ohioNCLcruiser

Hey Everyone,

I've only cruised with HAL once so not very familiar with how they handle this so I figure I'd ask the experts!

My friend and I are doing a 14 day cruise out of Shanghai on the Westerdam and were assigned SY 8068 which is a full wheelchair signature superior veranda cabin. My friend and I do not need this but its the only cabin left in that category. We called HAL and let them know we don't need it and would like something else. My worry is that for selfish reasons another cabin won't open up and we won't get the tub, double sinks etc that the regular cabin has. My non selfish reasons is I worry that someone might actually need this cabin. We answered yes to the generic booking question of, "Would you like a free upgrade if available" but anything else we would do besides calling every so often? I assume if someone calls them and tries to book a wheelchair cabin they will see if we will take a different category cabin?

Anyone with any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

James

Yeah, I'd like to know as well. Nothing in their signature about it and no other posts ever about the Seaside on CC until now? I'm thinking they've never stepped foot on it ...... Fake. Just a Haven pusher from NCL ....... Haven is a total ripoff.

First of all I would relax. I clearly hit a nerve. If you go through my posting history you will see it has almost come to a stand still as we tend to use FB groups now. I can't direct message someone a photo but if you want to provide an e-mail I'll send you a photo of my cabin key and wrist band today but I expect an apology afterwards for jumping to the fake "haven" pusher comment.

ohioNCLcruiser,

 

when were you on Seaside?

Recently did a seven day. I should add I thought the main show room entertainment was great.

Recently went on the Seaside in the YC and my "pros" will be a little different than what has been mentioned already. The Yacht Club cabins are wonderful. They are not the biggest standard penthouse size cabin but they have more than enough storage, big balconies and overall great decor. The bathrooms are also very spacious. The YC lounge was relaxing and enjoyed the snacks throughout the day.

My pros end there. The YC restaurant service was quite lacking in my experience. They were friendly, just appeared to be very disorganized at times. Drinks would often come after appetizers arrived and sometimes almost a 20 minute wait. The food quality was beyond disappointing and I think you will be in for quite a surprise if you're used to X quality in this area. My group stopped going to the restaurant after a few days which on other lines, like the Haven at NCL, we would be looking forward to our next meal while eating the current one.

So the YC = nice observation lounge, great cabins, free drinks around the ship but the rest was a big let down. The MSC is a beautiful ship though!

Thanks so much Old As Dirt Mom. Appreciate your passing on Copper 10-8's info. I'm concerned about the removal of the bar and staircase in the Atrium. What's the point in changing all that. Perhaps it will be better. Who knows!

dmg1956

Just got off the Eurodam and they have already stopped using the Atrium bar. I asked one of the bar tenders and he said it has been almost six months since it was used last.

Edit: mods please delete

All I see this announcement as was its coinciding to try and draw attention from the fact their about to be handed their own posteriors when the MSC Seaside arrives in Miami. MSC had a meeting with the Mayor of Miami and presented Miami with a gift of a ship replica of the Seaside. The same day they announced this guy as the Godfather, MSC took delivery of the Seaside (destined for Miami) and also announced an additional order and switch for ships. NCL should be trying to take away MSC's thunder because if MSC can fix their staffing issues... they'll show NCL how a ship should be built and run. Their ships are stunning where NCL has faltered on the Breakaway class and done even worse for the Breakaway-Plus. The next few years are going to be really interesting for NCL. With MSC increasing their presence in the North American market and once Virgin Cruises comes to town, NCL could have a real problem on their hands. :)

This this this! Agree with 100% of what you said. MSC sure has some absolutely stunning ships.

I love how they have tucked the lifeboats under the waterfront deck. It cost them some cabins on deck 7 to do it. But it just makes the ship look so much better than the Escape. Now I need to book a cruise on this ship!

From what I've been told my a friend at NCL is that they are no longer allowed to have new builds with the boats off the side like that. Not sure if this is a change with USCG policy or NCL themselves.

The deck plans will be 100% the same as what we already saw. Only thing that would make this more exciting is if they release renderings with it.

If that is the name it sounds like it would not be Chinese market based.

The Pride of America will be the next SS Norway of the fleet in terms of being the old Grandmother in the fleet. As long as they maintain her well with dry docks people will continue to go. With her being the only 7 day Hawaiian cruise she has zero competition and that ship is the CASH COW of the fleet. Shore excursions alone bring in more $$ than ships twice her size bring in with the casino and shore ex combined.

but I could not get any coffee on the Getaway with the UBP at the Atrium since they did not have drip. Unless I got it with booze in it, then it was covered.

Lucky you. On the Jade this month even with booze the coffee part was a separate charge.

Just off the Jade and when we ordered Irish Coffee's in the atrium we had to pay for the coffee still but the booze was free with our package :rolleyes:

I can't remember who or where but I remember talking with someone that the Bliss was rumored to not have the brew pub? Bliss will have the first full blown Starbucks on an NCL ship following Starbuck's brand guidelines.

