newmexicoNita

25 minutes ago, marinaro44 said:

I agree.  Hot items should be prepared in the kitchen.  I'd add cheese, salmon, cold cuts.

That is how it is done. You choose what you want from the starter selection and the amount and leave the preparing of the hot food to the kitchen.  

3 hours ago, marinaro44 said:

Sorry, but try getting poached eggs with sunchokes over polenta in Windows. 

 

The ability to choose your own fruit (e.g., kadota fig rather than kiwi, no unripe honeydew) rather than getting an entire plate that you don't want, or to get a piece or two of salmon (healthier protein choice than bacon) rather ordering the full plate with bagel, cream cheese, capers, etc., is a treat.  And I've never had an issue "navigating" past it.  If someone wants to be served all their choices just order off the menu and stay in your seat as before.  I don't see the problem.  Ask to be seated in the back if seeing others at the mini-buffet offends you.

You feel exactly the way we do. WE love the idea of having our hot food come out hot while enjoying picking the fresh foods we enjoy including extra salmon and bagels. I can't imagine anyone who has a problem with this. For those who want to go to Windows, that is fine, but for those of us who prefer the new set up I hope they keep it the way it is. It also gives everyone in your group a chance to choose how they want to handle their breakfast. I know it sure worked for us. 

On 11/16/2019 at 6:01 PM, Turtles06 said:

It’s been several years since we last sailed on NCL.  Can we still use non-refundable OBC to give additional gratuities to crew members?  (I’m not asking about using this type of OBC to pay the DSC, I know that’s not permitted.)  

 

In the past, you could go to Guest Services and tell them the name/title of the crew members and how much of your OBC you wanted to give each of them; GS would fill out the necessary forms so that the money would go into the crew members’ accounts, and give you a voucher that you could give to the crew members. 

 

Can we we still do this?

 

Thanks for any info! 

 

 

I know this can be done on Azamara and it is a great way to use those extra dollars. I have never thought about doing it on any other line. Thanks for the info ever thought it is doubtful we will cruise again. 

1 hour ago, uktog said:

Yes I should have said I did get freshly cooked on Journey, however the layout of the buffet vs servers coming from the kitchen wasn't good.  Timing was also an issue (hot food arriving whilst still eating fruit, I forgot Phils tip not to order hot until I was finishing the fruit) meant it was too stressful - ok a first world problem.  I am very much in the camp of leave the breakfast as waiter service only sorry.

we were lucky I guess. Our food was perfect. If we hadn't finished our cold plate we just started on the hot food and and took bites of the starter food inbetween bite of the hot food. I thought it worked much better than when we ordered our entire meal at the same time and seems something was always cold. 

3 hours ago, Bloodaxe said:

I hope it doesn't become the normal practice, we much prefer Discoveries breakfast served freshly cooked to order, the buffet should remain available only in Windows.

You can do it which ever way you choose. There was no problem with confusion as the buffet part is just that and the hot foods and/or cold ones you order are brought to you by the wait staff. We never ran into anyone else or had cold food, but we had all the lox, etc for instance we wanted by serving ourselves. The only time there was a lot of confusion was on the last day prior to the end of the cruise when they had a very special brunch. Now, that was a nightmare, good but still packed and everyone was running into someone else. 

15 hours ago, LuAnn said:

This is new for us. We were on Quest in mid August and it was not offered. The menu is still available and any “regular” breakfast items not on the menu (eg waffles/pancakes etc) are still available. But there is a ‘cold” station with cereals, fruits, meats and cheeses, a bread station with rolls etc and then a hot station with bacon, sausages, scrambled eggs etc. 

 

And you can “combine” both...order off the menu and then go to the buffet for other items. Works well as far as we can tell...at least for us. Anyone else had this on board?

and that was one of the features we liked last week. We did do a lot of combining. We did the buffet for the starter items and then ordered our hot food off the menu. Good idea in our opinion. 

16 hours ago, blcruising said:

Dining is an important part of our cruise. Quality or lack thereof can be debated all day long. What I hate, you might like and vice versa. I appreciate having certain items as an option on the menu.

Dining is an important part of most of us when it comes to any vacation: my point is: I do not judge anything including a cruise by their not offering one of two particular items. if the food is sub par and the price of the vacation is pricey that would be a different story all together. 

1 minute ago, lizord said:

Specialty dining on Oceania is basically MDR because it's included in the fare.

Yes, and you pay for that feature. Azamara has 2 specialty dining rooms which carry an extra charge. We wanted to try one but they were sold out both times we tried.  

19 minutes ago, blcruising said:

Thanks for the update. I'm a belly acher with respect to poor seafood offerings on NCL. I'll make sure to add Azamura to my do not sail list. At least I can still get average lobster on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Princess, without charge. And that is a fact of life.

We haven't sailed Carnival for years but as for Princess. I do not remember RCI having Lobster in the MDRs and the Princess MDR serve the worst Lobster I have ever had. I would like to know how so many people can judge a ship or a line by one or 2 items that are not always available.. BTW we had Lobster on Princess the last time we sailed them and it wasn't even heated all the way through. WE spoke with 2 other couples on different days and they had the very sam experience. It was, of course frozen and not completely defrosted. I will add this was in the specialty dining room. Everything else in the specialty dining room was very good on that sailing. 

