Quote:
Originally Posted by sweetmtn
I guess the CORRECT term would be heading off to RCT...Recruit Training Command!  |
RTC - not RCT... :rotfl: Chris, Navy doesn't call it BMT - it took me a couple of your posts to figure out what you meant when you said BMT.. haha Remember, the Navy follows a completely different vocab and rank structure than the other branches!
I've heard people say they LOVE the NL, but I've heard a lot of people talk about horrible experiences there too. I think it just depends on the kind of person you are. It's pretty much comparable to a motel more than a hotel. When I go to a hotel, I like high thread count sheets (I sleep on high thread count, so anything below what I'm used to drives me crazy), comfy mattresses, etc. At NL, you're going to get pretty basic, and not a comfy mattress (IMO) at all! lol The biggest thing that stuck out to me (about the one in GL) was reading someone on NP posting about how when they stayed there, their toilet clogged, and when they went to the front desk, they handed them a plunger and told them to take care of it themselves. (ugh). The good thing about there (at least when Tim went through RTC) is that people make posts about their Sailors and put them on the doors!! I thought that was pretty neat!! But otherwise, we're pretty much spoiled when it comes to hotels.. ;) We stayed at Residence Inn in a two bedroom suite. It cost pretty much the EXACT same as the NL would have for two rooms. We also got a pretty good breakfast there, so with 4 adults and 1 child, that really helped to cut down on costs!!! Residence Inn isn't the best hotel out there, but at least IMO, it's MUCH better than NL.
For housing, it really is a matter of luck OR your base. A friend of ours just got into a band new house in Mississippi.. We had to wait 10 months for our house, BUT we CHOSE to do that. We got called the first time about 4 months later, but Tim was about to deploy, and I didn't want to move just to have him leave within a week or so of us getting down here. Our housing group has one of the longest waiting lists in San Diego though.. HOWEVER, there's another girl from NP who just moved into here. She got REALLY lucky, and they didn't have to wait at all!!!!! So it's also dependent upon WHEN you move. (more people PCS during the summer than any other time, it's the best time to PCS for housing purposes). But pretty much all bases have a "hot sheet" of housing that's available immediately. My advice - rent out an apartment that will give you a month to month lease until housing is available. We just looked at civilian housing around us, and to get something like we have right now, we'd be paying anywhere from $3000-$5000 plus utilities. We pay about $1800 w/ utilities included! Housing can definitely be worth it!