2026 NCL Cruise Critic cruise (proposed)

[laudergayle]

10 minutes ago, hallux said:

Can't do that with US ports unless one of them is a repositioning with a stop in South America.

It could include Mexico and Canada also.  But one port might have to repeat on turn around day.

Edited June 21 by laudergayle

[schmoopie17]

3 hours ago, laudergayle said:

 And perhaps the cruise could be 2 7-day cruises. Just a thought for any CCer’s that are restricted to 7 days.

I also thought of this. I don't know how often NCL does this, but both Princess and MSC have 14 day cruises (which are really two seven day back-to-back.)

 

They start in, say Miami...go out for seven days...return to Miami...go out for another seven days. They usually have some duplication of ports on both legs, but we would probably count any duplicates as "sea days".

 

That way, the seven day folks would be happy...and those of us who like longer cruises would also be happy.

 

Edited June 21 by schmoopie17

[hallux]

2 hours ago, laudergayle said:

It could include Mexico and Canada also.  But one port might have to repeat on turn around day.

No, can't do one US port to another without a stop outside North America (Caribbean included).  Look up the PVSA...

[schmoopie17]

Here's an example of an MSC 14 day (two seven day)...

 

14 Days Caribbean-Western

MSC Cruises • MSC World America

Miami, Roatan, Costa Maya, Cozumel, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, Miami, Puerto Plata, San Juan, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, Miami

3 departure dates: Jan 03, 17, 31 2026

[hallux]

@schmoopie17 my parents have done that type of itinerary on Princess

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, hallux said:

No, can't do one US port to another without a stop outside North America (Caribbean included).  Look up the PVSA...

You can do it with a stop at the ABC islands. Although they are close to South America they are still located in the Caribbean. However the distance involved precludes a relatively short cruise of 7 nights from using them to satisfy the PVSA.

[omahabob]

5 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

So umm, y'all....I'm actually stunned my husband was onboard (get it, heehee, I'm hilarious) with this concept. As the planner (not really), if there's interest, I'll pledge myself as tribute to draft a Google Sheet for folks to say they're interested. Don't worry, it won't be one of those massive roll call Google Sheets that asks for maiden name, social, and first born child's working years...

Sometimes I crack myself up too. You can have my first born. Can't believe how long it took to get rid of that sucker. 😃

[laudergayle]

@hallux @njhorseman maybe we’re speaking of different things.  Are you saying that a cruise ship cannot go to several US ports then to the Bahamas, or Mexico, or Canada and satisfy whatever rule/requirement you referenced?  I’m confused.

[njhorseman]

30 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

@hallux @njhorseman maybe we’re speaking of different things.  Are you saying that a cruise ship cannot go to several US ports then to the Bahamas, or Mexico, or Canada and satisfy whatever rule/requirement you referenced?  I’m confused.

Under the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA):

 

A foreign-flagged ship doing a closed loop cruise...one that starts and ends in the same US port, has to make a port call at any foreign port . 

 

An open jaw cruise...one that starts at one US port and ends at a different US port has to make a port call at a distant foreign port. No ports in North America, Central America, the Bahamas, Bermuda, nor the Caribbean islands with the exception of the ABC islands qualify as a distant foreign port. 

 

Note that the above criteria are based on where you, the passenger, embark and disembark as it's possible for a ship to have multiple embarkation and disembarkation ports on a sailing, although that type of itinerary is fairly rare for US cruises. 

Edited June 21 by njhorseman

[ontheweb]

19 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

@hallux @njhorseman maybe we’re speaking of different things.  Are you saying that a cruise ship cannot go to several US ports then to the Bahamas, or Mexico, or Canada and satisfy whatever rule/requirement you referenced?  I’m confused.

I believe a cruise can do that as long as it is a round trip, eg. start and end in Miami. If a cruise starts in one US port and ends in another, then it must have a distant foreign port.

[laudergayle]

51 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

Under the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA):

 

A foreign-flagged ship doing a closed loop cruise...one that starts and ends in the same US port, has to make a port call at any foreign port . 

 

An open jaw cruise...one that starts at one US port and ends at a different US port has to make a port call at a distant foreign port. No ports in North America, Central America, the Bahamas, Bermuda, nor the Caribbean islands with the exception of the ABC islands qualify as a distant foreign port. 

 

Note that the above criteria are based on where you, the passenger, embark and disembark as it's possible for a ship to have multiple embarkation and disembarkation ports on a sailing, although that type of itinerary is fairly rare for US cruises. 

If I get this right, you could have a foreign-flagged cruise go from LA to Mexico, back to LA then from LA to Canada.  Or, the cruise Schmoopie posted. Miami to Mexico then Miami to Bahamas to Miami.  When I made my suggestion about (2) 7-day cruises B2B that’s what I was thinking.  
 

thank you for your explanation.😊

Edited June 21 by laudergayle

[njhorseman]

3 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

If I get this right, you could have a foreign-flagged cruise go from LA to Mexico, back to LA then from LA to Canada.  Or, the cruise Schmoopie posted. Miami to Mexico then Miami to Bahamas to Miami.  When I made my suggestion about (2) 7-day cruises B2B that’s what I was thinking.  
 

thank you for your explanation.😊

Yes,  those examples are fine.

