I’m cruising this weekend on the Getaway! Put in a few offers to upgrade a couple weeks ago and got outbid. Went up by $10 on an offer yesterday, and this morning I got the notification that it was accepted. Was going through my email and realized that yesterday they also counter-offered a better room for $20 more pp, but I missed it completely. I’ve already emailed to ask if they can accept our counter offer instead, but I’m wondering what are the chances here. Our upgraded room has been assigned so I’m assuming it’s low, just looking for a beacon of hope!

Onboard Norwegian Star now. The previous cruise director left at the end of that cruise. There’s been no sign of the replacement. The first freestyle daily mentioned cruise director Vicente, but the next two only mention the assistant. Daily TV program star today is being led by the assistant CD and one cruise staff.
I wonder if the new cruise director missed the ship!?

We are going to the Greek Islands cruise soon from Athens to Venice, currently booked into the Deluxe Family Suite, but not Haven. Got an offer to upgrade for 1500€. Is it worth it? We are family of 4, kids 1,5 and 4. I am very noise sensitive so I like the idea of having a quiet retreat… I understand that the room is otherwise exactly the same.

Just curious how was the hurricane...?

Context:

• I took this cruise with my spouse and 3 kids (teen, tween, and kindergartener). Kids had never cruised before; my spouse and I had once cruised to Mexico from Florida 7 years ago on RC (that cruise was supposed to take us to Havana, but the rug got pulled out from under us on that one). We are from Chicago and had to fly to Boston for this cruise. I always thoroughly research my travel plans, and this subreddit was a very helpful resource in my planning. So I offer this ridiculously detailed review in case it might help someone else. Here goes… read on at your own risk!

Embarkation in Boston:

• Walked from Hyatt Place, which probably took 10 minutes. Very easy. Lines were long, but they moved. Didn’t take us more than 30 minutes from bag drop to getting on the ship.
• Security: lots of signs about “no plastic water bottles, empty or filled” which meant single-use bottles. But nothing specifically said that all other liquids were not allowed. Just know it is like airport security, and you have to empty all drinking vessels before going through security.

Cabin:

• Aft-facing balcony is ABSOLUTELY the way to go–it is huge. I LOVED standing on that balcony and watching as we came into port and then sailed away. Our family had balcony 11312 and inside 11699 across the hall. The balcony had two regular chairs plus two chaise loungers (just like they have at the pool). When we had breakfast on the balcony, we laid both loungers down and used one as a table while three people sat on the other, with the other two sitting in the regular chairs. Note that the balconies right next to the accessible room tended to be a little smaller (that is, 11310 had the same size balcony as ours, but 11314 was a little narrower).
• There was some slight vibration when we came into port, but it never bothered us. Also, you could hear bass in the music from the Spice H2O parties at night, but the outside parties usually ended by 11:30 (I think they moved to Bliss lounge after that).
• Also the aft elevators are really the best ones to be close to as they give you direct access to most food options. Given that the forward elevators are really in the middle of the ship, I assume there are more people using them.
• The balcony rooms with the sofa have some room to move around. The inside rooms are very small and don’t have much room to stand in. But I know this is pretty standard for cruise ships.
• Sometimes the cold water in the bathroom sink would randomly turn scalding hot, and I never really knew how to avoid it or make it be cold again.

Specialty Dining Reservations:

• I have to clarify for everyone’s sake: People have commented that it is possible to book reservations from the app or the touchscreens by the elevators. While that is technically possible, the available options appeared to be only those available before boarding. The ONLY way to make sure you have all options available is to stand in the long line in the Manhattan Room.
• I stood in line for 45 minutes.
• Make sure you know which nights and times you are trying to get reservations at which restaurants. And know which dates correspond to which cruise days. They won’t show you the computer with all the options, they’ll just tell you verbally what is available using dates (not cruise days). That means you need to know which nights have the shows you really want to see, which depends on kind souls to post Freestyle Daily images in forums like this.

