The Traveling Man

Kind of like chair hogs?

I used to feel the same way. My attitude got adjusted after having a few dinners with officers. WOW, did those folks go off menu. Remember the diner scene in "When Harry Met Sally" when Meg Ryan spent about five minutes explaining exactly how she wanted her food prepared? Meg was a piker compared to some of the NCL officers with whom we have dined. Sauce on the side. Rice instead of noodles. Grill the meat instead of broil it. Broccoli instead of green beans. They would go on and on, and not just the GMs and Captains. After a few times of listening to both senior and junior officers request all kinds of menu substitutions, I lost my inhibitions to do the same, particularly when dining in the Haven or a specialty restaurant. Try it. It works.

Some of the wines on X, notably those available in Luminae or the Retreat Lounge are quite good, IMO. I would say they compare favorably to the wines available on NCL with the standard beverage package. Some of the wines served in the Haven or available with the Plus package, though, can be better than the typical wine on X. Or maybe my palate just isn't sophisticated enough to know the difference.

No, the benefit is per stateroom. If one or more person in a room has reached the Platinum level or above, the room receives two certificates, each good for dinner for two. You do not receive additional coupons even if there is more than one Platinum member in the room. You also do not receive additional coupons if more than two persons are booked in the room.

Agreed. Out of more than 340 evenings spent on board NCL ships, I think we have eaten dinner in the buffet maybe once or twice.

Only a few of the crew members on X with the sommelier title actually are certified sommeliers. The rest are wine stewards in training. Nonetheless, the crews on X ships have a significantly greater ratio of certified sommeliers per passenger than you find on most NCL ships. They also usually have several dozen wine stewards with the sommelier title on each ship, so several in each restaurant. The wine service on X ships is head and shoulders above that on NCL, IMO.

Thanks for your thoughts on this. I likewise found the Luminae restaurant offerings lacking. When we sailed in a suite on X, we ate most of our meals in Blu, instead. It just had a more soothing vibe and the food was outstanding. One time the F&B director stopped by our table to ask why we weren't up in Luminae (reserved exclusively for Retreat guests, i.e. kinda like Haven). We explained that Blu suited us better. He just shook his head and implied that as suite passengers we were supposed to dine in Luminae. We finally did break down and have one more meal up there. I still was not impressed. Yes, I know this is the NCL forum, not X, but it's fun to make comparisons.

You probably have read this caution elsewhere, but it bears repeating. The Pr1ma is not a cold weather ship. A great deal of emphasis was placed on outdoor venues on this ship. In cold, damp, or dreary weather, all those passengers who otherwise would be basking in the sun while sipping cocktails or enjoying snacks on deck are forced inside. It can be quite crowded in some of the venues. The Indulge Food Hall is a prime example. The Pr1ma is a beautiful ship, but when we sailed on an itinerary similar to yours the week after Pr1ma's inaugural voyage, it sometimes was a zoo inside, very crowded and with less than stellar service times. I hope you enjoy your journey, but please be prepared for crowds.

Check your cruise documents for more information. Generally speaking, though, ships arrive in port for debarkation before sunrise. Passengers are required to be off the ship early, usually by 9:00 AM or so. The crew has about two hours before the next group of passengers starts boarding, usually starting about 11:00 or 11:30, but sometimes not until noon. You may arrive at the cruise terminal as early as you like, but the check-in process usually doesn't start until 10:00, 10:30, or 11:00. Depending on the crowds, it may take anywhere from 10 minutes to two hours from the time you arrive at the cruise terminal until you board the ship. NCL requires passengers to begin the check-in process not later than two hours before the scheduled departure time. If you do arrive early, you may have to sit in a waiting area for a while before you are allowed to board, but you won't just be wandering around for hours. Soooooo, there's a lot of flexibility. Your cruise documents should indicate a requested time for you to arrive at the terminal, but it rarely if ever is enforced. Most folks just show up when they want to, ignoring their scheduled arrival time, resulting in frequently long lines at prime time. Bon voyage.

Yes...what she said.

We are the exact opposite. We only splurge on the Haven on longer cruises, say two weeks or so. This is especially so on itineraries that feature lots of sea days, like a TA. When we know that we will be spending a lot of time on board the ship, we want to have a quite place to hang out, sort of a Retreat from the crowds, a Haven for respite. As @Sailing12Away said, we like to have dinner in the Haven restaurant not so much for the food, but for the peace and quiet normally found there.

Thanks for the tip. I usually avoid pork chops in most restaurants. The chefs sometimes overcook them to avoid trichinosis or other disease. That frequently leaves the meat as dry as shoe leather. Next time we're in the Haven, though, I'll take your advice and give it a try. Thanks.

