Sailing12Away

I just checked your sailing, the itinerary looks lovely. NCL is really funny sometimes with their pricing. Haven 2br is cheaper than the non-Haven 2br suite. Go figure. You've got a few months to learn more about the Pearl so your expectations are correct going in. I'm sure you'll still have a lovely trip, but at least it's a lesson learned that the Haven experience is not the same on all ships. The newer ships tend to give you more bang for your buck.

All of the Jewel class ships are not a 'full' Haven experience. Not to say they are bad in any way, but for us, we have a different price point we're willing to pay for a Jewel class Haven room vs a Breakaway Plus class ship Haven experience. Breakfast & lunch you have a dedicated restaurant. But no difference between your Haven room and a non-Haven suite room. They both get this same perk. For dinner - you are on your own. There is no dedicated restaurant for you. So you either have to go to the MDR, buffet, O'Sheehans, the noodle place whose name I can't remember, or use a specialty dining credit (or pay out of pocket). So already, compared to the bigger ships you're missing out on a perk. If you are having trouble booking dining reservations for the specialty places on your own now, the pre-cruise concierge can help make reservations for you. When you are on board, they can help you again if you need to shuffle things around based on show times and such. But again, compared to the bigger ships, on the Pearl there is no dedicated concierge desk. They usually set up on deck 13 at the check-in desk for Moderno/Cagneys. So depending on what you needed to discuss with them, it won't be a private conversation and there's no place for you to sit and have a lengthy chat. Bigger ships have a dedicated concierge desk. NCL has a full ship within a ship - but just not on those jewel class ships. You have a private pool and sundeck that is exclusive to you - but that is it. Your dedicated restaurants for breakfast and lunch are outside of the Haven. There is no private bar. There is no private lounge. Not sure if you're already past final payment, but you can look into 'downgrading' to a non-Haven suite. You'll still get many of the same perks, but at a much more appropriate price point. Haven on the Pearl is not the same experience as on the Joy for example, so not worthy of the same price tag (to us at least).

Ok, hive mind of like minded folks who feel prices have gotten crazy in everything - not just cruises. Serious question here.... if you were to order pancakes from your local diner (or pancake place or whoever makes the best pancakes near you) - what are you currently paying for your pancakes? Each weekend when I'm feeling lazy and want to order magic delivery fairy to bring me pancakes, they're charging over $15 for a stack of regular pancakes. If we were to use grubhub or a similar service, forget it... with the extra charges and such in there they would cost over $20. For pancakes. That was honestly the shocker for me.... my box of bisquick is $6 and will make 100 pancakes. So not sure if we just need to find a better diner, stop being lazy and pick it up ourselves, or if that's the new norm for pancakes. Inquiring minds want to know. But back to cruising... yeah, flights are out of hand too. Next trip is leaving from Orlando. In days past we could easily get a flight from JFK down to Florida for ~$150/pp. The flights for next month were starting at $300+/pp, and that was for Spirit or Frontier (which we would never use). Yeah... Jetblue had flights for $250, but by the time you say you actually want a seat, and have a suitcase, and yadayadayada that flight was over $350/pp. For this trip we ended up using some old Delta Amex miles I had for the flight down, and my Capital One points for the JetBlue flight back home. For comparison.... we're flying to the Galapagos in October. I can book a flight to Quito for less money than it would cost me to fly to Orlando. To me that is just insane.

We looked into booking Icon after seeing some articles about the resident dog on board. For S&G looked into what it would cost for a fancy Star suite so we could tell the magic genie to just make it a daily occurrence that the dog come visit us and hang out in our suite for a bit. The fanciest suite available for a short 5 day cruise was over 40K per person. So 80K for a 5 day cruise. Ok, despite being Haven veterans, RCC Star suite is still out of our price range.... looked into a simple regular balcony. For a 5 day cruise in a basic balcony was still over 8K. For a balcony. I honestly got anxiety looking at the deck plan with so many cabins and so many twists and turns to the interior of the ship. So no, those mega ships are not for me at all and even if the price wasn't stupid I'm not sure you could ever convince me to go on them. Unless there was a guaranteed set time each day that I could pet the dog to relieve some of that anxiety.

Same with me. When I find an itinerary at a price point I'm comfortable with we book it. Call it a hobby I suppose, but I enjoy pricing out trips to see that we still have the best deal. When the price drops or a better promotion comes out, I can simply call them up and switch over (before final payment). If the price rises, I know I locked in at the lower rate and get to proclaim "look how much I saved us by booking early". 9 times out of 10 the price climbs egregiously higher than what I booked, then after final payment if there are still comparable cabins left it will plummet. In our case if we book a Haven room, there's usually none left by that point so nothing to compare to and get a price adjustment on. Our next trip is February this month leaving out of Orlando. We looked into going down there 2-3 days early as we've never been to Universal before. Both Universal and Disney were charging over $100/day for park tickets. So either we're out of touch with the new reality, or since our last visit to Disney was for 5+ days we didn't notice the pinch of the tickets. Only if you commit to 5 or more days does the park ticket price per day become 'reasonable'. For us to get a basic hotel not even walking distance to Universal and only 2 days of park tickets it would have been over 1K. So yeah.... opted for a basic hotel walking distance to Disney Springs area and will go down there one day early instead of 3, and just catch a Cirque show and dinner with friends. So yeah, not just cruising prices. #bringbackthehash

I would honestly prefer a photo of me looking like I just woke up from a cave somewhere after hibernation than a pretty headshot. After returning from a long hot sweaty excursion that involved snorkeling and such, there is no way I'm coming back to the ship looking nice and pretty. Would rather have the 'wow, you look so much prettier in person' than the 'um, where is the body of the person you stole this card from because that is not you, go back to your ugly cave'.