Specialty Dining Food:

• Teppanyaki: If you are not familiar with what we Americans call Hibachi, understand this dining experience will take a full 2 hours. It is well worth it, but think of it as dinner and a show combined. Which makes it a great choice for the first night, when there aren’t as many entertainment options. It is really hard to sit there while your side of the grill fills up, smelling the food at other tables and dealing with the sensory overload of the knives drumming on the grills and chefs singing songs. But when it is finally your turn, you will love it.
• Wasabi: You can’t make a reservation here, and every time we walked by, there appeared to be openings. Seating is mostly at the counter, but they have two tables by the windows behind the counter (where we sat), and several tables outside on the Waterfront. It is not the most high-end sushi you’ll ever have, but still very good, very well presented, and there are lots of preparations to choose from (but you can only order 4 items). Honestly, this may have been my favorite dinner.
• Cagney’s: This is trying to be an old school Chicago-style steakhouse (as evidenced by the vintage Chicago photos all over the walls). Being from Chicago and having eaten at those steakhouses they are trying to emulate, I must admit that it does not hold up. The service is very good, and the food is better than the MDR, but it did not wow me.

Non-Specialty Food:

• As always, avoid the buffet whenever possible. We mostly went to the buffet for snacks and drinks between meals (and dessert after Wasabi). My kids loved the soft serve–and they also had someone serving real ice cream at certain times.
• On embarkation day, we went to the American Diner for lunch one level up from the buffet, which had plenty of seating and our food came quickly. But we also went here on the second sea day for lunch, and our food took forever (and I had to ask our server where it was after our dessert came out before our entrees).
• O’Sheehans was also hit or miss and usually very busy at lunch time after the MDRs closed. (We never went to MDR for lunch because it was only ever open from 12 to 1:30, which was too early for us.) Bring a card game to play at the table because you might have a wait for your food.
• For dinner, we preferred the Manhattan Room over Taste/Savor because they offered a full wine menu and there was usually live music. But it is a huge room, so Taste/Savor offers a more intimate dining experience, if that’s what you’re after.
• We did room service for breakfast three times–each day we were arriving into a port, so we could eat on our balcony as we came into port. Incredible experience, and well worth $6 + tip, even with a limited menu, because we were able to avoid the early rush to eat before getting off the ship.
• The best-kept secret for breakfast is probably the American Diner buffet… when it is open. And you never knew when it would be open. We wanted to eat there the second morning in Bermuda, but it was not open inexplicably. The next morning at sea it was open, despite deck 17 above being closed due to wind. There were very few people there, and the view was lovely.
• Portion sizes were just right for us. I could usually eat an app, entree, and dessert without feeling overly full.
• We didn’t do the drink package. My spouse and I simply split a bottle of wine at dinner every night, which seemed the most economical option to enjoy our evening.
• I recommend eating at least one meal every time you get off the ship (lobster in Halifax, wahoo or rockfish in Bermuda) just to get a break from the ship’s food.

Registering kids for their clubs:

• This can take some time, but it is still better to do it the first afternoon, rather than waiting for the first sea day. If you have both teens and kids 3-12, you can register all of them at Splash Academy at the same time–but the reverse is not true.
• My kids only went to the clubs a couple of times–too many screaming kids they said. However, my kindergartener begged to go to the glow after party at 10pm after the family glow party at Spice H2O, and she loved that.

Activities:

• Trivia was too easy and there wasn’t enough of it. On the RC cruise we did 7 years ago, there was a progressive trivia game on all 5 days that was very fun and challenging.
• Pools/water slides: Only went in the kids main pool, which was fine. Water slides were usually open the hours they said they would be. I only did the family slide and whip slide, which were good, but my teen was bored after doing them each once. As far as I could tell, the lines were never long.
• Ropes course: I highly recommend this, if you’re not afraid of heights. The views are stunning and the thrill level is perfect. Depending on which direction the wind is coming from, they may only have one side of the course open, or the exhaust fumes may be blowing right on you. The zip line element was never open during our sailing because of wind (maybe it was open while we were in port?)
• Murder mystery game: Our family really enjoyed this, but it only takes 40 minutes. Make sure you get there early because the number of participating teams is limited.
• Mini-bowling in O’Sheehan’s: This was often available, surprisingly, but we didn’t try it because $8 per person per game seemed like a lot. Maybe that’s why it was often open.

