RichNY

Actually, the Royal Princess allowed us to use our 1st gratis dinner on our second night, as we were overnighting in Venice and did not want to return to the ship for a "free" dinner. I explained this to Sabatini's.....no problem. Our other 2 gratis dinners were in the middle of the cruise and the last night. Worked out great!

Thanks for the reply that's what we were hoping for..We'll be overnighting in Venice too..:D

We were thinking of doing the CG for the free dinner. One question I had about the free dinner; is it the first night we board or is it the day we sail? We also will miss a few breakfasts due to early excursions. There are those 10 sea days though.....:):):)

 

Bob

That's the $64,000 question...what night ??....It would be really nice if we were not locked into a specific night..:mad:

Actually we'll miss only 3 breakfasts because of excursions..:D

What time is breakfast in Sabatinis.....:D:D:D

 

Bob

Starting at 7:30 I know I'll be missing a few due to early excursions...Plus we have a free dinner too.

I'll find out as well.....:):):)

 

Bob

Us Too :D:D

I enjoyed your post, as I too enjoy luxury travel. Especially appreciated your tendency to post both the good and bad. That's why I read these forums.

 

As for the "gate lice" characterization, unfortunately, I had a mouthful of scotch on my first reading and almost choked. :D

 

My hope is that you will continue posting and consider that there was more than a wee bit of envy in many of the critic's postings.

Hope you didn't loose the scotch..:(

people, give dr. Pam a break and drop the "gate lice" comments. We have all seen the cluster around an airplane boarding gate. It can be quite a mess to navigate through.

Amen

Thanks, RichNY!

Methinks I will take a lot of heat over the term "gate lice"....when no offence was intended. I did word the elite status incorrectly... which I take responsibility for.. but I also truly believed everyone knew about the swarming of gates at the airport.

 

Now to answer your questions.

 

My DH purchased an internet package as soon as we boarded the ship, so he (I and kids) used it in our suite. He definitely over bought on the package (which was slow BTW) and near the end of the cruise he was letting the kids download stuff just to use up some minutes. :)

 

Re: the Suite/Free dinner for embarkation....we actually had 3! One from Platinum AMex, one from our TA and one from being in a suite. All of dinners came with a BOTTLE of "champagne" read sparkling wine. :) So a funny story with this one, we reserved at Sabatinis for the first evening and assumed that the card that had our dinner plus champagne was good for a glass of champagne each. DH and I decided to order the 7 bottle silver wine package that evening too. Our waiter came over and as we ordered our first bottle of wine, he looked at us strangely! As it turns out....there is a BOTTLE of "champagne" not a glass of champagne that is included with the dinner! He looked at my DH and I like "WOW, did not see them as the party type!!" ANyway we had a good laugh and they recorked the bottle of wine we had ordered and put it away for the next evening.

 

We used the dinners on the 1st, 6th and last night of the cruise. 2x Sabatinis, 1x Crown Grill.

They were very flexible. :)

 

AS far as the snacks at the CL, in a suite they will deliver fresh fruit, canapés, choc dipped strawberries, every day to your room.....I am quite sure they would deliver anything to our suite. THe service was great!

We are able to get free internet since we booked our cruise before the elimination date of that perk..good to know you can get service, even if it's slow, in our cabin. We have a S4, right across from the lounge. :D

Most of our suite experience has been with NCL having only been in an owners suite only once on the Pacific Princess..

Good service is a good thing. Thanks again..

I've read about this soot issue on a lot of ships that have tiered aft balconies.

I would have thought a new ship would have the technology to prevent this...guess I was wrong.

Hey Dr. Pam

I was waiting for you report, thanks for taking the time. Glad to hear you had a good time..

Its a shame the CL didn't live up to the hype but having good coffee and snacks close by is a plus.

A few questions..

Was internet available in the CL ??

Were you forced to have the Suite/Free dinner on your embarkation night or did you have options ??

Soot on the balcony on a brand new ship not good.

I totally get your "gate lice" comment, no need to apologize.

Someone takes the time and effort to do a review and people get their knickers in a knot over "gate lice"..give me a break..

Thanks again..

So if I am reading this right I will receive 2 mini bar set ups on my 4 and 5 day B to B and only one for my 18 day TA, both in a full suite...:rolleyes:

I read a thread recently which referred to NCL as a bargain line which offers better treatment of the "wealthy" suite passengers than the rest of us "lower middle class" passengers. (this is not me speaking btw). Once you are outside of your cabin, the staff does not know what cabin you are staying in, so how can they determine how to treat you?

 

I researched fares on different lines before choosing ncl as my next vacation. I did not find that NCL has significantly lower fares than any other comparable cruise so why is it being called a bargain cruise line?

It only goes to prove you can't believe everything you read on Cruise Critic. ;) .At least you did your own research..

On our last 2 cruises, the Dawn and the Gem, we stayed in the GVS..We were escorted to Cagney's for lunch and were able to put our carry on luggage in our suite. Our suite wasn't ready but since we were so close, one deck below, there was no problem putting our luggage in our suite..ENJOY .

As for "those booking a cruise," when you book online, it is right on top of the screen before you enter your payment information. You literally could not miss it. They give you the opportunity to pay it in advance, if desired, and explain what it is.

 

Pay for Cruise

 

Additional Options

Pre-Pay Your Service Charge Why is there a service charge

 

The convenience of pre-paying service charges allows you to plan your budget prior to your cruise giving you additional freedom while on board. A discretionary charge of $12 per person per day for all guests 3 years or older will automatically be added to your onboard account. Your service charges will total $288.00, for all guests, for your entire cruise.

Please review your cruise summary. If everything looks correct, proceed to payment. You may select to pay a deposit or pay in full. If you have a Discount Certificate, please contact us at 1.866.234.7351 so we can apply it to your reservation.

 

If you wish to make a change, please use your browser's back button to return to the appropriate step.

I understand that but its sure a long way to go to find out how much your cruise will actually cost..

There is no reason why NCL can't include the discretionary service charge on the booking portion of they website..They show all the port charges taxes and even the possibility of a fuel surcharge....so just show the DSC and make it easy..There is no reason to have to dig for that information especially since it is a surcharge.

If you check your booked cruise account all the DSC information is there including the exact amount if you are inclined to pre pay and the word discretionary appears a few times....:rolleyes: so why not make it a available for those shopping/booking a cruise..

Well we are booked with Hans in March for the 4 of us. Could you tell me how he transported you around? Are we inside a truck or sitting in the bed of the truck? Would you have any picture of what you traveled in on your tour with Hans?:)

We just toured with Hans of Outdoor Bonaire and he did a great job. Our tour was a combined North and South shore tours. Having never been to Bonaire we found it be very in formative. We had 2 couples and Hans drove us around in a small 4 door 4wd pickup..well worth the money.

I just got off the phone with NCL and the rep indicated that the first mailing , that started on 2/1 was for the amount of points over the 500pt incramants..which in my case is right. In a about a week I should receive another envelope with the certificate for 500 pts......fingers crossed....