show you. Even after narrowing it down, my review will still be a long thread.

Looking forward to your review.

[Cat8]

We are sailing on August 14th and can't wait!

One thing has me very confused. We have the unlimited drinks special as a promo. My understanding was that the 18% gratuity was also included as part of the free promo. However, yesterday I saw in ncl's faqs that service charges will apply. Can someone advise which it is so I know what to expect?

 

And thanks to all who post such great reviews- it really helps!

[mking8288]

We are sailing on August 14th and can't wait!

One thing has me very confused. We have the unlimited drinks special as a promo. My understanding was that the 18% gratuity was also included as part of the free promo ... Can someone advise which it is so I know what to expect?

...

First, this isn't related to OP's review - might I kindly suggest searching or starting your own thread next time as the question might be seen by some as "hijacking" the original post & subject to removal or being deleted by the MOD team.

 

Check your online MyNCL dot com account, does it show anything optional or due as far as service charges or gratuities, in addition to DSC ? Did you prepaid anything and everything at the time of booking and/or final payment?

 

When did you book because "unlimited drinks special" (and, similarly used/confusing terms or descriptive labels to some) in late Spring 2015 - briefly, included the 18% gratuities by NCL. Anything else booked later than that - unless your invoices/statements/current account as seen online - is unlikely to include the 18%, i.e. you recently booked a last minute/Sail Away special rate, etc. Did you book directly via NCL or via your (own) TA - as the "agency" or "online" store might've possibly included that as an incentive ?

 

Regards & enjoy the cruise.

[mking8288]

Maybe it was me but my internet connection was pretty darn good ... I took the promotion that was offered for the internet package so that I could just my MacAir in my cabin.

Ditto, likewise for us in late May for our 3rd BA sailing. We only used ship's WiFi ("free" promo Choice250 with 1GB data allowance, not by the minutes - so, it was nice) and we're able to use/share 2 stateroom's data plan, got 2GB worth of "free" WiFi data while at sea. Used Fi Network's DigCel data at 3G speed and that was good (and Fi's international data roaming is now 10X to 20X faster, so practically at 4G/HSPA+ speed ... woohoo)

 

Back on topic, it's sad to read that NCL is more than a month late & behind in rolling out the 4X faster "SpeedNet" that it announced early in this Spring, although the Breakaway has the "faster" speed within the fleet already.

 

Perhaps it's too many users during the peak summer travel period & just overloading all the nodes on 2.4 GHz band - which we avoided, as our hardware were set to 5 GHz band, which is less congested and had decent speed & connectivity ... well, it did "kick" me off a few times when I "idle" for too long while online, something most public access routers are designed and configured to timeout, releasing the IP for others to access via DHCP.

 

Well, if one paid for unlimited access at the "current" sky-high prices, demand & expect a refund onboard by speaking to the internet "manager" on duty during their office hours - they're helpful and responsive when we sailed. Not much they can do onboard to "give" the users better speed since the bottleneck is further upstream & beyond their control until it's upgraded. If the reports that it's even taking 2 or 3 minutes to log into NCL's own online site from the ship (has always been a free access link) - then it is bad news. NCL, get your acts together !

Edited August 11, 2016 by mking8288