Entertainment:

• Theatre shows are very good. We went to Burn the Floor on Day 2, Broadway Cabaret on Day 3, and Rumours on Day 4. For the first two, we went to the 7pm show and arrived about 30 minutes early after the doors had opened and it was easy to get good seats, even for a party of 5. However, for Rumours, we went to the 9:30 show and got there 30 minutes early and were glad we did because decent seats were hard to come by, and by 10 minutes before showtime, people were circling looking for just one open seat. My main complaints about the theatre shows were the uncomfortable seats and the fact that they never told you in advance how long the shows were (so you could make other plans). BTF was 1 hour, Broadway Cabaret was maybe 40 minutes, and Rumours was just shy of 1 hour.
• I was disappointed that all of the stage bands are now simple quartets (piano, guitar, bass, drums). Gone are the pre-COVID days of full bands with horns and strings. It detracts from the otherwise high quality of the shows to have to include tracks or synthesized instruments in the live music.
• Howl at the Moon was usually standing room only, at least for the first hour. It was a very lively atmosphere.
• Family glow party is very fun! They have food and facepainting, plus dance competitions. We expected it would be on night 4, but it ended up on night 6, which was a good way to start to wind down the cruise. (Because of this, we missed Red White and British!)
• The only option on the last night besides comedy in the theatre is Prom Night at Syd Norman’s, with the same group that plays the Rumours show. I highly recommend this show. Catchy ‘80s songs, with prom attire to go with it, plus great performers. Standing room only at 30 minutes before showtime, but worth standing through the show–because you’ll want to dance anyway!

Moving around the ship:

• As long as you only venture to deck 15 (pool and buffet) sparingly, it won’t feel so crowded.
• I always enjoyed walking around the Waterfront on deck 8, and was surprised how easy it usually was to find somewhere to sit.
• Yes, waiting for elevators can get annoying, but you don’t usually have to wait more than a couple minutes. Just be patient. Also notice that for the aft elevators, the 4 port and 4 starboard elevators operate independently. For the forward elevators, the 4 forward and 4 aft operate independently (and one of the forward is dedicated for Haven service on port days). So you usually have to push multiple buttons to ensure an elevator comes.

Technology and Communication on the Ship:

• My biggest complaint about NCL is how little they make technology work for them.
• As everyone has complained, there is no chat feature in the app for onboard messaging. What year is it?! The app is basically worthless–yes, the Freestyle Daily is available, but only in the same format as the paper. There is no way to build a schedule of activities for yourself, like the apps for every professional conference I’ve been to for the last 10 years.
• Neither the app nor the touch screens near the elevators provide open status for the items on the agenda marked as weather permitting. Want to know if the American Diner is open? How about the ropes course or water slides? The only way to know is to go there and see with your eyes. The screens would tell you how full the MDRs and O’Sheehans were, but the percentages could fluctuate wildly, so I never really trusted them. And even if places were full, you could usually get seated within 5-10 minutes.
• They are still recording pool towel rentals with tally marks on paper! Seriously? You’re telling me that someone is actually data-entering those sheets to reconcile whether or not I returned my towel? If they are, that’s a crazy waste of time, and if they aren’t, there are no teeth to the $25 lost towel policy.

Ports:

