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On 11/1/2023 at 5:56 PM, klhiggi11 said:

Hello all, 

 

I'm excited to see this roll call. I'll be traveling solo on this cruise. I'm excited to see the ship. 

Greetings! I'll be traveling solo as well... my first time on Carnival after 10 loyal years with NCL! But after seeing the decor, the size, and the fact that it's leaving from Pier 88/90 in Manhattan, I decided to give it a try. This will be a purely experimental cruise for me... 🤣

19 hours ago, slugg said:

...you can give it a shot for fun to develop an intuition for it.

 

Have fun!

Thanks so much, @slugg!!

5 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Yes...Capt. Niklas.  He handled things very well.

 

 

Wow!  We had Capt. Persson on that December 9th voyage too, during that 2-day storm.

2 hours ago, slugg said:

I’m skeptical of the reasoning. A gust of wind causing that big of a list is unlikely. The physics just don’t work out; you’d need sustained wind to transfer enough energy into the ship and water to perform enough work to list the ship that much. My money is on stabilizer malfunction of some sort: mechanical, electronic, software, or human error.

 

But hey, glad nobody was seriously hurt and good to hear that the staff and crew maintained a positive experience for all the guests. Recovery from error is the first thing I look for when judging customer service; it looks like they did a great job. 🙂

@slugg your comment is intriguing to a ship geek like me! (geek only in the wondering-how-it-works sense as a cruiser; i'm in no way a student of the maritime world!) i was on the ESCAPE on the 12/9-21 trip and we went through storms the first 2 sea days. (it was my 8th cruise so stormy seas were not new to me, but this was the stormiest ever!) plus, i had an aft-facing balcony so could feel it more... plus i was truly fascinated by and wondering how exactly the ship could withstand that violent sea state beyond knowing it was built for it. i felt it so much that i woke up at 4 AM and had to check the navigation channel, and saw a screen that confirmed my concern! (see pic) soooooo if you can please direct me to how to do this basic research on the physics you mention, i'd high five you in my mind! thanks!

On 10/3/2018 at 10:16 AM, JamieLogical said:

...However, in June I sailed on the Gem and we were originally booked in an inside room. For us, the risk of getting a poor room location was worth it to get a balcony. We figured any balcony room would be better than our inside room. We ended up in a great location and didn't regret our choice at all!

thanks JamieLogical... you've just helped me cross one thing off my "overthinking" list about bidding on a balcony from an inside, on the ESCAPE. (the GEM is my second home by the way--tho always an inside cabin--so i know how right you are about "any balcony"!)

On 10/3/2018 at 10:16 AM, JamieLogical said:

...However, in June I sailed on the Gem and we were originally booked in an inside room. For us, the risk of getting a poor room location was worth it to get a balcony. We figured any balcony room would be better than our inside room. We ended up in a great location and didn't regret our choice at all!

thanks JamieLogical... you've just helped me cross one thing off my "overthinking" list about bidding on a balcony from an inside, on the ESCAPE. (the GEM is my second home by the way--tho always an inside cabin--so i know how right you are about "any balcony"!)

On 10/4/2018 at 11:49 PM, don't-use-real-name said:

If you filed or saved your email upgraded request you can check back and see if the bids have been processed.

Find that email open it and click on the highlighted (blue) modify/cancel a new window will open and it may

show EXPIRED meaning that your bid was not successful and that bids for that cabin class have been filled.

 

If you don't see something on that order and are still 2 days away from sailing you may still be in the running.

 

If you win your bid - you almost immediately will see an email draining your credit card account the amount

of your winning bid. That email will direct you to check your Edocs for the upgraded cabin number.

If you took out insurance for your cruise and the upgrade moved you into a more expensive class/category

you may be owing a token increase of the insurance premium.

 

If your bid wins remember when checking your new Edocs over to print the NEW LUGGAGE TAGS with

the new cabin number and discard the old cabin luggage tags.

THANK YOU for that little tutorial, d-u-r-n! i'm traveling solo on the ESCAPE 12-day southern caribbean (NY-NY). since i'm on a budget, i booked the inside like i've done for all my 7-day cruises. then i realized, DUH bigger ship + more days = you need to splurge on a balcony! so i bid low on the upgrade, still waiting, and if it's not accepted i'll have to be ready to somehow pay for the balcony, at least $500 extra since the prices are going up. So your information means that I can at least monitor it. Thanks again!!!

SCREAM!!! just found this thread at random and when i saw the word "cheapskate" i thought, oh, is someone cruising with ME??? love the hilarious wordplay and can't wait to see how it all turns out, since we are kindred spirits. except i cruise solo, no UBP, and definitely no wifi package--a gurl needs her vacay!! party on!

~diane

I spend hours searching the boards to make sure we are getting the best experience for our dollar and I hope to write a review that will appeal to others out there in my situation. It will be long and very detailed.

SCREAM!!!! thanks for the laugh. (i just got my first invitation to bid and am here doing my due diligence -- I sail solo and always book an inside cabin, so i am curious. love your attitude!)

A few weeks ago, The Penthouse Suite was first offered to us as an an upgrade for $1000.00 PP

I counter offered $500.00 PP, and was told they don't negotiate.

A few days later NLC offered the same for $750.00 PP and I again counter offered $500.00. No Deal.

With a few days before our sailing, NCL offered the same Penthouse Suite for $500.00 PP

I told them to shove it. We are happy with the BA we booked months ago.:)

I agree. I feel like I've been "had". I've been accused more than once of being a cheerleader here on CC. Reality is my past cruises have been really great. This one threw me for a loop.

 

With the extra 18% they're charging on specialty restaurant meals, they should be able to properly staff them so that half the restaurant isn't empty.

Looks like we are complaining amongst ourselves when we should be communicating our reactions directly--and often, and visibly--to the new CEO. Even if he doesn't care, he'll hear our voices directly!

You. Will. Love. It. just bring your smile! i've sailed 4x on NCL and i always go solo and i always meet the most awesome amazing people. have fun!!

...and last but not least and the biggest deal to yours truly, c) they had not hooked up the speakers for the ambient music... C’mon people you dock in NYC once a week, send someone off the ship to the nearest Best Buy or Radio Shack and come back with two portable ipod speakers (and I mean good ones) and two shuffles. How hard is this really??

 

6. The television does provide in room access to see your portfolio and your reservations among other things. Don’t freak if you don’t see a ressie there, for some reason the television does not pick all of them up

WOW Sheba0514--thanks so much for the detailed and thoughtful review! I am sailing (solo, as usual) on the June 23 voyage and your post has made me realize that i have not researched Bermuda either!

Then again, I have found that whenever I get off the ship in the Caribbean, after about an hour I'm ready to get back on. Plus which I'm traveling on a super-tight budget, so whatever I do will be simple but fun.

Now please don't laugh, but since you mentioned music and the tv channel, I thought I'd ask if you noticed what kind of music plays on the information channel (the one where the weather and conditions are posted)? I like background music when I'm in the room and was pleasantly surprised to find that the Gem and the Jewel had smooth jazz on the info channel, which meant i could leave my turntable and my vinyl albums at home. ;) So I'm just wondering what I can expect on the Breakaway.

Of course, if you didn't focus on that I will understand. :rolleyes: Anyway, thanks again... I'm off to research Bermuda!!

~ Diane