Oakman58

Just for future reference, bacon can always be had in the main dining room. I hate that Carnival doesn't serve it every day in the buffet.

Not true, you can ask to be seated at a different table and in most cases you will be accommodated.

To each his own. Although I am Platinum level with NCL, I prefer the set dining times that other cruise lines offer and having the same table every night. I like having the same waiter and assistant welcome me by name every night. After the first night of dining we never have to ask for our beverage since they know what we want and bring it automatically. I also enjoy meeting new people and hearing about their cruise experiences, shore excursions they took, etc. I wish NCL offered assigned dining as an option. My wife on the other hand prefers the freestyle dining.

I simply don't use NCL to book air. Every time I've checked any savings were minimal or not at all. I want to have control of what flight times I have.

I'm looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip.

So instead of using chips, I wonder if I could use replica coins like these that look real. Something that gives the look and feel of real money but isn't.

So I'm guessing if you're playing Gin for a penny a point, that's gambling also.

Have you ever played Left Right Center for money on a cruise? I ask because according to Brand Ambassador John Heald, that game is considered gambling and gambling outside the casino is forbidden on the cruise line.

In my opinion, after Covid food on NCL went downhill. However, I've never found the food to be inedible. I've also always had good food at O'Sheehan's. Right now my favorite cruise line for food is Carnival, especially with the addition of Emil Lagasse selections on the menu every night in the main dining room. While I never saw rude staff on NCL I did feel the staff seemed indifferent to the passengers.

I think it's interesting that NCL quit referring to it as a Discretionary Service Charge and now call it the Onboard Service Charge.

As mentioned the balcony cabins are small and I take it for granted you already know about the unique bathroom setup of the Epic. In my opinion, a balcony cabin for 4 on the Epic is in reality a cabin for 2 adults and 2 small children.

Those people made a grievous mistake and paid the price. You can bet they went through a lot of grief trying to catch up to the ship in Senegal. Since they feel NCL should have bent the rules for them, you can bet they won't be looking to book a future cruise with NCL. NCL certainly wouldn't have to ban them. I'm sure those folks will be bad-mouthing NCL for the rest of their lives.

Apparently they wanted to get their money's worth and finish a very expensive cruise. Perhaps they wanted to get back on the ship and give the captain a piece of their mind.

Oh please! The ship would have had to redeploy the steps and platform they use for normal tender operations.

This made me laugh out loud. Ban the couple? I seriously doubt the couple will ever want to book a cruise with NCL again.

The one thing I would like to know, what was the name of the tour operator that caused those passengers to miss the boat. I do have sympathy for those passengers who missed the boat. They made a terrible mistake not booking through the cruise line, but it was a mistake. We all make mistakes, some more grievous than others. And how many times on CC has someone asked about taking an excursion through the cruise line only to have many members tell them to book through an independent tour company because it's cheaper and better than the ship's tours.

I wish I could sit down to dinner with the folks that got left behind. I'd bet the story of getting from San Tome to Gambia and then to Senegal would be incredibly interesting.

Knowing how I am, if this happened to me, when I rejoined the ship, I would give the Captain some grief every time I saw him. "Thanks for leaving me behind without my medications Captain, I almost died." "Thank for leaving me in a 3rd World country Captain that didn't accept my credit cards." Knowing my personality, I would probably push the issue until I ended up in the brig.

I'll say one thing, NCL is getting a whole lot of bad press because of this story. This story even showed up on our local news, and I live in the Midwest. Leaving U.S. citizens behind on an African island isn't going to bode well for NCL, and it doesn't matter who's right or who's wrong. The way the press is telling the story, NCL is the bad guy.

I’m sure we don’t have the full story, but even so, I think that situation could have been handled better. I’d hate to be left behind. From the story. “The harbor master tried to call the ship, the captain refused the call.” “Eventually, the São Tomé and Príncipe Coast Guard loaded all eight passengers on a boat and took them to the anchored ship. They said the captain told the Coast Guard to take the passengers back to the island.” If those two quotes are true, I guarantee you I’d be more than upset with NCL and I’d bet every NCL cheerleader on this forum would be just as ticked off at NCL if it happened to them. Perhaps the Captain, who is just as human as the rest of us, was having a bad day and decided to be a jerk. Regardless, I always book excursions through the cruise line.

That's good to know. The Explorer of the Seas did not have a station like that when the WJ was closed.

Is there anyplace on the Brilliance to get a complimentary cup of coffee before the buffet opens in the morning? Room service is out because I don’t want to disturb my wife. When we were on Explorer of the Seas I could go down very early in the morning to Café Promenade for my complimentary morning coffee. Is Café Latte-Tudes like this also? If not is there anywhere else on the ship with an available coffee urn?

I'm Platinum with NCL and finally decided to try other cruise lines. As I mentioned in my previous post, we just did a cruise on the older Carnival Spirit out of Mobile, AL. We really enjoyed that cruise. Here's a link to my review of that cruise. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2993261-we-love-our-cruise-on-the-spiritmobile-al-not-so-much-wpics/#comment-66967737 I didn't notice any difference in the passengers on Carnival from those on any other cruise line. Personally, I think the only thing NCL has going for it is the Free at Sea. I do have a New England/Canada cruise booked on the Breakaway this September.

Sorry, I'm new to Royal Caribbean. I chose a 5:30 assigned dining time on our cruise. If I fail to make that dining time, can I just show up at the main dining room and use My Time Dining? I'm old and sometimes an afternoon nap runs longer than expected.

We've done two Carnival cruises in the past 6 months and had a great time on both. On our 7 day cruises there were 4 comedian on each sailing and depending on the ship, the cruise director is almost as good at comedy. I personally thought the food was better on Carnival with a bonus of the complimentary Guy's Burger Joint and the Blue Iguana. Main Theater entertainment isn't as good as NCL but the comedians in the punchliner comedy club make up for it. The bands were awesome on Carnival. We chose assigned dining time on Carnival and I had forgotten how nice it is to have the same servers every night and how they get to know you and your preferences. As far as I'm concerned Carnival gets a bad rap from many cruisers who have never cruised with Carnival. We were just on the Carnival Spirit (launched in 2000) last month and it looked to be in better shape than some newer ships of other cruise lines. We have a Panama Canal cruise booked on the Spirit for next Mar after she comes out of a dry-dock. I have no issues with Carnival. Also Carnival not only still does towel animals, at some point during a 7 day cruise those towel animals will take over one of the pools for a few hours in the morning. Carnival is fun.