NSA and PJ Party good or too much for night 1?

[fndecker]

Leaving on a Sunday and that first night is sailaway from 6 to7, we have 7pm dinner, and NSA is at 9:45 ending at around 11 for the PJ Party. Not sure if that is the best way to experience things. Someone noted that the mood coming out of NSA to the party could be fun.

 

We will sleep in before driving from South Beach to the ship and maybe take a nap in the afternoon. But still wonder if it is "too much". Also, we may have to rush from NSA to get changed into PJs and then to the back of the ship for the PJ party. Do people wear their nighties all over the ship starting at 11?

[neverendingcruising]

Wear your PJs to NSA. Can always just fall into bed if you decide the PJ party is too much!

[kwokpot]

I personally would make dinner later, with 730 or 8. Reason being is with late embarkation the earliest you'll be eating lunch when you get on is 2ish. Dinner at all restaurants averages just over an hour, and that's including dessert. Also NSA is over an hour. We stayed for about an hour and then left, and it wasn't over yet. 

[Fogcityca13]

The PJ party is definitely worth stopping by. The grog walk ends at the same place, so it has a pretty good turn out. No need to be there at exactly 11. It’s an open event, so come and go as you please. We were on the grog walk and ran back to our room to change into our PJs before heading to to last bar. Some folks will wear PJs to the shows and grog walk, you’ll  start seeing people in PJs around 9.

[fndecker]

The early PJs tip is a good one. My wife's is satin shorts and a neglige like top with some lace and plunge at the back. I guess a bit revealing so she may not want to wear that unless she sees people also in their PJ's at NSA

Edited January 22, 2023 by fndecker
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[fndecker]

On 1/20/2023 at 5:30 PM, kwokpot said:

I personally would make dinner later, with 730 or 8. Reason being is with late embarkation the earliest you'll be eating lunch when you get on is 2ish. Dinner at all restaurants averages just over an hour, and that's including dessert. Also NSA is over an hour. We stayed for about an hour and then left, and it wasn't over yet. 

Tough Decisions. We have dinner at 6:45 at Extra Virgin in Sunday (night one). NSA starts early at 8 that night. That may be cutting it close unless our servers can help us be done. And we have to walk to the show from there. Is 8 doors open or show starts right at 8?

[kwokpot]

1 hour ago, fndecker said:

Tough Decisions. We have dinner at 6:45 at Extra Virgin in Sunday (night one). NSA starts early at 8 that night. That may be cutting it close unless our servers can help us be done. And we have to walk to the show from there. Is 8 doors open or show starts right at 8?

Doors open usually open 15 mins earlier, so you probably should just leave things the way they are. Just be mindful when you're having lunch what time dinner is! 

[cantgetin]

The time listed is the show start time.

Tell your server when you  enter the restaurant that you need to be out by 7:55 and skip one of the courses.  They will rush it for you. Also, if you've had all you need of the sail away party, show up for dinner early.  You are usually able to be seated early, and even 5 minutes could make a difference..

 

[conandrob240]

Why give it so much thought? Book NSA upon boarding. Decide how you feel as the night goes. Dinner almost always takes a little longer first night but even with that, you should be done with a comfortable cushion to make the show. The PJ party is fun and if you’re tired, just go for a short time, maybe an hour and go to bed. Or if you’re tired, skip it. It’s not like they are going to re-schedule it or be waiting for you 

[conandrob240]

10 hours ago, cantgetin said:

The time listed is the show start time.

Tell your server when you  enter the restaurant that you need to be out by 7:55 and skip one of the courses.  They will rush it for you. Also, if you've had all you need of the sail away party, show up for dinner early.  You are usually able to be seated early, and even 5 minutes could make a difference..

 

Why would you need to rush through dinner to be done at 7:55 for a 9:45 pm show? Even if you’re done with dinner at 9, plenty of time to get there, get in line and be let in around 9:30

[fndecker]

Because NSA ISN'T at 9:45, it is at 8pm every night except one when it is 6:45. And the shows in the Red Room (like SITN and DR) are at 9.

 

I'm not worried about being tired, just concerned about not being too rushed since a cruise is supposed to be relaxing. The top 2 priorities for this trip are Pajama Night and Scarlet Night. For shows it is NSA and DR, though we may book one of the other shows once we have our schedule written out. I tend to overplan, while still leaving room for spontaneity, so A. I know I can see the main things I wanted to see, and B. I don't have to do any thinking or stressing while on the vacation whether its a cruise, Disney, Universal, etc.

[Lustate]

Just remember first rule of the PJ Party.... Dont wake the.....

[Fogcityca13]

@fndecker, no need to stress about the PJ party. It honestly takes a bit for it to fill up with people. Many others will be coming from the shows and will change before heading up, this includes the Happenings Cast. If you’re stressed about the show conflict with it, sit upstairs in the Manor. Super easy to leave without disturbing the show up there.

[_tacocat_]

3 hours ago, fndecker said:

Because NSA ISN'T at 9:45, it is at 8pm every night except one when it is 6:45. And the shows in the Red Room (like SITN and DR) are at 9.

 

I'm not worried about being tired, just concerned about not being too rushed since a cruise is supposed to be relaxing. The top 2 priorities for this trip are Pajama Night and Scarlet Night. For shows it is NSA and DR, though we may book one of the other shows once we have our schedule written out. I tend to overplan, while still leaving room for spontaneity, so A. I know I can see the main things I wanted to see, and B. I don't have to do any thinking or stressing while on the vacation whether its a cruise, Disney, Universal, etc.

if you're basing your dinner reservations on the lineup in the app pre-voyage, don't get totally stuck to your agenda, as the lineup will change based on pax load, performers' injuries/health, new shows, special events, whatever.  it's dumb that they bother to slot things in this early, so people plan around them, and then everything changes once you get onboard.  it'd be better if they just had general descriptions of what the events are vs. the actual schedule.

