schmoopie17

34 minutes ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

Le Bistro is my least favorite but Platinum AmEx buys dinner for me and a buddy so I will try it again tonight. 
 

I like French food…just not Le Bistro. Stay tuned. 
 

Surely/Shirley you can't be serious. Le Bistro is consistently one of our favorite NCL dining venues. Been four times...had Filet four times. Delighted four times. As I've so astutely pointed out in previous posts, if you want a great steak, go to Le Bistro. After all, Filet Mignon is French.

Just be sure to get it without that goose liver crapola on top.

13 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

As far as I'm concerned, cruise lines are only in charge of what is actually theirs, meaning their staff, and that's it. Dock workers, pier workers, tugboat operators, customs and border enforcement, and municipal workers do not work for the cruise line, so any delays or bad customer service are NOT the fault of the cruise line, period.

So, I'm confused. Do we blame NCL or the port staff for making people wait so long hanging upside down? I'm leaning toward port staff...but so many things are upside down in the world today, I'm not sure who to blame in this instance.

18 hours ago, euro cruiser said:

I don't understand the appeal of carry on only. 

We always check our bags, but on our upcoming September cruise (r/t Rome) we're doing carry-on only. We will have a tight departure time out of FCO going home, so we don't want to have a later debark time and then have to wait to get our bags in the pick-up area after debarking the ship. Also don't want to drag two giant suitcases, plus other stuff, down four flights of stairs, (elevators will be packed to the gills) since we're doing self-debark to get to our private transport to FCO as soon as possible.

Also don't want to have to waste time checking bags at FCO...rumor has it it can add a significant amount of time at FCO. Plus, checked bags = fees.

So, in this instance, carry-on is the way to go. Although Mrs. Schmoopie is already fretting about not having enough room for all of her "stuff". Plus, we have bulkhead seats reserved both ways, which limits our onboard storage options. But I assume we'll somehow manage.

On 5/1/2024 at 9:13 PM, umaine89 said:

Can't tell from the picture...did you have the ashtray in front of the toilet? How about the sign that says "No smoking in bed"? 

The Jade has two Main Dining Rooms...Alizar and Grand Pacific. We only ate in Alizar once in 14 nights...just didn't "do it" for us. We thought it had a "different" vibe...not horrible, just different. Not as elegant (or as "Grand") as Grand Pacific. On the bright side, you can wear shorts in there.

Grand Pacific we ate in three or four times and I believe I needed to wear long pants (in my case, jeans). But don't quote me on that (although, this is CC, so someone will probably end up quoting me 😁)...

Oh, one more thing. Baseball caps are not allowed in Jasmine, the Asian restaurant where we ate at least four times.

This is for cruise buffs only...

2 hours ago, Travelicious said:

Can’t find anywhere onboard that makes them.  Not even the whiskey bar.

Bummer. Maybe on your next ship(s).

16 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

Cookies

 

 

 

Nowadays when you go into a website they ask if you'll accept their cookies.

I'll accept these...

Also the Local/O'Sheahan's...depending on the ship.

2 minutes ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

I can confirm that at least one studio occupant on deck 13 has complained about the metal scraping noises from the ceiling.

 

At least you didn't have a balcony wall/door vibrating/growling with the volume of a million cicadas (just trying to be topical). Even ear plugs, a sound machine and Mrs. Schmoopie's snoring (and that's saying something) could not come close to drowning it out.

6 minutes ago, destar said:

I hope you didn't purchase this stock thinking you were going to make money on it. I purchase for the OBC.

I purchase my 100 shares at $20.25, but when it sank to $11, I bought another 200 shares which I sold at $20+. So my original shares were basically free.

In case you missed it, go back and read post #9 in this thread. I bought it on a whim, not expecting to make much of anything (except OBC). Anything else is gravy.

3 hours ago, JIMESOPUS said:

But if the prices were the same, which they will never be, I would choose the Prima, with better cabins, dining venues, and more entertainment options.  

In this case, the Pearl and the Prima have the identical itinerary...with one exception. Prima goes to Liverpool. Pearl goes to Dublin. Since we've been to Liverpool and have done all of the Beatles stuff (we've never been to Dublin), that tipped the scale in favor of the Pearl.

Plus we've been on the Prima and weren't exactly in love with it, while we were recently on the Jade (Pearl's sister ship) and loved it. Pearl it is...

3 hours ago, BethesdaSC said:

We just used it on Monday morning.  The line was long-ish but no one was in the fast track line so we breezed right through! We only had carry on, arrived at the airport about 7:04am, through security and PP control by 7:36.  And at no point during any of flights there and back did I remove liquids FYI. Our flight was 10:20 and we had arranged private transfer back through Leader Car Service.  Ship (Epic) arrived about 5:30 and we were allowed off starting at 6:15am

For our upcoming cruise in September, we were originally supposed to arrive at Civitavecchia at 6:30am...just received notice from NCL that it will now be 6:45. Started sweating even more bullets than before about missing our 11:05 flight. Your post went a long way to decrease my stress level (actually considered canceling the cruise). I realize everyone's experience is different and that there can be unforeseen hold-ups, but I'm breathing easier now. Sounds like you had more than enough time to spare.

We also have booked a private transfer and will only have carry-ons. Will also get the Fast Track.

Fingers crossed...

