Sailing12Away

I'm the oddity to your equation. One of my first cocktails on any cruise ship is a Miami Vice next to the pool to officially start the cruise off. Then as the cruise progresses, I move my way into the Macallan 18 realm to burn through my OBC. So yes, there are folks who enjoy both the super sugary sweet cocktails as well as a fine single malt with one cube.

You can make reservations online as soon as it opens for you (or them) and can book for up to 8 people at a time if you wanted. If anyone in your group has priority booking (either through status or cabin type) then just have that person log in to book the reservation for as many seats as you need. You can't do it for odd numbers, so just round up to 4 for a table for 3. When you get onboard you can always let them know you need one less chair. One less is no issue, one extra may be harder. Outside of the specialty restaurants, I don't think you'll have a problem walking into the MDR without reservations and getting a table for 3. Larger groups are harder, but 2-4 people usually isn't too much of a wait if you just walk up.

30 days until we leave NY to head up North... I'll let you know how it goes. Anything away from home is welcomed at this point, we're overdue for a vacation.

We're booked in one of those on deck 12 for 2023. I'm not worried... in one of the videos of the actual ship I could see the hot tub out there. Plus the description still includes it in there. Still not sure how they can get away with calling those on deck 10 the same cabin as those on deck 12, meanwhile they have ones on deck 11 which do have them and are a different category. My guess is they'll consider calling the H4 the ones on deck 11 and 12 that do have them, and the ones on deck 10 without renaming as the HA. Description for the HA doesn't even mention the hot tub, but it's there...

It's no different from the current Haven menu. There's about 8 or so choices, and that menu never changes the entire trip. So again, to me, what food situation? It's not like they're saying they will only offer 5 items on the menu. From what others have been sharing it sounds like it will still be quite extensive in the options. You do also realize that at least half of the current MDR menu doesn't change each night either, right? There's the section called 'classics' or whatever it is which never changes, as well as half the apps. Plus the food truck things, which are free. Plus The Local, which is free. Unless you're on a 14 night trip and wanted to eat something completely different every single night and had a restricted diet where you don't eat half the offerings, I'm really not sure it's going to be as horrific as some folks are acting. I mean crikey, I guess we're the odd balls out. Even at home in a 2 week period we'll repeat some meals. As a kid, Friday night was always a treat with pizza night, every, single, Friday. *Gasp* How low-brow of us!

Many people booked their rooms without any deck plans being available at all. You win some, you lose some. The biggest problem for Prima is that there was such a huge interest there are many rooms now sold out. Plus after the initial wave of bookings the prices skyrocketed and in some cases nearly doubled. So to rebook to a different room on a different sailing is cost prohibitive for many. I think we're all anxious to see real life reviews from people in all of these unique rooms. Either prices will start to plummet, or it won't be as bad as we think and it's fine.

What food situation?

No phone for my dad, who will be traveling independently from my mom some days. So I'll have to just make sure everyone has their own printed copy of a QR code and hope for the best.

Yes, some do fill up. If it's a very popular one (Tracy Arms out of Juneau in Alaska) it will fill up and it's a one and done - no more boats will be added. Sometimes it depends on the cabin you're booked in and the type of excursion too. On that same Alaska trip we wanted to do the private Hummer tour where they give you a driver and you can fit 4 people in the car with you. It was sold out. We were in a Haven room... I contacted the pre-cruise concierge, and viola... they were able to add in an extra car so we could book that excursion. So it all depends on the tour, but there's no harm in booking something and then cancelling it if you change your mind. Just don't wait until the last minute to cancel.

You mean beyond the huge observation lounge on deck 15 that is open to everyone?

The million dollar question though is when? How soon before boarding the cruise do you need to be tested? Is it 48 hrs before or 72 hrs before? I'll be filling out the ArriveCan for myself and my parents, but we're taking separate excursions - so hopefully I can figure out how to print out a copy for them to have separately as there will be no way for them to use their phone out of the US to pull this info up on their own.

