The Cruise Ship and Cruise Line Discussion Thread!

[~mike~]

Have been on the Disney Wonder myself with family...Had a great time....

[disneyfan1313]

Princess Cruise Lines announced today that they will let non-cruisers on board for embarkation day to visit with friends and family that might be sailing. Apparently this used to happen years ago (long before I started cruising) but stopped with security concerns. Details are in the article below but it will cost $39pp and include food, wine a tour and picture.

 

I personally think its a great deal, especially since it includes priority embarkation.... what do you think?

 

Article courtesy usatoday.com

Princess Cruises is reviving a signature tradition from the early days of cruising, the opportunity for passengers to have non-sailing friends and family come aboard on embarkation day to wish them a "bon voyage."

 

The only catch: It'll come with a charge.

 

The "Bon Voyage Experience," as Princess is calling it, will cost $39 per person.

 

As Princess notes in an announcement of the program today, friends and family of cruisers once routinely came aboard vessels to see them off, but the practice disappeared more than two decades ago as security procedures tightened.

 

Princess says visitors who sign up for the new program will get a four-course dining room lunch with wine on the ship, a tour of the vessel and a souvenir photo. They and the passengers they are accompanying will have access to priority embarkation, and they'll be allowed onboard for about four hours. The $39 fee for the experience can be applied to a future Princess cruise.

 

The program will debut in March in the ports of Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale, and then roll out to New York, San Francisco and Seattle. Princess says passengers will be notified about the program through the pre-cruise emails they receive from the line as their cruise date approaches. In-port visits can be booked through a travel agent or by calling Princess beginning 120 days before a cruise and up to six days before the sailing date.

 

[SharkTums]

Very interesting program, but I have to believe that something is going to happen to cause this to disappear rather quickly.

 

I would love for it to succeed and catch on, but I just don't trust humanity! You know someone will stow away, or a problem with scanning the cards will cause delays, etc.

 

Can you do this if you DONT know someone on the ship? Or do you have to have like a 'sponsor'?

[RCFreak]

The $39 fee for the experience can be applied to a future Princess cruise.

 

That's an awesome way to sell people who are hesitant about cruising and have family and friends that do.

[larrygator]

Is there any cruise where you get to throw the idiots over the side and watch them drown? I'd pay a premium for that.

 

I heard of a cruise ship out of Davonia that allows such actions.

 

Ah, Larry, but you forget that to become a resident of Davonia, you must pass an extensive screening process, which includes making sure you're not an idiot. So that activity is out.

 

However, the Davonia cruise line will offer plenty of fun activities, like Death Metal Karaoke and Gators Vs. Babies: Live on the Promenade Deck...

 

dt

 

I was looking at it as the new Roman Colesseum andthinking you may have candidates as:

1 - Someone might slip through the screening process.

2 - Two perfectly normal humans could produce stupid offspring.

3 - Side cottage industry for Davonia. Other countries pay you to accept their idiots, and you dispose of them as entertainment.

[DCody]

Re: the Bon Voyage program. I agree with Elissa that some "visitor" is bound to fudge things up immediately. Cool idea, though.

 

We've decided to do our first-ever cruise in Spring of 2010. The Norwegian commercials have enticed us by making it seem like all other cruises will force you to eat with psycho strangers. Is this true? Do we have to "freestyle cruise" to choose tablemates, or will any cruise let us be an ordinary restaurant-style party of 5? (We're planning to go with my parents and brother.) Don't get me wrong, I like meeting new friends on vacation, but I know a "mixed table" would be a deal-breaker for my antisocial husband.

 

Google has not been my friend in this instance. I get the "two seatings" concept, but not the tablemates thing.

[robbalvey]

^ I personally didn't mind the "Freestyle Cruising" but I prefer the fixed table staff each night. As for a group of 5 getting a table together, I'm not sure about NCL but I know that on other cruise lines you could get smaller tables. In fact the last RCCL ship we just did even had some tables for two.

 

If I recall correctly, I think on our NCL cruise we were a slightly bigger group (maybe 7?) and we had our own table.

 

With the Freestyle method though, it's a bit more "first come first serve" so there isn't the opportunity to pre-book a smaller table, but I'm sure if you go to the dining room early and ask the head waiter they can probably arrange something for you, assuming they have tables that size. If they do not have smaller tables, then yeah, the 5 of you may be paired up with a group of 2, for example.

 

I would try to take advantage of some of the other food offerings NCL has. I absolutely LOVED the Teppanyaki restaurant they had on our ship.

