schmoopie17

Regarding the paper straws...of course, I don't use a straw (paper, or otherwise) with beer... https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/08/28/paper-straws-worse-than-plastic-pfas-study/70702090007/

If they're like the Baywatch lifeguards, I'm all for it. Unless it's Hasselhoff, or any of the guys 😁

Okay...I take it all back. Great job! Cheers...

That was a response to the seven drinks...

You're an amateur 😁

This has happened to us a couple of times. After final payment you can request a ONE TIME exception for FCC. Note, I said request...but we've never been turned down. Also note, the one time exception is per cruise...you can get more for future cruises.

Not just the Prima...but every ship in the fleet.

This has been a hot topic on this board for a long time. You may want to search past threads to see the multitude of opinions on this issue. For what it's worth, we were on a TA last November that included stops in four Spain ports. We were charged the tax on drinks in every one of those ports. Apparently there are nuances on every cruise regarding if the cruise stops only in EU ports, or if it includes stops in ports outside the EU...which ours was. It's a very confusing issue, to say the least. There almost seems to be no rhyme or reason to when taxes are, or aren't charged. In other words...as they say on CC...YMMV.

It also matters on the itinerary if you will be able to sign up for WATW and the Ship's Tour Example: We embark in Civativwhatever on a cruise that starts in Barcelona. The people who embark in Barcelona will have first dibs on those two events. Since this will be our first Platinum cruise, missing those will be a big disappointment.

Yeah, that whole not having a passport thing kept him from leaving Montana...those border patrol guards in Idaho are sticklers for details. 😁

Katty Byrd was surprisingly responsive when I had an issue last year. She answered me within the hour with a personal response. I was shocked...

And I used to go to Sr. Greg's church and school not far from there. Small world, St. Greg.

You betcha...with beer, of course.

Same for us in November, 2022. We also arrived around 11:00 and no problems at all. They didn't even x-ray the two bottles of Limencello we brought on board. Of course, ours was a TA, so the ship was only about half full.

@Saint GregBeing from Milwaukee...where fish fries and beer are big deals...I have to get to Anchorage sometime soon.

I was the same way with the Grand Canyon. Kind of like Clark Griswold in "Vacation".

Good to know about Red. You said the "main dining room"...is that Indigo or Summer Palace? We'll be on the Pearl in December and have never been on a smaller/older NCL ship...we've been on the bigger and newer Bliss, Escape, Encore and Prima...so not sure what to expect. Any other thoughts on the Pearl?

I was surprised at the number of people on the "Never Book Early" thread a couple weeks ago. We ALWAYS book early to cabin the cabin and location we want and if the price drops before final payment all it takes is a five minute call to our PCC to get the lower payment. We've even saw price drops after final payment, in which case we got FCC. Plus (and this happened to us once before)...if NCL ends up canceling the cruise, you get even more FCC. If you wait to book, you may miss out. So, I would say "Never Book Late"...

Simon probably appreciates the promotion...😁 But I agree...he's far and away the best cruise director we've had.

I'm always amazed when I see people effortlessly sleeping on a plane. I've never slept one minute on a plane...even when flying back and forth to and from Asia. I can't even sleep in my own bed for more than a couple hours at a time.

How do you say you're a veteran without saying you're a veteran? (Even though you DID say you're a veteran earlier). Takes me back to my short-timer days...many, many moons ago. Although, I'm still at a loss to figure out how NCL calculates the Veteran's Discount. It always seems to be less than 10%. But whatever it is, is better than nothing.

The world nowadays is topsy-turvy, upside down. Your last two pictures confirm it 😁

Great trip report. Love how you broke up the topics. Your Trastevere food tour sounds identical to the one we did...except we booked ours through Eating Europe. It was one of the highlights of our trip. Your Tuscany excursion sounds like it would be right up our alley when we're back there in September. We normally book outside excursions but might have to consider that one. And the Prom Queen crown looks good on you...

@mking8288 did a VERY thorough and extensive trip report of his TA a while back. I suggest you find it and read it. We found it very informative, So informative, that we had booked the Epic back then, but have since canceled and booked the Escape for a similar cruise. Not necessarily because of anything negative in the trip report, more because we are going with another couple who have never cruised before, and we didn't want their first experience to be on the Epic. We have been on the Escape previously and felt that would be a better fit...plus the itinerary suited all of us better.

Which specialty restaurant? There are like 10 of them. One or two may require long pants. Theme night? In specialty restaurants? No such thing. The buffet will have special nights...Asian, prime rib, etc. By the way, this is not only limited to the Encore...but fleet-wide.