graphicguy

Diamond on Royal. Sapphire on NCL. Entertainment on Prima.... -DONNA...Donna Summer musical that seems to have rave reviews. I don't know as I've not seen it yet, but will when I sail in a couple of months -Syd Norman's....House Band....outstanding. I have seen the Syd Norman band shows on other ships. Simply put, they are the best house band I've ever seen on ANY ship on ANY line. Fleetwodd Mac Rumours show and Prom Nite are particularly good -Typical trivia and dance lessons in the main atrium -Guitar and piano players in the different lounges throughout the ship. Free at Sea (FAS) the ubiquitous perk package consists of some internet minutes, a $50 credit for excursions, drink package (only pay for tips) and Specialty Dining (again, only pay for tips). Unless you book a bare bones cruise package and reject the perks, you'll get these. As such, the drinks are WAY cheaper than the packages on Royal. Specialty Dining is similar, but again WAY cheaper as you're only paying for the tips. Cagney's is the steak house that's similar to Chops. Onda is the Italian restaurant (have not dined but heard it's quite good), Palomar is seafood, Nama is sushi, Los Lobos is Mexican, Food Republic is the World Cuisine Restaurant, Hasuki is the Benihana type restaurant, and Le Bistro is the French specialty dining restaurant. For FAS sailing 7 days, you get to pick from 2 of the above. Or, you can buy another package (another 2 additional Specialty Restaurants) which I think is ~$85 pp for the 2. No charge restaurants.... The newer concept, Indulge, is a complimentary diner type of restaurant where you pick and choose from a tablet dishes that feature different cuisines to choose from. There's Hudsons, the traditional MDR, the Buffet, and The Local, which is open 20-21 hours and features burgers, hotdogs, sandwiches, fries, and complete breakfast and dinner menus depending on the time of day. All dining options are part of the "freestyle" concept. You don't have to make reservations. Just walk up to one you want to dine. You may have a wait, but I've never waited more than 10-15 minutes. Dress...casual. There are no formal nites, per se. There is a nite where there will be a lot of photographers milling about if you want to dress up for pictures, but that's it. LeBistro does require long pants to dine there, unless you dine outside (which I HIGHLY recommend) so you can wear shorts. The pics of the cabins are wonderful. They look big and airy, even the inside cabins, with large bathrooms. Overall, while Royal likes to focus on the interior of the ship, NCL is the opposite. They have a what they call the Waterfront, which features many bars and restaurant dining outdoors. It also features many couches and chairs overlooking the water outside to read, have conversations and/or relax. The Observation Lounge is an area similar to 270 on Royal. No acrobatic type of entertainment like 270, but it has large floor to ceiling windows with a 270º view with piano players and singing at nite. It's also a great place for breakfast and lunch snacks/sandwiches/bagels/fruit, etc. And, theres a full bar. Royal does pools better. NCL's pools are small, but there are loungers above the pool area for sunning and overlooking the water. Personally, I never even use the pools on cruises any more. Not worth the crowds. That's the Reader's Digest answer to your question.

Yes. Epic has Starlink. It's a game changer. It's the fastest internet at sea I've ever experienced. Used it on a Mediterranean cruise a couple of months ago. As far as the other service? Didn't see any of that. If you're waiting 30 minutes for a drink from a bar, you're not utilizing the bars on board. They're about 75 feet from each other. If there's a wait at one, walk 2 minutes in either direction and you'll get a drink at another one.

If the ship can’t demand a port for a variety of reasons, you could expect port fees to be refunded. But, if the ship docks at the port, dock fees are charged whether you get off the ship or not. Same for Spa. Once it’s charged, it doesn’t matter if you use the Spa or not. That’s true of ALL cruise lines!

Agree, unfortunately. But, Dramamine, Bovine and Ginger Chews should be available from either the Med Center or the on board gift shop!

WOW...he's still performing. Great! I too have seen Jersey Boys touring company and the show on the Bliss. Loved them both.

I understand. I usually pull out Grants, Franklins and Benjamins at the end of the cruise!

A buck here for a particularly good bartender. I little extra to my room steward. A buck here and there to those who have made things a little easier for me? Makes for a much more enjoyable cruise. I know I'm happier than those who are constant curmudgeons complaining about everything and marching down to Customer Service to wait in a long line to remove tips over any real or perceived slight.

One of my favorite NCL shows. Worth seeing multiple times.

Love the AFT SUITES on the GEM. Sailed in one before the shutdown. Back then, there was a room service charge for any meals ordered, as it wasn't a Haven Suite.

Agree. I liked Blu more than Luminae. But, to pay more for Blu? NOPE! I liked Luminae. They seem to sometimes being different culinarily for difference's sake. Sometimes to ill effect. If Blu is your only reason to stay in Aqua class, save your money and sail in a lesser cabin and dine in the included restaurants. As these things go, some prioritize some things over others. In the end, the question can only be answered by the one who posed it.

Never seen nor heard of that.

I think our tastes are all quite different. I thought SIX was a dud. I know of others who thought it was fantastic. Agree about Million Dollar Quarter.....a generation or two before my time, but found I enjoyed the performance immensely. And, learned some of the beginnings of rockabilly. My sometimes GF LOVES Donna Summer. So, while not a disco fan, I've heard enough that I might enjoy DONNA. I'll go see it with an open mind. Again, thanks for the great review.

