Robkat

Thanks ... this was very thoughtful of you. We're on the east coast and got the rain and wind effects both on the front and the back side. Our Immunity had been really well secured and the aftermath assessment is that the community and our barrier island fared pretty well. We're also sending all our best wishes to our west coast, central and northeast communities ... they are going to be needing lots of help and prayers over the next while.

Sorry @mconthehighseas, I quoted you above and then my reply got caught up in the quote box. Tried to edit but it didn't work. Hope you can see my reply.

Since it has just recently appeared, there might be an adjustment in port charges. It could be a changed or cancelled port of call (although NCL would usually advise you of any actual port stop changes). It's strange that it wouldn't have any designation or code noted though. If it was from your TA, that would normally have shown right from your first confirmation receipt, so good chance it's a recent NCL adjustment of some sort. Sorry ... Just saw your thread title and see that there is a promo code. Don't recognize it though.

Doesn't there come a time when certain threads should just die a natural death??? 🥱🥱 Especially since the OP seems to have either had his question answered to his satisfaction or has lost interest. Seems to me, this one seems to have run it's course 🙄🙄 ... YMMV though.

Oh wow ... no flies on you! Hope you enjoy the Symphony. Looks like the weather is going to be pretty iffy for the next several days, so be careful coming down what could be a messy (or harrowing!) I-95. Good luck and happy cruising!

Believe they were starting the drive down from NC early tomorrow morning. Hopefully we'll get news from them direct. I agree that it would have been better for most of the passengers to have received this news earlier; but having watched the storm models for days, it's easy to understand NCL waiting to see if the predicted movement just a little more northerly, or just a little more westerly, which would then impact how the east coast would be affected, and would then, perhaps, let them make a decision to go ahead with the cruise. Also, if the storm was quicker moving, then it wouldn't have sat over warm waters gathering even more strength. So the decision to cancel was probably being held off until they got a really good idea of what path the storm was going to be on, and how affected the Orlando (for flights arriving) and the PC areas were going to be. As @gatorchinskysaid, this was a no win/no win situation for everyone! ☹️

Definitely feel for you. But, as you well know, things are pretty much going to be deteriorating in Florida for the next several days. As much as it doesn't feel like it now, given the situation, this is probably for the best. And think of that nice additional 25% FCC for when you're booking your next one! We're hunkered down too ... stay safe.

What a shame for everyone who was on this cruise. But, also, what a position NCL is in ... what with a major hurricane hitting the state, the entire state under a State of Emergency, and so much damage down in the Caribbean. Sitting here in Florida right now, with this monster storm about to smash into us, it's difficult to even imagine a ship leaving from here, heading out on a cruise. Sorry to all those who were scheduled to be aboard, but ...

Our understanding has always been that the club balcony cabins are the exact same size as the regular balcony cabin, with the exception of the bathroom being a little larger, with a fancier jet shower nozzle. The video above seems to confirm that. There are two twin beds in the cabin, and the couch makes up into a bed. When you board, If the beds are together as a queen, just ask the room steward to separate them. Enjoy your cruise! The Escape is a favorite of ours and we'll be back on her in November.

Omigosh! Yes, the shipboard stores will have sweaters and, probably, light windbreakers. But they'd probably cost a fortune. It looks like this cruise is departing from Miami, so if you were going in there a day before, if it was at all possible, you'd probably have more choices and much better prices if you could pick up some warm weather clothing there. If you could get to a Walmart, or a Target, or any major department store, you'd find more to pick from, without over-spending on clothes that you might not need again. PS. We live in south Florida, and all the stores are now full of warm weather clothing.

The guest use staircase down to Deck 16 from Deck 18 can be seen over the lady’s left ear at the 3.33 minute mark in the video linked below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FwE9oBpGeE

I believe you can access Deck 16 from Deck 18 via the staircase highlighted on the deck plan below and then walk forward to the Top Sail Lounge.

Funny! And, I'll add, no celebrities on Celebrity (although guess that COULD be a possibility! 😆) As mentioned above, DH reminded me that we've often had Scandinavian captains on NCL cruises. Just got struck by this odd memory ... When we were crusing quite a bit on Holland America, they'd have a Dutch night in the MDR and at each table, there'd be these very strange and not very attractive paper hats that were, I guess, supposed to be Dutch. We didn't particularly like wearing them, but didn't want to appear like spoilsports, so we'd put them on for a few minutes and once the section was filled (this was back in the days of fixed dining with the same people seated all around you each night), we'd surreptitiously slide them off! 😆😆

Think the NCL personnel are there at each FR station more in a monitoring capacity, with the C&I officers there to be summoned if necessary and/ or if the FR devices indicate that C&I needs to get involved. We're loving this new process, and even if occasionally there are some glitches, we think this is definitely a step up in the debarkation process!

