laudergayle

The CC reviews for Family cruise on Pearl vs Prima do not support your assumption. Prima has a one star Family rating. https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=1434 The Pearl has 3.5 star family rating snd overall a higher rating. https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=378

Call it what you will. I certainly wouldn’t want my underaged children exposed to this particular party atmosphere while on a family vacation.

I concur. The difference of $2000 may be worth it vs sacrificing what you already have invested in a very unfriendly family environment. I would continue to bark up the NCL corporate ladder—letters and e-mails to Corporate PR and Kathy Byrd, Sr VP Guest Services. I wish you success in getting reimbursed for the change. It’s def a crappy situation for you and others on this cruise.

Google ubersoca on YouTube. Once you watch the videos you’ll see how their party mob behavior can overtake typical organization. Personally I find it disturbing.

Hmmm. Sounds like that would be the case…however, I watched the ubersoca YouTube and, oh my, I was blown away with the mob mentality. I honestly don’t believe any cruise line could control that group. It looks like they just takeover and non-soca guests depart quickly. It’s crazy…and it’s not just one group. The ubersoca.com cruise is different that Fetetopia Cruise on the Prima. Ubersoca cruise is NCL Epic 4/9-14, 2033 with two more planned in the fall on RCL 11/11-16 and then 11/16-21, 2023. Just another thing to research before booking a cruise…gosh.

We’re sailing NCL Prim late April-first week of May out of NYC. We have two Sea Days then 2.5 days in Bermuda. Have never been to Bermuda and I suspect NYC is cold. Thoughts on what clothing would be appropriate. Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

On our last 2 cruises we got two .5L cartons…one for each Gold member in our cabin on embarkation with a note acknowledging our Latitude status.

Probably wouldn’t be worth it from a boarding perspective. Last week I. San Juan they had priority checkin but boarding was basically general boarding after Haven and special needs. If your cruise is port intensive with tenders it might be helpful. Also if you like breakfast room service it is complimentary. Finally, there is a spa credit on port days that you may take advantage of. So only makes sense if you plan on using the other benefits outside of boarding.

I had to ask my PCC to add it. You can do it now.

Yay…thank you for your quick reply😊

While the NCL ships are docked in Bermuda overnight, do they open the casino?

Yes. All the Prosecco you want. The Prosecco they serve is actually pretty tasty IMO.

Typically I am a champagne and wine drinker…but on our last cruise we didn’t have the Premier Plus upgrade…and the Prosecco they were serving was the complimentary DUC sparking something. So, I took the Opportunity to try some new things. Mudslide…nice mocha milkshake. Painkiller…meh. Sangria Froze…yum, yum. Botanical Spritz…only found one bar with the Grapefruit/Rose vodka…and no grapefruit wedge, but was a really nice switch from wine and sugary drinks. But I wouldn’t turn any of them down🤣

If you decide to book last minute I would definitely add Priority Access so you could board as early as possible. Be at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal around 9:30 for priority checkin. Boarding would happen around 11:00 after Haven, special needs, Diamond, sapphire, platinum members then priority. Most of the people before you already have their dining reservations…so you would want to head directly to dining reservations…make as many as you can. Also, prior to boarding you may want to add the 2 speciality dining upgrade…and see if you can make any Main Dinjng Room reservations. They hold some SPD reservations for onboard booking. Then off to the box office to do entertainment reservations.

You won’t be sorry when you see the line…and can go to the front desk to be seated…lol

Just off the Epic. If you have a MDR reservation just walk to the front of the line and tell them and they will seat you. They start taking MDR reservations at 5:30 and the line is long IMO. When we arrived for our 7:30 reservations…both MDR snd specialty dining, there was always a line of at least 30-50 people waiting to dine. So if you can make them before boarding do it. Also call the toll free number if you can’t make the reservation on the NCL app…sometimes there are glitches that can be resolved over the phone.

Best advice I have is to try to stay ahead of the crowd. Know exactly where you want to go and try to go around the crowds in mid ship deck 5&6. Deck 7 was typically easy flow (except post theater event) to go end to end. Breakfast outside buffet was always less crowded and had most of what was inside. If you want an omlet, it’s just inside of door starboard side. Or all the way forward inside was less congested. Follow my suggestion on port arrival time to get onboard early. Make dining reservations for MDR as soon as you get on ship. They were doing them outside of LeBistro Deck 5. Then off to box office outside Epic Theater on Deck 7 for entertainment reservations. Pool servers were quicker than standing in line at pool bar. At night casino bar snd Maltings were less crowded. The only day chairs were limited was sea day…but even then we found chairs. Ports are beautiful…no hassles from locals. Have fun let me know if you have any other questions .

Yes your sailing will be crowded…but hey, you don’t have to cook or clean for 10 days. I would recommend buying Priority Access and get to the port at 9:30 sp you are one of the first groups to board. I think the order is Haven, special assistance, Diamond/Sapphire, Platinum and then Priority. Most of those boarding before you will have already made their dining reservations. For you, I’d make a mad dash to get dining reservations—especially MDR as those lines get long if you don’t have a reservation. Then to box office to choose entertainment.

Cruise lines are a muddled mess right now, trying to recover from the financial devastation of the COVID shutdown. The cuts to product offering, entertainment, service levels, staffing…combined with the increase in costs has eroded all of the cruise lines brand positioning. Basically they have become “vanilla” in eyes of the consumer. Has the NCL brand—specifically—identified their competitive advantage, and if so, what are we likely to see in the near future that will deliver on their brand promise and differentiate them from the masses? I want to be a brand loyalist…but 2023 adds and cuts has made it hard for me to be true blue.

Just off the Epic. Ours says JADE. We do a few slots and that quarters game each cruise…nothing that amounts to much. We asked about it at he casino desk. they said that the first time we run our room card at any of the machines it will activate our CAsino At Seas account. They gave us a brochure that shows the tiers and benefits. Looks like Jade can use the CAS check in area…which may be quicker than general checkin.

Take a look at the dailies to see what activities/parties may interest you. Have fun embarrassing your tween 🤣