ZsaZsa2019

20 minutes ago, moto_italia said:

The deck 10 midship balcony we had on the Viva definitely had an unrestricted ocean view.  But if you stand at the rail of the balcony and look two decks down, you see the Deck 8 boardwalk (Infinity Beach) and infinity pool, rather than just looking straight down at the sea as you would on most ships. You can see in the pic below that the Deck 8 boardwalk sticks out 20+ feet from the edge of the balconies.

 

But, if you are standing naked in the middle of your room with the balcony door open, no one at the infinity pool or accompanying loungers on Deck 8 can see you. LOL

 

As far as the Vibe, it cost $259 per person for our 7 days cruise. You'll want to book it online or call NCL or your TA as soon as it becomes available, as it sells out.  I think it sold out more than 90 days prior to embarkation for our cruise.

 

 

Thanks for the info on the deck balconies!  As for Vibe, that's more than I was expecting, so probably going to be a pass from our group.  Plus, we are looking at mid March and it would likely be hard to get at this point anyway.

I'm feeling much better about it.  All those negative reviews just hit me like a punch in the face, but I've found some good reviews now too.  Plus, it has the stops we want.

A few questions, as we might be getting closer to booking now..........We are going for a balcony.........do I understand correctly that Deck 10 does not have a water view, but a pool view?  I'm not wanting that.  Also, how much for Vibe (and do you get that once you are on board)?

2 minutes ago, Cruisinfor3 said:

We are going on the Viva in March for Southern Caribbean. Everyday we are in another port for 7 days, so yes you are not on the ship that much.  Pretty much just nights. Yes I am sure certain areas will be busy and full of people so we will just avoid those areas if we are not there on time. Its a cruise so there are many things to do so I am not worried about it.

That's when we are looking, probably 3/10-17th.  I think you are right.  Just wasn't expecting to read all those bad reviews on a newer ship.

Finally found a cruise that is ticking most of my ports of call boxes and started to read some not-so-stellar reviews of the ship - small and crowded public areas, crowded pools and no loungers, long lines for food and shows, no seats..........etc.  Granted with stops every day on the southern caribbean cruise, there isn't a lot of time to be spent ON the ship, but I don't want to feel frustrated.

Kind of would like to stay with NCL becuase of their "free" promotions (mostly the drink pkgs).  Other cruise lines were pricing out much higher once that was added.  Or am I stressing too much over the ship?

We have done NCL before, last was back in 2019 on the Bliss for Alaska.  I believe the "free" offers were the same then, so I think we have the correct expectations.  I'm not sure if we will want/need to upgrade the drinking pkg.  Seems to me there was a limit and I enjoy my wine with dinner.  But that can be figured out.  

I did just finally find another post on this topic, and it was helpful.  I think I will continue to book directly with the cruise line (if we decide to go) since I don't have someone I'm comfortable working with.

We have been booking our own vacations for years, but we don't do a lot of cruises and it's been a while.  Considering one for March, kind of last minute I know.  I had heard for cruises it might be best to use a travel agent.  I don't have one here locally, do you guys use on line travel agents?  I saw you can't post TA names, but just looking for some guidance.  

I'm currently looking at an NCL Cruise, assuming they keep the "free" promo's going for a few days while we can decide.  We are going with another couple.

I know someone that just came back from the Equinox this past week.  They cruise a lot and have done Celebrity serveral times in addition to all the others.  He said it was very noticeable how much smaller the buffets were this trip.  They were told they are cutting back because there has been so much wasted food in the past.

Great, good to know.  I would likely do the hold and have all of us book on line as I don't have a TA that I work with.

Thank you!

I'm a planner and haven't really used a travel agent in years.  I'm starting to look and plan a cruise on Celebrity Reflection for November with two other parties and will need three rooms, preferably close together.  Is there a way to do that on line, yet allowing the other two parties to book with their CC and pay?  Are people mostly booking on their own, or do they use TA's?

