olemissreb

I'm sailing the Viva next year. I chose that one because it sails from San Juan which is my favorite port to sail from. Plus I haven't been to 4 of the 6 ports before. 

My favorite cruise line is Celebrity, but I haven't been too happy with their itineraries lately. I also took a Princess cruise about 34 years ago and felt like the youngest one on board. I may try them again one day. I've also been on Royal and liked them too.  So I'll be going on my first NCL cruise in March '25. I'll let you know how it compares.

7 hours ago, kdmbluerzr said:

If you were in the Adventure Class seating they are. Goldstar Dome class seating a meal and a couple of drinks are included.  I'm certain your memory is perfect!  🙂 

Nope! I was in Goldstar...I remember having assigned seats as well as a couple mimosas and breakfast. I just thought my now-ex paid for it behind me I guess.

7 hours ago, kdmbluerzr said:

Yes. And you do want to book it through the Alaska Railroad website. The Goldstar class category is what I was referring to. In the Goldstar class, if you take the early morning departure, there is a nice breakfast served that is included in this price, as well as a couple of spirited breakfast beverages, mimosa or bloody mary, etc. if you like this sort of breakfast beverage. It's a great way to make the trip from Anchorage to Seward. Scenary is spectacular. 

I thought the food and drink were extra...guess my memory isn't what it used to be (must be all those mimosas I've had over the years! 🤣)

1 minute ago, ihate2cruise said:

Would you be able to assist me with the specific site for "The Gold Dome" train. I this correct?

That looks correct to me. IIRC, Goldstar has assigned seats in a dome car with a bar at the rear of the car (for purchase) and food for sale below.

Just now, cruiseny4life said:

On Pr1ma (I Know, it's a different ship), no specialty restaurants were open for lunch on our Transatlantic. 

Same class though.  Thanks for that info.  Guess I'll be looking at adding maybe 2 more specialty dinners and then the rest in one of the MDRs.

31 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

The dailies will tell you the hours for the specialty restaurants. NCL can sometimes vary lunch hours of operation depending on port days vs. sea days and can sometimes close or open specialty restaurants for lunch at random. 

 

For dinner, reservations are strongly recommended. For lunch, you can probably just show up.

I'm on the lookout for Viva dailies from the San Juan sailings - that will give me a good idea.  I've got some from Mid-December, but looking for newer ones to compare times.

10 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

If a specialty restaurant is open for lunch, you can use your package. It counts as a use. If you use 1 for lunch and 1 for dinner on the same day, that's 2 meals used.

Thank you!  I figured lunch and dinner were 2 uses, just wasn't sure if any of the specialty restaurants were open for lunch.  I've never been on a cruise with this many specialty restaurants to choose from, so still learning.

Specialty dining includes lunch and/or dinner? Trying to decide how many meals we may eat in specialty restaurants since we are on a port intensive cruise, but we may only do half day excursions.  Of course my BF would be happy eating cheeseburgers and drinking beer all week.

In 405 days, I'll be back on a cruise ship for the first time since 2019.  It'll be my BF's first cruise, so time for a new ritual I think.  We're sailing from San Juan, so we'll probably have breakfast and lunch in San Juan and then make our way to the pier to board the ship and hopefully be able to go straight to our cabin and drop stuff off before making our way to a bar and then exploring the ship.  It'll be my first time on NCL, so exploring is a must as well as being on deck for sailaway.

Even in the past, I've never been one to want to get on the ship first thing (except the one I took with my former in-laws - FIL just had to get there at 11am - good thing we packed swimsuits for my boys so they could go swimming while we waited for the cabin to be ready).  I like to get on board about the time the cabin is ready so I can go straight there (timed it wrong in Boston in 2019). 

I'm still 405 days out from my next cruise and I've been perusing CC, TA and any other site I can find trying to figure out excursions.  Next I'll start looking at airfare and hotel/airbnb (probably in March/April) so I can get those booked early and maybe save some $$.  Plus I just discovered the webcam for the Norwegian Viva, so yeah, it's harder and harder to get my work done to pay for all of this!

It'll be the first cruise for my boyfriend and my sister's boyfriend, so it'll be extra special.  Hopefully we'll get them hooked and we can cruise more often as our budgets allow.

I'm with the person that posted - the memories.  I do save room keys, dailies, tickets and such, but it's the memories that stick with me more.  A word or phrase can trigger a memory of me and my kids on a cruise ship or excursion...especially the first one they ever went on!

Next up - I'll get to make more memories with my boyfriend as he goes on his first ever cruise.  I can't wait to experience it all again through his eyes.

1 minute ago, ontheweb said:

Actually, they dress up as if they were prom goers. I don't remember any audience members doing the same.

Thank you!  Maybe my sister and I can start something on the Viva in March '25...might be fun!

5 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

They play music that might have played at a prom. The singers also tell funny stories about their experiences at a prom.

 

It is their last show.

Do they encourage people to dress up like they are attending their prom?  That would be funny!  Of course, I'm not sure I want to wear a dress similar to the one I wore in high school (shudder!)

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

Found this......Looks like Syd's is wider on Prima but not as deep.  But, it's a video, so I don't know that they capture the entire place.....good idea of the music they play...which is right in my wheelhouse!

 

 

OMG I'm so going to have to see a few shows here!  I'm not so sure I'll be able to keep my seat - I may be up dancing (just like I did back when these songs came out - yes I'm aging myself).

