Two Wheels Only

I remember when the "deck 10 vs deck 12" fiasco happened. Even though you dodged a bullet, the ricochet still got you. It could be a part that's on order and needed for the entire system. Getting the part onto the ship, having the right people on the ship to install it, having it inspected, etc. is probably why it would take so long. Looking forward to the reviews.....

There are some changes coming after drydock ( Click HERE ) but you'll get a good idea of what the ship is like.

Restaurants on NCL are either "Smart Casual" or "Cruise Casual".... Cruise Casual: the Freedom of Freestyle Cruising Dress cruise casual anytime during the day, in the buffet and in most specialty restaurants. For women, it includes summer and casual dresses, skirts, regular or capri pants, shorts, jeans and tops. Khakis, jeans, shorts and casual shirts are fine for men. Swimwear is acceptable at the buffet and outdoor restaurant, but a shirt or a cover-up and footwear are required. Be sure to pack a sweater - the air conditioning can be chilly. Kids 12 and under are welcome to wear shorts in all our restaurants. Please Note: We want you to be comfortable, but tank tops for men, flip flops, baseball caps, visors and jeans that are overly faded, with holes or tears and worn below the hips are not permitted in main dining rooms or specialty restaurants. All Decked-out: Smart Casual Dress smart casual in our more upscale specialty restaurants. For women, it includes slacks or jeans, dresses, skirts and tops. For men, it's jeans or slacks with a collared shirt and closed-toed shoes. Kids 12 and under are welcome to wear shorts in all our restaurants. ...in your case, only Le Bistro and Palomar are Smart Casual. Shorts and t-shirts are fine everywhere else.

It's best to ignore the name game and just focus on the numbers. Even with this Labor Day "sale", a future cruise of mine without insurance is over $1,100 more than what I have booked WITH insurance. I'll keep what I have and MSC can keep their extra $200 OBC.

Which one? Royal or Duplex?

The one that I posted was old. My next cruise has $169. I haven't seen $202 before. In other words, prices are all over the place. Cabana prices went up by $3 from the time that I booked mine to now. I'm using pre-cruise prices so maybe that's the discrepancy.

It used to be less expensive..... Team up with a pal and prepare for a thrilling ride while gliding over the surf on a WaveRunner, one of the coolest personal watercrafts. After receiving a thorough safety briefing and information on handling the craft, you’ll board your WaveRunner and set off to enjoy a fully guided and narrated tour. You can spend about 1 hour enjoying the views around the Ocean Cay Marine Reserve, with sights of untouched cays and beaches. Please note: the listed price is per WaveRunner (not per person); only one person needs to book, with tour payment chargeable to only one account. The name of a companion sharing the WaveRunner with the paying guest must be registered at the Excursions’ Desk. Minimum age to drive is 18yrs. All riders between the ages of 10-17 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Alcohol consumption is not permitted prior to the tour departure. The maximum combined weight cannot exceed 170 kg (375 lbs.). Drivers cannot be switched. Guests will be required to sign a waiver. All participants must speak and understand English. Price per person Adult: $102.00

I know that my opinion on this isn't a popular one. As a former lifeguard, I'm against cruise ships announcing that there are lifeguards at the pool. I fear that this will just lead to more parents/guardians being lackadaisical when it comes to the supervision of their child. Having pool attendants is fine. Having those attendants trained in lifesaving techniques is fine. If there is someone in distress and the attendant takes appropriate action, that's fine. I don't want anyone to die but I also don't want parents/guardians thinking that "... it's no worry, the lifeguard will watch the kids... Let's head over to the buffet/bar/casino for an hour...". There's no excuse for a child that cannot swim to be left unsupervised at the pool. If parents use the lifeguards as babysitters, it would be a shame. The articles linked above seem to share a common flaw in child supervision that a lifeguard shouldn't be asked to fix.

I found him on LinkedIn - HERE

Rotate it 180° and upload it again.

You've probably already seen it but if anyone is interested in 10700 on Escape.....

I'm pretty sure that all of your options have the same sofa bed. The sofa converted into a bed is really just the moving of the back cushions. It's not the typical pull out sofa bed that one might have at home in a guest room. For all of your options (other than aft-facing), guest #4 would sleep in a pullman bed that drops down from the ceiling. The aft-facing staterooms only sleep a max of 3.

I'm in Florida....I have to find ways to keep myself distracted from the weather. 😱

You mean "...better than Seaside...", right? 😎

It depends on what you booked and what experience level you booked. In most cases, you would get your deposit refunded but if you booked Yacht Club, you would (probably) not get your deposit refunded.

Very rarely (if ever) does anyone check the paperwork for check-in time. Just go as early as you have planned. Those with priority boarding will board before you but after that, you'll board sooner than your assigned check-in time.

It depends on stateroom type. There are different solutions for guests 3/4. OP would need to narrow it down for a definitive answer.

I agree. So many people use "nickel and dime" when it doesn't really apply and I couldn't resist using the term. It's the same when someone uses "price gouging" when a cruise goes up $200 from when the person was first window shopping but didn't book.

It's 8% for either while on the ship and in Port Miami. The customer pays both. It just a matter of how NCL passes that cost onto the customer. For example, MSC doesn't add a tax to drinks ordered while in Port Miami. NCL does add a tax while in Port Miami. In both cases, the cruise line is using money from the customers to pay the tax. NCL is taking a few nickels and dimes (couldn't resist) from people who order drinks while in Port to cover the tax. MSC isn't being nice and paying the tax for the customers. It may not seem like it but MSC customers paid that tax (whether the customer drinks or doesn't) months before boarding the ship. NCL handles the tax (even if nobody orders a drink) by using money collected months earlier, too. From the guests' perspective, one way might feel better than the other but it's still being paid by the guests.

Yes, you can pay a la carte. I don't know how accurate this is but..... https://profcruise.com/ncl-menus-2023/#food

"....Food Republic, Pincho Tapas Bar and Sushi, where a meal includes any 4 menu items...." - T&C

Miami does have a food and beverage tax so technically, you should have been charged. NCL pays a certain amount in tax based on occupancy. The guests pay that tax in one way or another. While in port, you might see a charge to your account for drinks and might even see a charge for other things such as food. Either way, NCL uses money from guests to pay whatever NCL needs to pay....and keeps whatever is left over. 😉

For Escape, the **700 staterooms (9700, 10700, etc.) are the best Oceanview options. On Getaway, the **700 are wheelchair accessible but not on Escape. On Getaway (and Escape) some of the Oceanview staterooms sleep up to 5 so those are an option. I can't help with Sun, sorry.

I had no problem at all with odor when I was on Meraviglia. Chengkp75 knows all about this stuff (and many other things) so I'll just quote him..... "The most common cause of sewer smells in cabins is the bathroom floor drain (not the shower), that typically hides under the toilet, or is a trough drain at the door. These drains see little water into them, so the dry air from the AC tends to dry out the water in the trap, and odors back up. A glass of water down these drains will normally do more than pouring it down the sink or shower." There was an issue a few years ago when Seaside first went into service. There was an incorrectly installed pipe that was causing a sewage smell problem throughout various parts of the ship. It took a few months but it was fixed before I sailed Seaside in 2018. The more likely scenario as far as what people sometimes smell in the stateroom is probably what Chengkp75 described.