Just got off the Jade and can say they did a wonderful job with her recent major dry dock/complete interior overhaul. You would never guess it was the previous Jade so besides the minor differences pointed out above they are almost the same.

I just posted a few photos on this thread. Just got off the 12 day North Cape and Fjords cruise and it was wonderful. They did a beautiful job with the Jade refurb and it was the perfect ship for this itin. The only thing that I noticed when it came to the ship was the included food was not up to par with my recent Royal Caribbean and Carnival cruises. You will have a wonderful time!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=53494258&posted=1#post53494258

We are doing the fjords on the 30th but will be boarding on the 16th doing the iceland one before as well. What was Bergan like. We have it on each cruise. Doing a tour on the second cruise but on our own on the first. Is that where the big fish market is

 

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Bergan was great! From the dock they have a free shuttle into the town center that ran every few minutes. I noticed that a Costa and Viking ship docked on the other side of town however I would expect you to dock where we did. From the shuttle they have little arrows and circles leading you to the city center. About a 10-15 min easy stroll and you will be near the fish market. It rained while we were there but it was enjoyable. It's a shame the weather was bad for us because I think it was our favorite city to walk around.

Glorious photos! Thank you so much for sharing. We are leaving on the 30th but have one week pre-cruise in Amsterdam and one week post-cruise in London. I am trying to pack light and unsure about the weather. For Norway during the day I am planning on jeans with long sleeve t-shirts with a Northface fleece over the top. Do you think this will be warm enough (I realize no one can predict the weather, just trying to get an idea). I have an excellent rain shell for an added top layer. How about the evenings, how cold was it on the Jade? Warm enough for open toe sandals? Finally, what about outside on the Jade during the day and at night. How much were you bundled while the ship was at sea?

 

PS: We have two nights reserved at Cagneys and I will positively ask for Genevive. Did any of the bartenders stand out? What about the happenings at night on the Jade? Any cruise compasses?? :) :) :)

I would bring more warmer winter clothes. Mid cruise I was always walking around in a small down jacket outside, even in the sun. The ship itself had a very comfortable temperature so inside open toe sandals will be fine but certainly not outside. I was able to wear shorts the day after leaving Hamburg but wore jeans for the rest of the trip. The bar tenders in the Mojito bar were great. Due to the ship being mainly German we found if we left even just $1 tip extra in cash with the drinks they took care of you.

Hello, and thank you for your review. :)

 

We've been on NCL Jade last year and really liked her.

The Atrium Café used to serve complimentary snacks such as cakes or cookies.

Sadly in some other reports and blogs I read there's no complimentary snacks anymore, you need to buy them now?

 

Hopefully that's not true...

Correct the pastries are now for charge, around $1.50 if I remember correctly.

Does this work?

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Oh no! Does anyone have another way I can upload the images to here? The photos are the best part!

Our cruise had around 2700 passengers with around 2,000 Germans, 300 Americans and the rest was a mix with minimal kids.

Greetings Everyone,

Just returned from the Norwegian Jade after a wonderful 15 day trip (2 days in Berlin and 2 days in Hamburg before boarding the Jade for 12 days) and would be happy to answer any questions.

First off the Norwegian Fjords are beautiful. They reminded me of cruising around Kauai and other Hawaiian Islands and have attached a few quick images. We lucked out with the weather and enjoyed several days of the "midnight sun" without seeing the sun set.

The new Jade is beautiful and they did a wonderful job. My friend and I shared a ocean view cabin and were pleased to see they added several power outlets and USB ports by the bed. Our friends were in one of the Garden Villas and they did a wonderful job on those also. The carpet in the living areas was removed with great stone/tile floors.

Service was some of the best I have had at sea. If you have Cagney's breakfast, lunch or go for dinner make sure you get Genavive (spelling might be wrong) since he was one of the best Servers I have ever had at sea. Zach who runs the steakhouses did a wonderful job also. The casino staff ensured our drinks were always full and provided smiles and help whenever needed. WARNING: The Jade slot machines are tight, very very tight, probably the tightest I have encountered.

Please feel free to ask any questions and I will be happy to start answering them!

I would do this same exact itin again in a heartbeat.

James

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I could book restaurants but only for 6:30 pm.

I read something along the lines of they only allow 35% of times to be booked online and keep the remaining slots for shipboard reservations.

Will be a hoot! Not worried about the ship being ready on time...expect any issues to be ironed out by the time the Aussies take the inaugural go kart championship!

You're going down sir! ;p

I was having this kind of issue so had to call them. Turns out in their system when I made one reservation it duplicated it for several days so the website wouldn't make any other reservations thinking I was already booked during that time. I would just give them a call. Their website has errors all the time.