mking8288

Hmmm, an extra onion rings (4 instead of 3) at Cagney's on one of my side, and a fuller scoop of garlic mashed potatoes. That means, most probably, a la carte menu prices are going to be elevated. Noticed that "token" increase 😟 this steamy morning but with all the "hot" discussion going around ... was just going to not stir up the Shabu Shabu (hot pot). Not going to adjust the DSC as some hinted or suggested, but ... shall we ourselves reconsider reallocating the onboard cash provisioning budget slightly. Let NCL redistribute these extras collected forthwith to the hard work crew ??

Just had afternoon tea with friends of ours ... now, they are seeing a different "tag" on their account - "Casino+Rewards" is apparently, new 🤔

Step away for a short CC break and see that she did a quick sideway & backed out of her berth, turned & sailing down the Hudson already, that's a good on-time, scheduled 6 pm sailaway. Rain started again here in NE Queens, quick check of Windy App showing a good & smooth sailing path out to Dockyard, unlikely to hear any serious rattles behind the wall & ceiling, etc. Make good use of that nice OL & in the afternoon, they keep restocking those cute & petite desserts - picturing myself sitting there for the afternoon with the mini iPad, NR earbuds and powerbank for a quick smartphone boost (bring your own 220v outlet adapter & 6' USB/Lightning cord to recharge from the wall outlets near the windows with the comfortable sofa/loungers) - favorite hideway, feel like owning a piece of your "own" giant living/family room. Some of the uploaded images are upside down, sometimes they ended up sideway ... don't worry about it. I see that Ron is on station as GM, he's very nice & visible - in excellent hands plus the bridge team in charge of navigation & overall comfort and safety. P.S. It's nice to have the FDNY Fireboat saluting with their firehoses ... instead of being "escorted" by NYPD and USCG's armed fast patrol boat (which you might still sometimes see) Now, you just need a rainbow for photo op.

That's good, LM must be yippee 😎 along with his new travel companion Joy was docked, very early, this morning at her berth and if the terminal building's WiFi, that's bad, should be just partially down ?? as I know they have assorted (hidden) SSiDs running in that "warehouse" Security usually don't need to check against any list or manifest, just a quickie glance at the printed or e/Docs & travel documents before sending forward to get that, free, full body scanning. You get to keep your shoes, slippers, sandels, etc on and for men wearing metal belts/buckles, no need to drop them (LOL, couldn't resist saying it) or pulling it 😄 Then it's off to next station to be triaged for different check-in lines, or do the long walk if in Haven or upper decks ... as that's usually back or far end of the building on the Hudson. Did something changed recently that they are looking for "SSSS" san airport TSA, I hope not. If NCL's WiFi beamed into the terminal is down, then it's another story & a bigger problem with truly checking in and getting some mugshots taken (again or otherwise) Did they get instructions to reboot their servers & laptops in the building ... just kidding, poking fun at NCL. Well, looks like no sit-down lunch as it's late, maybe O'Sheehan's / The Local ... and, by the time you are done - fingers crossed that the staterooms are ready, suites & Havens usually/always done first. Good thing you've watched those safety videos 99 times already and just need to make a quick pit stop at the designated muster station en route to the cabin. You've made it, Bon Voyage.

Flexible and off-season travel dates an option ?? - there are deals to be found with NCL, and ... other lines for that matter. Heck, one of the nieces just got back from a 7 nights New England/Canada cruise on Cunard's QM2 out of Red Hook, Brooklyn - a quick 15 minutes ride, curbside to curbside as she lives that close to the pier, didn't cost an arm and her leg. Check out Port Canaveral, Florida this winter instead of NOLA ... 2 ships running donuts; and, of course, Miami or even Tampa. Flights costing a lot more these days. Prices of jumbo eggs on sale (non-organic) at our favorite local supermarkets are down to $2 a dozen again. I walked out of a local BK place as they priced their tiny breakfast sandwich at $6, hence no deal for being lazy & not in a mood to fuzz around in the kitchen. Control of prices - their choice but cash / credit or debit card or Google/Apple Pay tap-n-go, it's under my control. 😉 😁

That's another poorly utilized and barely used space ... back in the days, $20 upcharge for a 3-course price fixed dinner, and without that 20% added. NCL killed the original planned use for the Spiegel Tent and Supper Club (Epic) on ships that have them, shameful, IMHO. Nowadays, half of the events jammed into that overcrowded atrium lobby on the big ships with seatings for 75 to 100, otherwise - standing room only.

