Bobbye

The Epic has aft balcony disabled cabins that can “connect” via the balconies. The steward just has to remove the partition. We did a cabin crawl where a family had done just this...

You can't count on the cabin steward removing the partitions. Most follow the guidelines that these are not to be opened. (Been there, tried that and ended up opening them ourselves. We did get a note in our cabin telling us not to do this again.)

Years ago when my kids were young I'd bring kits and they would fly them on every cruise. But eventually every cruise line started to prohibit this and we did switch to bubbles. Fun -- but not the same :)

My butlers always seem thrilled when I offer them my remaining bar setup along with my cash tip.

We had a butler tell us that he and many of the butlers do not drink (their religion) when we gave him our extra bar setup. But he did say that he appreciated the unopened bottles because it made it easier for them to switch out what others wanted or give to others in the villas as his gift to them if they needed.

GUARANTEE staterooms EXCLUDED. Offer is not applicable to categories IX, OX, BX, MX.

Seriously, RCCL still has hot breakfast foods along with the typical cold items, fruits, danish, cereals at no charge. What else does NCL charge for that used to be free?

Quantum and Anthem also charged for the hot breakfasts.

Was your bad experience before the two good experiences? I'm wondering if the butlers got better over time.

 

 

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The bad experience was shortly after she began sailing. It was the butler and the fact that he was unhappy having the H6's. We actually had him again when we had the H4 and it was totally different. He told us he was much happier working in the Haven itself.

A lot depends on the butler. The first time we were in an H6 the butler was very vocal about his bad back and how far he had to bring our food, etc. We still ordered breakfast, etc. but he wasn't happy and not near as good as our previous butler experiences with Norwegian. Since then we have had 2 more H6's with great butlers and service and we also had an H4 in the Haven. It is much more convenient being in the Haven, but my favorite is still the H6 aft.

When did you book this cruise? As many have stated this is a relatively recent change to having to request the refund in writing after the cruise.

Just remember, they don't give any of the Freestyle Choices if booked within 30 days of sailing if that is important to you.

12/26/15 -1/3/16 & guests that book a 3-16 day sailing in an ocean view cabin or above are able to select 2 Freestyle choices but, they must book at least 30 days prior to sailing.

All-inclusive with beverages and dining. It doesn't state specialty dining.

Princess has changed: As provided in the Passage Contract, guests agree not to bring alcoholic beverages of any kind onboard for consumption, except one bottle of wine or champagne per adult of drinking age (no larger than 750 ml) per voyage, which will not be subject to a corkage fee if consumed in the stateroom. Additional wine or champagne bottles are welcome, but will incur a $15 corkage fee each, irrespective of where they are intended to be consumed. Liquor, spirits or beers are not permitted. Please remember that luggage will be scanned and alcohol outside of our policy will be removed and discarded.

By the way, years ago there were a number of companies that would deliver gifts to the cruise line. Wine, beer, etc. were among the items. As far as I know most cruise lines do not permit this anymore because of security concerns.

Thanks. Our problem is the grandson hates buttons -- so a shirt and tie is out. ::groan:: Guess we'll see what we can sweet talk him into. He's such an easy child in everything else, but certain clothes have always been hard to get him to wear.

For this restaurant do they enforce the coat requirement for 5-year-old boys? His jacket is now too small, do I have to run out and buy another?

This was the OBC for the last promo:

Per stateroom in U.S. Dollars and will be applied to 1-2 guests on the reservation.

$200 OBC for Oceanview/Balcony/MiniSuite, $300 OBC for Haven and Suite bookings per stateroom

Onboard credit has no monetary value and is non-transferable. It may not be used toward onboard service charges or pre-purchased activities.

This is the OBC for the current promo:

$25 OBC for Studio and Insides, $50 OBC for Ocean views, $75 Balconies, $100 Mini Suites, $200 for Suites, and $300 OBC for Havens per stateroom

The following ships/categories also qualify for $300 OBC- Sun SB, Sky SB, Spirit SB, Dawn S1, Star S1, and Pride of America SA.

Yes, correct. The last promo had higher OBC.

