mbrusyo

I'm looking into options for a European vacation next year, hopefully visiting Italy and/or Greece. My first choice would be an NCL cruise and there are many great options, but I am worried about how my mother in law will do if she has mobility issues. Are all the cruise ports tender ports? She has a hard time walking, so I don't know that it would work well for her. Any advice?

The Perfect Marriage (it was okay), The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (incredible!) and Once Upon a Broken Heart book one (I would probably have enjoyed it more as a light read if I didn’t read Addie LaRue first which was so so so good and so beautifully written). I had been tempted to bring book 2 with me since my friend lent me both but 3 big hard covers and a paperback seemed really excessive 🤣

It’s the last night of our cruise 😭 I truly loved this ship and itinerary. The 2br family suite was perfect for us as a family of 4 and we felt like we made good use of the special amenities and perks of the suite. Our butler Jafar was fantastic- he pretty quickly figured out that my kids are won over by chocolate 🙂 The location was good (floor 11, forward) but since we were vacationing during school holidays it did stay pretty loud with kids running above us and on the stairs until pretty late at night (we did not begrudge them their fun!). Other than that, it’s almost no noise from above which was great, since we were further forward than the pool deck. Out of so many meals, I only encountered one that I didn’t care for (beef “stroganoff” in the MDR). By mid way through the trip, my husband and I settled into our favorite routine of going to the martini bar at around 4:30, having a couple drinks, and then having some sushi right when the sushi bar opens at 5:30, as a sort of appetizer before dinner with our kids later in the evening. The kids loved Cagneys the best and our concierge was able to get us one last reservation for tonight ❤️ They also LOVED the wings at O’Sheehans. I liked it there okay, but was kind of disappointed that the tap list was just heinekin lol We didn’t go to any shows- we were really more here to just relax and take naps. I ended up reading 3 novels and while I originally thought I over packed on books, I ended up wishing I had 4 🤣 We watched movies too, but I have to say, the movies NCL had available were WEIRD even by my standards. We watched Wakanda Forever and Black Adam with the kids, but most of the movies were really strange (Armageddon Time, Bones and All, Aftersun, The Almond and the Seahorse) I loved the thermal suite and highly recommend getting the pass. I used it almost every day and it was a perfect spot to unwind, especially after long port days. I would say the only negative on this trip was that there was a really strange and pervasive issue of people sitting on the stairs, blocking the whole staricase and being rude about being asked to move. But it was spring break so I think we just had to be extra patient with younger folks still learning about being part of a bigger world of people 😁 This was our first NCL cruise but I would definitely sail with NCL again 💕

Well then! I’m know what I’m doing tonight now 😁 Thanks for the recommendation 💕

It was similar to the ocean in NJ during the summer - my kids were in all day and the only real problem was the jellyfish 😳 Today we’re in Taino Bay and honestly, unless you have an excursion you are really into, this port has it all - no reason to leave! Gorgeous pools, lazy river, lots of bars and restaurants with shaded seating and nice music. It’s a perfect way to spend a day! We actually canceled an excursion to stay here once we learned about Monkey Island which is the #1 thing my youngest son has been looking forward to on this trip. It did not disappoint! He is currently on his second time through and is living his best life 🤣

good to know! I didn’t try the buffet pizza but my kids thought it was the same 🤷‍♀️

Last night we ate at La Cucina, which is the restaurant I was least excited about. However, I ended up really liking my food. I’m okay paying for extras on vacation, but this one was a bit of a stretch tbh. $20 for pizza that was the same as the pizza served in the buffet? And $25 for an entree sized fettuccine alfredo is steep, but tbh I really loved it so I’ll call it a win. I wouldn’t do this one again with my kids, though. They can eat buffet pizza for free 🤣 Today we are in San Juan and got a cab to Escambron Beach, which is quiet with calm water and great snorkeling.

Also I highly recommend, if you have a family in your room vying for precious shower access after long days on shore, get that spa pass! Every time we get back to the room, I just grab some dry clothes and head upstairs to shower, soak the sun away, and get dressed and ready while my family fights over “the good shower” in the room (the one with the window!) 🤣

Today we docked early in St Thomas but our excursion didn’t leave til 9 so we had a leisurely breakfast at Moderno. My family wishes they had woken up early enough to do so the first half of the cruise 🤣 In St Thomas we booked a full day catamaran tour through Viator - the vendor is Seas The Day. I cannot recommend this highly enough!! It was literally the perfect day. Our captain picked us up right at the cruise pier, steps from the ship, and we told him we mainly wanted to snorkel and have lunch somewhere so off we went! He spent the entire day taking us from spot to spot, where we had the best snorkeling we’ve ever done. He took us to a pizza BOAT! Seriously! It was just floating in a quiet bay and we pulled alongside, ordered a pitcher of something fruity and boozy and got a fresh pizza, which we ate and then swam around the bay a bit. We snorkeled more after that and met some turtles 🥰 This was the only excursion I booked do I just spent the whole budget on this one, basically, and it was 100% worth it.

