steveknj

I've had fresh lobster before, but my daughter hasn't. Personally I've never felt it was worth all the "work" but I like it. It's something she wants to do, so we'll do it!

Is there a great restaurant within walking distance of the pier to get a nice lobster lunch? Not sandwiches or lobster rolls, but an actual lobster tail type lunch. My daughter has never had Lobster and we wanted to give her the experience.

I assume you can go get an "in person" test too? My place of work does in person testing and of course places like urgent care or many pharmacies as well. Is that acceptable?

That's great if you are on Princess. Each line has different TVs with different configurations. I don't recall NCL having LG TVs.

We had one for the first time last March on the GA. The big bathroom was really nice for us (and I got sick during the trip, spend too much time in the bathroom so I appreciated it). The shower while bigger also had shower jets aimed at all kinds of body parts that were nice (until I got sunburned and had to turn them off!). We got snacks I think 3 times, mostly chocolates and cookies, which we enjoyed and a bottle of sparkling wine we never drank but took home for another occasion. As far as the laundry, you get one, rather small bag, which was fine to "recycle" our unmentionables. Our balcony was no bigger than our standard balcony cabins we usually get. I wouldn't spend more than $100 for the upgrade, but on our upcoming cruise we booked a standard balcony and put in a bid for a club balcony. If we get it fine, if not, I'm sure we'll still have a wonderful time in a standard balcony cabin.

I'm all for saving sea life and our oceans as it's part of the circle of life. But to carry on about an odd duck or two (pun intended) making it into the ocean is misguided when the ship you are on probably dumps TONS of waste into the water. Sure we should definitely not throw anything into the ocean that shouldn't be, but I doubt very many of these ducks make it into the water, except at some kid's bathtub back on land.

I think his point has some validity, and the amount of plastic in the ocean is much too much and we need to find better options. But to make this a vendetta against cruising ducks that most likely NEVER make it into the ocean and go as far as deriding folks on here or on FB about it, just feels like it could be trolling, or misguided. Especially when cruise lines themselves are among the worst polluters of the ocean. So if you're THAT worried about sea life (and we all should be to some extent), perhaps not going on a cruise would be the first step. Otherwise, it's pretty hypocritical to worry about a cruise duck while enjoying your cruise experience on a major polluter. We all make compromises and we should all do our best to make this a better place to live in, but there are things that are just silly.

If you believe so strongly, I don't think cruising is really for you. Do you realize that the fuel oil, the waste from cruise ships ALSO kill millions of sea (and land) animals? If a little rubber duck, with very little odds of ever making it into the ocean bothers you, then maybe you should understand what cruise ships do to the oceans as well.

My daughter has Celiac and we've done well on other cruises with her Gluten Free diet. We know there are usually plenty of GF options in the MDR, and in Cagney's but we wondered about Teppenyaki. She's never been to one of those Japanese cook in front of you restaurants and we thought it might be fun for her. But since they use the same utensils and such for eveyrone's meal, I don' know how Gluten safe it would be. Anyone know if they accommodate GF diets there? If not, we'll find a different specialty to go to.

So you have absolutely NO plastics? Never drink from a plastic bottle? I think most kids want to keep them, and the crew loves the and keeps them in place from whatever I read about them... I had never heard of this thing before our last cruise in March when my adult son found a tag (but alas, no duck) on the stairs. We then looked it up on the internet and found that it's really a thing!! He now follows cruising ducks on FB and shows us the pics of all the unique ducks. We will be on the Breakaway in August and my adult daughter plans on spreading some ducky cheer throughout the ship and hopefully we'll spot a few kids enjoying their "find" and spreading the cheer as well. It's a harmless and fun thing to do and if it makes a kid (or an adult) smile, I'm all for it!!

I've had the occasional sub par meal (on all cruise lines I've been on), but generally they range from fine to exceptional, and if you don't like it, you can order something else. We always check out the menu either in the app, or via the boards outside the dining room. There's usually about 10 options for the main course, including the "every day" options (like broiled chicken or strip steak, or salmon). I'm a fairly picky eater, but I can always find at least 2 options I'm deciding between, usually more. And really, if you are REALLY picky, there's always the buffet which has LOTS of options. Last time I had lobster in the MDR was on RCCL.

