Brian V

We got 6 on our first cruise..."Oh, no problem, book a balcony and you can use 2 at a time!" they said. Well, only if you book a long ways in advance, or if you catch a promo. We tend to book kind of last minute (like "Final payment due now" last minute) so only got to use one at a time. We did manage to use the last 2 for our next cruise (4 cruises later) thanks to a 50% off coupon pushing us to book earlier than usual. Guess we are going to have to restock 😉 Probably not 6 this time though 🙃

Like @neeuqdrazil said, as long as you are honest about it with CBSA, they are likely to wave you through rather than do the paperwork for a few dollars of GST / PST. We came back from Europe last fall with about $400 over our exemption and payed nada...ymmv 🙂

Not going to say I will miss either but...it is a symptom of the direction NCL is heading 😞 First 4 cruises we took, the food was pretty dang good, the entertainment was fantastic...this was part of why we chose to sail with NCL. The onion soup in the MDR was pretty good (not quite as good as le Bistro but hey...), last cruise it was...disappointing 😞 Osso Bucco with lamb shank instead of veal??? Upcharges for fillet in an extra charge specialty restaurant??? Come on guys, you can do better... We were fortunate enough to see Priscilla on our last cruise but it was their last week...replaced with??? It may not be a popular opinion but we would rather pay a little more for our cruise than to have to deal with the cutbacks in the beverage, food, and entertainment departments. We love the ships and the general atmosphere, and the crew have always been above and beyond for us. Target Celebrity, Princess, Holland America guys, not Carnival, RCI, and MSC. Aim higher not lower!

We have managed to get so much in that bag that it came back in 2 baskets 🙂 Got us through a 7 night in Greece and about 3 days of our 3 weeks in Italy (thank you lavanderia!), and we did carry on only 👍 Don't forget to pick off the laundry tags...they itch like crazy!

You will see people all over the ship with a drink in their hand - it's a cruise thing 😎 Other than not wanting people to take glass containers on the pool deck...it does not appear to be a problem. I don't think the District has plastic cups though so...if you're headed for the pool it might be an issue. I often grab a double on the way back to our cabin, so much nicer sipping a whisky as you watch the world float by 🥃

We have our next booked for Sept of this year and we have been looking to (maybe) squeeze in another before that...can't imagine waiting for a year and a half, the anticipation would make me 🤪

Here, this might be of some use...https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/come-canada-tool.html It will take you 15 minutes or so to run through the tool but it will give you a much better idea of your potential to be admitted to Canada. An old DUI with no associated crimes, clean record since...good chance you are admissible 🙂 As @Drazil65 points out, they have access to all your records so be honest with them. Lie to them and get caught out...don't plan on returning for a long time...

Now that you mention it, they weren't as good on our last trip, the wings themselves seemed to be a lower quality 😞 What I am a bit pissed off about is the Osso Buco in la Cucina is now done with lamb shank...I expect a proper veal shank or don't call it Osso Bucco 😞 Just my $0.02

I second @Travelling2Some, the Indian dishes on the buffet...fantastic🤤 I suppose it should not be surprising considering that every Executive Chef (that I know of) on our 4 NCL cruises has been Indian, along with a lot of the kitchen staff - stands to reason they might know what they are doing 😉

I was wondering about that @SkeeterPilot, we will be on the train to Seward in September 🙂 Getting to the ship later in the day...it's not a real issue for us, we will have booked our dining already so muster station, bar, enjoy! Looking forward to some great scenery 👍

The one thing to be really aware of...as a reprice is treated as a cancelation and rebooking, you will get the extras / offers in effect at the time of the rebooking. Our Med cruise was like that, substantial price drop just before final payment, asked for a reprice and had to choose - keep $800 in my pocket or get double extra latitude points? We saved the $800 🙂 Not sure how it would work if you did an upgrade, ie: you booked a balcony but now a club balcony is cheaper than what you booked. Still a cancel / rebook or not? Going to talk to my PCC later this week and find out 🙂

The Epic, much like the Breakaway (+) class ships only has 2 elevator lobbies / stairwells. More elevators in each but only 2 of them. The walk is not that bad, figure out which one gets you closest to where you want to be and follow the fishes 🙂 The promenade (deck 7) is the life boat deck...you have to go through the interior of the ship to get to the other side on both ends, no way to just go around the whole ship out doors. Nothing like the Waterfront on the Breakaway (+) class ships 😞 Can't comment on the cabins, we were in a standard balcony on deck 10.

