tcmagnum

Very good points. I've read some of your past posts (you are kind of famous on cruise critic for the go to for all information on cabins). Deeper and possible wider AFT balconies are important. Bed by balcony so there is more room to get to the closet is also important. Not too close to all the noise toward the higher decks...

This cruise we are doing plain AFT balconies and not Haven. But next year when we splurge on Haven we agree, we will be staying at the other end of the ship, so we are much closer to Haven amenities.

Thank you all your advice on the dining issue - we are going to be looking at menus before we board ship. Next question: Has anyone stayed in an AFT Balcony (the ones that look off the back of the ship)? Good/Bad? Favorites?

AFT in the very back of ship. We love those balconies.

We are also like that. Some of our best cruises were everything got changed around. We look at cruising as: If it's meant to happen, it will.

Hello!! We are booking Monday (with our travel agent who will be paying our pre-paid tips)!! We will be booking on ENCORE for next February 2025… Two AFT balconies side-by-side and an inside cabin across the hallway. ** Can the balcony dividers be opened between the two? We are regular Celebrity cruisers so any tips/advice would be great. We will have the ‘free at sea’ that gives us ‘open bar’ and 2 free specialty dining. ** What specialty dining do you guys like? Very excited!!!

Very good point. Next question: Which restaurant would have the very best chocolate desert??

Us too!!! Thank you!!

New to Norwegian… If we go to one of the restaurants and only do an app and wine, isn’t that wasting one of our specialty dinners or am I misunderstanding how this works?

Thank you for the precise explanation. We are looking into it.

This is a trial cruise on Norwegian for our group. So we will probably stick together and hope we can get a last minute one day pass for Vibe. If not, I will have my AFT Balcony to enjoy.

Thank you for the great explanation of what it involves. We are going with a group who's $$ budget is very varied (inside to aft balconies), so not sure if we would purchase. But who knows...Maybe. Again - Thank you for the nitty gritty.

Can you explain Vibe to a couple of newbies to Norwegian? For a 7 day cruise out of Miami in February - About how much would it cost per person? Do both people in a cabin have to purchase? Do you purchase by day or for the whole cruise? Can you explain what is in this area? Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions...

We are loyal Celebrity cruisers and we have to agree with you. We were preparing to book our next cruise in the Retreat section and WOW - the prices. Putting it on hold now. Agree about MSC - prices aren't that great. And who has the patients for Carnival or Royal. So we are now in the process of researching the Haven on Norwegian. And we are very close to booking our first cruise on Norwegian. Loved your review!!!

Do you ever do a ‘live review’ of your land trips? Love your writing style and would definitely follow along.

So glad to see this update this morning. We may not know you personally but many of us were worried. Rest up and get ready for your next adventure!!!

Sorry to hear that Norris was sent to the hospital. But glad he is getting taken care of. Thank you, Carol for sharing the information with us.

This sounds like the best type of port day excursion!!! I hope you had a great time seeing all the places you remember from your past. And I hope, you and your long time bud had a great time catching up.

Ok I was jealous about your cruise, but now super-duper jealous. Enjoy the show - I've heard it's great!!! What a great lead up to your birthday cruise. Happy Birthday!!!!

We also did dinner at Tuscan - And the short rib pasta!! You have me drooling this morning. The Effy necklace….Each day at a certian time (check the daily planner for times), you go to the Effy store to get a ‘stone of the day’ that goes in round pendant. Some days they will run out. It was a fun way to see the stores. Also something to do while waiting on our dinner reservations.

Finally found it!! Excited to read all about the Apex (my sister and I are hoping to be on her next Jan or Feb)!! And Amsterdam....On my bucket list.

Jim - I've been saying I want to cruise with you and Iain but now, I'm sure. You have my heart!! Heck, I want to move in with you guys!!! Pretty please. Lol... First - that picture!! Second - I eat that way also. It's so hard sometimes. Third - After we lost our Gunther 4 years ago, my hubby and I talked about another dog or not. He said if I wanted to travel, no more dogs. I said I wanted to travel and not have my heart broken again. Two months later I come home from work and there he was with a dog on the back porch. I literally kept driving around the house and back out the driveway. I stayed angry for days. But now our Abby has our heart.

Love following a Jim_Iain live trip report!! B3B!!! So exciting.

