Missing Nov 2023 Viva TransAtlantic?

[lgdesign]

For roughly two weeks now, the Nov 2023 Viva TA been missing in action from NCL's web site (it still shows up as booked with no changes when I log into my account). 

 

Some one on our roll call was told by an NCL rep that it's "sold out" which seems highly unlikely... and a number of us smell a possible itinerary change a-comin' our way.

 

Any info, ideas or fun thoughts to entertain us as we wait for the official news?

[shof515]

most likely they will be dropping Bermuda  like what they did on other transatlantic 

[njhorseman]

9 minutes ago, shof515 said:

most likely they will be dropping Bermuda  like what they did on other transatlantic 

The reason for dropping Bermuda on the trans atlantics earlier this year no longer exists. Bermuda dropped its travel authorization process and associated fees.

Numerous future NCL TAs still have Bermuda on their itinerary.

Edited December 29, 2022 by njhorseman

[bluesea777]

Maybe it’s heading to Miami rather than NYC. Hopefully. 🤓

[romalley99]

From what I am hearing, I believe they're in the process of doing something along the lines of what happened with Encore. They want to get into NYC earlier than expected for some festivities/events for her inauguration. Encore was reduced to a 9 day (with no ports) from an 11 day. I think NCL is going to make NYC "the spot" for the Christening and Inaugural (especially after the sort-of bad feedback they had with the Prima Iceland Christening and the challenges of doing this ceremony abroad). 

 

We will surely see in time... 

Edited December 30, 2022 by romalley99

[lgdesign]

14 hours ago, romalley99 said:

From what I am hearing, I believe they're in the process of doing something along the lines of what happened with Encore. They want to get into NYC earlier than expected for some festivities/events for her inauguration. Encore was reduced to a 9 day (with no ports) from an 11 day. I think NCL is going to make NYC "the spot" for the Christening and Inaugural (especially after the sort-of bad feedback they had with the Prima Iceland Christening and the challenges of doing this ceremony abroad). 

 

We will surely see in time... 

 

Well that would royally stink... and I would cancel instantly as I have absolutely no interest in a 9-day cruise with no ports.

[bluesea777]

16 hours ago, romalley99 said:

From what I am hearing, I believe they're in the process of doing something along the lines of what happened with Encore. They want to get into NYC earlier than expected for some festivities/events for her inauguration. Encore was reduced to a 9 day (with no ports) from an 11 day. I think NCL is going to make NYC "the spot" for the Christening and Inaugural (especially after the sort-of bad feedback they had with the Prima Iceland Christening and the challenges of doing this ceremony abroad). 

 

We will surely see in time... 

 

1 hour ago, lgdesign said:

 

Well that would royally stink... and I would cancel instantly as I have absolutely no interest in a 9-day cruise with no ports.

 

When we booked in Aug 2019 the Encore inaugural TA (Nov 2019), it was already a 9 day cruise with no ports but an overnight in NYC was already in the itinerary.

 

We had a great cruise as the Roll Call was a very large one and there were a lot of activities.

 

And the best part of the cruise was the arrival to New York harbor, sailing under Verrazano bridge MID-AFTERNOON on Nov 10, and sailing past the Lady Liberty and the Escape (yep, there was horn battles), tug/pilot boat with water jet sprays welcoming us. And the glorious sunset! Weather that day was very cool but clear skies, sunny and calm seas.

 

That ranks in the top two of our Sail-ins (Venice is the other one).

 

Reason we arrived early and overnighted in NYC was that we had to go thru the US Immigration that evening as the following day was federal holiday.

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by bluesea777

[lgdesign]

We've had the pleasure of sailing in and out of NYC a couple of times already and it is indeed spectacular... as was sailing out of Venice for us.. and Sydney Harbor too.  All wonderful.

 

BUT for the prices they were charging for their Viva TA, I would like some ports as originally advertised.

 

It will be interesting to see what happens with this sailing.

 

PS  San Francisco arrivals (and sailaways) are very cool too!

Edited December 30, 2022 by lgdesign

[romalley99]

56 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

When we booked in Aug 2019 the Encore inaugural TA (Nov 2019), it was already a 9 day cruise with no ports but an overnight in NYC was already in the itinerary.

 

It was changed earlier in the year... maybe June or earlier? Originally it was an 11-day with ports (Azores & ??) ending in Miami... I'll go back and see if I can find it, but it certainly feels like a lifetime ago. 

Edited December 30, 2022 by romalley99

[romalley99]

1 hour ago, bluesea777 said:

When we booked in Aug 2019 the Encore inaugural TA (Nov 2019), it was already a 9 day cruise with no ports but an overnight in NYC was already in the itinerary.

it was modified on Jan 23 2019 (for a Nov sailing) — on this same day they canceled the Nov 17 first Miami sailing to maximize time in NYC and Miami for events.

 

These schedule changes are sadly the result of releasing itineraries many years in advance. I remember one year (many years ago) Norwegian opened up an entire NYC season for booking 2-3 years in advance and a year out scrapped the entire NYC deployment to redeploy the ship. Crazy! 
 

Edited December 30, 2022 by romalley99

[PATRLR]

Just as long as it's in Miami for our Dec 6, 2023 sailing, I'll be happy.  But the thought of changes to the TA have me getting anxious about our Dec 6 cruise (ours is still on the web site and bookable).