100% agree, we loved San Juan 😍 Snorkeling in Bonaire...best port call / excursion ever in our books 👍

Comparing the "per item" pricing with the "all you can stuff in this bag for $29" deal...we saved about $100 on our last trip 🙂 Comes back nicely folded in a little wicker basket (or 2 if your a good stuffer 😉 ) - well worth it after a day of off road buggies in the mud!

I was really hoping that the latest drydock on the Jewel class ships got rid of the bathtub in favour of the (freaking awesome!) shower in the club balcony on the Breakaway(+) class ships. Looks like that didn't happen😞 Was willing to take a chance on the potential noise (right under the pool deck / gym / spa, etc) but if it's still a tub...pass 😞

What @lobsternight said - except mid September of 2021 🙂 Liquid Sunshine in the morning in Juneau, tee shirts and shorts the rest of the cruise.😎 I topped up my tan pretty nicely on the waterfront on the Encore👍 It really is a crapshoot any time, more chance of rain later, better glaciers earlier...just hope we don't "Crap Out" this time🤪

Yikes! The "coffee" we have had in the buffet and the dining rooms has been...brown? Yes. Hot? Yes. Drinkable? Barely (in our opinion). First stop in most ports has been a café for a decent cappuccino 😉 The thought that the in cabin coffee could be worse is somewhat frightening😱

We have a similar situation - port schedule list on another site shows us in Juneau and Skagway at the exact same time on the same day... Going to defer to NCL's itinerary 🙂

Not to hijack this but...Last time we were in Juneau we ended up docking at the AJ dock, Wondering if the blue bus picks up / drops off at the AJ dock as well when it is in use?

@suzzek, you will love it! First few seconds is like a free fall😲, then a tree top blitz to the bottom 👍

The description on the southbound makes no mention of bus transfers to the airport station - it does indicate checking in before noon for a 1:00 pm departure.

We looked at that but 7am...the wife's response was a "hard no" (more colourful words but the same message) to that 🙂 Was prepared to book a bus transfer when I noticed the time on the chartered train, 1 in the afternoon departure was met with a much kinder response...and the $50 excursion credit didn't hurt 👍

@The Traveling Man, we are staying near the airport pre cruise and catching the hotel shuttle to the airport station for the excursion train leaving at 1:00 - am I correct in assuming all the checked bags get loaded onto a truck and driven to the pier, arriving well before the passengers? Also, is there food and drink available on the chartered train as there is on the regular train?

As many others have pointed out, showers vary ship to ship and line to line. Our experience has all been on NCL in (with one exception) standard balcony cabins and all the showers have had glass (plastic?) doors, no clingy curtains. For the most part, there has been adequate room for myself OR the missus - and neither of us would every be described as svelte 😉 Best we had was when we got an unexpected bump up to a club balcony, the shower was huge and had 6 jets on the wall along with the rainfall (?) head above 😎 There was actually enough room for the 2 of us if we wanted...seriously worth it for the right price 👍 Water pressure was fine and temp's stayed steady on all the ships we were on.

Damn, so THATS what happens to us in the winter 🥶 Last trip we embarked at San Juan in early January - fortunate that is wasn't -30 when we left, fairly light jacket and long pants were fine for the shuttle to the terminal. Not sure what our cabin steward (a Pilipino) thought of our "Spring Jackets" hanging on the wall in 28 degree temps in the Caribbean...but we were warm enough when we got back to YYC 👍