seguetocaribe

Tell me about the various dining venues you went to. We are sailing Getaway for our first NCL cruise as well in September and I'm trying to decide if we should buy the UDP or just pay as we go. The MDR menus look good to me!

What would you like to know? We went to all of them (except Ocean Blue). Well, we did go to the Ocean Blue 'window' on the waterfront for lunch one day to get the lobster roll and calamari. It was good!

We booked all of our reservations ahead of time to make sure that we could get the times we wanted. We booked Le Bistro 2x since it seems to be a favorite and I love French food. I will say that I was slightly disappointed in it. It was pretty good, but not great. I know that this is not 5-star dining but I guess I was expecting a little more. Surprisingly (to me), my favorite was Cagney's. My husband is a master on the grill so going out to steak restaurants is not usually a priority for us - Lol! We were quite impressed with the food and experience here! As others have said, the salad bar at Modernos is very good! The meats are hit or miss (we loved the lamb chops but found most of the rest of the meats to be just ok). La Cucina was better than we expected as many compare it Olive Garden and we thought that it was better than that. Teppanyaki was similar to the land-based ones like it (although I will say that our chef that night put on a better show than we have ever seen at any land-based one that we have gone to). Other than that, it was nice to have the 20% off at the other a la carte places (shanghais - we went 2x, and the ocean blue waterfront window).. We did not eat at the indoor raw bar or the sushi place so cannot comment on those.

If I was booking another cruise with NCL, we would definitely spend the money to get the UDP again. We made use of the main dining rooms (taste and savor) for lunch and breakfast on a few of the days.

You should probably read the threads regarding the changes at NCL before jumping into another NCL cruise booking ;)

What do you mean? What changes?

Got off today... serious post-cruise blues :(

This was our favorite cruise ever!! First time on NCL (other cruises on Royal Caribbean and Carnival). Now we are NCL fans!!

We felt that the ship was laid out well. Despite the number of people on board, it never felt crowded!

If there is one thing that I could change, it would be the layout of the casino - wish it was separated so that the smoke smell did not filter in to other areas. It's not that the smoke smell is so bad but if you are not a smoker (and you hate the smell), you don't want it at all. It's more of a stale cigarette smell as compared to fresh smoke.

Anyway, we loved pretty much everything else about the ship. Having all of the different restaurants (we had purchased the UDP ahead of time) kept it interesting. We had the UBP too (got that as a promo). Beforehand, I did not think too much about it as I am not a huge drinker BUT, it sure was nice to have!! Definitely made for a nice, relaxing time when we wanted to try something new without having to worry about the $$! Or, to get that 2nd (or 3rd or 4th ;)) glass of wine without having to think about it.

For anyone who booked connecting cabins with their children and are concerned because the age of one of their kids had to be "fudged" in order to get the booking to go through (since the computers do not recognize connecting cabins), DO NOT WORRY AT ALL!!

We did this and were assured by our booking agent that it would not be a problem when we checked in at the terminal (my husband and I checked in ahead of time online but we were told to wait until we got to the terminal to check our kids in to their stateroom - and we would have to get the birthdate changed to the correct age at that time). Well, we were concerned about this despite being told it would not be a problem...it was NOT a problem at all!! As long as the rooms are connecting, it is ok!

Now it's time to book another NCL cruise!

Atlantis waterpark is only open till 5, so you're talking 2 less hours for anyone who is doing Atlantis, which is $165ish per person. Excursion probably doesn't get there until 1, so now you're paying $165 for four hours in the park instead of 6. Pretty ****ty.

So NCL should give OBC to all the passengers because of this? They have the right to make adjustments in their scheduling at any time AND they are giving passengers notice!

Just saying it's pretty rotten of NCL 10 days before the cruise to magically have this change. I highly doubt whether someone booking this cruise or not was contingent on this fact, however that lost hour NCL should reimburse all parties with OBC at the least.

C'mon, really?? We're talking 1 hour!

Wow! What a wonderful review! I really appreciate all that you have put into this. Your list of tips at the end are especially helpful (and I love your food pics and descriptions - definitely have to hit Shanghais for dumplings and the Glass noodles in broth!) Thank you for clarifying about the gratuity being included in the UBP. Glad you had such an amazing time!

I HAVE done this several times with the OS and connecting suite.

 

As long as the cabins are connecting ( little arrow on the diagram) you can book adults in one and children in the other. One child has to have his age changed so that the computer accepts it and so that that cabin can book excursions, for example.

 

We change to the correct year of birth and then print the e-docs. The first time I had help from the preconcierge, I did not on our last cruise. I don't know why it allowed me to accept the T and C, perhaps this was a glitch and I was able to do it.

 

 

 

The reason that anyone can NOt just pretend to be 21 and book a cruise by themselves if they are underage is that the person's true age will be on their ID and when they go to board ..they won't be permitted to board. Ages are always confirmed at check in. Just like when flying , the DOB must match that of the traveler.

