Rock1t

Thanks so much for the great review! I'm boarding the Breakaway on March 10th and it will be my first NCL cruise. I've been pretty apprehensive about the lack of entertainment options with SIX gone and I plan on finding a bar to spend some time at each night since game shows aren't for me.

Hello!

I have been planning a 16 day Panama Canal cruise in October 2024 and have booked an excursion at every port except Puerto Quetzal. I am on a RCCL cruise (Radiance of the Seas) and have been wanting to do a Pacaya Volcano Hike and I know NCL offers the excursion (5.5 hours) but so far RCCL has not offered a similar excursion. I was wondering if anyone on a previous RCCL cruise has seen a similar excursion in the past or maybe if there is a local vendor that offers a volcano hike? 

1 minute ago, FSU1991 said:

Radiance class does not have a promenade correct?

That's correct. It has a Centrum (atrium) which spans roughly 7 decks vertically.

I have no advice to offer because I am looking at a cruise to Progreso in 2025 on Brilliance of the Seas but it looks like the Cenote is at or near the Chichen Itza site.

May I ask if you decided on one tour or the other and why? I am looking at booking this cruise specifically for the Progreso stop to visit Chichen Itza. 

7 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

How was the cabin (beside tiny)? Is it a more modern design as they have been installed later? And is it a quiet area?

The furniture and desk area seem to be the same as the rest of the ship (and Radiance class) and was fine but a little worn. The bathroom seemed to be a little more updated than my cabins on other Radiance class ships with blue tiled floors, the round shower doors instead of a curtain, and the best water pressure of any cruise I've been on. I'm going on the NCL Breakaway in a few months and have booked a studio cabin so I'll be interested to experience the differences in layout and approach to a studio. 

I liked the location since it was a secluded hallway with only 8 or so cabins and there were 2 heavy glass doors that would close at night to keep any noise out. I never heard any music or the bands during the centrum parties. 

Sure, it was the 10/1-10/8 cruise on Serenade of the Seas. I just checked my account today and the 14 points have been added. Personally I was okay with the solo room but was frustrated after reading that I wouldn't get double points even though I had paid double. I won't book a guarantee again due to others experiences after learning of others outcomes. 

Maybe I am the exception but I recently booked a Solo cruise on Serenade, paid the supplement and chose an Interior Guarantee (there were no solo rooms available to book at the time). I was assigned a 2W cabin (4583) and expected to only get 7 points but was given the entire 14 points? I won't book a guarantee solo again given the risk of not getting the double points but just wanted to share this experience. 

On 8/12/2023 at 9:03 PM, Panhandle Couple said:

Feb is a good time, between holiday rush and spring break.

 

Yes, you can bring your own insulated container and fill it up at the buffet, or any bar on board.  We have never had a bartender say no, although they will probably hand you a plastic glass of ice water. If you use the same bar and bartender, they will just fill your glass for you.  They do for daily soda's for my wife once they recognize us.  Tipping always helps.

 

Read reviews on Syd Norman's.  Assuming you like 70's music, 3 nights worth, about 90 minutes each night.  Classic hits, Fleetwood Mac's Rumors LP, Prom Night songs.

 

We really enjoyed Burn The Floor.  Lots of dancing and very good band and singer.  Of course these rotate, so could be a different group of people, but I assume the songs will be the same.

 

Unknown if-when Six will be replaced.  We first saw in 2019 when it was unknown.

Personally, seeing it twice, and one more time before it leaves, will be enough for me.  Not a big fan of it.

NCL could replace with an unknown show, or maybe BeetleJuice (coming on Prima) or simply wait awhile before adding another show.  No info from anyone on this. There is the usual scattering of duets and solo acts through out the ship at night, as well as parties on the aft deck Spice H2O and the Bliss Lounge.

 

 

Thanks so much for this detailed reply! We went ahead and booked the Breakaway for Feb 25, 2024 out of New Orleans and will start planning some excursions now. I've been to Costa Maya and Cozumel many times, but this will be my first at Roatan and Belize. Planning to do a scuba excursion at Roatan and maybe have a beach day at Harvest Caye! I really appreciate the insight since NCL will be a new experience for us. 

