What would you share with an obsessive cruise planner

[Sailing12Away]

1 hour ago, Jacobs Ema said:

I to am a planner. Actually, I enjoy the planning just as much (or more) than the actual trip😁

At least in my experience, NCL seems to be…shall we say… less forthcoming with information. Excursions were slow to come out, and then when we got on board there were MANY more options than were available before embarkation.  Air reservations were not released to us until 21 days before our trip. We had no issues with the speciality restaurants, but in my opinion the MDR’s have gone way down in quality. The taste of the food was bland, and there was a huge issue with food temps.  It may have just been our itinerary, but port times were very short. 

Definitely depends on your itinerary with regards to port times. We have a few 10+ hour days coming up on our Canada cruise in a few weeks. But your port times are listed before booking, all that takes is a simple check of google maps to see where your ship will probably come into, and what is walkable/nearby to do on your own without having to rely on a cruise sponsored trip.

 

For any sailing right now, I'd say folks need to still be patient and understanding as we're still not back to the 'before times'. Staff are working with a skeleton crew, passenger counts are going up faster than they can restock and re-staff ships. Those tours that NCL offers are not ran by NCL employees... those have to be subcontracted and outsourced and many of those companies went under after not being in business for 2 years. Lots of moving parts still as we return to 'normal' - so try not to fault NCL exclusively. All the cruise lines are struggling to return to the level of service they once had.

[cruiseny4life]

25 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

For any sailing right now, I'd say folks need to still be patient and understanding as we're still not back to the 'before times'. Staff are working with a skeleton crew, passenger counts are going up faster than they can restock and re-staff ships. Those tours that NCL offers are not ran by NCL employees... those have to be subcontracted and outsourced and many of those companies went under after not being in business for 2 years. Lots of moving parts still as we return to 'normal' - so try not to fault NCL exclusively. All the cruise lines are struggling to return to the level of service they once had.

I'd definitely reiterate to be patient with crew. As if any of us would not be. We know what goes into making a cruise the best experience - and most of that's the crew! I love the crew - I strongly dislike the corporate overlords...but who doesn't?

 

Maybe I'm the board's corporate curmudgeon, but I do "fault NCL exclusively" for all these issues. If tours can't accommodate folks, if they can't restock their ships quickly enough, if service isn't at a "normal" level, then frankie boy needs to stop taking in the dollars and implement additional occupancy load limits, like NCL did with the Pride of America. 

 

I actually am starting to lean in favor of frankie boy's pricing strategy, especially seeing all the cuts Carnival is implementing that directly impact customers. I haven't seen this on NCL (who will be first to provide examples and prove me wrong). We definitely look for a more luxury product, though not super duper expensive luxury. Our wallet can't afford that! NCL seems to deliver on this. 

 

Also, I'm strongly of the opinion that we shouldn't return to the "before times." Were things really that good? There's so much more to unpack in that statement for me and most of it is not cruise-related, so I'll leave it for another time and place.

[Peachypooh]

On 8/14/2022 at 9:33 PM, alwalaska said:

I and NCL platinum and am an obsessive planner who enjoys the cruise more when she knows what is coming, but haven't cruised since Feb 2019.

We are sailing the Dawn in Feb out of Tampa.

I need to find the current version of how to best mix loyalty free meals with 1 dining plan meal.

I'd love to find menu and activity info.

I read recently Cagneys is no longer good. It was our favorite. Do you agree? If so, next suggestion?  We're boring steak and potato people.  That is why we liked Cagneys.

Any and all tips, suggestions,  info on what changed, etc will be greatly appreciated. 

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

 

The best steak I ever had on NCL was in LaCucina (don't know if the ship you are sailing on has this as an option). The t bone steak was excellent and covered by our free loyalty meals.I like Cagneys but I usually get something like shrimp and bacon wrapped asparagus as their steaks have been hit or miss.

