cathi007

2 hours ago, ebay33 said:

Whichever one is the disembarkation port.

Yeah I'm with you on this

1 hour ago, BNBR said:

I wouldn't sail NCL with a 2.5 year old.

 

Carnival has full camp for 2 year olds with diaper changes and everything.  Lots of fun activities.  NCL and Royal is 3+ and they have to be potty trained.

 

The other option I would go with is Royal Caribbean, one of their ships that has the new H2O zone like Harmony of the Seas which has a play area for children still in swim diapers.  Plus play rooms, movie theater, boardwalk with carousel, etc. etc.

 

I personally would not enjoy vacation one bit if I had my 2 year old with me every waking moment.  I'd rather just stay home where we can swim and play with their normal stuff.  Which is why I'd do Carnival.

The Escape has a nursery for children up to 3. We are sailing with a 3 y/o and 14 m/o, but we are the grand parents. Mom and dad will be on the cruise too. We have connecting minis, so we can help out and give my DD and her hubby "date" nights :). It's going to be awesome for us (grand-parents) ❤️

22 hours ago, JohninDC said:

Write it down before your free "Shark bite" drink. 

Lol, I will try 😉

3 hours ago, karena1 said:

Please anyone going before April, post a report and let us know what is open and pictures.  Cannot wait to go back there!

I will be there in a few weeks, I will take pics and report back 🙂

On 1/6/2019 at 6:56 PM, Dar28 said:

This will be our 4th time to St Marten and we always end up at Orient Beach. This time there’s no need to sightsee and just want to get back to our “favourite beach” as well ! There was a great place the taxi drivers dropped us off where there was a bar and restaurant. Not sure if that was the Bikini Bar??? Haven’t been for several years so hopefully things are getting back to normal after the hurricane.

Just to confirm, Orient Beach is really a long one and is a fair ways from the pier? There was a nude beach at the other end? Am I  correct?

 

We took a taxi sightseeing and the drivers pick d us up at the end of the day. Does anyone know how f taxis will do a return fare? 

 

Yes, but I just read that the nude beach is no more. I will be a Bikini Beach in a few weeks, so I will report back when I get back

On 1/6/2019 at 6:10 PM, Lisalk12 said:

Have a wonderful cruise!  Let us know how things go. We have my husband and I with our 3 boys (17, 12 and 1) so lots of hands but we never cruised when the big boys were this little.  So many things I just never thought about!

I will definitely let you know how we made out. And thanks I'm sure we will have a wonderful cruise 🙂

9 hours ago, DKane said:

How did you make your countdown clock? I tried but couldn't do it.

Honestly I did it 22 months ago, and I really have no idea. Try googling it, I think that is what I did, lol

18 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Good late evening all, had a good dinner tonight.  Was going to sit for the Welcome Abroad show until Mrs. M pulled a detour to the not-too-busy casino - left a very small donation as we didn't stay long.  Retreated back to our room and hook up Sony notebook PC via HDMI to the Sole TV,  sit back & relax.  

 

Dexddd, ran into Charry S. on our way out of Savor - any new message for her tomorrow?

 

Going to snap pictures & explore the ship in greater detail on our 2nd. time sailing her,  and upload them when we get to PC.  Dailies will be kept but will only upload them on request as this is a West Carib itinerary - feel free to ask specifics & post questions.

 

Ship is sailing in great weather, barely feel the ship moving at almost 22 knots -  130+ nm out of NY with another 360 nm to go, at our speed - should get in early.  Seas are just under 5 ft. and wind at 30, not choppy at all.  

 

That's all for this evening - next update/post will be sometime tomorrow.  Good night !

Just wondering about Canvas by you (where to get reservations) and the Comedy Club (were you able to get reservations if you wanted to)? Also the pics on post #37 are amazing. Have a blast

Good for you, it sounds like you have even more to b e excited about. Have a great cruise and keep us posted on what goodies you got                                                                                                                          

1 hour ago, ceilidh1 said:

Having only sailed with NCL once before, I thought I would ask for some opinions here regarding a cruise I have booked on Bliss. I am currently booked on the 6 day coastal from Vancouver to LA on September 30th. I did this same cruise last year and loved it, so booked again as soon as we got home. Last year I was in a balcony so I upgraded for this year to a minisuite. Here is where my dilemma comes in....

 

I am considering upgrading to a Haven H8 category. The price isn't "outrageous" but would cost roughly double what I already booked. The current offers would give me beverage, dining, internet, shore ex credit, and free 3rd guest. My current booking includes only beverage and free 3rd guest but also came with $140 OBC.

 

I am also considering downgrading to a balcony - the balcony worked just fine for us last time and would save us around $400 AND get us dining in addition the the offers I already have.

 

Sailing is myself, DD aged 12 and DS aged 8. I would love to try the Haven experience and this seems to be the only "affordable" sailing that I could do this for currently. Having said that, is it worth the extra money given that I am sailing with kids (no idea if they are even allowed in the Haven areas/pools?) I would love to hear opinions on any of the options - I know it ultimately comes down to what it is worth to ME but, having never experienced Haven, it would be great to get other peoples perspectives. Even better if any of you have actually sailed in category H8 on Bliss!

 

Thanks in advance

My reason for a no answer would be simple. What if you really LOVE the Haven. Now that is the only way you will ever want to cruise. It is very expensive, you could probably do twice as many cruises for the price. That's why personally I would never do the upgrade. I wouldn't sit at the Haven all day, I like the sun (the roof is closed a lot). I like the specialty restaurants. I would never use a butler, not my thing, and I love the casino. But to each his own, so good luck on whatever you decide and more importantly, have an amazing cruise 🙂

19 hours ago, Nola26 said:

Thanks for sharing. Do they charge for beach chairs? 

