cruizinwithkids

Your posts are cracking me up. I don't see any of the cruises that are out of Tampa (since there are none out of Miami :D) that stop in St. Thomas, St. John or Antigua. What am I missing or what are you missing?

And what time is it where you are right now? :D

 

Not to be confused with the All-You-Can-Eat Seafood Basket presented the same night at O'sheehan's as well.

That's funny because I was confused - though since I don't eat seafood, it didn't matter.

I went on the Getaway last fall. They had an OBC promo for Miami fans. I ALMOST felt guilty taking the OBC, especially since they were playing New England on our cruise. New England won. YAY

I see someone posted that the game would be while you are in Bermuda. I THINK there is a pretty good chance that you would be able to see it at O'Flanagan's Outback.

http://www.flanagans.bm/index.php/flanagans-sports-bar

I sailed in 2007 on the Gem's special 2 night cruise out of Boston in December. The New England Patriots had a "meaningful" game. There was tons of activity centered around the game. Buckets of beer were being sold like there was no tomorrow. They couldn't get the game feed and we ended up seeing a Pittsburgh game. I have always wondered if getting the New England game was even an option for the ship.

 

Only you can answer this: How would your father have reacted to NCL's shenanigans in this case?

 

Would he put up with it, or would he have cancelled and chosen another vacation for your family? Do you think he would want you to go on the cruise after being treated this way? I believe you can honor him and his memory best by doing what he would do in the same situation.

I agree 100% with this.

You can bet if you called NCL and told them you were promised the Deluxe Owner's Suite (if that's even a thing) and all kinds of other things that you weren't, they would find that recording in a heart beat.

I had planned a surprise cruise for my husband and me. It was out of NY, so we would be driving, and it was December, so an early Christmas gift. He is a cop and I had cleared the time off with his chief. I wasn't sure how I was going to tell him. I bought a Santa Hawaiian shirt. My little brain was putting together a plan. One evening, NCL called. He answered the phone and they said, "I'm just calling you about a change to your itinerary to your December 7 cruise." He said, "I think you need to talk to my wife." I would have been mad if I had a good plan in place but since I didn't it worked out perfectly. While I was on the phone with the horrified NCL rep, who knew she had ruined a surprise, my husband was dancing around the house singing, "I'm going on a cruise! I'm going on a cruise!"

A couple of years later, we took the same cruise but with friends of ours. We had gotten an upsell to a very nice suite. They had gotten an upsell to an owners suite. When they got their upsell offer, they asked NCL to call us as well. They called and got my daughter on the phone. She was probably about 12 at the time. She asked them to call back and of course they never did. It worked out great because my husband didn't know we were in a suite already. At check in, he thought we were in the suite line because we were with our friends. It wasn't until we actually got to our room that he knew we too were in a suite.

Here's an interesting one: my family took my mom and I on a cruise last summer. They thought it would be nice to invite my dad and his new girlfriend! So my mom got to spend her vacation with her ex husband and the new lady in his life. What's worst is, we saw them on the pool deck and ruined the surprise and had to pretend to be excited when we saw them.

 

 

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I can't imagine who "they" were that thought surprising an ex would be a good idea. LOL

I wonder if anyone else had that experience and is it just saying that because Moderno and Teppanyaki are set price restaurants and Cagneys and le bistro are alacarte pricing?

 

Thanks

If you had no dining package, you would be charged for the Moderno and Teppanyaki when you make your reservations. You are not charged for the a la carte until you actually order your food, so it can be priced. (I have no idea what happens if you are a no show).

If you wanted to dine all 7 nights, it would make sense to book the flat fee restaurants first as they would come off your 4 night dining package and then the a la cartes since you would be charged anything for those up front.

Today is my 90 days out and I don't see where I make reservations? Maybe its too early in the morning. What time do they usually allow you to start making reservations?

They opened up unusually early last weekend. I had all my reservations made by around 2AM on Sunday morning. I happened to log on for something else and saw more than the 1 choice under dining.

Besides the number of people who are CC members is an extremely small percentage of all cruisers so I doubt that the upsell number is going to soon be overwhelmed with more callers than they usually have.

I'm not on Facebook but I understand it's there as well.

The only reason I would recommend cancelling is the fear of a self fulfilled prophecy.

You can also look at YouTube if you want to see some fights on Royal Caribbean.

Back when there were formal nights, we were driving to the port when I realized the only shoes I had were the sneakers on my feet. We passed a Payless and I sent DH to buy a pair of black shoes for me. I have no idea why I didn't do it myself. All I can say is that he did as he was told. I had black shoes in my size.

Another time we sailed the Pride of Aloha. We had been upgraded to a Suite and then upsold to an Owner's Suite. I packed all of my bras the night before. In the morning I walked around the suite and looked through the drawers probably 10 times. There were several sets. I guess I thought a bra was going to magically pop up. We didn't see our luggage until we got to Boston.

I'm sailing on the 7/31/16 cruise to Bermuda from NY on the Breakaway. I wanted to try and determine how full the ship is by fake booking for each category and there appears to be quite a few cabins open even with only 10 days from sailing.

 

I wonder if the decision to not allow water to be brought onboard is the reason there are so many open cabins. Well, I don't need a full ship to have fun but it's interesting to me to see the number of open cabins this close to sailing.

As long as there are guarantees offered there is really no way of knowing how many cabins are available. They could show 100 available cabins, but if there are 100 guarantees still waiting for assignments, there are really no available rooms.

When we were seated, the hostess and server both verified that we were using SDP credits. The server then brought us meat and cheese variety plates to get us started while we looked over the menu. We really didn't know what anything was, so he asked if we just wanted him to bring things, and he did. He continued to bring various dishes, explaining what each was, until we were stuffed and cut him off. At one point we asked for another of something because it was so good. (It was all good though!).

