Seas2mountains

Yes. It is $75/per person.

Thank you! We are booked on the POA in September and I appreciate seeing the dailies to get a feel for what is planned on the ship. Hope you had a wonderful cruise!

This was our experience, too. Each ship had their own process. It was not consistent.

I also think you are describing @TheDougOut I also found his live reviews were very entertaining.

Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner answer here! I confirm it is correct based on our experiences.

I’m so sorry to hear about the second broken pipe. I hope the repairs on this one don’t take as long as the last one. Thank you for another fantastic review! I look forward to following along in a few weeks if you do another live review. I hope all goes well as you return to school.

Yes. It is not published in the dailies.

My husband is an Air Force retiree and I’m an Army veteran so we both enjoy attending these receptions and have attended about seven of these since March 2023. While several have been uneventful and short as described, my favorite was on the Spirit in September where we each took less than a minute each to introduce ourselves with our branch and years of service. Several of us realized we may have served together and it prompted follow up conversations for the rest of the cruise. It made it more personal and special. That one lasted about 45 minutes or so. NCL - if you are reading, please allow each service member to introduce themselves at these receptions.

Thanks for doing another live review! I loved your last one on Virgin! Our P+ favorites: San Pelegríno at lunch, dinner and in the evening. Flow water for the room and especially when we do shore excursions. Starbucks teas for me and the drinks loaded with whipped cream for DH. NCL Gin ‘66 with club soda and lime. Can’t be too much club soda. Decoy Cabernet Sauvignon Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio Veuve at Le Bistro - some say it’s available now at Cagney’s but we didn’t try asking Whiskey or tequila taste testing for DH. If I’m at the pool or a bar that doesn’t have my favorite P+ wine, my go to is the German Shades of Blue Riesling and I think it’s better than the P+ Riesling. If you like Riesling, you’ll have to try both. Since you like Veuve, I recommend the NCL ‘66 Prosecco or the Pommery Brut Rose Champagne. I want to try Ice wine on the next cruise. Looking forward to hear about your favorite P+ drinks. Enjoy your vacation in LA and have a wonderful cruise! 😎

Thank you so much for your wonderful and entertaining live reviews and I am also looking forward to the one on the Jewel with your Dad! We got off the Gem last Thursday and our next ship is... the Breakaway at the end of May so this is super timely. Can't wait to go to Howl at the Moon based on what you are describing. But do they make you feel uncomfortable with all the tipping requests? The last time we went, we did not expect them to be constantly asking for tips. We went one time and did not go back. Do you like any of the other musical entertainers in the lounges or atrium? We also experienced a few occasions of people speaking loudly in the spa. One time, a woman told her male partner in a loud teacher voice that there were no signs that said they had to be quiet. 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️ What is it that people don't clue in? Like you described, we also have had long and fun dinners for the Dinners with the Officers on our last three cruises. Will you be doing another one this week? Hope you don't have to share the table with a woman like that one! That sounded awful. Have a wonderful cruise and I am excited to read more! 😎

We were on the Gem in February and just got off the March 12th-21st sailing. As mentioned by others, we did not experience what you described and know that everyone may have a different experience. YMMV 1. Cookies were found in the Great Outdoors. 2. Room stewards can make towel animals on request but I would not request it without providing a generous tip. 3. We rarely went to a bar for a drink with the exception of Maltings and Great Outdoors where we had a very limited to no wait. Bar servers were typically asking for our order within minutes at most lounges - Spinnaker, Atrium and Magnums. We do tip for drinks so that may have helped, too. We did see longer lines at bars on the first day after embarkation which is typical and we did see that some went to bars to get drinks in some lounges rather waiting for the bar server. 4. We constantly saw crew members cleaning common areas and restrooms. I really appreciated that one of the women cleaning the restrooms in the evening did not shutdown the restroom while she cleaned. We can report we experienced excellent food, service and entertainment. Many of the officers were available every evening in the Atrium at about 7pm and they also served some appetizers in the atrium at that time which was new to us. And they were also available when disembarking at ports. Our only complaint for us was how the band, Upgrade, was scheduled to play their first evening set at 10pm for two nights and we would love to have them play at 8pm or 9pm like they did on other nights. This was unique to the Gem as we experienced earlier times for the band on other ships. We had such a fantastic cruise that I booked another one after this one and may consider canceling a planned cruise on a competitor.

If you are in the Haven on a ship that does not have a Haven restaurant, breakfast and lunch will be served in Moderno or Cagney's. If you are in a suite (not Club Balcony Suite), you will get breakfast and lunch in Moderno or Cagney's. I believe the only exception is suites on NCL Joy.

