Juncti

We're going to be on this sailing as well. Probably our last for a while since we've been on this ship a few times but can't beat the 20 minute ride to the port so we just sail on whatever ship comes here. We're packing up now, always the chaotic scramble to make sure we pack everything. Try going from a bidet to cruise ship TP. Even worse. Surprised they haven't done bidets on the ships since they have pretty fragile plumbing and need to minimize what's put through the system.

How was it on Breakaway? We're going in a few months and have one of the spa rooms (before they were removed). We've been on the ship a number of times but this will be first time having access to this area.

We did an aft on Breakaway, might have actually been the room in the video posted earlier in here. We would never do it again. 2 major issues we had. Soot - It was thick and blanketed the balcony in a layer. You walked out there barefoot your feet were black when you came back in. Lean on the railing and your arms had soot on it. Loungers, forget about that with all the soot. Last sea day was really only time it was usable at all because they came through at the last port and hosed it all down or something. Not sure what they did we just got a notice that there would be work that day and the deck seemed cleaner after. Motion sickness - If you suffer with that at all, avoid the aft. I don't, but my wife does and she was pretty much down and out for days and that was with the patch and some of the pills. She hated it, even more so that the balcony she wanted was unusable and the room location made her sick. We stick to midship these days, the view was great, obviously, but the problems outweighed it big time.

Savor and Taste are great day 1 lunch spots. Lots of people flock to the buffet but these two places are open for a sit down lunch. Otherwise they're largely the same, just smaller versions

We lucked into a bid upgrade a few years back, the roof never opened. There was one shattered glass panel at the time, no idea if they ever repaired it or started opening it. I will say, that pool is ice water though. Think about it, the room is air conditioned down to probably low 70's, that water is pretty much at that temp or seemed even lower at times. I didn't mind it, I would go do a hot sauna and then ice dip after. One thing I really didn't like about that Haven layout though, no windows out to the water from that main area / bar area. You could literally be sitting anywhere in the world. The rooms surround this courtyard so there's no way to provide a view.

We were on Glory in September of last year and did late dining. It worked out pretty good and we made a lot of shows. I will say though if you're planning on catching a comedy show right after dinner, you might need to talk to the waiter when you arrive and mention that you need to do dinner a bit faster. There was a lot of down time during the dinner service, we didn't mind much but if we had somewhere to be at a certain time I could see that getting away from us. So you might be able to cut down on time between courses to help get you back out in time for the shows. I feel like there was at least one if not two days where we were able to catch a show before diner as well but I could be mixing that up with another cruise. I think we did though. Also, we found the late dining time provided a good break to the day. We'd be out and about, head to the room about an hour or so ahead of dinner to get a shower and recharge, then head to dinner, shows, and nighttime drinks to finish out the day.

She just calls the NCL number from the website to book, tells them the dates we're looking at and asks them to check Vibe availability. Last 2 cruises we booked a different week because one had vibe openings and the other was sold out. We tend to book far enough out that we can adjust forward or backward as needed on dates.

Yeah my wife won't be happy. We both liked the ice wine as a nice little after dinner drink. She also was obsessed with Veuve. We don't sail again until next March so who knows how much it'll change between now and then but I'll have to keep an eye out. One thing I did notice on the newest list, Crown is back down to regular beverage package level. Last 2 trips it was on the upgraded package. Didn't think I'd see anything move back down to lower tier.

Can't speak to what will be available, but you mentioned being in the Haven. That will give you the best shot at anything and everything you want that they have. Haven bar is typically best on the ship

Breakaway. Also another benefit I like on top of the ones discussed already is the pair of bathrooms for the Vibe. There super close by and pretty much always clean. So on top of less noise and chaos, padded loungers, and private bar, you get that pair of bathrooms Also you're never without towels. There's like a wall of them. Very convenient if you like using the "hot" tubs. (they're very rarely hot)

We booked one in late December for March 2024, so probably 15-16 months out. Got vibe while on the phone booking the cruise.

Good luck, we used to do the relay to get tickets right when we got on board. Now with the pre-sell. We call NCL to book once we've narrowed down some dates that work, and we don't book until they confirm vibe availability. Then we book both at the same time with the agent. We take the same cruise because it's a 15 minute drive from the pier to our house, the same ports, same boat. So a lot of the time we just stay in the vibe instead of ports. We get a lot of use out of it. Usually meet some cool people too.