This April batch were the better looking ones onboard the Epic, and even DW wasn't impressed and said we are not going to eat any more of these ... she's the one that usually tell me stop being critical. I dunno, are they using solar-powered (just kidding) air fryers these days as it surely will drastically cut their carbon footprints ... well, maybe not. But, fewer discarded cooking oil to be haul away & recycled or disposed of.

@zazou Availability and use of Uber in EU countries vary, when we're in Barcelona this May (and, several other Spain ports while on the TA, i.e Palma & Ibiza ... Uber App & pre-arrival lookup were that they are available and we can pre-book. NOT. When we opened our app, it shown not available or none in the area. Plenty of BCN taxis, regulated & easy to street hail, just about anywhere with that city, always a few parked outside & across the street by our hotel near La Ramblas. Cabify is the preferred app used by locals, the Uber App supposingly worked by booking/calling online for an available taxi via the platform. Metered/zoned rates practically the same or within 1 or 2 Euros. Cheers 😎

Pssst ... this "trick" worked well recently on the Sun, Getaway and Epic. Can't "vouch" personally or directly on the Prima - will check this on the Escape soon, LOL. Well, it's also device/hardware "dependent" on how/what I ("we") use to connect onboard optimally ... not with older iOS or Android gadgets running 802.11n as those are a bit "dated" to get 6 to 7 Mbps download when the servers aren't too busy with 2,000+ souls connecting at sea.

Love, love those descriptive pictures of Alaska, nature and the animals - thank you, and appreciate the extra time & efforts taken to edit and merge them into a compact, mobile friendly format ... more to come. How's the Spirit's onboard WiFi and/or you are using mostly land cellular signals. Looks like you have great weather thus far, no rain in the forecast or fog, etc. It looks like we really should put Alaska on our radar for 2024 and start making plans, it's been over a decade with us ... and even (pre or post-cruise) YVR, staying in Richmond as we always rent a car to get around, plus all that diverse Asian food. Meanwhile, following along 😎

@zazou Bonjour.. A few thoughts - since you are doing a TA out of Portugal and disembarking in NYC, you will be going thru CBP on arriva in New York, not somewhere else) - making a 12:50 non-stop from NY airport to Quebec should be doable, assuming ship isn't delayed (and, going to assume that you will carry travel insurance ... silly not to, IMHO) and you can do the "Express" Self Walk-Off. Most of time, you "should" be outside in the clear, curbside & ready for ground transfer. NCL airport transfer might or might NOT be your best option or plan to get to LGA (or EWR) - last I checked, there are no non-stops to/from JFK. Minimum time is 5 hours for domestic, 6 hours for international (in your case, I believe) scheduled flight departure as acceptable for NCL's bus transfer - most recent charge/cost was about $38 USD per person, subject to change without notice (of course) or $76 for 2 travelers & luggage. Yellow taxi on a metered fare, including tolls & surcharges and tips, etc. to LGA should be about the same - higher for EWR and it is crossing stateline into NJ plus additional travel time due to distance. Uber/Lyft is your own option, subject to surge pricing due to demands with ships at the port - seen that on our last few cruises - savings over taxi or car service will not amount to much, if any ... and, can be higher. There are no "Uber, or Lyft" dispatcher(s) working outside the pier - scammers hovering & flashing "Uber" on their iPhone or smartphone offering rides without waiting - ignore & decline their "kindness" & only use your own App for riding. Over at the East Coast forum for NY, we recommend consider the services of Dial 7 and/or Carmel (usually a few dollars less than D7) and nowadays, pre-book it ahead, but you see that your disembarkation might be delayed, call the 24/7 dispatcher on duty once you are sailing into NY harbour or up the Hudson River, and ask them to move them the scheduled pickup time by 30 or 45 minutes, etc. - they are usually happy to do so at no extra charge or penalty ... and, once you are ready & outside, call for the car/driver to come toward the pier for pickup to the airport (yes, there is an App for Dial 7 and Carmel, works like "Cabify" app in Spain or Portugal, etc.) Recommend/suggest that you call Shorex desk directly at 1.866.625.1167 or 305.436.4000 ext. 11140 to ascertain details & availabilities for NCL transfer to airports. Personally, we would do either a taxi or car service, with Lyft as a backup ... and, the renewed, modernized & expanded LGA has been getting lots of excellent reviews & positive feedbacks, as the old terminals are gone & newly integrated ones bring one to the 21st century.