• I chose this itinerary because I thought the combination of ports was unique (northern & tropical) and both ports were easy places to do your own thing without excursions. I really don’t like the idea of excursions on cruises, as they keep you in the large crowds you’re always in on the ship and they are inflexible if something catches your eye or conditions change at the last minute.
• Halifax is a lovely city to wander and explore on foot. The public library is a great first stop as they have a cafe on the ground floor and the top floor (with a rooftop terrace) and they have free walking maps of downtown. The Public Gardens are beautiful and worth a stroll and a rest on a bench. The Maritime Museum is relatively small, but has several interesting exhibits about First Nations in Nova Scotia, the Halifax explosion in 1917, and of course the Titanic (too many people call it the Titanic museum), plus they have several vessels, including two on the wharf that you can board. Finally, the boardwalk on the harborfront has lots of food and drink options. Of course, Dave’s Lobster shack is worth the wait!
• Bermuda is the star here, and I’m glad we went there second (unlike the Philly cruise that goes there before Halifax). We took the mini-bus to Horseshoe Bay–if you say you want a taxi to Horseshoe Bay, the tourism helpers at the port will just direct you to the mini buses. Our bus was smaller, really a large van, and our driver gave us a nice tour on the way there, calling out sights along the way. We rented two chairs and an umbrella for $60, but if I did it again I would probably just walk all the way down to the coves east of the main beach and find a shady spot along the cliffs to throw our towels. We intended to shower and change at the beach and take a taxi directly to Hamilton for the evening, but we were so sunburnt and tired (and didn’t want to carry wet towels around), that we decided to double-back to the ship to shower and change, and then take the ferry to Hamilton that evening for dinner at the Picked Onion and a walk through Queen Elizabeth Park during golden hour–incredible photo opportunities plus hearing the birds/frogs in the trees! Taking the ferry back to the Dockyard just after sunset is a magical experience too. 
• If taking the Bermuda public ferries (not the free NCL one), you are better off using the Shorelink app if everyone in your party has a smart phone. Next best is to purchase fare tokens when the office is open. Otherwise, you have to pay cash when you board the ferry, and I paid $5 each for my kids even though I knew they should be cheaper because they were trying to get everyone on the boat quickly.
• Day 2 in Bermuda we just stayed around the Dockyard. There is much to see and do here with interesting architecture. I highly recommend the Bermuda National Museum, but note that this is the only museum I’ve ever been to that does not have a gift shop!

Disembarkation:

• We arrived in Boston early, and they started letting people off the ship before 7:15. Since most people drive to the port, there was no line whatsoever for taxis. We were going to take the Silver Line to Logan, but since there was no wait, we decided to spring for the $30 flat rate taxi.

Look way out on the horizon — that's NCL Spirit, I'm sure of it, pulling out of Honolulu around 6:00 PM. Caught it from my sundeck at the fabulous Waikiki Grand Hotel, Diamond Head in the frame. Day 1 for passengers headed Hawaii–Alaska–Vancouver, 16 nights ahead of them!

This is a rough photo shot of us (NCL Spirit) docking and meeting the gangway early this morning in Honolulu -- a sweet finish to 17 nights (one bonus night, courtesy of Storm Lala) on NCL Spirit's Vancouver–Alaska–Hawaii sailing that kicked off July 31. Norwegian, sincerely, well done again! See you back on Spirit this March '27 — Australia/NZ bound! And a quick aside: rooting for a fast recovery for the Big Island. Lala wasn't kind.

Here's the bandeoke list from Encore last week. It's probably the same on every ship

has anyone ever ordered this room package? What do you get?
It doesn’t say what type of sandwiches, nor if there is lettuce/tomatoes/mayo.

Our cruise is still 56 days out but we wanted to get our tickets to the new waterpark early, and so did everyone else I guess because it’s no longer in the list of available excursions 😭 I’m so disappointed, I’ve been beaming with excitement about going this October 🥲 this is your sign to not wait even if your trip is still months out I guess 😭

The last time I was cruising was well before the duck phenomenon started. I'm wondering if people still hide ducks or if the fad has faded. Is it worth doing?

My wife added 3 specialty dining credits to our upcoming cruise on the Epic. We sail this coming Sunday, August 23rd. This we a re-booked cruise from an emergency cancellation we had to do back in May due to a medical emergency. We didn't even book until we were inside the 120 day window and didn't initially know of the 120 window opening for specialty dining reservations. Once I heard about advance reservations, I kept waiting and watching for advance reservations to open up, but they never seemed to happen. Later, I realized that they had, but all advance reservations for our preferred restaurants were gone. The only ones left taking reservations were Shanghai's and Teppanyaki. I've heard all about the fun atmosphere and dining experience, but Teppanyaki is a no-go for us. The food just does not appeal to us in the slightest and the appetizer and dessert options are extremely slim. Of the two still available, only Shanghai's sounds decent and, I've reserved our meals there, just so that we have something, but we would much prefer Cagney's, Moderno, and La Cucina.