Hello. I’m going to try and do a ‘Live’ once we get on the ship. We’ll see how that goes. If I get behind, I will catch up once home. But first, a long explanation of how we came to book this cruise and our plans for the cruise… Back in August, several of us were at a wedding (where I officiated) and started talking to our cousin/her husband who was taking her 2 high schoolers and 2 of their friends on a spring break cruise on Carnival. One thing led to another. My sister and I decided to join them. My daughter-in-law then wanted to go. Then her mom. Then a sister-in-law. So, by the time we were ready to book, we had 2 rooms being booked. My sister and I decided to go for it, and we booked an Ocean Suite. We want to see if we think it’s worth it for a bigger room with a balcony. The other three decided to book an Aft-View Extended Balcony. They decided to have three in a room but with a bigger balcony. My cousin and her group are in 2 inside cabins on the 2nd or 3rd deck. Excited to see if we use our balcony a lot (with this being a spring break cruise, I have a feeling we will be). And curious to see if we like the bigger balcony with regular size cabin. None of us have been on Carnival in many years. We are regular Celebrity cruisers. But when this was first booked by my cousin, it was a spring break treat for the kids. And now adults are tagging along. So, we have much to learn/see. Our goals: We are very much looking forward to ordering the Chocolate Molten Cake in the MDR - we are even thinking of ordering it for appetizer and dessert a few nights. We will be in the casino many nights. We go to Vegas every year and enjoy many games. Don't expect to win big but would like to have fun. Drink package...Lol. Snorkeling and Scuba Diving. Relaxing in the sun with a good book. Just relaxing being away from work and cold weather. The two cabins with balconies – everyone did the drink package. My cousin also got the drink package since they had booked her alone in a room and her husband in the other room with all the kids. Lol…My sister/cousin/sister-in-law/I just got off a Celebrity cruise with the drink package and most of us saw the benefit. So, we are hoping we make good use of the drink package this trip. The teenagers all have internet packages (you know how teenagers are). I have the premium internet package (might need to be in touch with office). My cousin also did the premium internet package. I don’t think anyone did any internet. Getting there: All but one of us live in Kentucky (in Louisville or just south of there in a small town). The other lives on the east coast of Florida. We are all driving Saturday – Leaving around 7:00am. Around a 10.5-hour drive (better than the 12.5 drive to Tampa in February). The plan is to check into our hotels (one in Slidell and one in West Bank/Gretna). Grab something to eat. Not sure about hitting anything in the French Quarter. It will depend on how grumpy we are after the long drive. We all joined AARP and used gift cards to pay for our cruise/internet/drink packages. Loved saving 10%. And very easy to do. I even have some left on a gift card and plan on spending it on the ship. My sister and I have booked a snorkeling excursion for one day. And I think everyone but 3 of the teenagers are joining us. I don’t think we are ‘cool’ enough for the 18-year-olds. Lol. Then my sister and I have the ‘beginners scuba diving’ excursion. We are very excited to do this. We both have taken this class before but separately and years ago. We both want to take the time to get fully certified and this is a good step to take. The others have a private beach resort book (privately booked not through ship). Jamaica, we have nothing planned. The excursions all looked to have a ton of driving involved and none of us wanted to spend our time on buses. So, we might stay on the ship and enjoy the drink package. Or walk around the port. Who knows. Most of us have been to Jamaica before, so not too worried about it. When we checked in my sister/I was waitlisted for anytime dining. But one of the perks to booking a suite is ‘preferred dining time’. And overnight, we were moved from waitlist to confirmed anytime dining. Very happy with that perk. The five of us all got a check in time of 10;00/10;30, so we plan on getting to the port parking lot by 9:30. Suites get preferred boarding and the other 3 bought the ‘Faster to the Fun’ pass, so they should be able to get on pretty close to us. We don’t care if we get to stay in our rooms right away. But we do plan on trying to drop off our carry-on bags. Then heading to bar for a drink or three. My cousin and her group got a 10:30/11:00 check in time. They will be meeting us on the ship once they are settled. The packing has started. We have a rule in our group: You can bring as much luggage as you want, but you must be able to control/move your own bags. Not much of an issue getting on the ship because the porters are right there. But we do ‘self dis-embarkment’ at the end of the cruise and we do need to think about the amount of luggage at that time. And I am the biggest over-packer of them all. But this is my daughter-in-law’s first cruise, so she may pack more than me. Lol…

Tell me more about these shots? Are they different types? In MDR? I also volunteer to do some research when I get on the Glory this Sunday morning.