Maraprince

4 hours ago, Chbaynes8 said:

 

 

To cliff....thank you. Good idea and I will do that. The head of housekeeping was not as forthcoming. 

They can always assign you to a crew member/guest cabin in an emergency.  Crew can double up.

15 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Yes. Go to the Box Office as soon as you embark for reservations for the Escape Room, Comedy Shows, Canvas by U painting, and show changes. Deck 7, Forward, Starboard side. 

Can only 1 passenger sign up for the 2 of us or it is necessary for both in a cabin to sign up?  I'm asking since we also need to book the speciality dinners we are entitled to.  Where do you go to do the speciality diner sign up on board?

Thanks.

MARAPRINCE

Sailing 10/28 on Escape and tried to access my  Roll Call and received an error message.  Are the Roll Calls not available?

MARAPRINCE

It’s no longer bangers and mash... it was beef wellington on our cruise.

 

 

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When did you sail? We are on the 10/28 sailing and I can tell you if it is still bangers and mash I will opt for the veg. option. May be they found that the majority of passengers attending are not that fond of bangers and mash and switched it! I am hoping that is the case.:D

MARAPRINCE

I don't like 2 hour meals either.

Especially when half the time is spent waiting for the food to be delivered to the table!:( If you are dining in a speciality restaurant I can see it since the food is more upscale than the meals served in the MDR. And if you should have to send something back because it is the wrong item or it is not prepared properly, the waiter seems to disappear to who knows where! Now you are talking about another 20 mins. before he returns again.

MARAPRINCE

That is fine!

What about in a regular balcony cabin? Do you get bar soap and body lotion?

MARAPRINCE

I don't recall anything about Escape the Big Top. Howl at the Moon and the comedy shows alternated nights, I believe, with Howl at the Moon on days 1, 3, 5, and 7. We tried going to Howl at the Moon a couple different times but it was always insanely packed. I'd suggest going as early as you can. We didn't even try the comedy show, but we did see the line was huge, so definitely keep that in mind. At least on the Getaway, it was possible to reserve the comedy shows in advance while onboard, but I don't know if that's the same on Escape.

 

Good luck, and enjoy!

Isn't Escape the Big Top the escape room rather than an actual show????

MARAPRINCE

On sea days, were there any special theme buffets held in Cagney's like on the Breakaway? :D:p:D

MARAPRINCE

Do you access seating in the main showrooms from the back and need to walk down to the seats like the Breakaway or can you enter from different floors?

MARAPRINCE

Ummm, yeah, this does not in any way explain why, a couple of days later during the Captain's Q&A, it slipped that the reason we didn't go to Nassau WAS NOT weather related, but instead because they couldn't get a berth. Hence leading to the build up of anger and frustration that NCL may have known full well before departing NYC that we were never going to Nassau. Which leads many to find the deceit and hard-nosed corporate attitude just another reason not to trust them for future ventures :confused:

As far as not being able to secure a berth in Nassau, NCL could have requested to go to Freeport instead. On a sailing 2 years ago that did visit Freeport as a scheduled stop we were told that if Nassau has an "overflow" of ships, the ones without a berth are sent to Freeport. Freeport is used to this process. Carnival and Disney are given priority in Nassau over NCL.

Compensation for the changes seem to be very lacking.

MARAPRINCE

Just because they are "asking" doesn't mean they will get enough bookings!:eek:

MARAPRINCE

I will echo some of the previous posters on this topic. I bought 3 balcony cabins for this trip at a cost of $9,100 and we had no problem with the itinerary change at first.Safety is the most important point on this issue. That being said when ship went to the worst port in the U.S. in Florida followed up by their own island( no port fees) and then not going to Nassau at all just screams of non equal value. To not refund port fees for Nassau is a bad way to run a company. There is even a question as to whether there was port availability in Nassau and whether we actually were going there. The way NCL handles customer service is appalling. To be honest I was not expecting any kind of refund from this cruise but was thinking along the lines of a future cruise credit in amounts comparable to what cabin type was booked. This was my first cruise with NCL. I have cruised on 9 different cruises prior to this one and twice on Celebrity and once on princess we received port fees back and OBC for missed ports. NCL's total disregard for this aspect of their business policy will to me mean no future cruises with NCL. there are plenty of other cruise lines and ships that are available. They will not see my money in the future.

 

I also saw an article on NCL yesterday and Del Rio was quoted as saying cruise fares are rising as of October

1st. He also stated that 50% of their bookings for 2019 are filled as of now. So his incentive to be accomodating to current guests is lacking. It's a short sighted business view and may work for now as the cruise industry as a whole is strong but nothing lasts forever and his loyalty base will decrease over time.