 

 

If you remove the OPs question about sharing the UDP/UBP, this question is easy to answer. Many of us have done it . Right now we have several cruises booked , one being an OS with connecting. each cabin has a separate booking number and will have a separate invoice at the end of the cruise. We simply pay with one credit card.

 

I have never done this with an ADJOINING cabin. But it is absolutely fine to book as described for connecting, connecting meaning that there is a door inside the cabin that connects the 2 rooms.

 

I will post my booking confirmation from a cruise that we took in December so that you can see what it looks like when booked and then when I printed the e-docs. I am snowed in at work now, but will post tomorrow .

 

 

Also- the KSF does not mean ALL kids / persons sail free . It applies to the 3rd through 8th passengers of any age in the SAME cabin

 

As to the double booking of adults thread that was mentioned... This is under special circumstance where the cabin has full capacity, meaning if it holds 5you pay for five and then one of the adults books a separate room and also pays for that. It gets pricey and not many people seem to have luck with their PCC or TA booking it correctly.

 

As for the special email address mentioned for check in , I have never used that. Also, it is not hard to do the check in at the pier

Thanks so much for this info! how did you go about changing the age to print out the edocs? Wouldn't it stop you if it now shows that there is not someone of age in the cabin? When we booked this way with connecting cabins, we were told to check in online for the adult reservation and wait until we get to the pier to check in for the kids room (I do have email/paperwork indicating the kids reservation/stateroom number). It would be nice to be able to check in online for the kids ahead of time but we were told not to do it that way - wondering how you managed to do it?!

Obviously my post was confusing. According to tje ncl rep my room has 2 udp options that I and my husband can use vs myself and son. Conversely my husband's room has the 2 udp options. He can order me the drinks. Maybe not 2 at once but one after another.

 

If my ncl rep has steered me wrong, let me know.

I think the problem with this plan is that the UDP and the UBP are not tied to the ROOMS, rather they are tied to the PERSON and their ROOM CARD. Your individual card will say what you have, both with a sticker on it and when the bartenders/waiters take your card and slide it through their computers to check. So that is why some people here do not see how you are going to be able to get the dinners covered because both you and your husband's room cards will have to indicate that you both have the UDP to get dinners at the specialty restaurants. Occasionally you hear of people who say that the wait staff only asks for one card per table but that is certainly not something that you can count on.

I was suspicious of this too until I reread it. I think she's saying she will have to pay for drinks, (no UBP), and her husband will have to pay in the specialty restaurants, (no UDP). :confused:;):p

No, I think she thinks that her husband will be able to get her free drinks on the sly and she will be able to get him free dinners at the specialty restaurants. While I can see the possibility of getting away with the drinks, I do not see how that can possibly work in the specialty restaurants.

:eek: Of all the possible explanations, I think this has to be the most disappointing.

 

I don't know why they even bother with this rule, since they positively encourage people to ignore it once onboard. And in principle, a group of friends 19 and 20 years old couldn't go on a cruise at all on NCL. I wonder now if they really turn away those bookings, or if they just enter fake IDs to fool the computer. :mad:

I really don't mean this in a "fighting" tone but, why does this disappoint you and make you mad?

Yeah, the rep said it's allowed, but the computer system won't book it if there is not someone at least 21 in the cabin because the computer doesn't recognize adjoining cabins. So this is their workaround.

Exactly what I was told

Wow .. Id still be nervous .. I hate to say that , but the NCL reps have a pretty bad reputation for telling you what you want to hear .. You say that someone has already pulled this technique off ??

Please come back and tell tale of how smoothly this went . Im sure there are many others in your situation that what love to hear all went well... ;)

 

 

Good luck..

I thought about that too but I was not speaking to a regular rep. Initially I was, but she transferred me to a supervisor because the changes we were making were a little complicated. I have everything in writing and all of the correct charges have gone through on my credit card (and I am bringing copies of everything to the terminal). I don't know how to link from the other thread but if you go to the thread called 'Booking room with kids' started on Feb 5 and go down to posts 10 and 11 by asdjl, you can read about his experience.

Thank you, all this cloak and dagger stuff is making me nervous.

I agree. I felt the same as you and was considering changing it so that I was in one cabin and my husband was in the other and I was just going to have him get the UBP but then I saw the review from someone saying they had no problem and that made me much less nervous. I will see if I can find it for you.

Well, I just did this last week. I called, told the rep my situation, me and 3 son's sailing, ages 21, 18, 16 at sail date, but wanted UBP for me and 21 year old, UDP for younger 2 in separate cabin, connecting. She did it by fudging the DOB on one of the younger 2, making him old enough to have another cabin. She says when I go to check in online, I need to change his DOB back to the real one, which will cause my docs not to print for that cabin. Then I call NCL and they will email docs. Honestly, this is making me so nervous I'm considering calling back and changing the whole thing to just put us all in one cabin and call it a day. Or move the 21 year old into the other cabin? I could swear the age was 21 for that, not 25. Is this right?

 

Has anyone else had their booking done this way, with the wrong birth date? And did it work? I have this nightmare that they cancel my second cabin when I change it and then there's no quads. I wish I could afford a suite, but I can't, and 4 adult sized people, with 3 of them being messy man children, in a regular cabin, is not so fun.

