Candy Apple 12

Here’s an example I just pulled up for a cruise embarking from Italy tomorrow. It’s just after 11 PM in Italy right now. 
 

When we were there in December 2023, there was a HOHO bus available at the port. I took pictures of the brochure but we did not take it. 

7 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

It's definitely good it works for you! I know it works for others, too. It's just not something we'll ever do. We much prefer having a conversation with the butler each day of the cruise. I don't want to tell the butler to just refer to the letter and, in my experience, the butlers seem a little awkward if you don't have anything to tell them each day. They seem to be much more grateful when we're able to give them an idea of our day. But, to each their own. I'd never tell someone not to provide a letter. If that works, wonderful!

 

Cruising is joyful. That's all I know!

I do both. Letter on day one and daily conversations. Communicate early and often to have the best experience. 

49 minutes ago, Distinctive-Destinations said:

I could not possibly disagree more, for several reasons. But since this is strictly about food/dining, I’d much rather have NCL emulate Virgin’s dining than Disney’s.

 

Or better yet, just go back to what NCL was ten years ago and just charge me more.

If NCL and DCL dining were comparable ten years ago, then I agree that NCL should go back to what it was 10 years ago. My first NCL cruise was June 2018, so I don’t know what NCL was like in 2014. I also don’t know if DCL quality has declined since my last cruise on DCL in 2015, hence my caveat of “if DCL quality is the same as it was on the many cruises I took with them, Disney is the model of what NCL should strive for.”

Regardless, it would be nice if NCL worked on their food offerings.
 

I’ve never cruised with Virgin, so I can’t comment on that.  

21 minutes ago, Seas2mountains said:

Thank you. My husband and I both provided the spa feedback in the post-cruise survey earlier this week and I also provided additional information in a guest experience case that was submitted shortly after.  We have not yet heard back from that form. We did not request a refund from the amount we paid for the spa suite but asked if this problem can please be addressed to improve the experience since it was happening on several ships.

 

What is a guest experience case? It’ll be interesting to hear their response. 

Perhaps you can mention this on your post-cruise survey and suggest some of the ideas that others have posted here. 

2 hours ago, havoc315 said:

 

Both my young adult children are vegetarians.  Honestly, a "lecture about the nature of a steak house" is absurd, especially on a cruise ship with a limited number of restaurants. 

Especially among younger people these days, there are an awful lot of vegetarians.  People go to restaurants as groups -- Is the thought that if 1 out of 8 people in a group is a vegetarian, they should stay clear of steakhouses??

Every restaurant should have the ability to accommodate a vegetarian.  Because my mother-in-law prefers steakhouses, my kids have made due on multiple occasions -- Without any "lecture," the restaurant typically has a couple of off-menu items. And while many on-land steakhouses lack vegetarian entrees on their listed menu, they all have plentiful vegetarian sides, (which also exist at Cagney's but are becoming more limited).  

Disney -- at every theme park and cruise restaurant, now has plant-based options at every restaurant. For example, their Yachstman STEAKHOUSE offers a Trumpet Mushroom Scallop.  Their cruse based Palo steakhouse has a mushroom risotto and a spiced eggplant dish.

 

It's not just Cagney's -- Vegetarian options are lacking throughout NCL.  It doesn't bother me individually. But it really is limiting to a number of guests and it's behind the times. Especially with the plant-based options that are growing in availability, there is no reason not to offer more options.   Anyway, there shouldn't have been any lecture ---  It should have been an automatic, "Of course! we can prepare a plate of our side vegetables, or we can prepare a risotto!"

 

 

 

 

NCL is missing an opportunity to save $$ by not catering to vegetarians. Many simply prepared vegetables are cheaper than steak.

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Is Disney really the model of what we should strive for?  Yikes!!!

I haven’t been on a Disney cruise since 2015 because my kids have outgrown it and I’m not much of a Disney fan, but if DCL quality is the same as it was on the many cruises I took with them, Disney is the model of what NCL should strive for.  

36 minutes ago, havoc315 said:

In dining? Absolutely. 

Agreed.  

2 hours ago, seemoreroyals said:

 

Our group of four ate at Palomar on Prima this past December.  My wife and our friends wife both had the sea bass.  I had red snapper or some other type of fish dish I cannot recall exactly.  All three of us were in agreement that there was no flavor.  It was really bland.  Our waitress seemed put upon when I asked for some salt.  

