MrsTocko

When I did it the first time, and had no idea what I was doing, had never been to one and 1st time on ncl, it was magical, the perks. DH, loved it. I tell him every time that those little things are not guaranteed. And we haven’t always gotten them, depends on the ship and concierge. We get a lot of those perks now with latitude status, but our favorite perk is being allowed to join the suite and above passengers for breakfast and lunch. Especially breakfast. We are usually the first ones there. Whether we get perks or not I will continue to offer to organize them. I like doing that kind of thing. It is not much work, gives an opportunity for us to meet each other after “chatting” online for weeks or more. but if I am not the one to do it, I’m ok. As long as one is done. But you know “dibs” 🤪

I had it at the Red Dog in Juneau…and was delicious…wondering if you can taste the difference between mahoneys and baileys? I’m not a expert so I’m sure I would be happy with the mahoneys.

I’m just wondering if I can get that as part of the regular package or if it is a premium + drink?

½ ounce (15 milliliters) Kahlua ½ ounce (15 milliliters) Bailey's Irish Cream ½ ounce (15 milliliters) Crown Royal

Absolutely - Communication…I think for mine, the other person may have cancelled, and then never told NCL. So assuming that ncl investigated a little or contacted the other person and confirmed it. I usually start with a guesstimate of 25 then confirm a real number later. If someone else beats me to the punch so to speak, fine, it’s just knowing it, I do a few other things for the ones that I organize, that includes a little thank you to those attending, and for any of the officers/staff that interact with. I’m also happy to share any of the organizing with other people (gift exchange, poker crawl, slot pull…whatever). I scaled back, what I was willing to do, because I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I wanted to. glad you had a place to vent, and sometimes that is all we need to do. I’m hoping that it gets corrected for you.

I do several different types. I will have the unofficial at the sail away. People inevitably get busy and forget the official one. I will also do the pub crawl. Just a couple extra opportunities to meet up. I don’t care if you drink or not. with regard to the specific situation that prompted my thread. I talked to the coordinator that day, and while she couldn’t tell me, she knew who it was. A few days after I posted, I got a call from her that I was the new leader. She recommended to send the request in as soon as you book. Especially if you are an early booker. Each special events person handles multiple ships. Jackie took care of me. And when I was waiting to confirm for my cruise this April, (we had time and location shift due to itinerary change) I spoke with Jackie again, and she looked at all my cruises, and told me which ones I hadn’t even sent the request in on yet. So I sent the request in, went to a different coordinator, and too early to request.

We were on for the championship game in April. They showed it in a couple places. But yeah, that’s what we get soccer, cricket, tennis. No baseball, football, basketball, or nascar.

Would they notice if one went missing? Even if they did notice, how would they KNOW who, until too late?

Well dang!

Got it. The Encore is a sister ship to the Bliss, (have been on bliss, but not encore) both were built with cruising Alaska in mind. They tried to optimize public viewing (space and window), and did a very good job. There is room for all to see. Truly. We do a balcony, and the glacier day we actually will spend it on our balcony. A ranger is brought on board that they will broadcast through your cabin tv on the ship channel. (DH always sets us up, so I don’t know which channel). I go get us drinks/snacks, and we enjoy the day. the encore will have Spice H2O. This is an adults only outdoor area with a dedicated bar, hot tubs…no one under 18 allowed. we preferred dinning in taste or savor. Encore will have 3 MDR, Taste and Savor being 2 of them. (Imagine they split azure on the jewel in half) They are bit more casually dressed and a bit smaller than the remaining one. Usually never a wait, and there is a bar between them if there is. The local (updated O’sheehans) is your pub food. There is also the district Brewhouse. No food, but a great bar/pub space. I have to admit that we don’t have direct knowledge of the specialty dining on this class of ship. We have done them on the smaller ships and I can’t imagine they are all that different. Cagney is our favorite. We love a good steak. We also like teppanyaki, and Moderna (Brazilian). We d like simple hearty food, so the frou frou places are often lost on us. In addition, I have a shellfish allergy, so I pay attention. If you like seafood, I hear OceanBlue is fantastic. we love the melting cake, you have a 50/50 shot on it actually being melting. But delicious anyway. I have never left hungry, so we are not unhappy with the food. We may get something we don’t like, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good. Just not for us. the ships size and layout, will most like being smaller than what you are used to, with a passenger capacity of around 4200, but that is the most we like. There are no forward elevators, so if you are relying on them, use the aft elevators, as the midship ones are always busy. we are making out second journey on the Bliss in 2025, so I’m looking forward to revisiting many of these. Hope this helps.