26 minutes ago, Ellis1138 said:

Just hang on for a while and get your OBCs. Right now, the industry shoud be ok and NCLH is still filling ships on NCL, Oceania and Regent.

Yep...I didn't buy this stock to be able to afford to retire. (We retired in 2015). Mostly bought it for ----- and giggles...and the OBC. And the entertainment of watching the ups and downs.

On 4/29/2024 at 8:45 AM, Radio said:

I didn't know that you could get liquid "Half and Half" in a pouch . . . Who knew?

 

Radio

 

 

.

Hope you didn't have as much trouble opening those suckers as Mrs. Schmoopie did. You'd think they contained liquid gold for as hard as they make it to open.

2 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

I was hoping for an updated post with more things that went wrong. 

Since the title of his post included the words "Rant One", I was breathlessly awaiting additional rants. I guess I can stop holding my breath now...

"NCL topped first quarter earnings estimates. However, shares dropped after quarterly revenue fell short of analysts' expectations."

So...in other words...they made more money than was estimated, but because it fell short of what the "experts" expected, the stock tanked.

Not being a financial whiz, I'm having a hard time reconciling those two things.

In any case, my whopping 100 shares that I bought at $12.90 are still making a little money (along with our OBC benefit).

Saw "growlers" in the title and I got all excited thinking they were filling growlers in the District Brewhouse. But since you never included anything growler-related in the body of your post, maybe they are and you forgot to mention it. Fingers crossed...

23 minutes ago, JIMESOPUS said:

I still can't understand why they continue to sail North on the Prima, the ship, crew, and passengers would be better served with a Southern route. Our Southern TA on the Viva last November was fantastic, we even went into the infinity pool. 

The Prima would be a great replacement ship for the aging POA in Hawaii.

I suspect our Aqua TA will be similar to the first Prima TA but at least it's only seven days.

Everyone says the Prima is not a cold/bad weather ship to be on when all of the passengers must remain cooped up inside. Given the issues being reported, it appears that "everyone" is correct.

That's the reason why we choose the Pearl for our TA next April...even though the Prima was leaving at almost the same time with a nearly identical itinerary. Well, that...plus the fact that we were less than thrilled with the Prima when we cruised on her a year ago.

20 hours ago, Fogfog said:

Most folks sitting in chairs with cocktails while apps on spoons passed. We stayed about 25 min which was longer than the officers. We were surprised it was poorly attended

 

Apparently NCL cruisers don't like to be spoon-fed.

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

I know how they save money! But, I'm not willing to take the savings they pass on to me for the rigmarole. 

 

Rigamarole. One of my dad's favorite words...and I've never heard anyone else ever use that word in the 36 years since his passing. In the immortal words of Bob Hope, thanks for the memories.

1 minute ago, Travelicious said:

Back in the land of the living, but still a super lazy day.  Basically, we at breakfast in Hudson’s, walked around a while to give our room steward time to make the rounds, only to return to find out I touched “do not disturb” instead of “make up room.”  We were sending out the first load of laundry today, so left again to make sure it was collected.

 

We were hoping for a light lunch at Indulge, but every table was taken before they even opened for lunch.  We went to the local for what turned out to be a not so light lunch:  wrangler burger and Reuben.  I also had a Moscow Mule.

 

 

 

 

I saw the last half of Elvis a couple of night ago.  It was coming on when we got back to the room, so decided to watch the beginning.  Then promptly fell asleep.  
 

Dinner was Los Lobos, where they’ve changed the recipe for the chili relleno.  Not it is stuffed with quinoa instead of cheese.  I like quinoa, but not what I expected.  Anyway, it was lots of food and we are stuffed.  We each had 2 margaritas, and a decaf cafe Mexicano.  I forgot to take photos of the mains before we dug in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of days ago, Pookie mentioned that one of her crowns was loose.  This is one she just had redone a month ago.  We joked that she should stay away from corn on the cob.  So tonight she had the corn cut off the cob, and the crown still came off during dinner.  Guess we’ll try to find a dentist in Reykjavik to glue it back on.  It is way too early in the trip for this.

 

Fret not, Dear Readers.  Despite have a few drinks, I’m not going to the casino and am done for the night.  Hopefully we can try Indulge tomorrow.

 

The next time you're in the Local, see if they can make you a Matador. They had them at O'Sheahan's on the Jade, so they probably make them at the Local. It's a bourbon drink, but a little sweeter.

If you order it and don't like it (highly unlikely), send it my way and I'll finish it.

There was another guy at the Whiskey bar (connected to the Martini bar) who was also very good. He made a Grass Clippings for us to sample (I loved it...will be on the lookout for it on our next cruise). Never got his name, but he was always smiling.

Mrs. Schmoopie gravitated to Shane (as did many other women) so we always had our seat waiting for us at 4:15 in the Martini bar. 

You Tube also has videos for most cruise ports and stuff to do in those ports.

You're looking at the Escape. Did a TA on her a little over a year ago...one of our favorite ships. So much so, that we're booked on her again in September. Having said that, we recently got off the Jade (smaller ship) and we both said the Jade is now our favorite ship. We often change our minds (see below).

As for differences from RC, the refundable deposit is a big thing for us as we have been known to change our minds...several times, in fact.

Also (and this may not apply to you), NCL offers a 10% discount to Veterans off of the base fare. We have taken advantage of this perk a number of times since it was instituted.