Ozzie's Mom

I made a "monthly" payment on a long-booked cruise and got $100 credit from AMEX! Yay! Free money!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your real-time commentary, Doug. We sail 2/20. I'm always the one in bed by 9:00 so am sending this thread to my adult offspring as a primer of what to do once Gigi takes the grandson back to the cabin. Keep writing!

My DH and I do not drink. We are hosting our two adult children and a grandchild in the Deluxe Owners Suite aboard the Escape in February. As part of our package, we got two UBP.

Question:

If the UBP applies only to the first two guests and we change our children to be the first two, what other impact (outside drinking) does that have on us? Have I inadvertently forfieted any thing else?:eek:

Why were shows canceled?

Best experience?

What would you NOT do again?

@bobg529, @busyblond, JEALOUS!

That made me think of "Crankella" on our Transatlantic. She sat at the bar beside me at Margaritaville going on and on and on about how the quesadillas were way too spicy, and what a terrible time she was having. She was miserable. She said she was "working" writing for cruise critic and other places. For half an hour she talked about how horrible her experience was because of spicy quesadillas. I'm sure she's one that would give the entire cruise a 1 or 2 star rating because of that. We've all met people like that, either on the forum and/or on our cruises. I didn't help matters by commenting that I thought they weren't spicy enough, and acting like I'd never heard of cruise critic so she didn't feel quite so important. :D

Your post reminded me of a passenger on a cruise my mom and I took to Nova Scotia and Quebec one fall. We were on an excursion, driving from the port of Gaspe to the cliffs at Perce to enjoy the scenery. This woman started complaining as she was boarding the bus that she had paid for three tickets and was the only one going and the only open seat was in the back of the bus and she hates riding in the back of the bus and it's cold in here and she couldn't believe the nerve of her friends backing out at the last minute and how long does this drive take to get to Perce anyway?

OMG. She complained the entire way there (about 45 minutes). THEN, as we boarded the bus to return several hours later, she stepped onto the bus (again, the last passenger to board), stared at the seating options and unloaded on the tour guide. She was NOT going to sit in that back seat again. She had paid for THREE tickets and had seen NOTHING of the sites on the way over and she would just be DAMNED if she was going to sit in the back of the bus and look "at the same dirt I saw going out there!"

A very nice couple sitting two seats behind the driver, opposite side that she had occupied for the first part of the excursion, stood and moved to the back of the bus so this woman could have their seat. Not a thank you, no acknowledgment, nothing from this woman.

The bus had no sooner left the shore than she started in again. The driver's window was slightly open and, because of that, she was certain she would have pneumonia before we got back to the ship. And the tour guide needed to tell us earlier about what site was coming up because by the time he said it, we were already upon it and she wasn't given ample notice to enjoy it. Furthermore, because she had changed sides of the bus, she was now seeing exactly the same things she had seen going out.

One man sitting behind my mom and me piped up that he wasn't at all surprised that her "friends" had stood her up. In fact, he wondered quite loudly whether she had any friends and perhaps had tried unsuccessfully to bribe someone to come with her. Furthermore, he found it very hot on the bus and would any of us sitting near him mind if he lowered his window?

And you KNOW her review, if she wrote one, was that the cruise was horrible, the excursions were horrible, everything sucked.

I'll bet when she was a child, her mother had to tie a pork chop around her leg to get the dog to play with her. :D:eek:

I did expect the CSI team to show up to take swabs of the bathtub and likely pick up bits of my DNA along with it ;)

Now, I'm more interested in solving the mystery of the burnt bum that I am about the ship!

I've never been asked and dont recall whether I had to give it when making the reservation.

I buy a new magnetic door sign (as seen on cars) for every cruise. Go to vistaprint dot com. They even have hundreds of backgrounds / styles. I buy size large.

Loved our Pearl cruise. Leah Rodriguez was wonderful as was Tephany Ramos whom we saw all over the ship (restaurant reservations, LeBistro hostess, etc.). Hope they are still there in Oct. 2016 when we return.

Loved it! T-minus 143 days until the next one.

Hmmmmm. Jewel is probably my least favorite to-date. Getaway probably my favorite BUT I'm booked on the Escape in February and have a feeling that one will take over the top slot!

