MoCruiseFan

Does it really matter why, but yes someone knows.  The Captain at lesst would.

58 minutes ago, buddy1755 said:

I got flights thru NCL for my upcoming transatlantic,  on the return leg of the trip we were booked out of Gatwick with Air Transat.  I went on to their site and booked our seat selection and paid for our luggage.  WELL NCL just changed everything,  I now fly out of Heathrow with Brittish Airway.  I was told by NCL AND Airtransat that that monies are not refundable.  So in the future I quess I would wait till last minute to choose seats I I will never pay for luggage until I get on the aircraft. 

Lesson learned about letting someone else make your flight plans.  Some lessons cost more than others!

38 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

We have posted in the past that Bermuda authorities have drug dogs sniff cruise ships docked in Bermuda. Some have doubted this and some believe a drug dog can’t sniff a small amount of cannabis. A Joy passenger with a small amount in his cabin was detected by a sniffer dog and fined this week. 

https://www.royalgazette.com/court/news/article/20240419/cruise-passenger-fined-for-cannabis-in-cabin/

 I always laugh my butt of reading stories about stupid people doing stupid things.

17 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

Actually, no it didn't. 😉
 

But since your post lacked a point of reference by quoting another post - which I assume you were alluding to the 'full plate of cookies left (discarded) in the hallway'  - I went ahead and took the opportunity.
 

Thank you for leaving the door open. 
 

 

😎

 

 

You know what they say about ASS-U-ming like you did.  Like most, yours is wrong and it did go over your head.  It also did not lack a point, that just went over your head as well. The point is prima facia, it needed no quote.  Have fun figuring it out.  Perhaps someone who 1) knows who that character is, 2) is familiar with his habits involving the topic at hand. and 3) has even the slightest sense of humor could help you.  Let us know when you finally figure it out!  Have a great day...

On my last cruise I won over $2500.  Mostly at the poker table against people who were not very good at the game.  Got $400 on my account the first night and never got a second advance the whole cruise.  Went home with 2800 in my pocket after tipping my cabin steward and many other helpful crew members, including the chef in the Local, Great Breasfast!

18 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

If you're asking why a picture, to show waste as an issue. If we can post sightings and verifications of 'Cookies Found!' why not counter with examples showing full plates wasted, the reason not withstanding. All of the reports are saying corporate is using that as a main reason. 

It went way over your head!  Go have a few cookies and coem back... 🙂

On 4/14/2024 at 7:27 PM, vacation44 said:

The crew in the Vibe know who has the cabanas.   They will stop others from using your cabana when you are not using it.

No they wont.  We have walked into the Vibe when we had a cabana booked only to find two rude females laying in our cabana.

On 4/14/2024 at 6:36 PM, olemissreb said:

Thanks for this question. I'm contemplating getting a Vibe Cabana for myself as well as gifting one to my sister.  So what makes it worth $600 over a regular Vibe pass?

 

If you get a regular Vibe pass, can you use a cabana if it's not in use?

Can you? Of course you CAN.  Should you?  No, someone else paid for that cabana and they most likely do not want you laying in it swearing it up.  One of the times we had the Vibe cabana, we got there to find two  people lounging in our cabana.  They looked up, saw us,, and said "sorry" as they slinked away.  If they were really sorry they would not have used what was not theirs to use just becasue we happened to not be there at the time.  VERY rude to use the cabana if it is not yours.  Don't be that guy...

Yes we just got upgraded! Woo - Hoo...

8 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

However, they may not end up keeping it. On our Jade cruise a few weeks ago, we had a favorite bartender, Shane in the Martini Bar. He took great care of us for 14 days and we tipped him every night. However, after thanking us, he promptly put the tips into the shared tip jar behind the bar. 

 

On the last night, we gave him an extra lump sum tip...again he graciously thanked us, but explained he needed to share this tip. as well. Into the tip jar it went.

 

Our intention was to reward him for his outstanding service, attention and personality/showmanship. But if he had to spread the wealth, so to speak...so be it. All of the bartenders in that bar were great. Maybe not up to Shane standards, but pretty great.

He and his fellow bar keeps CHOSE to set up that

tip jar'.  They did not have to do that for cash tips.  After speaking with a number of crew members on variosu crsies that I have asked if they prefer a tip added to a check or a cash tup, I have alwasy been told that cash tips do not need to be shared.

8 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

However, they may not end up keeping it. On our Jade cruise a few weeks ago, we had a favorite bartender, Shane in the Martini Bar. He took great care of us for 14 days and we tipped him every night. However, after thanking us, he promptly put the tips into the shared tip jar behind the bar. 

