BrianLo

Thanks for the review. Any idea if anything of significance was changed during the dry dock?

Should have clarified I didn’t mean they need it now. But that they need to decide in 3-5 years what the long term fleet vision is. If those ships are going to last 20 more years, they’ll need another major investment cycle. First and foremost Dawn and Star. Sun/Sky already got the partial treatment that culminated in Spirit.

NCL needs to figure out in the next 3-5 years if Star/Dawn, Sky/Sun are getting a final kick at the can. They need a hard goods full refurbishment on the scale of Spirit. That buys them perhaps a final 10-15 years in the fleet. Even still that only carries the small end of the fleet through the 2036 build plans. Will NCL go small-er subsequently? I actually think the 5000 vessels are smart though, NCL covered their bases with a really nice variety of ships. I'd love to see a couple small-mid 'cold weather' vessels though as their next push. More intimate Alaska, Patagonia, Antartica, Iceland, Norway, Greenland options. Get the Prima out of there where it doesn't belong. Especially something to sail Stars currently itineraries. Something with purpose built tenders... honestly like Celebrity Edge Class or a tad smaller.

I'm a bit surprised and actually kind of impressed that their roadmap is so laid out now. I really thought we'd hear about a Celebrity new class order well before NCL, or even RCL. These four new ships are probably going to be Caribbean focused only. I don't terribly mind them having a large sized class, considering they've otherwise kept things on the smaller end. Though I'd be a big fan of them going to the Spirit overhaul maneuver for Dawn/Star, Sky/Sun. That buys those ships another 10 years... but we're already talking about ten years from now with this order. What they do need though is a long term replacement goal for the exotic sailings that their small ships do... Prima class should have been that, but the inability to use tenders and the warm weather focus is a major inherent flaw.

I had a good time! The itinerary changes were mildly disappointing, but I just had an exceedingly early ship tour (4:45 departure for a game drive) to compensate one day and I think the other I replaced with a non ship tour as they cancelled mine from under me and didn’t offer an option. Richards Bay had bad weather (not their fault-but also lost out on a tour there) and Luderitz was cancelled outright. I was also in South Africa for a week before and I’d highly recommend something similar if you are traveling far. The entire starter week was great! Overall though I saw the big game and each of the drives I did all had their respective highlights that all seemed complimentary. If the itinerary was a little less altered, which it should be in theory, I’d highly recommend. I’m going to do Doha to Mauritius leg next year. Hopefully that’s less dramatic as well! 😂

Just a correction, they emailed us on February 28th for the South Africa Cruise itinerary changes. The Cruise left March 8th.

I’m not one for basing reality sheerly on anecdotes, but 7 versus 1000+ being the differential on Wheel versus Elements is pretty damning. Now Price of Right is a Production show and is very, very popular. Wheel of Fortune is Bingo adjacent that landed in the wrong venue at the wrong time. edit: don’t ask me why the photos are uploaded upside down, but anyways the receipts.

10% full on mine, only 7 players signed up so they had to cancel (minimum is 20). They did reattempt it a second night, at least wedged in between the comedy act, but I didn’t bother the second go round to see if it got off the ground or not. Just got out of elements, it was fully packed with the requisite standing ovation. Of course there’s a second showing. I really feel like this time the guests are voting correctly and in unison. I just wish upper management had been on my cruise, a true indictment. At the very least they need to shuttle this to the bliss lounge or equivalent at 3PM on a Sea day and get it out of the main theater. I really don’t feel like it is sticking around though, both from lack of interest and from guest issues. They are at least going to get metrics on paid uptake and not be impressed.

I’m batting about 25% missed, cancelled, rescheduled ports with NCL, over 8 cruises. 25% of that is bad luck, 25% is weather, 25% is the itineraries I book and it is starting to feel like 25% is the fault of NCL. I am booked for Greenland June 2025, so I apologize to everyone who hopes it is going there! But at least that one was warned reasonably ahead of things and the replacement ports are not bad, assuming that’s what they do next year. But they are still offering Greenland itineraries for June 2025…

Absolutely. And again my comment was meant to be an indictment against the tech service, not the age demographic. Also absolutely. Perhaps I should have re-worded it that the older generation doesn’t ‘like’ the experience. It wasn’t meant to be a capability issue or indictment. Experiencing the same software on the free version on the Edge didn’t go over so well. A lot of people said they just wanted a pen and paper. I liked it, but I think the enjoyment aspect is generational rather than capability.

I’d be a bit surprised if they didn’t have at least a few more cabins in some form, maybe not the doubling like the RCL test bubble attempted. Otherwise, where is the cost savings if house keeping crew also can’t be cut back? Maybe a few less refreshed towels.

sorry, that comment didn’t come off the way I meant. It is making one’s phone connect to finicky timeplay that seems to give older generations a hard time. But they do have lots of crew walking around helping. It’s just a messy way of appealing to an older crowd, who would much rather have a physical wheel and low barrier to entry. It’s the antithesis of what the actual “Wheel Demographic” wants. Probably why people just stand up and leave.

I think I just have a sub par steward right now, you are probably right. The quantum test cruise one they actually seemed seriously understaffed.

