Things I Will Do Differently On My Next NCL Cruise!

[Sthrngary]

Every time I cruise, I ask myself this question, "What are the things I will do differently on my next NCL Cruise?"  I am hoping this tread will be helpful to others and to me personally.  Some background, I do crazy preparation prior to a cruise. So what would I change?

 

1. Pace Myself: I was so excited to be cruising again, I tried to do everything and got worn out quick.  This lead to not doing some things I should have done and wish I had done.
2. Entertainment:  I went to the key headline shows and they were fantastic.  I missed the singer from "UK has Talent" whom was well reviewed.  I also missed the Sinatra tribute in the Atriums.  I will do a better job of pacing myself in the future. 
3. Casino:  I love to play but I am so bad at it.  I have come to realize, just skip it or watch someone else.  I did not lose much money but I felt like I did not even give myself a chance.  I know better. 
4. Eat At The Buffet:  We usually stay in the Haven so I have a happen of eating at the Haven Restaurant for all my meals unless we go to a specialty restaurant. A few days, we missed some Pool Activities because of how long it takes to eat lunch at the Haven.  Next time, burger at the buffet and enjoy the show at the pool. 
5. Specialty Restaurants:  I simply am not a fan.  With the exception of the Tepmpiaca Restaurant which was a ball. 
6. Skip the Pictures:  Every time we by the pictures we never use them.  I have a stack of them in my closet.  A waste of money for my family. 
7. Excursions: Stick to the Beach Villa's or Cabana's.  Excursions in the Caribbean and Mexico are just OK.  The one exception are the beach or pool Cabana's.  Those allow you to have a home base and access to water/shade/drinks.  Also all the water activities you want to do.  
8. Upgrade to Haven:  I am a HUGE NCL HAVEN fan.  I literally wrote the book on how to get the most out of the Haven. My next cruise will be in a Club Suite.  When the upgrade bids are offered, I will use my own advice and do a well time and placed upgrade bid.  If I don't get it, I will simply get a 5-day Specialty restaurant package, thermal spa and or Vibe Beach Club.  
9. Play Less Bingo: Fun, expensive and I never win.  I won't cut it out, I will just do it less. 
10. Spend More Time In Bars With Music:  The best times were not planned.  The sugarcane bar had the best folks and music. 
11. Plan Less: Yes, I did to much thinking and planning.  I have my skills but I over did it.  
12. Finally, Bring Friends:  Next time, December 4, 2022 on the Breakaway to be exact.  I am going to sell all my friend on joining my wife and myself.  In doing so, I am leaving my adult children at home.  They slowed me down, I want to no sit in the cabin all day long.  I want to do the water slides more then once.  They are boring. 

 

There you have it.  Add some more and lets have some fun with this thread.  

 

Cruise well everyone.

 

 

[BirdTravels]

We agree with all of your observations... especially #3. We have one 2BR Haven on the Breakaway, club suite on the Escape, and a forward facing club suite on the Prima booked on NCL so far next year. And a Grand Suite on Royal's Quantum to Alaska. 

[TheFenz]

What ship where you on?

 

My under 40 wife would absolutely lose her mind if there was a Sinatra tribute group. 

[vacation44]

58 minutes ago, Sthrngary said:

Every time I cruise, I ask myself this question, "What are the things I will do differently on my next NCL Cruise?"  I am hoping this tread will be helpful to others and to me personally.  Some background, I do crazy preparation prior to a cruise. So what would I change?

 

