Fredrik

Back again… It feels like they come around more often now. This period for snagging them up is April 17-25th. https://www.ncl.com/cruisefirst-program

How did you manage to get the 1000 off when the the app said no? My apps says 60 days waiting time from the last purchase and will not let me buy a new one.

First time on Joy in July out of NY. So four more months to go for me. Really looking forward to your reporting and following along. Have an awesome cruise and enjoy some champagne right away 🍾🎉🛳️🥳

New rewards are up with sail by date end of August 2024.

It’s only offered a couple of times a year, hence me posting about it. The 150/300 is somewhat always available. -F

Ok, let’s call it purchasing window. My point is that the 500 hasn’t been around for awhile and now it’s back.

The booking window is the double amount. It’s usually not 500 dollars.it comes and goes, now it’s here 😉

FREE $250 WITH CRUISEFIRST Booking Window: December 28th, 2023 - January 4th, 2024 11:59 PM EST. CruiseFirst certificates are valid for new reservations ONLY that book and sail within 3 years of original certificate purchase date. Voyage date must be more than 120 days from original purchase date. Not applicable towards canceled/rebooked reservations. If a guest with an existing reservation cancels and rebooks the same ship and sail date with a CruiseFirst certificate, the additional value of the CruiseFirst certificate will be removed. https://www.ncl.com/about/terms-and-conditions/promotions#insideroffertwopoints

Interesting. Does anyone have screen shots to back this up? Highly appreciated.

Starbucks was absolutely charged tax on last weeks cruise. There were signs put up in some bars on Getaway, but it was a guessing game in the restaurants when the tax was lifted for the day, could be two up to four hours from sailing from the Spanish port.

I understand that if you call and change the booking, aka upgrading to a different category or reprice before final payment that the booking will change. BUT does the same logic apply if you do a bid for a different stateroom? I have the extra three points on our upcoming trip and I don’t want to lose that. EDIT: I found the answer in the Upgrade advantage FAQ 5. What happens with the promotions I already have?You get to keep the promotions you already have. However, no additional promotions will be added to your reservation.

I completely agree with your thinking here. Staying in MSC Yacht Club I once asked for an avocado toast. It wasn’t on the menu, but they promised to arrange it for the morning after. In came a stone cold sandwich with the worst possible fake guacamole smear in the middle. The server was so embarrassed to bring it from the kitchen but he said it was the best they could do. To me this sums up my week in the Yacht Club. Never really good.

We sailed on Epic when it was brand new and absolutely hated everything about the ship design. So much that we didn’t return to NCL after doing several on Oceania and Regent and got curious about Prima. Absolutely loved everything about Prima. So, it’s all down to personal preference but something can be said that Epic were supposed to be a class of its own, but the siblings were cancelled. 😆

Visalia onion tart…. When we started cruising with RCI 20 years ago it was on the menu and I probably had it for 20-30 sailings and the. It went away, but reappeared some time ago so I guess what goes around etc…. The menus were very themed back then with the welcome aboard, the C&A, the Italian, the captains etc. At one point they even looked different depending if the day. Happy cruising anyone, with or without the new menus.

Good times 😉 We were on the first sailing and the ship wasn’t even finished from the yard. We had entire areas being occupied with tech teams. Couldn’t get into our room the first day, Dynamic dining was a mess and the POS went down frequently. It was a crazy crossing from Southampton indeed. The ship changed appearance since new art work went up constantly. Most things did work when we got to the US, but we said then that we would never to do first sailing again. Well, we went on the first Harmony too…. 🙂

Because?

Book all the shows as soon as you step on board. Signup sheets are available in a a specific location. On our sailing it was Syd Normans, but that can change. Most people walk outside, to the buffet or the bar. I can guarantee that if you go straight to signup you will not have a problem with getting into the shows.

