Linsuesue

That doesnt sound promising 😢

Last April, American Airlines cancelled our flight from PHX—Tampa within 12 hours of departure. It was awful! We scrambled for hours trying to figure out how to get to Tampa. I feel their pain for sure! By the time I stumbled on the cruise ship, I thought I would collapse. First it was covid, ship rules, country rules, now airline problems. Booking any vacation isnt as relaxing as it once was.

Believe me, this will be the first and last time any of us use NCL Air. It has been one problem after another.

Thank you so much for posting this and so quickly too! Unfortunately, it looks like the last Flixbus leaves MCO @ 4:00. Her flight doesnt get in until 6:45. Flixbus to Miami airport would have been perfect too..

Well, the storm of a lifetime has closed Ft Lauderdale Airport. 10 people from our group were scheduled to fly into Ft. Lauderdale compliments of NCL Air. Once you are within 72 hours of departure, NCL Air says you have to make arrangements yourself with the airlines. Southwest says they have no flights from PHX -Miami of Friday or Saturday so a couple from our group are being flown to Orlando. Does anyone here have suggestions for getting from Orlando Airport to Miami? Is there a train, shuttle buses all the time, and NCL desk in the airport that can help? All suggestions welcomed!

We will be on the Encore starting this Sunday. A couple of months ago I tried to see if I could upgrade to a spa balcony or spa club balcony and our travel planner said there were no upgrades. I tried to get her to submit a price drop but she said after final payment that cant be done. Part of it might be that I originally booked an inside and used the points on my NCL credit card to do a double meta upgrade to a balcony. Did you find your PCC just by calling up the group department and getting whomever answered, or did you have a referral for somebody?

I cant thank you enough for this information! So a personal cruise planner works for Norwegian and doesn’t get a cut of the sale. We pay for our education, and we got screwed the first time! The vacation planner was a relative of somebody and the person planning the group just went along with it. I am willing to help our group get booked, because we couldnt be any worse off than the last “helper”. So you are saying that 5 of us can book this 2025 cruise we are looking at online on our own and then call the group department and have them turn it into a group booking? I thought once you booked a room yourself you couldnt be in the group and there would not be any discounts. 🤯

We are experiencing the same thing for our cruise this weekend! We didnt seem to get any price breaks, benefits, or onboard credits. I guess our travel planner reaped any benefits to be had and sent us each one magnet, and one luggage tag. 🤦‍♀️ Every question our group asked seemed to exasperate her too. From now on, we will never use a travel planner again, and we will get the benefits of any group booking. Having said that, I think it is still problematic booking a group yourself.

Thank you so much for the explanation! I have never done an escape room before and figured wearing 3D goggles the whole time would be a heck of a challenge. Now I get it! Thanks for the quick reply too!

I am thinking of setting up a group cruise for our retirement community. I think we could maybe book 10-20 rooms. I know I will need to call group sales to figure this all out, but could those of you with experience in this situation answer these questions for me: How much of a grace period do you have to sign up everyone in your group? If I book a group cruise today for example, does everyone have to phone in their deposit today? What if more people want to join your group later, do they get a discounted price too, or only the initial group has that benefit? I didnt know the groups got significant discounts, I thought the benefit was that everyone was locked into the group rate based off of prices for the day you booked. I thought the conductor of the group ended up with some onboard credit or something.

OH Bird, Thank you so much for the info and photos! I thought the escape room had 3D goggles so maybe there are 2 escape rooms onboard?

I have enjoyed reading the varied highlights of cruise memories! This was an easy one for me to answer. I am subscribed to the Carnival page on a popular social media page that starts with an “F”. Around the fall of 2020 Carnival said that Shaquille was thinking about Halloween and cruising. He is the Chief Fun Officer of Carnival after all. They asked people to post a photo of their favorite Halloween cruises. We had been to Cabo San Lucas in 2018 in October. While there we went on the best Camel Ride excursion ever. The photo I posted was of us by Hercules the camel. Bear in mind that this wasn’t a contest; it was just a post that asked for favorite Halloween Carnival memories photos. Much to my surprise, weeks after that post, Carnival did turn it into a contest. 40 people who posted got their names put on a pumpkin and something very surprising happened! I have never been so surprised in my life! I used the win to book an 8 day Partial Panama Canal cruise and checked something off my bucket list. It was a very special cruise on the Pride out of Tampa. I loved every second of it and think of it whenever I see a pumpkin, a basket ball hoop, or Shaq!🥰 🎃

We love the Spirit Class Ships and have been on the Miracle many times. My advice would be to book an Obstructed view Inside Cabin on deck 4. Yes, they are right behind the lifeboats, BUT, you are only paying a smidge more and you get an inside cabin that has large windows in it. If the weather is too windy, rainy, or chilly, you probably wont want to stay out on that balcony anyway. Save that money that you would have spent on a balcony and use it for excursions. Harv & Marv’s is a great one for sure.

Definitely following your review as we will be on the Panama Canal Cruise right after you. Some in our group of 30 wish to try the escape room. Do we need to make a reservation for it immediately upon boarding? I understand that 6 people at a time can do it, and it takes about 45 minutes or so. Thank you for posting such great pictures and menus!

Ahh, I get it. Yeah, it would be so easy to put little fish plaques by the elevators or outside venues to point people in the right direction.

Nice review- Thanks! We will be on the Encore in April. I thought the hallways on the ship had fish on the carpets. The fish are always swimming forward towards the front of the ship to help everybody with direction.

Thanks for the quick reply! I can’t wait to try them out.

Thank you so much for explaining this! None of us have never done an escape room, so we will take forever to figure things out! It sounds like a ton of fun! Did you make your reservations as soon as you got on board? Where do you go to make your reservations?

You created a wonderful wrap-up of your cruise! We will be on the Encore in April, and many of your details could apply to us. The Encore is the biggest ship that we will have been on, and there is much to learn about it and the itinerary. Thanks a million!🛳️

We have reservations for Onda in April. I am glad to hear it was very enjoyable! Do you know how the virtual escape room in the Galaxy Pavilion works? I know you have to pay, but can you make reservations for the cruise as soon as you board? Do you just show up and wait your turn? Do you have to have a group of 6 in order to play?

These were the prices on the Miracle last month. The sign on the left is $69, the sign in the middle is $55, and the sign on the right is $55.

Thank you so much for the fast reply! I am unfamiliar with having to make reservations for shows, and would hate to miss out on those.

Once on board, is it necessary to make reservations for the Comedy Club and the Cavern Club, or are those venues that you just show up early to get a seat?

These are from the Pride of America cruise October 2022.

Thank you MagnoliaBlossom for all of your insight! There are so many intricacies of booking, verbiage, and timing. I have always booked my own cruises and never gone on a group cruise or used a pvp. It’s a new experience and you have to learn the right questions to ask.