1. Pace Myself: I was so excited to be cruising again, I tried to do everything and got worn out quick.  This lead to not doing some things I should have done and wish I had done.
2. Entertainment:  I went to the key headline shows and they were fantastic.  I missed the singer from "UK has Talent" whom was well reviewed.  I also missed the Sinatra tribute in the Atriums.  I will do a better job of pacing myself in the future. 
3. Casino:  I love to play but I am so bad at it.  I have come to realize, just skip it or watch someone else.  I did not lose much money but I felt like I did not even give myself a chance.  I know better. 
4. Eat At The Buffet:  We usually stay in the Haven so I have a happen of eating at the Haven Restaurant for all my meals unless we go to a specialty restaurant. A few days, we missed some Pool Activities because of how long it takes to eat lunch at the Haven.  Next time, burger at the buffet and enjoy the show at the pool. 
5. Specialty Restaurants:  I simply am not a fan.  With the exception of the Tepmpiaca Restaurant which was a ball. 
6. Skip the Pictures:  Every time we by the pictures we never use them.  I have a stack of them in my closet.  A waste of money for my family. 
7. Excursions: Stick to the Beach Villa's or Cabana's.  Excursions in the Caribbean and Mexico are just OK.  The one exception are the beach or pool Cabana's.  Those allow you to have a home base and access to water/shade/drinks.  Also all the water activities you want to do.  
8. Upgrade to Haven:  I am a HUGE NCL HAVEN fan.  I literally wrote the book on how to get the most out of the Haven. My next cruise will be in a Club Suite.  When the upgrade bids are offered, I will use my own advice and do a well time and placed upgrade bid.  If I don't get it, I will simply get a 5-day Specialty restaurant package, thermal spa and or Vibe Beach Club.  
9. Play Less Bingo: Fun, expensive and I never win.  I won't cut it out, I will just do it less. 
10. Spend More Time In Bars With Music:  The best times were not planned.  The sugarcane bar had the best folks and music. 
11. Plan Less: Yes, I did to much thinking and planning.  I have my skills but I over did it.  
12. Finally, Bring Friends:  Next time, December 4, 2022 on the Breakaway to be exact.  I am going to sell all my friend on joining my wife and myself.  In doing so, I am leaving my adult children at home.  They slowed me down, I want to no sit in the cabin all day long.  I want to do the water slides more then once.  They are boring. 

 

There you have it.  Add some more and lets have some fun with this thread.  

 

Cruise well everyone.

 

 

Love your posts.   Item 12 made me laugh out loud.  Thank you, again, for all of your contributions. 

[complawyer]

im like you, i  mostly try and book a haven suite. as ive mentioned before, if i cant get a haven, my wife wont sail.  club mini suites are just renamed mini suites with a couple of extra goodies thrown in to justify a price increase.,

 

me, i love to spend time in the casino. we're frequent guests in vegas, and fortunately (unless they have changed) the blackjack table stakes arent very high. if you can blow some bucks playing bingo, i could blow $100 at the black jack table. if we ever find each other on the same cruise, please sit next to me and we'll play black jack for a few hours id love to have you join me at a table and have a few glasses of scotch while we play. if you belong to casinos at sea, its a good way to elevate your point status and potentially get a comped cruise. 

 

what i dont understand is you indicated you arent a fan of specialty restaurants, but in # 8 you say you'll buy a 5 day package.  

 

meanwhile, i love cagneys and moderno (if the ship has one) hopefully you meant teppanyaki and your spell check was out of wack.

 

last, but certainly no least, if my only choice for an excursion was  a beach cabana, i'm not getting off the ship.  just what i want to do is spend a few hours lounging in a cabana with 2-3000 of my closest friends nearby.

 

we've been to cancun, and i find the ruins in tulum amazing. if we are now allowed to do so, just walking around carribbean ports of call is enjoyable (so you dont need to book an excursion) 'ive walked around georgetown, grand cayman island, bridgetown, barbados, aruba, st thomas, and many more, just wandering around taking pictures.

 

i pick itineraries for the ports, and visualize before we even leave home where i'm most likely to get the best shots. and yes, we never stop to have the ship's photographers take our pictures.

 

glad you enjoyed your last cruise, sail on sailor!

 

 

[Juncti]

1 hour ago, Sthrngary said:

1. Plan Less: Yes, I did to much thinking and planning.  I have my skills but I over did it.  
2. Finally, Bring Friends:  Next time, December 4, 2022 on the Breakaway to be exact.  I am going to sell all my friend on joining my wife and myself.  In doing so, I am leaving my adult children at home.  They slowed me down, I want to no sit in the cabin all day long.  I want to do the water slides more then once.  They are boring. 

I feel like you're the Liam Neeson of cruise planning. You've got a particular set of skills. 

 

We haven't booked for next year yet, but highly likely we'll also be on that December 4th date. Back in 2018 they had a buy 1000 in cruise credits get 1000 special, didn't anticipate a shutdown in our window to use them so we're trying to pack them in as much as we can before they expire. 4 left so we're in the "free" credits now. 

[Sthrngary]

2 minutes ago, Juncti said:

I feel like you're the Liam Neeson of cruise planning. You've got a particular set of skills. 