Thank you VERY much. That sounds good and something different.

Can I please tag onto this thread since at least the subject line is pretty general.

Sailing on the Escape in November. I think we're going to eat at the Tapas restaurant for a lunch. How does that work? I see there is a $7.00 charge in addition to the SDP. Do we order as many tapas as we want?

Many, many, many years ago, I went to Mexico with my mother. They had tapas in the bar. I thought they were free. I ordered one of these and one of those and two of the something else and on and on. They were delicious, but then the bill came. YIKES!!! My mother made fun of me about this for years - we got a good laugh out of it.

Anyway, I don't want my second experience with tapas in 30 years to be a repeat. So, can someone please advise me as to how this works.

Thank you.

From a country bumpkin. LOL

Not that it helps answer for the OP, but I was able to book it for my 10/15 Escape sailing.

What was your family's reaction when they found out you were staying in the Haven?

It does count as a US port, but there was a specific exception put into place to allow transport of passengers (not cargo) between one US port and Puerto Rico until such time as a US-flagged ship provides such a service.

Thank you.

I was looking at itineraries the other day and was excited to see a cruise originating in San Juan and ending in Miami. I clicked on it expecting to see something new and exciting. It was the same old thing. LOL

 

(The key in terms of violating the PSVA is, in fact, cruising from one USA port and returning to a *different* USA port, if on a foreign flagged vessel, unless the itinerary includes a distant foreign port. The problem isn't returning to the same port.)

I've always felt I understand this law/rule. I'm curious as to why Puerto Rico doesn't count as a US port.

My experience, with the platinum meal at Le Bistro (which is definitely restricted to just the one starter and dessert) is that they will let you know when you order that the extra one will be charged.

Thank you. That is helpful as well. I now know to use the Platinum meal at Le Bistro. It's not my favorite menu and limiting it to one, one, one is really not a problem.

Of course since we are eating at both La Cucina and Cagney's twice I could try actually making decisions and have one, one and one. That way I don't leave with a stomach ache OR spending extra money. :D

No, you shouldn't.

 

The T&Cs only state that there is an extra charge for additional entrees. General experience is that this is what happen onboard.

 

However, there have been a number of reports that people have been told that you are also restricted to just one starter and dessert (and if I recall correctly, 2 sides at Cagneys). This doesn't seem to fit in with the T&Cs and some people have reported being able to argue the point.

 

Therefore, it depends on two things. Firstly, whether the person who serves you tries to use those restrictions, and then whether you want to argue with them if they do.

 

Thank you. I thought I was losing my mind about one app and one dessert. And not a chance am I going to argue with anyone on board about it. If I get a bill and there is a charge on it, I MIGHT question it. And that's as far as it would go.

I think you might still have some confusion re the SDP. Read those T&Cs posted for you previously carefully. You seem to be thinking there is some restriction on menu items ordered with your 4 meal plan as far as apps and sides. You can order all the apps, sides and desserts you want along with your main entree without incurring any additional charges. You can use it at the dinner show, but it will be $15 upcharge per person. Sushi, $7 upcharge. You can use it at Margaritaville. Food Republic, no, but it's a la carte and small plate so it's possible to eat there very inexpensively. Great food! According to the terms and conditions, you can't use it for upcharge items in the MDR or for the Wine Lovers lunch.

 

I'm predicting you are going to have a fantastic cruise and all this will be forgotten once you are onboard.

I have read and reread and I don't think it is specifically spelled out, so can you just answer to the best of your knowledge. And I'm not going to come back yelling if you give me inaccurate info. :) Would we incur an additional cost at Cagney's if we were to each order, soup, sliders, steak, two sides and dessert? I get a stomach ache just thinking of that amount of food.

As far as the beverage package, we have done the soda pkg in the past. We go to the platinum dinner early in the cruise and I have one glass of wine with each dinner until it's gone. Going with the beverage package we'll probably have some fruity drink instead of a Pepsi once sometimes.

I'm sure you're right. We will have a great time, but boy the Sept. 24 of the Disney Fantasy is sure a tempting alternative. :D

 

Good luck and Enjoy. You will have an amazing cruise. I loved the Escape!

Thank you.

I'm sad because the "nickel and diming" is really getting to me.

I think Demonyte is going to be correct when it comes to trying to use the dining with Ultimate dining "rules." We generally do two appetizers at Cagney's and La Cucina. Since we are doing two meals there, I'm assuming soups at $5 each will add $40 to our bill. $40, the end of the world? Nope.

When we made the change and the dining got messed up we were charged the service fee on the three nights. $25, the end of the world? Nope.

We had chosen the internet over the beverage. We have brought diet COKE on board in the past. The reports of the internet are bad so IF we have to use it for a couple of minutes, we should just pay out of pocket. We usually have a couple of drinks and if we're in a bar or at a show will buy the Pepsi. So we decided to switch the internet for beverage plan. That adds another $200 to our bill. The amount that we pay for drinks with the addition of more soda probably works out pretty even, BUT we're paying $200 and not getting our beverage of CHOICE. End of the world? Nope.

We are still outside of final payment. I wouldn't even consider cancelling the cruise for one of these issues but adding everything together, I am in fact paying more money for the cruise and getting nothing more for my money. A tiny bit less in not having the beverage I want.

 

I searched for this info but couldn't find anything. So if anyone has a link to point to, please feel free.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

NCL's SDP FAQ/T&C clearly list the places where you can use your package and if there is an additional charge in addition to the meal that is used from the package:

 

https://www.ncl.com/specialty-dining-package/faq

Thank you. That's what I couldn't find.