Stealthdog

Day 4 daily.  Sea day (formerly Grand Cayman)

Decided to push the gym to late morning, and try breakfast at Osheehans.  It’s noticeably less packed in the gym now than it was mid morning on the first sea, but still a lot more people using the gym this cruise than the first cruise. 

32 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

The pizza looks great. Take all that healthy green stuff off of that pizza and I'll bet it would be even better. 😁

I agree 100%.  I would have gone with a different one, but was overruled. 😂

We missed the 730 theater show we were going to see and saw the pour house doors open, so headed over to that to see what was happening.  At about 745, only half the seats were taken for the 800 show, so we decided to see it since we didn’t get a chance to see a Pour House show on the first cruise.  For comparison, during the first cruise, people were lining up hours in advance to get seats for Pour House shows.

The show is really, really loud.  We saw a couple of guests with earplugs, so they probably knew what to expect.  If you plan to see a pour house show, put earplugs on your cruise packing list.

The concept was fun, with 4 singers and a band.  It was an interactive show, so if you sit in the front row, you may get picked on. 😁. We were a couple rows back, in the middle of the row, and safe.  
 

At times it was hard to hear the singers because the band was so loud.  IMHO, the band and one particular singer was the star of the show. 
 

The show did seem to be a niche entertainment for a specific audience.  I like it because it is a different type of entertainment you won’t see anywhere else on board, so it’s an option for people.  Older guests probably won’t enjoy it because of how loud it is and how different it is from a traditional cruise line production type entertainment.  There were about 6-7 guests in the room under the age of 30 and they all looked bored and were on their phones most of the time. 

We won’t go back for another show just because of how loud it was.  It certainly has appeal to a 40-65 year old guests who like rock music. 

Last night we returned to La Cucina (first time this cruise).  We were given the option of sitting inside or outside on the waterfront.  We decided outside because it wasn’t too windy out, was very pleasant weather, and we had the perfect view of the pier to watch for pier runners and our departure from port. 

We wanted to try new items from the menu.  I got the antipasti and Eric got the insalata mista.  The antipasti was nice - it is a lighter version of a charcuterie board we had at Pincho.  I particularly liked the olive tapenade and peppers, which weren’t even in the description.  Eric enjoyed his salad.

We decided to skip the pasta plates and try one of the pizzas from the menu.  We got prosciutto e arugula.  It was tasty and came out in traditional Italizian pizza style - not very doughy or crusty.  We probably wouldn’t pay the ala carte price for it, but think getting a pizza with a dining package was worth it.  I will talk about the pizza on board at the end of this review. 
 

For dinner, Eric went off menu (based on a recommendation from Julius at Moderno) and got an aglio olio plate with shrimp.  Ask your server in Cucina if you can go off menu if you have something specific in mind you want.  They may be able to accommodate for your main meal.  I got the filet with ravioli.  Eric loved his custom made dinner.  The filet was perfect and I really enjoyed the ravioli with blue cheese - I’m not huge on blue cheese, but it was a nice part of the dish.  
 

For desert, our server brought us the three deserts we didn’t get during our first dinner in Cucina.  We got the Tiramisu, Panna Cotta, and Torta.  The Tiramisu is the star dessert in Cucina - if you want a safe desert choice order that.  I also enjoyed the torta.  The panna cotta was the least favorite.

We realized we weren’t going to make the 730 show time in the theater so we took our time with deserts and post dinner coffees and enjoyed being on the waterfront.  
 

The service was above and beyond in La Cucina.  When we get service like that we think it’s important to show our appreciation (I don’t want a tipping discussion because of how divisive it is and that is a personal decision).  When you get exceptional service, fill out a hero card for that server and turn it into guest services.  Those hero cards mean a lot - they can lead to time off, extra time at ports, bonuses, etc.  I’ll also include the hero cards as a topic at the end of this review.

Our server last night was Septiana. She was amazing.  Ask to be seated in her section and she will take care of you. 
 

8 minutes ago, slavetoabunny said:

Port fees for Grand Cayman?

We were already awarded $50 nonrefundable OBC for Grand Cayman.

13 hours ago, macewank said:

Proud of this group. Only 2 folks weren't on by 630 and they must've gotten on shortly after! No duplicate call outs.

Last night was a weird night.  I don’t even think those 2 people called were late boarders.  I think they were related to the first Code Alpha medical emergency that was announced about the time all aboard was supposed to happen.  We were watching the pier and there was only 1 late arrival back pier.  We saw one person run to the pier, hop on one of those bicycle carts, and get driven up to the ship.  That happened around 632 and before the call asking 2 people to report to guest services. 

While we were eating in La Cucina, a woman had a partially blocked throat and her dining companion had to give her the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge whatever was stuck. It was eventually cleared and she was ok. 
 

Later in the evening a second Code Alpha medical emergency was announced.  
 

I hope everyone is ok from those emergencies.

17 hours ago, GuelphCruisers said:

I have to agree with you.

I got to the venue one night a full hour before the show there wasn't an empty seat.

None of the people in my group wanted to stand that long even before the show started so we left.

Too bad, as I really wanted to see the band at least once.