I would personally opt for 1st week in May on Prima. It's the newest ship and you avoid the Memorial Day holiday crowds that you'll get with a sailing in the last week. Club balcony perks on the Joy are nothing to write home about to make it a truly 'better' room.

Thanks for the reminder. We're sailing from NY to Canada next month in about 30 days. I'm more concerned about having to help my folks get everything set up. No flights for us, but we still need to do all the documents.

Yeah... on the NCL website not all of the decks have been updated. Look at 12 (the deck we're booked in) vs deck 11 below. My deck has no slides and doesn't indicate the aft Haven rooms have a hot tub. But deck 11 does.... I saw the hot tub with my own eyes in the videos so I know it's there... not all of the decks are updated on the NCL site which is going to cause a lot of confusion I image for folks who don't realize that. A bonus hot tub you didn't expect is one thing, but a 'surprise' of a slide blocking your view of your balcony is not a pleasant surprise.

As for the perceived lack of inside cabins... couldn't that possibly be crew member cabins? They're only going to list the public areas on deck plans. Maybe they're being nice to their crew for a change and making more space for them so they don't have to quadruple up in a room?

Yup, anytime we use the NCL air promo, I still check flight prices on my own anyway from time to time. When you get close to that final payment date, if you find a better deal on your own then ask NCL to remove the air before you pay off the cruise. If NCL is still better, stick with them and stop checking or you'll drive yourself nutty.

You forgot about the joy of just being able to get out of LGA at all in the first place. With all the construction that alone may take 30+ mins to get onto the highway. JFK all the way baby! (I'm biased... it's a 15min ride there for me if I hit the Belt at the right time of day)

Or make friends with someone on the other side and flip flop between rooms. We're sailing in February and our room is starboard, friends room is across the hall 2 doors down. So depending on what there is to see... we'll be flip flopping.

Not sure where you're looking, but they're visible to me:

Wow... @HBCcruiser I didn't know you had a new job as an IT expert 😆 For @ProfessorThiccems - try here and let her plan her next cruise. This one is over. https://www.ncl.com/about/staying-connected-sea-internet-access https://www.ncl.com/about/contact-us

Each bartender has made it a bit differently... usually some combination of espresso, Kahlua, amaretto, creme de cocoa and ice cream mix.

I don't think so, spa balcony is usually a separate category unto itself. The jump is usually from the lowest letter (ignoring X - those are sail away) to the highest letter A. The number ones are 'special' and don't usually count AFAI. This is on the Epic... M9 is the spa so ignoring that you would pay the MC price and move up to the MA room for club balcony. Same thing with balcony... we paid for a BF but were moved into a BA. Inside, you pay for an IF but get moved to the IA:

Adult milkshakes are free with the regular drink package. I get frozen grasshoppers, mudslides, tiramisu's all the time with no charge. Just need to find a bar that has the ingredients you need.

Nope, as the person above explained it's within the same category. In the old website you could easily see the difference between rooms within a category. Now, not so much. For a balcony, you would pay the rate for the BF, which is on a lower deck, more forward/aft, maybe next to a public deck, etc. But you would be moved for free into a BA room, which is on a higher deck, more mid-ship, and "better". Ballpark about $100-200 or so in savings. It's not a lot, but we'll take what we can get.

Yes. We did it once and booked a total of 3 cabins for us, my parents, and my sister and kids. We were the only ones on board. Yes For anyone considering doing this, I strongly advise that you do some research first to know what the price "should" be before any bonus discounts. Our last trip we spoke to the CN desk about whether we could add on certificates to existing reservations (they were before final payment date). He said yes, but tried to do it through a fresh booking, which meant we would lose existing perks. He kept telling me 'it didn't matter because the price is so much lower....". The price he was telling me was $300+ higher than what my remaining balance was and his price included 2 CN certificates. That was a long drawn out conversation that left me quite salty. If I had decent internet connection I would have pulled up my reservation confirmation to show him that I'm not an idiot and know that my original 14,700 is less than the new price of 15,100 with his 'bonus discounts' already applied. They're sales people. Just don't get suckered.