ama123

Luckily for us, our Haven experiences have been essentially the opposite of yours. Even the other guests in the Haven - more along the lines of "average people" than demanding or entitled. Hopefully if you give the Haven another try you will find it to be a much better experience. 

43 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

Previously I was thinking FDR was driving the demise of the NCLH brands.  After reading the release, combined with my career insights of corporate management, I actually believe it is Sommer and Herrera who have been driving down the brands. And, the NCHL Board are loving the revenue that those two are generating.  I feel as though the Board are forcing the FDR “retirement”.  
 

Go back and read the release with a new perspective.  FDR is applauded for: 

 

“He has delivered superior financial results, expanded our fleet with luxurious and innovative ships, strengthened our global footprint and delivered unparalleled experiences for our guests.”

 

Then read the About Sommers and Herrera.  Their experience is revenue, sales and operations—which clearly the Board is loving.

 

 

 

This is an interesting perspective - feels pretty plausible. 

17 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Same issue here - I'm travelling with kids so was only planning on upgrading the beverage package rather than the full free at sea - all upgrade options, other than the full free at sea upgrade, have disappeared. Interestingly, there seems to be the option to purchase the full premium beverage package for both kids...lol

LOL. Hoping this is just a website issue and it will be back. The full free at sea is now also gone from mine. 

We have been considering upgrading to the premium plus beverage package for our next cruise. As of this morning the option to upgrade only the beverage package is no longer there. Appears the only option is the full Free At Sea plus package upgrade 😔

I find these types of things from "memory lane" so interesting - thanks for sharing! 

For some reason I cant edit my prior post, but we are Gold and received the same thing. 1 point away from Platinum though... maybe they threw us a bone? 🤣

32 minutes ago, HuliHuli said:

Thanks to this posting, I too see this on my account.  I wonder, just wonder, are any of you entitled to the new 10% discount for military service.  Since I recently applied for that, is this an artifact of that new discount that NCL's now applies to any mock booking I run.

My husband and I had this show up as well. We do have the military discount tied to our latitudes accounts now so I was wondering the same, although I'm not sure if that could be it. 

Deck 11, mid ship was perfect on sister ship Encore. 

Breakaway (2)

Gem 

Escape (2)

Encore

We sailed to Bermuda from NYC early last November (1st week). NYC is really hit or miss that time of the year, it definitely can be chilly but generally in the 50s -  low/mid 60s during daytime hours. For us, sweatshirt weather. Bermuda was quite nice when we were there. Warm enough to lay on the beach and go in the ocean a bit. Air temps were upper 70s - 80ish. Any later in November I think might be too chilly to swim, but still very nice. 

Enjoying this, thanks for all the pictures! We visited Alaska for the first time a couple of months ago. I didnt realize how much I would enjoy that cruise. I am already wanting to plan another Alaska adventure. 

My favorite is Moderno. Delicious all the way around from the meats to the amazing salad bar to the pineapple. So good. Le Bistro was just ok for me. I didnt love the ambiance and I guess the food wouldnt be my first choice, although absolutely nothing to complain about. Teppanyaki is fun and food is pretty consistently good, pretty much like most land based hibachi restaurants.

1 hour ago, woostergirl said:

Thank you! Love hearing about all the experiences of longer cruises with kids!

Yes, missing school would be my main concern as the cruise I'm interested in is in February...But maybe they can keep up online.

 

All of our other cruises have been 7-8 days. The 11 day was definitely one of all of our favorites. My daughter really loved the kids clubs at that age so she spent a lot of time there as well. 

11 days when my daughter was 9, almost 10. We all had a great time. It was over spring break, she missed a day or two additional from school but at that age it wasn't a big deal. 

Usually around 45 minutes or so. 

Will be following along. We are on the Encore in just a few weeks. Thanks for posting! 

Worth it to me. Definitely on a full capacity sailing or even over 80% or so. It seems reasonably priced for what you get, especially since it applies to all in the cabin. 

We are traveling to Alaska & Canada in August. Glad we still have a few months to get a clear picture. So reminiscent of Bermuda last fall. 

10 hours ago, kjunea said:

When we went to Bermuda a couple of years ago, my son was 15, and he didn't have a passport yet.  Or a government ID.  His school ID worked just fine.  They only asked for it when he went on the ship without my husband or myself at King's Wharf

I second this and what was previously stated about NCL not allowing passengers to board with only birth certificate if it was not acceptable to the countries visited. We cruised to Bermuda this past October/November and my 14 year old daughter was asked for a photo ID to get back on the ship while there. The first time we were all together and we just told them she is 14, she doesnt have one with her. I got the impression they would have preferred her to have an ID but it wasnt a problem. The next time we got off the ship she carried her passport with her and showed it when she wanted to go back a bit before us. Again, no issues.  

I lean toward Escape, even more so for a warm weather cruise. 

4 hours ago, ama123 said:

I dont have an answer for you, but I'm curious as well - very similar situation with the same cruise (August 21 Encore). We paid our cruise in full but like you said, are still in advance of the official final payment date. 

Just to follow up on my prior comment - we are booked directly through NCL, I called my PCC and it was definitely worth it. No problem at all to make the change. We ended up upgrading from a balcony to club balcony and still getting nice amount refunded. Without a doubt worth a shot, hope you are successful through the TA! 

I dont have an answer for you, but I'm curious as well - very similar situation with the same cruise (August 21 Encore). We paid our cruise in full but like you said, are still in advance of the official final payment date. 

On 2/25/2022 at 11:22 AM, coastcat said:

Might need to medicate yourself as well! For cruises out of Seattle, the first sea day takes you west of Vancouver Island. It can be bumpy even with stabilizers. Better to be cautious than nauseous… 😁  (that would be a great slogan for Bonine)

Is the potential for "rougher" waters out of Seattle typically more so on the day you board the ship or first full sea day.. or both? We will be traveling to Alaska with family who have only been on one prior cruise that resulted in bad sea sickness, trying to plan for a a much better experience with that this time. Or I am going to be feeling really guilty about planning this vacation 🤪

Thank you for taking the time to share. Enjoyed reading and picked up a few tips for our cruise.

On the larger ships I feel it is absolutely worth it. We love the ship within a ship concept, being able to go out and enjoy whatever is going on while still having a quiet "haven" to retreat to when desired. However, we unfortunately cannot always sail Haven due to cost. Our next cruise will be Haven but the one after that (Alaska) most likely will not. We will be in a standard balcony and I'm sure we will miss it but still have a great time.