We ended up going last night (I’ll post about it today).  What a difference a cruise makes.  It’s interesting seeing the difference between two cruises. It’s like the ship has completely different personalities every cruise.  The more I see, the more I realize that last cruise was one of those Party Cruises I’ve heard and read about.  This cruise is a Family Cruise and has a feel similar to what we are used to on a cruise ship.

15 hours ago, MrsK said:

Hi!  I have just started to read your review but have come across your picture that you posted. 

 

I don't know if you will remember but I just wanted to pop in and tell you that we (my husband and myself) enjoyed having dinner at the table next to you in LaCucina on the first cruise and discussing all of our various cruise  and cruise line experiences. 

 

I am enjoying your review a lot so far and really appreciated the bit of time that we spent together.

 

 

Yes - we remember!  We love having those conversations with avid cruisers because everyone’s perspectives are different we like to hear what other people’s thoughts were on some experiences we haven’t had yet.  It was great meeting you two!

Hope the rest of your cruise was awesome (I think our dinner was about halfway in).

15 hours ago, cat shepard said:

Have you, or anyone you know tried the ropes course? I do hope you check out the slides, my group is planning a competition when we sail. 😎

We haven’t and haven’t come across anyone who has.  We saw people doing it during the first cruise.  Looked really fun.  It’s still something on our list, so it may happen by the end of this week.

A group completion sounds like a blast!

Dinner tonight is La Cucina.  We had the option of sitting inside or outside on the waterfront. I couldn’t resist this view with all aboard in 15 minutes. 🤭

Day 3 (Cozumel) and back on board.  Like the Eastern ports, with T-Mobile you get coverage in Mexico (in this case free data and call service), so you can go off airplane mode and ship Wi-Fi while in port.  

We spent some time in Spice H2O - not many people on board so it was nice to relax in the hot tubs and loungers.

And I finally found something on board that I am good at (besides drinking).  Introducing your NCL Escape Dec 16-23 Bean Bag Toss Game Champion…….😁

39 minutes ago, GuelphCruisers said:

Hi!

We also had a Club Balcony Suite, however ours had a shower only, not tub/shower combination.

Just curious how you were able to get a tub? ..as my DW would have loved to take a bath over a shower.

I don’t know why mine had a tub and yours didn’t.  Maybe some decks have them and some don’t.  I’d actually prefer not having the tub - we don’t use it and have to climb in to shower.  

4 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

When getting the filet at Le Bistro, are you able to order it without the fois gras (yucky liver gunk) and avoid the surcharge? I've read varying reports on this subject.

Ordering the filet without the fois gras came with no surcharge.  The server at Bistro will ask you when you order.  I’m not a fan of fois gras (agreed, yucky), so had no bill for dinner. 

2 hours ago, L1211 said:

This is super helpful!  Trying to decide which card to use (how did I end up here???).  AA citi helps me with hitting exec platinum, also has $200 per cabin.  No dinner.  I will call Amex platinum desk and see what they have to say!  Did you buy outside travel insurance or is the Amex covering that too? Do you bill for travel planning advice???  So helpful!! 

We typically get outside insurance.  I don’t know much about the Amex insurance and what it covers.  Eric tracks all that.  I should probably pay more attention to it.

My fee is an alcoholic drink if we ever cross paths. 😁

It is an absolutely beautiful day in Cozumel.  It’s a little windy and the waves are still going strong….otherwise it would be perfect.  
 

We are docked in Punta Langosta by ourselves. We can see two ships docked in another section - a Celebrity ship and what looks like a Royal Caribbean ship, but it’s too far away to tell.

We haven’t docked at this particular pier before - it’s nice and feels safe.  It’s multi level mall style. We walked out the mall and to the older shopping district towards the commercial ferry pier. Lots of restaurants and shops to check out.  
 

There is a very lonnnnnnng pier to the ship.  Best pier runner viewing will be waterfront Deck 8, deck 17 near the Haven area, or cabin balconies on the left side of the ship. 

A trivia dream team has been formed this cruise.  Eric paired up with @D41.  Mr D41 and my role is to keep those two focused on the questions and not get distracted, while we distract ourselves with drinks.  
 

We got 19/20 in 1980s music, only missing Martha and the Muffins.  It’s time to send Eric back to remedial training. 😂

Day 3 Daily.  Also, this weeks fitness activities attached.

We are sailing down the Yucatán right now - we just passed Cancun, and have some nice views of the Mexican coastline.  Skies are completely blue and it looks like it will be a great weather day in Cozumel today.

Yesterday we were thinking about doing the Lucha Libre excursion because it looked like something we have never done before, but when we checked with excursions it was sold out.  We have been to Cozumel 6-7 times already, so it’s not a terribly exciting port stop for us.

I think our plans for the day will be to go to the gym after we dock, have a spice H2O afternoon on board, and maybe finally try the slides on the pool deck.  We might get off for a few obligatory photos of the port, but we are kind of leaning against that.  

