pete_coach

August till November is not a good time to cruise the Caribbean or eastern US.

NCL and United and Scandinavian.....NCL Insurance..... wow, your luggage can be anywhere. Normally, it would be an airline issue and responsibility and they should be paying you. Since United was the first airline, I suspect it is up to them to find the luggage or pay for it's contents Good luck.

NCL sells cabins to travel agents. Those cabins they sold do not show up as available on the NCL site.

I may have been told wrong but, I was told a while back that the Spa and medical services were not ships company nor even NCL employees. The Spa (et al including hair and nails and pedis) and medical services are contracted out.

I know of no ports that dock cruise ships and does not allow passengers off. There may have been some during COVID but I think most cruises during COVID were cancelled anyway.

Well, with no actual wind, the ship its travelling at about 20 knots (about 35 MPH) so, that is the wind you will be facing. I personally would never get a forward facing balcony, we enjoy sitting on the balcony

We were on the Pearl, but before refurbishment. What we liked most is the size of the pool deck. No kids pool, no special kids area, no water slides and all the other things that took away all the space. It did not feel crowded. Just the right size.

You can wear what you want anytime. I have seen gowns and tuxedos and shorts and pants. It is great that you are not forced to dress a certain way. I am on vacation and choose what I wish to wear.

I said "on any other cruises we have been on." And, the venue was closed the entire cruise. I further said "Oh for sure, a large group can and does book a ship." and "for sure, a large group can and does book a ship. There are may "theme" cruises that you can choose. " Key was that this had not happened on any cruise we had been on and we have been on many cruises.

Oh for sure, a large group can and does book a ship. There are may "theme" cruises that you can choose. My point was that a large venue was closed for the entire cruise and we did not know until we got on board. Had we known, we would have booked another cruise or even a another line. I believe it should be the cruise line responsibility to tell clients of any special events or groups that are on board and may affect the cruise.

My intent was to relay that we were disappointed and this has only happened to us on NCL. I am sure it happens on other lines as well but not to us.... so far. I agree that the line should warn upon booking that there is a large group and some venues may be closed. We would have chosen a different line had we known.

Sir, please do not take 2 words out of context of the entire post and issue.. No "umbrella". I can only speak about our experience. And it does matter. I was speaking about our experience only and seems to be shared by other posters in this thread. I am glad your "experience " has been different .

Lets put this in context. I said "It has not happened on any other cruise we have been on. Only NCL". to us. No, I did kinda did not.not. Please read again. I said " It has not happened on any other cruises were have been on. Only NCL." Speaking about us and our experience. This post is about an entire venue being closed for the entire cruise and what can be done about it and why NCL does not inform the customers. Other posters have had this happen to them on NCL as well. NCL apologists need not reply 🙂

Never said it was only NCL and no one else said that either.

Thanks but, point was, it was closed for the duration and as I understand it, this is not a one off thing and it has happened before an d since. It is very wrong. I am sure there are "theme" cruises on theNCL books now but there is no way of finding out;

Yes, I mentioned that. On another cruise they closed an area for a while but not the whole trip. I don't remember what they call it, it is the one up front on 12 or 13 deck.

It has not happened on any other cruises were have been on. Only NCL. There may have been groups on other cruises but no venues were ever closed.

No, we were on Pearl. I have read posts where this has happened. No compensation was offered and I asked. We were also on Bliss once when there were 400 religious folks on board but they only closed certain venues for private affairs during certain times. I am really just surprised this is not noted when making bookings. At least letting us know what is going on. I suppose if they did, lots of folks would just not book but it certainly is an inconvenience at the very least and restriction or loss of use of facilities. 🙂 We happen to really like the Observation Lounge.

We were on a cruise that had the observation lounge closed for the entire cruise. It turned out that it was for private events for those on a "theme" cruise. There were other restrictions during the sailing. We booked the cruise well in advance and kept informed about it through Cruise Critic Roll call and other information sites. Nowhere was there any indication of any sort of restrictions or themes onboard. We and other we spoke to were rather upset we could not use the observation lounge and on one night, the main dining room was closed except for those part of the theme. When we got back I called NCL and could not get any information about that situation at all. Was shuffled from one agent to supervisors etc and no one knew or could tell me about theme cruises even on upcoming cruises. Has anyone encountered this before? Were you informed about a theme onboard prior to sailing or at time of booking?

Like all "institutions", Cruise lines order consumables sometimes a year in advance, for economic, delivery and planning reasons. They therefore make menus that far in advance. A 21 day menu plan will cover 90% or the passengers as most do single 7 day trips or back to back for 14 days or less. I think if you look at the menus, there will be a right side and left side. The one side will be the same every night and the other will have that nights specials. Considering they restock every 7 days, it is not difficult to plan and the selection is not difficult to vary. We were recently on Oceania and had lobster several times but, it is quite inclusive (specialty restaurants are included) and you pay more for a Oceania cruise. Our last NCL cruise did not have lobster except in specialty restaurants. We have friends that were on something Of The Seas ship and they were in specialty restaurants where they had the "included" side of the menu and the other side was extras with an additional charge. $60 per person to eat there and then another $35 for a lobster tail. They were quite astounded and upset. We are on the 12 /24 Bliss LA to Miami. From Ottawa. Oh and, I do not miss "formal nights" nor Captains dinner. I was in uniform for 35 years and then business suit for 10 more so I have become a shorts and golf shirt guy when on vacation. LOL

Port, Naples. Because of the amount of things do do and see, Capri, Sorrento, Amalfi Coast, Portofino, Mt Vesuvius, Herculaneum, Pompeii oh and Naples too. Ship, Oceania Rivieria Cabin, Balcony, upper decks, mid ships.

See you onboard. 🙂 I think the menu generally is on a cycle, I suspect a 21 day cycle. We did a behind the scene tour on Celebrity Solstice a while back and that is how it was explained to us. It also has to do with what produce etc they can get. They have to order this well in advance and the menu can be affected.

We are Celebrity cruise fans. We have also done 2 and have booked our 3rd NCL cruise. Celebrity is great,, all aspects of it. NCL is trying very hard to get families with young kids (Laser Tag, Go Karts, Splash areas, Kids clubs, water slides etc) and that makes it sometimes very crowded. Also, it seems that it is difficult to get into the entertainment venues. Lineups and you have to get in line early. Food, well food is far to subjective to even discuss. Personally, if we don't have to cook, clean and have it served to us, that is good 🙂 So, which do we like best? We choose for itinerary as there are good things with all of them and there are bad things with all of them too.

We really enjoyed the Pearl. Great inside and the pool deck is large with lots of room.

The age is very dependant on the time pf year. Mid to end June till beginning of September there are lots of children so the average age drops dramatically. I would also like to add that the Summer experience can be daunting as it is the height of tourist season everywhere. Everything and everywhere is crowded and not just on the ship. In my opinion, NCL is an average line. They do cater to kids with go carts, laser tag rooms, splash areas, kids clubs etc. That makes the pool area very small and very crowded. This drives many to Haven, a cruise line within a cruise line but, it is certainly not budget friendly. We did one summer cruise on the Bliss with our kids and grandkids and it was packed. Sea days were horribly crowded. Breakfasts in the buffet everyday were a challenge, to say the least. Won't do that again 🙂