 

It's a seafood place.  They should have great seafood.  In our case it was not.  I hope they find a way to make it better.  On a related note the best seafood I may have ever had on a cruise ship was at Los Lobos on the same cruise a couple of days later.  It was full of flavor.  So, if you decide to give Palomar a whirl proceed with caution.

Ugh…Sea bass is what I would have ordered. I agree that a seafood place should have great seafood. Maybe I’ll give Los Lobos a try. It seems to be getting good reviews on this thread. 

2 minutes ago, havoc315 said:

https://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/Fleet_Le-Bistro_Dinner-Dessert-Mobile-Menu_052824.pdf

Thank you. I may try the sea bass, my favorite fish. Which ones we choose will depend on my fellow travelers. My FIL also ordered the duck last time. 

20 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

 

Food is subjective. We would pic Cagney’s and Le Bistro. 
 

As much as we wanted to love the new restaurant Palomar, we’ve eaten there 4 times and have been disappointed 4 times. 
 

We ate at Nama sushi once and thought it was really, really bad. 
 

Onda, Lobos, and Food Republic are ok. 
 

We love eating in the complimentary Indulge Food Hall. 

16 hours ago, seemoreroyals said:

Another vote for Los Lobos on Prima.  One of the best meals we have ever had on any NCL ship and we have eaten at just about every specialty diner they have over the years.  The quac and queso we got as appetizers were outstanding.  Chips and hot sauce were abundant and tasty.  The service and the entire meal exceeded expectations from beginning to end.  

 

For a second specialty dinner I would go with either Cagneys, Onda, or the Japanese habachi place.  I agree with Bird on Palomar.  We ate there and were severely underwhelmed.

16 hours ago, PSU78 said:

We enjoyed Onda, Le Bistro, and Cagney's in that order. Unfortunately, Palomar was disappointing. Indulge Food Hall is great for lunch or a casual dinner to avoid the buffet.

11 hours ago, Sand and Seas said:

We loved Onda and Los Lobos on Prima.  Palomar was a huge disappointment for us.  (Enjoyed Ocean Blue on other ships more.)

  

And, hopefully, they will add Indulge Food Court to more ships🤞

Wow, four posters don’t recommend Palomar. I was thinking of trying it on my upcoming cruise. I wanted to try the sea bass, my favorite fish. Anyone care to comment more specifically as to why you were disappointed with Palomar? 

21 hours ago, Pablo Diablo said:

It appears the Le Bistro menu has been updated as well.  It also now combined Appetizers, Soups and Salads into one group.  Selections that have been removed include the pan seared bay scallops (appetizer)  , roasted maple leaf duck breast (entree) and marrons et clementines (dessert).

 

No new menu items have been added.

I always order the duck at Le Bistro.  Do you have the link for the new menu? I’ll need to decide whether to bother going there on my next cruise if there’s no duck. 

You’ll have to either take the forward elevators or the stairs by the forward elevators to deck 17 to enter the Haven and then take the Haven elevator or stairs to the Haven restaurant. The Haven elevator doesn’t go to deck 15.

Alternately, you could go up the elevator or stairs and take the “back entrance” to the Haven restaurant. 
 

These photos might help. 

25 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Glad you enjoyed it!  

 

I “think” the stairs are the only way to 17.  I took the Haven elevator and don’t recall it going to 17.  However, that doesn’t mean other elevators wouldn’t take you there (that’s where the Vibe is).

It looks like you’d have to walk through the Vibe to get to the Haven sundeck if you took the elevators, but maybe the concierge or other Haven staff could facilitate this if you had difficulty with stairs. It just seems like poor planning, but maybe there was no room for the Haven elevators on deck 17. We’ll see how the elders are doing with stairs come January. Hopefully no issues. 

7 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Pic of the door was taken outside the Haven.  If I hadn’t noticed a Haven guest coming out, I wouldn’t have known how to get in.  Previous Havens on previous ships I had been in had placards clearly marked on doors to their entrances.

 

Passion Fruit Mousse was indeed from Indulge.  
 

I’m sure you’ll love your cruise!

