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Don’t really care what the OP asked at this point. The discussion has moved in other directions, but I’m sure he is glad to have you as his champion. My judgment wasn’t moral. I didn’t say right or wrong. I said that it could financially impact cruisers who are following the rules. I am one of those people and have a vested interest in how behaviors of fellow cruisers may be influencing my future cruise fares. ‘Free’ was in quotes in my post, indicating that I know it isn’t really free. That doesn’t invalidate what I said. If more drinks are being consumed than what the cruise line estimates, they will eventually raise the price of the package (‘free’ drink package gratuities increase) or factor more money into the cruise fare to account for the increase. This may happen anyway if people with the package drink more than the estimated x drinks a day, but it is more likely to happen if people are cheating the system.

My issue with what the OP proposed is that it might be 2-3 drinks for him, but then the next person comes along and orders another 2-3 drinks for their friend, etc. Those drinks add up and may ultimately increase the cost of our “free” drink package. This isn’t necessarily a practice that doesn’t harm anyone else.

The Silverado Cabernet Sauvignon was our favorite included wine.

When we boarded a few weeks ago, 11:30 am was the earliest check-in time and you walked right onto the ship after checking in. This was at the Pan American pier in San Juan. If you have a different embarkation port then the process will be different.

It’s the same machine as the buffet, but there is another station located outside on deck 8. It’s hours were limited and I think were similar to Indulge lunch and dinner hours.

I’m not sure on pricing for a 10 day sailing. When I sailed (7 day, Dec. 2022) the cabana was available to pre purchase and ended up being about $100 more than 2 standard Vibe passes, but it does include admission for 2 people. I would recommend calling to see if there is availability.

I didn’t when I book one a year ago (Beeakaway).

I just checked in over the weekend for the January 7th Viva San Juan departure cruise. Earliest port check in time was 11:30 am. I completed check in at midnight on day 21, so I’d be surprised if there were earlier times available that had already filled up. You should be fine checking out of your hotel at 11 and heading to the pier.

If it makes you feel better, the price is $259 for my next 7 day Caribbean cruise. You are paying way less than my $37 per day, but no complaints from me. Pricing is all supply and demand and I find the cost of the space worth it.

My next NCL cruise is my 4th and my first time ever receiving luggage tags in the mail (35 days out). I’m not in the Haven this time around, but have sailed in the Haven in the past and not received tags. I’m not sure this is helpful, but the answer seems to be *sometimes*….

They were quoting my post regarding my difficulty booking a regular airport transfer. I think everyone understands the difference. I just thought my issue could be related to timing discussed in this post. Karaboudjan confirmed that wasn’t the case.

Thank you for letting me know. I’ve only tried to book on the app. It will find my flight information, but tell me its not available to book. I’ll try the desktop website to see if I have better luck.

I hope this is also why I can’t book a regular post cruise airport transfer for my January 2024 cruise. I don’t want to deal with taxis or Ubers or whatnot so fingers crossed it will change at day 50.

Plastic bands instead of paper?

Thank you for doing this review! I’ve been excited for someone to do a live from the Viva!

I think they have changed entertainment reservations to be bookable at 21 days out and not 120. Once online check-in opens you should be able to book any shows that are available to prebook. The others (comedy, etc.) you can book as soon as you board.

I’m on team Vibe. No one brings me drinks on my balcony. The Vibe is also a quiet place to read a book.

I was in a forward facing suite on the Encore. It was an amazing room. I’d book it every time if I could afford to. We didn’t spend a ton of time on the balcony because the Haven sun deck was so nice (and close to the bar), but the extra space in the room was amazing.

I was thinking the same thing. The NCL website is showing per person pricing for me on the search page, but once I select a sailing the pricing changes to per room. It’s certainly jarring if you don’t notice the change in pricing structure.

Epic has a great Spice H2O and Encore lacks sun deck space and is missing the adult only pool deck. I love both ships and would let price/itinerary be the deciding factor.

The forward-facing penthouse is a special room that also has access to special amenities. The courtyard room is pretty much a standard balcony that is very close to said amenities. I’d do the forward-facing every time. At least while I’m young enough to not mind a few extra steps.

You should stay in Old San Juan anyway. It’s a quick ride on embarkation morning and there is lots to see there. I stayed at the Sheraton my last cruise from there and have a less expensive hotel in Old San Juan booked for my Jan 2024 Viva cruise.

I haven’t tried recently, but when P+ first came out they had to remove my already purchased 2 additional specialty dining in order to apply the P+ upgrade. This was almost a year ago, so it may no longer be an issue.

I took my mom on our first cruise (NCL Epic) for her 69th birthday in March 2020. We hadn’t vacationed together since I was a kid. It wasn’t a perfect vacation, but I’ll always be grateful that we managed to take the trip before the COVID shutdown. She was diagnosed with cancer in July 2020 and passed away six weeks later. That cruise was the most time we had spent together in years and if we had postponed it by even a week, I wouldn’t have those memories with her.

In the working world outside of travel blogging there is a saying —Safety First My point was that if NCL isn’t aware of safety incidents, they can’t do anything about them. Maybe nothing needs to be done, but at least with information the risk can be properly assessed. We don’t know if OP is the only person who has been injured at this beach and it’s just a fluke, or if someone gets hurt regularly. It’s not my job or anyone on CCs job to decide what, if any, actions should be taken, but I’m pretty sure NCL has people who look at these things and would want to know when passengers are hurt.