CruisinHarvey

On 11/15/2018 at 2:56 PM, Newleno said:

Empirical evidence with statistical significance indicates NCL would make more money if they banned smokers,  ncl should do some studies/trials to determine if the program would  increase revenue.  If they adopted such a strategy because of evidence then anyone caught smoking should be kicked off the ship at the next port.  I would not be surprised if the study indicated over a 93% reductory therefore concluding it would be in the best interest of ncl corp to BAN smokers from their ships

So your saying that NCL hasn't done enough research to know they could make more money if they banned smokers, but you have?  It's all about competition. According to the CDC 15.5 percent of the American population still smoke.  That's a much higher percentage  in Europe. I would be willing to make a large wager that NCL does not lose 15.5 percent of their potential guests, since they allow smoking. Their competitors allow it, so will NCL, not to lose market share.      

13 minutes ago, jpcdds6 said:

What would the size of a ship have  to do with the Teppanyaki performance???

There are only 4 tables on the smaller ships. So you never have more than 2 tables going at one time. You can't tell if it's just the current 2 chefs, because sometimes they kind of work together, or an overall change.  

34 minutes ago, rtkenmore said:

We were on Escape in November last year and Teppanyaki seemed just as normal as usual.  It's one of our usual go-to's for dinner with SDP.

 

I don't recall the onion volcano ever being done though because of fire hazard potential.

They never lit a fire. They just built the volcano and poured the oil in so it would smoke. 

28 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

Teppanyaki always comes down to your chef.  Some are over the top while others reserved and just cook.  Its the luck of the draw.

That's what I thought on the Dawn. But when we were on the Bliss with a bunch of tables going at the same time, and no singing at any table, we began to whether it was a change. 

Has anyone else noticed changes to the show in Teppanyaki. We were on the Dawn in September, and my DW and I thought parts of the show were missing. We just chalked it up to being a smaller ship, and wasn't nearly as fun in that small venue. Well, just off the Bliss November 3rd. Same show. Once the knives and eggs are spun around,  and rice started cooking, done.  No more making a beating heart out of it, no more breaking the heart. No more onion volcano. No more singing, participation or just chef.  We really noticed on the Bliss.   You used to not be able to hear yourself in there.  I even mentioned it one of waiters. "Can you here that?" the answer was "What sir?" Exactly my point. It was dead quiet in a restaurant filled with chefs and diners. It is just our last few visits, or has anyone else noticed it? BTW the food is still as good as it ever was. Although, people go for the show too.   

3 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

How was Shot O'Clock and who was bartending?

It was fine. Whenever someone wanted it. It was mostly little beers. Ruby is the primary bartender. 

6 minutes ago, coopster said:

what grouping were you on and what time did they tell you it was sold out

We were not in a group. We're platinum plus, so we get priority boarding. Boarded around 11:10  It was only a couple minutes after we arrived the social club, that they said was it was sold out.  We were 3rd in the Vibe line at Social club, with other platinum/platinum plus cruisers. No one got a pass there. I'm sure the folks that went to guest services were priority boarding too.   

11 hours ago, coopster said:

thanks  will have to figure out where to go

Wish I could help. It was a mess last week. Not one person standing in line at the social club got a pass. Staff just walked in and said sold out. That's because they sold them at the guest services desk, although they didn't say that. They said they were all taken by B2B passengers. Lots of unhappy people in line. So we stopped at the Atrium bar to say hi to a crew member we know, and watched 4 people putting on Vibe bracelets. I asked if they were B2Bers. The answer was - Nope, got them at guest services but they're sold out now.  I told Jocel, an assistant HD, they needed to fix a problem.  Told her they needed one place and one place only. She never said which place it would be.  But, she did offer to get passes for us. Good luck!  

On 10/25/2018 at 8:21 PM, BirdTravels said:

Purchase Vibe Passes at The Social, Deck 6, Mid (Headliners on other -away class ships)

 

Not last week. They sold them at guest services, even though there were signs at Social Club. 

where did you hear and who told you the bar tenders are not part of the tipping pool? I do not think this is correct. If you heard it from a bar tender, remember don't believe everything you hear.

Do you really think that with all the increases to UDP over the past couple of years, it was give their bartenders a raise? $138.60 per week per UDP passenger. On a mega ship, what is that 2000 people, about half, getting the free perk? just do the math. They'd be making more than any bartender I've ever talked to anywhere. Both my son and nephew were bartenders, and we laugh about it. NCL would have every bartender from every cruise line applying for work. Talking to bartenders on other cruise lines, that's just not the case.

We're platinum plus. Not much different from Platinum. Ambassador perks surely don't give you any incentive to attain that level. We like priority boarding, where it exists. That perk doesn't even happen at some ports. We've never seen the priority dining and shows perk on any ship we've been on, and that's a number of them. We don't do the officers dinner. As one lady said, "You mean eat with the help?" LOL Actually, we'd rather eat with some of the crew we've known for years. Basically, we like the WiFi perk. We get enough minutes to contact our dog sitter daily. We really like priority boarding, again when available, and the 2 specialty dinners. Ambassador gets the one time free cruise, which, from what I heard, most of the exiting Ambassadors never got to use, before the benefit expired for them. They also get a few extras WiFi minutes.

