Vyhanek

The last cruise I was on, my family was sitting at the muster drill. Sitting next to us was a girl in her early 20's. She was sitting there sad so I struck up a conversation.

Turns out she was meeting a girlfriend for this cruise. He flight made it but her girlfriends flight was delayed then cancelled and she was stuck in some connecting city and wouldn't make it.

I felt terrible for the girl who made it and befriended her. She sat with us at shows, found us on sea days, it was awful for her. Some people could go with the flow but an introverted, young girl alone, she was miserable.

I hope it works out for you.

I can imagine the scenario.

There's a 22 year old NCL employee that's in charge of running this karaoke event. 7pm rolls around and the room is full of people watching the end of this game. But it is 7pm and now there are several other people who want to start karaoke and hassling him to start the event on time.

The NCL employee should absolutely be empowered to delay the start of the next event. Sort of like how 60 minutes is delayed on Sunday nights when the NFL football game runs late. 60 minutes might start 20 minutes late but immediately after the game ends.

OK, I just watched 2 hours of Youtube videos. The Escape Haven has the upper deck with the outdoor cushioned loungers. I can't imagine why a Haven Guest would buy a Vibe pass.

Maybe for the misters but that would be literally the only reason.

No, Not the courtyard area. The upper deck of the Epic has a Haven area Adults 18 and over.....It has a bar, cushioned seats, etc. not the courtyard but the upper deck with the bar. Does this area not exist on the Escape like it does on the Epic?

If this area doesn't exist on the Escape then I will have to buy a Vibe pass but I don't see buying a Vibe pass with the Haven Upper Deck (adults only). Why on earth would Haven guests buy a Vibe pass?

What....Can we discuss more why if you are in the Haven on the Escape, you would need a Vibe pass.

On other ships, the Haven area has an upper outdoor deck with it's own bar, own cushioned seating, sort of overlooking the main pool. Does this not exist on the Escape?

I like the courtyard but on days at sea I want to sit and look at the ocean, not the interior courtyard.

This post must be entertainment because it's Friday.

I'm on the same cruise and doing the same thing flying in to FLL on the evening of April 22.

It's really no problem at all. You can take a taxi to Miami, you could take Uber or you could take a shuttle. From the FLL airport, you don't need to make any type of advance arrangements. That's not necessary at all. They regularly deal with people getting to Miami.

Are you cruising to Mexico? Some medications in Mexico are sold over the counter legally where as in the US they require a prescription. They are the exact same medication, by the same manufacturers, just sold legally over the counter.

At the cruise port in Cancun and Cozumel there are pharmacies right at the cruise port. I stop in and stock up on Retin A because I've been on it for a decade and it's easier than making a doctors appointment, taking time off work just to renew this prescription. It's the exact same brand and strength and packaging as sold in the US. (Johnson and Johnson) and requires no doctors visit or prescription because it's legally sold over the counter.

I don't have any idea about your medication but it's worth a check. It would be very stressful in your situation knowing you have regular occurrences but no way of obtaining medication if you need it.

I hope this works out for you. This is my nightmare. Please update us with how it turned out.

A lot of times, you will see people on their phone's right at the pier. It's Wifi.

One time my family and I were sitting at the lifeboat drill next to a woman sitting alone crying.

I asked her what was wrong, she told me her friend's flight got delayed and she will miss the cruise. This woman spent the rest of her vacation cruising alone. I always would invite her to sit with us and I'd see her and chat but I felt so sorry for her!

Just call the airline. They changed the flight time, tell them you are on a tight schedule for the cruise and need an earlier flight.

It can't be a tax issue or the same thing would happen on embarkation day. When the decks in Miami are filled with passengers drinking on the first day.

I think the issue is that the drink package is for a 7 day cruise. If you drink that last morning, that's really day 8.

What about when you purchase a spa treatment? Do you get free use of the thermal suites?

Is it possible.....yes.

This is how it goes for us....We usually cruise in the Haven so that allows us first one's off the ship. We breeze thru customs, immigration and get the first taxis to the airport. We've always been to the airport by 9am. When you get to the airport at 9am on a Sunday there is no lines at all. We are TSA pre-check so even if there were, we would breeze thru that line. Me and my family could do a 10am flight if everything went as it has in the past for us. But, I would worry that something would go wrong, it might eat at me the whole cruise if I didn't have some sort of contingency plan.

I think you should just book the 12:15 flight so you don't have to worry about what if's.

Does anyone know how much extra time you need on the passport to cruise?

Say you are cruising in April and the passport expires in September.......some countries require several extra months on the passport to visit before it expires. I learned that the hard way trying to get to Paris with only 2 months before my passport expired.

I'm wondering to cruise the Caribbean, do you need 3 extra months, 6 extra months.

It's such a pain in the neck! You would think the passport expiration date means the passport is good up until that point. Not so.

They got rid of the laundry rooms several years ago. I'm sure it made better economic sense to convert to cabins and force cruisers to send out laundry in the bags for $25.

