CruizinSusan70

I'll give you many issues on NCL. Entertainment wise, Kinky Boots no longer on Encore with no replacement. Noise Boys no longer on Prima with no replacement. Press Your Luck was supposed to debut in November on last night of 11 day cruise on Prima. Have not seen anyone mention it at all on any Prima reviews. Supermarket Sweep and Beat The Clock also advertised as new shows on Prima. They have yet to debut. Light Balance, from America's Got Talent was supposed to be the Prima and the show got scrapped before it's inaugural. And don't get me started about the breakfast buffet on the Prima closing at 9:30 AM.

The only major complaint I had was the fact that the buffet closed at 930 for breakfast, yet the grill portion of the buffet was open from 300-500 for an extended lunch. I have cruised on competitors such as RCI, MSC, Carnival, Princess and Celebrity and none of them shut down their breakfast buffets at 930. And that includes post Covid, so NCL can't use the excuse. The Indulge Food Hall is great at dinner time and the selections are better than what is available at lunch. At lunch, it's not worth the hassle of trying to find a seat. Did it once and was not impressed. Did go three times for dinner though out of our 11 nights on board along with 3 dinners in Hudson, one in the Local and 4 in specialties. Light breakfasts are available till 1100 in the observation lounge.

Good luck. We were on the Prima for 11 days with two of us staying in an inside Handicapped cabin. Not enough space to have all of our clothes put away. Instead of living out of a suitcase we ended up piling up clothes in stacks on the long table under the mirror. You need to make adjustments at times and we did. I would go on cruisedeckplans.com. On the Prima, there are at least a half a dozen balcony videos posted on YouTube from deck nine alone.

Their major competitors on their level do. Princess and Holland America. With entry level lines, NCL does to a certain extent, even though their drink package is not complete, the wifi is only 250 minutes and the gratuities are extra. MSC does to a certain extent with some promotions, but of course RCI and Carnival don't package a thing.

The port excuse means nothing. You're back on board by 500, giving you a minimum of 5 hours if you go to bed early or longer if you stay up later. This 5 hours equates to one alcoholic drink per hour in order to break even, plus of course all of the non alcoholic items that are included such as espresso based coffees, cold brews, bottled water or Gatorade to take ashore, canned soda etc. This has been debated ad nauseam on multiple threads over the years. If you drink a lot of the non alcoholic stuff, two or three drinks of the alcoholic stuff will make you break even.

Yes, you would forfeit it. Your account needs to be zeroed out at the end of the cruise and the credit is worthless, only profits made from it. If you decided to get your 25 in chips, you could always put it in your pocket and gamble it on a future cruise, giving you 50 to gamble when you combine it with the 25 on the future cruise, assuming of course that the program would still be in place.

As long as it not a return to the old method of standing in formation wearing your life jacket and sweating bullets, then the indoor method would be a compromise, but still a pain. It doesn't last a few minutes. There are always stragglers that delay the start and the major congestion afterwards at the elevators can take forever to get where you're going, substantially more if you're relegated to a scooter. The emuster was a step forward post COVID and streamlined a process that can be a pain. It's a step backwards to go to the old method, but as usual it's just another aspect of the fact that we don't make the rules, we just play the game.

What would make you think that they serve Kava on a cruise ship? If I'm not mistaken, Kava is a somewhat hallucinogenic drink from Hawaii that is supposed to make you "chill" and smooth over any rough edges you may have.

Thought you left the building!

Are they reliable sites selling first hand cards or selling secondary cards that could possibly be worthless?

On the Prima, the adjacent Metropolitan Bar, with Clarence the Chocolate Cowboy has a server that also takes care of the patrons in the Cigar Bar.

Because of overcrowding at the Platinum party, a glass of wine was given to attendees and all Platinum level cruisers got a one drink credit good on the last night for I believe 10.50, good for a basic drink.

