carohs

We headed to the library next where we signed up to paint some palm trees. We also spent some time doing the daily crossword. Went over to the spa to inquire about the spa credits, and the spa passes. They really make the week pass seem like a bargain after they quote you the daily rate. I decided to pass since the credit can't be used on that anyway. 

Then we went to the shops specifically to get a free charm bracelet. Well as you probably know free isn't really free on NCL. Turns out we were early but we got our raffle tickets and looked at our clocks. Based on the schedule, this was our best chance to get LOs fed, but we had to do it in 30 minutes. MIL said lez go for Prime Rib so we ended up at the Cafe. Glad we did because it was completely decorated for the holiday. The kids loved pointing out each new carved watermelon they found. 

We've gotten one out of two suitcases. We're sailing with Point Loma on starboard and Coronado island port. MIL says we're going South I thought West. Thankfully I've still got service; google says we're sailing South. 

Here's the 4th bed solution. Needless to say this solution creates more problems than it solves. DD and I will get lots of snuggles on this vacay. 

The doors on NCL look like closet doors. I guess that should have been the first clue. 

2 minutes ago, DorothyB said:

 

But NO Dr Pepper in the vending machines and none on board 😞

And Shakers didn't have root beer either. Have yet to figure if that's ship wide. 

Found a nice little nook with the USS Midway in our view. It's away from the main party but we can still hear all the music.

Here's some pictures of our earlier exploring

Little small glitch. Room is only set up for three but there's 4 of us. These rooms are tiny, that's for sure.

197 still missing muster, naughty naughty. Heading up for sail away now 🙂

We survived the Garden Cafe chaos. I couldn't even tell you what I ate. I believe it was Indian. We were hungry than I realized because we finished eating before I remembered to take pictures. I also was led by my nose and ate the first hot thing I saw that smelled good. It was delicious but on the way out of the Cafe I saw Paella. Seafood Paella. Drat! Will they bring it back sometime this week? Who knows but I'm sure whatever they serve will be delicious. 

Now on to register the kids in club. There's definitely a good amount of kids here this week. The 6-9 group, which both my kids are in, ran out of programming flyers. I'm told it's the same as the Turtles so we grabbed that. For anyone interested what they have available for the littles, I'll include that here.

We skipped the elevator bottleneck and took a quick detour. We went passed the casinos and found a quiet spot by Shakers. First bar we saw and got friendly and promt service. 

Still waiting to board. Embarkation started about 11:30. Our number was finally called after 12, and we've been standing on the gangway ever since. They shut off the escalators after a safety incident instead of controlling the flow of people. When we got to the top of the escalators, we had to quickly figure out how to step off to the side or risk getting slammed into and trampled by those still coming up. Those behind us had a little less luck with no room left on the gangway. Wow. 

At least the kids are entertained watching the forklifts working hard at loading luggage. 

All checked in and waiting. That was quick, at less than 30 min. We got boarding group 9 and muster station D at O'Sheehans. I still have some unanswered questions like the $50spa credit for pass 1&2 is that pp? The code on my docs says 100spa so we'll see. 

There's water and a vending machine available so no one will die of thirst anytime soon, but we all know the real stuff is waiting on the ship. 

Good morning and Happy Easter!

We're excited and standing in line in gorgeous SD. The weather right now is completely overcast but it should burn off later this afternoon. DD and DS had no idea we had a spring break vacation planned. None of us have ever cruised NCL so even driving up they had no clue. It's a good thing that DCL isn't here today too else wise I might had some 'splaining to do. They finally clued in when DH pulled out the suitcases. They were 😲 shocked!! DD was dancing and jumping and DS was overwhelmed and started tearing up. He said "wrap my face in duct tape". That's a new one to me but he managed to pull it together. 

DH is not joining us, so this will help me make sure I'm documenting all. I don't promise a LIVE since I didn't upgrade our internet and I'm unsure how much downtime I'll get sailing with LOs.

So far the line is moving quickly, see you on board.

