luckybecky

What?! If it is on Youtube, it must be true! 😉 I agree, that's why I wondered if anyone here had heard the story.

I always take a photo exactly like this so I'll have the info with me if needed. On another note: youtube channel Let's Go Travel Tips is reporting that the couple that missed the ship in Spain is the SAME elderly couple that missed an NCL ship a month or so ago in Africa (along with several others). I'm not sure where she got her information. Has anyone else heard this? Or can confirm?

Agreed. On Cruise Deck Plans, the occupancy for each ship is listed at around 4000 give or take a little, Aqua being the highest. I wonder if the lower number you are seeing on NCL is the new, updated number which would confirm what the Cruise Next person said. She gave no indication of what they are doing with the excess staterooms.

I do a review after every cruise. I include a hyperlink to each review in my signature. Yesterday I noticed that all my hyperlinks are gone -- just showing as plain text (the word "review") rather than the link that used to be there. Anyone know how/why this happened, and what I can do to restore the links? Thanks!

I haven't followed that thread, but for what it's worth I'll add this information: We attended a Cruise Next presentation on our recent cruise on the Spirit. The presenter said that they have heard the complaints about overcrowding and are reducing capacity on the Prima, Viva, and Aqua from around 4000 on each ship to approximately 3000. When exactly this is happening, she didn't say. But if true, it is certainly good news!

I did a Gate 1 tour in Spain with my daughter a couple of years ago. It was great. We also did a tour in China with Gate 1, and my husband and I did Peru last year. In each case, the tour was great and guides were excellent. They are a mid-level tour company, not luxury. For example, accommodations may be in an older hotel, not the Ritz. But they do an excellent job. We've used them three times and will do so again.

I agree. We are booked on a 25 day B2B Asia cruise in Nov and Dec of next year. Before booking, I looked at the itineraries for several other lines and no one offered anything even close to the number of ports we are getting here. The same was true for the South Pacific cruise we just completed. So we are taking our chances with NCL and hoping for the best. I do wish we didn't have to worry about this and could just count on going to the ports we expected.

We have only cruised NCL a few times but also have noticed this problem. Ports aren't being canceled at the last minute due to weather, for example, which is completely understandable. We've had ports canceled/changed months in advance for no apparent reason whatsoever. And never received any compensation. These changes often happen after final payment date. Exactly!! Our Panama Canal cruise dropped TWO central American ports, adding a sea day and Acapulco. I was shocked, since as you correctly point out, Acapulco is on the Do Not Travel list. Overall we have enjoyed our NCL cruises but been dismayed by these port changes. We cruise for the ports and study itineraries closely when choosing our cruises. I know ports may be changed at any time for weather related reasons and understand this completely. But the capricious port changes are discouraging. We have not noticed this on any other cruise line.

Since it is your first one, I'd say keep it as a souvenir! It's up to you if you want to keep or re-hide. We just finished a B2B on the Spirit and loved it. I hope you are having a fabulous time.

I sort of pride myself on packing light -- or at least trying to. 😜 On the cruise we just finished, we had the most luggage I've ever taken. Two carry on size cases, plus one slightly larger mid size suitcase, and two backpacks. In our defense, it was the longest cruise we have ever taken at 25 days. And we had to pack for cold weather (New Zealand) and warm beach weather (South Pacific). It was a challenge to pack and also to find room for everything in our cabin. We didn't have enough warm clothes (needed layers!!) but otherwise could have packed lighter. My all time favorite sandal broke literally as we were walking onto the ship on day one (Really?!?!) of that 25 day cruise! Oh no! Thank goodness I had an extra pair of sandals but it didn't make up for breaking my favorite that I had intended to wear almost every single day. Was good to have a backup. I also must own every travel accessory known to man. That takes up space. Some favorites are a collapsible laundry hamper and a shower caddy. Every trip is a Tetris challenge to pack as light as possible but also take everything we need.

Yes they did. I can't remember how often, but the outside decks were closed a few times. Not often, but it did happen.

You won't go wrong with the Australia/NZ cruises. We enjoyed it so much. They also have some excellent Asia itineraries -- in fact I just booked one for late 2025! Believe me, we made full use of the drink package! 😆 I usually drink wine but also enjoyed an occasional mojito, margarita, or aperol spritz. The mudslide is delicious and was very popular. We saw people drinking them all the time. Paul likes whiskey and tried them all (they have Bulleit, Crown Royal, Jack Daniels, Buffalo Trace, maybe more but he tried all of these) LOL and he also had gin and tonic from time to time. Bar service was always exceptional. They are happy to give you a double if you wish. No limit on number of drinks per day (as Carnival does, for example).

I can see why you cancelled, I would not have liked those port changes either. I hope you do get to do Australia. It was just a taste of each port and made us hungry for more! We are considering an Asia B2B on the Sun next year. It looks like an amazing itinerary, 25 days again just like this one was. It's not until Nov/Dec 2025 so I'm afraid that gives NCL a lot of time to tinker with the ports. They seem to like to do that.