[Wayward Son]

 

There are a lot of 🐀's in this thread that haven't found the pack. The thing is, you need to see the whole picture, not just the body.

 

By the way, where did Chief scatter off to?

 

[laudergayle]

3 minutes ago, Wayward Son said:

By the way, where did Chief scatter off to?

 

Right??  The Chief must be cruising on a ship w/o Starlink.

Edited June 22 by laudergayle

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

On 6/19/2024 at 5:05 PM, schmoopie17 said:

2026 will probably be our last NCL cruise (assuming we make it that far. Once you hit 70, you just never know).

 

Why will it be your last? 

 

You still have plenty of great years left in you... You're just now finally getting to prime cruising age!

[jrt.mom]

21 hours ago, omahabob said:

I'm a boomer, and although I grew up with 70s music, the 80s was my favorite decade.

I like the 80s also, but I'm embarrassed to admit although I'm seventy my favorite genre is EDM...

[MagnoliaBlossom]

22 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

 @MagnoliaBlossom already mentioned a V!va sailing to kick the 2026 off on the right start in Galveston (I like the cruise. I don't like the Galveston part given how hard it is to get to the port - 

We are already booked on the 1-10-26 sailing.

Yes, Galveston is quite a ways from the airports, but there are several shuttle bus companies that do a reliable job at a reasonable rate.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

9 hours ago, Wayward Son said:

 

There are a lot of 🐀's in this thread that haven't found the pack. The thing is, you need to see the whole picture, not just the body.

 

By the way, where did Chief scatter off to?

 

Chief is in time out.

[schmoopie17]

11 hours ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

 

Why will it be your last? 

 

You still have plenty of great years left in you... You're just now finally getting to prime cruising age!

It would probably be our last NCL cruise. We're doing NCL for the Mediterranean in a couple of months and the Panama Canal in 2015. We would like to try other cruise lines to spread our wings, as it were.

[RMS Olympic]

You almost got me.

I thought the idea of a Cruise Critic cruise would be great, celebrating the love of cruising and the social aspect of a Cruise Critic based group. 
But it seems it’s morphing into a music themed sailing….

From a common idea of celebrating cruising to personal tastes in music where individual tastes may not be fulfilled.

Celebrating cruising is not age centric, entertainment defined, activity driven.

Id suggest selecting a theme and generating interest….whats the old saying…too many cooks…

Me…..I like being around cruisers….especially those that don’t need diversions to be occupied and not bored at sea.

Im celebrating my 72nd birthday in September on Virgins Valiant lady, which will make ship 96. Next year three NCL cruises booked….and planning on a January 2026 sailing.

Ill follow this thread to see what happens…..a cruise based on Cruise Critic members would be great, 

 

 

[schmoopie17]

15 minutes ago, RMS Olympic said:

You almost got me.

I thought the idea of a Cruise Critic cruise would be great, celebrating the love of cruising and the social aspect of a Cruise Critic based group. 
But it seems it’s morphing into a music themed sailing….

 

I agree. We've gotten off track a bit. Music is nice, but it's not even close to the top reason we cruise. 

 

I like the idea of @cruiseny4lifeto compile serious (or even semi-serious) folks to get the ball rolling. Of course, finding a cruise/ship/itinerary/length/departure port, etc., that the majority would like could be a daunting task. But it's been done before...

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

31 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

It would probably be our last NCL cruise. We're doing NCL for the Mediterranean in a couple of months and the Panama Canal in 2015. We would like to try other cruise lines to spread our wings, as it were.

Ah, gotcha! 

 

There are so many great cruise lines out there, good for you guys for branching out.

 

If you haven't yet, be sure to try the Yacht Club on one of MSC's newer ships... It's our favorite suite experience of all the lines!

[laudergayle]

22 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

Here's an example of an MSC 14 day (two seven day)...

 

14 Days Caribbean-Western

MSC Cruises • MSC World America

Miami, Roatan, Costa Maya, Cozumel, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, Miami, Puerto Plata, San Juan, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, Miami

3 departure dates: Jan 03, 17, 31 2026

I like this cruise and I like MSC. World America is a new ship…but very big.  I don’t know how many on the NCL forum are willing to cruise outside of NCL, though.

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

1 hour ago, laudergayle said:

I like this cruise and I like MSC. World America is a new ship…but very big.  I don’t know how many on the NCL forum are willing to cruise outside of NCL, though.

As somebody who sails on all the different cruise lines and is about to do our first NCL cruise... What do people prefer about NCL that keeps them loyal?

[Asawi]

12 minutes ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

What do people prefer about NCL that keeps them loyal?

No set dinner time

No formal night

Relatively solo-friendly pricing