ryarger

We’ll be on OOTS this summer from Barcelona and I’m reading about how the ship only boards half the pax in Barcelona and the other half in Rome, creating effectively overlapping itineraries. So what’s it like on the ship those embarkation days? We’ll probably get off in Rome because, well, Rome, but if we didn’t would it be a like a typical port day on the ship or would it be more hectic like an embarkation day? Does Barcelona or Rome get the Welcome Aboard menu in the MDR? Both? Are there midnight sail away parties leaving both ports? Any other unusualness caused by the overlap? I wonder if anyone’s tried to stow away after their week since they don’t empty the ship and live in the solarium for an extra few days. 😂

The main dining room accepts reservations (at least on some ships) but American Diner and O’Sheehan’s/The Local do not - they are strictly first come/first serve. American Diner is rarely busy because many aren’t aware of it, or that it’s complementary (it used to be upcharge).

We ate at O’Sheehans (the Local predecessor) on the BA last fall going to New England and it was just fine. The MDR would likely be less crowded but we were served quickly enough and got to watch the pax board as we ate burgers and sipped beer. I’d recommend it.

I was mainly wondering if the floor plan the other user shared above was accurate. It seemed so different from the Haar video from last year. But understanding that they expanded it by removing the Haven library makes sense. That separate formal dining room looks so much nicer than the little table that was in the old DOS. Thank you!!

I see that as part of the January refurb, Joy's DOS suites are now "Premier Owner's Suite". Any info on these? Videos? Photos? Are the layouts and photos on NCL.com accurate? The newest video I can find is Haar's from a year ago which I assume doesn't reflect the new configuration.

There are websites that will show you the price history of a sailing. If you're looking at Jan 2023, you're past the final payment date so you should already see whether the price has dropped since final payment or not. If the price has dropped, it will likely keep dropping until it flattens at some point. If the price hasn't dropped since final payment, it probably won't. There are full, prime cruises that go up after final payment so there is no guarantee that you'll get a better deal. Looking at the history will give you a very good idea.

We'll be on the same sailing and also watching the weather! Right now we're booked for the Maple Sugar Shack Tasting in St. John. I figure that will be fun in rain or shine and it's early so we'll have the rest of the day to wander the town. In Halifax we've got Peggy's Cove and Hop-On/Hop-Off - The rain might cost us some views but with the Hop-On/Hop-Off we can just hang out in a pub if it's rainy.