amygutman

@joey_ourso As a graduate of LSU emergency residency program, I feel your pain. Wishing you luck on finding that cap. Warmest Amy

@Georgia_Peaches Thank you again for the lovely review. I think we had similar positive and less-than-positive experiences in the YC. I agree for the money, MSC does really have a nice "suite-within-a-suite" product, but as their prices go up, the less positive experiences may not be quite as able to be over-looked. Our next MSC is the Euribia in Europe - am very happy to be returning to a Meraviglia-class ship and interested to see how a "European Experience" on a European cruise ship compares to a more "Americanized" experience on a Seashore class ship;. Safe travels home! Warmest, Amy

That's amazing! So happy for your casino cruise upgrade. Kudos for the casino staff as well to hunt down and rectify the missing voucher. Am so sorry to hear about the lack of inside voices and children running amuck. Total opposite of our experience and to have to leave the lovely sanctity of the Top Sail Lounge because of noise is terrible. Is your trivia crew Justine from South Africa? She is so funny and had quite the following on our cruise. Warmest Amy

@Georgia_Peaches Thank you so much...It's so much fun reading your review and comparing and contrasting. Whatever happened in the Top Sail Lounge causing the sewage smell, I plead ignorance as it did not have that odor when we disembarked right before you came on! Following happily... Warmest Amy

@rsato Thank you for the informative review. We are booked on the Viva 2025 in the Haven and considering it has the same footprint, wanted to know if the soot in the aft of the ship affects the ability to lay on the aft loungers in the Haven area? Our cruise is in the Middle East and Med and would be disappointed to not be able to lay out on what looks to be a beautiful aft Haven deck. We are not terribly excited about the ship otherwise - your very honest criticisms have been stated on prior posts and we booked the cruise for the amazing itinerary as the Viva / Prima ships seem very poorly laid out. Thank you again! Warmest Amy

@Trivan Have a wonderful time! Warmest Amy

Ohh... just found it by Googling "chefs making waves". Silly me. I was right... it looks amazing!

@LadyMac72 That sounds amazing!!! Loved the Pearl - beautiful ship. Where can we find details about this cruise? I just looked at the Food Network site and don't see any info. Warmest Amy

Syd Norman / Parenting Question: My kiddo is 14, but is a 70s - 90s "soul". He's been humming and dancing to Grateful Dead, Phish, Devo, Queen et al since before he could talk (eclectic, right?). Syd's is a small venue but Ronan would absolutely eat up the music. I can't find anywhere online if there is an age minimum - many of the bars on NCL ships the kids can sit with the parents just not at the physical bar. As Syd's is "enclosed", am not sure if we can go as a family. We know it's crowded and don't mind standing for performances but am not sure if it's appropriate or allowed. We never went to Syd's when we were on the Getaway in April and am regretting it after seeing all of the amazing raves. Million Dollar Quartet is tied with Choir of Men for our favorite show at sea and we truly love the "big theater" shows. Kiddo is excited to see the current Choir cast, but I know he would love to go to the smaller Syd's venue as well. Would greatly appreciate any thoughts or advice. Warmest Amy

@BermudaBound2014 so glad to hear you and your family are safe, and my prayers for your friends and neighbors. When I worked for RCCL our ships responded to Caribbean hurricanes to help with medical care and rescue / transport of the wounded and displaced. I contacted the Haven pre-concierge desk today to see if NCL was doing something similar and apparently something is being organized with the POA and other NCL land-based operations but no details yet. I would hope as the one US-based home-ported cruise line in Hawaii that NCL steps up to help the community. Please keep CC in the loop if there are any ways you know of we as a community can help. Warmest Amy

@OrcaGirl I'm adding these to my notecard! Todah Arbah!!! (Hebrew for Thank You...not a common language for a cruise ship, but very much so in my family). Warmest Amy

@Georgia_Peaches ❤️ Thank you. I am so glad you are having a good time!