Not new to cruising, but only did it a few times.  I'm looking to go the week of Nov 25th 2023 for my birthday, bringing two other couples with us.  We prefer a deal on a drink pkg as we enjoy our drinks and I enjoy my wine with dinner.  I'm looking at these right now, which would you guys lean towards?  Price is a factor, so adding in a drink pkgs looks horrendous to me, unless I'm missing something?  Do I wait for a sale, do these guys offer AI pkgs?

Celebrity Reflection Nov 25 8 days

NCL Escape Nov 25 7 days

Princess Sky Princess Nov 25 7 days

I did see a Royal Caribbean for that week also, but not sure on them?  We cruised them about 20 years ago.

Also, should note that our same group did NCL Bliss in Alaska a few years ago, with a drink/tip/etc pkg included in the price.  That worked out well for us.  

52 minutes ago, Montykins said:

Thank you for your review.  WELL DONE!  Do you know if there is a dress code to go into the Manhattan Room or Specialty Dinning area's.  Can you wear shorts?

I don't believe there is a dress code, although I feel like maybe I did read that it's a bit more upscale than Taste or Savor (and it did feel that way to us).  I can't recall if I saw anyone in shorts.  I had capris and hubby had jeans on that night with a polo.  

On 6/21/2019 at 9:56 PM, BEAV said:

Thanks for your review.

 

Can you comment about disembarkation in Seattle? We’re looking to do walk-off and wondering approximately what time it begins.

We got in line (which for us was at the casino area) by about 6:45am.  We were ready and hubby noticed people were lining up.  He didn't want to get caught in a situation where the elevators started filling up, but since we were on 9, it was just a few floors down for us (I can't remember, but I think we got off on 6). We were off the ship before 7:30 - it was all very quick.  It took longer for us to get an uber (there was some traffic confusion for our driver) but we were on our way to the airport around 8am for our 11:15 flight.  No problem at all.

We just returned off of the Bliss a week ago.  Over the years, we've done Carnival, NCL, RCL and Celebrity (all caribbean).  This was by far the best as far as on ship service and food.  We were quite pleased.  However, we found too few/too short stops and too much time on the ship this cruise.  We get bored easily, so it was a bit of a struggle.   We felt the Bliss was well laid out and easy to get around for the most part (elevators can be a challenge at times).  The only complaint I'd comment on is that the buffet was a ZOO and so was The Local.  So many people, SO loud at The Local, NO seats at the buffet, just gave me anxiety.  Everywhere else we never felt crowded.  Always found a bar stool, no waiting on other dining, and always found a blackjack table.

Glacier Bay was amazing, so if others don't do that, I'd consider that a deal breaker for me.

Yes, that is true, however when one in our group wanted to check what time we had dinner that night, if their card wasn't swiped when we arranged it, they couldn't see it.  One of us that swiped our card had to look.  No big deal, but at first we were confused.

Another odd thing, I had booked Jersey Boys back a few months ago, but once on the ship the reservation had disappeared.  In the end, I didn't care, it's not my thing.  In fact the rest of the group cancelled theirs then too in lieu of a better dining time at Le Bistro that night.  I'm sure we could have tried to re-reserve it had we really wanted to.

Carmen1409- thank you!  You will enjoy it, Alaska is so beautiful, even in the rain and fog.

I'm not as talented as so many others here on the board to write a fancy review with pictures and so many details ( I LOVE reading them, btw), but I did want to share a bit about our cruise that we just came back on.  Sorry if it's hodge podgey.

A little background info - we have cruised Carnival and NCL back in the 90's, then later RCL (2001?) and Celebrity (2016?).   At that point, the Celebrity was our favorite.  After being on the Bliss, hubby and I both agree it was our BEST as far as food and service, and overall ship.  We were very impressed.  They are always collecting your room card for drinks and dinner, etc, so they always made a point of calling you by your name.  Somehow they miraculously would remember your name, sometimes even a few days later, when they would see you again!   Just loved that attention to detail.  Food was also some of the best we've had.

Embarkation was quick, almost too quick.  We arrived approx 10:30am and were told to drop off our luggage in this line, get in that line, then that line........it was so rushed that we were all flustered!  Our group of five met up in the buffet once on the ship (around 11:30 maybe) and we just had to sit down and say "What just happened???"  LOL  Glad to get on the ship so quickly, but wow.