 

Having done some TPR trips you know we like to have everything planned in advance which is why we prefer the non-Freestyle method, but I really did have a good time on our NCL cruise and I'd be willing to give their new Epic ship a try over, let's say, the new Carnival ship.

 

I will say that the few times we have been stuck with strangers it was a bit odd. As you know Elissa and I are not "normal" people and conversations about roller coasters and sharks eating babies don't often go over too well with the general public!

 

Have a great time and please let us know how it went!

 

--Robb

[DCody]

Thanks, Robb! That's really helpful.

 

They should have a cruise just for people who like to talk about roller coasters and sharks eating babies. If that was the case, I would happily BUNK with a party of strangers, let alone dine!

[robbalvey]

^ Don't miss the next TPR cruise!!!

[SharkTums]

Whatever cruise line you end up on, just have them put a note on your reservation to link you and your family together and that you want your own table.

 

We've never had a problem, or heard of anyone that didn't get what they requested.

 

Have an awesome time!

 

More cruise news...

 

Allure of the Seas has announced its first chartered event and it's the always fun Atlantis group. February 2011, largest Gay Cruise EVER!!!! The ship isn't even done yet, but somehow, it's rockin already in anticipation of this!

[moinab]

Re: the Bon Voyage program. I agree with Elissa that some "visitor" is bound to fudge things up immediately. Cool idea, though.

 

Totally agree!!! I completely foresee sailaway being delayed while the staff tries to ferret out an unaccounted for visitor.

 

We were a party of 4, on our first cruise (DCL.) They seated us with a woman and her young niece, the first night. They never showed up, again, so we ended up with our own table.

 

Our second cruise (also DCL,) we had our own table for the four of us.

 

We also had our own table, for the five of us, on Robb's birthday cruise, but we were all seated as part of the group, so they didn't put any strangers with us.

 

I wouldn't let that keep you from trying other cruise lines. They really do try to accomodate any requests, and there are always other options, such as the specialty restaurants, buffet, and even room service.

[tntornadox]

I really want to try Celebrity's new Solstice class of ships... while traditionally, they do tend to cater to an older and often more mature demographic, it seems like they are making strides and going younger with this new class of ship, not to mention, IMO, they look absolutely beautiful on the inside. It seems like it would fit my personality perfectly- upscale without being stuffy with the focus being on service.

 

Exterior

Lobby

Center Atrium with suspended tree.

Pool

And, of course, Solstice's most innovative area- the Lawn Club.

[SharkTums]

^I've been on Celebrity once and really enjoyed them.

 

Amazing food and service. I'm sure if you took a somewhat 'normal' itinerary during a traditional school holiday type time there would be plenty of younger people. We did a South America Cruise in early December and I believe there were 14 people under 18 on the ship!

[tntornadox]

^ I am glad someone younger enjoyed X, and you are right that a 7 night Caribbean aboard the newer vessels in prime season should skew the demographic to something somewhat normal... it comes down to the fact that X is no HAL... I have heard horrible things about the demographic on HAL, even during the Summer months!

[SharkTums]

^Oh dear god yes...HAL is where you go to DIE!!!!

 

I would never ever take a HAL cruise, sorry, but the average age is closing in on Jeff Johnson!! I even heard once that they take like three times as many coffins on each cruise as a normal cruise line does!

[tntornadox]

^ Believe it or not, the story goes that HAL specifically designed the MS Noordam with brighter colors, more activities and she was supposed to stay year-round in the Caribbean to attract a younger audience... guess what? It didn't work.

 

That aside, the images I have saw of their private island, Half Moon Cay, look absolutely amazing. But since HAL doesn't sail year-round in the Caribbean, several of the Carnival brands stop here throughout the year- Carnival and Cunard come to mind.

[disneyfan1313]

Here is the first photo TR of the Cruise Ship Thread!

 

So in late November of '09, I got an AMAZING deal on a 3 day Norwegian Sky cruise out of Miami. How amazing do you ask? $119 a person amazing. Our first try on NCL on the Norwegian Spirit about 4 years earlier didn't leave the best taste in our mouth, but for $119 a person what is the worst that can happen! We decided to give NCL another chance with an open mind and knowing what we didn't the first time. A few days before the cruise there was another price drop and for an extra $15 per person we upgraded to an oceanview... what a deal!

 

NCL as we discussed earlier in the thread is really a different product than the other lines out there. They push the freestyle cruising concept where you really can do "what you want... when you want". There are no set dining times and more speciality restaurants than the other lines. The downside to this.... service SUCKS in most cases and the overall quality of the food is generally lower as well due to their lower than industry average pricing.

