AstoriaPreppy

The Infinity has been doing this for a few months, but I'd express a level of caution. We sailed in February on a South American route, and even though we had 4 devices PP, the WiFi was abysmal. The ship has been upgraded to Starlink, but the routers and infrastructure on the ship have not been upgraded. When passengers were able to connect to WiFi, it was speedy. However, the vast majority of the time, you weren't able to get connected to the network. Ever. Anywhere, even after repeated attempts. After a few days of sailing, we realized this happened most often in spaces with more than 10-15 people: the theater, the MDR, any lounge when a bar was open, etc. It was infuriating, and constant. If I had to guess, I'd assume the line just deferred any upgrades of the ship's networks until the vessel is revolutionized, or sold.

It's not entirely similar, but it reminds me of our planned late Feb 2020 trip on the Jade in Southeast Asia, from Hong Kong to Singapore. At that point, COVID was well established in China, and the port of HK was shut down to cruise traffic. NCL *insisted* that our cruise would leave from Hong Kong as scheduled. No, "we're working on a solution" messaging, no notes in the system, just the cruise is leaving from a port that is no longer open. 10 days before our trip, they sent an email saying "surprise, it's actually going to be a RT Singapore cruise, but we're going to pay to change the flights and fare difference," (which they later tried to renege on). We had at least a week of our roll call flummoxed that instead of figuring out an update, NCL's solution was just to pretend like nothing was happening. I've always found this to be such an odd part of NCL's corporate culture: instead of being upfront and communicative with their guests, they just get weird over stuff, which might be completely out of their control and very explainable!

I think the ship was cleared around 7:15ish am for walkoffs... maybe a bit later? I do know that the process for people with bags seemed *slow.* There wasn't much of terminal, (more like temporary party tents), so the bags had to be put out sequentially, and not quickly. Lots of dopey people just got off immediately, and then had no where to wait as bags were still on the ship or in cages. It might be worth arranging a private transfer through something like "welcome pickups," instead of risking the taxi line. We did assigned time disembarkation and were off around 9-ish, and the line was hundreds of people long. Friends we'd met onboard who did walkoff around 7:30 were still in line an hour an a half later. Also, re: the multiple ships in port causing the taxi line, who knows? One of the ships was a Viking sized ship that was overnighting (no one getting cabs from what we could see), and then another ship (possibly Princess). We spent a few days in the city post-cruise, and It just seemed that there was a general lack of cabs in Reykjavik, and the pricing for those cabs was prohibitively expensive. Renting a car was the best decision we could have made. Lots of parking options around the city (one across the street from the Canopy Hilton where we stayed). The city itself is very walkable, but the car was invaluable for heading out on sightseeing excursions outside of the city.

My point was more "don't be a total jerk to other people who need help," but this is also fair.

NCL will be a very different experience than what you've experienced on Princess/Royal, and the Epic is a very odd ship to start with. Most importantly: all staterooms (outside of Haven rooms, NCL's ship-within-a-ship concept for suites) have bathrooms *in* the room space. The toilet is in your cabin (with a sliding glass door) as in the shower, and the sink. This probably doesn't make sense, so please google for pics. We've always found NCL ships tend to feel more crowded than some of the other lines. Large portions of the ships are given over to specialty dining venues that are open only for dinner. So instead of having a huge MDR (or three like Princess) and maybe two or three specialty restaurants, you'll find three smaller MDRs and 10 or so specialities. If you're doing Specialty Dining, many of the NCL venues are a la carte pricing (not set fee). If you're planning on going more than one or two nights, you have to buy a dining package to get value so you're not paying $200 in the steakhouse for dinner. NCL also has a different design philosophy than Royal or Princess. NCL designs smaller venues with limited capacity: the theater isn't like a huge Princess or Royal Caribbean theater that 1/2 of the passengers can fit into at once... The Epic holds around 4,000 passengers, and the theater holds around 700. There's a lot of queuing up, and making reservations in advance on the larger ships, even to get into smaller bars to hear a band. That said, there's lots of pros to NCL. The vibe is very laid-back (think shorts for dinner) and the passengers tend to like drinks and being social. It's not traditional in any sense, and people appreciate that.

