FIRST CRUISE EVER(and probably only cruise)

[SoCalRob]

Sooo.....I just spent the nice part of an hour and a half speaking with a very awesome and patient woman about booking my first cruise. I got a free certificate from Harrah's for a free cruise. However, after doing much research and knowing how I and my boyfriend are when it comes to food, drinks, and internet....it was decided that using our certificate and upgrading was not in our best interest. So I did book the cruise without the certificate but with about 1k savings by still booking on the special phone number. So come November 22 through the 29th I will be with my boyfriend sailing from NYC To Orlando To Bahamas and I could not be more excited. I booked a Haven Aft Penthouse w/ Master Bedroom and Balcony. This booking came with Ultimate Drink Package (Free booze!(well not free but eh), Ultimate Dining Package (One specialty restaurant a night for the 7 days), 250min Free Wifi, $75 port excursions credit(per port I was informed), AND $200 OBC!!! I CANNOT WAIT since this is the LAST extravigant trip I will be doing for a VERY VERY long time. Oh yeah, and Diamond gets 10% off. So that helped too.

[BorgataBabe]

Did you book the Breakaway? I cruised on it last November.


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[seemoreroyals]

Sooo.....I just spent the nice part of an hour and a half speaking with a very awesome and patient woman about booking my first cruise. I got a free certificate from Harrah's for a free cruise. However, after doing much research and knowing how I and my boyfriend are when it comes to food, drinks, and internet....it was decided that using our certificate and upgrading was not in our best interest. So I did book the cruise without the certificate but with about 1k savings by still booking on the special phone number. So come November 22 through the 29th I will be with my boyfriend sailing from NYC To Orlando To Bahamas and I could not be more excited. I booked a Haven Aft Penthouse w/ Master Bedroom and Balcony. This booking came with Ultimate Drink Package (Free booze!(well not free but eh), Ultimate Dining Package (One specialty restaurant a night for the 7 days), 250min Free Wifi, $75 port excursions credit(per port I was informed), AND $200 OBC!!! I CANNOT WAIT since this is the LAST extravigant trip I will be doing for a VERY VERY long time. Oh yeah, and Diamond gets 10% off. So that helped too.

Rob I think you picked a great cruise. We have not been on it but we have some friends that did the Breakaway in March and loved it. And the Unlimited Drink Package with NCL is free. At least it was when we did our cruise in Dec on the NCL Dawn out of NOLA. Beer, wine, martinis, you name it. We drank a little of everything but paid for none of it. Even the tips were paid for in the UDP. Let me know if it has changed.

[SoCalRob]

Did you book the Breakaway? I cruised on it last November.


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I did book the Breakaway!!! What type of room did you have? Is it nice inside? I'm trying not to google pictures too much because it'll take away from the surprise and awesomeness! How was the cruise it's self? TELL ME EVERYTHING @BorgataBabe!

[SoCalRob]

Rob I think you picked a great cruise. We have not been on it but we have some friends that did the Breakaway in March and loved it. And the Unlimited Drink Package with NCL is free. At least it was when we did our cruise in Dec on the NCL Dawn out of NOLA. Beer, wine, martinis, you name it. We drank a little of everything but paid for none of it. Even the tips were paid for in the UDP. Let me know if it has changed.

It was free with the room I chose. However, it was not an option if I had stuck with the "free" broucher Harrah's gave me. There were a lot more fees with it and more trouble than it was worth. So I booked a higher room, no voucher, for a lot more benefits and goodies.

[goldengreeke]

You will have a blast Rob. I have been on over 40 cruises and I must say, the worst day at sea is still better than the best day on land.

On my very first cruise, a real cheep Carnival $295.00 one, we had a very small inside cabin with no window and I ended up with claustrophobia for the first time in my life.:dizzy:

After that we always booked an outside cabin with a veranda,(balcony) and that made cruising a REAL pleasure!:thumb:

[BorgataBabe]

@SoCalRob, me & my husband went with our 3 kids, we had two inside cabins. Believe it or not, we would have paid the same price for two balcony rooms but my husband was afraid my 7 year old would hang over the balcony.

We loved the ship, we were hardly in our inside cabin. Expect the 1st full day at sea and the 2nd to last coming home to be a little cold cruising along the east coast in Nov., but the pool is heated and there is so much to do all over the ship.

By my 3rd day I earned enough in the casino to get a drink card so at night me & my husband had free drinks in the casino.

We absolutely loved the hibachi restaurant and we also had a good meal at Sea Blue. I didn't love the Italian restaurant but I cook my own Italian and my taste for Italian is on a high level. These were 3 of the restaurants that you pay extra for.

Rock of Ages and Burn the Floor were fabulous. You are going to love it, we even did a Magic Kingdom excursion and for us it was worth it.


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[SoCalRob]

@SoCalRob, me & my husband went with our 3 kids, we had two inside cabins. Believe it or not, we would have paid the same price for two balcony rooms but my husband was afraid my 7 year old would hang over the balcony.

We loved the ship, we were hardly in our inside cabin. Expect the 1st full day at sea and the 2nd to last coming home to be a little cold cruising along the east coast in Nov., but the pool is heated and there is so much to do all over the ship.

By my 3rd day I earned enough in the casino to get a drink card so at night me & my husband had free drinks in the casino.

We absolutely loved the hibachi restaurant and we also had a good meal at Sea Blue. I didn't love the Italian restaurant but I cook my own Italian and my taste for Italian is on a high level. These were 3 of the restaurants that you pay extra for.

Rock of Ages and Burn the Floor were fabulous. You are going to love it, we even did a Magic Kingdom excursion and for us it was worth it.


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@BorgataBabe. Tell me more about the Magic Kingdom excursion!!! I may surprise my bf with this. We loved MK when we went there in April for the first time. Also, and this may sound weird given it is a cruise, but, what did you do in terms of cell service/internet?

How does the currency/gambling work on the casino ship or even in Atlantis(if you did it there?)

Did you like any of the main dining halls/options that you didn't have to pay extra for? Luckily, I got a good deal so the specialty restaurants are included one a night.

[BorgataBabe]

The bus trip to the MK was about an hour each way and you got about 6/7 hours there. If you plan what you want to hit before you get there then you can make the most of those hours. I wouldn't waste your time eating at one of their sit down restaurants since your time is limited. We were at Disney World twice before for vacations but my youngest didn't really remember so this excursion was worth it alone to see my little guys smile!
At the casino on the ship you just use American currency and remember you can't gamble when you are docked at a port. We did not go to the Atlantis since we had our kids, so I'm not sure about the gambling there.

The buffet is a buffet but it was good. The Manhattan Room, Savor & Taste are included and all were very good. They even have a Pub, O'Sheenan's, that has burgers, wings, fries, etc., it was good for quick, pub food.

However, if you like good food I would definitely eat at Teppanyaki and I heard great things bout Moderno but we didn't eat there. You're also staying in a Haven Suite and I think they have an exclusive restaurant for The Haven guests.


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[BorgataBabe]

Oh and for wifi, I think it's $13 a day per phone. We didn't do it, it's vacation no need to be online! I actually loved seeing people talking to each other in restaurants instead of everyone's heads buried in their phones!


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