Biffire

Always good to have a game plan!

My two cents. I think it is OK to jump in and out of the line as you see what you want. I do not butt in if people are waiting for sliced meat, omelets, crepes, stuff like that. Many buffet lines seem to be multi-directional. I am tall. so I can see what I want, am able to walk fast etc. Some people seem to have trouble making food choice decisions and then slowly stroll to the next section. Enter the buffet on a mission, get what you want, sit down, eat, repeat!

Most of my cruises have been with NCL, one with CCL, and one with RCL. I have always thought they were mostly the same. NCL does not seat you with others and you eat whenever you want. My CCL cruise was a 7day to Canada in September, and was not a wild booze cruise. I have to admit that the cruises and ships run together in my mind and I can't really recall too many specifics.

Calli50, I agree with what everyone says about taxes in US ports. Just want to make sure you understand about the mandatory gratuity charge on the free at sea beverage package. You mention you are new to NCL. You will pay $277 bar gratuities (7 day cruise) for two people to have the free drink package. Pretty easy to get your value out of that, just wanted to make sure you were aware.

Just make the reservation when and where you want. No body cares if you are paying, using FAS, or using Platinum meals until you get there.

Food and Dining opinions are very subjective. Asking for advice on what you should do is going to get you many opinions and confused. I usually get two free and 2 for latitude status, so I am fine eating in the MDR 3 nights. Is the MDR good ? Well that depends what you are used to. What is your budget? What are they serving that night? the skill of the chefs? No one can say the meals in the MDR are all good or all bad. Try the MDR, if you don't like it, buy more Specialty Dining on the next cruise.

The beverage package: You are paying around $20 per person for estimated tips. It entitles you to drinks up to $15. If you go top shelf and exceed $15, then you pay the difference and extra tips. In most cases if you each will drink 2-3 drinks per day it is worth it. If not, you can decline the package. If you search this forum there have been many threads about this subject. I always take the package and am happy with it, others decline, it is all about how many drinks you anticipate enjoying on your vacation. The dining package is usually for two meals for both passengers. It would be nice to get seven, but not with this package. You can certainly buy additional nights if you wish. $35 bucks is worth 2 nights specialty dining in my opinion. I try to disconnect on a cruise so I don't have much to say about wifi, wifey uses it to check in with our son, but that is about it. I would never use the free airfare, as I like to control when we fly and on which airlines, so can't help much there. $50 shore excursion for one person per port, can't save them up, must use or lose each port. It is free and if you plan on taking an excursion it is a good deal. If you don't want any of these options you can book sail away prices, but we enjoy the perks and don't do that. When you see the cost difference between the sail away and a room booked with the free at sea options you will see the true cost of the "free" at sea promotion. No such thing as a free lunch, but in my opinion, we accept the promotion and enjoy the perks. Hope this helps.

I am booked on the Getaway, for a July cruise. When they cancelled the Baltic cruises we jumped on the cruises out of port Canaveral. Wifey saw a post on FB that made it look like they were cancelling the 2022 season. I am glad they are not, as we are looking forward to returning to the Getaway.

Has anyone heard anything about NCL Getaway cancelling cruises from June 14th to October 9th?