New to NLC- questions

[dg33]

We will be on the Getaway on Sept 2-9. As I read the boards, I have questions for anyone who will answer-

1- What is Vibe?

2- Is there anywhere to eat lunch on the first day besides the buffet?

3-Should we make dinner reservations at the specialty restaurants before the cruise?

4- What is the bidding process everyone is talking about?

5- Really-no water included in the beverage pkg?

6-Do you make reservations for the shows? How do you do that when on the ship.

 

Thank you to anyone answering. We are elite on Celebrity but were offered a great deal on an inside cabin on NCL so thought we would try it out!

[smplybcause]

We will be on the Getaway on Sept 2-9. As I read the boards, I have questions for anyone who will answer-

1- What is Vibe?

2- Is there anywhere to eat lunch on the first day besides the buffet?

3-Should we make dinner reservations at the specialty restaurants before the cruise?

4- What is the bidding process everyone is talking about?

5- Really-no water included in the beverage pkg?

6-Do you make reservations for the shows? How do you do that when on the ship.

 

Thank you to anyone answering. We are elite on Celebrity but were offered a great deal on an inside cabin on NCL so thought we would try it out!

 

1 it's an exclusive sun deck that you have to pay to enjoy. If you're not early on the boat you're not going to get it.

 

2 O'shehans and the main dining room unless you're in the haven

 

3 if you're particular about the time or don't want to deal with reservations when you board, yes.

 

4 I'll leave this to those that have done it, but theoretically it's a way to get any upgrade for cheap... might not be so in reality

 

5 bottled water is not included but you can get regular old water everywhere

 

6 you can. I've never been asked to show mine, others have said otherwise. You can do it before you board, on the app, in room tv, at the box office, or the touch screens around the ship

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[BirdTravels]

1- What is Vibe?

Private sundeck for fee. A limited (<100) passes are sold to the 4200 passengers onboard.

2- Is there anywhere to eat lunch on the first day besides the buffet?

Savor and Taste main dining rooms open at noon. Buffet open at 11:30. Margaritaville for fee. O'Shehans open 24/7.

3-Should we make dinner reservations at the specialty restaurants before the cruise?

120 days prior to cruise, reservations will open. They will sell out fast.

4- What is the bidding process everyone is talking about?

80 days prior to cruise, you will be given the option of bidding on an upgrade. Like ebay, you bid, if you are the "high bid" you will be awarded the upgrade, your credit card will be charged, and you will have a new cabin. Depending on what you are bidding on, minimum bids are as low as $50 per person up to $4000 per person.

5- Really-no water included in the beverage pkg?

Really.

6-Do you make reservations for the shows? How do you do that when on the ship.

Like dinner reservations, advance bookings open 120 days prior to cruise and will sell out. You can book on board (1) at the box office; (2) at a touch screen kiosk, (3) iConcierge app (very clunky); (4) stateroom TV. You can book Million Dollar Quartet, Burn the Floor, one Comedy show, Cirque (for an extra fee), Wine Lovers the Musical (for a fee). All other shows are first come first serve.

Thank you to anyone answering. We are elite on Celebrity but were offered a great deal on an inside cabin on NCL so thought we would try it out!

 

Enjoy the Getaway.

[adjensen]

We will be on the Getaway on Sept 2-9. As I read the boards, I have questions for anyone who will answer-

4- What is the bidding process everyone is talking about?

6-Do you make reservations for the shows? How do you do that when on the ship.

 

Thank you to anyone answering. We are elite on Celebrity but were offered a great deal on an inside cabin on NCL so thought we would try it out!

 

smplybcauseToday gave some great answers, let me weigh in on these two.

 

4: You will (or may, it depends on who sailed) receive an email from NCL that invites you to bid on an upgrade, via their website. When you go there, you will see your options, which are limited by what you booked -- you can't go from an inside cabin to a Haven suite, for example. Bid what you want, but understand that it's kind of random, depends on what the ship's current booking is (you can research that by making a fake booking) and what other people are willing to bid. You might get by with the minimum, you might need to crank that gauge over to "Excellent", there's really no way of knowing what others are bidding.

