2026 NCL Cruise Critic cruise (proposed)

[schmoopie17]

17 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

This is all about indulgence and relaxation, with a giant side of @schmoopie17's stand up comedy.

 

Stand up? Every time I try to stand up I emit that old man groan.

Nowadays my style is more sit down.

[schmoopie17]

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

 

 

Source: Microsoft Image Generator

You may have lost the lottery, but from the picture, it appears your ship has come in (the buffet, that is). Gives new meaning to a ship within a ship.

 

Edited July 10 by schmoopie17

[cruiseny4life]

7 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

You may have lost the lottery, but from the picture, it appears your ship has come in (the buffet, that is). Gives new meaning to a ship within a ship.

 

WOW!! Hahahaha, I didn't even see the ship was WITHIN the ship! Aqua must be quite the ginormous boat to fit a ship inside (waiting for all the ship aficionados to lose it). 

[mking8288]

6 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

WOW!! Hahahaha ... waiting for all the ship aficionados to lose it). 

 

Google Gemini generated

[MagnoliaBlossom]

I think the thermal suite needs bar service 🥂😉

[Sugar Magnolia]

5 minutes ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

I think the thermal suite needs bar service 🥂😉

 

I think @cruiseny4life can arrange that.

 

[MagnoliaBlossom]

Well, count me in!

[MagnoliaBlossom]

9 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

You and your hunk are added, my yellow rose! 

 

I really wish that V!va sailing could work for us, but I'm thinking it is not going to just based on the number of PTO days I'd have to request. Don't worry, when I added you I spelled V!va and Pr1ma the non-cruiseny4life way. 🙂

I feel your pain. BUT … I’ve been mostly retired for quite some time, and you are gonna looove all the cruise time when your day comes - but - then, there’s that fixed income thing.  dang!  Which is why I still do some contract work to get some extra cruise bucks. 

[MagnoliaBlossom]

If we reach the “group” number of cabins, I don’t mind setting that up with my PCC.  I’ve never done this with NCL but' what the heck, I’ve got enough helper bees on this thread to drag me through it.you in wine.  But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.  Disclaimer: I’m so jet lagged from our Dawn, British Isles cruise, that anything I say should be viewed as totally irresponsible 😵‍💫

Edited July 10 by MagnoliaBlossom

[Sugar Magnolia]

35 minutes ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

If we reach the “group” number of cabins, I don’t mind setting that up with my PCC.  I’ve never done this with NCL but' what the heck, I’ve got enough helper bees on this thread to drag me through it.you in wine.  But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.  Disclaimer: I’m so jet lagged from our Dawn, British Isles cruise, that anything I say should be viewed as totally irresponsible 😵‍💫

 

Hope you had a great time. I was on that Dawn British Isles cruise last summer. Very much enjoyed it. I did not have the proper camera lens when Nessie poked her head up but I plan to return to Scotland again and again until I get that photo, even if it rains sideways there.

 

 

[cruiseny4life]

15 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

I think @cruiseny4life can arrange that.

 

You might be expecting too much out of this lowly Criticer. I'm not sure what kind of sway I have, though I'm happy to be Jeeves for you ladies and fetch you a drink.

14 hours ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

I feel your pain. BUT … I’ve been mostly retired for quite some time, and you are gonna looove all the cruise time when your day comes - but - then, there’s that fixed income thing.  dang!  Which is why I still do some contract work to get some extra cruise bucks. 

I'm also happily married to a younger (not that much younger) guy that can support me in the first few years of my retirement...but I fully expect to do contract work/work in national parks to keep up our standard of living. 

But yes, definitely love to hear about everyone's trips in their wonderful retirement years and can't wait to reach those years myself!! 

[MagnoliaBlossom]

13 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

Hope you had a great time. I was on that Dawn British Isles cruise last summer. Very much enjoyed it. I did not have the proper camera lens when Nessie poked her head up but I plan to return to Scotland again and again until I get that photo, even if it rains sideways there.

 

 

We’ve done the British Isles several times and it is one of our favorite destinations, if only it wasn’t a ten hour flight and so expensive 😬 it was our first cruise for our teenage grandchildren and we had a wonderful time.  

[Sugar Magnolia]

@cruiseny4life did you have any storm damage in your area? I heard there was some nastiness rolling through yesterday. 
 

[cruiseny4life]

20 minutes ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

@cruiseny4life did you have any storm damage in your area? I heard there was some nastiness rolling through yesterday. 
 