Ding Ding Ding 😟 🙄 😤 That's the executive summary with NCL's word "games" and they are notorious for not updating and revising their FAQ, etc. Maybe, just maybe, they will do another flip-flop and reverse it, with and/or without notices.

Somewhat off-topic but related. Talk about food waste ?? Not a chance, "leftovers" can be easily taken down below deck to feed the crew on breaks or between shifts, and, the roasted meat or whatever can be easily & creatively turned into something else by the next day on the planned menu, i.e. end up as ingredients in the soup stock. Hardly anything wasted and last but not least, the fishes & marine life in the ocean will feed on whatever, as released & discharged from the ships at sea. In the "old" days, you learn far more doing the longer version of the complimentary behind-the-scene ship tour & get to talk to the executive chef and ask questions when offered. Once upon a time ... well, actually from what I gathered, the other backup option for a late night quickie "snack" besides the buffet or O'Sheehan's/The Local's - was the onboard casino. Usually at a discrete corner, near the table games with plates, utensils & paper napkins, etc. and a few "munchies" - nothing fancy or upscale, but for the hardcore players too busy to be donating and hoping for that big win - not bad in getting a quick bite. Many avoid and/or do not go near the casino with all the smoking going on, as this is just another semi "secret" - free for all, any adults can come by & help themselves to little plates of finger food. Check it out b/c our friends showed us recently - shocking surprised. Not going to say or disclosed anymore, OMG unbelievable, is all I will say. There was little to no doubts that was a clear cost saving measure - might as well eliminate that "comp" snack entirely and cut out that option for their players and high rollers ...

FWIW - on our end, the process appeared unchanged. Submitted requested on July 5th to request OBC for upcoming cruise this September & promptly acknowledge within minutes (auto-replied, as usual) ,,, including this We appreciate your patience as we work hard to get back to you as soon as possible. Please note, due to the high volume of inquiries, our response may take up to 7 business days. We ask that you refrain from submitting multiple requests for the same concern, as it may cause further delays in providing you with a response. NCL emailed back a day later ( last yesterday, July 6th ... "impressed" ) and posted the OBC - check it, been updated/added to our reservation. When we submitted our request earlier this Spring, was "stalled" and took a follow-up email after waiting more than a week+ but, eventually came thru again. One attachment • Scanned by Gmail < Amenity Confirmation for Reservation # * * * * * * * Guest Name: > P.S. We do have another NCL cruise booked earlier for our radar, but final payment isn't due yet (unlikely to cancel or postpone it again this time since the price is a reasonable "steal" & not selling well) - will submit that one just a click or two later. Now that this one got processed quickly.

How "new" or old is your laptop ? Maybe it's not of recent vintage - simple solution, pickup one of the newest 802.11.ax (not *.ac) USB WiFi card/adapter, configure it as the primary & disable the internal WiFi/port - for your next cruise. That should make it WiFi 6+ compatible and easier to find/connect to assorted hotspots out there. If you are on the upper deck, try using the current laptop on the Waterfront outside, it might make a difference between 0 "bars" and "2" bars signal, and, usable. That was the case for me before, nothing up on the pool deck and Spice H2O but marginal & usable on Deck 8 facing Clocktower Mall. Those WiFi hotspots have a limited & short range, unlike cellular signal towers. Regards 😄

Ditto, for our upcoming cruise with 3 different cabins on the ship, I made MDR reservations for 3 nights on mine for 6 of us - not necessary or "asked" online to link or provide cabin info for the others in the party. When you show up, just hand the host/ess the key cards for all the cabins to be swiped. As noted above, you can also book Specialty Dining, follow the sequence outlined above by other posters - worked for us ... so far.

