Cruising Lynne

Thank you for the info. I am glad to hear that they have the shuttle. Last time I was looking to book the Hilton Garden Inn near the Hampton Inn in Ridgefield Park, they no longer provided transportation to the pier. This makes the Hampton Inn a good option if I choose to drive in the day before.

We recently parked at the Manhattan cruise terminal for our trip that left on 09/04/2022. It cost 40 dollars per day, so it was 280 for the week. It is very convenient. We paid the attendant who was standing at the top of the ramp that leads up to the parking area. After you pay they have a dog sniff the car before you pull in to park. There are porters right after you pull in with carts that they are loading with the luggage to bring down to the ship. You can briefly stop there to give the porters your suitcases and then park. We made sure our bags were already tagged and ready. Our space was much fewer than 1000 feet to the elevator, which brings you right down to the line for security. After boarding the ship, we could look out from the pool deck and see our car in the lot, and a nice view of the Intrepid air craft carrier at the next pier.

I can see why some people may not like having the same menu every night on a longer cruise, but it does not seem that bad for a 7 nights or less cruise. On our recent 7 night cruise, we only ended up in the MDR two nights. We had dinners at Cagney's, La Cucina, and two nights in the buffet. One day we had a late breakfast, which led to having a late lunch in O'Sheehan's, and we did not eat again until late night snack time. A good thing about the non-rotating MDR menu is that you do not have to worry that you are missing favorite items on the days you choose specialty dining or the buffet. I also like that there are additional sides you can order. I have always said to my husband that I would like more vegetables with my main course. I'm not that impressed with the same dessert choices every night, but you can always head up to the buffet for different options or a crepe. A bad thing for my husband is that I did not see a lamb choice. We shall see what happens If people don't like it. Maybe they will go back to the rotating menus. Or, just have the same menu on certain ships.

We took the NCL excursion. With the 50 dollar excursion credit, the price was not bad for my husband and I. The benefit was that we were the first ones there. We were situated with chairs and drinks delivered to our chairs before the other shuttles arrived. I had picked the earliest time they offered. With two ships in port that day, it got crowded. They even ran out of chairs to rent. If I did not want to get up early, I would take the 7 dollar shuttle. It is the best deal if you do not have anyone to split a taxi with. The shuttle runs back and forth all day which is great if you want to stay longer than the NCL excursion time.

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If you are sailing on Epic, try to get a room with the bed by the balcony. That way the sink area is not right at the foot of the bed. The toilet is in a compartment with a door, plus there is a curtain you can pull across for more privacy and sound muting. Last cruise we used a small battery powered tealight that we put in the bathroom, plus I always bring a small flashlight that I keep on the nightstand and use to find my way. For our next trip my husband got some magnetic, battery powered sensor lights to try. We tested them out already at home and they work great. I think I will like the new lights better because they do not twinkle like the tealights we have. Ultimately, I find it difficult to get up at night without bothering the hubby. I only ever questioned the cleanliness of the curtain where you touch it to pull across. Just wash your hands after touching it and you will be fine. The sink is not in the area behind the curtain, it is more into the main cabin space so you can washup after touching anything questionable.

I was very happy that on my recent trip on Breakaway (09-04 thru 09-11) they had already changed over to Diet Coke. To Jamie, I think that you will still have the rotating menu. At first I thought the fixed menu was a terrible idea, but then I saw the new menu. It seemed to have a lot of good choices such as Beef Wellington, plus many choices of starters and pasta dishes. Though it did not have my favorite starter, lime dill shrimp with fingerling potatoes. They also have a daily special from one of the specialty restaurants (of course that comes with an upcharge). On Breakaway I discovered what I consider to be a must try after dinner drink. I recommend going to Shakers martini bar for an excellent drink that the drink server suggested called a Rum Cake. Yum.

Love this! We also experienced deeper than ankle deep water. About three feet deep. I enjoy getting my Painkiller from Soggy Dollar and floating in the bay. You are right, cruising is fun. We had an early excursion, so we were drinking Painkillers before 10 am.

The main pool was heated when we cruised out of NY in March this year.

I don't think it matters, but Simon usually wears colorful outfits and really stands out in a crowd. All black would not make anyone stand out. He is a great cruise director. We sailed with him earlier this year and look forward to seeing him again in October.