We were on the extreme outer edge of the unpleasantness. At my office in Utica, we had a nice downpour for about ten minutes. At home, last night, there were some rumbles of thunder and a lot of rain (good for our orchard)! I cuddled with the pup that is leery of loud noises while the rest of the creatures slumbered peacefully. 

 

Otherwise, no damage to speak of, though it seems a twister did land up at the border of the Adirondacks in Forestport. 

 

I appreciate you checking! 

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

We were on the extreme outer edge of the unpleasantness. At my office in Utica, we had a nice downpour for about ten minutes. At home, last night, there were some rumbles of thunder and a lot of rain (good for our orchard)! I cuddled with the pup that is leery of loud noises while the rest of the creatures slumbered peacefully. 

 

Otherwise, no damage to speak of, though it seems a twister did land up at the border of the Adirondacks in Forestport. 

 

I appreciate you checking! 

Much further downstate from you, but we were supposed to have tropical downpours, but had nothing instead. Glad to hear you are okay. Weather can be very scary. Just look at what just happened in Texas.

[JIMESOPUS]

3 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

We were on the extreme outer edge of the unpleasantness. At my office in Utica, we had a nice downpour for about ten minutes. At home, last night, there were some rumbles of thunder and a lot of rain (good for our orchard)! I cuddled with the pup that is leery of loud noises while the rest of the creatures slumbered peacefully. 

 

Otherwise, no damage to speak of, though it seems a twister did land up at the border of the Adirondacks in Forestport. 

 

I appreciate you checking! 

This is the first time in a while that here in the Mid Hudson Valley nada, was tracking the lightning and everything stayed up in Central and Western NY.

 

Lightning tracking website

https://www.lightningmaps.org/#m=oss;t=3;s=0;o=0;b=;ts=0;z=10;y=41.6305;x=-73.7704;d=2;dl=2;dc=0;ts24=1;

 

Jim

[MagnoliaBlossom]

4 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Just look at what just happened in Texas.

Yeh,the Houston area is a mess. Still lots of folks without power, but I did see that Galvestons port was open to cruise ships again.  Only very large ships with serious size drafts are still restricted.

 

Up here we had 7” that night.

Edited July 11 by MagnoliaBlossom

[mking8288]

TGIF, this thread on "pause" heading into the weekend ?? 

 

@cruiseny4life  Good to know that all is well further north from us, in your "neck of the woods"  ... newsflash, NWS positively confirmed 5 touchdown, an EF-1 and the rest mostly EF-0's  

  I know that @Jimesopus was making fun of me being on the solar grid since 2015 or so, not true (don't I wish, free w. tax incentives, yada yada) but we do stockpile some items for all -hazards emergency preparedness.   A recent portable equipment addition, even for those living in urban cities with a good power grid - inexpensive & affordable ... van-lifers campers are familiar with them - newest Jackery 300 Plus portable power station with solar recharging **** (40W or larger & faster 100W fold-out charging panels included) and other capabilities for that 24 to 72 hours aftermath.  Supports vital equipments like CPAP, smartphone & tablet recharging, keeping one's Chromebook up & working, assuming that cellular towers remained operating as WiFi would be highly questionable.  Portable USB power "banks" are mainly for convenience while traveling; and together, part of the Station Zebra evolving set-up.  ****(Disclaimer: not an infommercial, currently on sale online at big "A" for $280 / $400 respectively, worth taking a look with Prime Day coming up, investing in one for peace of mind.  

 

Forecasts warning of scattered showers & thunderstorms tonight & tomorrow ahead in "downstate NY" - been a little cooler but not the humidity, then 4 to 5 consecutive days of 90's again.  

[JIMESOPUS]

@mking8288 Nice backup but here in the Mid Hudson we need more power, especially those who have wells - now this is a backup - EF ECOFLOW DELTA Pro 3 Portable Power Station, 4000Wh LFP Battery, Expandable to 48kWh, 120/240V 4000W AC Output, Solar Generator for Home Use, about 20 times more than the Jackery but when you need to flush that toilet, money well spent.

Moving #schmoopie fest 2026 back to page 1

[mking8288]

@JIMESOPUS  Checking out the specs - indeed, yours is most definitely appropriate to run many things inside a house off the grid, 3 ton central air and water pump, freezer/refrigerator and TV, while keeping the lights on.  Our co-op townhouse is spread across 12 city blocks out here and homeowners association prohibit us from wiring anything into the feeds - the small portable power station is adequate & sufficiently capable for power outage & failure, which we hasn't experience since moving here in 2020 as part of the downsizing scheme.  Mindful of 2012 Superstorm Sandy that surprised many. I trust all is well this morning up your way, seeing NWS news & other reports with photos about EF-0 touchdown & other "touchdowns" yesterday, hitting Rome/Utica area hard ... thinking of @cruiseny4life that, all is well & everyone is safe, that recovery teams are reaching the hardest hit area.   

