rabidstoat

I wanted to note that bartenders will still decline to serve a severely intoxicated person, even if they have an unlimited beverage package. This is for liability and safety reasons. Seen it happen and the person was very upset (and drunk!) because they had unlimited beverages but they really needed to be cut off.

I have booked a cabin before that qualified for 'all the perks!' and I declined the UBP and instead bought the soda package out of pocket. I don't drink alcohol much at all, I might have 1-2 drinks for the entire cruise and sometimes I don't have any. But I drink way more diet soda than is healthy. The cost of paying out of pocket for the soda package and gratuities was cheaper than the gratuities alone on the 'free' UBP I declined!

Is it possible to shove a folded wheelchair under the bed with the suitcases? That would save space.

I have no idea how scooter people manage, I really don't.

Summary: Bid $1250x2 moving from a balcony to an H7 forward-facing penthouse on a 7-day cruise on NCL Breakaway out of New Orleans and won.

NCL Breakaway 7 days out of New Orleans. I was in a very cheap sailaway balcony ($900 solo rate, usually we get charged double for anything but studios). Really wanted Haven to splurge but they were sold out. Then four days before the cruise I checked prices on the site and saw there was a forward-facing penthouse (H7) available for about $6000 for the cabin. I really wanted it so I bid $2500 ($1250 x 2) and got it within a few hours of bidding! 

I suspect I could've gotten it cheaper but I'll never know. So I paid $3400 instead of $6000, and missed out on the perks (like drink package and excursion credit, I still get the butler and haven access and other stuff). But I always decline the drink package as I don't drink and the mandatory gratuities are like $150, and I don't do NCL shore excursions so I wouldn't use that. So I missed out on $150 of internet and $100 of dining.

Probably the cheapest I'll ever see a Haven!

I've been to O'Sheehan's on a few ships and the Local on the Bliss. Honestly, they have the same feel to me. I did prefer the menu on The Local, I liked their Turkey and Bean Chili or Watermelon Greek Salad as a mid-afternoon snack. I had a burger there once too and it was fine, nothing memorable either way.

I just won a bid for an H7 forward facing penthouse from a balcony for $1250 x 2, so $2500 total. This is for 7 days on the Breakaway out of New Orleans. I've bid a few times under $1000 and never gotten it but often all the Havens are sold out so no one wins the upgrade, I'm not even sure if anyone won those times.

Sounds like my friend probably made her original 8:30pm flight back to the West Coast.

Lucky for her she ended up not canceling her flight, though she did book a second one for Sunday at a cost of $234, thinking she'd miss the Saturday one. It ended up being cheaper to just buy a new one-way ticket on a different airline than pay the ticket differential plus change fee on her original airline.

Presumably, NCL is still covering up to $300 in cost for those still affected by travel disruptions; even though she's not taking the Sunday flight, she's not getting the money back. Guess she'll see.

4 minutes ago, Mattnvick said:

So you could potentially have passengers that had an 8pm or so flight home tonight. Had cancelled it because NCL told them they wouldnt be back til after it would have departed. Picked up a $500 change fee and now find they are actually going to arrive at 3pm and could easily have made their original flight? Ouch!!

My friend on the Epic just posted this: "Now I am ready to mutiny. At 8:42 f---AM, in a deep sleep cuz I thought I could sleep in cuz we weren't getting in til tonight, off goes the ship's gong. "Good news." We'll be getting into port early. I could have made my original flight, and we have to get our luggage out earlier and do the customs thing. I haven't packed at all. Does she repeat the announcement so I can write down all the various time deadlines? No."

2 minutes ago, johare said:

 

What I heard is that once the luggage is taken off the ship, it will be locked up in the customs holding area until Sunday morning. Not sure if that's just for those getting back on the ship or everyone.

Yeah, my Epic source just clarified from a clarification she got: checked baggage does not have to be dragged back on board. It sounds like they might have to take any overnight carry-on off and on again, but that's unclear.

It does sound like they have to clear customs on arrival though, and not the next morning. And from other comments, it sounds like the ship might already be running behind schedule. If they end up limping into port at 2am and making everyone spend a few hours clearing customs at that hour, I anticipate cranky passengers.