Really? Seems much easier just to make sure people in the YC area are true YC'ers. Check cards or wristbands if faces unfamiliar. If crew have approved invited guests have a special "day pass". Taking away what for many is an eagerly anticipated experience is not a great idea. As from the financial aspect, it makes sense to not have the seafood buffet on the 3-4 night cruises as I suspect there is an amount of (very expensive) food wastage - that may be more of the driving factor than interlopers. Warmest Amy

@Railfan30 There is so much ugliness in the world so we always try to counteract it on a personal level. No, we are not "Polly Positives" (yep, actually called this once on a CC forum) - in fact, after almost 30 years working primarily night shifts in hospitals and fire departments I am generally a crotchety human. However, in "real life", my husband and I have a thing: "Each day pick up one piece of trash, make one person smile, do one random act of kindness". It works well and balances out my karma. Warmest Amy

@Railfan30 That's great of your son to do that. We also do the same for cruises and find in many places around the world when you travel and at least try to say "hello", "good-by", and "thank you" in the main spoken language / dialect it is usually greeted with a smile (although, usually with my pronunciation a smile AND a wince). Here's a few we have accumulated for "Hello", "Good-Bye" and "Thank You" for the most common cruise ship nationalities: Tagalog / Filipino: Kamusta, Paalam, Salamat Po (the "po" indicates respect) Hindi / India: Namaste, Alavida, Dhanyavaad Brazil & Azores / Portuguese: Ola, Adeus, Obrigado Central America & Cuba / Spanish: Hola, Adios, Gracias French and Haitian Creole / Mauritius / Haiti: Bonjou, Orevwa, Mesi Croatia / Croatian: Bok, Dovidenja, Hvala We actually wrote down all of the above and took a photo on our phone to have it handy for meals and other ship interactions as I am terrible at languages. Warmest, Amy

@jamon Scattered throughout the review below are menus from the Yacht Club for a 4 night cruise. Am not sure if that will help in any way other than to give an idea of some of the dishes served on the ship. Hopefully another poster will have more specific information. Have a great cruise! Warmest Amy

@graphicguy I will absolutely let you know 44 days and 4 hours (give or take an hour) from now how much we love Alaska. Nah...I'm not excited or anything!!!😁 Warmest Amy

@Georgia_Peaches It sounds like you have Arnold or Primus as your butler if you are being over-spoiled. If you have either, please give my love to them both. Such wonderful gentlemen! Warmest Amy

@JAGR Ah...my "military time" has failed me....I meant at 2pm (aka "1400")... That being said....see what happens when you leave a cleaning cone in the unlocked YC door. A HORDE OF 1400 INTERLOPERS APPEAR!!!!

@rhinoman That's awesome!!! I am so happy for all of us. We're travelling with two friends who are flying in from Bermuda and London and making it a bucket list adventure for us all. Crossing fingers for whales and northern lights. See you on board - we are in the Haven DOS so equally excited to see what looks to be the most amazing balcony! Warmest Amy

@sverigecruiser cruiser - agree with the staff to passenger ratio. On Ocean Cay day, we walked the island and enjoyed ourselves but then returned to the YC pool for lunch. For 3 hours it was just my husband, myself and son plus 6 staff members. Felt terrible as there was such the spread laid out for lunch - around 1400 more persons came to eat at the YC pool buffet but we felt we had a billion dollar yacht just to ourselves for most of the morning! Warmest Amy

@Jason82 Thank you so much for the lovely review. We are on the Encore on Sept 24th and cannot wait. We have also waited 2 years so we are just busting with excitement! Warmest Amy

#1 Bermuda: oh, that blue water like no other #2 Panama Canal: engineering marvel that brought me to tears. honestly...one of the coolest sights #3 Port of New York: being wished a safe journey or a welcome home from Lady Liberty is amazing #4 I'll let you know Sept 24th, but I suspect I will be counted amongst the Alaska lovers Great topic and loving the responses. Keep Googling the ports mentioned an adding to an ever growing bucket list! Warmest Amy

The town - Woodstock NY (I used to teach at their Fire Department and this is the side of one of their trucks), and Bethel NY - the actual site of the legendary concert. The museum there is fabulous, even to us non-hippie types. Kiddo is here at the museum getting his inner Grateful Dead on - his favorite band. Warmest Amy

Cruised on the Getaway in April and can vouch that the buffet was wonderful - especially the Indian offerings. Kiddo thought the pizza was better than MSC, and gave two thumbs up for the fries (considering how many plates he ate of them, I think he can give an honest review). Never ate in the MDR though, but hope that helps. Warmest Amy