bellabaloo

We recently tried NCL for the first time and stayed in the haven. The haven was amazing and would choose that hands down. However if the haven is not available, we prefer rccl over the standard ncl cruise.

We went to Megan's Bay a few yrs ago. I think the kids in our group were 4, 5 & 5 at the time. We did not go through RCCL, however. We just jumped in a cab , a small van with others is more like it, at the pier. We did not use car seats and they were not an option. The kids sat on the parents laps. If you want to use them, you should take them with you. Megan's Bay is by far one of the most beautiful beaches! Enjoy!

Oh, there were tons of cabs/shuttles/sm vans waiting to take passengers back. You just had to go up to one and you are on the way.

No, no, no, don't get your panties in a wad over this. It's absolutely NOT your fault! Royal Caribbean is doing its best to confuse you into thinking that you are getting a better deal than you actually are! (so what else is new? Look at this stupid BOGOHO pricing scheme.)

 

Lots of businesses pull THIS one, though. Not a new idea with RC.

 

:)

Lol! :D I was definitely duped! I went and searched my emails and found it there from a week ago at least. But I am glad you pointed it out otherwise I would not have realized it.

Go look again.

 

As several people on this thread have stated, it says UP TO 30%.

Well since you put it in ALL CAPS and bolded it, I did go back and check. It does say up to. You are correct. You cannot click on it anywhere to read the terms and nowhere does it reference the flyer posted for the 3, 4, or 5 reservations from that banner. If it wasn't for that flyer being posted, I wouldn't have seen it. Even seeing it in this thread, I didn't think it applied since the banner didn't mention making add'l reservations for a discount. I am not an idiot and get pretty OCD researching each cruise. This is very misleading. How did you all find that flyer? Its not under The deals, promotions tab on the top left. Obviously I am missing an aspect of rccl's website! lol

Please provide a link to that because every where I see it says "up to 30%"

my cruise planner under dining has a banner that says 30% OBC on day 1 when you book 3 spec dining reservations in advance. sending a link won't work since i have to bee logged in to see it. maybe its only for specific sailings.

love your review! can't wait for the rest :)

You are making all the secret balcony fans very unhappy

 

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haha! i love secret balconies, but i really love these aft gs!! :p

I sure hope Allure is updated with these suites at her dry dock as well! What was the time frame for when they became available to book? I'm going to set reminders to check! Love these!

We prefer rccl over ncl ships overall. However, the haven is by far the best! I'd book the haven any chance we could over any other line...pending flights, etc. While we enjoyed the breakaway and freestyle, we really missed getting to know the different staff members and having their special touches. We also prefer the rccl kids place as well. I wonder if it is because our first two cruises were with rccl? We are going back to rccl for our next one and I bet we'll miss freestyle a lot more! Lol!

Thanks so much for your review! We are sailing navigator next year!

We also did VB's fun sun tour. We had a great guide and are definitely looking forward to visiting his monkeys again in march!

We prefer Roatan and Belize and are doing them again over Cayman!

We've been watching for Liberty out of galveston and I agree that those prices are ridiculous right now.

Hope you don't mind, I'd love to see your pix and emailed. Hope you don't mind!

Great to hear! Thx

We did this itinerary 2 yrs ago when my son had just turned 6. We did the cave tubing with a private tour group-had better tubes and more suited for small children. In Roatan, we also did the Bodden tour and visited his home and loved it. Then we've done cozumel twice. The first time we booked nachi Cocum which is an awesome, private beach only available for 100 people-very quiet and peaceful with food and drinks included. The second time we went to Mr Sanchos which was awesome as well.

Thx for posting the info and links! So exciting!

Video from NCL showing large cabanas:

 

http://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/great-stirrup-cay

 

 

Below is my compilation of info I found on other threads:

 

The large cabana holds 8 and includes $50 food and beverage credit.

The small cabana holds 4 and includes $25 food and beverage credit.

 

Includes rental of two float mats, and has a shower.

 

It appears that the small cabanas have just been finished, as they just appeared as an option to book around Oct 20 2013.

The other new info is that there is now a tram service to the cabanas and back from the tender dock (a few hundred yards or 10 mins walk). They run every 20 mins.

 

The beach is only 100 ft from the small cabanas which is a lot closer than is the case for the large cabanas. There really is no difference between the cabanas other than size. So if you wanted all of the benefits and to save a little, I would go with the small especially if not too many in your party.

The small cabanas also are nearer the Lagoon, Bobolink Bar and buffet, so a shorter walk to the food. Just take a left when coming out the cabana, away from the main beach to the small buffet. Going right brings you to the main beach and dock.

There is also a bathroom right nearby the small cabanas, which is cleaner generally.

 

The large cabanas are about 250-300 ft from the water, vs 100 ft for small ones, plus there are wooden stairs up to the large cabanas as they are up higher. Plus you are closer to the quieter amenities near the lagoon in the small cabanas.

 

Beach in front of the small cabanas never had more than maybe 50 people on it all day. There were plenty of empty loungers available. Most passengers never make it that far from the tender dock. So it's a great spot even if you don't rent a cabana.

 

You will get a letter delivered to your stateroom about two days before arriving. It will indicate which cabana number. The first small one is 12, then 14, ie no 13 and they go up from there. I don't know how they are allocated but it makes sense that the first booked gets the lowest no. and so on. Also in the letter is a food and drink order form. That needs to be turned into the shore excursion desk so that they can prepare your order at least 24 hours in advance. You get $50 credit to use.

Yes it's free up to $50. I had a $50 credit on my overall account in board, although they never charged me for the $50 of beer that I ordered, as I had pre-paid. If you go over $50 it just gets charged to your ship account.

The place you go to when you first arrive is the snorkel center. This is where you are directed to to check in for the cabana. You can rent the whole set-up to snorkel or you can rent bladder vests which are required to snorkel I believe.

 

When you book a cabana, because you spent money for that you get priority tendering to the island. Our ticket showed 'Priority Tender'.

Hello, I sure wish the search feature worked!

Has anyone taken the fitness classes on breakaway? I am only familiar with the sign up process on rccl and disney. As soon as you boarded, you had to run to the center to sign up, otherwise, you had to show up early before a class to see if anyone didn't show. Is ncl the same? Has any taken the classes and are they good/bad?

Also, are spa passes hard to get as well? Do you need to run right to the spa to get a pass?

TIA. :)

This seems to be happening more and more! So aggravating! We are sailing in 27 days and I sure hope we are one of the lucky few that don't have to fight for what we prepaid or our OBC. :(

Thank you for the review.

 

The onboard credit and the pre-paid dinners not be honored is totally unacceptable. I can see why you wouldn't want to sail with NCL again.

 

Why do they bother pushing everyone to pay in advance when they can't keep track of it?

I was just using it about ten min ago. Then I had an error pop up twice and now it's the search tab is gone?

I would think the slightly larger bedroom with window would be great...however we booked on 12 for the larger balcony.

Thanks so much for your review! What did your h say about the plank?!? Gulp! Lol. Is it as scary as it seems?

Thanks so much! :)

Wow Gambee! Loving your review so far! It's like reliving all of the anticipation watching the ship being built! Can't wait for the rest :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38GB9iKUjio

 

Here is a link. It may take a while to process. I hope it work :)

thanks for the video!!! awesome :)

Thanks for posting this. I dvr that show but rarely watch it. I will watch this one tonight!