Yes you rent the chairs and umbrellas, I don't remember how much though

8 hours ago, Aplmac said:

.

Carlisle Bay looks like this, most days

unless a North Swell is coming down at the island

in which case it gets a bit stirred-up....

 

The first shot

is the section of the beach where you'll most likely be camped out.

 

The shot with the richer turquoise color

is beyond the hotel pier, getting close to HILTON (seen in the distance).

OMG I love those photos!!! I can't wait, thanks for sharing

20 hours ago, HALrunner said:

I'm curious to know what you found out! Please report back:)

Will do I will be there in a few weeks :). I am bringing a journal with me, so this way I will write in it every night and then remember everything, lol

13 minutes ago, April42749 said:

So.....since I'm the OP I'll tell you my results:

I sent underwear (including bras), t-shirts, very casual inexpensive dresses...etc and everything came back perfect.

Next month we're doing a 2 weeker....and I plan on sending the same things down to the laundry.  I'm not sending embellished t-shirts, leggings or any pants (ok....maybe older leggings...they can be experimental)....or any dresses I care about.

Good to know we are doing a 14 night in 2 weeks and I was concerned about the laundry situation. Good to know that it comes back fine 🙂

beautiful sunset, I hope we have nice weather like this when we sail

2 minutes ago, aaamy138 said:

Sharing will happen nonetheless, it’s not something I find embarrassing. But at least it’s good to know that if it’s frowned apon, that I should order at least 1 app per person so it looks less like I’m trying to cheat the system. But from other threads it seems like it just depends on how nice your server is and it seems more lenient when it’s sharing with kids. 

 

Additonal question: is it possible to buy a dining package for another person as a gift with OBC? Or can you only buy it for yourself? Thanks! 

I honestly don't know, but I don't see why not. You can buy the package online (cheaper than waiting) I would call the NCL number. You can also purchase it on the ship for the first 2 days, but after that it has to be al la Carte 

19 minutes ago, pieshops said:

yes you are correct, sorry,  with the 20 dollar limit sorry but on the amount of apps, we were told no more then one this past week on the Jade when we used our meal plan not the coupon 

OK I hear that too, but apparently there are instances when they allow. I hear it just depends on the staff. I honestly couldn't eat that much anyway, lol

3 hours ago, aceparty said:

Enjoy, we will be getting on when you get off in 14 days for 14 day southern

Us too 🙂

6 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Here we go, bags are packed & ready to go ... ship came back early, disembarkation seemed smooth.  We are excited to be onboard again for the next 15 days (14 nights) 

 

Standby, Dexddd, etc. for interim & random "key" updates as we progress along ... maybe meatball_nyc would be waiving at sailaway toward us, except we are portside & might be too windy to be outside, we will see.  As usual, post your questions, comments & requests, etc. and I will get to them as best as I can, satellite WiFi time is what it is & we will be "metering" our usage, limited - no plans to upgrade at this point.  We will be using Google Fi in almost all the foreign ports as long as there are cellular coverage with roaming partners.

 

Getting out of the winter chills !!

 

 

I will be following your posts, as we come on when you get off. I am wondering about the Canvas and you, as I really want to do that. Also am curious about tickets for the comedy club, as I love to laugh. Have a great cruise. I will be in cabin 11792 in 14 days 🙂 

13 minutes ago, pieshops said:

one app one entree one dessert, some restaurants there is also a dollar limit on the entree of 20 dollars

That is for the platinum meal, the SDP is different, there is no limit on price of entree. There are up charges for certain venues though. Also you can get multiple desserts, and apps, but who can eat that much, lol

2 minutes ago, aaamy138 said:

Hey there! I’m going to a NCL cruise with 4 people and we will either be staying in one balcony or two inside rooms. We may choosing a dining package as one of our perks and based on the room we choose, I can see some scenarios play out that I have questions for:

 

• If we got one balcony room and only guest 1 and 2 will have the free dining package. If I don’t want to buy an additional package for guest 3 and 4, how will that work if we went to a speciality restaurant? I believe with the package guest 1 and 2 get one entree and unlimited apps and desserts. If this is the case, would we will able to just have guest 1 and 2 order all the apps and desserts and then be charged entrees for guest 3 and 4?

 

• If we get two staterooms, let’s say one room had the dining package but the other didn’t. Would we be able to dine together? And also will you be able to do the same as above, the guests with packages ordering apps while the ones who do not just ordering their own entrees?

 

Anwyay these are just what ifs and I know I  could probably just purchase an additional dining package for guest 3+4. I usually get the WiFi package so I am trying to understand which free perk to choose. Thank you! 

I would just buy the package for guest 3 and 4. If guest 3 and 4 are eating apps and deserts that are meant for guest 1 and 2 that could be embarrassing in my opinion. The price for the packages are so reasonable and worth it. For our 14 night Escape coming up we bought a 7 night SDP each. We paid 166 each, a great deal for all you get. (we got the UBP and free tips for our two perks). 

Praying for the family ❤️ 🙏

3 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Nice pics, I wish I was chilling in that grotto right now.  I really enjoyed that area in my last Escape cruise in the Caribbean 

Good to know, I might sneak up there a few times 🙂

Wow only 80 passes? Now I get why everyone talks about getting on board so fast. Luckily I have no interest, but good luck to those that do. I know the Haven people usually get them first

It's non carbonated water, usually from a tap. I am sure it's fine to drink, they wouldn't give something that isn't safe