BirdTravels

The Birds love those Oasis-class ships. But there is a difference between 3100 passengers and 6000 passengers (max capacity of 7000). We were on the maiden (first paying passenger) voyage of the Wonder of the Seas in March. That new ship smell was intoxicating.

Here’s a spa menu from last week on the Prima

My most recent pass was $339 for a week. That’s up from $199 last year.

Last week, the dress code was Resort Casual every night on the Prima. There was one big Caribbean party on the pool deck (even though we were not in the Caribbean). Other big parties were in the Prima Club (Theater) at night after they “removed” all of the theater seating. Photographers were set up in the Atrium on several decks every night. And were taking photos in specialty dining restaurants nightly.

The minimum/maximum bid is based on your current cabin. So, a Balcony bidding on a Haven Deluxe Owner's Suite will have a [much] higher minimum bid than a Haven 2BR bidding on that same Deluxe Owner's Suite.

We sail Alaska every year, mostly on NCL. How close you get to the glaciers depends on the itinerary and the ice conditions. Cruise ships will not sail into heavy ice no matter how big/small they are. Most of NCL Alaska cruises are round trip Seattle. And a subset of those go to Glacier Bay. There are one-way Vancouver to Seward and back on smaller/older ships. If you have never been on an Alaskan cruise, then a cruise that goes to Glacier Bay is probably what you would want. Other cruises focus on going to the Dawes glacier near Juneau. If you are scheduled to cruise to the Dawes glacier, then take the Glacier Explorer shore excursion to get up close and personal with the glacier. Here's are a couple of my most recent live posts

The Escape has now undergone a couple of major dry docks. The physical layout is the same as the Bliss and Encore where a few walls could create a smoking casino... We were just on the Prima which has a very small smoking casino too.

On both CocoCay and Labadee, there is a lot of open beaches with complimentary loungers and umbrellas. The Oasis pool on CocoCay is complimentary. Complimentary buffet lunches are served. Your drink package or diamond vouchers work on the islands. On CocoCay, we usually camp at Chill Island next to the buffet which is also a short walk over to the pool. (This is actually the Skipper's Grill buffet, but the Chill Island buffet is the same).

Whatever you feel is appropriate. We normally tip our room steward $10-$20 per day. And something similar to our waiter and assistant waiter. Crew that receive tips get a bare minimum pay and the first portion of the tip is used to bring them up to their minimum contract value. This is similar to servers in our home town. Minimum wage is $15/hour around here. But if you are a employee that gets tips, employers can pay as little as $5/hour assuming that the first $10/hour of tips goes to getting you up to minimum wage. And making $80 in tips (8 hour shift) just to get to minimum wage when folks at our local diner leave a buck or less in tips.

Right after restart when crew were confined to the ship, they used to reserve South Beach for the ship's crew. Not any more.

The Coco Beach Club has a light continental breakfast.

There are about 200 employees on the island. They work on contract like those on the ship, living in the island dorms for 6 months. Yes, some of the staff comes from the ship, but there is a large contingent of Bahamian staff.

We found the Prima's late night buffet was a bit disappointing. I guess it was less consistent than other ships. While the buffet seemed to be more "fancy" (in some cases lunch and dinner left overs), if we are looking for a late night snack after a show, we just want a piece of pizza or some good desserts.

As a platinum guest, your bookings will open at 125 days. Use that time to get the best days (sea days) and times for your dinners. As a platinum member, you should be booking your two platinum dinners (valid at any restaurant) and your FAS dinner(s) https://www.ncl.com/latitudes-rewards-program

No. Joggers have to go to the gym and use the treadmills. The Ocean Blvd has a lot of walkers early in the morning doing laps. And it is really nice that you can actually walk the ship bow to stern (versus the BA class ships where you have to cut through the elevator lobbies from one side of the Waterfront to the other). But it is definitely not designed for running.

No. Not unless they installed one during the dry dock.

@cruisinmeme The only thing that is subject to cancellation fee is the base cruise fare itself. Everything else is refundable. If booked through a travel agent, your agent may levy additional charges. The cancellation fee can be submitted as an insurance claim.

You can reserve exactly 120 days before embarkation. 12 midnight NCL Time (Miami time - Eastern Time, USA). And you need to make your reservations exactly 120 days in advance for the best times since Haven and priority guests start booking 10 days and 5 days prior to that. The online system only takes reservations. It does not ask you how you intend to pay for dinner (FAS dinner, platinum vouchers, room charge) - that decision is made at time of dining.

There was no problem booking shows on the Prima last week. But you had to make an effort to reserve them when you embarked, versus heading to the bar and getting your free drinks. This is no different that any NCL big ship or Royal Caribbean big ship, for that matter.

The contract that ever passenger on every cruise line signs gives the cruise line the ability to change itineraries. What is in the contract is what is “fair”, so there is no question on the definition of “fair”. Everyone has a sad story on why the “can’t cruise”. Everyone expects to get a refund for any reason. “The dog ate my passport”. That’s not the way business works. You can carry insurance if you want, that is your choice,,, in case you have a hungry dog.

Post #348 ‘

Yes. See post #58 on the attached link.

They have different standards. If you were unvaccinated, you could not cruise to Canada. And the testing timing is different, but that should not be a reason to cancel.

If it looks like a heating element on an x-ray, it will be confiscated. If it ultrasonic, it may pass. Best advice: no one cares if you have a few wrinkles. Dress comfortably. You're on vacation. Leave the steamers at home.