brookie848

If you are deciding between the two, do Haven Spa, like FLcruisergrl said.

On our March cruise, we will be in Aruba from 8-5. We plan on this being our beach day. I'm having a difficult time keeping track of all of the beaches and what is offered where. We are not opposed to paying for an all-inclusive if that ends up being best for us. Here is what we need: Chair and umbrella rental. Places to buy food/drink. Decent restrooms! Shade -- especially if umbrella rentals are not available. We prefer to take a taxi and need a taxi there to pick us up when we are ready to leave. We don't care about snorkeling and would prefer a sandy beach. Our favorite Caribbean beaches/places to go include Jost Van Dyke, BeachLimerz in Antigua (I'd live here if I could), Nachi Cocum in Cozumel, Rascals in Barbados (Boatyard was okay, too). Thanks!

Are there public restrooms at this beach? We're heading to Aruba in March and I'm trying to figure out which beach would be best for us.

Haha...yeah. It happens most often with new servers. They are also the ones who are big on the incorrect information of "one appetizer, one dessert" for the dining plan. I just keep the terms and conditions with the rest of my paperwork. We'd never go to the trouble of arguing with a server -- we'd just take care of it later at Guest Services.

I always print out a copy of the dining package terms and conditions and bring it with me. I have a feeling that we might get some crap on our next cruise. We have three specialties planned. My husband and I have our two Platinum dinners and our two dining package meals. My brother is cruising with us (his first time!) and he only has the two dining package meals. So on some nights we will be mixing and matching dining package and Platinum. I know this sometimes throws servers into a tizzy, while other times they are cool about it.

The only reason I've contacted the special access desk is to get permission to bring on diet ginger ale. We got a liquid exemption for that (I get sea sick). We stay in suites, so I request cookies to be delivered every day and request chocolate milk or OJ to be kept in the fridge. As far as taking food off the ship, I always have glucose tabs with me. I will also pack some pre-packaged things (granola bars, etc.) to take with me off the ship. I've never had any issues, but I do know some ports are more strict than others. Does your son have a CGM? If so, do you follow them on your phone? If so, I'm not sure if that will work. The CGM will work, but I'm not sure about the following part. The ship can amend the menus, but I would never consider using that option (I've been doing this for 38 years). If that is something you are interested in, the special needs department can help with that as well. We've dealt with special needs when my husband did dialysis on the ship and they were great to work with.

I don't think we've ever had Virginia, but we have not had good experiences with David. We had one were he was "meh" and another where we looked at each other at the end of the cruise and asked what we did to him in order to make him so mean/unpleasant to us. And as an FYI, we generally ask very little of the concierge. I take care of our reservations before we get on the ship and we only ask for some friendliness or maybe to change a reservation if it is needed. We got neither from him and our tip reflected that.

After cancelling three times, it seems as if we are going to attempt to do our Southern Caribbean cruise in February. Our first two cruises were on the Epic, but things have obviously changed since then. Looking at things online, I don't see any mention of shows being held in the Spiegel Tent (which formerly held a dinner show with an additional charge). Is anything being done with this area of the ship? And for anyone sailing out of San Juan this winter, I'd start looking at hotels now. We are definitely suffering from sticker shock -- hotels we've booked in the past have doubled in price. I'm sure there are bargains to be had, but we wanted the hotel to fit certain criteria which limited our options.

Nope. Not an anomaly. We haven't been on a ton of ships, but the Getaway is our least favorite Haven of the three ships we've been on (Epic, Getaway, Escape). Everything is TEENY and crowded. And we went during an off-time. I would go on the -away ships again, but they certainly wouldn't be my first choice.

At least in the past, Posh passes were severely limited since it is a part of the Haven.

Video poker is probably the best gambling you can do, minus maybe blackjack depending on the exact rules. My parents gamble every week. For the past 6 weeks, my Dad has gotten a W2 (he plays $1 machines, so $5/hand). They are in the black every year. One year on NCL they won $8,000 playing video poker. They never play anything more than $1 machines. I'm really enjoying your report!

NOPE. NCL does not sail out of that pier. They use the Pan American pier across the way when embarking. If you book at the Sheraton, expect a taxi ride the next morning, just like you would have to do at any hotel.

Those online port schedules are often not correct. I've seen them where they don't even have the ships in the correct cities.

I believe the Dawn is different simply because there is no Haven and no Haven cabins (unless that has changed???), so hopefully they won't be curtailing suite amenities on that ship.