If this is true, it's a bit ridiculous. NCL scheduled a port that has always been tender-only for larger mass market ships, with the hope that the pier there would be dredged and extended... then didn't have a contingency plan to shift to tendering knowing the pier wasn't complete? And then tried to pass this off to the passengers as a surprise, not something shoreside certainly knew in advance? If so: yikes. Also, there's no way NCL built a new, mid-sized class of cruise ship that doesn't have the ability to tender, right?

Valid point: Good Samaritan laws (as they exist in the US) would be considered too weak in other parts of the world. Many countries go one step further, having Duty to Rescue laws. In duty to rescue nations, bystanders are legally obligated to assist, and can be held liable for not providing assistance to persons in distress. Enjoy this Wikipedia article, with a map showing the nations and US states that have Good Samaritan and Duty to Rescue laws: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Samaritan_law

This is hot take is both nauseatingly cynical, and legally untrue in most Western nations. Good Samaritan laws provide legal protection for people providing assistance, and many nations/States have even stronger "duty to rescue" laws, where you have a legal obligation to provide assistance.

I always assumed these were resume-builders that most performers were eager to take... especially compared to being in some grinding, non-equity touring production playing second and third tier cities.

This is absolutely true... recently I've noticed more people in the service industry with Venmo/CashApp codes ready to go for tips.

I also have this Charles Schwab account and card (and highly recommend it). It's called the "Investor Checking" account, and you can sign up online. To be clear, it's not a prepaid ATM card, it's a full checking account with a debit/ATM card that has zero fees for any ATM or cash machine globally. We initially got it for travel, and now use it constantly: bodega ATMs, casino ATMs, cruise ship ATMs, cash machines around the world (including Japan, where you inexplicably need cash all the time), etc. It takes the hassles out of ever needing cash and not being by a bank-specific machine... they refund every single fee and charge. It's crazy more people don't have it.

If you’re on the 14 Aug departure from Trieste, the Gem is still scheduled to depart Trieste on Monday, tender into Venice on Tuesday, and then dock in Ravenna on Wednesday. Nothing has changed officially yet, so it’s hard to plan anything. You might want to research multiple options, including the train into Venice from Trieste. It may also be worth reading some Rick Steves guidebooks (med cruise ports, etc). He’s great at breaking down Europe into digestible bites for Americans who have never been before.

This would be a great change. Princess/HAL had such a stranglehold on Alaska for decades, it caused NCL a lot of consternation trying to make moves in the market.

That’s bonkers! I remember thinking at the time that NCL way overpaid and just wanted to keep it out of Royal/Celebrity’s hands.

If I’m not mistaken, NCL uses the far industrial pier in Juneau, requiring either a shuttle ride into town, or a *long* walk. NCL spent something like $20 million to buy land for a new pier in Juneau a few years ago, but I don’t know whatever happened to that.

1) You’ll want to make reservations for the specialty restaurants. Unlike a lot of other cruise lines, NCL’s ships give a ton of space to specialty dining, and the expectation is that you’re dining in these venues regularly. You don’t need MDR reservations. 2) Officially, the aft MDR is “classier” and the midship MDR is more “casual.” In reality, compared to any other line NCL is *super* casual all the time. It’s one of the reasons people love the line. You officially allowed to wear shorts to the MDR and specialties, with the exception of Le Bistro and the aft MDR on the Jewel class ships (but even then this isn’t enforced). 3) There is nothing like the Sanctuary on NCL’s jewel class ships. There is a lounge/bar venue called the Spinnaker at the front of the ship that is enclosed with windows, but it will likely be mobbed on scenic cruising days. Unless you’re in the Haven, that level of attention and service doesn’t exist on NCL. As someone who has also sailed a lot of lines, I’d say it’s important to have realistic expectations for your NCL cruise. Think fun, drinks, no enrichment, very laid-back. Princess will feel like a crossing on the QM2 in comparison.

Curious to know what the worst of the worst NCL ship for internet is 🤣 In all seriousness, it's important to note that an internet connection to the satellite from the ship (aka starlink) is only fraction of the battle. The actual ship's wifi, routers, switches, etc is hugely important to solid and reliable service on your device. A lot of lines will stick on a better satellite, but the network may not be able to handle to the bandwidth. We were recently on the Celebrity Infinity (an older ship), but the internet had just been upgraded to Starlink. People were so excited, but Starlink proved to be atrocious. After the ship's gut renovation was called off during the pandemic, the infrastructure and WiFi on the ship never got updated... so we were stuck with a network that was unable to function properly. I think Princess is the only line that has refit their entire fleet with modern networks, for the implementation of Ocean Medallion internet and the RFID services.