[seapad]

Will the NSA repeat in other nights? Just wondering that if we can have a 7pm dinner, skip Night 1's NSA, do the PJ party. Will we  have opportunity to see NSA again? 

Also in the other nights, how early would the restaurants open at night? 

Thanks

 

[neverendingcruising]

The six sit down restaurants always open at 6pm for dinner. 

[_tacocat_]

1 hour ago, seapad said:

Will the NSA repeat in other nights? Just wondering that if we can have a 7pm dinner, skip Night 1's NSA, do the PJ party. Will we  have opportunity to see NSA again? 

Also in the other nights, how early would the restaurants open at night? 

Thanks

 

the shows depend on both the itinerary length & the number of passengers onboard. 

 

i sailed in the beginning of december on an 8 night on valiant with 2200 people, and there were a TON of chances to see any of the shows and do whatever activities onboard.  same itinerary last week?  duel reality was cancelled one nights, so they only had 2 showings on one night of the voyage, i think bingo was only 1 night, miss behave and ship show may have had 2 or 3 showings each throughout the week, red room was used as a movie screening room to watch jurassic park one night instead of having a show, i think NSA ended up getting cancelled 1 of the 3 showings, didn't have much in the way of shipboard activities during port days like they usually do, etc.  dare i say, this was the first sailing out of 10 that i've felt legitimately bored on on VV (a couple days and a few nights with truly nothing going on!)

 

the only one i wouldn't sleep on early-in-the-voyage showings of is duel reality.  if seas are rough or performers get injured, they'll cancel it.  i think you're better off trying to knock that one out early in the voyage.  that way if it gets cancelled early on, you still have ample opportunity to see it!

[seapad]

55 minutes ago, _tacocat_ said:

the shows depend on both the itinerary length & the number of passengers onboard. 

 

i sailed in the beginning of december on an 8 night on valiant with 2200 people, and there were a TON of chances to see any of the shows and do whatever activities onboard.  same itinerary last week?  duel reality was cancelled one nights, so they only had 2 showings on one night of the voyage, i think bingo was only 1 night, miss behave and ship show may have had 2 or 3 showings each throughout the week, red room was used as a movie screening room to watch jurassic park one night instead of having a show, i think NSA ended up getting cancelled 1 of the 3 showings, didn't have much in the way of shipboard activities during port days like they usually do, etc.  dare i say, this was the first sailing out of 10 that i've felt legitimately bored on on VV (a couple days and a few nights with truly nothing going on!)

 

the only one i wouldn't sleep on early-in-the-voyage showings of is duel reality.  if seas are rough or performers get injured, they'll cancel it.  i think you're better off trying to knock that one out early in the voyage.  that way if it gets cancelled early on, you still have ample opportunity to see it!

Thank you! Great advice! 

[fndecker]

When is a good time to check the passenger load? Is 5 days out too soon? And if I am not a TA, is the only way to check by asking crew?

[conandrob240]

5 hours ago, seapad said:

Will the NSA repeat in other nights? Just wondering that if we can have a 7pm dinner, skip Night 1's NSA, do the PJ party. Will we  have opportunity to see NSA again? 

Also in the other nights, how early would the restaurants open at night? 

Thanks

 

Only once on our cruise. 

[SMMRLUVN]

I thought Scarlet Night was on the first night? Or is every sailing/ship different? We are on Scarlet July 26 and it shows Scarlet Night the first night.

[Lustate]

1 hour ago, SMMRLUVN said:

I thought Scarlet Night was on the first night? Or is every sailing/ship different? We are on Scarlet July 26 and it shows Scarlet Night the first night.

Hiya, on all the voyages so far i have done and from the details online it looks like the last but one night is Scarlet Night. 

[cantgetin]

14 hours ago, fndecker said:

When is a good time to check the passenger load? Is 5 days out too soon? And if I am not a TA, is the only way to check by asking crew?

Depends on how accurate you want to be.  You can see it on the ipad of the person who checks you in at the terminal or ask virtually any crew member.  They are all briefed in advance about the number to expect.  Shops, food and beverage service, Sailor Services will all have the number.
 

5 days in advance they are still selling the cruise, but I don't think they'll get too many last minute bookings other than someone on board booking a B2B to follow their current cruise--we saw that happen several times!

[kwokpot]

2 hours ago, SMMRLUVN said:

I thought Scarlet Night was on the first night? Or is every sailing/ship different? We are on Scarlet July 26 and it shows Scarlet Night the first night.

I've done a 4 night and an 8 night and Scarlett night was never on day one. We had the same itinerary as yours and it was on day 2, which makes much more sense.  

[AtSeaWithChris]

On 1/23/2023 at 9:35 AM, fndecker said:

Because NSA ISN'T at 9:45, it is at 8pm every night except one when it is 6:45. And the shows in the Red Room (like SITN and DR) are at 9.

 

I'm not worried about being tired, just concerned about not being too rushed since a cruise is supposed to be relaxing. The top 2 priorities for this trip are Pajama Night and Scarlet Night. For shows it is NSA and DR, though we may book one of the other shows once we have our schedule written out. I tend to overplan, while still leaving room for spontaneity, so A. I know I can see the main things I wanted to see, and B. I don't have to do any thinking or stressing while on the vacation whether its a cruise, Disney, Universal, etc.

In a 2 week period I’ve not seen NSA before 9:30.