Personally me, no. I wouldn't pay for it and it seems like more of a hassle.

However, my parents got a piece of art on one of the cruises when I was a teenager. I remember them buying it, I remember that cruise specifically because if it. The picture hangs in their house and it makes me happy about our vacations together and it's a nice memory when I see it.

Now I think....hmmmm, isn't that a good enough reason for buying mediocre art?

I've seen Nadeem the Comedy Hypnotist on the Epic. That's a great show! People loved it so much she did another show a few days later.

This issue has come up several times thru the years. In general then non-group passengers were prohibited from certain areas of the ship during certain days and times including theaters, restaurants, lounges.

I've been that week. It will be fine. It's nothing remotely like the crazy, overcrowded weeks in March and April for Spring Break. There will be just enough kids....Mainly from New England whole get Winter Break.

I think your issue is not the normal issue of a non suite guest using suite privileges.

Since they have no suites that can accommodate more than 3 people, this has to be a regular occurrence to the Spirit and I can't imagine they haven't worked out some solution. Most families have more than 3 people. Lots of families book suite cabins.

On my upcoming cruise, I've already received an email from my concierge. Have you received an email from the concierge directly on the ship? I imagine your situation is not unique on this ship and they make the accommodation. Especially since it's a suite and you've booked the attached balcony room to accommodate your family. This isn't a normal issue with non suite guests booked in an interior cabin on deck 4 wanting to use suite amenities.

Would you mind coming back and updating us on what the final resolution is?

I'll be in the Escape Haven with my family (2 teen daughters) in April. We were also on the Epic, in the Haven a year ago......

Thanks for the advice about deck 18 and the loud noise from above. This happened to us once on the Pearl. They must clean the decks early in the morning and move the deck loungers. It woke us up every morning at like 5am-6am!

What did you think of the shows? Did you do the dinner show? We loved the dinner show on the Epic with the Cirque style show. I really liked the food and the whole family was happy with the whole experience. But I'm not sure about this show on the Haven. I don't know if my teens will appreciate 80's style music. I mentioned Micheal Jackson to them and it didn't go over well.

I just love the shows on NCL. There have been very few I've been disappointed in. But, I'm not reading good things about the Escape shows at all. Very disappointed.

Did you ever use the spa services? Did you use the spa room in the Haven or did you go down to the main spa?

Is there a bar area on the upper sun deck in the Haven? What was your favorite meal in the Haven restaurant?

Plenty of hotels offer in-room babysitter service. It's not uncommon.

But, I've cruised at least 15 times on NCL with my kids since they were 3 years old. Never once have I heard of in-room babysitting unofficially. Nor have I ever seen a post on this board about it and I've been around this board for probably 10 years!

If NCL does have this, it's on the down low. You'd have to ask once on board. I'd start with the staff at the kids club.

I've done the kids club thing for many years. Mine are teens now.

There is no exceptions to the 7pm entrance into the kids club. In fact, they will keep the door locked and it might be 7:06pm before they open up. There will be a line of families waiting to re-register the kids back in as other parents are doing the same thing as you.

Then, the check in process each and every time can be very long and SLOW. You don't want there to be 10 families in front of you in line waiting to check their child in. It could be 7:15 before your drop off is complete!

Unlike Carnival and Royal, NCL does not take the children to dinner. With the exception of one night. One night they will take a very limited number of kids early to dinner. I can't remember how many kids they take but there will be a sign up list. Once that list is full, it's full. This issue has been a continuing issue with NCL. It has been a common complaint for at least the 10 years I've been cruising with them. It definitely is a reason you might want to stick to the other lines that take the kids to dinner. If you have a kid that really won't sit thru a long dinner....and on NCL the dinner can be long, sometimes north of 2 hours if you are in the main dining room!!

The other sticky thing about NCL is that the Kids Club is not open for regular programing while the ship is in port. Once the ship leaves port, then kids club resumes as normal but no Kids Club in port. They will offer a babysitting service where you pay an additional fee to a ship kid crew member for babysitting. The issue with this is you can get anything. It is the Kids Crew staff but they are not obligated to show the kids a good time. Once my kids had an awesome time with a gal who took them all over the ship playing basketball and chess and found some ice cream. The next time the babysitter had them sit and watch Disney movies the entire time the adults were gone on our scuba excursion. Also, it's an additional charge and pretty expensive. The other cruise lines will run regular kids club programing everyday.....even if the ship is in port and at no additional charge. This again has been an ongoing issue with the NCL kids club.

As far as the activities the kids do while in the kid club, it's remarkably similar to all the other cruise lines. They play all sorts of fun games, treasure hunts, parades, Survivor type challenges and Minute to Win it contests. It is a fun time.

Just tell him if he goes into the buffet, not only can he get that burger but he can also get an ice cream cone. My teens make about 6 ice cream cones a day and bring them out to the pool.