Heading there ourselves for the first time next month. We have a large group of friends and friends of friends, so we booked the 2br lagoon villa. I've seen reports that they added an infinity pool closer to the lagoon side as well, not sure if there is one on the beach side too.

Honestly the value to this type of new offer greatly depends on where you are and where you're going. Dangling a carrot of a direct flight from JFK to Miami is laughable to me. 90%+ of flights for that route will be direct. Whereas someone with a less traveled route or with a major hub in between will have more of a 50% chance of skipping Atlanta and going direct on through to Miami. Some folks get nervous with the B1G1 flights because there is no control over who you fly with, when your flights are, or how roundabout it will be to get there. This gives some of those folks a chance to take back a little of that control while still being a 'discounted' flight than what they would have paid originally. I still find the whole thing confusing, I guess because it seems you have to go through a series of clicks to get the full information. But despite how bad NCL can be at times, I can't see them charging you $300 more (per person) and not giving you anything. If you're too slow to respond and those seats are no longer available by the time you say 'yes' - you can't be charged if they have nothing to give you.

I always laugh when I see people get excited about the pre-embarkation lounge areas. Genuinely curious what advertising people have come across that make them get all excited about some folding chairs, fruit flavored water, and a couple of pastries. Not trying to be mean or poke fun at anyone, the FB groups are 100x worse, but it's really not something to plan on getting there early for to 'experience'. If you're flying in day of the cruise and getting there early, sure, it's a comfortable place to sit and wait. But no, not something I would ever recommend people intentionally plan to experience or go early for. Our best trips with smoothest embarkation have been those where we get to the port after 11am, and typically get checked in and walk right on with minimal lines, no fuss, no muss, just go through the process and get right on board. Silver Cove - will be there for the first time ourselves next month. You can book the villas under the excursions section of your account when you log into the NCL website and your reservation section. We have a large group of friends and friends of friends that will be on this trip with us. So we booked the 2 bedroom villa. There's only 2 of them, and since we're already up to 10-12 people, figured it was better to grab the biggest one now and can downgrade in a few weeks to just the 1br if it will only be the 12 of us. Rather than the group keep growing (we may have 16) and not have the 2br available if needed. Looking forward to just a relaxing day in the sun hanging out with friends. Pool has been installed in the Silver Cove area, near where the gazebo was previously. Not sure if there's a second pool in the non-Silver Cove area too. Joy is one of our favorite ships. But we prefer the HH, HI, HJ cabins on decks 14 & 15. Much bigger rooms and balconies at a much lower price point than the rest of the Haven cabins, and s very short flight of stairs up to the Haven areas. Curious to see how the Joy looks after her dry dock this month.

Not going to discuss the balcony as it's already been said 100x (and no, NCL is not the only cruise line who won't do this). But for your wine question - yes, you can bring bottles on. If you have the FAS drink package you will not be charged a corkage fee. We've brought them on in both our checked bags as well as carry on (cruise left from NY so no flights involved on that one). For the checked bags I usually wrap a note around the bottle that says "Hi, we have the drink package, please don't take my wine!". Not sure if it helps but we've never had an issue. Have brough wine, champagne, and even a few cans of special beer. No, you can't take a 24 pack of Natty Ice on board, but 2 16oz cans of a special stout and IPA were ok to bring on and share with friends who can't try those beers back in their homeland.

Can you please just post a snippet of the email? What you are saying doesn't make sense to any of us who have used their air program in the past. If you are using the FAS B1G1 air promotion, you do not have to pay NCL any additional money.

That was going to be my question as well. Haven't sailed on the Breakaway yet, but the experience on Epic is very different if you're in their regular 'odd' cabins vs sailing in the Haven. Having said that, our very first NCL trip was on Epic with 3 people in a club balcony and we not only survived but took 10+ other NCL trips since then. Returning on the Epic for the 3rd time next month. Full disclosure though, the last Epic trip and this upcoming one will be in Haven.