 

We haven't booked for next year yet, but highly likely we'll also be on that December 4th date. Back in 2018 they had a buy 1000 in cruise credits get 1000 special, didn't anticipate a shutdown in our window to use them so we're trying to pack them in as much as we can before they expire. 4 left so we're in the "free" credits now. 

Excellent, my wife is on the Nola cruise for the finals of the Slot Tournament.  Something to look forward too. 

 

Cruise well

[oteixeira]

I am also confused with the one point saying you don't like the specialties followed by a post saying you will book 5 days of them.  I actually have a cruise leaving Saturday and I am quite sure my bid did not get me a Haven upgrade.  It is a 5 day and I will probably add 2 more days of specialty.  Still going to be a great cruise.  If you have a choice get the club suite with the extra large balcony on deck 8.  Great for breakfast, and without the haven cost it is easy to justify the 12 dollar charge a day for room service breakfast.  

[Sthrngary]

36 minutes ago, complawyer said:

what i dont understand is you indicated you arent a fan of specialty restaurants, but in # 8 you say you'll buy a 5 day package.

Where I am not a fan of the Specialty restaurants, I really don't like the Main Dining rooms.  So, if I don't have the Haven Restaurant, specialty restaurants are my choose instead. 

[Sthrngary]

2 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

I am also confused with the one point saying you don't like the specialties followed by a post saying you will book 5 days of them.  I actually have a cruise leaving Saturday and I am quite sure my bid did not get me a Haven upgrade.  It is a 5 day and I will probably add 2 more days of specialty.  Still going to be a great cruise.  If you have a choice get the club suite with the extra large balcony on deck 8.  Great for breakfast, and without the haven cost it is easy to justify the 12 dollar charge a day for room service breakfast.  

First, have a great cruise.  Great time to go.  The answer is NCL provides two specialty restaurants as the perk.  So the other five would cover the week.  The dining and experience is very good at the specialty restaurants.  The food is better then the Main Dining room.  

 

Food and dining is so subjective.  Everyone is different and has their own likes and dislikes.  My tastes have changed over the years.  I tend to get the same things at restaurants because I know I would be disappointed.  Yet, when I go to a bar, I try every new thing they have and pay the price for it in the morning, LOL.

 

Cruise well. 

[Sthrngary]

1 hour ago, TheFenz said:

What ship where you on?

 

My under 40 wife would absolutely lose her mind if there was a Sinatra tribute group. 

We were on the NCL Joy, that tribute was awesome.  

[TheFenz]

10 minutes ago, Sthrngary said:

We were on the NCL Joy, that tribute was awesome.  

 

Thanks for the reply! Going to see if it shows up in my Bliss booking or not.

[psac]

Drink less maybe? 
 

No promises.  😁😁😁

[oteixeira]

3 minutes ago, psac said:

Drink less maybe? 
 

No promises.  😁😁😁

How DARE you!   LOL  

[ElizaSTN]

Hi Gary - Love all your content.  Does the premium plus drink package apply to drinks ordered in the villas?  How was the service? (We’re in a 2-bedroom.)

[Sthrngary]

1 minute ago, ElizaSTN said:

Hi Gary - Love all your content.  Does the premium plus drink package apply to drinks ordered in the villas?  How was the service? (We’re in a 2-bedroom.)

No they do not.  Be careful with ordering any adult beverages to the suite.  I wish this was different but it is not.  That is why, my wife orders a full bottle of wine at dinner, takes the remainder back to the suite.  It is also the reason I have the butler clear out the mini-fridge day one. 

 

Now when I cruised on Crystal Cruises, this was not the case.  

 

I hope I helped you on this question.  Lots of folks ask.

 

Cruise well.

[psac]

After 15-20 cruises, we’ve already eliminated a lot of things over the years. No casino or bingo (we’re the unlucky ones), no buffet (germs even pre-covid), no art auctions, etc. 

 

The one new thing I’m looking forward to is having the observation lounge in the Haven!  We haven’t been on a ship with one yet, and our next trip is on the Joy.  It looks like a great space!

[ElizaSTN]

1 hour ago, Sthrngary said:

No they do not.  Be careful with ordering any adult beverages to the suite.  I wish this was different but it is not.  That is why, my wife orders a full bottle of wine at dinner, takes the remainder back to the suite.  It is also the reason I have the butler clear out the mini-fridge day one. 

 

Now when I cruised on Crystal Cruises, this was not the case.  

 

I hope I helped you on this question.  Lots of folks ask.

 

Cruise well.