This is also how it went down disembarking from our Getaway cruise, in Port Canaveral, in August this year. It was a much faster and more efficient process, and we felt that the C&I officers were right there to deal with any appropriate situation. It was apparent that this new facial recognition process will be dealt with in this manner, and the NCL personnel are there to ensure that the FR equipment doesn't malfunction. Thought it was terrific.

Excellent points!! Wish I'd remembered to include these in my post above! ☺️☺️ We always like to have 1st and usually 4th nights in a specialty, and we always comment how we're sorry to have missed some good MDR menu choices on those nights! And, agree very much about the sides! 👍👍

We're just a couple of weeks off the Getaway (also out of Port Canaveral) and we do miss her so much. Your itinerary is almost the same as ours was, with the addition of Antigua and St. Maarten (since you're on a 9-day), so you will hopefully enjoy it. So happy that you're booked into La Cucina ... we are huge fans of it and have had some of our most favorite meals there. We usually have the shrimp ravioli in lobster sauce as a starter, and it's consistently outstanding. Also, while this might not be your cup of tea since you'll be in an Italian restaurant, it's worthy of a mention that their beef tenderloin is delectable and has been cooked to perfection every time we go. Enjoy your cruise and we'll certainly look forward to following along.

It was reported somewhere that they were testing it out on the Prima to see how people liked it before making a decision to implement fleetwide. When I heard about it, both DH and I thought it was a bad idea and weren't very happy about it, as we really like the current MDR menus quite a bit. However, we looked at the menu and thought that it was quite good. We looked it over, with a view to seeing if we could find items in all the categories that we'd be interested in, spread over say 4 nights (as we've always got 4 specialties available, but usually only use 3). No problem for us ... there were many good choices and options, and we thought it looked pretty good. We've had our minds changed on the issue!

Oh darn!!!! That was really exciting news and it's disappointing to hear that they won't be a featured show. We saw one of those "black box/light" shows on a recent cruise (the group had won Britain's Got Talent) and it was a phenomenal show ... much more impressive even than seeing it on TV. The live performance was truly mesmerizing and memorable. Oh well ☹️

This is just a guess, but I think a pretty educated guess. Our TA gives us OBC based on the cruise fare, and hence, his commission. When we've had price reductions BEFORE final payment, which obviously effects the amount we pay the cruise line at final, we've seen a corresponding reduction in the amount of OBC from him. Whenever there's been a price reduction AFTER final, and have received FCC for that amount, the OBC amount given to us by the TA has not changed. So, based on that, and given that the cruise line received full payment at the pre-reduction rate, we've always assumed that our TA still gets his original commission. If a TA reads this and we're assuming incorrectly, please correct.

After final payment, there are no credits/OBCs/price adjustments for price reductions, and getting FCC applied for a price reduction is definitely a one time thing ... if NCL approves it after submitting their form. In fact, in their email advising that the FCC is approved, they state quite clearly that this is a "one time goodwill gesture". You CAN wait to see if there are further reductions, but we always figure "a bird in the hand ...", and would be so annoyed with ourselves for waiting if the price happened to go back up! Depends on your risk tolerance! 😂😂 Have a good time on your cruise whatever you decide to do.

We were on a cruise in Sept last year which was at just about 30% occupancy; then one in November at just under 50%; then 2 NCL cruise in Feb at about 50% and then two weeks later at 65%. They were all fantastic cruises and we loved experiencing the less crowded ships. Two weeks ago, we were on the Getaway at around 90% and we found it startlingly crowded ... It was pretty much as it had been pre-shutdown, but we really felt that we had to get used to having the normal amount of people back on. The vibe you have on any of these cruises, we think, is mostly up to you. If you need/want to be surrounded by lots of people, you might find a cruise with lower occupancy a bit "flat". We thought it was fantastic and enjoyed it while it lasted. If your Getaway is back to sailing out of Port Canaveral for your cruise, you might find that it's quite busy, even though it could be considered off season. That's just a popular embarkation port for families. But you shouldn't worry, as it looks by reading all these posts, most people really enjoy the novelty of having a lower occupancy cruise ... It's all in your own mindset. Have a great cruise!

Like I mentioned, the staff and bartenders were terrific ... very attentive. Can't say that we remember specific names ... there are quite a few shift changes during each day, and from day to day. But everyone recognizes and remembers each other very quickly. Jim the Lizard: We have no issues sitting out there in some pretty howling winds! And as much as we enjoy sitting out in the sunshine, there are just certain times of the year where the sun is blistering and the temps are off the chart, so paying for an area where some reprieve from the sun is NOT available ... well, that didn't seem to make sense to us.

Also just off the Getaway on Aug 27. Everything was the same for us for our Vibe booking as noted above. Also agree with Paul's summary comments: we were lucky to have beautiful sunny weather for the entire cruise; however, the lack of sufficient shade availability was brutal. Because of the wind, the umbrellas could only be opened on very few occasions. Agree that the staff there were very good and attentive, but given the lack of shade, probably wouldn't opt for Vibe again. PS. Most people seemed to be using only their card to enter, we saw very few people using their wristbands.