You shouldn't even be asking about the ships, since they are sister ships, and very similar. Those 2 itineraries are so completely different, that is what should be your decision maker. Both a port intensive. Where do YOU want to go?

How do you find out what capacity your sailing is at?

You can get an idea by doing mock bookings and seeing the number of cabins available. But the only way to find out for sure is on board. They post all kinds numbers in the crew area on I95 each cruise. Total passengers, children of different ages, etc. Obviously they know before hand, but they won't tell you. As one of the head chefs told us once, if I've got a lot kids on board, I know to order a lot more fries. After you board, just ask one of the bartenders or wait staff for the count. They all know.

First you have decide if you want to sit by a pool. If that's your objective Vibe passes are useless. There is no pool there. Spice H20 which is free, has a water feature that, while not a pool, is very refreshing. If you're looking for adults only both Spice H20 and Vibe has that. If you're looking for a bar, then again both Spice and Vibe has that. If you're looking for always open cushioned loungers only Vibe has that. You can usually get a lounger at Spice until 10:30 or 11:00 on sea days. Then it fills up. Something very few people ever mention is the area just outside of Vibe. Most folks don't know it's there. As a result, there's usually loungera available all day. Other than the cushions and a waiter, it's about the same as Vibe. They have a bar that is served by the same bartenders that serve in Vibe. I've never seen a child there either. People rave about the service in Vibe. Bartenders know your name and drink, etc.. If you go to the outside area, and talk to the bartenders, on day one, it will be the same.

No priority boarding for CAS in Miami. They do have a CAS check in line on the right side of the check in counter. Although the last time we boarded there it was closed. They do have a platinum and above check in line at the far left side of the check in area. Since we're platinum plus we used that line. I didn't anyone directing CAS passengers to that line though. Good luck.

No priority boarding, just check in. But think about it. All latitudes members get priority check in. Those lines are apt to be longer than the none latitudes members, That line only has new NCL cruises in it. LOL

It's basic microeconomics. Prices go up as demand increases. NCL is obviously not having a problem filling ships.

Platinum plus here. Not hooked on NCL. But, with Caesars Entertainment giving cruise certificates all the time, it's hard not to cruise NCL for the price. Now we know a number of crew members, so it feels like home on the ships. Although, if we ever had to pay full price for a cruise, we'd surely look for the best deal on multiple lines.

I sent the request in April for a cruise in October 2019 and received the amenity confirmation. It does surprise me that they don't say to apply closer to the date, but they don't. It is the same way with RCCL. I request the shareholder OBC as soon as I book and there is never a question about it.

That is surprising they let you get those that far in advance. We just take about 4 cruises a year now. They're all from cruise certificates we get from the land based casino's during the year We spread them out a bit. It's so much simpler to work on each one as they come up. Return from one, and start the process for the next. Easy to remember what we've done(nothing), and what needs to be done, as each one approaches.

Hey all,

 

I am pretty sure this can be done but before I do it I just want confirmation. I received a $125 Visa gift card and I would like to buy OBC with this to go towards our daily service charge for our cruise in November. I just want to be sure before I purchase this that this would be considered "refundable" OBC and therefore eligible to pay for the service charges?

 

Thank you!

That use your gift card to pay for the charges at the end of the cruise. Why take 2 steps to pay for one charge? You're making it more complicated than need be.

Different strokes for different folks. I’ve done it five months before sailing once. One less item to worry about pre-cruise!

I'd assume there's some limit. Just because you had the stock when you booked doesn't mean you have it when you cruise. I don't worry about anything cruise related. It's vacation.

You sent that in early. I never send it in until about 3-4 weeks prior to the cruise. Just sent an email to them about a August 31st cruise a few days ago. Got an email back the same day, with a case number. Got the benefit confirmation a couple days later. We've got another cruise October 28th. I'll send that in the first week of October. I believe they say they want 2 weeks notice.

Don't worry about check in times. NCL doesn't even follow their own rules. If you've got an NCL transfer, they just load up the bus with who's there and take you to the port. It sounds like a great idea to stagger check in, but the logistics just don't work.

Does anyone know if you can buy the drink package when you get on board, and how expensive it would be.

Yes. $89 + $17.80(20% gratuity) per day. so for a 7 day cruise that's $106.8 x 7 = $747.60. I believe you must buy it the first day. But, that's so expensive no one buys it. NCL raised the price so high, passengers either get the "free at sea" promo, or just buy drinks individually.

Why would you ever change a cruise because of this? It’s not like they are going to be loud wherever they are on the ship!

 

 

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You've obviously never been on one with a large group aboard. Sometimes they have private functions. Those functions close down venues that you should have access to.