Hello Bird. Thank you so much for posting this Live review. It is getting me excited for my upcoming cruise. We are doing the Canada/ New England cruise. We have not sailed on Breakaway since the inaugural season. I think we were on the second full week cruise they had out of New York. We got to meet some of the Rockettes and even had a Peter Max siting. It was so exciting to see the new class of ship. At the time, they even had fireworks off the back of the ship. I guess I have a soft spot for Breakaway, and look forward to going on her again.

I think that the new way of purchasing passes ahead of time is a good idea. This is how it works with thermal suite passes. Maybe if the Vibe isn't full they could offer day passes like they do in the thermal suites? I am wondering if the Vibe really sells out that quickly anymore? I thought that once they raised the price it did not sell out as quickly? If it is something you are interested in, then you can make a little extra effort to go on your My NCL regularly until they become available. Personally, I have never wanted to be in Vibe. I don't lay in the sun like that anymore and do not need my own personal bar. For adult only space I like Spice H2O. It is good that they have options that do not cost extra.

Wow, this thread has completely derailed from the OPs original question. Yes to sneakers. No to hang overs. Drink lots of water and if nothing else, try having Airborne or Emergen-C the next day, and Tylenol to help with a hangover

I am excited to see Simon again in October. He was the cruise director on our March cruise on Getaway. I love to see what Simon is going to wear each day. He is definitely one of the more interesting and fun cruise directors. Woo Hoo! {Don't care who is concierge).

Our room steward left us liquid creamers. I also got us some regular milk at the buffet since that is what I prefer.

I agree that some people are never happy. I realize that cruising requires packing some patience to deal with embarkation and disembarkation days. I also have adjusted my expectations when dealing with NCL and cruise terminal staff. Some are uninformed about a lot of things. From past experience I knew where to go for the Platinum boarding area in NY and in Boston I had to tell them that I did not belong in the high numbered boarding group they tried to put me in.

I believe this was the first sailing to Bermuda for the season? The hold ups were due to so many people not having their Bermuda travel authorization completed. We cruised on Getaway in March and did not experience any of the other issues the OP is talking about in regards to food and entertainment. I do not know what they are talking about as far as "Covid blunders" goes. If at any time they were concerned, they could mask up or self isolate. Also, that week was one of the Northeast area school vacation weeks, which may have led to higher capacity causing some issues.

It still shows that NCL does not care enough about loyal customers. I would like to know how they are choosing who to bump? I think that they should have known before 32 days out that they were going to cancel on people. I think it should be the most recently booked people that get bumped. I hope the OP comes back with more info such as what type of room they had booked and when they booked it.

The Scrubba bag looks great for camping. The ship cabin has a sink which I use to rinse out my swimsuits and occasionally underwear, so I do not find it necessary. I finally started packing more undies so I do not have to do laundry on my trips. This thread made me think a salad spinner might work to get excess water out of my swimsuit or undies. LOL I may try this at home to see if it works. I usually roll them in a towel, but then that towel gets really wet and unusable until your room is done up. Anyways, we get a free bag of laundry on board with our Sapphire Lattitudes perks.

I think I had some kind of cold fruit soup on my last trip on Getaway. It came in a glass and had a straw instead of a spoon, and maybe some rum. I guess it may have actually been a strawberry daiquiri!! 🍹

They look like good wrinkle resistant fabric to pack for a cruise on NCL! I like both. My husband would say keep them both if I think I will wear them. I get that they are the same style but the different prints allow for creating completely different looks.

Maybe they have experienced NY before, and just want a place to relax and sleep pre-cruise?

I am glad the info was posted about hotels with parking, but disappointed that the HGI no longer sets you up with transportation to the pier. We had done this pre-covid and wanted to use this service again. We ended up getting up early, driving in day of cruise, and parking on the terminal when we cruised in March. An option for the OP would be to stay at a hotel at whatever airport they fly into, and get transportation to the pier the next morning.

We had no problem bringing our charger that looks to be the same size as yours. My husband brought it on Getaway in May and Pearl in March. Just make sure you unplug them when you are not in your cabin. Or just be aware that the room steward might unplug it.

Okay, I have to admit that I do enjoy '"date night" with my husband at Le Bistro. It is a type of restaurant that I never go to on land. I get what you are saying, but what I was trying to say was good food used to be included. The Italian restaurant did not have an upcharge.