 

Norwegian Sky is an interesting ship with an interesting history. It originally set sail back in 1999, but in 2004 it was re-purposed over to the new branch of Norwegian that was made to sail in Hawaii and renamed and rethemed as the "Pride of Aloha". The Hawaii market didn't do as well as Norwegian had hoped and in 2008 it returned to the normal NCL brand as Norwegian Sky with 3 and 4 day Miami sailings. What is fun about this is most of the Hawaii theming (much of it is very detailed) still remains. NCL pushes the ship as the youngest ship out of the S. Florida market to do 3 and 4 day cruises and its demographics make it very much a "party" atmosphere.

 

Anyways... enough talking and onto the photos!

Sailaway time out of the port of Miami. Not the most scenic port..

They do a pretty nice BBQ poolside for sail-away. It is rare to see real fire on a ship!

Our first dinner we decided to do the upcharge Italian restaurant. Very disappointing lower quality than Olive Garden. This is the worlds saddest antipasta plate.

Our first indication of quality issues. The S and P were written on in SHARPIE!

It was so disappointing that I couldn't be bothered to turn around for the picture..

I just thought this sign was funny..

I really like this touch - they have monitors all over the ship telling you the aprox. wait time for the dining locations.

Our first stop is Nassau -its our 10th or 11th time there so we debated even getting off.

On our walk to the church where we got married we found some funny graffiti.

K.K. Drugs - is that a K.K. Slider song?

Hey sexy mermaid... move that arm!

I love Ting - its a delicious Jamaican grapefruit soda.

Back on the ship we watched them repaint the neighboring Carnival ships funnel. It was actually very entertaining.

I thought it was funny the way it looked like the sign could be changed at any time.

As I mentioned before there was LOTS of Hawaiian touches all over the ship.

Stacey decided to try out the driving range..

One interesting thing they have is a poolside casino set up at night.

NCL does a great job at branding. The White Hot Party is a PHENOMINAL South Beach style party.

We decided to try the upcharge steak restaurant that night and were dissapointed again. This is Staceys salad which was basically Hamburger toppings.

I've seriously had better steaks at Dennys... Do NOT go on NCL for the food.

It was "White Hot Party" night so we dressed in the closest to white that we had.

VOLCANO!

I'm having my themed drink in a glowy cup....exciting!

Hard to get good photos of the white hot party - but it was fun.. Snow, Angels, great DJ.

Entertainment and events really is where NCL nails it.

[disneyfan1313]

How about some more photos.. These include the crappiest private island in the world... Great Stirrup Cay! I know it might seem like I had a lot of complaints...but for the price we paid - we had a really fun time.

Some of the Hawaiian details in the lobby area.

Then for some strange reason the theming felt like you were in a mall in the 1980's!

More 1980's mall.

This is their coffee bar with the shopping area nearby.

Best themed area on the ship is the Outriggers Lounge.

While it is dirt cheap out of Miami - it was quite pricy in Hawaii.

The level of detail is quite surprising.

Even a coconut plant!

NCL has great 24 hour food options. Hot wings at 3am in a white suit.... sure!

The next day was Great Stirrup Cay... bye bye pretty ship..

.... hello third world island!

This place was REALLY ghetto compared to the other private islands we have been to.

It looked like a shanty town that they just happened to dock at.

Food options (once again) were REALLY BAD. The only free thing to drink was foul tasting water. Yummy!

We decided to explore more of the scenic island.

And its rocky and painful "beaches"

We decided (for some reason) to walk down a random path.. after 20 minutes we passed another couple walking back. We asked them where it went - they told us they gave up.

For some strange reason we continued on.. it had to lead somewhere... RIGHT?!?!?!?

There was a nice view of the ship.. which was getting further away!

Finally.. a rock pile!

We eventually found a little outcropping with a great view of CoCo Cay - RCL's private island. We wish we were there..

See ya Great Stirrup Cay... we won't miss ya!

We did get a great view of the bow coming back.

One neat touch on the carpet is the fish swim to the front of the ship

The ship was very nice... this was the 24 hr food/sports bar area.

I'm glad they haven't cheapened the look yet.

Best part of the food.. PRETZEL BREAD!

Tonight...we decided to go to the main (free) restaurants..

Food was about the same quality - looks pretty but bland tasting.

Are we sailing from CA to HI?

They had a quarter pusher machine that kept letting me win.. I seriously was raking in the change!

In it I also won a token for $5 in free slot play.

...and on my first pull I won $42! Love it when you come out ahead in a casino!

Best part of a cruise.. 2ND DINNER! This time in the other restaurant.

... with a cheese plate!

Thanks NCL - we will probably give you another try. We know what you are good for... and what sucks..

