nimbex1970

All Virgin restaurants are no fees, and they are considered "upscale" like NCL pay for restaurants. One does have to make reservations though. You also have to be a higher level tier, like Diamond on RCL to transfer that status over. We gifted our Virgin cruise to our son, and went on our first NCL 10 nighter instead, simply because we couldn't get a B2B with Virgin. Son is now a huge fan and won't go back to RCL. He states the amount he would have paid for specialty dining made the cost point the same per night for Virgin/RCL. Some food for thought if you are comparing NCL and pay for specialty restaurants.

My docs simply say departure 830pm, arrive on ship no later than 2 hours prior.

THere is a small and clearly marked splash pad, next to the "older" kids ones that had great staff keeping the older kiddos from running/horseplay from the toddler one. As SUgwoz mentioned, there is an indoor play area in the adventure ocean club for when it's too hot or rainy to be outside. Don't forget the carousel! Next to putt putt there is an outdoor climb area as well with a slide and rope area, you may want an extra set of hands as the slide lands a few steps down (I was exhausted from chasing our three year old!) I strongly suggest heading to the Ocean ADventure club as soon as you board to reserve your hours. We were given 8 hours for the week on day one, then checked back everyday as more slots opened up. We also brought our toddler to the arcade, he had no idea we didn't put money in the machine, lol. Happy sailing!

I'm not surprised. I live in Alaska and the cost of everything has gone up greatly this year. As you have seen the price of excursions, well yup, that's the price of Alaska. Where I am, gas is $8.99 a gallon and milk is 10 bucks a gallon. Crazy times here. I Hope it's still in your price point, as your itinerary is great!

I just found the food all around subpar (aside from breakfast and it's hard to mess that up). We added three specialty dining nights on my last WOS. At the windjammer, I could at least not eat what I didn't prefer without having to explain my dislike to servers hovering over me (good service in the MDR, poor food). We experienced many empty tables in the MDR for the four nights we went, I also ate quite a bit of pizza after to fill my stomach. Was not impressed. Loved playmakers and specialty dining though!

TY so much for the review. We had the B2B booked, canceled for a repo, now waiting for the 2025 to come out to book this very cruise! Would love to hear more about your excursions, pictures would be a bonus! Thanks in advance as we generally don't do ship excursions!

I don't expect this. I manage my own bookings.

So it seems wise just to cancel and reschedule further out then. Thanks for all the help!

my own private pool. I don't do people soup.

Thanks, I am so wrong on this, I looked at my booking. the 19 night was comped. We paid for the administration fee, the taxes, the FAS taxes on the drink package and the gratuity, plus we paid 1k for a cabin upgrade that I didn't realize we were charged for!

Best recollection was 3200 points. This was our first NCL sailing and only 9 nights, so we will be something like bronze.

I couldn't agree more! Oh I do miss those midnight buffets with the carvings and late-night parties on deck as well. We are researching more "upscale" cruise lines to meet what I consider dining preferences and service expectations. If I'm paying for all specialty restaurants, I'm figuring that cost into my overall cruise, plus RCL drink package is pricey. It's opened up some alternatives that I initially thought were out of budget. Also has opened up some new places to visit. Unless I'm bringing the grandkids, my days with RCL are numbered and that's sad. Saying that, my expectations no longer coincide with the RCL experience, so it's time to move on and it's not RCL's fault. I simply expect something they don't provide and I have to find a new line to cruise with. The best memories on RCL and I'm thankful for that.

I found less service available. For example, I love to sit out at the pool and be served drinks. On the WOS, my lazy behind had to get up several times for a water or a drink. Well more than several times. Alcoholic drinks at the main dining took much longer than previous to be delivered. More folks at the bars getting their drinks caused lines and waiting... no one remembered my drink at the bars, lost that special, "I'm being spoilt" feeling. I ate more room service and pizza after the MDR than in the history of my cruising. Returned an over-cooked shrimp dinner twice. First time I paid for the upscale restaurants as I was so unsatisfied with the quality of food in the MDR. (service there was top-notch). I tried NCL after this and had similar food issues however the service on NCL was impeccable. Still booked another RCL, just paying for the food upgrades now.

I just went through this on the sky. I had to enter a seperate line where they reviewed my docs, then a picture and off we went to wait. Our pre-arranged check in time didn't mean anything as we were a bit late and were given a number (14). We waited about 20 minutes and it went fast enough.

Walk me through this. We are new to Casino at sea. Husband "won" a free cruise. We have three booked in one "free" room. What are we charged if he has to be a no-show, I mean very last minute. We have Alianz insurance, so that may cover his cancellation if his health isn't straightened out. But how does Casino at sea handle this please and thanks. Yes, I will call the booking agent through CAS, but wanted an idea beforehand.

Just off the Sky and there was no additional players card. We simply used the room card. We used both the ATM and withdrew from the account on file (have to sign a form). The room card worked in all the machines I tried, no issues. The fees have been covered here and are accurate. We did not sign up before hand, just asked a casino host for help activating the room key which took seconds. I'm not sure how many points to a free cruise, but husband was "gifted" one. Then casino at sea contacted us and gave us $5k off a 19 nighter we had already booked. I believe 8 nights is the max for a free cruise. So good luck! We did great on craps and three card poker.

We are headed from San Jan to Lisbon in April. As the title suggests, is there a better side of the ship for a balcony room?

Just off a cruise in the port of Miami (NCL) no drug sniffing dogs pre or post cruise.

I understand! We just sailed our first NCL, and getting used to the website and navigating dining and such was a challenge. I spent time on the NCL boards here reading each post and asking questions to help me acclimate. I also watched youtube videos of the ship I was going to sail on. NCL anytime dining is excellent. The vibe is more casual, although this is true for Alaska sailings in general. The RCCL ship will have better activities for your almost teen. Consider this though, you will likely have excursions every port day and be quite tired from a full day of activity, but wearing out those kiddos is harder, lol.. so your son will likely love the activities at night on RCCL. I think your choice is excellent if you are satisfied with the itinerary, thats all that Alaska is about anyway. It takes time to get adjusted with a new line, hang in there and have a great trip!

Can the shareholder benefit be used with all sales and comps like a casino at sea pricing? We have a 19 day repo in April, so this would give us 250 OBC? Thanks in advance.

We recently used NCL transfer (we were driving) by finding a flight number online and inputting it. No issues. Now this was port of Miami and it was quite busy. I would put a 30-minute load in the bus time, plus drive time to help you plan.

Thanks for explaining!!!

I wanted to thank you, you provided vital information about getting our laundry done!

IMHO, packing 'em full of folks and staffing cuts has led to decreased service. Still not against these giants.. they have their time and place.

please get some good trip protection, not just from the cruise line. We have flight interruption through Alianz or Aligenz, Can't recall the name, but we bought a one year policy as we cruise several times a year plus do flights for a land vacy. when you compare the yearly cost, it's a no brainer, for us anyway. Give them a look.