 

On the last night, we gave him an extra lump sum tip...again he graciously thanked us, but explained he needed to share this tip. as well. Into the tip jar it went.

 

Our intention was to reward him for his outstanding service, attention and personality/showmanship. But if he had to spread the wealth, so to speak...so be it. All of the bartenders in that bar were great. Maybe not up to Shane standards, but pretty great.

If you add the tip to the bill you sign it goes into thr tip pool/  If you hand smeoen cash they keep it.

5 hours ago, blackwing said:

My teenaged kids are both addicted to Tik Tok and You Tube, they waste so much time watching these stupid videos.  Before we went on the cruise, I told them that each person gets 150 minutes of internet to do whatever they want - check email, play games, try and watch things.  When the 150 is done, they will have no more internet.

 

My kids learned to do other things on our cruise.  They downloaded free games to play on their phones before we left that did not require wifi or internet.  Still spent time on their phones but they weren't constantly watching Tik Toks.

 

I guess it depends on how addicted your son is TO whether he is willing to listen to you.  My kids complained about not getting the unlimited internet and the option I gave them was that they could either come on the cruise and have 150 minutes, or they could stay home with grandparents and wifi.  They both chose to come on the cruise.

You actually permit your kids to use that spy ware Tik Tok?  No good parent who cares about tehir kids safety shodl do that.  Use of that app is not very wise.  All of their personal data and usage habits are being tracked by unfriendly parties.  BTW I fixed your post for you.  See the underlining.

It is just entertainment and dumb luck.  They do thsi usually in groups of 6 and I think all participants use the same type of machine.  Each is loaded with a set amount of dummy play.  You have a set amount of time to get the highest bank at the end.  The way to do it is to just hit the max play button as fasr as you can until the time is up.  After however rounds it take to eliminate all but one player, the person left get the entry into the finals on another cruise.  I am not sure if a cabn on the finals crusie is included or not.  Some of the casino contests it is and some it isn't.  As with most things, read the terms and conditions carefully befor buying! 🙂

To address the topic of yoru thread - gratuities, theer are no gratuities to pay on NCL otehr than the 20% on your FAS items.  As the FAQ clearly states, gratuities are 100% optional.

The ONLY correct answer about gratuities to is to tip anyone you want, any time you want, any amount you want and move on.  No one is going to turn down free money that you hand them!

CN can be very confusing mainly because they over explain how it works.

They might say it is buy one get one free and they might say buy two and get $250 OBC on the current cruise.  It gets really confusing when they say both and maybe a third or forth description.

As others have said it really boils down to this.  If you buy two $250 cruise next, you will see those two CN certificates in your MyNCL account on NCL.com.  Your on board account will be charged $250 twice for the price of the two certificates AND you there will be a $250 credit to the account.  So the next effect is that you pay $250 for TWO $250 CN certificates.

Cb can only be used for deposits and normally only opne per cabin.  They ofetn offer the ability to use two per cabin.

Lastly, CN used to have a 4 year life span and would expire after that time period if unused.  They now have no expiration date.

Hope that all helped!

Really?  Do you expect the person taking your order at McDonald's to explain to you how your hamburger is cooked, dressed, and wrapped as well as the temp the fries are cooked and how long?  The NCL rep just did the job required to get the OP the info requested.  Email has a delete key for a reason. 

Oh yummy, bait!

On 4/14/2024 at 9:41 PM, Cruiser4957 said:

I am sailing on April 28th on the joy. It’s going from NYC to Bermuda. Will i get use out of the vibe pass or will it be too cold? Temperatures are around 70 the entire time 

You just answered your own question, or gave enough info to do so.  Is the 70s too cold for you?  If so don't book.  IMHO, after using the Vibe twice (both at the old reasonable price), I don;t thik the Vibe is worth the current price under any circumstances.  Others will have different opinions.

I just love these "beware" posts that almost always (as in this case) are a misunderstanding of the situation on the part of he person making the post.  As someone pointed out, most likely the NCL rep was doimg what was necessary to see if your coupon could be used on a July cruise.  In doing so he had to pick some cabin type and chose balcony.  Doing that automatically generated the email you received.  Nothing at all dastardly or nefarious going on, and certainly nothng to 'beware' of.  Thanks anyway!

1 hour ago, rlpboy said:

Hi All!