There *used* to be car rentals at Skarfbakki, but as of last year I think they're all closed. Our original plan was to catch a taxi from the terminal to the Europcar near the port but the line for taxis after our Celebrity Summit cruise last year was 2+ hours. We ended up walking the 40ish minute walk up a pretty steep hill dragging our bags to the Europcar... it was a lot. There were other rental locations on that route (Budget, etc). That said, if you want to rent a car and you're hoping to drop off at KEF, it makes no sense to go to the Blue Lagoon the day before on an organized tour. The Blue Lagoon is designed and located for people to stop on their way to/from the airport... it's only about 10 minutes away. Going there with a group tour is a waste of time especially if you may be driving yourself to the airport the next day, and you'll save a ton of money.

You 100% can take the train. It's a regional service in France called TER, and from Cannes to Monaco is about an hour. Monaco is very walkable... it's a tiny place, with not much to see. TBH, I'd recommend stopping in Nice for more of a French Riviera experience.

Based on my experience in CC and in the real world, for some reason NCL seems to have the most ride-or-die customers. I don't know if it's the ability to wear shorts to the MDR, the unlimited cocktails, the "choice" with dining, or the passenger base, but it's almost inexplicable for the product delivered and price paid. I've had gushing comments about how good the MDRs are (they are ostensibly the weakest of any mass market line). How spectacular the service is (either on-par or below every other mass market line). How there's so many dining choices (moat of these restaurants are par with the MDR on other lines). How great the ships are (huge portions given over to specialty dining and suites, making them surprisingly crowded otherwise). I think it's lack of exposure to other lines and experiences. That said, we're line-agnostic and we sail everything (including NCL this summer), but the NCL fans are hardcore. The only other thing I've experienced that's close is the Royal Caribbean guests who basically give an impassioned TED talk about how you should really work on reaching Diamond when you're chatting in a bar... I've always told my husband I feel like they're trying to sign me up for Amway.

I think that's NCL's position too... the expectation is that the Haven passengers are going to specialties throughout the ship, (not just dining in the Haven), hence the static menus. I am curious to know how the Prima class, static MDR menus have been received on guest surveys. CC members seem to be tripping over themselves to share how a "pick your own pasta shape and sauce" is the best thing to happen in cruise dining in decades, but I suspect the actual reception may be more muted.

People have mentioned lots of the differences: NCL MDRs are pretty poor in comparison to Celebrity... but NCL has more options and 24/7 dining. NCL tends to draw a more social, active, family and group travel oriented passenger base compared to some Celebrity sailings.Service on NCL tends to be a bit more indifferent and transactional. You'll never see rope and stanchion queues at the pool bar to line people up for drinks on Celebrity. The biggest thing that rarely gets mentioned is that NCL is (by far) the most casual mainstream cruise line... if you're looking to pack light, it's fantastic. It's okay to wear shorts and flip flops to dinner in all but one or two of the MDRs and specialty restaurants.

Oh, I compared the two statements immediately and wanted to insert a new code along the lines of NCLWTF. Ha.

You're going to find a lot of Haven advocates here, and it's likely you'll have a great time on NCL. Our preferred line is Celebrity, so there's one thing I'd flag in comparison to other line's suite dining. The Haven restaurant is a little odd in that the menu never changes night to night. Regular Haven cruisers will tell you the menu is big enough to not need to change, but I've always found it a little lazy on NCL's part (and also a clear signal you should be going to specialties instead of just the Haven restaurant). The quality is absolutely fantastic compared to the NCL MDRs (which we avoid), but on par with Aqua Class on Celebrity. As long as you go in with an open mind, and don't compare each point to your regular line, you'll have an enjoyable trip!

At the very least, I think it's reasonable to expect customer service agents to not screw up reservations. Today, I called to upgrade the stateroom on our European cruise this summer, which just passed final payment. Per the rep, going from Oceanview to a Balcony would cost $495, and all of the Free at Sea promos would cary over (not a sailaway rate). Imagine my surprise when we hung up, and the new docs arrived in my email... showing the FAS promos had *not* carried over and we owed an additional $314 balance (since we lost the $50 shore ex promo credit used several times). I've currently been on the phone with a different rep for 25 minutes trying to resolve... apparently not an easy fix?