I don’t miss the turn down itself personally. But what I have found is that the quality of the whole housekeeping has declined because your room stewards room load is doubled. I mean it is probably steward dependent, but my worst experience was on Quantum, we happened to be the Australian bubble cruise where the once a day was trialed, before NCL or RCL officiated. My poor steward seemed overwhelmed and basically couldn’t get to my room until 1630. I sent him away one time because I just didn’t feel like leaving pre dinner and the poor guy was so concerned that I wouldn’t have anything since his shift was ending. I largely find now you get your room cleaned based on the order they do cabins. Putting your ‘clean my room now’ sign is meaningless, it will literally go ignored for up to 8 hours if you are towards the back of their load. it was a breath of fresh air on the Celebrity Edge recently to have the double service and the room steward who would see us leave for breakfast and go in and out like a ninja. I mean, you do eventually learn when you are due, and right now I’ve learned my time is about 2PM on my current cruise. Didn’t matter that my you can clean my room now thing was flagged at 4am (literally).

I probably qualify as a contemporary cruiser (mid millennial), NCL apologist, lover of Price is Right on Prima… I even like Prima. I even can claim I paid for Price is Right Live when it toured through our city over a decade ago and it was great fun (and I won money so that probably impacts the experience)… But what just went down with this wheel of fortune thing is embarrassing. It’s the one thing I’ll highlight as an out and out con on my survey, even on another highly disrupted cruise. Also time play with anyone older than 50 is not a smart idea… and 50+ is the Wheel demographic. I did a timeplay free trivia on Celebrity Edge and it was great, but boy did the audience struggle and that wasn’t when there was a charge on the line.

I’m still reading through the thread, but I have good news folks. Just almost sat in my first Wheel of Fortune on the Dawn. I was ready to exaggerate how poorly it was attended… I say almost because seven people signed up and they needed a minimum of 20, so it was cancelled. No exaggeration required. All the previous entertainment has been well attended. This was the 8PM Theatre show for the night. Sea day tomorrow. The 7PM Broadway Cabaret show in Bliss was packed with standing room only. There’s a second broadway cabaret show at 9. As someone who said there was no way this was an entertainment replacement… well I was wrong. But trust me NCL is going to get the message, this isn’t lasting. For anyone who has actually seen this show (since I haven’t), I also want to say the Price is Right is an actual production. Don’t hold this cheap time play experience that should occur in the bliss lounge at 3PM on a Sea day, against the more elaborate game shows.

Yes, I definitely think the worst of it is behind us. I was joking about 2027 somewhat. Additional cost savings seem to be stuff behind the scenes, like fuel and reducing food waste with better metrics. The company will have cleared its highest interest debt and its secured debt by year end, which will allow it to relax a little bit moving forward into subsequent years. The investor day in May should be interesting as they can start talking a little more about the future and not merely tread water. In some ways we are lucky they had so many ships on order as I think they definitely would have fallen behind their peers with ship orders, otherwise. I think in a few years some of the capital investment starts flowing, would be interesting to see if the Dawn/Sun classes get some Spirit-like money thrown their way for refurbs to increase their longevity.

Stock has significantly lagged behind its peers, particularly Royal. But now some general cause for optimism that the company is no longer in a looming disaster scenario. NCL really couldn’t have weathered an additional year shutdown, but it’s on a positive trajectory. The balance sheet should be sufficiently deleveraged in three years time to pre pandemic levels and then the aggressive cutting can likely stop as they ‘discover’ guest satisfaction can be improved with judicious spending. Hashbrowns and cookies galore in 2027!

Count me as another who’d gladly go again (and subsequently am booked on Viva, which sort of qualifies). I think it’s one of those things where the people who dislike it, really-really-really dislike it. But that strong opinion tends to overweight and drown out more than it would imply from a representative perspective. Even in probably a more critical, less open to change group such as is represented on these boards, you weight 75% of people who liked it. Not to say I can’t identify some of its flaws. Though I’m quite positive Aqua will be much more well received. Some of the shock factor of the differences will be normalized and some of the biggest (or should I say smallest) design perpetrators will be enlarged and addressed. Including some of the people who dislike the class to an extreme extent should have self opted out by the time aqua releases.

Apparently there are 1500 people doing a back to back next cruise. Which I balked and swear I misheard (from the captain). 38 only on the Auckland turnaround a few days ago. I didn’t back to back, but plenty of signage was up for it in Sydney on the 4th.

Take it with a grain of salt, but I asked the Spirit stage manager about this who said there are more original productions in the works to replace the shows that will likely roll our this year. More on a priority basis to the Breakaway vessels and onward. While it makes sense for NCL to not license shows. It doesn't really make sense to have their full production casts sitting around doing very little on 10-14 day cruises. They can be utilized for more entertainment. The strangest cut of the lot to me was Noise Boys. It didn't even last a year on Prima. Was it expensive or just didn't rate well with guests?

I would assume OP is specifically after an itinerary (?Africa). Dawn has truly some extremely exotic and varied options that are hard to replicate.

It may very well be the nature of the cruises I book, but I’ve had exactly one itinerary ever with NCL that has fully stuck. Which ironically was this one on the Bliss.

It could change, but I was never able to pre book Windows on the Spirit for this cruise. It also would not have been needed, so don’t sweat if the website is lying to you. Very easy to access and nice big venue.

‘cruise casual’ in all venues except Le Bistro after 5PM. So you are good! Which is defined as khakis, jeans, shorts, casual shirts, closed-toed shoes. No tank tops.