wil e coyote

Good data. I realize that not everyone will agree with what I am about to say, but I will wade in anyway. Most of data on COVID risk is totally focused on the likelihood of catching it. But formal risk analysis is typically based on two factors - likelihood AND consequence. And for most people, the consequence of catching the current variant is significantly less severe than earlier strains. It's hard to measure consequence directly, but a good indicator is hospitalization rates. The hospitalization rates are much lower right now than they were for prior variants. So for many people, "catching COVID" doesn't mean the same thing it would have meant one or two years ago. All that said - while the risk of catching COVID is (sort of) a universal thing based on the transmissibility of the virus and how you to interact with the rest of society, the potential consequence is very individual. Basically healthy people are likely to have a less severe consequence than others who are already compromised in some way. So, in a very long-winded way - I respect those who are not worried about catching COVID, and those who are. Everyone is in a different place on the risk/consequence continuum.

@kjquilts, I hope you and all your travel party (and everyone else who has caught COVID) recovers quickly and completely.

While there does seem to be a lot of chatter on the NCL board about flight delays, it's worth looking at the data. According to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics, domestic carriers are at 76% on-time flights year-to-date. This is the lowest in several years, but 2014 and 2015 were worse. 2019 was only a little better at 78%. The best-ever in a non-pandemic year was 82%. https://www.transtats.bts.gov/HomeDrillChart.asp Of course, if you're on that late flight, then it doesn't matter how many are on time. The advice given in lots of places to travel early to make your sailing is sound. My point is, this isn't an NCL problem. The whole airline industry seems to hover at around 80% on-time, depending on the year and the conditions.

@joestein514, we are on the same Breakaway sailing! Cruising, here we come! I agree 100% with @BirdTravels advice. We were on an NCL cruise in February and were only asked to show our vaccination card at embarkation. The ship told us to take it with us at each port, which we faithfully did, but we were never asked to produce it by either the port officials or the crew when re-boarding. That said, we plan to keep it with us when we go ashore on our upcoming cruise. I never want to be in a situation where the piece of paper I need to get back on board is on the ship, but I am not. You probably still have time to use the proctored, mail order tests. That would be how I'd go. With the number of people testing in our part of the country, I'd be worried about getting a proctored test at CVS or elsewhere in the timeframe needed for NCL. Good luck. See you on board.

I'm not even sure this would be effective. Numerous people have reported testing negative in the morning and positive later that same day. Unfortunately, by the time someone shows symptoms or can test positive, they have already been contagious for some period of time. More testing might reduce the risk of spreading, but it cannot eliminate it. At this point in the adventure we're all living in, I think every group or person needs to make their own decision about whether they are OK with the risk of catching COVID while cruising (or flying, or watching a movie, or eating out, or grocery shopping), and then act accordingly. It would be lovely if ships (or anywhere, for that matter) were able to create a disease-free zone. But I don't think anyone can do that.

To expand on what @Sailing12Away said, you do have a seat on the flight. NCL does not make seat selections for you. If you go in to the airline's website or app, you can enter your confirmation number and make your seat reservation. Or, they will assign you a seat when you check in.

Well, you're not supposed to board a commercial aircraft, or go in public at all, if you have COVID. The CDC guidance is clear that anyone who has tested positive should isolate - the length of time varies depending on a number of factors. Airlines I have recently flown on ask whether you have COVID (or COVID-like symptoms) during the check in process. At the same time, I'm not aware of any airlines asking you to provide evidence of a negative COVID test for domestic flights. So...are you allowed to? No. Not if you are an honest person.

Our experience with NCL Air (for upcoming cruise in June) was that we got our flight info six weeks before our cruise - so basically 45 days out. If you are in the same cabin, then you will automatically be booked on the same flights. If you are traveling with friends/family in other cabins and want to be all on the same flights, you have to pre-arrange with NCL and there is a fee for that. NCL doesn't reserve seats in my experience - they also don't know anything about frequent flyer numbers, TSA Pre Check info, or contact info. So after I got the flight info from NCL, I had to log in to the airline's website, reserve seats, and add all the other info to the reservation. Not a biggie - just something to know.

One other thing to keep in mind is that the airline industry on-time percentage is about 77% right now. So if you are on connecting flights and have a tight connection, there is a 20%-ish chance that you will miss it no matter who booked the flights. That is just a fact of life right now. I'd prefer it if NCL recognized that and booked flights with ample connection items given the current state of the industry. From what I have seen, they don't always. That is really my biggest complaint about using them.

I think (but don't have any data to back it up) that the flights NCL arranges DO go smoothly for most people. So what about when they don't? It seems there is a fundamental assumption for some underlying the NCL Air discussion that goes something like this: "Since I am booking my air travel through NCL, it is an extension of my cruise, so NCL should help make sure it goes smoothly." I can see the logic of this thought process - after all, if you paid NCL and they set up the flights, and it is so you can go spend money on their ship, shouldn't they have some interest in getting you on the ship? What I have NO insight to is whether NCL looks at it this way. These posts (and others) would suggest that NCL either doesn't see it that way or cannot consistently carry it out. There could be lots of reasons why NCL wants to help with flight support, but cannot - from internal staffing problems, to airline staffing, and other factors. I have used NCL Air in the past, and other times I have booked my own flights for a cruise. I'm a frequent traveler, so even when someone else books my flights, I know how to work the system if something goes wrong. But I realize not everyone knows how to do that. My takeaway from all this is that even when NCL arranges the flights for you, you're really on your own to get on the ship (and especially to get home.) So be aware! Forewarned is forearmed.

@tripleboom, thanks for this great review! We are sailing on the Breakaway in a couple of weeks on this same itinerary from Miami - so I feel like you gave us a sneak peek of what to expect. Love your positive attitude and all the photos.

If it's been 20 years since you were on NCL, I think you will find the biggest difference is the number of options available. When we were on NCL in the late 90's, the options were the main dining room or the buffet. Now you've got all the specialty restaurants, O'Sheehans, American Diner, Starbucks, and some others as well as the MDR and the buffet. I agree with the others that all the food we have had in the last few years on NCL has been very good. There are LOTS of varying opinions on this board, especially regarding Cagney's. We have always found it to be excellent, but others, not so much. Our personal favorite specialty restaurants are the Brazilian steakhouse (we like meat!) and Teppanyaki (the show is a lot of fun, especially if you have fun people at your table.) I would avoid American Diner. It costs extra, and it isn't all that special. Most of all, if you get something and it isn't to your liking, ask for something else. That is one of the great things about cruising. Enjoy the many opinions! Your mileage may vary... 🙂

Another idiosyncrasy of the excursion credit is that it can also be applied to more than one excursion per day, but again, only for one person. I know it's pretty rare to do more than one excursion per day, but we recently ended up booking two short beach events at the same port, and both of mine had the $50 discount applied, while we had to pay full price for my spouse.

We also checked in yesterday for our upcoming cruise (6/12 on the Breakaway), and this morning our eDocs were not available - but now they are! 🙂 So I would say that you should be able to download yours soon.

Welcome to NCL! Hope you have a great cruise. From what I have read and experienced, the answer is "maybe." In February, we were able to check in prior to our assigned time in Miami, but I have seen threads on this board where others have been told they have to wait.

Good news - we are checked in now! 🙂

It's one of the last things in the process.