 

6: Yes, any show that you can reserve prior to boarding, do. The minute you get on the ship (unless you're running to get a "Vibe" ticket) hit up a touchscreen panel and book the shows that you couldn't. We have had hit and miss success with walking into shows we didn't reserve, but you'll pretty much always (which isn't "always") get in, even if you wind up with lousy seats. Even if you have reservations, you still need to show up early to not have lousy seats.

[newmexicoNita]

We will be on the Getaway on Sept 2-9. As I read the boards, I have questions for anyone who will answer-

1- What is Vibe?

2- Is there anywhere to eat lunch on the first day besides the buffet?

3-Should we make dinner reservations at the specialty restaurants before the cruise?

4- What is the bidding process everyone is talking about?

5- Really-no water included in the beverage pkg?

6-Do you make reservations for the shows? How do you do that when on the ship.

 

Thank you to anyone answering. We are elite on Celebrity but were offered a great deal on an inside cabin on NCL so thought we would try it out!

Ok, here goes and others will fill in I am sure: reservations for some shows, not the standard shows like you get on all cruise ships:

 

Make reservations for dinner when you want: If you do wait until you are on the ship, do make them asap. that is what we do. it seems we have a better selection of times because they do hold back about 50% of the reservations for those who book after getting on the ship. No water, that's right.

 

Eating the first: Buffet, O'Sheehans and 1 MDR should be available.

 

Bidding process is simple: After you have reserved your cruise NCL will email you a message letting you know the bidding is open. There is a min starting bid like any other type of auction. You can go as high as you like and you can change your bid while bids are still being accepted. the thing you will not know is how high others have gone. If your bid is accepted you will be notified, at least a few days prior to sailing: fun to take part in, but it seems more do not get upgraded than do.

 

No water with drink package, you are right.

 

Reservations for shows: for some you need reservations, others you do not. For major shows the lines can be unbelievably long with out reservations.

 

Specialty dining: we do wait until to board before making reservations but if you choose to go that route you better make them the day you get on the ship.

[LrgPizza]

Do not rely on the bidding system for an upgrade. Book the cabin you want. A very small percentage of people have bids accepted for upgrades, and those that do usually haven’t saved much money over what they’d have paid at booking time.

[esm54687]

Do not rely on the bidding system for an upgrade. Book the cabin you want. A very small percentage of people have bids accepted for upgrades, and those that do usually haven’t saved much money over what they’d have paid at booking time.

and the danger of being awarded an upgrade is: 1) non-refundable 2) you do NOT choose the location of the stateroom you are awarded so it may be in an undesirable location 3) if number 2 happens then see number 1

[dg33]

Thank you, NCL cruisers!! I have a much better understanding of how things work!

[CruzinMel]

One thing about Vibe - I couldn't figure out what the hype was, since Vibe closes at 7 PM (or so I have read.) Eventually, I figured it out : no kids in Vibe. No charming, cute, screeching toddlers, no feral packs of foul mouthed preteens squirting mustard at each other (this weeks experience in the buffet.) So, maybe that's it.

 

We have always booked as much in advance we as we can, because while you can pretty much always get a reservation, it might not be at the peak times- between 6 and 8. If you don't mind eating early or late, it's no big.

 

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[LrgPizza]

One thing about Vibe - I couldn't figure out what the hype was, since Vibe closes at 7 PM (or so I have read.) Eventually, I figured it out : no kids in Vibe. No charming, cute, screeching toddlers, no feral packs of foul mouthed preteens squirting mustard at each other (this weeks experience in the buffet.) So, maybe that's it.

 

 

And the fact that it’s a sun deck helps explain the 7pm time. Few people are making a mad dash to any of the sundecks at that hour.

 

However, it’s only the bar that closes at 7. You can hang in the hot tub much later than that until they kick you out to clean it. That’s usually between 9:30 and 11pm.

[PTC DAWG]

I had the drink package last week on the Escape...had no trouble finding water...at the bars, steward kept bucket full of ice in my room...water even came out of the sink in my room....on the buffet, this thing said WATER. ICE right next door to the water, very handy....water was poured at every restaurant I ate in...it was literally everywhere...