Found this:

The original Queen Mary of 1936 had a very popular specialty restaurant called the Verandah Grill. There was also a restaurant of the same name on the Queen Elizabeth of

1940. When QE2 entered service in 1969, she carried the idea forward

with the Grill Room where first class passengers could dine for a cover

charge of 75 cents per person. However, the concept did not work for late

1960s passengers and when additional staterooms were added to QE2, the

room was converted into one of the ship’s regular restaurants and was

renamed the Princess Grill.

I remember dining in Le Bistro on the Norway in the 80's. $5 per person upcharge.

Freestyle started the end of 2000 or beginning of 2001

 

The PDF confirmation I have is correct and even has the right codes for the promos - is that going to be enough?

If you have a PDF confirmation from Norwegian with the correct codes, dates and both itineraries listed you are fine. Sounds like an issue with how it shows on the Norwegian website for your booking.

So, even if a couple booked an inside cabin for a 7-day cruise at $1000, total, and gets 7-points for the cruise, they would have to invest $25,000 or, do 25 cruises. If a person gets a suite, and they are only going to cruise once or twice, they won't have to invest nearly as much as the Diamond/Diamond+ couple had to do to just get into the Concierge Lounge. So, I think that's why some Diamond/Diamond+ members get upset, when a suite person gets Concierge access.

It is possible to spend $25,000 for just one suite. I'm sure that Royal wants those that do to continue returning, even if only occasionally. Obviously Royal has come to the same conclusion with increasing the suite amenities, something they were way behind on compared to other lines.

To date we have had two couples on different cruises try to explain to us the errors in our ways. When we were in the concierge lounge they first asked if we were in a suite. When we replied yes we were told they were going to enlighten us on how we should really cruise. It basically was to book the lowest inside guarantee on the longest cruises possible. Spend little on board and even consider not tipping so we could cruise more often to get to Diamond or Diamond Plus quickly and get into the concierge lounge. Funny part was they never asked what our "status" was with Royal, I guess they just assumed (wrongly) that we hadn't achieved anything since we were "foolishly" paying for a suite. Our first cruises in the 80's were in inside cabins -- there is no way I was going back to that :)

I understand what you're saying but the point I think you're missing is that Celebrity is only expanding the options for suite guests.

Your friends who travel in the suite are already paying the premium to sail in that cabin. They currently have 2 options for dinner, the MDR or Blu.

Celebrity is now expanding their choice to 3 options.

It sounds like they enjoy dining in the MDR with their friends. They can still do that.

Also, they have the breakfast and lunch (when people tend to dine as couples - at least we do) options to eat in the suite dining room and then join their friends for dinner in the MDR.

We don't usually sail in suites but I think this new option is an enhancement that might make us consider it more often.

Are suite guests still going to have the option of Blu? I have read this thread and didn't see this confirmed but I could have missed it.

However, a 3-year-old joining his parents in an existing room is really very little overall cost for the ship. It's not zero cost, but it's a fraction of the cost of an adult taking up a half a stateroom.

 

The biggest reason is the 3-year-old will not have the on-board spend that an adult has on board.

This is very strange. According to NCL, the Breakaway doesn't have any "porthole" rooms. All ocean view rooms are picture windows.

 

Who were you talking to? LOL

Some people consider the OA's large portholes.

The two Garden Villa's connect don't they?

We paid extra for a cabana because, just like on the regular pool decks, there are always "those people", basically chairhogs who use the best loungers every single day of the cruise, from sunup to sundown, whether they are present or not. . On pir first BA sailing, there was a family of five holding five loungers plus two "cabanas" (covered loungers) while their teens were gone 80% of the time, and the adults at least 30% of the time we were there - that family took the same loungers every day we checked. Not a lot of difference from the main pool deck, except Haven guests tend to leave more expensive items holding the seats..

 

The other factors are the hot tubs and the "kid free" zone.. It's nice to have a hot tub to use at leisure without having to go up and down stairs, and not finding them full of splashing kids when you get there - no offense to other parents, but it's been a common issue on our sailings. The BIGGEST factor for me is guaranteed shade - five bouts with skin cancer before age 50 and I do NO sun anymore...

 

The cabana was also very nice for coming and going without being a chair hog. It was nice to leave the sunscreen/books/etc there while going to have lunch or a spa appointment. Quite enjoyable! (don't mean to sound like a grump! :))

 

Robin

Love the "kid free" zone -- that's why we get a Vibe pass too even though we are in the Haven.

If there are a lot of children in the Haven to me it's worth it to buy a Vibe pass.