Our rooms and luggage were ready about 2pm or 3pm, I can't quite recall.  Everyone was pleased with their cabins.  We had balconies on the 9th floor, mid ship.  We met our room steward the second day.  He did a good job, but nothing above and beyond (we never made any requests, in fairness).  I did notice, someone had mentioned this on another thread some time ago, that we had an ice bucket but it was removed at some point during the week.  Wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't for the thread.  We did get towel animals most days.  Conditioning shampoo was supplied on the shower wall.  I had brought my own conditioner, but their combo shampoo seemed to work fine, even on my highlighted hair.  We were given one bar of soap at the sink which we chose to use in the shower.  It was never replaced, but did manage to make it last the whole week.

We had the 3 free dining pkg promo along with the UBP.  No problem with any of the drinks or prices, but I wasn't a fan of the wine.  I knew I could bring my own bottles on board, but it wasn't THAT big of a deal.  The last night I did try the NCL North and South red and actually found it OK.  Too late.  We had pre-reserved our three dinners a few months ago, but since the times and number of people were off (we had 5 and it was hard to reserve for that number) we simply went to Teppanyaki that first day on the ship and they were able to move things around for us.  It was all very easy, so don't stress about it like I did.  Note that the reservations were only showing up on the cards they scanned, so my hubby who wasn't with me at the time never saw the reservation on the app, but I could, for example.  Kind of confusing.  

We dined our first night at the Teppanyaki and everyone loved it.  On Wed while returning to the ship from Juneau about 9:30pm, there was some confusion as to what was open.  A lady on the ship was greeting us as we got back on promoting the buffet (no way) and when I asked if The Local was open since it was 24/7, she said "yes, but it closed at 9:30.  Arg, what?   We stopped in at Q while walking up the steps (the smell brought us in).  They were still serving and pretty empty, but a live country band was just about to begin.  We took a table but the must was SO LOUD we had to scream at our waiter.  We opted to pay ala carte on this meal because we already had our other two free dining reservations with our friends later in the week.  They couldn't understand us, so we just took it as one freebie on the plan.  Just easier.  By the way, the food was fantastic.  We also dined at Le Bistro (my filet was amazing) and then Cagney's.  That meal was also covered by the plan, so we actually got four free meals.  Our last night just hubby and I tried Los Lobos and we also found it to be excellent.  We are a big fan of Mexican food, and it just hit the spot.  I believe we dined at 8pm and the place was empty.  Sad to see that.

The buffet might be one of my only complaints.  It was utter chaos.  You could not find a place to sit, people everywhere, cutting in here and there (there was no good flow), bumping in to you and your plate.  I started twitching uncontrollable if we even came close to the entrance.  Needless to say, we gave this a skip after our first try.  We did give the Local a try one day for breakfast.  Food and service were good.  Hubby tried it once for lunch, but it was another place that is SO LOUD.  You are open and above to the Atrium with something going on all the time (loud microphones or music, for example).  It just gave me anxiety.  Taste and Savor were good for lunch and dinner (note the lunch menu is the same for both every day).  The Manhattan Room was a bit more "fancy" and we enjoyed our meal there one night.  I believe this one is only open for dinner, never lunch.

As for ports/shore excursions:

Juneau - hubby and I did a whale watching tour.  Very informative.  Unfortunately it was foggy and drizzly.  We were inside a boat with large glass windows, but the rain made it hard to see out of them.  We saw a few tails, but that was about it.  I guess I had higher expectations.  In fact, this was THE thing I was looking forward to on this cruise, and it was a little letdown.  It's nature tho, how can one guarantee any more?  We'd do it again.

Skagway - this was our favorite.  We started off with a Good Time Girls/Ghost city walking tour.  That was the highlight of the day!  Our tour guide, "Anita Busch", really played the part, costume and all.  She was a wealth of information on the history of the city, the gold rush, just everything.  She really made it fun for everyone.  That afternoon we did the VIP White Pass train tour.  We decided to splurge on this one with our friends and do the VIP which gave us a car with only 14 cushioned/recliner style chairs, food and drinks.  We were spoiled.  The scenery alone was worth it.