Try a glacier blue in o’sheehans. It is our favorite

What made you decide to do NCL? What do you love about RCL? What parts make you nervous?

We wear Merrill waterproof. I like mid, DH likes low. Our feet stay dry when everything else is soaked. And their customer service is stellar

@Saint Greg we love the jewel and that size ship. We were on her in April of this year. We had a few stars of the crew. The day bartender at the great outdoors (I wanna say Evangeline), she works maltings (deck 6) in the evening. She’s amazing. Also Elaiza (odd spelling) but she is a restaurant hostess. In April she was at La cucina. We had her in April 2022 on the Jewel. Walking across the Lobby THIS year on the 2nd day, I hear a “Ma’am Gail, Mr. Chris”. Had not seen her in a year and she remembered us. We prepay our gratuities, and if we have good pleasant experiences, we give small additional tips in cash at the end. Our room steward, we give a small one at the beginning of the cruise, and then a larger thank you tip at the end. we too came from carnival. And love NCL. I’m an equal opportunity cruiser, but DH wants to stick with NCL. Neither of us are up to the crowds and ship size of Royal Caribbean yet. Every line and ship has their good and bad points, including NCL. loving the review, as it makes me miss the ship and Alaska. I have often thought that I need to do a review, I just don’t have the gift of writing a witty, entertaining review, thank you for yours.

@ctlyf, @MississippiMom i totally get the thoughts on Alaska. There is a raw, uninhibited beauty to the surrounding that I haven’t found elsewhere. I am from MN (have had that cold) and now live in Southern California, so tons of beach…(I hate the sand though…) I’m glad I still go to the Caribbean, and Mexico though for the history and culture of the place. You will never have to compete with me on those beach day excursions. Alaskan cruises offer a peacefulness to them. I have found a lazy, calmness to it. You won’t regret trying it at least once.

The first cruise was too late, missed the last day and half of cruise. I didnt have anything with me, and the store was out of stock. before the next cruise, I got dramaine, and sea bands. also move a BIT (not much though) midship, and changed from deck 4 to deck 6...still a few bouts of nausa, but didnt actually get sick. The next one, again, moved more midship, and not as bad....all still an inside cabin though Finally moved to a balcony in 2013, right off the midship elevators. havent even put the sea bands on, and not taken any meds in the last 4 cruises, and have been fine. I pick a deck that keeps a passenger deck above and below me.(so usually deck 9-14/15) and as midship as i can get, so this will be interesting for sure. Aft Balcony, in Alaska, will offer beautiful views. Have had rough seas on past alaska crusies, at times, but have been early and late in the season, so hoping being more mid season will be helpful as well. I believe we are deck 10, next to the corner cabins. We wanted to to try it and figured this was probably the best cruise to try it on, as it is a very chill moving cruise, between ports.

We ended up treating ourselves to an aft balcony (1st time) for our Alaskan on the Bliss in 2025. (Nominal cost difference to upgrade from regular midship balcony) I have gotten seasick in the past, (1st cruise, we were far forward, ocean view, bottom passenger deck) so I started changing my cabin location, and have been good the last few. So we have been apprehensive about moving to an aft balcony. But we decided to take the risk. We can’t predict the seas or weather this far out, but should be ok.

Ok - not in the haven, and as a general rule, we save our $ for excursions. And have never spent much time hanging at the pool. On our spring break cruise in April this year, the ratio of kids to pool/hot tub was ridiculous, and we are interested in the lack of kids running around in the area. Nothing against kids, just looking for the peace. On the Star last year, we really enjoyed spice H20. The bar, the quiet, everything. DH will like that it is at the end of the buffet, for quick snack runs. I don’t think we must have a reserved cabana. I don’t really want to pay even more for it. How would I reserve it if I changed my mind? (I’m thinking for future cruises, though I don’t think POA has vibe, and I know Bliss has Spice H20) If I wanted to, would they apply my 2 purchased passes to the cost and I pay the difference? Or does it not matter because Prima doesn’t have cabanas?

