Malamel

I’m solo on this ship in September!  I’ve gone on large and smaller ships and while I met way more solo travelers on Norwegian, there’s been some on every cruise I’ve been on.  Make sure you join the role call and FB group before you go!

8th solo coming up in a few months,  Symphony of the Seas September 8! 🎉

I was in 7503 - aft extended balcony - I had 2 chairs, a table, and a lounger

Getting closer 🤩🛳️

If anyone was planning on booking a spa treatment - you can get 20% off select ones until the 14th.  I paid $114 for a 50 minute massage (not bad for a cruise spa) since it was already cheaper bc I booked on a port day, and they still took the 20% off.

64 days!! Ordered some bathing suits and reading/watching reviews to pass the time!

4 hours ago, inar said:

Just booked the NCL Bliss sailing March 3rd solo!   Never sailed solo so hoping to meet fun people to hang out with onboard.  

4 of my solo cruises have been on NCL and minus 1, I went to most of the solo meetups - met a lot of awesome people there and the crew members running it will arrange some events/dinners

Only 82 days until my next solo!  10 Day Eastern Caribbean on the Carnival Venezia 😀 8 years since my last Carnival Cruise!

Getting closer … 🎉150🎉

My group is more than likely not going, but I am fully booked and instead of the Terrazza insider I decided to splurge a little and get the Terrazza Aft extended balcony.  So excited, Idk how I’m going to last the 6 months until this one!  I usually only book a few months out.

I’m booked in this one for April! Can’t wait!

Hey all, I’m Mallory from PA!

I put a deposit down today for a Terrazza insider!  This will be cruise #9, haven’t been on Carnival since 2016, excited to come back!

Possibly sailing solo, small chance I’ll be with a whole group.  Either way, can’t wait!

I love reading these reviews, so hopefully I can keep this up through my cruise.  I’m starting this now just to push off packing for a little longer 😂

I booked this kind of last minute (for me), I like to book at least 6 months out, this I booked in January when work changed our blackout days for inventory.  This will be my 7th cruise, 4th on NCL, and 4th solo.  I have only cruised out of New York or New Jersey, I’m not a huge fan of flying (and the luggage restrictions that come along with it).  

My last NCL cruise was the Breakaway to Bermuda in Sept 2021.  It was the first NCL cruise leaving from NYC after the covid shut downs, we ended up sailing around 30% capacity, and this current cruise is just about sold out, so that’ll be rough to adjust to.

I will be in a studio stateroom this time around, I wanted a balcony, but the price was right.  I did buy a thermal suite pass, I like having somewhere to relax with a pool that’s out of the direct sun.  I will be booking some spa treatments once on board.  I usually do a spa day for my birthday (May) but I’ll be spending that spa money on this cruise instead.  

I did get the Free at Sea when I booked.  A couple weeks ago while looking into upgrading to unlimited Wi-Fi (199), I saw the Free at Sea Plus for only $420.   I ended up booking this, as it included another 2 specialty meals, plus the Premium Plus beverage package.  I don’t drink a lot of alcohol, but this includes water, so for 10 days the price worked for me.

The only excursion I booked so far is transportation to Disney Springs.  I did look into Universal, but as we are there during a peak ticket price time, it would have been $204, and I didn’t want to spend that.  

I reserved dinners at Cagney, Moderno, and La Cucina.

I’m work in a casual environment and pretty much live in sweatpants at home, so I try to dress up a bit on cruises.  Trying to pack 10 days worth of options into 1 suitcase is a little rough though.  

They don’t.  It would be nice if they would since we have to pretty much pay double if we’re not in a studio.

Excited to follow along!  I’ll be on the Getaway for 10 days next month! 😀

15 hours ago, craig01020 said:

OMG, why isn't this an entire ship charter?!

That’s crazy.  Any group that’s going to be this disruptive should be required to charter the whole ship.  I’m not saying cruises have to be quiet, but judging from videos of their cruises, this seems like it’s going to be loud and crazy

Not sure, but just checked and mine says the same, I’m only booked for Getaway.

On 2/17/2023 at 8:34 PM, Joesantos said:

Etiquette is a lost art! You’re up dancing and you expect your drinks and seats to be unoccupied when you’re finished with dancing? And folks call that chair hogging? I’m not sure how that is possible!
Angry people are just nuts!

Keep enjoying yourself and laugh at their nonsense….

 Yeah, I don’t really consider that chair hogging.  There’s a huge difference between taking up a deck chair for hours and not using it and getting up to dance while watching a show.

Day 2 continued..

We had a few hours of crappy weather, so I went back to the room and napped for a bit.  Woke up to some sun, but by then it was time to start getting ready for dinner.

Note for dinner reservations:  Do not wait to make them.  We made 4 days ahead of time then decided to wait until we were on board to make more in case we wanted to repeat.  While I know there are occasionally "walk in" opportunities, most were filled up by the end of Day 1.

We had our first "formal night" dinner at Solarium Bistro.  I unfortunately forgot to take pictures but the dinner buffet is amazing.  For my main I decided to try something new and had the Lamb Tagine duo.  While it wasn't bad, I just wasn't a fan and probably wouldn't order it again.  Dessert was the Crema Catalana, which I absolutely would have over and over again.  We were lucky enough to get a 6:30 reservation on the last night of the cruise as well.

We went to the 8:30 comedy show.  It was pretty good.   After not sleeping well the night before, we went to bed around 10.  The beds definitely arent the most comfortable ever, the pillows are amazing, but the mattress was pretty hard and uncomfortable. 

22 hours ago, DrewCC2225 said:

I just got off yesterday. The ship is absolutely beautiful. There were a few disappointments I do have to say though…

 

1) The food in the dining room was very good however the Buffett food was nothing more than reheated TV dinners and it was the same food all 7 days (mostly burgers, hotdogs and rice)
 

2) The lines entering the Buffett were crazy at times where we would have to wait upwards of 15-20 minutes to be let in.

 

Yeah I haven't really been impressed with the buffet.  Breakfast wasn't an issue bc I'm up fairly early, before the crowds.  But lunch time, there didn't seem to be any "slower" times.  Spent 20 minutes in line, then kept having people push in front of me at the actual buffets, for food that really wasn't worth it.

Day 2:

Had a very early wakeup, around 3am, for a medical emergency page.  Not sure what happened, I hope everyone is okay.

I'm an early riser for work, so I was up at the buffet around 6:45, then right to the Solarium and found a chair to park myself on.  A bit windy this morning, but hoping it warms up a little later.

Even while I was walking the pool deck at 6:30, the chair hogs were out in full force.  Still plenty of room in the Solarium, though.  

Spent a little time in the hot tub, then it got too windy, so plopped myself back in a chair and wrote a bit more of this.

12 hours ago, BND said:

They are required to broadcast the alert everywhere on the ship with no exceptions.

I know.  Just was something I overlooked, wanted to make sure I put it out there.

11 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Did you say $50 for a 75 min massage?  That's an amazing price.

No, I wish.  75 min massage for the price of the 50 minute.

Note to anyone who books a spa service on Day 1 - be aware of when the ship starts getting ready to sail.  They will test the safety alerts, which are blasted into the treatment rooms. And the spa is right at the front of the ship so there's extra noise as everything is being started up.

Still a wonderful massage, put me right in the relaxed vacation mode.

Central Park Balcony 12-253.  Typical cruise room, but with amazing view.  And the balcony is alot more spacious than I thought it would be.