Problems with dry docks which cause cruises to be cancelled, delayed, or cut short are rare, but they have occurred several times with NCL. They probably also have happened on other cruise lines, but I have no knowledge of that. There probably are a half dozen or so factors which folks who have cruised several times try to avoid when booking a cruise. You might consider avoiding a Spring Break cruise, or selecting a stateroom directly under the pool deck or jogging track. You might want to avoid an aft stateroom on ships which have reports of extreme vibration from the propellers. Traveling on a ship just before or just after a dry dock is on my list of things I try to avoid. Each of these factors contribute to a judgement call. Maybe you're willing to take a chance on putting up with one of them in order to book an ideal itinerary or to get a fantastic price on a cruise. Some of them should be avoided at all costs. YMMV.

Then it was the cruise after yours, the sailing from Dubai to Capetown, which was the one I recall as having so many ports closed to them because of COVID. Many of the passengers on that cruise had difficulties getting off the ship and onto a plane for a trip back home. We were booked on the two Spirit cruises after that one, the sailing from Capetown to Singapore and then from Singapore to Japan. Both of our cruises were cancelled, as were just about all other cruises after that for a year and a half.

It serves BBQ, but it would be stretching things to call it special. Yes, it is extra fare, but if you've ever had real BBQ, you'll be very disappointed with the food there.

Then I guess it was the next cruise segment, the one from Dubai to Capetown, that missed so many of its planned ports. By the time the Spirit got to Capetown, all bets were off. Some folks were trapped on the ship for days before the authorities at Capetown let them disembark to fly home.

Bummer! That's one of the main reasons we booked it for April of 2022. Access to the spa at no extra cost was wonderful, especially with so many sea days on a TA.

If you're talking about the Getaway's Trans Atlantic cruise that April, you and I were neighbors. We also had a Haven Spa stateroom on that cruise.

Some of them have been problematic. Ours began leaking during a Trans Atlantic cruise. They managed to repair it within a day, then our stateroom attendant spent most of the rest of the day mopping up the mess.

Here's a link to the roll call for the Spirit cruise that was delayed. Post #2956 includes the letter NCL sent describing the delays. The cruise was scheduled for 11 February, but did not begin boarding until Valentine's Day.

We were supposed to sail on the Spirit in March of 2020. It was in dry dock in February, then was to set sail from Civitavecchia for Capetown. We were going to board it in Africa for the Seychelles, then on to Japan. We were following closely the roll call for the cruise before ours, the one from Civitavecchia. Those passengers ended up spending several extra nights in hotels in Italy while waiting for the Spirit to come out of dry dock. Their cruise was cut short because of the extended dry dock, but their more significant problem was that they missed virtually every port of call because of COVID. Our cruises on the Spirit never took place, of course, due to COVID. On another occasion an NCL ship came out of dry dock on schedule, but much of the planned renovation work was not complete. The ship (I don't recall if it was the Star, Spirit, or some other) sailed with dozens of workmen on board, several public areas roped off, and with lots of noise and paint fumes as the work continued. There may be other examples, but these are ones I remember reading about or experiencing first hand.

Hope things work out for you. As I mentioned previously, we were on the cruise before her 2019 dry dock. They cut our cruise short by two days, notifying us on Good Friday before our scheduled sailing date on Monday, the day after Easter.

I'm not sure about 2013. Our first Haven experience was February 2016. We were on a 14 day cruise, so as I recall we received three nights of specialty dining. We paid full gratuities on our beverage package, plus the DSC on Haven staterooms was a bit higher than the DSC for other cabins. We were informed that the concierge and butler do not participate in the distribution of gratuities from the DSC, so we were encouraged to offer additional tips to them. I think we ate about ten of our evening meals in the Haven dining room. We may eaten one night in O'Sheehan's. My birthday occurred during the cruise, so we had dinner that night in Moderno. Our Haven maitre d, Nicola, took time out from his Haven duties to stop by Moderno and join the birthday bash. We have sailed with him a couple of times since then and he always has greeted us warmly and provided excellent service.

We were on the Getaway for the cruise just prior to a dry dock in 2019. That probably was its last major dry dock before the one this June. Two or three days before our departure date, NCL informed us that our 12 day cruise would be cut short by two days to allow the Getaway to enter dry dock a couple of days earlier than originally planned. It is my understanding that the departure date for the cruise immediately after the dry dock was delayed by a couple of days to allow the workmen more time to complete the renovations planned for the ship. There have been frequent reports over the years of NCL ships either entering dry dock earlier than planned, leaving later than planned, or having work still performed during the first cruise after dry dock. I would recommend to anyone planning to sail on an NCL ship either just before or just after a dry dock to change their plans, if possible. If not able to change, I would caution you to expect last minute changes to your itinerary or the possibility of some renovations being made while you are on board. You can hope for the best, of course, but do not be surprised by the worst.

That has worked for me on several ships.