HowardK

People seem more rude lately- I was just at a hotel that had 20 minute delays to get an elevator due to one breaking.

We had 8 people (max) on the elevator, 4 more people wanted to come on and I said "you can't come on as it would exceed the weight limit"

The person proceeded to curse me out in front of his 2 young children.

Has there been any mention on why the Epic was cancelled? I am curious as I am going on it the following month from San Juan

13 hours ago, LisaLisa87 said:

We live in St. Augustine and are very excited about this! I was hoping there would be some 7 night sailings. We’re not really interested in cruises to the Bahamas at this point, and 11 to 12 nights is tough for us since we’re both still working full-time. On the local news, they mentioned that the Gem will have to work around Carnival’s schedule. I’m looking forward to seeing the itineraries!

I lived in Jacksonville for a year in the late 90's., and wished I had visited St Augustine.

This is great news for those in that area! 

I like it when the reviews are broken into paragraphs, and not like 80 sentences of mindless rambling.

When I was able to , I would upgrade the week before to a balcony. To me, I wanted space to unpack and have my bags. 

Although the ship is different from 2011, my Epic cruise then was the best of the 6 solo trips I took.

Regardless if you stay in a studio or not- with 128 studios there are more solos, I found the entertainment better. I can't speak for the itinerary but loved the Epic

I have done the following - please note I am using hard shell suitcases, besides printing the tags and then putting them in one of those tag holders I also get Avery full size adhesive sheets, print them and stick them to my suitcase.

They are pain to take off though in fact I still have one of them on from 2018

Thank you for your excellent review so far! I am scheduled to sail from NYC a year from today and was wondering (of course it can change year to year) how the weather was, and about how long it took to get warm enough weather to spend time outside. I loved the Breakaway and was on it 2013 and 2014

The cruise I booked with a balcony- had no solo balconies available. I didn't mind paying the supplement because I am stunning and have  plenty of time and might find a wife by then. 

Hello, normally I cruise Solo on NCL  from NYC and currently have the Prima booked for next year. However, I like how the Venezia looks? Has anyone sailed solo on this ship and how is the entertainment- specifically the music? I enjoyed Howl at the Moon and the District on my prior NCL cruises for example. Thanks in advance.

On 9/6/2023 at 11:32 PM, ColdCruise said:

11 day Trans-Atlantic Lisbon-Miami Nov 16, 2023 ==> $349 pp

unlike @coolrider71, upgrading to a Spa Balcony was considerably more (1K +)

 

Avoiding 🔥- I know OP was asking about 7-day cruises but posted it for comparison and voila! It’s the same for the 11-day as the 7-day 

thanks for posting this- I am scheduled on the Prima for 11 nights next year and was going to get one

This thread is very valuable to me as I have a deposit on the 11 night November 30th 2024 sailing from NYC to the Caribbean. This will be my first cruise in 6 years. It seems compared to other cruises I have been on , there will be a lack of entertainment (primarily Howl at the Moon, the District) but I was planning on getting either a Spa pass and/or Vibe Pass and taking whatever downtime to get through several books on my Kindle and listen to music.

I booked a balcony on the 11th deck that was near the elevator as I hate walking to them, I heard i shouldn't be a problem with noise. I am really looking forward to be able to visit the ports without having to fly to them as I did in the past.

I am gathering this is a better warm weather ship, and envision of course I could have ~ 1-2 days of chilly weather on the way back and down. 

For those of you that have been on this ship, are you going with the expectation for lack of a better term to not be wowed by entertainment/activites and just going to relax vs. other megaships in the past? 

I can't believe in this day and age of multiple information sources why people cut it close and just assume everything will go flawless. 

They need to just do all in one pricing and quit with this "free"nonsense. The ship is going to have to stock the alcohol regardless, its a sunken cost.  I am paying to go on a cruise, I don't see why I should have to pay more for someone to serve me a coke vs water vs beer, they are getting salaries.

- and believe me I tip individuals because I think NCL robs them. 

They are dangerous and prohibited. Kind of like when they banned fireworks after having them on the Brekaway. 

7 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Lack of sleep and alcohol?  Couldn't it have been something else?  (like being packed into ship/plane/airport/terminal with hundreds of disease carrying humans?)  I know people want to blame alcohol for all human evils, but I doubt that anybody can back that up.

Could have been due to being packed on the ship with others not sleeping and having too much alcohol themselves, which wears down the immune system.

For my return to cruising next year, I am seriously considering having them waive the drink package for me. 

For my first cruise in 6 years on the Prima 11 nights I booked a balcony even though it was $4k + whatever charges vs. $2k for a studio + whatever charges.  I know I could book a studio as well and then gamble to see if the price drops and I can upgrade for the difference, but that seems to be happening less than 6-10 years ago.

I looked earlier at my sailing at it didn't have a single balcony.

I figure I would keep my balcony in case my ex-wife decides to leave her new husband. 

She was likely once of  Frank Del RIo's kids trying to nickel and dime you. Just hang up and call again to get someone else.

4 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

Same here! I take my phone and it goes straight into the safe. It does not come back out until we are getting off the ship on the last day. Being glued to a phone is no vacation!

 

No, I do not use the NCL app or any other cruise line app as I find them to be annoying. It is bad enough watching people all the time who can't put their phones down but now NCL is encouraging it!🤦

100% agree with you both! The point of going on a cruise is to unplug for me- obviously I know people do need to stay connected- in Bermuda i checked voicemails with my verizonpass etc. but I prefer to be just looking at the ocean

_ _ C K _ _     A _ _      _ I M _ 

10 seconds -  a philosophy of NCL. 

The upside is it could replace some of the bad comedians. 

The press release forgot "When customers want to buy a vowel, they will be charged $19.95 to their on board account"

This whole thread is driving me to drink. On a more serious note and perhaps somewhat off topic, I got the drink package in 2018 and don't drink that often, so I would have a drink every few hours to try and get my vaule out of the pacakage. - I was never drunk - However due to the alcohol and lack of sleep I became ill at the end of the cruise and had to go to urgent care at home .

So it could be free at sea but they should add with consequences. 

And yes, you are charged taxes in port. When I looked at my bill I had NYC tax charges - about 8 or 9 of them. 

Do they sell a certain amount of spa passes for the week? How much is it currently? I heard around $339 for a week and was trying to figure the cost when I have a 11 night cruise. 

OP- i totally understand your point-  For me personally, I've accepted the fact things I used to do more frequently are more expensive due to exponential increase in demand since the pandemic.

For example, a hotel I stayed at in NYC in August 2021, and even as late as February 2022 was $130 per night- with taxes etc.. now I am averaging $350 a night there ( I pick because I get reward points, the staff actually knows me and it is close to MSG and the train hall)

Next year is my first cruise in 6 years- I am likely paying higher but invested for it during the pandemic.

I'm going on a 11 night Prima- It was going to be $2k + everything else for a studio which would have been $3k. I decided I'll get a balcony for $4k+ whatever and maybe the spa or vibe .

I heard entertainment options were less but I have 6 ports that I actually am all interested in (been to 3 before) and I really could use 10-11 days just to veg.

Ship doesn't have howl at the moon which I used to play at on all my cruises- but maybe there is a piano somewhere. 

I ended up at some point getting from Amazon full page adhesive Avery printing lables and printing them on that and having them stick to my luggage. 

They work really well.

In fact, some of them from 2018 are still on my suitcases. I'll paste over them next year though.