IrieBajan54

IMO, it's the complete opposite. Food quality and availability (dining room & buffet) were much better before the pandemic.

Helps especially if you are from the general area with simple transportation. I met a solo cruiser on the Gem in 2019. She was from Baltimore and use bus transportation. Something like Peter Pan to/from to NYC. She would check with the CruiseNext desk as late as two days or the morning before disembarkation. If the next cruise was around $399/$499 base price, she would book it to do B2B. She had done it several times over the years. These were usually in the fall and winter so the cruises were 10 to 14 days long. Cabin category was not important and she wasn't interested in the so-called Free at Sea. All she had to do was to change her return bus ticket.

All depends on if it's a clothing optional charter. 🤣

That was bad service on your cabin steward's part.

Surprising NCL can't fill the ship! Especially being new. Read that RCI ships are packed to the gills and some even overbooked, having to entice some cruisers to move to other dates.

Norwegian Joy - Canada & New England - 7 day cruise Quebec City to New York City - October 4 to 11. Solo Sail Away Guarantee rates: Inside $449 Oceanview $579 Balcony $649 Club Balcony Suite $799 Plus port/taxes $230

Carnival Venezia, Italian style cruising out of Manhattan Cruise Terminal MSC Meraviglia out of Brooklyn, NY Norwegian Getaway out of Manhattan Cruise Terminal Royal Caribbean Vision of the Seas (very old ship) out of Baltimore Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas out of Bayonne, NJ

Haven't seen those yet for NCL. Maybe 2026!

Don't know what you are talking about but what I have noticed is that since the pandemic, there haven't been any poolside BBQ lunches on sea days.

Live and learn! Not much value bidding Inside to Oceanview (low decks). Bidding Inside to Balcony would be a real upgrade.

Normally, the offer to bid is always available until maybe the day before sailing. At your NCL account, if you click on the booking, you should see "Messages" and one of them should be for "bidding." You can use that to place a bid. Since they are an excess of cabins available, you may get lucky. Secondly depending on how much you paid for the studio cabin, you may be able to upgrade directly. So for example, if your base fare for the studio cabin was $1300 and the current base fare for a balcony is $1649, then you could pay the difference and get the balcony immediately.

👍 For the same ship, the solo supplement is zero for all three cruises in October: NCL Getaway ** 11 Days October 1 to 12 - Europe: including France, Germany & Belgium (roundtrip from Southampton) Sail Away Solo Inside Guarantee $699 plus $267 port/taxes **10 Days October 12 to 22 - Europe: including France, Germany & Belgium (roundtrip from Southampton) Sail Away Solo Inside Guarantee $629 plus $255 port/taxes **13 Days October 22 to November 4 Transatlantic: Southampton to New York City Sail Away Solo Inside Guarantee $649 plus $197 port/taxes

I guess Laser Tag and Galaxy Pavilion generated limited revenue. That doesn't work! So the valuable real estate will be put to better $$$$ use. I have no problem with that since both areas are of no importance to me. I utilized the OL on my 10 Canada New England last September so shrinking it is a disappointment. Oh well, things happen!

I've been on the Sun and shuffleboard is a definite activity. I guess you prefer more energetic activities! 🙂

I guessing you've only been on the newer ships. On the Jewel Class (my favs), people play shuffleboard all the time on the promenade deck. Those of us walking the deck casually or for exercise sometimes have to dodge the sliding pucks/shuckles.

What I recall is this: I was on the next to last Gem cruise before the COVID shutdown. I had bought 2 CN and as the days went by with all the dire COVID news, I got concerned that the line might go belly up. So around day #22, I decided cancellation was prudent. I did not spend long on the phone and was satisfied that my request was accepted. I don't think it took a full 30 days for the credit to show up on my cc online account.

Port: Any of the Southern Caribbean islands Ship: Gem (although the other 3 Jewel Class ships are acceptable) Cabin: As a solo, I'll take whatever is assigned on Sail Away Guarantee Size, Great Outdoors and wrap around promenade deck!

Fares are definitely higher than pre-covid for solos. The way I cope is to cruise when schools are in session. I book last minute and long cruises only which provides me with a lower per day rate. I haven't done a 7-day cruise since 2014. Plus, I always book sail-away since type of cabin and location is not important to me, My last cruise in April was 15 days and the next in the fall is hopefully 12 days pending price reduction.

Wow! Just ridiculous! I have no interest in giving NCL extra money, if I can help it. I never eat breakfast or any of my other meals in the cabin. I exercise first everyday (port & sea days), then have breakfast. I am an early riser so I'm normally finished with breakfast by 8:15 a.m.

NCL used to pretty much have an exclusive out of Manhattan Cruise Terminal during fall/winter months to the Caribbean. Carnival Italian Style with cruises longer than 7 days (Journey Cruises) on Carnival Venezia has tripped up NCL. MSC out of Brooklyn provides additional competition during the same period. Good for customers bad for NCL.

Norwegian Sky - Sail date September 11 Canada-New England (Quebec City to Baltimore) 10 nights - no single supplement Solo inside Sail Away Guarantee $599 + port/taxes $291

Isn't there a Five Guys and Checkers at Bayside? I would think that $20 is more than enough for a meal combo. Those burgers should definitely be better than the dried out ones in the Garden Cafe.

I always go to the Latitudes Party. Normally, a few of us solos meet there and enjoy some drinks together. We pay no attention to the CruiseNext sales pitches. Basically, those of us who attend aren't into the beverage package. Whatever I already have on is what I wear.

I've done several TA's and prefer westbound that ended in Florida. The ones that ended in NYC always had chillier and inclement weather where the captain advised to stay indoors on some days. I recall doing NCL's last cruise from Houston on the Jade which turned out to be an eastbound TA. Very memorable with good weather as we cruised the southern route. Lots of activities staged by Meet & Greet organizers including Tai Chi. Only thing I did not like was the negative time change.

I'm a solo cruiser (4 times/yr) and wouldn't book for that price. Since the restart, NCL has been maintaining high single supplements for solos. However, I haven't changed my strategy which is never to book until after final payment is due. I monitor after that point until a doable fare is available.