weltek

Yeah, if I ever take the NCL BOGO airfare, it's going to be for an international location where the cost is really high, and in that case, I'll even come out ahead if I have to pay for a few nights lodging for unexpected layovers. And really, aren't all international flight times terrible? LOL! For U.S. based trips, though, I'll turn it down every time.

Agree, DJ doing that type of thing is the norm where I'm from. If the requests are small (wedding party intro and something like cake cutting), I can't imagine they'll grumble too much. Though do understand that getting people's name pronunciations right is probably a stressor for them, so sticking to first names is nice, and make sure it's written down (with phonetic spelling if necessary).

Flight home at 11 a.m. sounds ideal to me! Tough to know the ideal time to book, but you are pretty early in the booking window. Might want to set some price alerts with airfare aggregators. But, April is prime spring break time, so it might remain high.

Re: wipes, here's a social media post directly from a well known cruise employee, John Heald of Carnival. I wouldn't put money that any of them break down immediately enough to prevent plugging of a vacuum based toilet system. If it hasn't caused a problem, you might just be lucky that you don't have others in your section using them, too. John Heald Poster based in the United Kingdom Good Friday morning and before I continue to answer your questions over on Visitor’s Posts I have a plea from Luigi the Plumber and his mates across our fleet of ships. Luigi hates two things. Anyone who doesn’t cook pasta like his Mama and………………wet wipes or as Luigi would say “ Weta Wipers, I hata the bastardi “ Yep, Luigi and all our plumbers hate Wet Wipes because despite the signs that plead with you not to flush them down the suction toilet system they still do. And this results in Luigi having to put on the long glove and shoving his arm up a pipe full of the devils dumplings so that the toilets in that cabin section will start flushing again. Of course back when many of you reading this were children you never had wet sodding wipes. When the Heald family were out and my sister Suedrip or me had chocolate or other food around our gobs our Mum would take a tissue and spit into it and then wipe our faces. Spit was the wet wipe of those days These days there are wet wipes for babies, wet wipes for adult bottoms whose arse cheeks are far too sensitive to use toilet paper. There are wet wipes that smell of lemon, or lavender, or vanilla or Chanel number 5 FFS. The world it seems has gone crazy for wet wipes and the wet wipes are breaking our toilet system. Please then, on behalf of Luigi the Plumber can I ask you not to put these into the toilet and flush. If you use them for any reason drop them in the sanitary bags and let your stateroom steward know and Ketut will dispose of them. Luigi says “ Saluti e buona giornata e per favore usa la carta igienica “

I've gotten extra, but it's been like "here's four" when I needed 20. 😆 Honestly, I could make do with 10 extra...has anyone had trouble getting that many?

Large plastic bag for dirty clothes (a good use for the big department store ones I accumulate). Highlighter for daily Playing cards A handful of old trivia cards from Trivial Pursuit Two books Snorkel gear (had too many ill-fitting mask issues with rentals), if we have port plans for beach days Small bluetooth speaker Water wallets if we have any water-based excursions Thin, absorbent travel beach towels (because the NCL ones don't fit in a backpack and I like to travel light on port days) French press, coffee and travel kettle I've tried some misc suggestions like the shoe organizer, and don't need it for the two of us. But I do want to purchase a few magnetic hooks. We use the ones in the room a lot and want more! Also interested in travel hangers for both cruises and other long-term travel.

Yes, I recently had one confirmed for our December cruise. Reports have varied about officer attendance, so they might feel a little different than in the past.

I have always thought that last one is ridiculous to list. I don't think any NCL ship cabins, aside from the studios, prevent this from happening, do they?

I always pack for hot weather, and have a pair of capris, a nicer cardigan and a more casual light sweater/sweatshirt to cover anytime it's chilly (e.g., at nights outside). Plus, we travel from Wisconsin, so if I'm really desperate, I have long pants, socks and close toed shoes from my air travel day in my suitcase! Only once did we have some unusually cold weather while we were farther out in the Atlantic during a 10 day (awful storms).

You are brave. I cannot restrain my curiosity. I hope you are rewarded with wonderful excitement and surprises! And @GUT2407, Norwegian still has carpet that points you in the right direction. The fish are still on some ships, and others have things like triangles that point forward.

Yes! Our favorite place to stay is in the short hallway of deck 8. Love the proximity to District (easy to pop out and grab a drink for our cabin balcony), quick access to everything waterfront, and it's not a heavily traveled hallway. But we do only book the Club Balconies on that deck (or the angled regular balconies next to those), so I think that helps mitigate some noise. I sleep with earplugs, anyway. I was SOOOOO happy to snag the first Club Balcony Suite in the row this time, as it's priced like a normal club balcony because it's angled. Huge money saver for just a little less balcony space.

