wcook

I honestly believe that first time cruisers only “need” one thing: to get their butt on the boat. A passport, visa if necessary, flight to Europe, etc. pretty much everything else is optional. As for your specific questions:

Your phone will take plenty great pictures for posting on Facebook/Instagram etc, or just sharing with friends when you get back. No need for a camera unless you just enjoy it as a hobby. 
 

No need for a swimsuit. If the hot tub does call, shorts and a t-shirt work in a pinch. 

I would price out the cost of having the third person get their own inside cabin. Sometimes it won’t be much more than the cost of putting three in a balcony, especially if you are thinking of upgrading the balcony to get more room. Having your own bed (and bathroom!) is so much nicer. Of course, it might be a lot more expensive, but it’s at least worth checking. 

Modern ships are more and more resorts that happen to move around on water and less and less about being a ship. As things change, traditions change. I don’t expect the folks in charge of driving or maintaining the boat to be responsible for everything on the ship. I don’t want to see the captain riding the roller coaster or going down the water slides. I want the bridge staff free to look out for icebergs (or whatever they do) and the kitchen staff worrying about the passengers food. 
 

Obviously this applies to mainstream cruise lines. Smaller ships are another matter. 

I just want to take a second to praise the UK’s NHS. My wife had an accident on a recent non-cruise vacation. Yes, those exist 😀. Everyone from the ambulance drivers to the hospital staff to the doctors was great and their #1 priority was taking care of her. Only in the downtimes did someone come around to talk about how we were going to pay. They took our info, our insurance info and said they’d figure it out. With all the stress of the accident and trying to manage things in a foreign country, not having to think about payment was wonderful. Most countries are not like this, so I wanted to give credit where it was due. 
 

For the curious, a we got a $5,000 bill a couple weeks after we got home. Her normal health insurance paid it after the $500 hospitalization deductible. 

I take a number of long haul trips every year. Some random advice; feel free to take or ignore:

0) Have a great trip; enjoy!
 

1) Jet lag either happens, or it doesn’t. Just accept it. Fighting/worrying just makes it worse. Melatonin can’t hurt, and getting lots of natural sunlight always helps. 

2) Reduce flight stress by getting to the airport extra early. Plan on having a nice sit down meal with your extra time. Carry on as little as possible. 
 

3) Talk to your doctors about getting a few benzos (Valium, Xanax, etc.) for the flights. They make flying and sleeping on flights so much easier
 

4) People love to complain about flying, but long hauls can actually be enjoyable. You’ll get some food, modern in flight entertainment systems are fabulous. You can watch whatever movies you want or binge watch a tv series. 
 

5) If your s.o. is going to be cranky, let them know it’s ok as long as (1) it ends when the flight ends (2) there’s an apology and some making up for it when the flight is over. 

The escudo is pegged to the Euro, which is why that is the most accepted foreign currency. But don’t count on shops accepting Euros or credit cards. Worth it - IMO - to get some escudos. 

Cholera is certainly scary, but it’s really unlikely to show up on a cruise ship. From an overall risk standpoint, I don’t think it adds much to the current risk profile of noro/Covid/flu. Not to mention the risks from driving to the port and what not. 

There are a number of crew members who have YouTube (and probably other social media) documenting their lives. I don’t recall much discussing of eating in the buffet, except from one (a royal Caribbean ice performer.) She and her friends have occasional “nights off” where they go into passenger dining areas. But they wear “civilian” clothes and aren’t readily recognizable as crew. 

On 3/1/2024 at 6:08 PM, sfaaa said:

The way it should be. Why do you think officers and managers get a bigger paycheck + perks every month?

It’s one thing to say officers need to be paid more because their jobs require specialized skills leading to a smaller pool of candidates. That’s very different from saying they are more “worthy” 

From the second day of cruise ships people have been complaining that the quality is going down. Either this is not an accurate representation of food quality, or we are all eating complete garbage. 

On 2/20/2024 at 11:09 PM, donaldsc said:

Wish me luck.

Good luck

Seems to me that as long as NCL is willing to book the cruise, it doesn’t really matter what the travel agent thinks. 
 

But, yeah, the other posters have correctly explained the legalities. 

You will be told - in the daily program and on signs when exiting - what the “all aboard time” is. Usually a half hour before the ship is scheduled to leave. 

Honestly, any of the mainstream lines will give you a wonderful cruise with something for everybody. Pick whichever strikes your fancy and have a great time. 

Q: Is a hot dog a sandwich? 

11 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

10 drinks over 10 hours puts my BAC @ .08…not a big deal on a cruise,

Unless you are driving the boat 🙂

2 hours ago, havoc315 said:

For example, a woman with a healthy body weight would likely be unconscious if she tried to have 10 alcoholic drinks in 1 day... 

10 drinks in one session? Yes. Ten drinks spread over 24 hours? Not an issue (on vacation, 10 a day every day would be a problem.)

52 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

Or, you chose to not continue reading. 

 

I get it. People get excited when booking a cruise and the big, flashy "Free...." this and "...Sale" that add to the excitement.

No, I was mislead. I later studied more and realized my mistake, but initially I was mislead. 

I’m pretty sure NCL could throw passengers overboard in the middle of the ocean and some posters would find a way to defend it. 
 

I’ll only speak for myself here. When I read about the FREE At Sea package and that it included a FREE drinks package, I thought that meant I would get a drinks package and wouldn’t have to pay anything. Maybe I’m stupid, maybe I’m drunk, but I was mislead. The advertising mislead at least one person and I’m guessing a whole lot more. 

If I remember correctly, Miss Leading was my third grade teacher. 

One problem is you aren’t just hopping out of a cab and running up the gangplank. You have to go through the whole security and check-in process in the cruise terminal first. Which can take a while assuming the staff is even still there to check you in that late. 

Someday on a cruise critic forum:

Poster 1: I’m currently on my honeymoon cruise and we’ve been told the only meals on board will be bread and water. 
 

Poster 2: You have no right to complain, didn’t you read your cruise contract. The line is only required to provide “meals;” they are free to serve whatever food they want. It’s your fault for not understanding the contract you signed. 

18 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

the PR dish that is a favorite of ours is mofongo. 

Big Papi, is that you? 

Has anybody considered that the simplest explanation is often true. And in this case would be: Antarctica doesn’t exist. It’s a lie started by the pro-globe conspiracy. 

Second, before we get into hard stuff like compensation for missed ports, we need a fairness in price advertising rule. Lines should be required to show fares with all taxes, port fees and “mandatory” tips/charges. I believe several European counties (the UK?) already require this.