ricksurf

Good Saturday Morning; loved your photos and your visit to Southern California. Sadly, it's raining this morning; not our fault here. Blame it on Mother Nature. If you are going to Long Beach, then a good place to visit in the rain would be the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach Shoreline Village. Also, many nice places to eat in that area.

I don't like the Club Balconies on the Epic, since in most cases, the bathroom has a tub instead of a shower. You don't really a significant amount of exta space in the Club Balcony.

You made the perfect choice for Easter week by getting the VIP pass. Isn't it fun to see how the movies are made?

Welcome to Southern California. We will see you Sunday onboard the beautiful Bliss. We love this ship and especially the repositioning cruises to the North. There will be 5 of us from Orange County; including a Canuck, who will be visiting her parents in Vancouver. Hopefully, we can bring the warm California sunshine with us up the Coast.

Our most recent cruises were on Prima Transatlantic and Getaway Med. The food selection and preparation on both cruises we found to be very good and really a step up from the past. The Food Hall concept on Prima was excellent. NCl added more kitchens with Prima closer to the the restaurant and the food preparation was fresher. We are Diamond Level, so have been cruising with NCl for many years.

You can take your son to dinner with you as the 2nd person on your free Platinum Specialty Dinners. Also, you can share with him if you go to a restaurant such as Food Republic where you order 4 items off the menu. If he is paying for a dinner at one of the Specialty Restaurants and you are there using your Free At Sea, then you can give him one of your courses. You can't give him your Card and let him present himself at the restaurant as you for the Free At Sea or for him to take someone to a restaurant for the two for one Platinum dinners without you.

You can make all your dining reservations online without any charges. When you check in for your dinner at the individual restaurant, then they will ask you how you want to pay for the meal. You just tell them to use your meal plan.

It is not difficult to make reservations for specialty dining and especially on an extended cruise, since there are so many more nights and times available for people to dine. You can make the dining reservations on the NCL website, where your reservation is posted 90 days in advance. Also, you can make shore excursions reservations, show reservations, etc. For extended cruises, then we have rarely made reservations, since in most cases the Specialty Restaurants had sufficient openings on most nights. Cagney's is probably the most popular; so keep an eye on it and you may need to make a reservation in advance for a particular time.

I did a three week cruise on the Jade this last year from Athens to Dubai through the Suez Canal. Since, I have cruised on this ship in the past, then I was very familiar with the amenities which this ship offers versus others. The only fault that I have is the Club Balcony Suites under the pool area, since you can pick up some noise from above due to moving about of lounges. We, always choose the suites under La Cucina in the aft portion, since there is no noise from this area. The Jewel class ships are smaller and offer a nice experience. We were port intensive on this cruise, so exiting and reboarding was done quickly. The aft open area behind the buffet is an excellent place to have meals and to spend time outside with amazing sea views. Five years ago, I did a Transatlantic cruise on this ship from Venice to Houston. The cruise experience was the same positive vibe as I had last year. What's nice about the NCl ships for long cruises is the number of dining choices. The food choices never get boring with so many different dining venues. I noticed that Princess is copying this NCl experience with the launching of their new ship The Sun. They have added a separate Suite area with private dining room and pool area. Also, they have added more Specialty Dining Venues, which is similar to NCl.

We did the first crossing on the Prima with Norway and Iceland. These ships, as suggested in the video are best for warmer weather. There is just not enough interior space for the colder weather. It was impossible with our crossing to go outside. If you intended to eat on sea days at busy times, then you'll find it difficult to find a seat. In the evenings with the colder weather, then Good luck finding a seat in any of the entertainment venues. The plus for the ship is the food. Since they have added so many new local kitchen areas, then you'll find freshly cooked foods in many places. If you can breakaway from a buffet mentality and enjoy the other food venues, then you will love this ship. While the food was equally as good in the buffet, the size of the area is challenging. The staterooms are excellent with new larger designs. In all, I don't think that I would pay an upcharge to sail on this class of ship.

I hope that they take the next step and convert the space into the Food Hall concept that they have on the Prima and Viva, which are complimentary. Wouldn't that be an amazing addition?

I usually don't when we have a lot of ports. The Haven is best on the sea days, when you can really enjoy it. Save your money for another cruise.

Thank you for your review. We enjoyed the Prima on the first Transatlantic to NYC; even though the route was a little cold. We, also found the balcony cabins really well appointed. The food was a notch above what we experienced in the past from NCL. The biggest problem with the ship is the interior common areas and the lack of. We couldn't find one common area which was large enough to accommodate the number of passengers on the ship.

They will ask you if you would like to join another table at check in. Also, the concierge in the Studios has posted in the past that any Single on board can join their group at the Studios for dinners, etc.

Time for everyone to telephone NCL and demand refunds for the all inclusive alcohol programs. It's not the end all with the consumption of alcohol as stated above, but it's the false advertising that NCL is practicing in selling these packages, knowing that they cannot produce in these UK ports and supposedly in Italian ports, also. Other Cruise Companies are not subjecting their customers to these problems.