I am not going to jump into the debate about when or what time one can expect the ship's buffet "should" close in the morning, there isn't a "right" answer that's acceptable or satisfactory to some, no matter what. Suffice to say, these waves of changes aren't for our convenience, against the once-upon-a-time NCL of "freestyle dining" of whenever, whatever, whenever ... yada, yada. Covid shutdown and subsequent restart, which devastated the travel & hospitality sectors, hitting the cruise lines hard ... and the restart & long road to recovery ... shortage or whatever, just the ideal backdrop and cover for the finance & accounting to make changes. On our last 2 NCL cruises (that is 2023) - ships reported basically fully staffed at the level appropriate to actual onboard occupancies and not grossly short of crew members AWOL for duties. In years past, decades ... actually since we began cruising some 30 years ago ... buffet has been, errr - was, kept open continuously from dawn to dusk, usually with an in-between section available to eat or dine, while other / main sections are closed or roped off for cleaning & transition to luch, tea time, dinner & late dining. And, gosh, the midnight (not just chocolate) buffet. What's next, I dunno - maybe, a self-service section right next to The Local & O'Sheehan's - fewer crew needed, for our (in)convenience. We'll gladly and cheerfully "pay" a reasonable fee for room service, on an as needed basis, i.e when we feel lazy and don't want to get out of the cabin after getting dressed on a sea day morning, but guess what, seldom get a "warm" breakfast delivered - to sit on the bed or that little balcony to enjoy. Since our early retirement days, we don't set alarms in the morning, unless we have an appointment scheduled or need to be somewhere - we wake up whenever ... unlike the rat race days, sorry for those of you still chasing those dreams - and we don't start dealing with breakfast until 9:30 or 10 in the morning, sometimes. On sea days and if not going ashore on port days, heck - it's a struggle to run down to the MDR for sit-down breakfast by 8:30 or 9 am, knowing that they close by 9:30 am. Now, the buffet close at 9:30 in the morning, better not ... at least not on a sea day. Alas, fewer choices these days - and, that's the bottom line to ponder. To sail and sustain, and, yeah, for who's convenience, really. Think about it. Cheers. P.S. The other solution, upgrade, book and pay for a Haven suite, then ... just ring the butler & s/he will take care of things, right and they are on standby 24/7 for ya. 😆 😉 🤔

Hahaha ... I was worry that they would dispatch the old Epic north from her winter port, prices for the Escape & her out of PC looked pretty cheap, suites & Haven aren't of course. You gonna to fly out here & considering hopping onboard, how about those good old balconies ... let's see if I can find one of the secret angled ones for a decent price, while the DoubleUP promo is still running. No other choices and doesn't look like the Spirit or Gem, etc. will be back this winter. That was funny making silly guesses yesterday.

OP's ship itinerary, if I'm not mistaken, showing Tortola, BVI as their port of call with 6:00 AM arrival and departure at 1 PM (all abroad 12:30 PM) - perhaps, just perhaps - it was adjusted for this day/date only to reflect the likely # of pax going to the breakfast buffet after 9:30 AM ... that, O'Sheehan's otherwise will suffice. However, NCL usually have a light breakfast section open somewhere up there, often by the pool and outdoors area ... and at the least, access to coffee, hot water & water station should be maintained during the daylight hours and not entirely roped off & closed; errrr, for our convenience & their monetary savings, however minor 😁 🙄 😆 As for the evening buffet hours, last (Spring & Fall) year - a lighter, late night buffet was usually open onboard from 9:30 PM to 11:30 PM, as we sometimes stop by after a show for fruits or a light snack. Not anymore come January 2023 and the one & only option has been The Local or O'Sheehan's ... with one of the MDR open until 10 PM (true for Specialty Dining too, usually) Of course, for your convenience 😟 😕 😬 room service and/or using the SWIFT (QR coded for smartphone ?? never "tested" it for full functionality) app/system onboard, cheerfully delivered, AYCE as ordered for a nominal fee of $9.95 + 20% to one's cabin, stateroom & club balcony suite, non-Haven suite, or studio, etc. Waiting for one of the nieces currently onboard the Cunard QM2 for a direct report / update on their onboard experience this week ... their embarkation last week was a mess too, due to an unplanned medical emergency onboard (cardiac diverted, unable to call in medivac due to heavy fog). Sad to realize & acknowledge, the grass isn't necessary greener elsewhere at sea. The good news, egg prices are down to its normal prices again and not rationed onboard ... hopefully, they aren't counting pieces of bacons dished out or out of tomato juices. Cheers & pack lots of humor (sarcasm) when traveling (flying) these days.

I'll "call" the odds are better than / higher than 50:50 to bring a bigger ship down under - will be "summer" for them. Mid sized Spirit will do fine doing a mix of short & medium length runs in Southeast Asia and Taiwan ... Hong Kong is trying to appeal & attract other cruise lines to return to and make HK a regular port of call (although, I am not convinced b/c at the first hint of another pandemic or serious public health outbreak (again) - like another round of SARS and/or Covid - they'll likely slam shut their ports of entries, airports & rails, etc.) Our TA friend still hasn't got the scoop from her sources in the industry as their "partners" so it's all still under wraps high up in the corner executive suites. FYI for others, just managed to do a booking for one of the remaining GA sailing out of NY next January, let's see how that go - using just a CND to hold it, final payment isn't due until September ... let's see what happen next ... 🙄 Going to be interesting, to say the least.