YES, I have the same exact situation for our upcoming cruise in 1.5 weeks! We originally had one balcony booked for the 4 of us (myself, husband and 2 children both age 11). I was paid in full but when the promos came out for free UDP, UBP, or OBC, and the price went down on my cruise, I figured it could not hurt to call and ask... I got very lucky and was offered the opportunity to get adjoining/connecting (whatever you want to call them) staterooms for just a few hundred more (great deal!) plus add on the UBP. However, since we had to put one adult in each room, only one of us (adults) would get the UBP. It was our phone rep's idea to change the birthdate of one of our kids. She said that it was ok to do this and all it meant was that I could not check my kids in online. I checked myself and my husband in online in our room and I have the paperwork for my kids for their room and will have to do it at the port when we get there (and switch my daughters birthdate to her real birthdate at the terminal). I was feeling nervous about this too until someone posted a few weeks ago that they had the same experience with their family and that it was no problem for them!

Yea covered! You do not pay anything. Ncl pays for the drink and tip which is now 18 percent.

 

Maybe it's that same person from saturday!!!

ok, thanks!

Lol!! I don't think they are back yet... if they went at all ;)

Put it this way- how many threads do you/have you seen of people complaining that a drink wasn't included in the UBP..

 

Minus the thread from Saturday.. *cough*

LoL!! Yeah, I'm still thinking about that one also.:rolleyes:

Are the automatic gratuities covered under the cost of the UBP? I thought it was all covered (each drink and the added gratuity), but someone who is doing a review right now said that the cost of each drink was removed from her bill but the gratuities remained. I am confused now!!

Thank you so much for your review! I have a question for you: when you described your experience of the UBP, you mentioned that the price of each drink was taken off of the bill but the gratuities remained. This is the first that I am hearing this. So, you had to pay the gratuity on each of your drinks? (I don't mean the extra that you decided to give on your own). I thought that the whole cost of each drink, including gratuity, was covered under the UBP. Am I mistaken about this?

Thank you for the clarification. Is the $119 per person also the price for kids? We would have 2 adults and 2 kids in our room.

No, not same price for kids. We purchased the UDP for myself and my husband. We made all of our reservations at the specialty restaurants ahead of time and made the res for 4 people for each night (once someone in your party has UDP, they can make a res for the number of people you want without paying for all ahead of time). My kids may not want to join us every night so the nights that they want to come, we will pay for them. The kids cost 1/2 price if they eat from the specialty menus. If they eat from the 'kids' menu, they are free.

When I say they are 1/2 price, I don't mean 1/2 of the $119. They are 1/2 of whatever the cost is per person depending on the cost of each restaurant.

Just to clarify, are you saying that I could purchase an unlimited dining package as well? Are any of the restaurants excluded from the package? I know for the promotion some are.

yes, you can purchase the unlimited dining plan for $119 for the week per person. Ocean Blue is not included and neither are the a la carte restaurants (Shanghai's, the sushi place, ocean blue raw bar), however, you do get 20% off at Ocean Blue and all of the a la carte places if you get the unlimited dining plan.

Mini suite is the same as balcony but its larger interior better bathroom two sinks nice shower with jets etc..no other different amenities than a balcony no king size bed..same as balconies

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Actually, if I understand correctly, the interior of the stateroom is not any larger than a regular balcony cabin. It's just the bathroom has some upgrades.

No 24 hour cancellation penalty with the UDP - recently off the Epic and one night I wasn't feeling well and we stopped and cancelled a 9pm reservation around 8. Other times I'm not even sure mine were all cancelled because we'd make changes at a restaurant desk but the old ones would still show up on my TV screen in the cabin.

Thank you Marciemi

So, I know that the specialty restaurants want at least 24 hrs notice if you want to cancel your reservation otherwise they charge you. But, how does it work if you have the UDP? If you cancel with less than 24 hours, you have already paid the $119 for the week so do they charge you extra if you don't give 24 hrs notice?

I think I get what you are trying to accomplish here... if you don't give him too much time to think about it ahead of time, maybe his fear won't get out of hand as compared to having too much time to think about it beforehand. That being said, I still would not do it. If you are going to have him come, I would tell him upfront (he may feel "tricked" otherwise - on top of feeling scared). Its ok if he is scared.. doesn't mean he won't be able to handle it (unless, of course, he has an all-out phobia). I guess it depends on just how scared he is.

Hungover from the UBP?

LoL!! That's awesome!! Best response!

I don't know. If you think about a typical Cruisecritic week even with 13 ships, live reports are pretty rare. Probably fewer than one a week. Couple that with the fact that the big ships leave on Saturdays and Sunays and I am not surprised this is the only report. Let's see if more come in from Getaway in a few hours as people start to board and tomorrow from BA.

Yes, true that there are not a lot of live reports but I think that applies to the more 'typical' live reports - sharing their initial experience on the ship as compared to someone reporting such a big change like this one.. If this were truly happening, I really think that we would be hearing more about this.