So here is the latest I heard from someone on the Epic: they are indeed allowed to stay on the ship Saturday night given their expected late arrival at port on Saturday. However, currently the word on the street-- er, word on the deck I guess, is that everyone will be required to disembark first to go through customs on arrival at Port Canaveral. Worse, their luggage has to go through customs, they have to pack everything off and haul it off the boat, then turn around and drag it back onto the boat.

I'm not sure if this is true or not but it is the current ship rumor. With luck they'll only have to go through with passports, at least, and can do their luggage inspection the next morning. Maybe the port only wants to staff customs once and not twice? I don't know.

In positive news, the ship comedians have been taking advantage of the state of affairs to joke around in their comedy routines. Tonight one of them said that he felt like they were two announcements shy of a mutiny.

I am a morning soda drinker and the only time I had an issue was on debarkation day. This was last November on the Bliss, on debarkation day at the main dining room they claimed there was no soda available anywhere. I'm not sure if The Local (aka O'Sheehan's) had the same issue but I wouldn't be surprised, it sounded like they opened none of the bars so no sodas were to be had.

I'm sure if you were in the Haven they would've found one but otherwise, nope. Only time I couldn't find a soda. Had I known I would've stocked a can in my room fridge the night before!

Always amazing to see and rescue someone in open ocean.

And at night! I wonder if the raft signaled or had something to make it more visible.

Someone who saw it thought there were about 5 people on board, but that's all I've heard.

Anyone know what happens if it's refugees? Do they get returned to their country? Does it depend on if it's in international waters versus some country's waters? Does the country the ship is registered under matter? I think NCL ships are registered in the Bahamas but I'm not sure.

This was Sunday night, September 2nd, just before midnight. Someone with keen eyes noticed a raft drifting and the ship went back, found the raft, and rescued whoever was on board. Not sure how many or nationalities.

Attached some pics that someone else took and posted, not mine, I was asleep.

Sounds like I can skip the lines at the Internet desk, whoop!

NCL Internet has been pretty slow. I was spoiled on Royal Caribbean with their Voom at Sea offering. When I had that, I was able to VPN into work and get stuff done reasonably well. (4 hours of unplanned work on the cruise, but the company picked up my wifi package for the week in addition to me billing my time!)

So when you do the upgrade on your phone, is it obvious that you're getting the $125 credit and not paying full price? I'd hate to try to upgrade and end up paying full price and then have them say, "Sorry, can't fix!"

I have searched around here and it seems to be fairly consistent that you can take the 250-minute Internet that you can take as a perk when you book your cruise and upgrade it to an unlimited plan on the ship, by paying the difference in what the 250-minute plan is worth and what the unlimited plan costs.

What I can't tell is if this has to be done at the Internet desk. I remember reading one account from 2018 when someone said they were able to upgrade it when they logged into their account for the first time, but I may be hallucinating that.

Does anyone know what the deal is? Do I have to go to the Internet desk to make the change (and pay the difference with my OBC), or can I do it online when I log in the first time? I just don't want to wait in line if I don't have to.

This is for the Getaway, if it matters.

Anyone in WW been in a Haven suite on NCL? I'll be in one next month (one time splurge!) and trying to figure out what to ask the butler to bring and not bring for snacks. I'm going to tell him no candy, cookies, or desserts unless it's fruit. I love fruit, but I'm not sure if there are other things they could bring that aren't processed sugar.

Hello all! Fellow WW member here. I joined the day after I got home from my last cruise, so 1/21/2018. While I had a blast on the cruise, I was physically miserable because of my weight and RA. I’ve lost 25 pounds so far, just have another 125 to lose. I’m planning on being at goal for my next cruise, which isn’t until the end of 2019. Personally, I’m loving the new FreeStyle plan, but I know many don’t. I look forward to getting to know you all!

I've got a bigger goal than you: I'm down 60 pounds, but have another 150 pounds to go. Been at it about five months. I'm in my mid-40s, also female, and I go on 2-3 cruises a year.

Last cruise I actually lost weight. Part of that was made easier by the fact that being heavier than most I can eat more and still lose weight. Getting a lot more walking and swimming in than normal helped, as did the fact that I don't drink much alcohol, which I know can be a challenge for a lot of people on cruises. My general goal was 'one treat per day', though sometimes (like the day I did a culinary walking tour) that was stretched a bit. But like, I might have dessert at dinner. Or I might have something like a burger for lunch. Or I might have a frozen daiquiri in the afternoon. But I wouldn't do all three in one day.

