olemissreb

When was the last time you were there? When I was in Slidell a year ago, my high school classmates said something about the mall being demolished and so the Cafe du Monde in the mall was no longer there and everyone had to go to the original on Decatur St.

My next cruise is still 18 months away. I usually book that far out so I can pay it off over time, get the cabin I want, pay for any upgrades as well as the independent excursions that I spent researching....not to mention airfare! By the time I get on board, it's just about an all-inclusive and all I have to worry about is souvenirs.

No Latitudes anything as this will be my first time on NCL.

I hope you'll do a "Live From"...I've got 550+ days till I'm on the Viva.

Thank you! Hate that, but oh well...maybe I can gift (aka buy) my sister the dining upgrade.

Y'all have convinced me that a specialty restaurant (probably Cagney's) for my embarkation dinner is the way to go. Couple questions though: How long does dinner at Cagney's usually take? We are on the Viva sailing from San Juan at 7pm and I definitely want to be on deck for sail away. Thinking dinner after sail away may be the way to go rather than before. Other question - I may upgrade my Free at Sea to the Free at Sea Plus which gives us (my boyfriend and I) 2 extra specialty meals. Is it possible to use one of those meals for my sister and her boyfriend - kind of like paying for their meal if we were on land? She currently has the Free at Sea and I'm not sure if she'll want to upgrade. If we are able to "spring" for a meal using one of our 2 extras, that would be nice.

Thanks for the great review. I had looked at something like this, but since my sister can be very clumsy (she has a knack for tripping on air) and my boyfriend has ankle problems, I think we'll skip the tour this time.

We are booked! We got the Free at Sea and paid gratuities for the Beverage Package and the Dining, For the Dining package, how exactly does that work? I figure we'll try to go to Cagney's, Onda, Los Lobos, Le Bistro (I've got to get my escargot) and maybe something else. How many are open for lunch? Oh so much to do and so little time.

Well then I'm glad we didn't get the air add on...gives us more flexibility. Thanks!

Well I just put courtesy holds on 2 rooms for a sailing on the Viva. Got a couple days to decide whether to pull the trigger or not. It's only about $500 more expensive than our X cruise was, but we would be getting the Free at Sea deals and we get 1 extra port of call. My sister sailed on NCL way back in 1990, but the rest of us are newbies, so please bear with me as I pick up on the "lingo" and ask a million questions. I did some research on the Viva on the NCL site and am wondering with such a port intensive cruise, if getting passes for the Vibe Beach Club is worth it? Not sure I'd want a cabana, but may look into that also. I also saw something about cabanas at the Indulge - are those first come first served or do you reserve them? And here's a probably really silly question but...does the Starbux app work on the ship so I can earn stars? We haven't added airfare to our cruises, how does that work? Do we get to choose the date and times we want to fly? Or does NCL do that for us? I figure we'll want to fly down either the Friday or Saturday before the cruise and sightsee around San Juan. I'm 90 minutes from the closest airport and I really don't want to get up before the birds to get to the airport (which isn't in a great part of town) to catch a flight. Y'all have been really helpful - thank you so much! I have a good feeling we'll end up completing our bookings before the end of the weekend and I'll get into full planning mode - even if it's 18 months away! 🤣

I suspected as much, but thought it doesn't hurt to ask either. Wishful thinking I suppose. Thank you!

Ok you just prompted another question...I usually book independent excursions. Since I wouldn't be using the shore excursion credits, would they change it to OBC to use for other purchases?

Thank you! So if I get a promo package, is that the Premium or Premium Plus package? If only Premium, can I upgrade to PPBP?

More questions... Drink packages...what all is covered? What is the $ per drink limit? Is there a limit per day? My sister is an 18 year recovering alcoholic...does she have to get the same drink package as her boyfriend or is there a way to call and get 2 different packages for her cabin? What kinds of bourbons do they have on board? And are they covered by the drink package? My boyfriend and I would have gotten the premium beverage package on Celebrity. I love my vanilla lattes or cappucinos in the morning and a bottle or 2 of Evian on excursions plus some pre-dinner, during dinner, and post-dinner drinks (yup...I get my money's worth). What is NCLs equivalent?

Thank you! I have a couple gowns that I just love and feel so "sexy and sultry" (as my boyfriend would say) in and I just don't get enough chances to wear them. I may just wear them anyway.

Thank you all so much. Another question that I just thought of... I know NCL has freestyle crusing, but do people dress up for a formal night (or 2)? I really love getting dressed to the nines a couple times on a cruise since I don't get to do it often in real life. Just wondering if my sister and I should pack our formal gowns and suitcoats for our guys.

My March '25 cruise got canceled by the cruise line, so now my sister and I are looking to replace it with a cruise in the Viva. Looking at the website, I have some questions on the cabins... 1- what is the real difference between a balcony cabin and a deluxe balcony suite (or however they named them)? 2 - in the pictures of the balcony cabins (and deluxe balcony suite), the beds look like sofa hide-a-beds. Do they really look like that and if so, are they as uncomfortable as a sofa bed? 3 - any pointers in choosing a cabin? We prefer mid-ship and higher decks. 4 - anything else you can share (good, bad and ugly) about NCL in general and the Viva specifically? Thank y'all for all your help.

yeah it does! My cruise was cancelled. Looking at maybe the Norwegian Viva still out of San Juan. The Summit had such a great itinerary, so my sister and I are looking to try and replicate it as much as possible. Plus my sister lives in Wisconsin, so we really want to leave from San Juan - guaranteed warmth in March after a long Wisconsin winter. 🤣

The cruise we had booked no longer appears on my Manage Trip page. It shows zero upcoming cruises and I've not received a single email from Celebrity since I last made a payment on July 18th. And when I do a search for cruises in March '25 on Summit, I get nothing! I'm not real happy about this!

Checking things now. I will be so pissed if they did cancel it. It was going to be the first cruise for my boyfriend and my sister's boyfriend and a great relaxing get away for all 4 of us.

I've got a March '25 Summit cruise from San Juan. Has this been changed? Gosh I hope not!

I love cruising, but my boyfriend wants to do a train trip, so that may be another good place to be besides a cruise ship.

We haven't decided anything yet. We don't sail till March '25 so I'm just researching now.

Thank you! I'll check it out.

Thank you! I'll check it out.