ChiefMateJRK

I've had great steaks at Cagney's and crappy steaks at Cagney's. Same with Ocean Blue. Le Bistro is usually pretty good. I even had a pretty good New York Strip at the Local (evening special). I've never had a good steak in the MDR.

I second this.😎

I haven't been on the Jade, but was recently on her sister ship (Pearl). I believe the layouts are virtually identical. Like you, we really enjoyed sitting by the window at the back of the ship (I guess I should say stern). On the Pearl, it was most definitely first come, first served. That worked fine for us, because we tend to eat breakfast and dinner when they open. Get there a few minutes early and you're good to go. If DD and DW aren't quite ready in the morning, I just go down by myself and enjoy my (first) bloody Mary and some morning sunshine.

Makes sense. Probably well worth the $$$ in your situation. I hope I'm still cruising when I'm 80, and I can then spend all the $$$ that I saved with insides on whatever cabin I need. Dare I say, it might even be "Haven time!"😎

So, I guess your answer to: is that it is $200 per day. I spend about an hour per day in my cabin (excluding sleeping/napping). Is the balcony worth $200 per hour to DW and me?

Is that $1K per person?

If you were so miserable with one sea day, why did you book a cruise with five?

Eat, Drink, Nap. Wash, Rinse, Repeat. But seriously, you're on a ship in the middle of a beautiful ocean. Just chill and watch the waves go by. Maybe you'll spot a whale. Life isn't about always having something to do. Sometimes nothing is a real cool hand. disclaimer: I stole that from a fantastic movie.

Hint: it's the one that does absolutely nothing negative to those around them.🤣 If you still don't get it, call a friend.

It doesn't matter if this one lives or dies. There will be another, and another, and.... Be nice to my good friend @YVRteacher. She's a fun person and fantastic daughter.😎

If you find a better channel, please come back and let us know.😎

Aren't such folks generally interested in doing what they want with other people's money?

Just book two insides. It may cost you another 10% - 20%, but everybody gets a real bed and there is twice as much bathroom capacity and storage space.

LOL. That said, those roomette's are WAY tighter. DW and I shared one once, when we were about 25 years younger. Then we shared a bedroom on two other trips. Next time (this fall), we're going with two roomettes for the two of us. Nobody has to climb into an upper bunk. Like the slogan goes, "Safety First." (Unless you're the GN, where it's "See America First.")

So you and your traveling partner got six bags of laundry total?

Many finer restaurants even let you eat your dinner before paying!

I used to own a home. Paid off. It was a PITA at times. Now I rent. Life it good! Thank you. 😎

I'm pretty sure that they would have given it back to you at the end of the cruise.

I've cruised many times and never seen this. I hope you're not on my next cruise.

Unfortunately, many don't. Their budget defaults to whatever cash they can earn/beg/borrow/steal. I don't really have a budget, other than just not spending more than I need to for necessities, and not wasting money on discretionary things. Is cruising (even in an inside cabin) a waste? On some level, yes. I'm spending money on myself that would probably do more good for others. Does only spending the minimum to get me on the ship make the cruise more enjoyable? Absolutely. It's ironic, but I would enjoy a cruise less if every day I felt like I was throwing away money on crap that I don't need. Decades ago, my new DW and I headed out cross country with a job offer, an engineering degree and marriage cert (both with fresh ink), two crappy cars and about 2 grand in our checking account. Life was GREAT!!!!!! Now? Life is good. Any inside cabin is luxury compared to the dorm room I had just moved out of. The food, booze and entertainment is better than anything I had back then. But, you can't go home. However, you can cruise(even inside!), and "enjoy every moment of it!" Thanks for your post Gary. I always enjoy our discussions.😎 disclaimer: NCL just offered me a bazillion dollars of (non-refundable) OBC if I would quit posting crap that helped people feel better about NOT booking the Haven. (that didn't really happen) 🤣

Absolutely!

I agree 100% Gary. I'm sure that those top end cabins are very nice. They might even marginally add to my overall enjoyment of the cruise. As I've stated, the few times I've upgraded to modest balconies, I found it to be worth the couple hundred bucks (or less) that I paid. What generally triggers me to post is the posts that read like: "Once I went Haven, I could never go back" "I would never cruise if I couldn't be in the Haven" "Sucks to not be able to afford better than inside" "I would die in an inside" "You should have worked harder so that you didn't have to sail inside" Okay, there's a bit of hyperbole mixed into those, but not a lot. Truth.

Good questions. At this point, my most enjoyable cruises have been Alaska itineraries. I haven't yet sailed the Hawaii to Alaska repositioning itinerary, but when I do that will likely be my favorite. I generally avoid foreign travel, but we have the Iceland/Norway/England scheduled in 2025 as a B2B. That will be 21 days and we're really looking forward to it. Ironically, the best inside cabin I've had was on the Sun last Summer in AK. That said, I'm fine in any inside cabin. I just sleep and shower there, so it really doesn't matter. I've had regular balconies, but only because they cost one or two hundred to upgrade. That's probably about what it was worth to me to have a couch and be able to step outside on occasion. I've once had an aft balcony with loungers, and that was nice. But, again, it was a one or two hundred dollar upgrade from the basic balcony we had originally booked. I just like being on the ship, and itinerary, cabin, etc. are secondary. I'm more concerned about who the performers are in the bars and lounges. Alexa, Siglo, Louis Rizon, Matthew, Ed Kelly, Ryan North, Raul Rojas (guns and Rojas) all stick out in my mind. There were many others that I enjoyed, but a tier below the ones I listed. Thanks for asking.

Yikes!! So NCL is putting the steerage passenger's lives at risk? Have you reported this to the authorities? Yep. Most of us do. Some of us (the tiny minority) consider an inside cabin on an NCL ship to be a "nice cabin." We are humble peasants who can appreciate whatever we can afford (or choose to spend.) You wouldn't have to work so hard if you could be happy in a nice inside cabin. Apparently, you can't. That sounds like private stuff that has no business being posted on the internet, regardless of what you're trying to accomplish here. Extremely disrespectful to a person who may be encountering health struggles. Many do, but don't use somebody else's challenges as a tool.

It really doesn't matter if your walking, taking an Uber/Lyft or anything else. Just be aware, if you arrive early (let's say 9:00 - 10:00), expect to use the early drop off. By 9:30 - 10:00, NCL has kicked everybody's butt off the ship and they've largely cleared out from the port building. That means a lot of the traffic has (hopefully) cleared and cabs/etc. can more easily drop off at the North end of the building. I now only arrange Uber/Lyft pickups and drop offs over on Elliott Ave (no train delays, no Alaskan Way traffic, peaceful and easy). YMMV.