I found breakfast the easiest meal, as I could do an omelet and fruit. I also did a lot of fruit for dessert, both lunch and dinner. Skipping bread helped because man, if I get started! I'd mix and match things, like go get a chicken breast from the grill area at lunch and then some salad and make a grilled chicken salad out of it.

I'm off again for a week in another 23 days!

How easy is it to get fresh fruits -- like apples, bananas, oranges - are they found in the buffets?

 

And who has taken any fitness classes, such as Zumba on NCL cruises? I'm also interested in swimming laps - are the pools decent for that?

Fruit is very, very easy to find (though for some reason, my last cruise had a lack of bananas, which is atypical). I was on NCL Epic earlier this month and had fruit a lot: pineapple slices, watermelon slices, and kiwi fruit were my go-to choices. They also had a light fruit cocktail, and oranges and I think apples (but as mentioned, NO bananas). I've been on Royal Caribbean and Carnival and they were similar. The fruit will be on the buffet for all meals and snacks, and there are fruit plates you can get for dessert if you want.

NCL Epic was pretty easy to eat healthy on. They also seemed to have some sort of fruit-based dessert every night, which would be a more 'exotic' type of fruit (like mango and papaya, say) is a light sauce, like a balsamic vinegarette. I had that one night as well and it was good. I also had 'regular' desserts and they were tasty, the only thing I didn't like was the sugar-free pumpkin pie, and I normally love pumpkin and don't mind sugar-free stuff. Another quick lunch for me was grabbing some grilled chicken breast from the outdoor grill area, and then making up a salad and using some fat-free dressing (they had Kraft brands in bottles, along with other choices) on it.

Fitnesses classes, I'm not sure as I never went. I did chat with someone who said they really enjoyed the morning spinning classes, which come at an extra cost. The pools, however, aren't really geared toward swimming laps, they're small-ish and pretty crowded as a general rule. I've used the fitness centers on various lines and various cruises and it's typically some standard cardio machines (bikes, treadmills, maybe a few other machines) and some basic weight machines and hand weights. Every ship I've been has big picture windows so you can look out over the ocean while exercising.

Well it has been a full week since I first tried to log into the new website. I see there are still issues. Wonder how long this is going to take them....

As an official fruitaholic that large list of fruit pleases me!

I was on a NCL cruise earlier this month and it had a lot of fruit but, strangely enough, no bananas. Apparently they were all up in the suites area of the boat, but they never made it down to the regular buffet line, not for breakfast, not for anything. I even tried ordering one (twice!) with my room service breakfast with no luck. It was quite strange.

I realize this is very old and you might well have already gone and returned, but the seatguru website is good for scouting out information about seat widths and pitch. You can google for the site, or if direct links are allowed here is their page for Thomas Cook flights: https://seatguru.com/airlines/Thomas_Cook_Airlines/information.php

Oh, hey, didn't know this board existed! I'm in my mid-40s with a LOT of weight to lose, aiming for about 200 pounds total loss. I started just before Thanksgiving and am about 50 pounds down, though I just lost a bunch of that in the past couple of weeks so I'll probably be the same weight (or even slightly higher) for a few more weeks as I stabilize. Just how my weight loss works.

I have 3-4 cruises a year planned, so one of the things I'm trying to work on is not completely derailing healthy eating during cruises to the point that I revert to eating fast food and sugary treats all the time on return. It's a balance act, as I also don't want to live on grilled chicken breasts and steamed vegetables the entire cruise! My cruise this month went really well as I tried to work on a 'one treat per day' philosophy (where a 'treat' would be a dessert, or a dessert-like alcoholic beverage, or a 'burger and fries' lunch). Next cruise is coming up in mid-May!

One day, I too hope to be under zip line weight limits. Probably won't be until next year under the best of circumstances.

What type of fruits am I likely to find at the Oasis of the Seas buffet for breakfast and lunch?

Is it just whole fruits like apple, orange, banana? Or are there pineapple or watermelon slices, or citrus fruit slices, or kiwi fruit?

I just booked a Haven and turned down the UBP because I only drink soda. It is cheaper to decline the UBP and pay for the soda package out of pocket, as soda + gratuities is cheaper than the gratuities alone on the UBP.

I hesitate to nitpick, but your peacock diva is actually a "he." And quite gorgeous. Loving the journal!

Oh dear! I gender-assumed a peacock. :( So noted, hee.