[Mr Stratosphere]

I remember watching back in the day seeing commercials for The Big Red Boat. What ever became of them??

 

John

[disneyfan1313]

Ahh - the old "official" cruise line of Walt Disney World and later Universal. They went bankrupt - here is the Wikipedia history on them..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_Cruise_Line

[robbalvey]

What a great TR Reed! I really would like to try NCL again for some reason, not sure why, maybe it's just because it's so different from RCCL which is who we've been crusing with the most lately.

 

Then again, I wouldn't mind doing another Princess ship or even maybe a line I've never done before like Celebrity.

 

Still, very interesting ship.

 

K.K. Drugs - is that a K.K. Slider song?

LOL! I wonder how many people got that?

 

--Robb

[tntornadox]

I thought it was funny the way it looked like the sign could be changed at any time.

 

That's because it has been... several times. Norwegian Sky entered service for NCL in 1999, but was originally ordered by Costa Cruises before their merger with Carnival Corporation, the half-built hull was purchased and finished by Norwegian after the shipyard that was constructing the to be named Costa Olympia went bankrupt. In 2004, with the departure of NCL's famed SS Norway (Ex-France) to the breakers in India, Norwegian Sky found herself being amongst the oldest tonnage in the fleet, and was thus transferred to NCL's new NCL America brand in Hawaii, where she was renamed Pride of Aloha.

 

She joined Pride of America and Pride of Hawaii as the first American-flagged cruise ships in over fifty years, while patriotic and all, this poses serious challenges to modern cruising- all the officers and a majority of the crew must be American and the company must pay taxes, pay the federal minimum wage and abide by all U.S. labor laws. On top of that, cruise ships flying under the American flag cannot operate onboard casinos, which are a huge profit for the cruise lines.

 

In 2008, NCLA was running in the red by some $150,000 a month and hurting its parent company's bottom line- to stabilize the Hawaiian market, NCL pulled Pride of Hawaii (who would become Norwegian Jade) and Pride of Aloha (who would become, once again, Norwegian Sky) back to their International Fleet, leaving only the purpose built Pride of America under the American flag. It has been theorized that Norwegian Sky could be repositioned back into the Hawaiian market if the need arises.

 

So, that is why Norwegian Sky has Hawaiian leis for its hull art, and why the sign looks like it could pop out on a moments notice.

[ParkTrips]

I will say that the few times we have been stuck with strangers it was a bit odd. As you know Elissa and I are not "normal" people and conversations about roller coasters and sharks eating babies don't often go over too well with the general public!

I personally found this to be a perk of the lunchtime experience!

[robbalvey]

I thought it was funny the way it looked like the sign could be changed at any time.

 

That's because it has been... several times. Norwegian Sky entered service for NCL in 1999, but was originally ordered by Costa Cruises before their merger with Carnival Corporation, the half-built hull was purchased and finished by Norwegian after the shipyard that was constructing the to be named Costa Olympia went bankrupt. In 2004, with the departure of NCL's famed SS Norway (Ex-France) to the breakers in India, Norwegian Sky found herself being amongst the oldest tonnage in the fleet, and was thus transferred to NCL's new NCL America brand in Hawaii, where she was renamed Pride of Aloha.

 

She joined Pride of America and Pride of Hawaii as the first American-flagged cruise ships in over fifty years, while patriotic and all, this poses serious challenges to modern cruising- all the officers and a majority of the crew must be American and the company must pay taxes, pay the federal minimum wage and abide by all U.S. labor laws. On top of that, cruise ships flying under the American flag cannot operate onboard casinos, which are a huge profit for the cruise lines.

 

In 2008, NCLA was running in the red by some $150,000 a month and hurting its parent company's bottom line- to stabilize the Hawaiian market, NCL pulled Pride of Hawaii (who would become Norwegian Jade) and Pride of Aloha (who would become, once again, Norwegian Sky) back to their International Fleet, leaving only the purpose built Pride of America under the American flag. It has been theorized that Norwegian Sky could be repositioned back into the Hawaiian market if the need arises.

 

So, that is why Norwegian Sky has Hawaiian leis for its hull art, and why the sign looks like it could pop out on a moments notice.

 

No offense or anything, but Reed basically covered most of this as an abbreviated version in his trip report. What it really necessary to post it again?

[tntornadox]

No offense or anything, but Reed basically covered most of this as an abbreviated version in his trip report. What it really necessary to post it again?

 

I must have not read closely enough, my bad. I honestly thought the story of the Norwegian Sky was worthy of it's own post... only 11 years old and has had quite a history.