KKB

OK that was the GREAT. Now for the GOOD to VERY GOOD. SHIP Absolutely beautiful. Extended Waterfront w/ infinity pools is wonderful. (tho WHAT is the point of the "wading" area around the beds...odd) There is ONE bar on the back of Waterfront. Miss having one on each side as on Breakaway Class. But it lacks flow--it was challenging to get from point A to point B Venues have been shrunk even more than Breakaway Class. WHY??!! Syds seems smaller (I could be wrong), Improv is maybe half the size as is Observation Lounge. Pool area is VERY tight--no inclination to even try to be there. Buffet--maybe 1/4 the size of typical buffets. No joke. It is one side only, about half as long as usual. I wouldn't seek out the Prima class again but I would sail again if itinerary and/or price were right. CASINO VERY large. SMOKE FREE (small enclosed smoking area) Quite a few video poker machines (and I hit my biggest jackpot ever, SO love that!) DH did well at cash poker game a couple nights. Would love some daily cheap poker tourneys like Princess does. Not a fan of their poker tournament structure (hate Celebrity's too). Blackjack tournament too. ACTIVITIES Activities staff was a lot of fun. Trivia & most game shows well done--in Improv or Metropolitan. The atrium does NOT lend itself to these things at all...well, they just did things in "the middle". Some games in there we never quite knew where to go... Karaoke was a BLAST. I rarely care for it, but these folks chose fun, singalong songs. Perfect Couple was held in the Improv--WAY WAY too small for that show. Newlywed Game was held in the theatre--SMART. We had met the winners (59 yrs!) the night before in line at Syds & they were a HOOT! SYDS Ok, anyone who knows me here knows that I am a Syd Norman's groupie. This ship brought a new Syd's crew--very young ones at that! They were lovely humans! The shows were still well done & fun. Each show the chemistry got better & the harmonies got tighter. Alice (tall blond) NAILED Stevie Nicks voice in Rumours. Alice sat out the 2nd show of the week due to vocal strain & Jess (short brunette) definitely stepped up to the task of being the only female vocalist that night. I HATE that I do not remember the guy's names! The blond was from Iowa (I meant to ask him where!)--he was always on point & the most theatrical. The brunette was from Scotland & I said he looked like he was the son of Tom Cruise & Harry Stiles. SUCH great energy! But lining up beginning 1.5- 2 hours early not great. And hit a wall on the last day so missed prom😪 I was hoping to be Prom Queen again...😆 (FUNNY side story. As we watched the 1st night, DH says, "This is weird. But the brunette looks A LOT like my ex-wife" Side note: we both had early short lived marriages before meeting over 30 yrs ago. I said, "Huh. Well, the guitarist looks a lot like my ex if he had blond hair" Weird for a few minutes...then memories from so long ago faded away....LMAO)

CREW FANTASTIC Now we feel this on pretty much all cruises we have been on, but overall it just seemed this crew was having FUN & really enjoyed their jobs, passengers & each other. LOCAL: the Bar With NFL playoff games this place was HOPPING. A LOT. Not really big enough for the crowds (I mean, it was out of TX & the Texans were playing...but let's face it, NFL is a pretty big thing all over the US) You COULD watch it in your room. DRINKS Yep, this gets it's own category. We LOVED the variety of unusual (and delicious!) drinks around the ship. NOW, not all were offered everywhere. Local had the yummy smoked peach marg (originally found at Q on Encore for us) & Monkey Business (DH drinks beer & frozen drinks...he LOVED this one). Metropolitan bar had Watermelon Fizz, Cucumber Cool & many others (Jonathan was a HOOT--telling jokes, doing "party tricks") Decent sauvignon blanc & pinot grigio choices under regular plan.'

Yep, me neither. I read & reread the description & finally called & the CAS agent confirmed that it was just that! Perhaps with the cozy balcony they have a hard time calling it a true balcony. It is a triangle...we had 2 chairs & small table. No room for anything else.