Today we’re in St Maarten and we got a cab for $5 per person over to Little Divi Bay where we rented chairs ($5) and umbrellas ($10) and we are enjoying a crystal clear sea. My boys are snorkeling away and I’m enjoying a cocktail from the resort bar right on the beach. I got a Divi Delight and it’s fruity and refreshing ❤️ There’s a taxi stand right out front of the resort so this is all incredibly convenient. last night we ate dinner at Cagneys and were blown away - everything was fantastic. My family still isn’t waking up early enough for breakfast in Moderno but I finally just went without them and now I wish I had done so every day. I had an egg white frittata with mushrooms, leeks and ricotta that was delicious and the french press coffee is exactly what I needed. The regular coffee is fine, but not as good as what I make at home- this absolutely was.

we are on our way to St Maarten now, then St Thomas, San Juan and Puerto Plata. Bermuda was an itinerary change pretty soon after we booked last summer, and I was originally pretty disappointed, but now I'm glad we went 😊 we have a sea day today that I just started with a cozy coffee and book session in Spinnaker lounge. It's completely empty in the morning and full of comfy nooks with plush chairs and couches, plus floor-to-ceiling views. Last night we ate at Magenta and my boys both ordered NY Strips - one was fantastic but the other was tough. We all really enjoyed the cherry pie. One thing that's been kind of wild is the elevators- it's almost impossible to get on them and it's so strange, like it's not super crowded around them but it takes FOREVER for one to stop and it is always packed full. After dinner last night my son wanted to stop for ice cream so 3 of us waited for an elevator to go from 6 to 12 and my youngest took the stairs instead. He got up six flights, walked to the back of the buffet, ordered an ice cream cone, waited for us a bit, thought maybe we decided to skip ice cream and went back across the ship to our room - all before we made it up 6 floors on an elevator 🤣

Update: the Rum Cake from the martini bar is now my favorite 🤩

We set sail from NY on Wednesday and have had an absolute blast the first two days of our trip! We are in Bermuda today and spent the day at Horseshoe Bay, which was gorgeous. I was sure the water would be too cold for swimming but my kids didn’t mind it and spent all day in the ocean. We did the $7/person mini bus transfers and it was SO easy. I don’t know why anyone would do the NCL transfer for so much more $$. The driver gave us a fantastic tour on the way there - I loved it! At the beach there were places to buy water and Italian ice. We headed back around 2 pm and my kids set off to see if they could get some time on the basketball court (it’s been crowded and also closes pretty early, at 5 pm). I’ve been recovering from a hot beach day by napping in the spa 🙂 The thermal suite pass for the week is definitely worth it! So far everything on the ship has been fantastic. We’re in a 2br family suite and thanks to this forum I knew to push it when every port worker at every part of embarkation didn’t believe we were “Haven” - we’re not, but we’re supposed to get all the same benefits, which Pier workers have no way of knowing unless you force the issue and ask them to check their list. They were all gracious about it after that 🙂 Our last family vacation was to an all inclusive resort in Mexico that had the worst food and drinks I have ever experienced (who LOSES 10 lbs on vacation!?) so my expectations may be messed up but we are LOVING the food on this ship. We ate at the buffet, the lunch at Cagneys and Moderno so far and my boys have been eating their body weight in room service 🤣 (pre-teens!). One tip for Moderno - don’t eat too much that you don’t have room for the pineapple!! It’s so good!! The bars have been great - drinks all taste perfect and we have never waited more than a moment to be served, though it’s a pretty full ship. My favorite so far is the bushwacker, but I can’t be drinking multiples of those (it’s basically a booze milkshake) so I am heading to the mojito bar soon to try out the raspberry guava mojito I’ve seen recommended here. oh! And my kids have the upgraded unlimited wifi, which has been no issue so far. Works fine. let me know if anyone wants me to scout anything out while I’m on board! I had so many questions leading up to this trip and this forum was a godsend ❤️ picture from my comfy spa lounger, currently looking out at the Getaway docked in front of us

Yes please to any other photos! I am living for this thread right now 😂

I’m loving your review!!! We are on basically the same cruise, also a 2br suite (11018), in about 3 weeks. Your pictures are making me absolutely giddy! And I swear I searched high and low but this is the first I’ve seen it confirmed that the living room area couch can also be a bed! That’s going to be a huge improvement over having both our kids in the second bedroom.