We saw the Choir of Man last night again.  Because we were dressed up and I didn’t want to be called on stage again, we didn’t sit in front of the stage (third row on the right instead).  To ensure I wasn’t selected, I avoided making eye contact at the point in the show when I knew it was coming - I looked down at the phone and pretended to be going through photos 😂

They were missing one of the performers from last week’s show, so it was a slightly different show because others had to pick up his songs and the choreography had to change with one fewer performer.  If we hadn’t seen it last week, we wouldn’t have known.

Note - if you do the behind the scenes tour (at least the complimentary latitudes rewards one), part of the tour takes you to the dressing rooms in the theater.  The producer (Carlos) for this cast  will answer any question you have about the show.  

This version was just as high energy and entertaining and we (and the whole audience) really enjoyed it.  The performers do ad lib a little with audience participation which is really fun to watch.

NCL has done such a great job in getting Choir of Man on their ships and putting on an outstanding theater show specifically on the Escape.  If you think about it from a financial standpoint, a ticket for a Broadway, West End, or National Tour is typically about $100/person, at the low end (we have spent more than $200/person depending on seat location).  The Choir of Man on the Escape is the same quality as those national tour shows (I won’t say that for most other shows on cruise ships), so getting that complimentary on board is awesome.  

If you are on a NCL sailing that has Choir or Man, make reservations for it.  It’s an incredibly entertaining show. 

Last night we ate at Le Bistro.  It was our third time so far on the B2B and it was another home run.  
 

They held our bottle of Tempranillo from Friday night (last night on the first cruise), so we were able to enjoy that with dinner.  
 

We didn’t get anything new, so no food pics.  Eric got the steak tartar and loved it again.  I got the escargot - the only time I ever get it is on cruise ships so every chance I will order it. 😂. We both got the onion soup.  For dinner I got the filet and Eric got the lamb.  Everything was cooked perfectly, the flavors were great again, and we were both happy with every dish. 
 

I knew something was likely coming for desert, so I just ordered anything for desert.  I got the Frasier strawberry desert and Eric got the Marquis chocolate desert.  The chocolate is probably the best desert in Bistro, so if you only go once, that would be my recommendation.

After the deserts were delivered, the mini birthday cake was brought to the table.  It was a very light cake and was pretty good.  We didn’t eat much of it because we already had cake in the cabin, but the gesture and recongnition of celebrating a birthday on a cruise ship is always nice!

Day 2 MDR lunch menu.  I didn’t get a pic of the dinner menu. 

9 hours ago, APDMOM said:

Happy Birthday @Stealthdog! 🎁

Thanks.  We had a nice dinner at Le Bistro last night and went to the Choir of Man again to celebrate!

13 hours ago, L1211 said:

Don’t know about the “Amex platinum perk”. Did you book with your platinum card?  Any other benefits? Thanks!! 

There are 2 ways to get the Amex Platinum perk - book the cruise through Amex travel or through a TA that is partnered with Amex.  You have to pay for the full cruise with your Amex card.  
 

There area lot of travel and other perks with the platinum card (refunds for streaming services, Uber credits, hotel credits, etc).  I assume you are asking specifically about the cruise perks. 
 

Amex has a perk when going on most cruise lines.  The perk depends on the length of the cruise and cruise line.  For a 7-day NCL cruise, we get $200 non-refundable OBC and 1 dinner for 2 at Le Bistro for paying for the cruise with our Amex platinum card (through a TA partnered with Amex).

it’s not enough to pay for the cruise with the platinum card, you have to make sure whoever you book it through can get the perk applied to your reservation.  Many of the large travel agencies can’t do it.  
 

Between Amex and shareholder benefits, we start every cruise with a nice amount of OBC. 
 

Google “Amex Platinum” and “The Points Guy”.  That blogger lays out the what you get for it by cruise line really well. 

13 hours ago, L1211 said:

How do you like the Club Balcony?  Thinking if that cabin in the Bliss.  Thanks!! 

We like the Club Balcony.  The bathrooms are larger than the regular balconies, so that is a big positive to us.  The location is nice too - we are right above the waterfront deck, so only 1-3 levels of stairs to get to everything. 
 

The one perk I wasn’t expecting was the free laundry.  We already get it for platinum status, but if you don’t have loyalty status you are saving $29 for a bag of laundry.  On a B2B for us, we are using both because we didn’t want to pack too much. 
 

We are getting canapés every once in a while, but to be honest I’m not even used if we are getting the for club balcony, loyalty status, casino, or something else. 
 

I would look at the difference in prices.  If the club balcony is close in price to a balcony, I’d do it.  If the difference is large and you like the location of the regular balcony, the better value is with the regular balcony. 

The weather strikes again.  Because of the winds we had to go slower than normal last night and today and our time in Cozumel is adjusted.  Cayman has also been cancelled because tendering will not be safe enough.  So we arrive in Cozumel tomorrow at around 11ish instead of 8, and will leave later in the day since we aren’t going to Cayman.  Bummer for us because we have never been to Cayman before and it was the only port we planned an excursion.   Everyone will get $50 Non-refundable OBC for port fees for Cayman and refunded any excursion booked as OBC (I assume refundable).  Hopefully this cruise doesn’t turn into a 2 port, 5 sea day cruise and we go to Great Stirrup Cay on Friday. 🤞