Texter2

Jim, I follow many of your trips on Celebrity and am looking forward to this comparison. Have a great trip! Teri

Call the TA to see if it can be applied. My DH had a 25% off a TA or TP in his account. We contacted our TA and it was applied although it indicated it was for new bookings only. It might have been before final payment though. It is worth a try.

I am sorry to hear that. It was a nice “go to” when you felt like a quick, informal meal.

We have been on two Disney transatlantic cruises. Food was good and not too repetitive. We were able to have a casual sit down evening meal in the area that was a buffet during the day. That said, the “formal” attire is flexible. You are not required to be too dressed up. I would say that our evening in Palo was the most dressed up we needed to be. Our transatlantic cruises on Disney were both pre-Covid. We will take another Disney transatlantic cruise, but the itineraries are a bit repetitive and we like to visit new places. Disney has the best entertainment we have experienced on any line. I just reread OP’s note and will add that evenings on most cruise ships are more dressy than casual dining on land.

Still new to NCL, with only one cruise taken and one planned. We were able to add two sold out excursions onboard our first cruise. I was also able to add me to an excursion, that I had booked for my husband, on an upcoming cruise. I had grabbed the last slot for him earlier. I checked every few days to see if there were any more spots and one popped up. It was about two weeks after final payment that a spot became available. Good luck!

Those magnets are great for hanging stuff like clothes and hats. I also like to take some Oxo good grip clips (or Mini clips) for papers.

We are also on this cruise and I saw the same thing. It was available for 14 days at $419 and now it is gone. It might be sold out. I bought the 21 day pass for $399 on the Encore last spring. Unfortunately, I didn’t use it enough to justify purchasing it again.

We had FAS+ in April and I wanted to upgrade my DH to streaming wifi. I was unable to upgrade only him before the cruise. They would only upgrade us both. He was easily able to upgrade himself from unlimited (FAS+) to streaming onboard for $10 per day. So, if you both have FAS+ and want to upgrade, it should be $20 per day. As long as you both upgrade, the price was the same before the cruise or onboard. Ours was different because I did not need streaming wifi.

Let us know if you are able to qualify. I am retired and will qualify if it is allowed. Every little bit helps!

I think that happened to me as well. I was checking prices for inside, oceanview, and balcony cabins. When I finally chose a cabin and booked, my total was more. The additional amount tied to the port taxes and fees that showed up on the final invoice. As a further rookie mistake, I thought I was putting down a deposit with final payment at the 120 day point. Imagine my surprise when the entire amount came up on my cc statement. I must have missed a box that was already checked “pay in full.” I will not make that mistake again. I was able to walk it back to only deposit easily enough.

I noticed in another thread that some cruisers learned that the port fees and taxes are added at payment and not included in the original quote. That might be something new?

We were able to “share” at Q and Los Lobos, but not Food Republic during our April cruise on the Encore. We used one dining credit for two people.

I just checked some dates and prices. Adult prices start at about $30 and go up depending on date and time (and promotions ). It takes 2 hours and 45 minutes to get from MCO to the Brightline station in Fort Lauderdale. Note that the stations in FL and Miami are not at the airports.

Another option is to fly into Orlando and take the Brightline train to Fort Lauderdale or Miami. The Brightline Orlando station is adjacent to MCO airport Terminal C. We took the train to our cruise in April and it was very convenient.

No worries. We have traveled in Infinity (Celebrity Edge class), Sunset, and regular balconies. They are lost on us. We rarely use them. Just excited to be on this beautiful ship and try out NCL.

I hope you are correct. My docs say two for FAS in oceanview.

Good question! I believe two from FAS and two from FAS+.

So enjoying your trip report, BirdTravels! Thank you for all the photos, menus, tips, etc. Your posts are especially helpful as we plan our first NCL cruise. We leave Sunday for 21 glorious days aboard the Encore. The toughest part is where to use our four specialty dining meals!

Thank you for letting us go on this voyage with you! Loved the pics and all the information. We embark on our first NCL cruise in 21 days on the Encore (that is why I read your trip blog with such interest, similar ship and a few of the same ports). We will have 21 days aboard and are going from Miami to Seattle. So thankful for your intel!

You might consider two tour companies that I have used with good results. One is Tours By Locals and the second is Context Travel. I looked them up for Kyoto and (without knowing your dates) found some tours that might suit your interests and are reasonably priced. Context also had a Geisha online course for $27.

Many thanks for the wonderful review!

Great to hear about your land trip. So sorry to hear about your food poisoning.

Traveling Fools, we were on this trip with you and look forward to your continued review. It is so much fun to relive the trip through someone else’s eyes. It was our first Azamara voyage and we enjoyed it very much.

We bought a discount package last year and made reservations when we boarded. We made all of our reservations at Fine Cut and were able to get the restaurants we wanted and the days and times we wanted. They will have availability, but might need to be flexible regarding restaurants and times. This year, we paid full price and booked restaurants and times beforehand. It is a trade off, and not worth the small savings on package, for us.

I concur! You are a great writer. I love reading your posts.