And at 48 bucks per day for two people, (20 bucks + 20% gratuity pppd for upgrade) that would eat up a good portion of the TA's profit.

Unfortunately after the excitement of a return to cruising post COVID has subsided, reality has set in. The same is being said on various lines on the boards, whether it be X, RCI, Princess, NCL or Carnival. There are cutbacks in service, a drop in quality, reduced liquor choices and an increase in price. These lines all bled billions and they are seeking whatever various methods are needed to recoup their losses. Interesting enough, MSC of course did not bleed money because the shipping division kept them afloat. Have not been perusing their boards so don't know if their loyalists are disgruntled or not.

Think that maybe it might be a bit better on one of the newer ships in the fleet than on a ship that is 21 years old? Kind of naive to think that the buffet on a M Class ship will be the same as on an Edge Class ship. Sailed on the Edge in 2020 and the Apex in 2022 and had no problems whatsoever. Have sailed on both M&S classes in the past as well as the Horizon back in 1995.

You mean that people would actually regurgitate something they have read on the forums and not base their post on actual first hand experience? 😉😉😉

Could not agree more. Was on the Apex for 12 nights last January and felt the same way with the made to order Benedict's at breakfast and the grilled to order items and made in front of you various creme brulees on French day for lunch. Looking forward to 18 days on the Beyond in November.

An even better way is to buy Celebrity gift cards on the AARP site at a 10% discount and then the 1000 that is applied to your cabin puts $100.00 in savings in your pocket. AARP also sells cards at times for Carnival and Princess and both of them are not as restrictive and can be used for all cruise related expenses.

Yes, he can board with you. Is the drink package Cheers and did you buy it? Yes, it does work at the coffee shop and it includes alcohol included coffees as well as regular and alcohol included milkshakes. It would not be good if it was a drinks on us in the casino offering from the players club.

Couldn't agree more. NCL with their supposedly forward thinking marketing campaign so cruisers can "Feel Free", is taking a major step backwards by going back to the pre-Covid method of mustering. Hopefully none of their competitors such as Carnival, Royal, MSC, Celebrity and Princess that we have reservations on in 2023 will return to the archaic methods. Unfortunately will have to endure the nonsense on our Prima B2B next month.

Bottom line is the removal of the beef wellington is a cost saving measure and no saluting of the NCL flag will change that. On the boards of NCL, RCI, Carnival and MSC there are loyalists that will defend their cruise line of choice and any attempt to discredit anything that their favorite line does is met with distain and the loyalists will deflect the criticism all of the time. Don't care about Mac n cheese, creamed spinach or the addition of fish n chips, but the elimination of beef wellington will just be adjusted by attending Indulge an additional night.

You're getting a free cruise and you want to attempt to save 10% on your taxes and fees by redeeming a gift card. SMH

So it's similar to the non replacement of Kinky Boots on the Encore. And the beat goes on.

Speak for yourself. Having gone on 12 cruises post Covid, the new modern way of doing muster was a breeze and a joy compared to the indoor method and substantially better than the old outdoor method. It became a problem because too many people drug their feet and delayed the time to actually watch a video and go to their muster station for a minute. And thus the cruise directors had to keep reminding people over and over again. Heard it on NCL, RCI, and Carnival. Now, it's back to the whole half hour plus process and once you're released taking forever to get an elevator to where ever you're going next. This process is even longer because of non-empathetic people not letting those in wheelchairs or scooters access to elevators. Because, after all, it's been a half an hour since their last drink and they need to get to a bar ASAP.

You honestly think that the most expensive item on the menu isn't selling? It was the only dish that really differentiated itself from the rest of the fleet. You might get it once on a typical 7 day cruise. On the Prima, you could have had it every night if you wanted. It was the one entree that gave those sailing in steerage what it was like to get a top of the line entree each night similar to what they serve in the Haven. And now, poof, it's gone. Quit drinking the NCL Kool Aid. Bottom line, it's a cost saving to swap out Beef Wellington for strip steak.