Tenderpaw

They really are following the Carnival naming convention. At least the other names (Fantasy, Dream, Magic) fit the Disney theme. Destiny? Nothing magical about that. They could have used Disney Princess and been unimaginative but at least had a name fitting with the Disney theme. After the first Noro outbreak, she will be known as the Disney Dysentery! Just like the Carnival ship was....

Not much thought went into that! A recycled Carnival ship name! They could have done better.

I understand the frustration but in 50 cruises I don't think I've ever gotten money back after final payment, but we have been able to move up to a better cabin before. But we haven't tried that since covid either. Regarding Lahaina, I've never heard of not getting the port fees back on a port cancellation. Even if the fees changed (went down), you'd still get something back. Maybe they had already credited them prior to final payment?

Thanks for your helpful response about the numbers on the wall. No one would have thought of that without your witty input. The reality is a couple a magnets on the door or wall aren't the reason for the "ban". It's because of the excessiveness of a few on every voyage. Corporations will always use a safety argument for policy if they can because it sounds much better than "because a few clowns are excessive with door decorations, causing damage, and we don't want to police it, they are all now banned".

People ask for compensation for stupid stuff all the time, but this isn't one of those times. Having sewage over flow in your bathroom should be worth some small comp. Getting sprayed by the toilet should warrant more including medical review, everything touched by sewage cleaned/sanitized/dry cleaned, and something extra for your trouble.

This is an example of why cruise lines ban things. Someone always has to go and do something crazy and ruin a fun thing for everyone else. Like the person who hid 500 ducks on the one of the Disney ships. We were on the Prima in January and had a couple of magnets on the door and a couple on the wall to help us find the cabin. One of the wall ones was jacked on the second to last day and we figured it was a kid because the kid's club was nearby. Annoying but you don't put anything out there you don't mind losing. And no, we didn't know they weren't allowed.

What are they? We sailed Celebrity last year and thought the Elite benefits aren't as good as Diamond benefits, specifically the time and limited menu of free drinks. I do recall a bag of laundry that was nice on a long cruise, but what other benefits are a lot better?

Yep, even well into the 2000s you could find a good selection of higher end food on the buffet. It's quite sad how the food has devolved on cruises compared to what it once was. But the cruise line executives are happy that people won't complain! Bigger bonuses for them! Bring on the mashed potatoes, rice, cheap cuts of meat, and currie sauce!

W Well, we don't know that they have cruised before. And, people may think because the ship is new and the fares are SO HIGH that Icon will have a higher quality buffet. Who knows what they are thinking. We did a cruise once that had a special VIP event on board the day we sailed. The next day, the buffet had some much better choices. I guess they overbought food and it wasn't all needed. That quickly was quickly consumed, never to be seen again.

We were on the Jan 5 cruise and if you call the res number on the phone in your room, you can make Comodore and Hudsons reservations. But if you go to the reservation table in the atrium, they will say you can't. We found the food to be good on the ship and better than we've experienced in recent cruises. Not better than years ago though. And yes, the spaces on the Prima are all small.

I'm seeing pics on FB of food in the WJ for these VIP sailings of the Icon. Lots of lobster, shrimp, steak, etc and people are posting about how good it looks and how they need to book a cruise! Aren't they in for a surprise when normal sailings start and its just the regular WJ food laid out for them! No lobster for you! Just normal WJ gruel! I know, there are good things in the WJ, but it will not be what is being served to these VIPS.

The lack of indoor space on Prima brings chair hogging to the extreme. Obs lounge had hoggers too. They camped out all day. Or at least their stuff did.

Those balcony rooms are the best! One of the nicest non-suite balconies we have had. Nice chairs too, but ours had the reclining mechanism bolted in place. I don't know if they all were, but I don't know why just ours would be. I assume someone managed to hurt themselves reclining and sued the cruise line to ruin it for the rest of us.

This was our experience last week too, although we didn't have near as many kids, thank goodness. Sids, Improv, Obs Lounge, and Atrium were packed for events. Theater was overloaded once that we witnessed, so maybe its OK. Metro and Belevedere had capacity with Metro becoming our go-to bar. People would chair hog in the Obs Lounge such that getting a seat was not possible often. Comedy is popular on ships, so I don't know why NCL would think the small capacity of Improv would work. People would line up early to get in and then once it, it was wall to wall packed. Deck 8 was popular but we could usually find nice seating down there, thank goodness. Deck 17 pool area was a zoo for which I wanted no part. I love the cheerleaders doubling down with the "arm chair" comments! If we are just rubes who don't know anything, why do we get asked for comments by cruise lines at all? "Just shut up and take it as you don't know what's best! NCL's designers are experts." Companies make stupid decisions all the time or think consumers will do certain things that they don't end up doing even though they are "experts". New Coke. The Edsel. Not allowing people to remove food from the buffet (NCL). Charging for Pizza (almost Royal who took note of the non-expert opinion).

What is wrong with input from experienced cruisers? Not complete design, but input would be good. I recall listening to a talk from the head of the Disney Wish project bragging about how they had input from people "who never had been on ship"! She was proud of that fact, which is asinine. And the Disney Wish is not their best effort either, when it comes to Disney ships.