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Posts posted by GA Dave
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First port day: Roatan, Honduras. We had reserved the Tabyana Beach Party through the ship. A few interesting points:
- We were escorted off the ship by the Concierge staff via the forward service elevators. This was one of the great benefits of sailing in the Haven. Saved a bunch of time waiting in lines, etc.
- The dock area was quite hot with minimal shade. Be prepared if you have to wait for your excursion.
- There was a strong police presence in the harbor area. They looked to be carrying Uzis or MP-5s. It may have been due to the protestors outside the main gate.
- The protestors had signs claiming that the cruise lines and tourists are destroying their environment with trash, etc. The interesting part is that, while on our bus headed to the beach, we passed a long stretch of waterfront with all kinds of trash on the shore. Most of the trash did not look like anything that a cruise line or its passengers would be throwing out (pizza boxes, bleach bottles, Coke bottles).
The approach into port.
- We were escorted off the ship by the Concierge staff via the forward service elevators. This was one of the great benefits of sailing in the Haven. Saved a bunch of time waiting in lines, etc.
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Something I forgot to post earlier. Our in-room coffee service.
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The beginning of the treats.
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For our 30th anniversary on Monday, we had reserved Moderno for dinner at 7:30 PM far in advance. Once we boarded, we found that we had also been invited to a reception with the Captain and staff in Fat Cats at 6:30. So we made a full night of it. The reception was wonderful, with a live band, drinks, passed appetizers, and picture opportunities. Dinner at Moderno was as good as any meal we had previously at Fogo de Chao. My DW is a huge fan of the grilled pineapple and the staff kept her happy. I thought the filet was incredible. Wish I could find out where NCL buys their beef, because this was true all week.
The brass:
Posing:
Our complimentary anniversary cake:
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Dave, I'm so sorry your wife experienced this. I hope, you did report this as it really should not have happened. I've dined in MDRs many times and never had an experience even close to this, however, I've heard that others have been disappointed. Hope your darling is feeling fine now and thanks for letting others know what they may want to avoid.
I do have to say the staff was very attentive once she became ill. They quickly offered napkins and soda water and apologized profusely. It was disappointing, but she was able to recover very quickly and she had wings later that night at O'Sheehan's with no issues. I was just so glad we had the Haven restaurant to eat in the rest of the week, as the food there was as good or better than all four of the specialties we ate at.
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When we went back to The Haven for some rest and a few drinks, I noticed this on the bar. Anyone want a large glass? :')
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Our slot pull was Monday afternoon and was a great time. Richard took home the pot. Congrats!
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More wandering around pictures.
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The port side of The Waterfront at night. Very relaxing.
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Here is the regular "Topmast" bar menu. Many delicious drinks on here.
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I had reserved dinner at The Tropicana Room since my DW is a huge I Love Lucy fan. She even went out and bought a poka-dot Lucy dress with matching jewelry, etc. Seating was immediate and the atmosphere and entertainment very nice. Unfortunately, the food was not good at all. We both ordered the French onion soup. It was very oily/greasy. I ordered the Caesar Salad, which had virtually no dressing. My main course of Beef Sirloin Medallions was fair, with the meat being tender, but the sauce kind of bland. My DW ordered the 3-Cheese Baked Ziti. When she stuck her fork in it and pulled up, the entire mass came out of the bowl. A couple of bites later, she literally became ill and we needed to leave so she could go clean up. Very disappointed with this, since she had so looked forward to it. We did not return to any of the main dining rooms for the balance of the cruise.
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Next up was our informal CC/FB M&G at Spice H2O. The guys who arranged our events (slot pull too) did a great job. Kudos to them.
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Next up was Muster Drill. This is an area they need to work on. Our location was in O'Sheehan's. No problem. We arrived at 3:20, found a seat. Muster was supposed to start at 3:30. People wandered in later and later. They finally started at 3:45. People still wandering in late. This took much too long simply due to people arriving late, wasting everyone else's vacation time. IMHO anyone not there by 3:30 should have to do muster out on the deck in the heat like the old times.
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Dave, thank you so much for this wonderful, informative and well layed out review. I'm booked on the Encore inaugural cruise but feel like I need to cruise on a newer mega ship prior to that cruise just to get an idea of what to expect.
I think I'll likely choose the GA due to your wonderful review.
Thanks for all the great info and wonderful pics.
cheers, Connie
Glad you are enjoying it Connie. Many more pictures to come.
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The inside portion of Sunset Bar.
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Next we visited the The Waterfront smoking area for my DW.
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During our walk around before muster drill, I had a chance to get pictures of Moderno and Cagney's before anyone else came around.
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One of my favorite drinks, the Raspberry Guava Mojito. I also love the Rebellious Fish (making them at home now), and the special drink that our Haven bartender, Miraslav, created for me (it was not on the menu).
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I did miss taking pictures of two of our towel animals, but here are the rest. Sometimes feels like we are cruising with Noah!
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We changed time back one hour on Sunday night, another hour on Monday night, forward one hour on Wednesday and forward another hour on Friday night. These changes were always noted on page 1 of the dailies, but we also received reminders on our bed during turn down service every night, along with our dailies and our "animals".
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Below is the regular laundry service that is offered.
As soon as we unpacked on day 1, we asked our Butler, Rodelio, to please take a suit, dress shirt, and dress for pressing for our anniversary dinner on day 2. We were concerned that they might not be done on time, but we had them back by around 10 AM on Monday (day 2). They were very well pressed, protected in paper and plastic, and on sturdy plastic hangars. Definitely worth the less than $8 we paid!
Norwegian Getaway 9/9 through 9/16
in Norwegian Cruise Line
Posted
On the dock before our excursion.