 

[shof515]

19 minutes ago, romalley99 said:

These schedule changes are sadly the result of releasing itineraries many years in advance. I remember one year (many years ago) Norwegian opened up an entire NYC season for booking 2-3 years in advance and a year out scrapped the entire NYC deployment to redeploy the ship. Crazy! 
 

it would be nice if the Encore returns back to New York one day in the future. I had a Encore NYC sailing that got covid canceled and i wish NCL did these types of itinerary's more often. Lucky they did a few them on the Joy this year. 10 day Canada cruise that goes to PEI and Sydney 

[bluesea777]

4 hours ago, shof515 said:

it would be nice if the Encore returns back to New York one day in the future. I had a Encore NYC sailing that got covid canceled and i wish NCL did these types of itinerary's more often. Lucky they did a few them on the Joy this year. 10 day Canada cruise that goes to PEI and Sydney 

To tell you the truth, Encore isn’t quite suitable for Bermuda cruises - due to lack of Spice H2O. Encore is better suited for cooler weather cruises since she has outdoor heaters. 
 

We have been on all 3 other BA+ class ships (as well as Encore) and they are better suited for Bermuda cruises out of NYC since they all have Spice H2O that is usually used for late evening parties under stars. 
 

Encore could replace Prima for the Northern Europe cruise (Iceland) … Prima was built for warm weather cruises. 
 

JMHO. 
 

Edited December 31, 2022 by bluesea777

[romalley99]

17 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

To tell you the truth, Encore isn’t quite suitable for Bermuda cruises - due to lack of Spice H2O. Encore is better suited for cooler weather cruises since she has outdoor heaters. 
 

We have been on all 3 other BA+ class ships (as well as Encore) and they are better suited for Bermuda cruises out of NYC since they all have Spice H2O that is usually used for late evening parties under stars. 
 

Encore could replace Prima for the Northern Europe cruise (Iceland) … Prima was built for warm weather cruises. 
 

JMHO. 
 

 

I agree, although it would be nice to have Encore here in NYC for at least one season. 

 

I did the Prima from Southampton to Galveston... basically half in cold weather and half in warm... and I enjoyed Prima MUCH more in the warmer climates... not only because of the outdoor features, but because it also moved many more people outsides which "de-crammed" indoor spaces significantly. 

[lgdesign]

What was the Prima's first TA duration and itinerary?

[dexddd]

1 hour ago, lgdesign said:

What was the Prima's first TA duration and itinerary?

12 days.  Southampton, Scotland (cancelled), two days Iceland, Halifax, NYC.  We were on it.

[lgdesign]

1 hour ago, dexddd said:

12 days.  Southampton, Scotland (cancelled), two days Iceland, Halifax, NYC.  We were on it.

 

Thanks... I just recalled that my friends were on it as well. 

 

 

[J0Y0US]

On 12/30/2022 at 2:31 PM, lgdesign said:

We've had the pleasure of sailing in and out of NYC a couple of times already and it is indeed spectacular... as was sailing out of Venice for us.. and Sydney Harbor too.  All wonderful.

 

BUT for the prices they were charging for their Viva TA, I would like some ports as originally advertised.

 

It will be interesting to see what happens with this sailing.

 

PS  San Francisco arrivals (and sailaways) are very cool too!

 

What is your favorite?

[lgdesign]

On 1/1/2023 at 3:31 PM, J0Y0US said:

 

What is your favorite?

 

Too hard to choose... possibly Venice just because they don't allow it anymore.  That was unforgettable as we sailed out while the sun was going down.

[lgdesign]

On 12/29/2022 at 10:52 PM, bluesea777 said:

Maybe it’s heading to Miami rather than NYC. Hopefully. 🤓

 

 

I'd take that... or San Juan, no problem... just don't shorten it and/or make it a port-less cruise.

[bluesea777]

32 minutes ago, lgdesign said:

 

 

I'd take that... or San Juan, no problem... just don't shorten it and/or make it a port-less cruise.

As long as the ship stops in Bermuda on the way so we can off-load dirty laundry and shopping and continue with the cruise and travel light back  to Bermuda. 🤓😎

 

[lgdesign]

Well, we have our answer... not sure how I feel about the changes.

 

 

Note: the paragraph above the itinerary chart says that the cruise now ends in Miami instead of New York... but the chart still says NYC. 

 

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by lgdesign

[Sea Monster 2]

We got the email, too.  Kind of disappointed with the new itinerary— we’ve done the Caribbean ports numerous times, it was the Atlantic ones that drew us. I suppose this is an acknowledgement that this class of ships works best in warm climates, as we’ve read repeatedly in Prima posts.  Now we have to decide quickly if we want to go forward with this cruise….

[lgdesign]

18 minutes ago, Sea Monster 2 said:

We got the email, too.  Kind of disappointed with the new itinerary— we’ve done the Caribbean ports numerous times, it was the Atlantic ones that drew us. I suppose this is an acknowledgement that this class of ships works best in warm climates, as we’ve read repeatedly in Prima posts.  Now we have to decide quickly if we want to go forward with this cruise….

 

Same here... underwhelmed.  The offer of 10% off if you keep the cruise helps, but it's not exactly blowing my socks off.  😉

 

 

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by lgdesign

[bluesea777]

1 hour ago, lgdesign said:

 

Note: the paragraph above the itinerary chart says that the cruise now ends in Miami instead of New York... but the chart still says NYC. 

 

 

 

They sent 2nd email a couple of hours later with Miami instead of NYC.