OK at this point I am going to divide by topic. CABIN --has already been covered...we would recommend to others! (tho it does lack privacy on the balcony; being in the corner, we were cozy neighbors!) FOOD WOW--the BEST overall NCL food we have had (have sailed Getaway & Breakaway). Honestly, some of the best overall food at sea we have had! We LOVED that there were so many choices. We did buy a 2 specialty meal package before boarding so we had 3 total. LOS LOBOS OK I have to admit when DH picked this one, I thought--Mexican, really? We have great local MX places. Our kids went to TCU so we have eaten at many in Fort Worth. OMG--Yes, we put this up there w/ Chef's Table on Celebrity Beyond. EVERYTHING was just SO GOOD. Jalapeno margarita Tortilla soup & Coxtel Mixto Shrimp & Bacon tacos and Skirt steak tacos Elote, Jicama slaw (we put it ON our tacos) & plantains Pastel de TreLeches (coconut cream cake) & Guava sorbet We seriously were rolling our eyes as we ate! We even thought about going back...but that place was packed nightly. CAGNEYS Had 6PM ressies, but went at 530 to assure getting into Syd's & got in no problem. Place was almost full at 630. This is my fav Cagneys--very classy, you get to choose which steak knife you want! (French? Italian?) Never had that option before! Crab Cake & Ahi Tuna Tartare (foolishly told DH to order the crab cake & we would share...RIGHT) Onion soup & Caesar salad (first one we have seen with whole anchovies on top!) Petite Filets--peppercorn & chimichurri sauce (only misstep--mine was dry. Odd. I added butter & salt and all was good!) Baked potato, Scalloped potatoes (my fav!), mushrooms & zucchini Took Caramel cheesecake to room for later--I much preferred a slice as before than this. VERY good overall, as always. ONDA Our least fav of the 3, but do not mistaken that--still very good. Burrata & Miso Fritto--both HUGE & excellent Truffled Spinach Mezzelune (ravioli) & Branzino--LOVELY crisp skiin Panna Cotta OBSERVATION LOUNGE Grabbed a late breakfast one morning...pretty limited. Had egg bites, whole fruit & small pasteries. Seating was hard to find at 10:30AM LOCAL Always a fav. Tried for all 3 meals & an occasional snack. Everything was good. Burgers, nachos, spinach dip, pretzel bites, cobb salad, chicken salad sandwich, breakfast. INDULGE A new fav! We LOVED the concept. Tried for both lunch & dinner a couple times...menus slightly different for those. Service was CRAZY fast...BUT sometimes things come out very staggered. The last day a couple items we had to ask for again. We LOVED the deviled eggs, jalapeno cornbread, bacon wrapped dates (didn't know I liked dates!) Tried numerous other things...not unusual to see a table full of plates at anyone's table! This was also a small buffet breakfast venue & was never crowded for that. HUDSONS Tried for lunch one day--a LOVELY venue. Very good lunch. Caesar & Shrimp fritters (OMG SO good--but you only get 3, so I did NOT share!) BLT & fried fish tacos COMMODORE Ate one night for dinner--my fav menu Very good as well Caesar, Corn bisque, mushroom caps & lime & dill shrimp Bacon Wrapped shrimp & grits Banana split (a whole banana & one scoop of ice cream--actually the way I like it!) BUFFET Ate for a lunch a couple times. This venue is WAY too small & as small as it was, I was stunned to see duplicate items as I wandered. THAT BEING SAID--might be the best flavored food buffet I have had at sea! On the Getaway in 2022 the buffet food was BAD. (OSheehans was not great on that one either, tho we had loved it there in 2018), so I have a tendency to avoid NCL buffets. But EVERYTHING I took was VERY good. That was the theme of the trip--EVERYTHING was flavorful & very good. There was not one thing I took a bite of & thought, NOPE. (and I refuse to waste calorie on anything that doesn't taste good!) Service was VERY fast everywhere. I don't think lunch was over 30 min & a dinner much over an hour! Some venues a bit small, but with so many options (which, again, we LOVED), people did seem to spread themselves out amongst them. We like to eat dinner early so that helps. And we slept LATE many days so we often just grabbed an early lunch.

@matymil Thanks for the report. I wouldn't blame it on NYC by any means. We sailed RCCL out of NYC & saw none of this. But clearly enough issues to give one pause

I got OBC as part of my VIPF offer. I was able to use it to pay for anything pre-cruise: internet, excursions, dining.