Can someone explain what "Prom NIght" is?

1 hour ago, JamesIowa said:

You can buy gifts for others via NCL here: https://www.ncl.com/onboard-gifts

I’ve used this many times and have had no problems (items/cost will show on the recipients invoice but they will not be billed). 
If you want to cover their vibe, fas+, or something  not offered through the gift site simply call NCL and provide what info you can (pax names, sailing dates, etc) and they should be able to help. I’ve done this in the past to add gifts when I only have a partial name or just the cabin number. I’ve found that insofar as money is concerned, NCL will do heir best to facilitate. 

Thank you! I was looking at the "gifts" section on the app and it only showed that I could by for me and my bf. I never thought to check the website. I'll try that or at least call since I do have names and cabin number.

Is there a way to buy Vibe passes as a gift for someone else? Or even any of the gift packages offered by NCL?

I'd love to do something as a surprise for my sister and her BF who are in a separate cabin.

11 minutes ago, complawyer said:

chewsifer1220. you are100% correct, we're a long way off topic. that being said, however, one last service comment if you dont mind.  whenever someone says to me "thank you for your service" while i appreciate the thought, i always respond   "dont thank me, i was drafted"

after that, my wife usually punches me in the arm

Good!  I'm glad your wife punches you in the arm.  You may have been drafted, but you still served our country when so many others fled - so THANK YOU!

I recommend the one way on the Jewel.  When I was doing my research 10 years ago, I found the longest port times were on the one ways (with the Southbound even a little bit longer than the Northbound IIRC).

Fly in to Anchorage a couple days early - spend one night there and then take the Alaska RR (Gold Star Service) to Seward.  Let the railroad send your luggage on ahead to your hotel (if they still do that) and take a Major Marine Kenai Fjords tour.  You'll see lots of wildlife and get really close to a glacier and may even hear it calving.  On the Celebrity Millennium, we didn't get close enough to Hubbard Glacier to hear it calving - it was still a gorgeous journey down to the glacier though.

After your Kenai Fjords tour, the next day, let the hotel hold your luggage for a while and go take a tour of the Alaska Sea Life Center - do a behind the scenes tour.  You'll get to see the bird rookery from the day before on one of the screens in the center...it was so cool for us knowing we'd been there the day before to see it live and in person.

One way airfare from Vancouver is expensive, but I discovered a way around it - if you have enough vacation time.  Do a "HOHO" tour in Vancouver to waste time (there's a storage facility in the cruise terminal to store your luggage), but then take a cab to the train station and take the train to Seattle.  Spend a night (or two) in Seattle and then fly home from there.  For 5 of us (flying on free tickets), it was cheaper to do that than fly from Vancouver and the scenery was beautiful.

If this is truly going to be your only trip (I've only done the one trip so far, but am chomping at the bit to take my boyfriend), spend as much time in Alaska as you can!

2 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

That I understand.  But, to be able to say only 50 people can hear the performance, I can't imagine that's something anyone can control.  What about the people who are milling about outside the venue?  Do you have to account for them?  How about the people at the Syd Norman's Bar on the Waterfront?  Do you have to account for them, too?  How about the people casually walking by Syd Norman's?  Are they considered part of those who are hearing the performance?

 

Point being, I don't see how anyone can charge copyright fees based on the number of people who can hear the performance.  It would be impossible to enforce.

I don't know that the fees are based on the number of people who may hear it/see it.  I'm not sure how it works to be honest.

23 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Venue....I have no idea if there are "copyright" issues.  That doesn't seem like a "thing".  Either you are allowed to perform the music or you're not.  I don't know how anyone would track how many people it's performed for.  Further, there are more than one performances for some of the shows.  How you regulate that is a tough ask.

 

 

Not sure if it applies to copyrighted music, but I know that when my son's school wanted to do the High School Musical Jr. play, they had to pay for the rights to do it.  Maybe NCL had to pay for the rights to do Rumors in the same way?

14 hours ago, pierces said:

 

This is Paige's fifth year on her scholarship (bonus courtesy of the pandemic), so reality will be setting in soon. I don't really follow, but I hear she's quite good.

 

Small world in many ways, eh?

 

Dave

 

Sure is!  If I get over there, I'll let Paige know I "met" you in this forum and you said "hi".  🙂

1 hour ago, pierces said:

 Aren't we all?

 

Ol' Miss. I have a niece that plays softball there. Good team from what I hear.

 

Dave

I haven't been to see an Ole Miss Softball game in 4 years (shame on me). Hope to get over to the new softball complex a few times this year. I'm more of a baseball fam and sometimes the games conflict.

I'm not usually up to see a sunrise, but this was so pretty over the sleet/ice we got Sunday & Monday. Taken on my cell phone so it almost looks like a sunset...still learning.

The cooking class my sister and I wanted to do in Antigua ends a little too close to all aboard time for our taste.  The venue is only about a 15 minute cab ride from the ship, but with an all aboard time estimated to be 3:30pm, returning to the ship at 3:15pm (if traffic allows) is just too close for our comfort.   So...

I found an art class (Art, Culture & Beach) thru another company.  They guarantee a return to the ship in time.  I was just wondering if anyone has used that company - it's the first two words in the title of this post .com.  I figure a piece of art that we paint would be almost as good a souvenir as getting a recipe that we can cook later.  If anyone has experience with this company or this excursion, please give me the good/bad/ugly (if there are any of the latter 2).