So NCL hasn’t release the names of the third to sixth ship in the Leonard class. What do you think the names will be? This is my very uninformed guess, but with NCL highlighting the I in both Prima and Viva, some of these might not be far off…. 🤪 Prima, Viva, Aria, Libra, Diva, Mira

Review of the first revenue sailing from Amsterdam to Copenhagen Sep 3rd to 13th https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cruise-radio/id330992379?i=1000581768668

The right answer to Cats is zero 😂🥳🎉

Hellcats, that would be something 😉 When I say formulaic it’s because I’ve watched the same preprogrammed Billboard on several cruises. British Invasion, never number one etc… Piano bar, dueling pianos or such can work without the Billboard connection. I don’t understand the repetitive nature of HAL onboard programming. How many times are we expected the watch the history of HAL? Dance shows are great, but they are the same across the fleet… I think HAL needs a fresh start when it comes to entertainment. We love the ships, the food, the service and crew, but entertainment is really lacking.

Most common question at the now gone Microsoft place “Could you please help me with my iPad?” 😂😂😂 Microsoft, Oprah, American test kitchen…. All gone. Could we hope for music walk to be next? Getting kinda tired of the formulaic show set ups… HAL can do a lot better than this. Customers are loyal, service is excellent. Does HAL really need all this external branding?

Great to here! We’ve very much enjoyed both K and NS so we can’t wait for our next HAL cruise on R. Would someone onboard or recently been onboard be able to share some daily planners?

Just to clarify, I’m not sure we’ll sail with NCL again. Also no trying to pursued any one else to. I was just trying to point out that FDR is making big changes to NCL and in my book that is a great thing for Oceania since I believe O is also upping their game. Who ever you sail with, safe travels and enjoy your cruise.

Oceania is all about food, Regent is all about service and NCL used to be (and in most part is) family friendly mass market big ships with a lot of nickel and diming. Well, we just got off the new Norwegian ship Prima and I must say we have never had food with that quality on any of the competing lines (Royal, Princess, Carnival etc). I am so impressed how mr Frank del Rio has transformed NCL, and our perception of NCL with this ship. This could mean so many great things for both Oceania and Regent since they have to up their game too. In short the main dining room experience have really evolved and the Hudson’s is one of the most striking new dining venues in any ship. The restaurant is 270 degrees and no table is more than three more tables to the curved wall to the kitchen. Food comes out piping hot and is nicely presented. The glass windows are massive and every seat has a great view to the ocean. The menu is expanded but stays the way every night. Makes sense since NCL is doing mostly seven nights cruises and with 18 different restaurants you may end up eating here only once or twice anyway. Another complimentary the local pub is open 24/7 with more gastro pub offerings, burgers and salads. The buffet that is incredibly small because of a brand new concept, the Indulge. The restaurant is all the way back on deck 8 and has indoor and outside seating. The only for fee part is the Starbucks and in upscale ice cream and patisserie. It’s almost like a trendy food hall with Indian, noodles, rotisserie, smoke house, salad bar etc. You sit anywhere and have tablets with a very extensive menu. You order from the tablet and servers will bring the dishes to you. So you want pad Thai, tapas dishes, ribs and a kale salad? No problem. At dinner they even serve tenderloin. The speciality restaurants do come at a fee, but dining packages with unlined dining can be bought. The highlight for us was the French restaurant Le Bistro, Italian Onda by Scarpetta and the brand new Mediterranean fish forward Palomar. Food republic small plates, Sushi place, Los Lobos Mexican, Hasuki Teppanyaki and the suite restaurant the Haven rounds up the line up. Finally what really impressed us was the wine lists and spirits offered. Almost all fares with NCL includes a basic drinks package that is standard beer, wine and drinks up to 15 dollars. Strangely specialty coffee, or even bottle water is not included. WELL, if you upgrade for 29$ Plus gratuities a day you get pretty much everything. Bottle water, juices, the entire Starbucks drinks at both their locations onboard (and they have the complete lineup including Nitro and refreshers), AND all wines served/glass. That includes Veuve rosé that is 35$+grat and even whiskeys up to 65$‘glass. We found it an unbeatable value drinking way more great wines than we have even done on O and R at a fraction of the price. Of course this was the first sailing with 50% occupancy of the 3200max and with less than 20 children. On a full sailing in the Caribbean when school is out I would never dream of doing it again. But with five more ships on order it going to be interesting to follow how this will change the entire company. The ship is smaller than the biggest NCL ship and also has the largest space ratio/passenger for them. How do you think this departure for NCL will change O and R? Looking forward to your comments.