We know it is more likely to happen in such weather, so always have a plan! (It's only 3 years old but "spoiled" as is usually in a garage) It was negative temps & up to -45 wind chills all but one day we were gone...BRRRRRRR

With the 2 sea days plus embarkation day being quite cool & 4 port days, it does lose it's value. I tried Vibe on Getaway, and found it not worth the money for me w/ no pool. It was HOT. This one looked much nicer. But on port days we spent a bit of time at the infinity pool with just a few other passengers.

So we got to the port at 9:20AM (our checkin time was 9:30) WOW--probably 50 people in front of us! Needless to say, embarkation was smooth. They began to call people about 10:30 & we were onboard shortly after 11. We headed straight to Guest Services, but alas, Vibe was Sold Out. Turned out to be a good thing...sea days were cool; port days we didn't need it. Looked very nice, but $500 saved! Then went to the theater to change/aquire dining reservations. Easy peasy. We then went to Indulge Food Hall for some lunch, You order from several "venue" options...OMG things came out FAST. (but not necessarily at the same time...so one person may get all they ordered & it may be 5-10 min b4 the rest arrives) YUMMY Our luggage arrive b4 4PM so we unpacked. We were in 11814...HA OV "balcony" as mentioned before. LOVED the room--we were literally steps from the mid-ship balcony. Oversized room & bathroom. Small balcony--JUST enough room for 2 chairs & table. Perfect for us. We had dinner at Los Lobos (specialty) that night. WOW WOW WOW Seriously, this is one of the best meals we have had on ANY ship (maybe ANYWHERE) I will go into detail later.... We had planned on Syd's sailaway show...but alas, NO SHOW😪 OK, plan B. Gamble a little..worked well for DH! (not me so much...) Familiar Strangers (music groups) had a Motown show in the theatre. AMAZING... Needless to say, it meant their gigs all over the ship would be well attended all week! DH went to play poker...I wandered into Karoake at the Improv. SUPER FUN--honestly, the most fun karaoke I have ever seen! Most singers "got it"--play fun songs that everyone wants to sing along with! Well, DH wandered in towards the end... And we discovered that there was a "club" at Syd's... So there were a LOT of young people there (20s-30s). Well, we are young at heart, so we jumped in. Unfortunately some people didn't understand...no drinks (ESPECIALLY in a glass container) on the dance floor...if you spilled the DJ STOPPED the music, turned on the lights & nothing happened until it was all cleaned up. WELL This happened THREE TIMES in about 30 min... SIGH. We decided we were DONE with this...and headed to bed sometime after midnight (or was it 1AM?...) (OK ya'll...It's 11:30. I'm DONE...will continue tomorrow!)

So DRAMA... Our flight is 3 days prior to embarkation to spend some time w/ our Houston cruising friends> Awesome. WELL...a SNOWSTORM IS COMING. OK..storm is set to hit Monday. Our flight is Tuesday. We live in Lincoln but fly from Omaha. No big deal...we will head to the casino (HA!) Sunday. We do. WOW. Things are DEAD at the casino...I appreciate, as I can play the machines I want to. But then concerns about getting out Tuesday so look at Weds options...OH SH*T...morning flights r SOLD OUT. Well crap. Decide we should rebook for Weds (free) NOW to avoid issues. GREAT. Now THREE days at casino🤪 It is what it is. We settle in.... Well Weds AM we awake...and find there are issues at home that we need to contend with. CRAP Roll my eyes & agree...we now need to rebook for Thursday to Galveston (at a premium as the storms no longer give us that free rebook CRAP) Drive home. Deal with issues. WAIT--a NEW SNOWSTORM IS COMING. (yes, 2nd in a week...brutal) OMG. ***** SERIOUSLY. OK...this IS IT. Now or Never...DO OR DIE (forgive my drama...) SO Thursday get our butts to the airport & take off JUST as the snowstorm starts... (and pray our 3 YO car has no issues sitting in sub-zero temps for days...) PHEW--GOT OUR BUTTS OUT OF TOWN Our lovely Houston cruising friends picked us up & fed us a lovely dinner. OMG all we do is laugh & laugh... a great beginning to our trip! .

