Stealthdog

Anyone should be able to request a code from AMEX to submit to your cruise line (in this case NCL). Not that it should matter to you because you are a paying customer, but it has zero impact on the TA's commission. Fire whoever you booked through, find a better TA, and request a transfer of your reservation to the new TA.

I think your well known major cruise agency has no clue what they are doing. Its actually a very simple and common travel perk to get completed. For you question - I guess find yourself a good TA that can do it for you. 🧐

Thanks for the preview. We will be on her in about 45 days and cant wait. Glad you had a great time! 🥂

It depends on what kind of ship you prefer. You know its an older, smaller ship. To me the Enchantment has more of a traditional cruise ship feel to it, while the newer ones have more of a themepark/resort feel to them. I think both are great and dont need alot to entertain myself. You may find the Enchantment quieter, less busy and slower pace, but with fewer choices (only Chops for specialty dining, less entertainment). The newer ships are louder with tons to do and I always feel like I am on the move, so not as relaxing. If you like having lots of food and entertainment options, the Enchantment is probably not for you. If you like the older cruise style where the ship is more relaxing and the focus is on the lounges, you may enjoy it.

Welcome to cruise critic. Sorry you had that experience. Im assuming you were on the Getaway that was diverted because Hurricane Fiona was going straight through Bermuda? Cruise lines changing itineraries last minute during hurricane season is fairly routine - many caribbean cruises also had to change East to West itineraries because of several ports getting hit. https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2022/09/22/norwegian-reroutes-bermuda-cruise/8084046001/ Here is an article laying out credits and refunds. Looks like anyone unvaccinated with get a 100% FCC to be used within 1 year, which is also routine. I got a 12 month FCC from Princess this summer to be used by next summer. I wish I had more time to use the credit too.

Same here - do the same thing. Its more convenient to bring them on when you dont have a wine opener. I actually find some of the screw caps better wines at a much lower price. We have some in our cooler that have been there almost 10 years. Nothing wrong with buying a wine to open immediately.

COVID is permanently going to be part of our reality now - its not going away. Its going to be on every ship. But we have learned to live with it. People are able to protect themselves how they want - vaccines, masks, social distancing. At risk populations probably need to be more diligent. Before COVID people still had to worry about influenza, gastrointestinal, hepatitis, and a number of other viruses that spread on ships. If someone is really concerned about getting COVID, going on a cruise is probably a risky activity and they should really reconsider it.

There have been 4-5 reviews of the symphony in the last month. Here is the schedule from mine. Recommend taking a look at the reviews for info on the shows.

We both got the offer on our AMEX Platinum cards. We have been waiting to use our cruise next certificates, and the AMEX fairy just waved hi to us. 😀

Thanks for the awesome review! We are looking at a b2b on the escape dec 2023 and your review is definately pushing us in that direction!

We had no limit. The server just said she would bring them out in waves (its essentially tapas style), so we went with it. There was only time we ordered something in addition to what she brought out. I think we ended trying about 2/3 of the menu. I do agree with Renza though. The food was a little disappointing, but we went because we wanted the atmosphere and experience. The presentation was awesome. Its worth going at least once.

I've received it booking through travel agents on Royal, Celebrity, and Norwegian sailings. If using a TA, just tell them up front.

Thats alot of very specific insurance questions that are best answered probably on the travel insurance board. Amex has a website that details cruise perks for using your card - only mentioning it because I see you posted this on more than one cruise line board. From my experience, any TA you book through can get your AMEX perks.

OMG - I just looked at the most recent live review for the Voyager and I'm so sorry. You got Jersey Boys and a comedian I've seen on another ship before and found not so funny. Yeah, I would have been very upset by that entertainment as well. 😞

I hear you - alot of the karaoke I hear on cruise ships is terrible. My partner and I have a running joke on our Celebrity production shows - I once dropped a glass of wine during Jersey Boys because I fell asleep during the show. Now, we always joke about how good a show is on Celebrity based on whether I break a glass of wine. 🤣

Every sailing is going to have different people on it - generally the average age on Celebrity is much higher than Royal, NCL, and Carnival. Nothing is absolute though. I'm sorry you were so upset by a piano bar singer. What were the ship shows that you walked out and why did you?

Very quick and generic comparison (just my opinion): Celebrity - older cliental, dreadfully boring entertainment, more relaxing lounge focus, better food in MDR, cleaner casinos. Royal - more children, louder environment and less relaxing, great entertainment, later nightlife, better specialty restaurants (on newer classes). The older royal ships have more of a celebrity feel on them.