Hi all - I just bought vibe beach club passes for our upcoming Prima cruise in March 2024. Have done some research, but still have some questions based on what I have read here on CC. what I understand: adults only area with a dedicated bar, fruit skewers, cold towels, padded loungers, some cabanas, close to the buffet, limited availability, and even though it may be sold out, I’m thinking the concierge has a handful to “work their magic” to accommodate haven guests when needed. Most likely plenty of seating to accommodate the number of passes sold. what I am wondering: are the cabanas assigned? Is that an additional charge? Will I have the same cabana all week? How do I know which one os mine? How do they know who has bought the passes? I mean, could I have saved the money and just gone, because no one checks? How is it enforced? we really only took advantage of spice h20 for the first time last year. So I’m guessing it is along the same lines, just with paid access thank you in advance. While I may be a vibe newbie, I don’t want to look like one…

Have done it once, so far, in 2022, ant the height of the travel issues. Absolutely no complaints. I gave the day I wanted to land as my deviation. So we cruised on July 3. I know that it takes roughly 24 hours (with time zone differences) to go from LAX (starting point) to London. Requested to land on July 1. We had a direct red eye (totally fine with that - planned to sleep on the plane) on June 30, Landing July 1. Paid to upgrade our seats together into an exit row. our return from Reykjavik we requested 2 nights in Reykjavik, post cruise. Only switched one seat to have us sit together. Total airfare cost with upgrade was 400 each, rt to Europe. No way could I do better on my own. my next 3 cruises are closed loop cruises. I am checking airfare for the first one. But so far I can’t get better than 500 for 2 round trip. Again, asked to land 2 days before on the first one (Caribbean out of Galveston) and 1 day before on the other 2 (Hawaii on POA, and Alaska out of Seattle. Have been to Seattle 2 times before, so we are good to do whatever strikes us). If I can get (for example) 1st class airfare, for the 2 of us for the same $ or a little more, I will book myself. We do get travel insurance. My decision making process of how many days is based on where we are going, when (could weather be a factor in layovers or flight delays), time zones, how long it will take to get there. I also do my own researching of possible flights, to give me an idea. We always have at least one night before in the hotel. Even the 2 times we have left out of home port (20 minutes from home) we go to a hotel the night before right near the port.

I like both sharing tables (DH prefers not to share unless we know the other people), and am ok eating alone. DH likes the buffet, I do not. So one day for lunch we compromised. We had buffet for lunch, and he went for ice cream. I told him enjoy, I’m going to get the peanut butter cheesecake in MDR. Got the saddest look from host when I said just 1 for lunch, and that I really only wanted dessert…sat at a small table, the waiter was shocked I was eating alone. I felt compelled to explain again, that I was only there for dessert…I didn’t really care, and it was amazing.

Thank you all for the insight. Sounds like I mght be trying an aft-facing balcony. at least once. I think a pool towel between the lounger and me may protect my clothing for any possible soot or ash. Easy fix. I am more and more intriged by the idea, and the view it will provide. the additional cost is nominal at this point. I too book as far out as possible, Not retired, just a planner, and would rather budget my cruises, as its the favorite way to travel. DH doesnt plan past initial discussions regarding destination and timing. So I may not tell him that we will be in that aft facing balcony until we board. He LOVES the Glacier day cruising so this will be especially nice for him. If we can get the kids to go with us, then we can invite them to enjoy it as well. Again, Thank you for the help.

Which is the main reason i dont usually bid for an upgrade, as I pick and pay for the room i WANT at the beginning. Previously we did an angled balcony on the Bliss, and loved it - midship. We like the sound of the water, so that wont bother us. On the bliss we would CHOOSE decks 10-14. We are fairly easy going, would take a HUGE HUGE issue for a cruise to be ruined (ruined i say), or even be bummed out on a cruise. we have had missed ports, cancelled excursions, unfulfilled expectations (unknowingly unrealistic) nothing been ruined yet, including my very first cruise where I missed the last 2 days because of being seasick. (bottom passenger deck, far forward, ocean view room)

DH and I have always gone with mid ship Balcony and we love it. Thinking of trying an Aft Balcony. Pros and cons? Thinking of trying it on the Bliss for our 5th cruise to Alaska. The last time we did the Alaska/Bliss cruise we were midship. I have heard ash/soot from the stacks are an issue. We spend alot of time on our balcony when cruising alaska (leaving public viewing areas for others). DH poted this elsewhere, and the 2 main cons were the ash/soot and it is a long walk to the elevator. We really dont mind the walk, as we routinely walk the length of the ship multiple times a day to compensate for elevator traffic. I HAVE in the past gotten seasick, but I bering the sea bands and motion sickness pills with me (I can get nauseous in the back seat of a car), this is a bigger concern than the long walk to an elevator. We also will book so we keep a passenger deck between us and public areas (both above and below). The cost difference at the moment is $600, so not too bad. Would we be better off booking our normal cabin and then bidding for an uprade? Thank you for your kind thoughts and responses.

We loved it. It is big enough to put a lounge chair. Ask you steward if it’s not there. We would definitely book again (actually looking at booking the same cabin in a couple of years)