 

I have used this board for years but have never contributed.  Now I really need some advice!  My family is currently on the NCL Epic on a transatlantic cruise that originated in Orlando and is ending in Rome.  Although we have done 7 or 8 NCL cruises over the years (plus more on all of the other major lines) this is our first cruise since covid.

 

This cruise has simply been terrible.  It is so shockingly different from any of the other cruises we have done that I find myself scratching my head trying to figure it all out.  First and foremost, the food is simply gross.  Much of it borders on inedible.  Every meal on this ship we have taken a bite of something that we either had to spit out into our napkin or simply choked the bite down and sent the dish back.  The garden cafe (the buffet) has had the same menu for each of the twelve days we have been on the ship.  I thank God for the pizza because that has been the one consistently ok thing to eat.  The specialty dining has been fine but all of the other meal options have been adequate at absolute best.  In my family's opinion, the meat has significantly declined in quality with steak that is full of tendons and very rubbery chicken.  I would like to add that this low quality meat has been served in all of their restaurants.

 

The other thing that has really surprised us is how rude the staff is!  Once again, something that I never thought that I would write.  The crew on cruise ships has always been shockingly polite.  In fact, I have always found that they are almost too polite as I have seen guests treat staff members poorly.  I feel like the staff is trying to get revenge on this particular trip!  The staff is shockingly rude to a point that some members are looking at guests with disdain.  For example, I went to the front desk to ask a question about the food and I simply asked the girl working "has the quality of the food gone down a bit since covid".  The only reason I asked was because we were trying to figure out if we wanted to purchase more of the "cruise next" vouchers and if the food was like this on all of the cruises we really aren't interested.  The young lady working looked so irritated and rudely replied, "ask them at the restaurants".  This and several other issues have actually had me questioning whether I should leave the "service charge" or contest it.  I have never not left the full amount.  In fact, I have always left additional money for particular employees that I felt went above and beyond. 

 

All in all, the food sucks.  This is the dirtiest ship we've ever been on.  The gentleman that cleans our room has left dirty dishes in our room more times than I can count.  The staff is rude.  Oh, and 3 times I've been told someone will call me back from the front desk and no one ever has.  There is so much more I could add, but in the interest of brevity, I will leave it at that. Is this what cruising post covid is like?  

 

Thank you all for any advice you can offer. 

Food quality is highly subjective.  We have sailed the Epic multiple times and sailed 4-5 times post pandemic.  We have never had any issues,  The steak in Cagney's for example is excellent.  IMHO you asking 'has the food quality gone down' was pretty rude and obnoxious.  What kind of answer did you expect to get?  Someone telling you to ask in the restaurant was probab the best advice you could have gotten.  You shoudl have spoken to the food manager, but you decided to be passive aggressive with guest services instead.  If your steak was not to your liking all you needed to do was let them know and ask for a new one.  As far as the calls, check the phone in your cabin.  They do not always call while you happen to be in the room.  They will call once and leave voice mail.  Hope on your next cruise you can stop looking for reasons to complain and rather actually have a good time.

On 4/12/2024 at 9:17 AM, Lindy Sue said:

Greetings.  We will be taking our first Norwegian Cruise in January 2025 aboard the Norwegian Sun.  I have seen a few stories about the long waiting periods in the main dining rooms on some ships if you fail to reserve in advance.  Has anyone been on the Sun recently who can chime in with thoughts?  Just trying to decide if we need to reserve in advance for the MDR.  Thanks for any help or advice you can give!  Cheers!

 

We sailed the Sun but it has been a while.  I do not recall ever having an especially long wait for any seating at any meal.  It really is just luck of the draw though.  If you prefer to dine at the same time a lot of others on your crusie do, there could be some wait.  However based on the size of the ship and the seating capacity of the MDRs I would thknk you would be OK.  If you do run into longer waits.  Ask the crew member handling the seating what the slower times are and maybe adjust your dining time accordingly.  I think you will enjoy your NCL cruise.  All of ours have been fantastic!

12 minutes ago, Lindy Sue said:

Thanks, I was referring to the main dining area, not specialty. I was aware we need to book in advance for those.  I had just seen some chatter on another page about another NCL ship that took an hour to get seated for the Main Dining Room and several people mentioned making reservations in advance.  I appreciate your input and advice!  Thanks again!

I hopr hat you all have a fantaxtic rtime on yoru cruise.  We have found that NCL cruises are one of the best vacation experiences out there,  Enjoy your time abord the ship!

How manu are usually in the Haven?  Normally about the same number that booked the Haven for the cruise in question!  😉