Kristi Williamson

Yes. It's fantastic. We like it better, certainly as well as, the steakhouse!! And, for us, it blows Cucina out of the water.

we play anywhere from 2-4k a piece on a 7 day cruise. (DH and I) We are going on a b2b in November on Mardi Gras. We got an OS for 100 each plus port/taxes for each week. (we paid a total of 1200 dollars for 2 weeks in an OS, including tips) We have drinks on us everywhere on board both weeks (free cheers for both of us for 2 weeks), 200 OBC and 500 each casino cash. Based on the price of the suite, we did, in fact, break even. However, we also get a massage, buy the thermal spa pass, do excursions, etc... So, the cruise does cost, but we were comped about what we spend in the casino, so it's a trade off for us. How do we want to spend our money? I'd rather play and get a nice room. YMMV

Because that is the limit on most lines. It's actually responsible but you're correct, NCL doesn't limit you. However, they do charge you gratuities assuming your limited, which appears to be 15.

They absolutely have free drink promotions and offer the free drink packages to many past guests. And it's actually free. No hidden fees and no 100s in added gratuities with the assumption you'll have 15 a day. It's free. Full stop. As I said, we liked NCL but it's not a free drink package. That's a lie and they shouldn't do it.

Not true. I've gotten it every cruise the last 4 cruises and so have many of my friends. It is legitimately included with no charge. That's what free means and a package not free of any charges should not be advertised as free when they tag on 100s of dollars to get it.

We are just back from our 2nd NCL cruise on the Norwegian Getaway. For reference, we are Diamond on RCCL and Platinum on Carnival, so I thought I'd give a quick review for those looking at Getaway and a quick comparison for those who want it. First, the review. The Getaway is a lovely ship with an easy layout and, like most Norwegian ships, tons of places to eat. We particularly liked that O'Shehan's is open 24/7 and the spa was absolutely gorgeous. We always buy a week pass (this trip was actually 9 days) and use it almost daily. The service was good and NCL has some excellent entertainment. If you've never seen The Million Dollar Quartet, you should. Fun all around and our favorite entertainment we've ever had at sea, including some of the RCCL's big ones. For us, NCL serves the best food of the 3 lines we have cruised so far. We rarely had anything that we didn't enjoy and a few things were absolutely delicious! If you've never eaten the cornbread skillet in the main dining room, you MUST. It sounds crazy, but it is mind blowingly good. I ordered it as a fluke, because I'm Southern and I wanted to taste their cornbread. I mean.....as an entire appetizer? YES!!!! So good! Our next cruise may be Princess, so we'll see how they stack up to that. Service was good to very good. We didn't go anywhere that we didn't feel cared for and like the staff was working their hineys off. As usual, the room steward was great! We had a mini suite and it was OK. For our first NCL cruise on the Dawn, we actually had the grand suite with 3 bedrooms and 3 baths, so nothing will EVER compare to that room, but the mini suite wasn't worth the upcharge. No difference from a regular balcony except the bathroom was a bit larger. I wouldn't recommend paying what they charge for this "suite". For a fair review, our dislikes include that Norwegian precharges gratuities on their "free" drink package and they do that by assuming you'll drink 15 drinks a day. It's grossly overpriced, IMO. Carnival and RCCL charge you gratuities but only AS YOU ORDER THE DRINK. In other words, if I grab a beer 3 or 4 times a day, when they swipe my card, the gratuities are charged at that time, not before I drink and with the assumption of how much I'll drink. I never, ever, ever drink 15 drinks a day. Not even close. My max is usually around 6 drinks and a few sodas, which works out great with a package that doesn't pre charge gratuities. And it's lame that their package doesn't include coffee and water. They have a separate, more expensive package for that, that is also much too high in comparison to other drink packages on other lines, IMO. We will not be ordering or accepting their "free" drink package on our next trip. The second thing they do that is not to our liking is charge a fee if you use your card on file in the casino. No other line does that and it didn't sit well with us. I know this isn't going to go over well with die hard fans of certain cruise lines, but there's barely a dimes worth of difference in the 3 lines we currently cruise. RCCL has the most beautiful ships at sea. Those are facts. But, how long can you be enthralled by a vessel? After day 3, it's just a ship. We enjoy them, but if you cover up the fancy diving board in the back and once you've walked through central park, the service, food and line itself isn't much different than NCL or Carnival. Carnival has the best prices of any line. Also facts. You may find a hit or miss that costs less, but overall, their prices are the most fair and regardless of their reputation, it's a fun line with great service and they are very good to their past customers and there is zero nickel and diming on Carnival. The best steward we've ever had was with Carnival and their food is often better than RCCL, though not NCL. Would we cruise NCL again? Sure. We had a wonderful trip, but I don't like to be charged for things before I've received them. It's not great business and it irked me. We've slowly been trained to accept that as normal, but it's not and we should stop defending it. Happy Cruising, Everyone.

On our last cruise in March, we had a beautiful service dog named Molly sailing with us. Her owner had severe PTSD. We were able to meet him and love on Molly (after asking, of course!) Molly dressed for elegant night in a beautiful frilly "dress" and on St. Patty's Day, she was decked out in sparkly green. She was MUCH better behaved than many guests on board. We don't know someone's disability. We don't know what someone needs to be OK. Someone not "liking dogs" is much less important than someone finding a way to function and live their life to the fullest. If that takes a dog, then bring on the dog, imo.

Thanks for this link. I ordered the smaller amount and the dark roast for 18 packs for only 11 dollars and some change. Perfect!!

We just got off the sunshine in January and received our money back that we'd prepaid for our spa passes. Black mold all over the ceilings and vents. And I don't mean a speck. I mean the entire ceiling had mold on it in both the traditional sauna and steam spas. It was so gross. I love the spa, but never again on Sunshine. Unless they remove the ventilation and have it completely new, they can't get that out. There's no just wiping the ceiling down and being done but that's all they'll do.

Thanks. I'm just trying to print it up before we go. Hopefully, I won't need it at all. 🙂

We purchased travel protection through Carnival for our upcoming cruise. Anyone know where a copy of the policy can be found?

The grits for Seaday Brunch are usually spot on, tho, so there is some consolation. Chin up! 🙂

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Agreed. Smelling .02 seconds of pot smoke affects exactly zero people. I don't care. Hell, they're usually a ton of fun to be around. (unlike drunks) But chair hogs blister my butt. I will move their stuff and hope they gripe about it. It's the most inconsiderate thing on a ship, IMO. When I had small kids and needed to be directly beside the pool to make sure I could see my kids, I handed about 3982 flip flops and books to the attendant.

Anyone else have a negative non supervised testing story? We leave in a few weeks.