AKR2011

2 hours ago, Daruma said:

 

The problem with that is that for a little bit more I can take two shorter, (3, 4, 5 day), cruises for the cost of one 7/8 day cruise 🤷

You're still better off with a longer cruise for the reasons I said and others are saying. Better ports on longer cruises too.

They don't usually release them this far in advance anymore. Prior to the pandemic, the itineraries would come out about 2 years prior, but in the past few years they've had to alter a lot of itineraries, so now they wait longer. NCL also used to give you extra Latitudes Points for booking one year in advance. Sadly, that has gone away too ☹️ I've had tonlearn to be more patient with my bookings now. Difficult since I only get to cruise every two years.

I love sea days and longer cruises, but both these are too short for my liking. Both will likely be filled with lots of kids and younger people partying. I would suggest looking at at least a 7-day. The price per day is often better when cruises are longer, and then you can do a better comparison of ports and cruiselines. 

Happy Belated Birthday, Yvonne! 🎉🎂 I don't get the chance to get on here every day, but I'm loving your review as usual. Do you have another trip to Alaska planned so you can reschedule the whale watching trip?

Welcome back, Michelle! I remember your last review well, so I'm really happy that you were able to get a do-over on The Elation! I'm really looking forward to following along again ❤️⚓️

Welcome back, Matthew and Susan! I'm excited to follow along again. Did you finish your last review? I think I missed the conclusion. I love The Sun, and I love that Brian Walters is still running the ship. Love Harry as well! I can't remember if it was The Sun or The Dawn that I last caught him on ❤️⚓️

Safe travels home if you're not back yet. I have a hard time keeping up with these boards, but I tried to hang in there. Congrats on reaching diamond, and thanks again for taking is all along! I look forward to your next adventure ❤️⚓️

Welcome back, Jeff and Patti! I am so excited to follow along on another one of your adventures ❤️⚓️

I love all the background info on the whales, but OMG! Your photos are just amazing! I also love the sweet group shot on the boat ❤️

Safe travels, Greg! I once rented a car in Cuacacao and drove west to hike the highest point on the island.  It was incredible, but you have to leave first thing in the morning due to the heat. Then I went to the caves, (which were super cool), grabbed a great local lunch, and went to the Blue Curacao factory after that. It was a very manageable day without needing a tour. I hope you have another amazing cruise!

❤️⚓️ Ashley

2 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

NCL could have saved the money they spent printing and mailing these luggage tags and purchased a bag of hashbrowns instead.

😄😄😄

I'm following along as always and once again appreciate your humorous writing style! No one will ever know why NCL pulled those hashbrowns, but they will never be forgiven for it! Keep us posted if they ever show up, as well as the elusive cookies. Wishing you and your dad safe travels!

❤️⚓️ Ashley

I love meeting others at Trivia or a bar There we may become friends and decide to share a meal or two together. To each their own, but I would hate being stuck at a table with people that the cruiseline paired me up with. I love that my husband and I can always dine alone without any issue.

As for the staff, I often get the same staff at breakfast and lunch in the main dining room when I eat in the same one every day. I do love getting to know them there. Yes, dinner is more of a toss-up, but then again, I love eating in different venues, so we always get new staff anyway. It's nice to go to different main dining rooms, have a night at O'Sheehan's/The Local, and also do a few meals in Specialty Dining. That in itself leads to different staff each night. Additionally, I love that we can eat at anytime. If we have a big lunch or long day in port, we'll eat later. If we want to catch a show, we might eat early. The flexibility on NCL is great!

Great review so far! Kam has definitely inherited some of Kendra's ways with the jokes, but man! I would be so upset if that had happened to me after being so worried about Kendra being in jail 😥 You seemed to take it well. How in the world did you manage not to get mad?

What an awesome journey you are taking! I am realy enjoying your posts so far and look forward to following along. Safe travels!

❤️⚓️ Ashley

Welcome back, Kim! I'm always excited to follow along on your family's adventures and have been looking forward to this one. Good to hear that Sakari has found a sweet boy. Does she still make furries at all? I know she outgrew the mermaid tail, right? I always look forward to seeing her art in your reviews as well!