Thanks for your quick reply. I really enjoyed the details you included in this thread. I was on the Escape the same week, and I just found this thread when @Taconix posted on Thursday.
 

Hopefully your ankle is fully healed by now. I’ll be on the lookout for water on the floor near the Local because my mom and in-laws will be on the cruise with my husband and me.   
 

One question that you might be able to help with: Are stairs the only way to get to the Haven sundeck on deck 17? That’s how it appears from the deck plans. 

On 2/4/2024 at 8:26 AM, graphicguy said:

Huge NCL faux pas.  Doors to some Haven areas are unmarked!  Wandered past this one many times thinking it was crew access only!

On 2/5/2024 at 1:44 PM, graphicguy said:

Passion Fruit mousse…very good!

 

 

 

Was this at Indulge?

On 2/6/2024 at 7:17 PM, graphicguy said:

Secret Haven Door (this isn’t the only unmarked Haven Door….there are others on different decks.  As @cruiseny4life points out, it’s just past the Haven Restaruant in a little hallway to the right.  It looks like this.and brings you out to the stairs and hallway for the elevators…

Are the pictures of the doors taken from inside or outside the Haven? I’ll have too look for them in January. 

22 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

I received an email from NCL this morning welcoming us to our next Haven cruise.  Nothing really new.  The email informed us of  the on-shore concierge team and provided their phone # and email address and invited us to contact them.  It did state that specialty reservation were not available till 130 days prior to sailing.  

We've never received this type of email prior to any of our three previous Haven cruises.  Our cruise isn't till Jan 2025.

 

 

 

Same here and we also cruise in January 2025. In the past I first learned about the Haven concierge phone number here, before getting any communication from NCL, so if NCL is sending this out to anyone with a future Haven reservation, it’ll be helpful for Haven newbies.

2 hours ago, Daruma said:

 

The problem with that is that for a little bit more I can take two shorter, (3, 4, 5 day), cruises for the cost of one 7/8 day cruise 🤷

A 3 day cruise is closer to a 2 1/2 day cruise, the way I look at it even if you embark by noon. Plus you have the additional hassle of packing and unpacking each time, getting to the port, going through security and other lines at the port, and traveling home. Living in Florida does simplify the travel piece of the equation, but if I want to maximize my fun time to overall vacation time spent ratio, I vote for the longer cruises. Now, some people prefer shorter mini-vacations, so now that you have more information, only you can decide how to spend your vacation time.
 

As for me, I love sea days. I love the motion of the ocean (even if we’re rocking and rolling). I enjoy spending walking around and exploring the ship. Sea days are relaxing with no specific times to do anything unless you schedule a specialty dinner, a show, or a spa treatment.

31 minutes ago, Sand and Seas said:

As a long time Diet Coke drinker, I would not enjoy a pitcher of soda sitting in our fridge and losing all of it's fizz😬    I've gotten the soda package on some cruises.  On others, we have gotten cans of Diet Coke at one of the bars to place in our fridge.

 

We have asked our Haven butlers add pitchers of cranberry juice and/or iced tea in our fridge.  Also cartons of chocolate milk.    

FIL drinks regular Coke and likes it flat. Hubby says Diet Coke doesn’t taste as good flat.

1 hour ago, Sailing12Away said:

We would never sail without at a minimum the basic soda package. Do you typically get that or not even the soda deal?

 

Celebrity has 3 different ships that go to the Galapagos. Only is reallllly tiny (only 16 people I believe), one is newer and holds 100 people max, and the other is in between around 35 people I think. So not really a cruise ship that most folks are used to - more of a luxury private yacht. I'll know more in October when we get on board...

We’ve never bought the drink package or the soda package, hence my question on the success of getting a pitcher without the drink package. They don’t drink enough to make the soda package worth it. My FIL has had some success ordering a soda in the Haven restaurant without the soda package. He expected to pay, but they never brought him a charge slip.
 

I’m guessing with such small ships that the Galapagos cruises are very pricey.

1 hour ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

There has never been a charge for us. We always have a drink package but even if we didn't, I doubt that a pitcher of Sierra Mist...Starry...Sprite (whatever) would have a charge. 🥤

We never get the drink package but my husband and his dad would love a pitcher of Coke. Has anyone done this without a drink package? I’d love to try it on our next cruise. 