14!!!!

We have a Meet and Greet organized for this cruise. Look us up in the Roll Calls list and sign up!

I thought so, too, @sotermarler! Cant wait to play on those!

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If you log into NCL.com and then shop cruises, your name is handed off to a pool of PCCs who call and tell you they're your new PCC. Happens to me weekly. I tell them I already have a PCC and that he'll call me if I need to know anything. I've learned to shop without logging in so I'm anonymous.

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Go to the beach where the cabanas are, then out past the reef. Loads if fish.

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POA, Cadillac Diner, first chocolate shake in a year. Whoa.

Those aren't silly questions.

- If we went on a Thanksgiving cruise would it be full of children? We like lively and aren't children hating, but I don't want to be on a floating crèche. You're going to have more children during holidays and school breaks than you will at other times. We typically cruise February and September for that very reason -- and we're careful not to book during Spring Break.

- if itinerary does change do they just add extra sea days, or cruise to alternative ports? I understand that this could be different at different times: we have cruised 5 times and on 3 times we have had itinerary changes so think I'm cursed with them. Wow. Three out of five. The captain wants to maintain the published itinerary and he makes decisions about changing as they are warranted. If he can skirt the storm and still get you to there, he will.

- would it be sunny enough to walk around in shorts and vests in the Bahamas/Port Canaveral? It will be warm enough in the Bahamas, yes. https://weatherspark.com/averages/32...nd-The-Bahamas Florida, probably. https://weatherspark.com/averages/31...-United-States Whether the sun shines on any given day is another thing.

- does anyone know of any detailed reviews of this cruise on here? I know there are the normal reviews on the main review section, but I was thinking of the detailed long ones that people do on here. I have loads saved in my favourites for the Epic and Spirit, but I can't find any for BA. Reviews are here http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberre...hip&ShipID=642 or your can use the search feature to find specifics. I prefer to scroll and read. :D:D:D

Thank you Ozzie's Mom!

I did the whole thing twice (yeah I'm still a newbie) and your post summarises everything perfectly.

It deserves a place an NCL's FAQ (and they should throw in some OBC for you imo). Really helpful post! :)

HEY! I'm for that! Woo hoo!

No probs on the mum v. mom. I speak all versions of English!

O.M.

I was actually hoping this might be the case, but to my knowledge they were not included with the promo I booked. If they end up being paid for I'll be very happy!

Log on to NCL.com

Click on "View Reservation"

Click on "Vacation Summary"

Click on "Itinerary & Planned Activities" which is underneath the blue "Reservation at a Glance"

At the very bottom of this window, you'll see the list of freebies, such as:

Amenity Details

• Adult Beverage Package
  
• Ultimate Dining Package
  
• Prepaid Service Charges for Haven and Suites
  
• Shore Excursion Credit - Call to Book your Shore Excursion at 1.866.xxx.xxxx
  

:D:D:D

I'm on the same sailing and had no problem booking any of the entertainment/dining options, but I can't pre-pay the service charges for some reason. I get a message stating "we are unable to display this option at this time". No edocs yet either. NCL can't figure out why the pre-pay service charge option is not displaying, and they can't add it on their end either, so they have escalated the issue.

I get that message on the cruises where my service charges were comped as a part of a promotion. :D

T-minus 31 and counting. Looks like we're on the same Pearl cruise out of Seattle, @Coyboy. :D

@Ozzie's Mom, love your play by play on embarkation! I just joined the site as hubby and I have just booked our very first cruise for January and I could practically envision all this by your description! So helpful for a newbie!!! We'll be leaving Miami for Cozumel aboard the Norwegian Pearl. It's a charted cruise with the Impractical Jokers. Love the show, these guys are hilarious, and thought what better way to do our first cruise.

Thanks for the great info!

Welcome to Cruise Critic! I highly recommend you go to the CRUISE CRITIC STORE http://www.cruisecritic.com/store/ and buy CC lanyards. They're a great place to keep your key card. We recognize CC folks around the ships (and they, us) by the CC lanyards. We decorate ours with the ships pins we've collected (we add a new one each cruise). :D