Ketchikan - a short stop from 7am-12:45.  We didn't make it off the ship until almost 10am then just walked around town.  Very cute.  Had lunch at the Harbor Bar (ok), a few drinks at a townie kind of bar near the ship and we were soon off and sailing again.  Wish we had more time.

Victoria - we have been told this stop was just to make the cruise international, allowing gambling on the ship.  We never got off the boat, but it was a sunny evening and probably should have.  Being on the ship all day, or friends and I had fun at the bars, so it was best to just hang.  Odd time, too.  We docked about 8pm-midnight.

Overall, there is a lot of time on this ship.  We wished for more stops, or more time at the ports.  We aren't big cruisers, and just find our time on the ship to be boring at times.  One can only eat or drink so much.  I was reintroduced to the game of blackjack, so that took up a bunch of our time.  There are activities going on all day, but you have to be interested in them, and sign up for them ahead of time (some, not all).  Making a photo cube?  How to relax?  Win a free necklace?  Hubby and I did do a wine and chocolate pairing (about $22 ea) that was informative and fun.  

We will look back on this trip fondly.  Scenery so beautiful you can't even believe it.  Such a great staff on board.  Wonderful food.  We miss it already.

Not sure about the unlimited, but at the Le Bistro on the Bliss last week we were specifically told 2-appetizers each person.  None of the other restaurants mentioned it, nor did we ask.   We just assumed 1 each.  

We travel a lot and gave up on TA's many years ago.  Mine just couldn't find the deals we found on line.  Friends asked us to go on this cruise and they wanted to use a travel agent, so we did the same and booked all together.  I was letting the TA know about details she had no clue about, like booking meals and shows before hand.  In fact, I sent out an email about an itinerary change to everyone, a week later our travel agent let us know.  LOL  However, she did sent us a nice folder with all the paperwork in it.

Sounds like you have a good one!  Keepers.

After having traveled quite a bit in Mexico and the Caribbean, I've found Margaritaville to have lost its luster everywhere.  I love Jimmy Buffet, but after a few visits to his restaurants, I lost interest.  One can only have so much Buffet.  LOL  We have never been to one that was busy, with maybe the exception of Cancun years ago when they had a band at night. 

Very helpful review.  We are on the Bliss this coming Sunday.  Alaska is new for us, so you had some good insight for me.  thank you for taking the time!

My only stress is what to pack.  I will start to work on that tonite.  Are sea days very casual - like a hoodie and jeans are Ok even in the restuarants for lunch?  We plan on nicer outfits for dinner, even tho I know there really isn't a dress code.

My hubby loves hoodies, so my plan is that for him.  But they are so bulky.  He's going to have to wear the same one or two all week.  I don't know how people pack with carry on only.  

Packing for an Alaskan cruise is so hard!  We fly out to Seattle on Friday for our Bliss cruise on Sunday.  I haven't begun to pack.  I'm freaking out.  So many bulky clothing items.  ARGGGG  LOL

I used to pack a week or two before.  But then I found myself unpacking since I forgot what exactly I put in the suitcase.  We travel a lot, and you'd think I'd have this all down to a science, but I freak out every trip.  The panic starts about two weeks before the trip.  I literally lay awake in bed at night thinking and thinking and thinking.  I have dreams/nightmares about it.

We are flying out to Seattle on Friday for our cruise to Alaska on Sunday and I have not even begun to do the physical packing yet.  I have a mental idea of what I think I want to pack, but since this is a cold weather trip for us, It's all new territory.  I'm freaking out a bit.  I bought packing cubes after reading comments on this board about how great they are.  I'm not sold on it yet, but then again, haven't started the process.  How can I possibly fit some XL hoodies in those little bags??

Is that ice/snow on the window??????

I've asked this too.  I don't think I ever got an answer.  It would be nice to know for packing purposes.