It might annoy you, but in the scheme of things, what are we talking, 15 extra minutes if that? You're on vacation, chill out!! 🙂

My son is looking to book a cruise out of NYC as a single solo cruiser. He's never sailed alone before but has heard great stories from us about how great cruising is. Initially we looked at NCL because they are well known for single cruising but for kicks and grins we took a look at other lines including MSC for pricing and such. We know that MSC will be sailing out of Brooklyn next year and they are trying to get a foothold in the NY area. So their pricing, even for a solo cruiser was very intriguing. With that said, would his experience as a single man, late 30s be good on MSC? Are there other single solo cruisers that sail MSC? We've never sailed this line before but are considering it for ourselves, but for now, looking at what his experience might be. He's not a big drinker but will have a drink or two a day probably. He enjoys music and will enjoy the stage shows. He's not very outgoing, but can certainly hold a conversation but he's a bit shy. What say you, fine MSC cruisers?

If that person was you who didn't complete their paperwork, then sure, you're going to have to wait longer at checkin. For me, the person behind you? I'll just go to the next available agent. No big deal to me. I agree. I'd rather be ready and prepared, but not everyone has the capacity to do that, for lots of reasons.

But so what? For me waiting online, it means nothing, there's always another booth opening up. It's probably the difference in waiting time like a minute or two. Again, if nobody was prepared, it could be chaos. If a few people didn't complete their paperwork ahead of time for whatever reason. No big deal for me waiting.

I'm like you. I like to be prepared (over prepared perhaps?), but there are a lot of people who look at vacations as an adventure and want everything to be new and surprising. You always hear stories about people who pack a suitcase, take the next flight to somewhere and just go. I could never do that. But, I'm surprised that those people would even look at a forum like this. I guess they need to know some minor details. As to annoying people online because you didn't complete your pre-board check-in, my experience at the ports I've embarked from is that you get on ONE line and there's a number of people lined up behind the counter, probably 20 or more and when one opens up you go to that one. So, as someone waiting online, it's doubtful you'd even KNOW if someone is holding up the line because they didn't do their paperwork. I think it's just not a big deal. With that said, if EVERYONE didn't do their paperwork, then yeah, the lines would get really long. For the OP, just do the best you can, and if you can't , that's why they are their to help. Not everyone is tech savvy enough to complete these things. I know my wife gets really frustrated with it. I know I'VE had issues with online check in because some things are just very clear.

We are doing Canada/NE end of August. We've been to Portland before on a previous cruise 20+ years ago and went to LL Bean and walked along the main shopping district. Is there anything worth seeing other than that? I'm thinking perhaps it's the place to go have a lobster lunch if nothing else. Anything close by to the pier or better off taking an excursion?

It's really pretty simple. if you enjoy those types of traditions, NCL is probably not for you. There are plenty of others who still maintain that tradition. NCL has made it clear over the last bunch of years that they have moved away for that sort of thing as it's just not as popular as it used to be.

My wife and I rarely drink, never drink alcohol at home and only drink at parties and what not, maybe an occasional glass of wine if we go to dinner. The first few cruises we took before NCL started offering the "free" booze package, we never bought even a soda package. Wife prefers water and I prefer iced tea. We would get soda for my daughter. But the last couple of cruises on NCL with the "free" package we took it. I enjoy some of the sweet cocktails that I'd never order otherwise and they are fun to try, but if we didn't have it, I might buy one or two just to try them. So I am SURE they are making nice money off of us. But I like the idea that I can order and not have to think about it, but I'd never buy a drink package. This upcoming cruise will be the first where my daughter can drink and I have no idea how much she might want to drink or not. She also doesn't drink at home, so this will be her first drinking experience. But really, we probably should decline it, but we won't.

What do you NEED on a cruise ship anyway? Do you NEED 15 specialty restaurants? The MDR has all the food you need, along with the buffet. Do you NEED 25 different bars? My point is, what you find superfluous appeals to other people. In December, how many kids were on the cruise? Remember that was during the time when vaccines were required and many kids were not vaccinated. Maybe when there's cruises with kids, a venue like Go Karts is crowded? So these cruise lines try and find activities, for everyone, viva la difference!! There's nothing more boring than a ship with few activities to do. Some are content to sit by the pool all day, others want to go from activity to activity. I don't do any rope climbing, but others do, and it's great that it's there for them. I'd rather have the choice than no choice at all.