Agree with that last sentence!

My Father (who passed away 20 years ago this past Oct) and able to give him a Haven Cabin, regardless of the reason? I'd not hesitate. Absolutely would do it without hesitation. I'm not painting myself as a selfless individual. I'm not...not even close. For my Father or my Mother? Absofreakinlutely!!!!! To me, that's the ONLY answer.

To keep peace this is the right choice! You can not buy Haven perks. Haven sold out means no more Haven Suites available, and that’s the only way to get Haven benefits.

That link worked. I use Safari.

Me,too!

I agree. My most recent cruise was this past October. 11 nite Med cruise in the Epic Haven. $4.6K....all in, drinks, tips, etc. Gotta say, I was never bored on the ship. Great entertainment all the time. Ship was in great shape, even though she was over a dozen years old. Had to pay for airfare, but I think it was right around $700 in and out of Marseille. Hotel in Marseille pre cruise was $175. Viking at $12K for a month? I think I may get bored as from what I've heard, the entertainment is a couple of notches below NCL's. That said, IIRC when I looked at Viking for the same cruise (again, being open to different dates) the best I could find was $14K fare for 10 nite Med cruise, plus another $1,500 for Viking's air plan. Don't know if they covered a hotel pre-cruise. But still 2X+ price over NCL. My TA wanted me to look at OCEANIA. They were a little less but still about the same as VIKING. NCL's Haven on the EPIC is arguably one of the best HAVENs in the fleet. Service was exemplary. Food was excellent in the Haven Restaurant and the Specialty Restaurants. I had FAS and 2 more Specialty Restaurants included because I'm Sapphire. So, 4 out of 11 nites dining in Specialties. The rest in the Haven. Personally, there was no way I could justify paying more for Viking or Oceania given how good my Haven experience was. But, $12K for 2 sailing Antarctica for a month? If I were looking for that I'd probably seriously consider it.

I'm a Diamond on Royal and Sapphire on NCL. Have sailed both quite a bit, but more on NCL. Last couple of Royal Cruises have been disappointing. But, before the COVID shutdown they did well. Now, their cutbacks seem to be more severe than those on NCL. Last Royal on the Ovation (one of their newer ships) last year they actually posted that the WINDJAMMER (their buffet) was SOLD OUT. Never saw that before. It sent people scrambling for other dining alternatives, which were packed because the Windjammer had too many people. Never had seen that before on any other cruise line. Left a bad taste. I now read where Diamonds are no longer allowed in the Diamond Lounge, which I used quite a bit given they had good coffee and a concierge, which I used regularly. So, that's a "ding". Plus, when you total everything up, packages, perks, etc. NCL is the better deal. I can sail in the Haven on NCL for about what it costs for a Jr Suite on Royal. The 4 free drinks for being Diamond on Royal is nice. But, having FAS with only tips being charged, I tend to drink 2x that (including sodas (which would be extra cost for a soda package on Royal) on NCL. Ships on both lines are nice and well kept. Specialty Dining is about the same on both. I'll give NCL a little nod for service over Royal. NCL crew seem to always be willing to help. Royal crew sometimes (not all the time) sometimes act like I'm in their way. Royal used to be equal in entertainment to NCL. That's where I've noticed the biggest difference recently. NCL has moved to some smaller shows, but those are way better than even some of the main shows on Royal. Don't get me wrong. If I can find a really good fare on Royal, I'll book it (like I did last year). So far, those are few.

My personal cutoff fare for premium cabin fares (Haven, YC, Retreat, etc) is $5K. That's for 2 (although these days, I sail solo a lot). So, Viking, Oceania etc is still over what I'm willing to spend.

Good job!

Good on you. Viking hasn't come any closer than 2X fare of my Haven cruises...and they were charges for airfare that they were still going to charge extra for. But if you found tat fare, you're quite the shopper!

Never have been able to score those $4,500 fares on Viking or Oceania I’ve found on the Haven. In fact, it’s never even been close. I did score a $4K fare in a Retreat Suite on Apex and Edge for Celebrity. But, that was right after the start up. Can’t remotely touch those same fares, now. If you’re stuck on a given itinerary and/or date to cruise, you’re stuck with whatever fare they publish for that particular cruise. So, you really don’t allow yourself any wiggle room and have to accept what you get!

Generally speaking, and these are just my personal observations over the last decade or so (subtracting COVID start up ships, dates)... Comparing NCL Haven Cabin suites for 2...if you shop and are the least bit flexible...can be had for around $4,000-$5,000...all in, with FAS. That's per cabin, NOT per person. -Royal Balcony or Jr Suite is about $3,000-$4,000 with no drink packages or specialty dining -Carnival Havana Suites are about $3,000-$3,500...no drink package! But, it really can't remotely compete with the Haven -Celebrity Retreat is about $6,000 all in -MSC YC is about $4,000-$4,500 all in but without Specialty Dining Royal Star Service Suites are $8.000. It's about the same product as Haven, Retreat, YC. Balconies on NCL with FAS, will run $1,800 and $2,500. Anyone who is paying some of the crazy 5 figure fares I'm seeing means they aren't flexible or aren't willing to shop NCL for better fares.

Just call the main number. 866-234-7350. They'll hook you up.