 Thank you for your response and apologies for not being clear.  I was referring to the villas/cabanas on GSC.  We’ve rented one of the 2-bedroom villas on the island and was wondering if the drink package applies to beverages ordered there. 
 

In terms of on-board, I FULLY intend on taking my bottle of wine from dinner back to our suite.  Along with my husband’s bottle…who actually does not drink wine.  😂😂😂 more for me! 

[bigrednole]

We cruised for the first time a few weeks ago. Even though we had an absolute blast, there were a lot of things we missed. Missing them did not diminish the trip. If we had seen or participated it would have made it even better.

• Excursions: This is personal tastes, but too many can lead to a lot of down time. I love to snorkel and I rarely get to. Our next cruise has 4 straight port days. The first two will be heavy snorkeling and the next to will be just relaxing at what we paid for. Maybe throw in ziplining on Harvest Caye if the casino plays out.
• Casino: Temper expectations. I rarely sleep and with the casino as the only open entertainment, I over indulged. Lost what I had planned, but could have left with pretty hefty winnings. I received $25 rates within a week after getting off the cruise ship. Only brought $400 to gamble. Between ups and downs, probably pumped over $3,000 through them.
• Entertainment: There is far more than just the theater shows. Just sitting back listening and relaxing at a bar was great. 
• Meeting People: I met a lot of fun people on our cruise. It makes it enjoyable to see at a bar or lounge to chat and have fun.

[FLcruisergrl]

6 hours ago, ElizaSTN said:

 Thank you for your response and apologies for not being clear.  I was referring to the villas/cabanas on GSC.  We’ve rented one of the 2-bedroom villas on the island and was wondering if the drink package applies to beverages ordered there. 
 

In terms of on-board, I FULLY intend on taking my bottle of wine from dinner back to our suite.  Along with my husband’s bottle…who actually does not drink wine.  😂😂😂 more for me! 

Yes, the drink package can be used on Great Stirrup Cay at the villas.

[insidecabin]

Our last cruise we found we were getting over full with speciality most nights.

 

Would back off and go light some days.

Maybe big breakfast, snack at local, PAYG sushi, bit of buffet, other.

 

If they let you use one package  between 2 that can work to keep it light  at sushi raw etc where it is X items per package.

 

 

 

 

[Yesimapirate]

Gary,

For #7, I agree with you on the cabanas.   It was fantastic on Harvest Caye.  However,  I've found some amazing executions in the Caribbean.  The key is to do your research (you're great at that) and to book private or very small group tours directly with a local company. 

 

Our NCL tours are always a boring bus ride or a booze cruise with horrible music that's pre mixed (usually off beat).  The private tours we've taken have always been wonderful and less than $100 more total than NCL charges.   Absolutely worth the money!

[Sthrngary]

10 hours ago, psac said:

After 15-20 cruises, we’ve already eliminated a lot of things over the years. No casino or bingo (we’re the unlucky ones), no buffet (germs even pre-covid), no art auctions, etc. 

 

The one new thing I’m looking forward to is having the observation lounge in the Haven!  We haven’t been on a ship with one yet, and our next trip is on the Joy.  It looks like a great space!

It is beyond a great space.  Every single morning, I would get up, go to the Horizon Lounge, have coffee and a very light breakfast. Never crowded.  You will love it.

 

Cruise well.

 

[Sthrngary]

9 hours ago, ElizaSTN said:

 Thank you for your response and apologies for not being clear.  I was referring to the villas/cabanas on GSC.  We’ve rented one of the 2-bedroom villas on the island and was wondering if the drink package applies to beverages ordered there. 
 

In terms of on-board, I FULLY intend on taking my bottle of wine from dinner back to our suite.  Along with my husband’s bottle…who actually does not drink wine.  😂😂😂 more for me! 

I know, the Beach Villa (No Bedrooms just a great room)  on the Private Island that the Joy (Harvest Caye) went too, did NOT include drinks.  The other private island it seems does but I have not personally been there.  

 

Cruise well.

[Sthrngary]

3 hours ago, insidecabin said:

Our last cruise we found we were getting over full with speciality most nights.

 

Would back off and go light some days.

Maybe big breakfast, snack at local, PAYG sushi, bit of buffet, other.

 

If they let you use one package  between 2 that can work to keep it light  at sushi raw etc where it is X items per package.

 

 

 

 

Yes, I could not agree more.

 

Cruise well.