Star Review from the Garden Villa - Long

This review may be slightly different then most since we were fortunate enough to stay in the Garden Villa (thanks to the upsell fairy).

We were on the 1/04/06 sailing - my wife and I, two daughters 19 and 21, and their boyfriends 20 and 23. I decided it would be more fun not to tell them about the upsell and just let it be a surprise... Boy was it ever!!

Since we are from the East Coast we decided to fly in a day early to avoid any potential last minute weather problems and to get some rest before we started our cruise. We stayed at the Coast Long Beach Hotel - very nice and very reasonable - I would reccomend it highly to anyone for a pre-cruise stay. Our room had a great view of the Queen Mary which was perfect since we were on a cruise vacation.

We took a Super Shuttle to San Pedro the next morning and arrived at the pier around 11:30 (20 minute ride from Long Beach). We found a porter and headed into the terminal. There was no line at the suite check in so we just walked right up. The man behind the counter asked how many staterooms we had and for our tickets. As I was getting the tickets out of my briefcase I casually said "one stateroom" and handed him the tickets. My oldest daughter was standing next to me and said "Dad, I think he wanted to know how many total staterooms we have," and I replied "I know." About this time the agent had looked at our tickets, saw the stateroom number 14500 and said "Oh, you are one of our Garden Villa guests." My daughters jaw dropped and all she could say (very loudly) was "NO WAY!!" It took her all of two seconds to inform the rest of our group - and half of the terminal - that we were in THE GARDEN VILLA. From that point on our cruise vacation took on a sureal atmosphere.

We were escorted to the VIP waiting area which was reserved for suite quests and informed that the ship crew had been required to go through immigation today so it would be a little longer then usual before we could board. Around 1:00 our concierge, Natasha, came to the waiting area and introduced us to our Butler, Naveen. He had our room keys and escorted us through security and onto the ship. He took us to the only bank of elevators that went to the 14 floor and showed us how to insert our key into the elevator to allow acess to the Garden Villa floor (very private). There are actually two Villa's on the 14th floor 14500 and 14000, but that's it. He gave us a tour of our Garden Villa - the massive living room, the three individual bedrooms - two with bathrooms and closets the size of normal staterooms - the beautiful garden area complete with hot tub, steam room, teak tables and furniture - and the magical 15th floor; our private sun deck that could easily accomodate 50+ people complete with unbelievable panoramic views in all directions. He then explained how everything worked - from the player Grand Piano to the digital water temperature shower controls - lots of gadgets, lots of fun. The place is truly amazing in all aspects and we were quickly finding out that the service included was even more remarkable. NCL has certainly done their homework when it comes to service for their suite guests. Natasha and Naveen were on call 24/7 and checked in with us several times each day to make sure everything was alright and to ask if we needed anything. Natasha personally escorted us to the shows each evening where they had a ropped off area reserved for Garden Villa guests - quite impressive.

Our room steward, Garry, came in an introduced himself. This was our 6th cruise - third on NCL (the other NCL cruises were the Dawn 12/02 BB and the Sun 2/05 AD) and Garry was by far the most attentive room steward we have ever had - and I'm convinced he would have given the same service to any cabin he was responsible for - he was just that kind of person. Always attentive without getting in the way and he learned quickly what our routines were so he could clean while we were gone. He was also a master at making towel animals and we had different ones on each bed every night. On the second to last night of the cruise he actually made towel people for each bed - it was really quite ingenious.

Naveen informed us that he was available 24 hours to get us whatever our little hearts desired. We tried real hard not to abuse this privledge but found it difficult not to enjoy the wonderful hot breakfasts (anything you wanted) served out on the teak dinning table in the garden - what a way to start the day! We only had lunch served in the villa twice and never had dinner there. We did enjoy the fresh fruit platters each day, all the before dinner goodies he brought us each evening and the wonderful sweet surprises waiting for us each night when we returned. Also, the complimentary bar set up (6 one liter bottles) and unlimited mixes, soda and water was great - with the exception of going to the martini clinics my wife and I were able to do all our cocktailing in the Villa and didn't come close to finishing all 6 bottles. Naveen was even good enough to find us a blender so we could make frozen drinks in the room - it was great!!

We never ate in any of the standard restaurants so I can't comment on the food. The breakfasts Naveen served in the garden were all very good - especially the eggs benedict (I had them 5 days in a row!) The first two sea days we had lunch served in the Villa and on port days we ate off the ship. The last sea day my wife and I skipped lunch but the kids ate at blue lagoon and loved the fish & chips and the fried rice. Our dinners consisted of Cagneys (3 nights) Le Bistro (2 nights), Ginza, SoHo, and Teppenyaki. All of them very good, however, the food at Ginza was really not our cup of tea, but people who enjoy that type of food said it was very good. On the 5th night of the cruise (the night we went) SoHo's ran out of live lobster and had to substitute frozen tails - no where near as tasty. Also, Cagney's ran out of porterhouse and rib eye steaks on the last night of the cruise but the waiter we had, Sebastian, knew we were coming in and what we ate so he saved a couple of each for us - very thoughtful. Niether of these situations would have been an issue for us, I'm just mentioning it so people looking for these food items can make their reservations accordingly. NCL has an adequate wine list, albeit not a great one, and I was able to find interesting wines that paired well with all of our food selections.