1 hour ago, lizord said:

Remind me to never sail Azamara, Their main competitor, Oceania serves lobster every night in their specialty dining rooms as well as every day, grilled on the buffet. Funnily enough Oceania is owned by NCL.

I am not referring to the specialty dining rooms but I don't think they had it either. I am mainly talking about the MDR. I wouldn't judge any cruise by whether they serve one particular food or beverage 

Just an update for all of you, especially the belly achers went it comes to seafood. We just got off an Azamare cruise, and guess what ya'all in the main DR we never saw Lobster, Crab or anything even close. The food was very similar to what we get in the MDR on NCL>> Some parts of the cruise were, of course more upscale, but the food not so. This seems to be a fact of life: food especially seafood isn't a selling feature for cruises anymore. OH, I take that back, they did have soft shelled crab the last night and it was awful. Let me also add, we never saw prime rib either. 

Well it is amazing how we all see things in a different light. First, let me say, i don't mean to be negative but our experience was a bit different. I will keep this short or will try.

Food: we were pretty disappointed over all. Not that is wasn't good, it just wasn't any different than any other ship. In fact some Mass marketed lines we thought the food was better. The best part of our eating days was breakfast in the MDR. We loved everything we had and the service was very good. My husband is mobility challenged and the staff bent over backwards to help him. Some of the better food we had included the lamb but we missed good beef and no Lobster or Crab. I think this is becoming more common on all cruise lines, upscale or Mass Marketed. Also love the morning brunch next to the last day. Though of course it was crowded it was fantastic and fun. 

Entertainment: supper  fun, might have been the highlight of the cruise. The entertainers who are part of everything were great. We loved the trivia, the Christmas caroling and the White night for starters. I am happy the casino will go out when the Journey goes into dry dock next fall. though there wasn't much variety what they did have was well planned and just plain fun. We loved the way the crew got involved in White Night. Have any of you ever seen a captain of a cruise ship serving the potatoes, much less with a smile and a great attitude? The entire staff was that way almost all the time.  

CAbins: wow, when someone mentions comfortable beds, they didn't sleep in ours The need replacing so bad. My back has never hurt so bad, I think a 400 lb elephant must have slept on our mattress before we did. The bathroom had almost no storage and the layout overall of the cabin was horrible. The only positive thing was the cleanliness of the cabin, in fact the entire ship was spotless. 

Service: we could not have asked for better service and nicer people. We never had a bit of trouble with the bar service anywhere including the pool bar. This goes for the dining room as well. We have been on many cruises where you are lucky to get your water glass filled without begging. On the Journey they were always filling our and someone was pouring our wine every 5 minutes. No problems there for sure. In fact, next to the entertainment the best part of the cruise was the service. 

I could go on and on, but will just say, maybe a longer Azamara cruise would be better, but we a bit disappointed this time around. I will agree with other,  embarkation and debarkation were wonderful. Oh, the lack of selection in the gift shop was somewhat of a downer. And of course the bad seas on the last night didn't help our overall view, but of course that has absolutely nothing to do with Azamara and we loved the captain, his overall humor and his ability to keep us fully informed on what to expect at all times.  

7 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

Best to remove the service charge and put money right into the hands of people who serve you well. I do it every time without question at customer service, and the staff who receive the money I give them

throughout the cruise are grateful and I’m happy to be able to help. 

totally disagree with you. There are too many people behind the scenes that benefit from our DSC that you would never seek out and tip. We keep the DSC in place and then we tip above to those who really do go above and beyond for us. 

We purchased ours years ago as an investment even though we got no dividends. We have enjoyed the $100 OBC as we do sail a few times a year. A few months ago we decided to hold on to our original investments so we could get our OBC and cashed out our profits. We did ok, have never considered purchasing and then selling just to get the $100 but that is a pretty smart idea. Now that are sailing days are ending we may just sell and get something that does pay dividends. Regardless we have made money over the years so have no complaints. 

Thanks everyone. this really helps a lot and I am happy to hear about the jean situation. We are trying to keep the packing down to a min. thanks again, sounds great. 

Ok, so it appears the white night is part of the 5 day cruise we are taking next Sat. I only have a couple of questions and don't seem to find the answers: 1-do you have to wear long pants to the White night being on deck in stead of in the dining rooms? another thing, I know men can not wear jeans to dinner, what about capris for women? Need answers as I am packing tomorrow for a trip to San Juan early Thursday. Thanks everyone 

5 hours ago, florisdekort said:

Do a quick search. There have been countless Oceania vs Azamara discussions, one very recently. Lots of useful information and opinions.

I haven't checked recently but I do think it is more a matter of opinion and what someone is looking for in a cruise. As I am getting ready for our first Azamara cruise I can not make a fair comparison but I can say Oceania is a great cruise experience. I do not think there are any Princess ships that can compare. I am hoping we will enjoy Azamara as well as  oceania. 

