CTCruiser001

Anyone have the extention number for the F&B Manager? I have a question and want to ask without Omar or someone else trying to defray. I keep getting an answer about the Premium Plus wine bottle offerings that makes zero sense and would like to ask the person in charge directly...

Yes, I'm aware. Thank you.

Awesome ship horn battle between the Breakaway and Prima as the Prima left dock. Not sure who won...We'll call it a draw!

Or finding out they are not working...

Ditto. My wife and I sail all the time with NCL and get nothing. My father who lived with us and is deceased and has sailed NCL only once, gets a brochure weekly in the mail. This is the only mail of his we haven't been able to figure out how to stop!!!

Okay, your question makes more sense now. 😀 I forget there are other cultures who don't have experience with tipping...Here is what we do. Firstly, don't forget that each bill has 20% gratuity added already. Because of this, most of your fellow sailors won't tip additional at all. We tip $40 at every specialty meal ($20 for each of us). For Teppanyaki (which has a separate bill for each individual) we tipped $20 to the servers and $10 to the chef, so $60 all in. If we ordered a bottle of wine, we usually tip $10 to the sommelier for their assistance and discussion of wines and regions. I will add this...In all of our 16 cruises, we've always tipped at least $1 cash to servers or bartenders when we get a drink. If we are both getting a drink, we tip at least $3 cash. Over the course of our cruises, we've seen less and less people tipping cash at this activity... On this current sailing, this tipping for drinks seems way down - Which is very surprising for me. Perhaps inflation and the rising costs and cut backs have made people stop with small cash tips??? But we know these NCL employees are working hard to give us great service and we will continue to tip additional for drinks on all of our sailings. I will share my thoughts on Haven tipping at the end of our sailing.

Tomorrow is the last full day for us on the ship...Any questions? Anything I can find out for you guys? Here is your chance. I will do my best!

We both had the caeser salad, so only 1 picture of it. 😄

Haven lunch in the Courtyard:

Current status: Oooh these loungers are nice!!! 🫠🫠🫠

Internet Speed tests for those interested: This is with the FAS plus package (unlimited WiFi). The 1st image is from last night at 11 pm while we were sailing towards Mexico. The 2nd image is while we are docked in Cozumel at 12:45 pm. Pretty slow...Plan accordingly.

This is our first time in 16 cruises that we did the Thermal Spa. It will be something we do on every cruise going forward. 😁😁😁 If you check the dailies I've posted, there have been days where a day pass was offered. Prices vary...I remember $59 for one date and $79 for another date. Massages at Maya Chan are not included, but pricing is very reasonable. Enjoy your cruise!

Enjoying another spa day. 😌 We discovered the secret spa access from the Haven lounge to the spa!

Sitting on our balcony sipping coffee while catching up on emails. Another report card from the pup's boarding place and a quick look on their fb page shows the pup happily hanging out with his buddies. Give them all the treats!

Complicated drink orders cause lines. Prove me wrong.

Good morning cruisers! Starting a bit late this morning...Good times last night with Syd Norman's and the rest of the ship!

Tipping is a personal thing. Tip however you wish. 🙂

Teppanyaki is the only restaurant that offers you the chance to tip the chef and waiter - Specifically because the chef performed for you while making the food. Other specialty restaurants have a tip line for the server. It's your choice to tip or not.

We skipped the soup and salads - I enjoyed the filet..I mean New York Strip...It was a tough piece of meat though. Bringing back the filet would be a good idea! The DW had the Seafood dish - I sampled everything and it was pretty good. We are stuffed...Skipping dessert too. The payslip system here is weird - They bill every person's card. Even minors. A family with us had 4 slips, for mom, dad, and two little girls...Dad had to sign each individually - I don't remember this system in the past, so it could be something they are trying to drive gratuity? Who knows?

Caught the sunset on our way to the restaurant.

Tonight's dinner...

If you are patient, you'll be fine. We've witnessed some bars that get swamped at certain times. Many don't realize they can just keep walking and get to another bar nearby. Case in point, last night we had dinner in Le Bistro and we were early. We decided to stroll down to the Mixx Bar which is between two MDRs. There were people surrounding the bar trying to order while both MDRs had people lining up for start of dinner time. That bar had only 1 bartender. The poor guy was hustling. I witnessed a few people peel off and head to the atrium bar which isn't far at all. They were back, with drinks in hand, while the Mixx bartender was still struggling to stay afloat and serve people. It's all about timing and being patient.

You're married to me. You don't get a choice. 🤣🤣🤣

Tacos and Tequila shots...Is there anything better?