The Traveling Man

Asawi is correct. I have used it successfully on several NCL ships.

So roughly 1/4 of the passengers are Platinum or above. Sounds about right for a TA.

While it's true that the menu usually doesn't change, it does feature several different appetizers, main courses, and desserts. If you're an omnivore, you should be able to enough options for several nights. As others have mentioned, many, perhaps most, Haven guests have prepaid access to specialty restaurants for more than half the nights during a typical cruise. That means those Haven guests only "have" to eat dinner in the Haven three or four times. I can only assume that NCL believes that the fixed Haven menu is adequate. The few times we have sailed in the Haven, including a 14 day cruise in 2016, the Haven menu was fine, although it did get repetitive by the end of the trip.

I haven't bothered to check every time I have cruised, but every time I have checked the Haven was fully booked, even on cruises just after the COVID shutdown when many ships were sailing at half their overall capacity. I've only sailed in the Haven a few times, so I can't really say how many of the bar stools were occupied at any given time.

That really is very slow.

That's faster on the download than my service at home, but the upload side is less than one-fourth my home connection.

Well, sheep! How will life go on?

We took the Gatun tour the last time we sailed with NCL to Panama. It allowed us a couple of hours in the information center that overlooks the locks. That was very informative. The train trip across the isthmus was a lot of fun. The bus ride back was a bit of a yawner, but overall it was a day well spent. On an Alaskan cruise several years ago, we wanted to ride the White Pass & Yukon Railway in Skagway. NCL offered a trip which was exclusive to NCL, but it was powered by Diesel locomotives. We wanted to ride behind the steam engine. HAL had a ship in port the same day as us and they had chartered both a Diesel powered excursion and the steam train for their guests. Fortunately, the steam train excursion, which cost a bit more, was not fully booked by HAL, so we were able to purchase tickets directly from the WP&Y office and join the HAL passengers. Well, not exactly join their guests. We were like the red-headed stepchildren. They had five first class coaches with all-you-can-consume snacks and spirits included. We rode in a separate car where snacks and beverages were available for purchase. Our car, however, was placed right behind the locomotive, so we got a much more entertaining ride, being so close to the sounds of the engine as it strained to climb the hill.

@Beezo Thank you very much for posting this. Interesting that while they mentioned that the docks could handle two BA+ class ships, they illustrated it with a rendering of one of NCL's smallest ships, the Sun, which rarely makes its way to GSC.

Then I would definitely go with the Dawn.

The itinerary the OP asked about is somewhat different than what the Epic sailed for several years. The Escape itinerary this September will be ten days long instead of seven and will have no sea days. The ship will be in a port each day, although there is one day when it will depart Malta about 2:00 PM and another day when it will arrive in Majorca about noon. NCL usually tries to schedule things like the BTS tour, wine tastings, CC Meet & Greets, Latitudes parties, etc. on sea days. On the Escape this September, they probably will have some of these on the afternoon following Malta and others in the morning before Majorca.

Hear, hear! I have just under half your number of cruises, so my vote may not carry as much weight as yours, but I also put her at the top of the list.

We've sailed on all but two of NCL's current ships. I wonder if we'll be able to get those last two under our belts, plus any other new ships that begin sailing in the meantime, before they start retiring or selling off some of the older, smaller ships. I'm curious about the proposed 5000 passenger ships. I've seen videos of RCCL's monster ships. They have some interesting features, lots of dining options, and a wide variety of entertainment venues to appeal to a broad range of interests. I'm not sure, though, about spending a solid week or more with 5000, 6000, or 7000 of my "closest friends."

I didn't realize that Pr1ma class ships were unable to use tenders. Could you expand on that?

Re: Terminator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger

We have sailed with her once, about a year ago. What an outstanding experience. She demonstrated that she really cared about her guests and connected with them. She was standing next to the gangway, saying goodbye to her passengers, as we disembarked the cruise. I know it's an overworked phrase, but as we left I just had to say to her "You know that you're a rock star, don't you?" She just smiled demurely.

It looks like SkyNet is already here. Those ChatGPT responses are head and shoulders better than "Nothing Comes Close."

The crew usually is Johnny on the spot when it comes to clearing tables. I don't think I've ever been able to get up from a table in an NCL buffet before a crew member had whisked away my dirty dishes. Maybe a glass or a napkin were left behind, but otherwise they had my table spic and span even before I was ready to leave.

Also Texas.

I went back to look more carefully at the specifics of your cruise and the one before yours. It's possible that you may in fact have some difficulties in booking these activities. When NCL has operated similar itineraries in the past, they usually had a sea day immediately after Barcelona. NCL frequently schedules activities like BTS and WATW on sea days, so those boarding in Barcelona would have them on the second day of their cruise while Rome passengers would have them near the end of their cruise. In that case, it would be the passengers boarding in Rome who would have first crack at making reservations, while the Barcelona guests would play the role of "Johnny come lately." The September itineraries for the Escape have zero sea days. The most likely time for these activities would be the afternoon of the 17th after departing Malta at 2:00 PM or the morning of the 19th prior to arriving in Majorca at noon. That means that those boarding in Barcelona would have a four day head start on you for booking activities which likely would occur on the fourth or sixth day of your cruise, which translates to the eighth or tenth day of theirs. Your best bet is to stop by the Cruise Next desk as soon as you get on board and hope that they can add an additional BTS tour group or wine tasting event if demand warrants it.

We have done a similar itinerary several times on the Epic, sometimes boarding in Barcelona and sometimes in Rome. With the overlapping itineraries you sometimes may find that certain events are fully booked by "the other guys" before you board, so you'll miss out on those. OTOH, you'll be ahead of the game for events occurring on the last few days of your cruise when you are able to book them before "the other guys" even board your cruise. NCL usually schedules things like behind the scenes tours and the complimentary wine tasting just once per week, or in this case just once per ten day cruise. If you come in toward the middle of "the other guys" cruise you may miss out on some things early in your trip, but that means that you'll be ahead of the next batch of "other guys" for things taking place toward the end of your cruise / the beginning of theirs. It's confusing, I know, but I hope that helps explain it.

It's been over two years since NCL renamed the Platinum Plus Latitudes level to Sapphire and added the Diamond level. Wonder when NCL will get around to updating their signs?

Not sure what a GET tax is, but in the US (and possibly elsewhere) when your ship is in port or within the territorial waters, you likely will find sales tax added to any purchase you make on board. It varies from one city or state to another, perhaps as low as 5%, but probably more like 10% or more. Although you purchased your beverage plan prior to the cruise, if a beverage is actually served to you while within the port's jurisdiction, it usually is considered to be a transaction subject to the tax. It normally adds less than a dollar to the price of your drink. As they say, you can't fight city hall, so if you can't wait until you're out of port for a drink, expect to pay a bit of sales tax.

That being the case, then you should be OK with a 12:55 flight. I would recommend against a bus or any other type of shared transportation, however. It may cost more, but under the circumstances you won't want any unnecessary delays while waiting for other passengers. Just arrange for a taxi for your party, plan to be off the ship as early as you can, and hightail it for FCO.

Or if the ship absolutely cannot wait for you, NCL will cover the cost of transporting you to the ship's next port of call, pay for a hotel stay if needed, and pay for your meals and any other necessary expenses you incur until you can rejoin your cruise.