Not sure when this cruise is, but you might find value in the plus if you're looking to explore. I just looked up the ship to see what bars are onboard. There's a Champagne and Wine bar, Martini Bar, and Whiskey bar. So I suspect you'll be able to find plus options at all 3. Martini bar on breakaway had some higher end martinis available, I spent copious amounts of time at the Whiskey bar enjoying some Woodford Reserve old fashions (anyone on the Breakaway at the Whiskey bar tell Joy Troy says hi), and we didn't have a Champagne and Wine bar officially but Prime Meridian by the restaurants is probably that ships equivalent. Now was every wine in stock, no. Much like @Sthrngary mentioned, but if you don't have a specific request like a certain bottle you're looking for and instead are just looking to try any plus item to try something new, there should be offerings available. For instance at Cagney's we tried to order a Plus bottle of a Pinot. They came back and said they were out of that one, but offered a few other similar plus level wines as alternatives. Not knowing much about wine I just tried anything to try something new. Add in the ability to get bottled water (sparkling or still) at every meal, the water bottle cartons from any bar on the ship (stay hydrated people), energy drinks, sports drinks, and all the Starbucks you could possibly stomach. It's very possible to extract the value out of the package, even with the "supply chain" limitations. Basically I think it's easier to get value out of it if you don't have specific tastes you're looking to hit. I'd say depending on when you're cruising, look for threads about that specific ship and specifically people talking about having plus, and see how they're finding the supply on that specific ship. Also two tips I learned the hard way this time around. Don't go nuts on day 1, I went in hard and paid for it on day 2. Tip 2, save the highest end stuff until you're out of taxable waters. Those taxes start to hit hard at 35+ dollars per glass. On the sister ship Breakaway I had it twice, once at Cagneys the other at La Cucina. I'd assume Moderno and Le Bistro would also have it but didn't look. If you're not doing specialty dining try Prime Meridian at the back of the boat that serves the two steak specialty restaurants. It's very delicious, but also well deserving of it's tiny glass. Don't think I could have drank more than that little bit in a single serving without becoming ill. Very sweet, very rich. Great with desert. I had it alongside the Cagney's chocolate cake and it was quite the combo!

I just got home, followed the cruise after Gary, also had Vibe. Not sure when you're cruising but if it's in the next few weeks the same head bartender should still be there (Lynn, I might be mispelling it). She was able to get 2 bottles of Veuve over the week for my wife. We did follow Gary's example of a starting tip day 1 and another to end the week. She's great. As for other high end. I believe Patron is plus, I had numerous drinks with that over the week, as well as Woodford Reserve. Outside of that pickings are a little slim up there for plus. One day I hit the fresh juice bar (not much of a bar, only orange juice) and carried the juice over to the vibe and had some fresh squeezed patron tequila sunrises. Night 1 we had an issue where the plus package wasn't registering, so the full price of all the plus drinks hit our account, let's just say we drank the cost of the package in plus on day 1. So I'd probably get it again, though we probably won't be back for a year. So before we book I'll be checking here and seeing if the supplies have worsened. Don't forget to go get Starbucks, and order some sparkling or still bottled waters with your meals.

We had an oddity in our billing this week on breakaway. First thing we did when we got onboard was upgrade to plus drink package. Later that night my wife turns on the TV while I run to the bathroom and I hear a loud *****! I go out and our account says we owe almost 1500. Plus upgrade was just shy of 500, and outside of that there was day 1 taxes on drinks. We had gone to bistro for dinner, ordered a bottle of wine from plus, she ordered some vueve later, our bill at the end of dinner was 0. Yet our account had both the charge for plus and the full retail charge for every plus drink that night. I ran to guest services and they fixed it right away, but perhaps something similar happened to you. A glitch in billing charging you for included items

Did you all stumble across any go to plus drinks somewhere? I know you mentioned patron but didn't know if any other cocktails caught you or your wife's attention that you made sure to visit frequently. Do they add gratuity to the spa 15 minute thing or did you have to bring cash to tip? Noodle bar is great, but it's always packed on every cruise I've been to on this ship or it's clone the Getaway. Definitely people need to plan accordingly if this is a targeted place. I think this trip we're going to try Ocean blue and Le Bistro

