Oakman58

Currently they do offer a $100 OBC per stateroom for active military and veterans. On their website it's under Cruise Deals and you have to scroll down until you find it.

The toilet will be on one side of the cabin and the shower will be on the other side with path into the living area in the middle. Both areas are enclosed with frosted glass so you can see the silhouette of the person inside. The washbasin is actually in the cabin area. It’s a sight and sound experience.

On my last few cruises with NCL the cruise director was very low profile. On Carnival, and even my Princess cruise this January, the cruise director seemed to be everywhere and always had time to talk to passengers.

While the Epic is my least favorite ship, I'm sure as a first-time cruiser you will have a great time on the Epic. The bathroom is unique but there is a curtain for privacy that can be pulled between the bathroom and the rest of the cabin. The water slides are fun, and she definitely should go down the toilet bowl slide. The climbing wall can be a challenge too, and make sure she checks out the teen club.

Others will probably disagree with me, but for a first time cruiser to Alaska I think it's a mistake not going to Glacier Bay National Park. My advice is to choose a different cruise line.

I'm hoping when YVRteacher gets back to Los Angeles she can finish this report. I was bummed when I read she ran out of WiFi minutes. I'm really enjoying her report.

Excellent review. Thank you for taking the time to write it and include all those photos.

So are you saying if you don't tip at the port they won't put your bag on the ship?

I'm enjoying your report and I'm sorry to read you had such a negative experience at your dinner with the officers.

It's funny, reading this thread you would think the majority of cruisers tip when they get a drink. Yet I have RARELY seen anyone tipping at a bar or restaurant. Of course I'm never in the Haven so...

So of all these good folks that tip an extra dollar or two, I take it for granted that you also tip 30% or more at your local bar and grill.

Thank you for taking the time to give us an update.

I consider the 20% tip on drinks to be more than generous. Tipping just $1 on a $12 dollar drink increases the tip another 8%. I'm not that generous at my local bar and grill so I'm not going to overtip on a cruise. Over tipping in my opinion just leads to employees expecting something over and above. Just look how luggage porters (longshoremen making a union wage) at the ports expect that tip for simply tossing luggage onto a cart.

Probably a group of "kissin' cousins" from a certain southern state.

I like to have my bacon so crisp that when I bite it, it crumbles like a hard taco shell.

Apparently a lot of seniors feel the way you do. I'm just not that sedentary yet. I want to have fun, dance to disco, and laugh a lot.

That was Internet click bait.

Lessons learned; don’t rely on air transportation booked through NCL. Don’t rely on NCL to get you to the ship. Don’t rely on trip insurance booked through NCL. In other words, don’t rely on NCL for anything. Sorry you had your dream trip ruined because you relied on NCL.

I can't agree with you on that point. Vista suites on Holland, and the Ocean suites on Carnival are larger than NCL's club suites. And the mini-suites on Princess are a lot bigger than what NCL offers. I wish I would have booked a mini-suite when I took my Princess cruise.

I'm Platinum level and I've been looking for a new cruise line too. So far I've tried Holland, Carnival, and Princess. Carnival was great just don't do any short cruises with them. Food was very good in the main dining room and onboard entertainment was very good. The comedy club left much to be desired on our cruise. My Holland cruise was excellent but they come up a little short on entertainment, but still good. Food was very good in the main dining room. I just returned in January from a 16 day Princess cruise and all I can say is, never again. With the exception of the French Onion soup, the food in the main dining room came up short. I didn't get to try either the steakhouse or the Italian because Princess cancelled our reservations and closed the steakhouse. Standard balcony cabins don't have a loveseat in the cabin, instead all they have is one chair. When we ordered breakfast room service I had to drag a chair from the balcony in so we both had a place to eat. Both Holland and Carnival still serve filet mignon and lobster tails in the main dining room. Of the three ships I had the most fun on Carnival however, I wouldn't cruise with them during spring break or when school is out for the summer.

While the Diamond does have a full walk around promenade, toward the bow of the ship you have to take stairs up to deck 8, wrap around the front, and then stairs back down to deck 7. For the sixteen days I was on the Diamond those stairs up to deck 8 were always closed.

We just returned in Jan from a roundtrip on the Diamond Princess out of San Diego. The first couple of days we had rough water and I thought those who had walkers could handle the motion of the ship much better than those of us without. Take your trip, you will both have a great time.

The only thing cruise critic members can do is spend their money with other cruise lines. Since my last cruise on the Bliss, I've cruised with Carnival which was an excellent cruise and Princess which was a cruise for the dead and in a sucky balcony cabin that was not my cup of tea. This June I'll be cruising again with Holland in Alaska and in December with RCL in the Caribbean.

If you ask me, you sound like the perfect candidate for Princess or Holland cruises.

I wonder if that 25% increase in the service charge for balcony cabins and below will have people thinking twice about giving an extra tip to the cabin steward.