Honestly, I wonder the same thing. 🤣 He is just so used to eating this way that it would be a shock to his system if he ate like a normal person. He will do some things -- sauce for pasta, BBQ sauce if it comes on the meat, but he would never add it on his own. He never uses salt/mayo/ketchup/mustard. No Asian sauces (his Chinese food is just plain and steamed). His gravy is always on the side and he uses a tablespoon amount of it. If it accidentally comes on his food, he scrapes most of it off -- not because he doesn't like the flavor, but because of sodium. He never uses salad dressing. It is insane to me, but he's actually pretty easy to go out to eat with as long as he can modify dishes (we are always apologetic and tip well). I also make him some basic meals that are really simple, and then cook something "good" for myself. It works for us and helps that there are/were some medical reasons for at least some of these restrictions. But I really think VV would be a challenge for him food-wise.

I found this review interesting and informative. We sail in the NCL Haven (or in suites if there is no Haven). I've really looked at Virgin, but I haven't convinced myself this would be a good match for us. First of all, we often have a friend join us on our sailings, so when she comes we always make sure we have a second bedroom and bathroom for her. VV doesn't offer anything like that. Their suites will sleep four, but we want her to have her own space, not camp out in the living room. The food is also a concern for us. My husband is a picky eater -- some of that is because he just is, and others is because of years of dietary restrictions for health issues. From the first time I saw VV's menus, I knew he would have issues. He does basically no sauces/dressings/spreads and he would need to modify a lot of the food. And now reading that they don't make modifications easy has really put me off. The other issue we had seems to be rectified at least a bit -- I don't want to fly to Florida for a short sailing. I want my sailings to be at least 7 nights. I know they are now offering longer sailings, so that is good. And I'll be honest, I'd miss the alcohol package (I know if we were in a high-level suite that might not matter). One of my favorite parts of having a drink package is trying things and if I don't like them, I don't feel as if I need to drink it because I just paid for it. I'll continue to be curious and we might decide to try VV in the future.

The Getaway was our least favorite Haven and I would likely do my best to avoid sailing on it or the Breakaway again. As an FYI, we've been in the Havens on the Epic (x2), Getaway (x1) and the Escape (2x). If you've never sailed in Haven, I'm sure you will enjoy it. We disliked it because the restaurant was TINY and had very few window seats. There was no outdoor seating area. There was no waiting area for the restaurant, so when it got crowded, it spilled over into the bar -- and the bar wasn't overly large. We also like having a roof over the pool area. I would sail the Getaway/Breakaway again if the itinerary was right, but I would definitely consider other options first. The ship itself was fine, but we also missed the wine bar/brew house/Food Republic that the Escape and the newer ships have. The Waterfront is awesome like it is on all the newer ships.

It really depends on the ship. From what I've seen Ocean Blue and Le Bistro are the only specialties that require long pants. There is usually one main dining room that requires pants, but I think that also may vary depending on the ship. Besides the first night, this is enforced in the specialties. As an FYI, jeans count as long pants if you don't want to bring a separate pair of dress pants. My husband has worn the jeans he wore on the plane to restaurants that require long pants.

This is the only NCL excursion we've ever done and we've done it twice. The first time our friend sat at the top with the captain. It was hot that day and the seas were a bit rough. She would aim for wakes from other boats and then duck and everyone got soaked. I actually looked at a couple of houses for rent on White Bay. Something to consider for my husband's retirement next year!

Look at the terms and conditions. The only limitation is one entree. Servers will try to tell you that you get one appetizer and one dessert, but if you look at/print out the terms and conditions it spells out the limitations. We always bring a print out with us on the cruise just in case.

In the past, they have had diet Sierra Mist in cans, but those are difficult to come by. So difficult, in fact, that we had all of them in our DOS on the Dawn a few years ago. Halfway through the week my husband would ask for one at a bar and they didn't have any. We ended up bringing the ones from our cabin. There is a possible solution here, but it is not the simplest thing to do. You can call the special needs department and let them know you need sugar free ginger ale because you are a diabetic (which is true for me) that gets seasick (also true). If they grant you a liquid exemption you are able to carry on what you'd like. Of course, this is once you fight security about it. 😁 We did this for several cruises. It's not ideal, but it is something to consider.

On a Breakaway review it was mentioned that mini golf was removed to expand the ropes course. I'm assuming the same thing was done on the Getaway.

So glad to see you back and reviewing. I was actually wondering about you a few days ago...thinking about the "regular" reviewers here that I hadn't seen in a while. I'm looking forward to your trip report.

We've always used our OBC for Cruise Next. I'm assuming that it is not refundable -- it is from NCL. We've had $600 in OBC for our last five or so bookings. It just magically appears when we book a cruise. That's often what we end up spending at least some of it on -- it depends how much we spend in the spa. To the OP -- spa is a good way to spend a chunk of change. Another spend is a picture package. We did this once and truthfully got some great photos from it. You can also spend little bits of it by purchasing the a la carte food/drinks (Starbucks, ice cream, etc.).

I always print out the terms and conditions of the dining package from the website and take those with me just in case. You will occasionally get server that tell you 1/1/1, but according to the T&C, that the only limit is one entree (as KeithJenner pointed out).