Wednesday April 10 Papeete Debarkation Day Sadly we have to leave the ship. The time has flown by. We were awakened around 7 by announcements. We were fully packed so only had to quickly dress and throw our overnight things in the suitcase. Paul went up to the buffet to get a little breakfast. We left our room around 8am. Elevators took awhile of course but we got out pretty quickly. There was no immigration process as this was taken care of onboard a couple of days ago. The taxi line took an hour. And it was HOT! Long rant coming. Read this if you have any intention to stay at the Hilton. Otherwise just skip ahead. We arrived at the Hilton resort by 9:30am. They don’t do day rooms, so we had just booked a room for the night, with the intention of checking out early for our 11:45pm flight. Obviously we knew we wouldn’t be able to check in at 9:30am, but we hoped that as rooms were cleaned throughout the morning, perhaps we could get into one early. And we told the clerk that we would be staying only several hours and leaving that evening. We went to the pool and hung out there while waiting. It’s a very nice pool. There is no beach or access to the ocean. We never had a waiter approach us although we did see other people receiving food and drinks at their poolside loungers. Finally after almost four hours I went to the desk to inquire about our room and waited over 20 minutes in the slow moving check in line. No, our room was not ready. I asked if we could be notified by phone or text when it was ready. They said come back in an hour. I waited a little more than an hour, and then waited again in the long check in line. Room still not ready. Come back in 30 minutes. I asked again, can we be notified when it is ready? Yes. Meanwhile, each time I am standing in line, I see people being handed room keys. People who are just arriving, hours after we had arrived. Obviously they don’t believe in “first come, first served” here. And we had also watched EVERY SINGLE person/couple seated around us at the pool gain access to their room (there were quite a few people from this ship with their luggage, just like us; we had a a nice chat with some of them). After yet another wait, I went to the checkin desk and waited in line for the fourth time. This time, it was announced that our room was ready and our luggage had already been delivered there. So somehow they managed to let the bellhop know, but not us. I said, I thought they were going to call or text when the room was ready? The clerk said, we are very busy. Look, I don’t want to be a diva, but when I’m paying over $500 for a few hours’ stay, I don’t think it’s a lot to ask for a 30 second call to tell me my room is ready. And don’t tell me you are “too busy” to provide such a basic service. Apparently the waitstaff was also “too busy” to acknowledge or serve us. So we go to our room about 6 hours after arriving, which spacious and nicely furnished. The bed was comfortable. The “gardern view” was not a view of anything but a tall shrub planted immediately in front of our patio as seen below. There was black hair in the shower and on the bathroom floor. (Neither of us has black hair.) There were ants in the refrigerator. Yes, ants. Carpets in the hallways were visibly soiled. The floor in our room was also dirty. Not long after showering, I noticed my feet were dirty just from walking barefoot in the room. Out of three ice machines we tried, we only found one working. Sorry, rant over. Just be aware of these problems if you are considering staying at this expensive “luxury” resort. We napped a little. Got some snacks from the store across the street. Note that the food court here closes early. Open for lunch. But there is a full grocery store. We checked out at about 9pm and took a taxi to the airport. The line to check in took a full hour. And there is no A/C. Weirdly, we were apparently the last people to arrive 2.5 hours before our flight, because only a few people got in line behind us. We had dozens in front and almost no one behind. I didn’t know you needed to arrive that early but apparently everyone else knew. Security took an additional 30 minutes and I had the most thorough groping from a security agent of my life. It was humiliating. She touched every part of my body repeatedly and closely, made me lift my shirt, and then wanded me for good measure. In full view of everyone. After this gauntlet, our travel actually went pretty well. We have flown Air Tahiti Nui once before and knew to expect bad food and uncomfortable seats. But our flight including connections in LAX and Phoenix all were on time. We made it home after a long day and night. It was so good to sleep in our own bed! And we have finally reached the end of our tale. It was an incredible trip with an extraordinary itinerary. We loved all the ports. Already planning our next NCL vacation!

Tuesday April 9 Moorea This is truly one of the most gorgeous places on earth and we had a great day! We had booked a tour with Enjoy Moorea tours. This was one of our best tours of the entire trip! There were just 6 of us. We were picked up in a 4x4 and had a treacherous, thrilling drive up to the stunning viewpoint on Magic Mountain. We saw how they grow vanilla and had a sample of some local jellies. We went through the pineapple fields and learned how they are cultivated. Went to a private beach where we were the only people as far as the eye could see. Here, our guide served us a delicious lunch of local fruits and the local specialty of poisson cru. Then we had a hike to a beautiful and remote waterfall that I’m sure very few tourists get to see. We had been pre-warned that the hike is vigorous and you need to be in good shape, and they weren’t lying. It was challenging but worth the effort. All in all it was an amazing day and such a wonderful way to end our trip. The private beach where we had lunch Lunch of fresh local fruits, rice, breads, and poisson cru The waterfall that we hiked to. The pool of water was very cool and refreshing One of the other couples on this tour was supposed to have been on our tour yesterday. Remember I said the tendering operation was delayed a bit? They said they got off the ship very quickly, but the tour had left without them when they arrived. The guy with the sign with our names on it was still there, but told them the tour had left. So they were on their own for the day and did not get to enjoy the spectacular snorkeling. Back aboard, our usual routine of dinner at Taste and casino. We finished packing. There was no show tonight, only a movie in the main theater. However I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned how much live music is available all the time all over the ship. Here's the menu for tonight. You've probably had enough food photos for one review so I won't post those.😜 There is always some kind of music in the Atrium or Magnum’s, and in the pub, the pool deck, the Social, and Spinnaker. If you like to listen to music, this is the ship for you. We left Moorea at 5pm and arrived in Papeete for our overnight stay at 8pm. We did not get off the ship in Papeete tonight.