IMO, only receiving a credit of $30 per person seems rather a poor compensation for both the change in ports, only going to 2 ports and the initial difference in the cruise pricing in general from what you would have paid for the Nassau/Fl sailing to what you were charged to sail to Bermuda and with no future cruise credits offered. You made the sailing even after the ports were changed vs. cancelling.:(

MARAPRINCE

On sea days were there any special theme buffets held in Moderno's? We enjoyed them on the Breakaway last time we sailed.

MARAPRINCE

Very strange that for us it's per cabin not per person. Maybe it's for my cruise. But I would suggest seeing that there are definitely differences that you know for sure how much credit you are getting.

 

Shore Excursions Promotional Credit

 

$50 USD per port Shore Excursion Promotional Credit

• QTY:1
  

Just printed out my docs tonight and I am seeing the same thing!!!! We are sailing to Bermuda and were originally told it would be per cabin (2 people -- $25 per person per port) as it was on our last sailing with NCL. What gives???

MARAPRINCE

Honestly, this cruise was NOT cheaper. We sailed in 2016 in October to Bermuda and this cruise costs us almost $1,000 more! So we got no "cheaper" benefit by picking September. We picked this date because it was when the other couple saiing with us could go. That is why I said that for the amount we spent on this to go to Bermuda is nowhere close to what the new ports are worth. It is what it is and our friends want to go just to cruise with us, but we all expressed concern for rough seas since my husband and my girlfriend have mobility issues.

 

We shall see.........husband commented that if they get toward Nassau and find out they can't go there because of storms and turn around, then I'm sure the roof will fly off with complaints. Time will tell.........and yes, what a PP said -- maybe enough Haven passengers will cancel so we can get an upgrade! ;)

Bermuda sailing are more expensive in general no matter when you are sailing so I get the rationale of the price difference between it and the Flordia - Bahamas sailings. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing when the weather will affect a sailing since bookings generally tend to be made months in advance. While I would be disappointed in not sailing to Bermuda I would be happy that I was still going on a warm weather cruise rather than up to Canada and much cooler temps or not being able to sail at all.

MARAPRINCE

Thank you for taking the time to post your thoughts.

 

For me, I now take "free styling" to mean you are not locked into set dining times at the same table anymore.

While that is true, you have to work around booking your shows and being able to eat dinner in the MDRs and/or the speciality restaurants. Sometimes you are able to walk into the MDRs without making a reservation while other times you do not get to eat "when you want" and you may need to go around to each of the MDRs to see if you can get in or you may need to go to the buffet. The ships hold more passengers but the dining rooms and show rooms are way too small for the amount of passengers on board. Hence the "scheduling" comes into play with "free style" dining.

MARAPRINCE

After The Choir of Men show is over in the Manhattan Dining Room do they go back to serving a regular dinner menu for the rest of the night?

MARAPRINCE

My mom did! I thought it was a bit too dark chocolate tasting. My favorite on this trip was the cannoli!

Where do you find the cannolis? Any extra charge for them?????

MARAPRINCE

Did they offer different types of buffets (Mexican, Asian, etc.) in Moderno's on sea days for lunch as does the Breakaway?

MARAPRINCE

Heard that there are cannolis on the ship:D:p:D If so, where can you find them and is there any additional cost???

Are the vegetables bearly cooked? We had that problem on the Gem and had to send food back due to poor preparation. Manhattan Room was the worse for service and strange looking food, i.e., lasagna had a noodle on top of chunks of meat. Breakaway had slivers of vegetables or as the Maitre'd said "garnish".

MARAPRINCE

Heard there are cannolis on this ship :p If so, where can you find them and is there an additional cost????

MARAPRINCE

Do you have to wait to book the 2 free Platinum dinners on board or can it be done now?

MARAPRINCE

Sailing 10/28 and was finally able to reserve some of the free shows and Choir of Men. But I encountered one problem with the Brat Pack concerning the time of the show. Want to change the time from 7:30 PM to 10PM instead. However, while it looks like I was successful in the shopping cart when I go to print out what I have booked it is showing the 7:30 PM time instead!

What's the best way to make sure we are getting the 10PM time slot??????

MARAPRINCE

Hence why NCL calls it a "service charge" and not "gratuities."

Whatever it is called, it is an extra charge added to the "free" promos and must be paid.

MARAPRINCE