Hi! To ask a related question, what are the available milk substitutes on NCL?

Never been to DW but I can tell you that DCL is a completely different experience than DLR. I love the shows and dining rotations and ability to see the characters all day long. They rotate and you always know who'll be where at what time through the app. The lines can be long, but I don't need my pic with every character either. Sometime it can be fun to just observe from a distance. The hallways play Disney music and Funnel Vision is on most of the days with Disney movies. It's like being in a relaxing world of Disney without the sore aching feet of standing in lines for rides all day long. 

I love late dining, and on port days or particularly busy days I like to take a nap so I make my kids take one too. Oh yeah, the best part of the ship is easy nearby access to your room when you get tired. And although having set dining times may feel restrictive for someone wanting anytime dining it's really nice also to have the consistency of a serving team, and dining time every day. Consistency is especially good if you've got littles. Anyone can order from any menu adults or kids and I've yet to get a meal I didn't enjoy. Disney is also really good about special requests for meals too. 

Last thing to add, given the choice between a trip to DLR or DCL, my kids pick DCL every time.

Several issues:

1 - people don't like to do math. They feel "nickel and dimed" when they see their folio bill at the end of the cruise. People also aren't great at budgeting

2 - it's harder to make an apples to apples comparison of cruise fares, when different extra amenities costs vary across cruise lines.

3 - people don't like to pony up add-on costs. When they sell something as "all-inclusive" and then discover there's something not included you would like to do: either you are privileged enough to pay for it without a second thought or you're not. If you're not that second thought takes away from the overall enjoyment of the cruise

4 - Research has shown over and over people often make illogical choices with how they spend their money

Anyone have any thoughts on doing a day at PCC post cruise vs booking luau kalamaku in Kauai as an excursion on POA?

2 hours ago, Joelocal said:

Absolutely!

I froth in another cup then pour it ona cup of black coffee. That first gulp is delicious. 

You can get the frother on amazon.

Thanks for the tip. I had never in my life even considered frothing coffee mate. You do realize it's non-dairy right?

While we're on the subject of frothers, I usually heat/froth oatmilk at home. Does anyone know if NCL stocks oatmilk or if I could just buy it steamed from starbucks?

You lost me at frother. You froth coffeemate? 

I would like a deck of cards, a tshirt, and a power bank maybe. Can signature cards be combined?

Did you check your e-docs? Mine defaulted to the earliest time available but I do remember seeing a drop-down somewhere.

Well first the crew would have to start leaving NCL, leaving them even more short-staffed then they already are. Second, the passengers would need to complain or stop cruising NCL. I'm sure at least a part is determined by the amount of cruisenext sold onboard. The guest experience is not severely diminished now, as evidenced by the complaints of ice and towels being the most voiced, but would be by an exodus of staff. If the working conditions are as bad as speculated, we'll see in the coming months, like Dr. Cocktail pointed out. 

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Any cruise line in their right mind will have somebody monitoring the number one cruise forum for press (both bad and good).  Part of me believes that the eMuster is back for this very same reason.

I would certainly think the cruise lines pay attention to cruise critic! I hope that they also read all the talk on once daily service and make some adjustments to their changed policy. 

1 hour ago, Nilbog said:

My wife and I have widgets on our phone that tell us how many days left before our cruises.  It shows on our home screen (without even unlocking it) and on our initial page.  Don't even have to open the NCL app.

What is this widget? I think I might need this. 

I'm impatient. The morning of, I'm eating breakfast and then pacing around until I can head to the port. Then I'm seething at the long lines and rolling my eyes at the number of people who seem to have unresolved issues or questions that are best answered by crew once onboard (or by having read cruisecritic) which only serve to delay the rest of us waiting (im)patiently in line. Only to finally (hopefully) find a seat and be irritated that my children are incapable of sitting still and are outwardly showing the same excitement and (im)patience that I'm feeling too. 

That being said, my check-in glitched and we ended up with different arrival times:

What is the best time to arrive, and will NCL have something to say if we all arrive together either at the earlier time or later?