Also keep in mind the distance from the port to the airport. It's probably at it's absolute best a 30 minute window if everything goes perfectly to get from port to airport. That's assuming no traffic, you get a ride immediately, you get out and through customs immediately, and you're allowed to be one of the first off the ship. There's virtually no way you're making a 10:30 flight. I'd take the 5:30, be one of the last off the ship. Go get breakfast, lounge around, and get off near last. Minimizing downtime between ship and airport. Downtime to kill is better than the stress of the rush only to miss the flight and wind up on the 5:30 anyway

Pretty sure the pools aren't heated. I know last year we managed a Haven bid and the pool in the Haven was ice water. Probably high 60's if I had to guess. I kept doing alternating temperature runs, steam room or hot tub, then icy pool lol That said even their hot tubs aren't very hot, probably low 90's. When you get to the ports, the water is cool for sure, but definitely usable for snorkeling or swimming. The pool at the NCL Island in Belize is quite chilly, not sure why but we've been a number of times and that pool is always chilly. You need to kind of just go for it, and then get used to it. We've done Moderno on breakaway, it's not great. Probably my least favorite of the options. I like Fogo and Texas de Brazil on land, but the Moderno doesn't come near to that. Although the grilled pineapple is quite nice. If you do go, save some room, ask for the grilled pineapple and some scoops of vanilla ice cream. Quite the combo.

When you tip at the start, do you circle back at the end of the trip and tip some extra? So far sounds like you all have had a relaxing vacation after getting the tournament out the way early. We look forward to meeting the Vibe staff in a few days. Can't believe we're only 3 days out now. If you want to try a new frozen drink they can probably make you in the Vibe that's quite tasty. 1 part Vodka, 1 part Grand Marnier, 1 part simple syrup, and 2 parts sweet and sour mix. Blended up and served frozen. So good.

Surprising that the top tier internet isn't working well. When I was on here last year I got that package and while not amazing it was functional enough. That really stinks, especially with them testing Starlink on top of whatever they normally use. Question, have you found much to use the plus drink package on? I know you haven't found 1942 but that wasn't even on the official list apparently. Any luck with Veuve or other upper tier plus items? Does the vibe have anything in stock from plus you've found a nice go to drink? We're probably adding plus next week, I just hope it's usable for plus drinks and everything isn't out of stock. Although your post has me reconsidering the streaming internet upgrade this time

That's what I'm trying to buy in the planning page on ncl.com, but it only appears full price as an add on for my upcoming cruise. Platinum perks say there should be a discount.

The Syd Normans group is great if you can get into the venue. We also saw a Queen tribute act one year pre-pandemic, that was a fun show.

Trying to avoid a new internet thread, do you know if there's any discount when upgrading free at see internet to the premium streaming package? We leave next week but it still seems full price in my plan your cruise area where you can shop add ons. We're also platinum finally, and it looks like we're supposed to get 15% off but that also doesn't seem to appear. Have you messed with any of that? Thanks

Karaoke is usually in Syd Normans. At least it was last time I was on there, it's a smaller club but they do really good live classic rock shows in there that are usually standing room only. They also use it for karaoke. Did you add a Vibe pass? If so that's probably your best bet for sail away. One big difference on this ship vs it's clone the Breakaway, the Vibe takes up the whole deck. So no matter what side of the ship what you want to see is on, you'll be able to see it and have virtually no crowd since the Vibe is never packed. If you don't have Vibe, but you want to be outside, there's tons of railing all along the outer decks up near the water slides. If Syd Normans is on the side you'd want to be on, there's an outdoor bar right there where you can have quick drink access. Also the back of the boat is a large open area with a bar. Enjoy, I'm hoping to do a cruise out of there one day. I bet the sail away is a sight to see

Just checked my eDoc for next week, all 4 ports show DOCK. So I guess that's good news. I'm sure things can change, but hopefully that means no lifeboat tenders this trip. Wasn't really planning on doing much in port but it's nice to be able to walk off and walk around the shopping areas.