I am not even sure how we stumbled upon this cruise back in August. January is ALWAYS a good time to get away from Nebraska, and OH BOY, was it this time! Somehow I pulled this up & clicked on the OV category. The 1st one said "with a balcony"--and it was $1K cheaper than an actual balcony. (VERY confused...why is it an OV & says "balcony"??) Well, I was intrigued...So called CAS & inquired. The CS agent was very excited & said she had booked this one & it was a terrific value. And it DID have a balcony. Now, it was handicap accessible BUT it was the last one in the category, so we could book--tho they could ask us to relinquish if someone needed it & no other HA room was available at a later date. Ok...worth the risk! We also have "cruising friends" in Houston, so try to convince them to book. But NO...she needs to buy new exterior doors for their 40 YO home--WHAT?? DOORS OVER A CRUISE?? NEVER! Well..the doors won. Boo. BUT our lovely friends picked us up a the airport, housed us & took us to the port the next morning. SO I REALLY cannot complain. STILL...I held out..HOPING they would book & surprise us...I would TOTALLY do that!

Gorgeous!

Glad you are all onboard & issues behind you. We had a great cruise...but maybe Galveston in January isn't my fav...you really lose 3 days of nice weather. Sea day at beginning was pretty cool; the one at the end was better but cloudy so still... Quite the party cruise on NCL! Have fun!

For sure. Now I've seen most shows 5x...(Missed one night in Aug; hit wall Thurs so missed prom😂) 4 different casts. Doors opened 30 min prior on Getaway & Breakaway, 45 min on Prima.

Yep I expect an hour--but not TWO!

Agree with above. The Syd’s production crew for the line was onboard this week (not surprising w/ the new crew) & we sat in front of them for each show. Another passenger said that is who mentioned the small venue & copyright issues. I cannot confirm firsthand. Now, we do know production shows r being eliminated due to cost. Irregardless, had a great trip…waiting to disembark now 😢 Thorough TR to come soon!

Word is that they cannot use a larger venue due to copyrights—guessing it would cost them a lot more

oh I EXPECT an hour after Breakaway & Getaway. This took it to a new level!

Boarded Prima last Fr in Galveston. New Syd’s crew as well; they got in late so no show 1st night as usual. 2nd night people were lining up 1hr 45 min b4! Last night only 1 Rumours show (vocalist who does Stevie skipped 2nd show with strained voice; she sounded amazing for Rumours!) People in line more than 2 hrs prior!!! They have done a great job—as a young new cast, no surprise getting small kinks worked out. Each show their chemistry & harmonies better & tighter. The crowd has loved them❤️ Now, it does seem even with long lines, most finding seats; only those coming after doors open (usually 45 min prior) may have to stand (and many did each night!) Met some other super fun Syd groupies from Houston on this cruise—even another Syd’s Prom Queen!😉

Aargh—if 2 of our kids weren’t joining us in Vegas in March, I coulda convinced him to switch to this. One day…

There were pedi cabs in April. The difficult response was to the person who said it is difficult to get thru the port shops to the cabs.

It is a long pier. I wouldn't say it is VERY difficult to get out of the port, but staying left is good advice.

This is entirely untrue. There are cabs at the back of the port area to take you to town or resorts. It is NOT remote at all--it is 28 miles of coastline of MX directly across from Cozumel (which would conceivably be considered more "remote" as it is an island) It is not particularly poorer than surrounding areas. Scuba excursions in the area get very good reviews so I would be inclined to believe the scuba diving is pretty good.

No worries—I get better seafood on a cruise than at home. I never expect the same with beef—and luckily I’m occasionally surprised.

Thanks @bethfelk for your thorough honest review. Glad to see most of your negatives were more situational. I love trivia & game shows & Princess Live looked like a not great venue for those things--I think I even thought why not use Vista lounge for those??!! HOPEFULLY management sees reviews like this & thinks "Oh, Yeah, that's a great idea!" Reminds me of my wedding reception...manager wanted to do things "the way they always do" & I insisted my way was better. Welp, I WAS RIGHT--and he even admitted I was after I forced him to do things my way. Hoping they change this b4 April or I may need to speak my mind to management early in that cruise!