Relax & chill out, BTW welcome to CC. Should've inserted extra Emojis with the assorted sarcasm and humor, poking fun out of the worsening situation with ship schedules ahead - we aren't abandoning the fleet, not yet but preparing to jump across the berth to other lines this winter ... got 3 cruise terminals to choose from in the NY-NJ area, all within and less than 60+ minutes of driving unless it's a weekday, the convenience of not flying. For others that planned way ahead, hotels & airline tickets booked - even if insured & covered for changes and cancellations, just not nice ...

Interesting info, to say the least ... agreed, that's possible. Perhaps, NCL is trying to figure out how soon they need to start the repositioning and kickoff the Aussie season with a bigger ship and to fill the cabins. If that's the scheme, I can see another GA sailing or two (out of NY) being cancelled after the holiday ones. That will leave a big hole for NY / Northeast, taking out the one and only remaining ship for this upcoming winter. I know, some folks "disliked" sea days and the cold outdoors sailing out of and returning to NY in the colder months and now, their "wishes come true" - wanna sail NCL, fly or drive, amtrak (or, Greyhound ... gosh, good brief 😁 😬 🤔 hell, no) - go south & catch up in Florida, cause not seeing anything out of Baltimore either. Let's have fun & play the guessing game, deal or no deal - wild & absolutely unsupported guesses or speculations only - not even rumors based ... since NCL has 2 ships this winter based out of Port Canaveral alone, the Escape and Epic doing donuts ... in addition to Miami and Tampa, maybe and just maybe, NCL will turn things upside down further & bring one or the other ship back up to NY in January, quick & easy & do the selling. Just a quick check on the Escape schedule, they can just leave her in NY and cancel those booked to sail out PC this winter. Crazy wild ideas, more (un)happy cruisers - sooner they decide & announce the change with positive spins, the better ... me think.

Whether it's a good summer at their IT ops or not, that's not my / our problems and theirs to own ... and promptly fix / restore. You meant like that planned, briefed overnight scheduled system maintenance about a week or two ago. Granted, we don't know for sure and not going to absolutely rule out that possibility at this moment. It has been, lately, pretty reasonable to conclude that NCL's communications has been poorly executed and done, annoying and not helping themselves. "Heads" would/could/should be rolling and expert tech support called in 24/7 to fix and/or restore it competently ... until it is 98.5% functional again. Too easy to fingerpoint the "other" department(s) as someone else's failure and to remain silent, acting as if the rest of the "universe" aren't paying attention. FYI for others looking at the Getaway 10 Days Bermuda & Caribbean cruise out of NY - the Jan 27 to Feb 6, 2024 is now gone, no longer on NCL's portal. Was just looking at it earlier, waiting for our friends to clear their calendars as they plan to use their CAS voucher (as one of the few listed options.) That is NOT a glitch as some would like to believe otherwise. It's more than probably being cancelled for ... whatever reasons, whether it's a charter, dry dock and ship being redeployed, doesn't matter. Of course, there is also a possibility that cyber hackers are in their system having fun re-arranging the fleet's deployment schedule ahead, short of taking down the system ... okay, just kidding and making fun of this. It's not funny and just because it's early July and folks are on vacation & away. Miami, is there a problem or what ??

Searched for GA's upcoming dry dock schedule, given the timing for the Joy's refurb ... maybe NCL is going to bring the GA into the shipyard and do some work, and, possibly use the repo to "shuttle" some of their crews around the world, rotating between assignments & vacation leaves, etc. Just purely speculating and speculating, Google and my AI partner "Bard" not coming up with anything, yet. Apparently, the GA is still listed for using Dockyard, Bermuda next February thru April - FWIW Good point about we all end up paying higher prices. Venezia looks interesting, different brand & different onboard experience and price-wise, very competitive and lower than NCL (did a quick mock balcony booking for 2) for winter itinerary with a stop in Miami en route, that's better - IMHO - than a midday stop at Port Canaveral. Interesting trip report by @shof515 (thanks & nice review) over at the Carnival forum w. photos, worthy of a quick read ... and, seeing other familiar NCL cruisers from CC hovering over there. This could be a strategic move that turn out to be costly for NCL - plus, MSC & Princess joining well established Royal ships sailing out of nearby Cape Liberty, NJ.

Have a great & wonderful B2B cruise, looking forward to live-ish report. Do mix up that sarcasm and grumpiness with good dose of humor. Bon Voyage to both dad & you.