Just got off the Gem last Thursday. They are serving Suite/Haven breakfast in Moderno and lunch in Cagney's. As mentioned by @UKstages, most of the suite/Haven staff works in Cagney's in the evening with some exceptions so you will be greeted by familiar faces. We had wonderful service at every breakfast and lunch and expect you will, too! The food was excellent and we had a fabulous cruise as was reported by all other guests we spoke with on the ship.

Yes! We’ve seen oatmeal raisin, Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Chocolate chip. They are a bit too crunchy for me as I prefer soft cookies but my husband has enjoyed a few this past week.

On the Gem right now and can confirm that cookies are available in the afternoon at the Great Outdoors. They have brownies in Garden Cafe.

Here are photos from the lunch buffet and a few from the bar area by the villas. There is another bar at the buffet. They do have water faucets spaced out by the villas to wash off sandy feet.

We went in mid-February and do recommend it. We had our 8 year old granddaughter with us and were either in the pool, building a sand castle on the beach or in the lagoon and sadly didn’t use the lounge chairs at all. The private bathroom was really helpful as our granddaughter liked being able to take a shower and change into dry clothes before lunch and again before taking the tender back. We also didn’t touch the chips or fruit in the villa as we arrived full from breakfast and did have lunch there. There is no need to bring any towels from the ship. The pool water was really cold but we eventually got used to it. Here are some photos.

Here is a great resource to use to find out if Visas are required. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages.html

I also thought it was a joke about the cookies being gone. Still can’t believe it was and is a real thought. 🤷‍♀️

Is this the one of same granddaughters who you want to eat off the kids menu when at specialty dining? So she has to meet a cookie sales quota on the cruise AND eat off the kids menu?

Thank you again for the great live review! We will be on the Epic for the first time in December and will also be in the Haven. I have heard other say they really like the Haven on Epic but would love to hear your thoughts on it. Sorry to hear about the bar staff being disappointing and I would also be really frustrated if they substituted ingredients without telling people in advance. Enjoy your last day at sea. Hope the job situation gets resolved in your favor. There have been times in my career that the door closed on a job I wanted but later on I saw that it really was a blessing and something better came along. When we have a lot of non refundable OBC remaining at the end of a cruise, we spend it on expensive face or eye creams that are found in the cruise shops and they don’t take up too much space in our luggage.

Thank you so much for your wonderful review! We agree on needing more musical entertainment. We usually like going to the District for piano entertainment on the Breakaway and B+ ships. Congratulations on earning Sapphire status! We tend to use our Latitude specialty dining coupons at Teppanyaki or Moderno.

Would love to hear what ship you were on when you experienced this and when that was? Despite the expected changes that happened after Covid and as cruise lines struggle to pay back massive amounts of debt, we have gone on a dozen cruises on NCL since 2021. We’ve had such a great time that we keep going back and we are bringing our kids and grandkids. Change is going to happen. We get frustrated by the changes, too. The cruises have not always been perfect but we really honestly had a great time. We can’t wait to get on another cruise in less than two weeks, with family in less than 90 days, and shortly after that to explore Norway and Iceland and more. It is such a blessing to be able to cruise and there are so many people who wish they could experience crunchy shrimp or the ability to hear live music in a beautiful setting while the ship gently rocks as the sun sets. I know we are so lucky to have this opportunity and there are so many cruise line options to choose from. What will you do with these responses? Will you book on another cruise line?

Thank you for the recommendation. I’m going to try the Lobster Thermidor in about two weeks. My husband usually gets the Sea Bass and I usually get the Dover Sole and we have found it to be consistently good on all ships. The Filet de Boeuf is also good and it’s fun to try to say it with a French accent. We love the escargot, too, and our granddaughter loves the French Onion Soup. The Marquis au Chocolat (second photo from end) is amazing if you have room for dessert. The shape is quite interesting and we’ve had servers laugh about it and my husband makes jokes about it every time I order it. I also like the Frazier for dessert.

We have had Ocean Blue on the first and last night of the cruise and have not noticed a difference in quality. We honestly thought the seafood was all probably frozen anyways. I would recommend it for one of your choices. It is a favorite of ours and was also for our son and his fiancée, too, when we were on the Escape last summer. (They call it Bayamo on Escape but it is the same menu.) Ocean Blue recommendations. Appetizer - Blazing Shrimp Soups/Salads - all good choices Entree - Fisherman’s platter especially if it is a good catch of the day. My husband likes it fried and I like it grilled. Sadly the Brussels sprouts are no longer available to order as a side. Here are some photos. The bread was really good, too. It was a bonus to be able to sit outside on the waterfront the first night.