Another vote for the Radiance! Odyssey would be my second favorite. Happy to see lots of love for the Radiance class

I've been pricing the Breakaway from New Orleans for February 2024 and this would be my first NCL cruise after doing many RCCL and Disney so this thread has been helpful. 

After looking at the daily planners posted in the Live follow along above, the entertainment options looks limited since we do not go to comedy shows and Six is being removed in January.

We are usually off ship all day in port, come back to the room, shower, dinner, and then go to a show (ice skating, Aquatheater, main theater etc.). I'm concerned that there may be a lack of entertainment options to fill the evenings outside of comedy. Does anyone know the plans for evening entertainment or will it be filled with variety/headliner acts?

I was also shocked that the beverage package doesn't include bottled water on NCL so could we bring a refillable tumbler and use a glass (or multiple glasses) of water from a bar or buffet to keep that filled throughout the day? 

I changed my 2024 Norwegian Fjords trip to a 16 day Panama Canal transit. I'm hoping I didn't make a mistake by assuming 2025 will have similar itineraries to 2024 since those regulations for the deep fjords go into affect for 2026... I'll book the day the itineraries are released for 2025. 

Dining options just became available for my 10/2024 Panama Canal cruise on Radiance and Samba is still bookable for that far in the future but I am curious that if they are removing the restaurant (as others have mentioned in rumors) then I guess they would just refund those purchases? 

I purchased the Coffee Select Card on the Radiance of the Seas in August 2022. The employees at the coffee bar were clear when I purchased it that any drink with extra shots of espresso would be more than 1 punch. I have access to the espresso machine in the Diamond Lunge but I only drink iced lattes so it was still worth it for me to purchase the card for triple shot iced lattes. I used the card up during my sailing so I cannot speak on whether it would be honored on other ships, but it did have the ship name and my room number on the card so YMMV, but I wouldn't expect another ship to honor it.

24 minutes ago, Abi12 said:

How do you do this if your cruise price drops and you don't use a travel agent but book direct with RCCL?

You can just call RCCL direct and tell them there was a price drop and as long as its for the same category stateroom you have booked, they will honor it. It has to be before the 90 day final payment date. 

That is very strange since I'm currently booked on the October 1-8, 2023 Canada/New England cruise on the Serenade and we have excursions available for all ports including Portland. There are only 9 listed for Portland and most are Lighthouse or Kennebunkport tours. I plan on doing the Casco Bay Mailboat Tour on my own and checking out some local shops and breweries after. 

3 hours ago, hallasm said:

In Flåm it should be possible to do both the train and Stegastein - book train well in advance - will sell out. You might also want to do kayaking in Flåm rather than Bergen

 

In Ålesund the cruise to Geiranger is a good option - I believe timetable will be the same as 2023. 
 

For Bergen I’ll strongly recommend to explore the city rather than the Kayak.

Thank so much for the insight! I hadn't thought of doing both in Flam so now I'll look at booking the train in the morning, have a quick lunch back onboard, and then book the Stegastein for after lunch. I'll also keep Bergen to just an exploration day. Now that I have a rough outline of my days, I'll just wait for bookings to start to open in 2024. 

Hi everyone, looking some advice or opinions for a RCCL trip I have planned for July 2024. I'm mostly curious if it is possible/realistic to take the Alesund-Geiranger RT day cruise and if anyone would recommend this? I'm a very active 32 year old, so I think I have a good mix of activities and exploration. 

7/12 - Southampton

7/13 - At Sea

7/14 - Stavanger (Pulpit Rock hike through RRCL)

7/15 - Flam (either the Flam railway or Panorama Stegastein through emobflam.no) leaning toward the emob smart car tour

7/16 - Alesund (we are here 8am - 6pm and I REALLY want to see the Geiranger fjord so I'm looking at the RT cruise from 9am - 5pm on geirangerfjord.no. Official times for July 2024 don't seem to be out yet but that would take the entire day and I'm okay with missing Alesund for a day of seeing the fjord and exploring the town)

7/17 - Bergen (only here until 2pm so looking at the Funicular and exploring the town on my own or a kayak tour through RCCL)

7/18 - At Sea

7/19 - Southampton 

The itinerary originally had us stopping at Nordfjordeid instead of Alesund and I found a very recommended Geiranger tour from this thread but the port change to Alesund has thrown me as I had my heart set on seeing Geiranger. I feel like this a decent mix of fjords and cities.