❤️⚓️ Ashley

On 4/12/2024 at 2:22 PM, supermamawannabe said:

1. Excursions: does anyone have first-hand recommendations for Puerto Plata, St. Thomas and Tortola? I like booking third party and just choosing a tour that starts early and returns with a few hours to spare.  Check out Shore Excursions Group to get some ideas and then compare with local tour operators.  NCL is much more expensive and doesn't open a lot of excursions until closer to the sail date in my experience. Support the locals! There are zshore Excursion videos and reviews on YouTube as well.
2. Dinners/formal attire: I did not realize NCL was a "freestyle" cruise line and didn't do formal nights. I'm a bit disappointed as I love getting dressed up. If we wear suits/cocktail dresses to dinner, will we be totally out of place? My husband and I tend to dress up more formally in specialty restaurants and find that others do too. For regular dinners in the dining room, I wear a dress and he typically wears nice shorts and a collared shirt. We fit right in.
3. Planning: I'm such a planner, and I find NCL's website and app to be completely non-user friendly. The UX is awful and I can't find much info. Do we really not have to plan anything in advance besides excursions? Definitely compare dining and try to book 120 days out when it opens. You can also book as soon as you board. I also prefer to prepay the service chsrge so my account is lower on board. I also will go to the bank and get a bunch of dollar bills to tip. It's not mandatory, but nice to appreciate the bartenders. It's also fun to read the dailies and reviews posted on here to get an idea of the kind of entertainment offered. You can also watch tours and reviews on YouTube.

Any other tips/recommendations for this ship so we have the best time? Have fun and enjoy your vacation!  We all work so hard and deserve a break. I find the more I plan ahead, the more excited I am and the more relaxed I am once on board.

 

❤️⚓️ Ashley

Thanks in advance for any help!

What a refreshing life review! Thank you so much for sharing your vacation with us. Safe travels ❤️⚓️

12 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Thanks for this.  I've googled the five musicians/groups that you posted earlier.  I'm pretty sure I'll find several to follow around.  I like the variety.  Sounds like piano man/pianist/classic guitar/rock-type group and that duo. I was able to find some youtube clips of several.  Please keep us posted on what you think about any that you attend.  Thanks.

Seaside Duo is amazing! I caught them on The Pearl last summer.

I love both. Smaller ships have always had a different show the the theater each night with no reservations needed, while bigger ships had fancier shows and also other venues with different entertainment and other bells and whistles. However, now there are cutbacks and entertainment on smaller ships seems to be going down. I don't want my nightly show to be a movie or game show, but that seems to be the direction that NCL is going. And bigger ships seem to be pulling the nicer shows, which makes the other venues get flooded with people. While I am excited for a bigger ship on my next cruise, I worry that the crowds may make ne turn away from NCL completely. It's really sad as I love the product and always have had a great cruise, but other lines are looking pretty nice.

To answer your question though, both are great. It all depends on where they are going.

28 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

She is making the most of it an overnighting at the airport since she was left with no other choice. Not able to check in at hotel and not able to leave airport as an unaccompanied minor. The whole thing was handled very badly! She will be ok as long as the flight tomorrow doesn’t get cancelled too!

I cannot imagine how stressful this must be. I am thinking of your family and hope she makes it safely tomorrow ❤️⚓️

Welcome back! I'm excited to follow along on another one of your adventures. I also refuse to buy groceries for about a week before vacation.  By the night before we're running around trying to tackle that to do list and usually grab pizza when we run out for last minute essentials. By that point we're sick of eating weird food. I love that your son looks for hpy hour specials for you. You will definitely be making some lovely memories together this week! Safe travels ❤️⚓️

It sounds like you enjoyed your excursion.  I did that exact one years ago and remember the bus ride being so long. I took a very long nap on the way ba k to the port. However,  the spice farm was a big highlight. Ruins were meh to me, only because I had seen amazing ones the day before in Costa Maya.

I really appreciate your detailed review. Keep up the great work! I'm excited to continue following ❤️⚓️

Howl at the Moon was one of the biggest reasons we booked The Breakaway for our next cruise. We had so much fun with them on The Escape years ago. With a lot of entertainment dwindling on NCL, I'm glad that we can count on Howl at the Moon for a few nights at least.

13 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

Shortsighted for sure.  I guess NCL would rather spend their (our) precious $$$ on more barf bags and cleanup.  Shame, shame NCL.  

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I always pack seasick pills just in case. I would never expect them to be provided. I guess it's a nice gesture, but I throw them in my suitcase along with other "just in case" meds like Excedrin, Pepto Bismol, Emergen-C packs, and some kind of cold meds. Anyone else do the same?