The port changes didn't bother us at all - in fact after reading our roll call and seeing the wonderful things Angelsx4 said about Randi's Happy Horses in Mazatlan, I was glad we were going there. On a side note I recognized Angelsx4 and her family at muster on the first day and introduced myself. A wonderful family and angelsx4 is a good description for their children. We had the opportunity to visit for awhile at Victor's in Mazatlan after the horse ride (the kids went, we didn't) and I invited them up to see the Villa when we returned. Very nice people.

In Manzanillo we went to Las Hadas resort for the day. Very nice beach and a beautiful, huge pool. A 20 minute $20.00 cab ride for 6 of us. It cost $25.00 per person for the day to get in, however, they give each person 250 peso's in coupons to use on food and drink. We were there for 5 hours and didn't use all the coupons. Everything was priced very rersaonably. A beautiful place that I would reccomend highly.

In Puerto Vallrata the kids went swimming with the dolphins and my wife and I went shopping and sight seeing. We hooked up with the kids in the afternoon and had a great day walking around town after lunch. Some beautiful, albeit unsual sculptures around the downtown shore area. Great photo opportunities. My daughter discovered "tequilla slammers" at one of the local watering holes... OUCH!!

As mentioned earlier, the kids went horseback riding in Mazatlan. My wife and I went sight seeing in the morning - just grabbed one of the open air cabs at the port and paid $20.00 for an hour tour. Our cab driver was excellent (Mario if you're interested) and we both enjoyed seeing the old town as well as the new town. He took us to the water taxi at the end of the tour and we took a boat to Stone Island - $1.00 round trip. We met up with our kids at Victor's for lunch when they returned from horseback riding. This was probably the most interesting place we saw on the whole trip. An open air, sand floor, thatched roof, restaurant on the beach serving some of the best food I have ever eaten - and very inexpensive. I would go back in a minute!! Thank You Angelsx4 for the reccomendation and thank you Randi for picking such a great spot to end your tour.

In Cabo San Lucas we went whale watching. I had opted for the zodiac tour because I believed it would give us more freedom to get up and personal with the whales. Boy was I right. We went out about 3 miles and saw more then 20 whales - and believe me they were up close and personal!! You could reach out and touch them when they surfaced if you wanted to - a real treat. Afterwards we walked around the harbor and had a great lunch at one of the local restaurants. Unfortunately the ship now leaves Cabo at 2:00 PM - could have stayed there much longer.

We were fortunate to dock at all ports except Cabo, even though we were scheduled to tender at Puerto Vallrata we were able to dock. We were the only ship in port at all 4 places - made it nice because there weren't any crowds.

The weather was great for the whole cruise - highs most days in the 80's (96 in Manzanillo!) and sunny. The only cool day was our last sea day returning to Los Angeles - and it was very windy. Actually made for a great day to hang out in the hot tub, finish reading that last book and start packing. We all just vegetated that day.

We docked in Los Angeles at 7:00AM and they started disembarkation around 8:30. Since we were staying in Beverly Hills for an extra day we choose to stay on board a little longer. Naveen brought our breakfast around 8:00 and Nataha met us in the Villa at 10:15 to escort us off. She had arranged for a limo to take us to the Beverly Hilton Hotel. I don't know how disembarkation was for the other guest but for us it was a breeze. Somebody from NCL stayed with us and ran interference for us all the way to the imo. The only bad thing - AND NOT NCL'S FAULT - was that a piece of our luggage was missing. We filled out the form and went on our way. When we go home three days later we received a call from a lady in Phoenix AZ. explaining the porter had inadvertainly put our bag in with their luggage. She is sending it back to us.

As I said in the beginning this review may be differnent then most. There was no downside for us - nothing to complain about. Everything was perfect - even the things NCL had no control over, such as the weather - perfect. I guess that's just what life in the Garden Villa is all about - practically perfect in everyway!

OMG, you lived one of my fantasies! I felt like I was there too, for a few minutes. Awesome review--what an extraordinary cruise that must have been for you all!

*green with envy*

Awwwwww, Wineguy, ya hadda put up your review right now didn't you! Brat!

:p

Thanks for the great peek ahead, though.

Nice! When we were on the Dawn 5/22 sailing, a couple in our roll call got an upsell to the 14500 Garden Villa. Yes I dsaid couple they had all that room for two peple. They had a party there one evening for the cc's and it was great! I would love to stay there someday but that's never going to happen unless I hit the lottery!

Thanks for posting a great review. It brought back memories of us up on the sundeck taking pictures of the sunset, that's the picture I have on my computer.

Great review Chris! Randi's was again the highlight of our trip, and getting to know your family was a real treat, so down to earth and funny. Our kids went back to school today and they all told their teacher they got to tour the "top of the ship". They were in awe, especially that your dd's closet was the size of our cabin. LOL We just found out we get to go on another one in the near future, my inlaws are treating all of their kids(grandkids not included this time ;) ). Maybe we can get them to rent both Garden Villas - yeah right.

Now I just need to re-train the kids. They know that throwing the towels on the floor means you need a new one. In this house, that doesn't fly. Carry your own towel to the laundry room.

Take care, and if you're ever out here in our wine country, don't hesitate to call or email us.

Jenne

WineGuy - excellent review. I am as green with envy as Greenie! Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with us. :)

WineGuy - excellent review. I am as green with envy as Greenie! Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with us. :)

The GV is still open on your cruise and they just droppped the price you don't need to be green if you part with a little more green:D

The GV is still open on your cruise and they just droppped the price you don't need to be green if you part with a little more green:D

Don't you think for one little minute that we haven't been giving that some very serious thought! ;)