We ate outside for dinner twice and it was comfortable out there, but wasn't as cool as insider the restaurants where air conditioning was running. It felt like it was cooler in the central park than upstairs on the pool deck, and there seemed to be a persistent, slight wind. But, it was also after sundown, so it may just have been a timing reason too.

Other random thoughts and pics that weren't used elsewhere. There was a very large international crowd and at times the ship had a party ship feel to it. I was expecting a lot of children on board (there weren't), but was more bothered by some of the loud, drunk adults. We saw several customers in the Solarium complain to staff because other customers were bringing private radios in and blasting music. The casino was ok. It wasn't as smoked-filled as other casinos I have been to. They don't let you completely backup odds in craps, so you are essentially just handing your money over to the casino if you play that table game. The bar area was nice - several TVs around that showed various sporting events. The gym was nice, the thermal suite not so much. The gym had a lot of cardio options, but a little limited in space for machine and free weights. The thermal suite only had a sauna and steam room, both internal to the ship with no windows. It was also coed. The men's bathrooms on the ship had some fun designs (I made sure no one was in bathrooms when I took the pictures): At Roatan, we were greeted (at about 7AM ship time) by some entertainment on the docks to welcome us to port. Looking around the Muppet windows that are the balconies, I saw some groggy, confused faces looking off their balconies. It was a nice touch by the port. On the last day, the cruise director had a nice tribute (including singing) for the military, police and fire, and first responders. I just retired from the Army in January, so these little things really mean a lot and there were probably about 150-200 people for it. There was not a no-host social for veterans that I have seen on other ships. We had our share of animal towels, courtesy of Muhammed our room steward. Well done Muhammed for keeping us entertained.

Day 7 - Perfect Day at Coco Cay - No tour I love Coco Cay. I would go on a cruise ship that only stops at Coco Cay for 3 days if they offered it. We got a late start to the day and left the ship around 10am. Once on the island, we walked to South Beach, where there were tons of beach chairs and umbrellas available. South Beach is the area furthest away from the pier, so it is also usually the least crowded of the beaches. We stayed at South Beach, enjoying the water and the activities (ping pong, cornhole, basketball) and tried the funnel cake (two thumbs up). We moved to Oasis Lagoon, but it seemed like every person from both ships was trying to squeeze into the pool at the same time....so we moved on to lunch. After lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon back at South Beach before heading back to the ship. Coco Cay is the best private island we have been to, and we give huge kudos to Royal for doing such a good job with the island. The beaches are all spaced out, the food is pretty good, and there are a variety of activities to do (or not do) that don't cost anything. Maybe next time we will check out the water park or balloon.

Day 5 - Cozumel, Mexico - Snorkle El Cielo and Colombia Reef with Playa Mia I'm not sure the exact name Short Excursions Group used for this tour - our instructions were only to look for someone in a Playa Mia uniform outside the port gate. There was a total of three ships in port, so we were expecting the port to be hectic. At our meetup up location, we were collected with a couple from the Carnival ship and brought to the docks where the catamarans were located. We waited about 45 minutes at the docks before boarding with about 50 other people (mostly locals). We experienced a boat ride through a thunderstorm, which cleared by the time we reached our first Snorkel stop. The water was very clear, but there were only about 2 or 3 types of fish and the reef that could be seen. We found the snorkeling at Cozumel to be not as good as Bonnaire or Bahamas. The second snorkel stop was interesting - we were able to snorkel an area that has huge starfish. The third stop was less a snorkel and more an experience as stingrays swam around a sandbar we were dropped at. Watching these huge rays swim past was an experience. In total we saw about 6 or 7 stingrays. After the snorkel time, we were brought to Playa Mia, but did not have the time to stay. We tried the complimentary buffet (which was not that good) and went to the entrance area where cars wait to bring cruisers back to their ships. Fortunately, we had about 30 minutes to spare before all aboard time and did not have to run the pier. We would not recommend this excursion to people stopping at Cozumel. We felt it was poorly advertised because we didn't have time to spend at Playa Mia, and unlike most private tours we were not in a small group. We have been to Cozumel several times and were going to stay on the ship, but decided to try something different. The starfish and stingrays were great, but the organization of the tour was very poor.

