hallux

Move on down to where most of us can afford one and I imagine they get smaller. I imagine these are suites or Haven.

They're all memorable for one reason or another. I always think back to my first cruise though, and how it's a wonder I've done 4 more since then. Explorer of the Seas to Bermuda in March/April. The weather on the sea days was HORRIBLE, to the point that the outside decks were closed. Waves so rough that the theater shows were at risk of being cancelled, they DID have the seasick bags out in the stairwells and the pool (while it had water in it) was more like a wave pool. My luggage wasn't delivered to my room - both the cruise line tag and the regular luggage ID tag had been torn off, I had to go to GS to find it at 9 at night. Sitting in the Windjammer having lunch and watching lightning strike the water behind the ship. Oh, I never needed the seasick bags, with no 'aids' to prevent it either. On my last cruise we had some mild weather, they put the bags out but compared to that first cruise it was like glass. Other cruises since then have been memorable for other reasons.

There have been a few recent threads in various forums regarding this. Here's a pre-filled search for them - https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q="shipping luggage"&quick=1&updated_after=any&sortby=newest&search_in=titles And here, using a different term, luggage forwarding - https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q="luggage forwarding"&quick=1&updated_after=any&sortby=newest&search_and_or=or&search_in=titles

Here's a recent thread with further discussion on this topic - https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2864947-platinum-dining-question

Yes you can. I do this as I don't drink.

I have, it works as expected. Sometimes it's just knowing what to search for.

You are. That's your opinion. With the standard package you need to consume only 2 drinks per day to get your money's worth from the package that is included in your fare. The sail-away rate does not allow you to choose your cabin, and if you choose the fare with the perks the fare does not go down any if you decline the drink package perk (except the $20 per day for the gratuities). I guess it was time for a new thread complaining about this, the most recent of the many threads is probably buried.

They have been for a while, I think since just after my 2019 cruise that I used the airfare perk for.

They may also want to verify you're not carrying on a different beverage in the bottles.

Unless you ask for a "deviation" to arrive a day or two before the cruise your flights will be booked for same-day arrival. Now - considering you're flying from the West coast to Florida they may give you a red-eye to arrive in the morning since most flights leaving from CA the same day as the cruise are likely to arrive too late. If you can request the deviation (there's a deadline for such requests) - DO IT. There is still a chance you'd get a red-eye.

@Sthrngary might have some pics or knowledge on this. He's written a couple recent reviews (You can try to find them) on the Joy and I believe had Vibe access on at least one of the cruises.

First - even before the current times the tickets weren't typically booked until about 45 days before the cruise, only saving 10-15 days. Second - NCL doesn't book "rack fares" for the flights, they negotiate lower fares based on availability and flight schedule. The airlines may be driving the delay by waiting to negotiate on the fares. Third - Air travel is quite volatile right now so it's possible they're waiting a little longer to be sure the flight schedules are more stabilized so there are fewer changes needed once someone is booked (I'm not saying this is going as planned, just a theory).

This page was updated in May - https://profcruise.com/norwegian-dining-and-restaurant-menus-2022/ The only duplication I see is the "classics" that are the same every night as I noted before.

Not true. PART of it is consistent throughout the cruise, approx. half of the entrees change every night.

Hiii! lol

The CD's that have been on my 3 NCL cruises have been AMAZING! They were VERY engaged, quite opposite my two RCCL cruises where I couldn't have picked them from a lineup. The staff running activities have also been quite engaging on all of my cruises on NCL. LOVE that ship! The newest in the fleet all have enclosed smoking areas in the casino, this mitigates this issue. Such an amazing space! I feel quite the opposite. As noted above - I LOVE the Bliss, so many amazing spaces on that ship. Waterfront, Observation Lounge, Spice H2O. Of all their "mega ships", the Bliss and the Joy are probably the most balanced in regards to free/up-charge space. As for the food - anything I'm eating on a cruise is likely better than anything I'm shoveling in my mouth at home so I'd probably rate them about equal. For a solo cruiser - NCL takes it, hands-down. NIGHTLY solo gatherings, the Studio lounge (on ships with the Studio cabins, but you need to be in one of those for full access), planned solo cruiser activities and dinner as a group every night for those that wish to participate.

This. I bring a 32 oz. Nalgene bottle as my primary, with a 16 oz. vacuum-insulated aluminum bottle as well. For the majority of people, the quality of water on the ship should be no problem for consumption. Some people have problems with ankles swelling from that water.

To this point - on my second NCL cruise I was wearing a shirt from a place I've often spent a week in the summer, while sitting in the Atrium with my sister and her SO a young woman came over to me and asked about the shirt, it turns out she has worked in one of the shops in that city (the cruise was out of LA, the city we had in common was in NJ!). I've had no trouble with striking up conversations with others, or others striking up conversations with me. Shoot - on my last cruise, as a solo, I was conversing with some folks in the embarkation lounge and ended up spending the cruise with them (at their invitation) and we all had a wonderful time! NCL vs. RCCL? I've done 3 cruises on NCL now, two on RCCL. I feel like NCL has nicer ships, at least the ones I've been on, though RCCL's Quantum class has some excellent amenities. A couple differences stand out to me though. I LOVE the freestyle concept on NCL. The entertainment on NCL has been excellent, better than RCCL (though there have been some good ones on RCCL such as the Journey tribute band, DSB, that was on Anthem with us in 2018). NCL has an EXCELLENT solo cruisers 'program'. The Cruise Directors on all 3 of my NCL trips have been HIGHLY engaged, on my two RCCL cruises I'm not sure I could have picked the CD out of a lineup, and their staff have been EXCELLENT.

As I noted in post #4 - be conscious of people's location. Several of the people in this thread are looking for tests and are coming from overseas. The government-supplied tests aren't an option for those people.

There's also a standby line. Get to the theater 20-30 minutes before the show and chances are that you'll get in as a lot of people book and then decide they want to do something else. When I sailed on the Bliss in 2019 it seemed like there were usually empty seats, there also were on the Joy in March but it wasn't a full sailing.

I find this REALLY hard to believe on an international flight! What airline was this? I imagine you COULD have checked bags but it would have cost you some money. Some airlines even allow one free checked bag per passenger on international flights.

I doubt this. The Haven is at the aft, this area is all the way forward. If they make this area part of The Haven, they're really taking away deck space from the majority of passengers. As it is - the public pool/sun deck space on this ship seems TINY, even compared to the BA/BA+ ships. When you consider that 60%+ of the passengers are non-Haven and unable to get passes for The Vibe, to have only about 30% of public deck space for that group of passengers seems like an oversight.

I've been on 5 cruises on two cruise lines, never once had bottled water. I always brought my own bottles and either filled in my room or transferring from the dispensers in the common areas. Never a problem.

Look at the T&C's, it's listed right in there https://www.ncl.com/about/terms-and-conditions/promotions The meals are per-person, based on the cabin type.

Well, at the time of my post, a month ago, the option was there. At least NCL offered refund of the TWG fee AND the option to cancel the airfare option. I've said it in another thread - air travel right now is a sh*t-show. Passengers on one Delta flight were actually offered $10K to get bumped due to over-booking. If I was on that flight my arm would have gone up so fast I might have dislocated my shoulder.