2 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

With all things being equal, Celebrity Retreat is always much higher in cost for us than NCL Haven. Our one and only Retreat experience was on a smaller ship (Summit), and did not even come close in comparison to what we experience on NCL (NCL was leaps and bounds better, except for the private restaurant, Celebrity wins there). 

 

Celebrity is no longer including gratuities for free, so no different from NCL's daily service charge.

 

Celebrity doesn't include the mini bar for free unless you're in a top tier room, so no different from NCL. NCL's drink package is pretty reasonable at only ~$21/pp/day - you can decline it if you want and just get a soda plan. NCL Butler can bring you a pitcher of ice water, lemonade, fruit juice, or fountain soda for free - you can't get that in the Retreat unless you're in a 20K+ room. They charged me $5 for a bottle of water just for removing it from the fridge and putting on the counter so I can put my own water bottle in there - never had that with NCL.

Butler on NCL will also bring you snacks throughout the day of nearly whatever you want. With Celebrity, my MIL was only in a sky suite and told she can walk herself to the lounge to get a snack (she was in a wheelchair BTW). We were in a celebrity suite and only got anything because we asked the butler about it, and he brought the exact same thing every day of the trip. NCL butlers will mix it up based on what you tell them you like. 

 

Snacks in the Retreat lounge never changed for us - ever. Some veggies, popcorn, and small canape sandwiches - that's it. With NCL depending on the ship you'll be on, if you're on one with a full Haven observation lounge there are free snacks there throughout the day that change up often and have a much wider selection than Celebrity gives you. Wait staff come through both there and the upper sun deck outdoors to take drink orders, or to get a bigger bite than the self serve snacks - never saw that with Celebrity.

 

With NCL the pool, sun deck, lounge, private bar, private restaurant - they're all in the same general location. So easy to go from your room to any of those exclusive areas without having to fight through the crowds of the regular ship. With Celebrity the restaurant was aft, the lounge forward, sun deck not accessible for MIL in her wheelchair as the elevator has been broken for 2+ years and they didn't tell us until we got on board, no pool - only a hot tub, and to get to it you had to walk through the crowds near the regular main pool area. So we went once to see it and quickly left. 

 

It honestly all depends on the Celebrity ship you're used to, and the NCL ship you're looking to try out. Not all NCL ships are built the same, and I'm sure if we had enough money to try Celebrity again on a newer ship in a fancier room our experience may be different - but that first trip didn't make us think it was better than the Haven at all. Not counting the Galapagos trip as that's a completely different beast all together, our next Celebrity trip will not be in the Retreat - not worth the price of admission at all.

 

*Edit - also forgot to add that the tip for butler and concierge on Celebrity are not included either. Butler made a point to remind us on day one, and we only spoke to the concierge once on day 3 after having many issues with MIL's room and level of service she was getting. Never saw our cabin steward until the last morning when he showed up with his hand held out for a tip with the butler. 

Thanks for the comparison. Does Celebrity go to the Galapagos? It’s a trip I’d like to take, but otherwise based on your post, I’ll stick with the Haven. 
 

The butler brought a pitcher of fountain soda for free? Did you have the drink package? 

7 hours ago, litebender said:

It's actually fairly sturdy for a plastic device. Also compact.  Could also hold a few coins, or breath mints, or a memory card (I still take a digital camera along). 

How about a photo of it being used?

On 5/8/2024 at 12:32 PM, chengkp75 said:

Just the same as they have in the past, essentially not at all.  Probably 25-30% of new hires either don't complete their first contract, or never come back after the first contract.  No way to "vett" somebody as to whether they are compatible with shipboard life.

Do most crew have shore training before getting on the ship? Or do they do all their onboarding with HR and training for their position specific duties on the ship? Just curious since this was the crew member’s first day on the ship. I wondered how much in person interaction he had with NCL prior to that day. 

20 minutes ago, Russiamomm said:

We got on the Joy on April 14.  There is definitely a separate security line for Haven. It’s on your left as you enter the terminal.

To clarify, is this after you enter the building?

@kismetique Thank you for sharing your ChatGPT poems. You’ve taken @Sthrngary’s butler letter to the next level!