Day 4 - Roatan, Honduras - Monkeys, Sloths, and Iguanas This was the tour I was most looking forward to. Shore Excursion Group contracted the Roatan Shore Excursion Tour group, by Creg for the excursion. We walked the obligatory gauntlet of taxi drivers, excursion vendors, and hustlers waiting outside the gate to our designated, and were about 45 minutes early. We were given a personal driver, which was awesome because we didn't have to be shuttled around in a larger tour group. The first stop was Arch's Iguana and Marine Park. Our driver passed us off to one of the park employees who walked us through the small park. In total there appeared to be several dozen very large iguanas that roamed free around the area. They apparently sleep up in the trees at night and come down to the group during the day to soak up the sun and feed. We (and by we, I mean me because my partner wanted nothing to do with the iguanas) were able to pat the iguanas....who knew that was even a thing? The park guide also explained the mound that is used by the iguanas to bury their eggs, which was very interesting - you can see the holes burrowed into the mound. The younger iguanas are raised in an enclosure until they are big enough to fend for themselves (a couple of years). After the iguanas, we were brought to the Daniel Johnson Monkey & Sloth Hangout, which was the highlight of the excursion. In addition to about 7-8 sloths, there were also monkeys, parrots, macaws, and agouti. Like the iguanas, I was the only one who wanted to hold the sloths. It was awesome - he just wraps his arms around your shoulders and holds you! Interesting fact - Sloths go the bathroom once a week. The employees have the one sloth available for the customers, while the rest hang out in the various trees in the area. After the sloth, we had opportunities to engage with spider monkeys and parrots, which we gladly accepted. On our way out we discovered that the Hangout is moving their location to a larger area and should be complete with the move shortly into the new year. The iguanas and the animals at the sloth hangout all looked well cared for. Because we still had some time left, the driver brought us to the Roatan Chocolate Factory. This add on was ok, but I wouldn't make it the focus point of an excursion. We received a brief introduction to the local chocolate, had some tastings, and were able to buy some overpriced chocolate (which we happily did). Like the previous excursion we also recommend the Roatan Shore Excursion Tour (Creg) group - we had a private car and driver who willing to take us wherever we wanted, for about 2/3rd the cost of the cruise tours. After the excursion we opened up the bottle of champagne our Travel Agent had for our room and sat on the balcony to watch for pier runners. The distance of the pier at Roatan is much shorter than Costa Maya. Eventually a small white van pulled up, and a family jumped out and ran towards the ship.

Day 3 - Costa Maya, Mexico - Chacchoben Extreme Tour. In Costa Maya we did a tour that included the Chacchoben ruins and the 7 Color Lagoon. Shore Excursion Group contracted the local company The Native Choice for the excursion. The meeting point was near the fake pyramid once you leave the secured port area, but it was really easy to find. We got to the meet up point early and were able to get on the first 9 pax van - there were a total of 2 vans, and the second one was always about 45 minutes behind us (they must have had to wait for some late customers). Everyone on this tour was from the Symphony - it was the only ship in port. The first stop was Chacchoben. I have only been to Chichen Itza, so was not really sure what to expect. It was actually a pleasant surprise. Three of the pyramids are in different states of repair and was interesting to see up close. Our local tour guide told us there are countless other buildings that have not be excavated yet, and they are the "hilly" areas in the otherwise flatland area. Knowing that, Chacchoben was probably a fairly large Mayan city and you can imagine the size when you see the overgrown mounds. The second stop was the 7 Color Lagoon. We were brought to a local resort, where we had free access to cayaks, stand up paddleboards, floatable devices. We (the two vans) were the only customers there, so we did not have to compete with others. At the resort, lunch was included with chicken and pork tacos and three different types of sauces, and complimentary drinks. We had about one hour of free time at the 7 Color Lagoon and spent some time on water. The lagoon was a little disappointing because we didn't see the various colors in the water that gave it its name....maybe because it was partly overcast. Chacchoben was the highlight of the excursion. The Native Choice group did a very good job at taking us around and giving us information on both the ruins and the lagoon. We definitely recommend this group to anyone looking for a private tour in Costa Maya. Back at the ship, we went up to Deck 14 to watch for pier runners. Note in the pictures below, it is a very, very long pier and you don't want to have to run all the way to the ship. We were rewarded for our patience with the Captain honking the ship's horn and watched about 15-20 runners sprint down the pier to the ship. A few were dressed only in bikinis and it was impressive seeing them make that run.

Thanks - hope it was useful! I usually do live updates while on board, but we weren't sure we would have the internet package and there were only 2 sea days. It did make it much easier doing it off a laptop versus a phone. I like to read other people's reviews before I go on a ship, so it is nice to return the favor. Between mine, BennyBrun's and SeaDog's reviews, I think we explored every corner of the Symphony, with some opposing points of views.

We lost 5 pounds each by the end of the weekend (after gaining about 10 on the cruise). 🤣