27 minutes ago, mlgb said:

The regular cabins/balcony cabins have the flat pods, and yes your steward will provide. The coffee is quite acceptable although you may want to ask for extra pods. The cups are not that big!

 

Have I read that other categories eg Haven have Nespresso?

exactly and as for asking for one, on our last few cruises they have been in our cabins: we usual have a balcony cabin.. We also have had ice 

On 10/31/2019 at 6:51 PM, PirateWife said:

There are tables and chairs pool side at the Pool Bar and at The Patio that are not low and easy to get in and out of.

thank you so much. This will really be a huge help to us. Only 4 more days and so much still to do 

4 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

If you choose a GTY then you take pot luck as to where you'll end up and have to assume your cabin is in a poor location. If you have special needs or preferences then you need to book a specific cabin.  

 

I'm not sure what OV cabins you are talking about as there are none on the top deck. There are two OVs on deck 7 (and also 6), but they are at the front not the back. If you mean one of those then they are nice cabins as they are a bit larger than standard because they include the footprint of a balcony within the cabin.  They really aren't far from the front elevators. It's not a big ship. 

 

Phil 

sorry Phil, I didn't mean the top deck I meant the top deck that as OV cabins. I know they; are not that far from the elevators compared to a ship with 5000 or so passengers. I really don't care but our TA is a bit concerned. She wants us near the elevators. Thanks again. As for special needs, we certainly have sailed enough to know what we need and do not need. This is about our 50th cruise. Neither of us need a special needs cabin, but there are some mobility concerns for us. That is very different than taking up a special needs cabin when someone else might really need it.

On 12/7/2019 at 4:23 PM, blcruising said:

I wouldn't describe it as bad. It's actually average and can be hit or miss. Certainly not on par with land based restaurants in New England, but I have found it edible. At least it is available in the MDR and each person can decide if they want to eat it or not. With NCL you won't find it anywhere in the MDR, along with veal, scallops, filet, or shrimp. Plus, Carnival creates a perception of a more upscale experience for the average cruiser unlike the repetitive turkey, chicken, pork and bluefish that are present on the new NCL menus and at your local Golden Corral.

sorry I totally disagree with you. 

22 hours ago, havanadaydreaming said:

Here are some things I think/feel/believe that run against conventional wisdom, feel free to add your own!

 

*hate buffets on land but I enjoy ncl's, especially on bigger shifts. 

 

*Epic bathroom setup didn't faze me at all. 

 

*not sure if take a free upgrade to Haven from balcony. 1)don't wanna get spoiled 2)a butler? Seems awkward to me 3)this based only on speculation 

 

*I'm generally pro art auction, find the purchases fascinating. But was recently on 4 nt cruise that advertised $99 fares and the art auctioneer was offering some art at $6k, $12k, etc. Tough gig!

 

*I haven't consumed a soda onboard for years, so I don't care which brand is served. 

 

*paper straws suuuuuuuuuck. I loved a metal set, of 3,  I bought from margaritaville for $15.  I never woulda thunk I'd ever buy a metal straw, highly recommended. 

 

*I wish the ship announcements would play in room. I always forget which channel broadcasts them. 

 

*I actually like nassau

 

I agree with some of your views: we are ok with the buffet but not on land. 

actually like Epic bathrooms if not cruising with a family or someone you don't know too well 

am not a soda drinker so always find the obsession with brand interesting. I guess for some this is a deal breaker almost. 

Nassau, take it or leave it

depends on the announcements whether I want to hear them in the cabin or not. 

Depends what and how many ships are in port and what time they arrive. You probably won't know until the night before or when you wake up Christmas morning. 

20 hours ago, GACRUISER456 said:

We did a guarantee on this cruise and the cabin was assigned within the first 24 hours.  I just checked and it looks like only the CO and CW suites are left.  Maybe you are in for a treat if you haven't been assigned yet.  🙂

We just got our assignment about 3 days ago. WE are fine with it, but would have preferred to be closer to the elevators as hubby does have walking problems. Here is something that makes no sense. We are traveling with close friends and our daughter and her husband. Our friends also had a gty cabin. We got assigned a top deck ocean view There are only a couple of ocean view on the deck we are on. They are at the back of the ship. Our friends got deck 4 near the elevators. Well our TA called to get the 2 couples re-assigned as friends have no mobility problems. The agent could't help us because both cabins are gty but ended up one is an upgrade. If we wanted to change we would have to pay more and lose our OBC. TA was told when we board we can probably get them switched. It is a big deal, just strange. 

14 hours ago, BelowDeck4us said:

I can certainly understand that seafood is an acquired taste.  But for those of us who like seafood, it's always nice to have the option when ordering a meal. That said, I echo the comments of others.  In general the seafood served on cruises is substandard and the fish can be downright awful.  On my last cruise I actually thought the food overall was very good, except the night when I order the fish for dinner....which was mushy and had no taste.   

My trout was over cooked and dry. Yes, for the most part the food was good to very good. Anyone who says on Carnival you can get all the Lobster  tails you want must realize the quality is so bad most people who have any idea what decent Lobster is wouldn't want more than one.