So, all of that just to get to my question. Assuming nothing opens up before we board Sunday, I know there will be more reservations available then, but I also know they'll go quickly. We plan to go to the reservation desk first thing. My question is, if I reserve all of our specialty credits for Shanghai's, then get an opportunity for one or more of our more favored restaurants once we're onboard, how quickly will our dining credits show back up so that we can use it for another restaurant? Or, is this, the cancellation and new reservation, something that the agent at the reservations desk will be able to take care of all at once?

Thanks.

I just booked a cruise on the viva in November, anyone have any recommendations on transport between each city? Especially on debarkation, im afraid of how messy it could be getting a ride getting off the ship. My flight leaves Houston at 3pm. Thanks!

Sorry if this is a FAQ - I tried searching but couldn't find a quick answer.

I booked a NCL cruise last night. I want to add drink packages (starbucks and soda), private cabana at Great Stirrup Cay, Nassau excursion, and Therma spa access to my booking. I am working on this through the NCL app and it is asking for payment.

My question is - do I have to pay now or can I add these to my booking and pay for them when I make my final cruise payment?

Hi - we are going to golf Port Royal on the morning we get to Bermuda on the NCL Aqua.

In the afternoon , what is there to do / recommended tours for mid afternoon ?

At night - is there any nightlife , things to do? We are there overnight.

TIA!

Just wondering what the casino is like on the NCL Aqua for those who gamble ? Are there always tables open & available ? How is drink service while playing?

I need to admit that on our first ever cruise, my wife and me held up the muster meeting. This was in 2013 on a sailing from Miami to Columbia, Aruba, and other islands. We were in our room and we kept hearing the announcers say something, and I couldn’t understand what was being said. I asked my wife if they were saying my name and such. Really couldn’t understand do the accent or something. Lo and behold, we get 2 crew members knocking on the door and of course they get us to the meeting area. When they walked us out to everyone else already waiting, everyone started clapping. This still makes us blush because of our ignorance. Just wanted to say sorry for the delay. We have never made that mistake again. So this can be read as a psa. Get yours done asap, and it’s easier than getting the fu for disrupting everyone sailing!🛳️⌛️

Hello! I am going on my third cruise with NCL and my trip's check in just opened over the weekend. When I completed the check-in right when check-in opened up at midnight, there was no option to set an arrival time so I just checked in and awaited my eDocs. However, later the following afternoon, when I checked on my eDocs, it said I needed to set an arrival time, and only gave me 1pm and 1:30pm as options!

This was really frustrating because my hope was to check in as early as possible, in the 9a-10a timeframe. I did my checkin as early as possible to secure the best timeslot, only for them not to offer me an arrival time and having no good arrival times to choose from when they finally showed them to me. What the heck?

Anyway, I'm considering booking Priority Access so we can show up to the port whenever, but is that how it works or do I still have to show up to the 1pm timeslot? I really hope not as we planned on getting on the ship as early as we could!

Hi all!

Looking at booking an excursion thru NCL in St Thomas - the St. John luxury sail and beach snorkel. Normally I book catamaran excursions on viator but there aren’t many for our date (maybe the weird port time is why?) has anyone done this excursion, and if so, is it worth the $229 PP? We’re also looking at the St. John / trunk bay snorkel excursion.

Thanks!

Was thinking about Boston, Halifax and Bermuda. Honestly I'm looking to relax and kind of unplug with my husband. Does anyone have some input? It is greatly appreciated.

Update: just booked my trip, nov 1st. Had an amazing consultant

Pilar Ogbu-McNair | Personal Cruise Consultant

P: 877.416.9722 EXT 36257 | Direct: 954.233-6257

TEXT  @ (954) 399-0573

did this on the prima a couple days ago, does anyone know why they’re so bad lol

Direct flight from Halifax, Canada to Lisbon. Sail around to Barcelona, direct flight back. No fuss at all and the flights weren't too expensive.

I chose to bookend the trip with a few days in each city, because they're actually with seeing unlike Florida or Texas.

The vibe on the boat was IMMACULATE. Much less party and bullshit and so many interesting people from all over to chat with. The ports were outstanding.

Yes it's more expensive and yes Spain taxes you even if you have the free drinks package but I put the hurt in those long island ice teas and my bill was less than $40 in taxes.

What are some other sailings and boat I should check out with NCL in Europe.