 

Meanwhile, haven't seen Dan @graphicguy for the past few days as he's facing personal challenges of his own until we get a better sense of #schmoopie fest 2025 andn/or 2026 on the calendar.   The Boston NCL early 2026 cruise calendar with the BA and Aqua for NY to Bermuda isn't exactly inspiring ... plus further south in Phila with a 3rd NCL ship.  Excitement being silenced by what we are seeing thus far with upward pricing trends ...  Best friends of ours doing a 11 nights Caribbean "Odyssey" out of Cape Liberty next January as their land-casino dropped Norwegian offers for 2024 ... talking us into joining them with their discount, very tempting - between cruises, gotta renew my passport by early Fall for 2025 travel.  Tough choices on who to cruise with - looking at those Princess live trip report photos - ahead, for sure.  

[cruiseny4life]

15 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Mindful of 2012 Superstorm Sandy that surprised many. I trust all is well this morning up your way, seeing NWS news & other reports with photos about EF-0 touchdown & other "touchdowns" yesterday, hitting Rome/Utica area hard ... thinking of @cruiseny4life that, all is well & everyone is safe, that recovery teams are reaching the hardest hit area.   

All is well on the homestead south of Utica! We had a few branches come down in the road and backyard. I haven't had a chance to check on our orchard, but am thinking it's ok since there are no large trees overlooking it. 

 

Unfortunately, my office still has power, so I'm in Utica today. Rome did get a wee bit destroyed in the downtown section. Oh well. Maybe the rebuild will make it a more inviting place to go...ooops, empathy cruiseny! Empathy...but really, no loss of life, so all is ok up here.

 

Thanks for asking!! 

 

That Princess live truly has me considering Princess. Even though I'll have to wear pants and a collared shirt! Looked at some of the new NCL cruises that just dropped. If booking early gets you a good price, I hate to see what the price for 2026 Bermuda cruises will be in a year or so. Yikes!! Over $3k for a basic Haven room per person for a week. Hi Princess!! 

[laudergayle]

14 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

2026 Bermuda cruises

Hey there, check out the 8/24/2026 MSC Meraviglia YC to Bermuda.  We’re on this sailing (not in YC of course 🤣). But we do have Aurea.  We canceled a 6/2026 NCL cruise on Getaway to Bermuda after finding MSC for half the cost.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Good morning all! I got my passport renewed and am ready to rumble!

 

@cruiseny4life was thinking about you too this morning. Glad to hear all is well on the homestead. Sorry to hear that there is power at the office.

 

The Princess live reinforced how I felt when I sailed on the Discovery Princess earlier this year out of LA. Both the food and the entertainment on the Discovery put NCL to shame. However, on solo pricing, no one can beat NCL. At times, the other lines won't even offer a cabin to a solo traveler, even if I am willing to pay the 100% solo supplement. No solos need apply. No shirts no shoes no service no solos. Solos do not pass go. 

 

[schmoopie17]

6 minutes ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

Solos do not pass go. 

http://listingbuilder.multichannel.management/uploads/20160512093155-YVO3VP/6F7WGV180233.jpg

 

 

[cruiseny4life]

31 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

Hey there, check out the 8/24/2026 MSC Meraviglia YC to Bermuda.  We’re on this sailing (not in YC of course 🤣). But we do have Aurea.  We canceled a 6/2026 NCL cruise on Getaway to Bermuda after finding MSC for half the cost.

First - whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy do you do this to me?!?! 

Second - I think you mean 2025. 

Third - whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!

Fourth - we only have something in February booked, so it's possible. 

 

Yacht Club is slightly less expensive than the NCL Bermuda cruises, but includes drinks, WiFi, and thermal suite, so we'd probably save more than $1,000 which makes it even more doable! 

 

It's on my radar...can't confirm anything right now though (or the foreseeable future). 

 

We are currently in the process of being approved to foster/adopt children. The last step is a medical review - apparently they want to be assured we won't drop dead when the child is dropped at our doorstep.

 

We just picked up two foster puppies which are taking up all of our available time and energy, and my husband is interviewing for new jobs. Way too much uncertainty right now, plus February was a really long booking window for us. I can't even imagine summer 2025 yet! 

 

Photos of puppies, because...well, can you ever have enough?