Edited August 16, 2022 by Peachypooh

[GreenFamily]

2 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

I'd definitely reiterate to be patient with crew. As if any of us would not be. We know what goes into making a cruise the best experience - and most of that's the crew! I love the crew - I strongly dislike the corporate overlords...but who doesn't?

 

Maybe I'm the board's corporate curmudgeon, but I do "fault NCL exclusively" for all these issues. If tours can't accommodate folks, if they can't restock their ships quickly enough, if service isn't at a "normal" level, then frankie boy needs to stop taking in the dollars and implement additional occupancy load limits, like NCL did with the Pride of America. 

 

I actually am starting to lean in favor of frankie boy's pricing strategy, especially seeing all the cuts Carnival is implementing that directly impact customers. I haven't seen this on NCL (who will be first to provide examples and prove me wrong). We definitely look for a more luxury product, though not super duper expensive luxury. Our wallet can't afford that! NCL seems to deliver on this. 

 

Also, I'm strongly of the opinion that we shouldn't return to the "before times." Were things really that good? There's so much more to unpack in that statement for me and most of it is not cruise-related, so I'll leave it for another time and place.

Don’t forget, current cruisers are using up their credits from cancelled cruises due to covid. Also, cruises are not sailing at capacity right now. Hopefully, things will get better for the cruise industry, if the economy doesn’t tank. 

[alwalaska]

On 8/15/2022 at 10:49 AM, weltek said:

So for Specialty Dining, you'll have these choices:
Moderno or La Cucina
Le Bistro or Cagneys

One other

If you do Teppenyaki for your free night, book it first, as when you reserve it online, it will use your one free dining credit and you'll have $0 due. 

As Platinum, you probably don't need advice on the best restaurants, but If it were me in your shoes (simple steak and potatoes people), I would book Moderno, Cagneys and Le Bistro. Don't be intimidated by fancy names on the Le Bistro menu. Lots of good items for simple eaters and very romantic! Just study the menu ahead so you can look things up online, ask questions of your waiter if you need to (and point when you can't pronouce!), and enjoy.

 

I love your suggestions.  Thanks.

[complawyer]

while i do enjoy moderno, the last two times we tried it, it was definitely not up to par. waiters rarely came around and when they did, they didnt bring all the choices.

 

thank  thank goodness for  the pineapple!!!!!

[jjjct]

On 8/15/2022 at 2:37 PM, alwalaska said:

My family really gets a kick out of my saying, "we are winging it today", and then pull out of a list of items to pick from for "winging it".  I'm glad I'm not alone out there.  Thanks for sharing.

 

Oh, and unless NCL changes things again, we should be Sapphire at the end of the Feb cruise.  Every time I get close to moving up, they add more levels or change the requirements.

We are Sapphire but since the beginning of COVID - no behind the scenes, dinner with the captain, wines around the world. Hope that all changes soon, not sure if it is short staff related or what? We are cruising next week.

 

[KeithJenner]

5 hours ago, complawyer said:

while i do enjoy moderno, the last two times we tried it, it was definitely not up to par. waiters rarely came around and when they did, they didnt bring all the choices.

 

thank  thank goodness for  the pineapple!!!!!

Moderno has become the one which we consider going to twice these days. Mainly because we find it such an enjoyable experience.

 

My one criticism lately would be that sometimes they are a little too attentive, sometimes turning up with offerings even when we have our cards turned to red. If I could change one thing then it would be for the servers to come round a little less often.

 

We usually eat relatively early, and have booked for a later time on our next cruise. Maybe that will work better for us.

[alwalaska]

7 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

Moderno has become the one which we consider going to twice these days. Mainly because we find it such an enjoyable experience.

 

My one criticism lately would be that sometimes they are a little too attentive, sometimes turning up with offerings even when we have our cards turned to red. If I could change one thing then it would be for the servers to come round a little less often.

 

We usually eat relatively early, and have booked for a later time on our next cruise. Maybe that will work better for us.

We eat early too.  Typically, that works in our favor, but not always.