Flash mobs literally make me spin and GTFO as quickly as possible, but I understand some people think they are fun. As long as the "surprise" is kept for dance nights, that's fine by me. Knock yourself out. I might not even hate it if I'm hanging out at the dance party. But during the day while I'm relaxing or trying to do something, or in the middle of another activity/show like trivia, etc., then don't blame me when I shoulder check the flash mobbers in my path on my way out of the area. I do not appreciate the sensation of the room going from an energy level 3 to a 10 in an instant unless you are the Publisher's Clearinghouse Prize Patrol here to see me.

Poolside bbqs are the only thing I really miss. I almost responded that I miss the chocolate buffets, but there was SO MUCH WASTE and effort is better spent elsewhere. It was just something to look forward to for me, but the reality is that I only ate a few things and when they were midnight chocolate buffets, eating a bunch of chocolate at midnight just made me feel gross.

Especially more likely to happen during hurricane season. New cruisers might not realize that.

Well, NCL is going to be making much less money on those FAS drink packages now . 😆

In my reading, most people on Cruise Critic have reported NCL says "not our problem" in this instance and you are responsible for dealing with it via the airline directly. 🤷‍♂️

Your example that you shared here awhile back is one example that I give when people ask why I would almost never consider using NCL BOGO air.

To all the self-professed beer snobs, try being a craft beer enthusiast in the late 90s and early 00s and cruising. 😆 It was a sad state of affairs. Now we only cruise NCL ships with a District and are satisfied enough because it's leaps and freaking bounds above what we had before. Cheers!

I've done it twice with no problem (it's a pretty small Bodum with auto on/off), but I can't promise! DH's electric shaver got us called to the naughty room once.

I second "my own space" and my regular tv shows, and will add a bigger closet full of clothes. I like choices. Of things already mentioned, I still bring "real" books and a small hot water kettle and french press (plus my favorite coffees). I like to stay in my pjs for a long time in the morning and good coffee is important to me.

This is the one big change that I've been okay with because they obviously couldn't handle specialty restaurant capacity when most guests had 3-5 nights of specialty dining. There just weren't enough reservations available, period. Remember all the people complaining about not being able to get a reservation? Hoping this recent change has made it more manageable.

This is the attitude we are going in with. I'm a former KCBS judge and I don't eat brisket outside of Texas..period, so yeah, am a little picky about what I consider good bbq. But "average" chicken, sausage ribs and pulled pork are still alright with me just as a different option for dinner while on the cruise. We are only doing it because we have 4 nights of specialty dining and don't like to eat at the same places during our trip. Figure we might as well try Q and just do it on a day when we can come hungry. I agree with another poster that said to "expect Famous Dave's" level of bbq...which yeah, is just above mediocre. I like that they have live music! Food Republic is in my top three fleetwide specialty restaurants. We do it for lunch both sea days. It's casual and delicious. So if you do it for dinner, just expect a more casual atmosphere than many of the other specialties. Good after a shore excursion day where you have a sunburn and don't want to endure a long fancy dinner. 🙂

Those MSC prices I'm seeing are pretty fantastic for Dec. 11th. I don't know that it's that NCL is crazy high, it's that the MSC prices are crazy cheap! If I was booking right now for Dec, I'd definitely be looking at MSC!

I would debate this a bit. I have no idea what the travel agent is saying to NCL when they put me on hold. I don't know if they are asking the question in the right way, or giving me a truthful answer. And I have no control when calling my TA WHEN they talk to someone at NCL. I spend a lot of time with my TAs (I have used multiple with the same agency, with varying levels of satisfaction) saying "it's long hold time, I'll get back to you" and then days go by. If it's communication via email or voicemail, too much time goes by. I have no doubt there are amazing travel agents out there, but I think the norm is that there's a lot of average to mediocre ones. I only use our agency over booking direct because of the $100-400/pp additional discount I receive. That being said, your comment about one phone call re: two cruises is a very good point about when it's nice to have an external TA.

I agree with the OP, it's probably a small percentage. As others have said, cost, number of vacation days needed, and comfort with different languages are the biggest reasons why. For some people, navigating a U.S. airport is really, really hard and they probably have paralyzing anxiety about an international airport. It would detract from their enjoyment of vacation, so they probably think "why would I put myself through that for a VACATION?" For me, I have zero desire to cruise anywhere but the Caribbean and Panama Canal. I take plenty of land vacations elsewhere, and it's how I prefer to experience those destinations. And I can't justify spending the money on a cruise "add on" when I'm on other continents. I'd just rather spend that money on land, trying more local food and entertainment rather than the cruise ship's food and entertainment. FWIW, I also have zero desire to only vacation a week anywhere where my flight is longer than 4 hours. If I'm spending all that time and money flying, I'm there for a minimum of 14 days. And if others have that same attitude, that's logistically and financially unachievable for many.