Not sure if it's all NCL ships, but there are many now offering solo rates for balcony cabins. Previously you had to take a solo studio, but now they're offering solo rates on inside, oceanview, and balcony rooms. https://www.ncl.com/why-cruise-norwegian/cruise-accommodations/studios https://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/solo-cruising?cid=PS_DIG_NA_BRP_GOO_NA_NA_NA_NA_NA_NAM&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA-vOsBhAAEiwAIWR0TdL-ZQOZd2_LO-P_RnYvnRnVbmnfYNNeQXELhzpfnDPLPQ5qlCGEfBoCkCQQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

To get the Haven perks your cabin needs to specifically say HAVEN. On the jewel class ships the only difference between a Haven cabin and a non-Haven cabin is the access to the private pool & sundeck. Unless that is worth several thousand dollars to you, booking a non-Haven suite on those ships is a much better value. Club balcony suites are not suites. It's just a really misleading marketing ploy. They're the equivalent of a junior suite on other cruise lines. No perks really, not a real suite. Balcony room with slightly better bathroom and free bag of laundry really.

Yes, you'll need the passport info. Have them take a photo of that page and email/text it to you for reference. I wrote a quick instruction sheet for my folks the last time they sailed with us so they would know what to do. 1. Their home address & phone number 2. Preferred emergency contact name & number 3. Their passport info (# & expiration date) 4. Vacation add-ons (optional, can just hit 'no thanks' and let them change their mind later on) 5. Payment - you can possibly just tie them to your credit card for now and sort it out later 6. Their email address so the final receipt can be sent to them at the end of the trip 7. Photo 8. Their cell phone number so the ship can contact them during emergencies while on-board 9. Estimated arrival time for check-in 10. All the check boxes for safety videos, terms & conditions, yada yada yada

Yeah but they're taking this opportunity to change it up a bit. Perfect time to make the menu actually fit the decor. I would love to be able to get chocolate chip pancakes or a turkey club 24/7.

Love the bottles.... I would have bought one just for that alone.

Not true. I literally priced out exactly what you were looking at for the Jade and was given the choice for a solo inside. Hence why my price is much lower than yours. You're booking the 'wrong' cabin. Change the # of guests to 1 on the top left first, then the solo options open up. They're much cheaper. I literally just went to the website again right now and family inside is the MOST expensive, not least. If you're having issues with the website for whatever reason just call them and ask for a quote on the phone.

I think you need to go back and reprice the NCL trip. Not sure how you're coming up with a price over 1K when I'm seeing $838 for a solo traveler in an inside cabin with all the FAS perks. For comparison, your RCC trip (without drink package or specialty dining or anything else for that matter) is cheaper, yes, but just under $700. I picked mid-ship to be a better fair comparison to the mid-ship cabin on NCL (your original mock booking had you aft). If it were me.... for an extra $140 I'll take NCL with drinks, dining, and limited wifi. NCL also has new solo cabins starting this year where a single traveler can get into an oceanview or balcony at a discounted rate. So don't feel like you have to 'settle' for an inside to save money since you're traveling alone. The mark up to move from the inside to oceanview on that NCL trip is an extra ~$180 and to move to a solo balcony is ~$1500 total. For comparison, your Royal trip as a solo in an ocean view would be an extra $300 from the inside price, and to go to a balcony as a solo total cost would be $2500. So again - depends on what is more important to you. But the funny thing about data is you can tell whatever story you want if you know how to just display it in a favorable way for your tale. But regardless - go double check your prices for the NCL trips as a solo traveler and select the "Solo Interior" or "Solo Oceanview/Balcony" and see for yourself. Your original estimate of $1300+ is way off base.

Also for family vs 'regular' cabin designations - depends on the ship, but sometimes just an easier way to say that a particular cabin can hold up to 4 guests. Some of them simply refer to the cabins being on higher decks, but as you've already seen there are some regular balconies that will also hold 4 on the same higher deck for a smidge cheaper price. So honestly - just marketing at the end of the day. As for which ship would be best for your little water bug - look at the deck plans. Cruisedeckplans.com has a good compilation of each ship with thousands of photos of the public areas where you can see recent actual photos (not marketing photos) of what the ships have to offer.

He doesn't have that specific one, but something very similar. I can't remember where I bought the original ones from, but I'm sure they came from China. Tried some new ones from Hardaddy - do not recommend that site at all. Even cheaper China made garbage. But if you google neon dragon Hawaiian shirt you will find a scary amount of China made options to pick from for all your cruising needs. It certainly makes it easy to find him when he's too many drinks deep in his drink package. Or easy for others to find us and know who we are when they're on a sailing with us.

I'm almost certain on our last trip when we looked at the room charges on the tv in the room, all of them were under a single name, regardless of who actually swiped the card. But again - in our case, we only put a single credit card on file for the room, so that may be the reason they're on one. For folks who put separate cards for each traveler I guess that's when it gets tricky.

I spent a good 5 mins trying to look at my upcoming trip to find it for you before realizing my ship doesn't have a Vibe.... oh boy, time to stop day drinking. But yeah, it's under the entertainment tab... Yours would obviously say Vibe instead of Posh.

I did a pretty detailed day-to-day account of our trip this past September. We did a lot of private tours, so poking through that thread may help you find something useful for your planning.

Thank you! I honestly never looked in that section because I never felt the need to know the times. Didn't realize they snuck a peek at the specials in that area. Only took 10 NCL cruises.... at least now next month for #11 I'll be a few steps ahead of the game. Hence the 'learning my way as we go....'.