JCDCA

6 hours ago, cr2000 said:

 

The reality is that here will NOT be an adult only pool on Icon, who's going to enforce that? The ship was designed with families and kids in mind, if you're traveling as a couple during any period when school is out, you're going to be out numbered with kids. Families are going to want to be together on the ship, that means kids stopping in and out of whatever pool their parents might be using. 

What?  So kids should be able to roam free even through stated adult areas? 

12 hours ago, soremekun said:

Matt will be live from Icon in 5 minutes.

How is he part of the “leadership conference?”  Royal must have desperately needed some good PR, fluff pieces with zero journalistic credibility.  

5 hours ago, JIMESOPUS said:

Size of the ships scare the hell of me. Our little hamlet has about 5000 residents, there are some in this town that I wouldn't want to be on a cruise ship with.

I get the concern.  To me, the Oasis Class is fantastic and believe it or not feels less crowded than the large NCL shops.  People are dispersed very well.  

On 9/16/2023 at 12:35 PM, DrSea said:

I personally couldn't be loyal to a single cruise line. My strong recommendation is to check all the lines out. I like NCLs product a lot,  but brand loyalty is expensive

 

With that said, I just can't do MSC with their food and customer service.

 

Disclaimer: never sailed with MSC before and don't intend to for years

Good advice - maybe you should take it and try them! 😁  As for the OP, if proximity to NYC is critical, why not Royal out of NJ?  To never have tried them once seems odd.  Having such close access to Oasis and Anthem, seems worth a try. 

It sounds like you might want to consider another cruise line, maybe something a little higher end with less kids?  I find it hard to believe you couldn’t save some money compared to the Haven on something like Celebrity?

On 7/20/2023 at 9:26 PM, timf2001 said:

None of the renderings or descriptions they released indicate there will be a pool, only showers.  It is likely prohibitively expensive and/or too time consuming to add a pool during dry dock due to required structural changes.

So we’re adding a Thermal Spa but not the (arguably) best feature.  Yawn! 

12 minutes ago, RB9643 said:

 

SpiceH2O is nice, for sure, but I only used it for the smoking area, and Mrs. RB only used it once. Encore has a couple other convenient areas so it's not that big of a deal.  We'll take the larger OL over Spice any day.

 

 

I agree - it's not make or break either way but just feel the NCL pool decks are rather tight and crowded (the ones I've been on at least) and Spice has been a nice area to get away from that, while still being outside.

26 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

I had heard that.  I also heard they were replacing it with something else, which as of yet, I haven’t heard what that might be.

 

When I was on the “behind the scenes” tour on the Bliss this past Fall, the Show Manager did say that there were shows being developed specifically for NCL to replace Six.  To me, that’s not a bad thing.  Not that SIX wasn’t good…..it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

 

As far as NCL falling behind…falling behind which cruise line?

 

Was on Royal and Celebrity last year, and while their shows were good (when they were performed, which was a crap shoot at 270), NCL still had the edge.

 

Celebrity had smaller shows.  Again, good performances but not the same quality as NCL’s.

Yeah I didn’t love the Royal quantum class entertainment based on one trip.  I do think the theatre shows on the Oasis class beat the NCL shows.  Smaller classes, maybe not.  

13 hours ago, RB9643 said:

This is unfortunate, but not surprising.  Guess we'll stick with Encore until they screw that ship up too.

 

 

Encore’s lack of Spice H2O is already a pretty big negative.  

53 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

As best I can tell, they are shifting the entertainment from shows to things like the Laser Tag, Race Car Course, etc.  Those are obviously extra charge entertainment options, but that's where they're going.

 

The shows are still there.  Million Dollar Quartet, Choir of Man, Six, Jersey Boys, etc.  The Cirque shows were fun, but the "dinner" theater concept didn't quite strike a chord.  Mediocre food served in a cramped venue wasn't really a hit.

 

They have moved to smaller shows, too.  Cavern Club and Syd Norman shows are excellent....again, probably the best bands at sea. 

 

I think it's just a shift.  Some will like it. Some will not.

 

Personally, while I may or may not care for some of the "big" shows, they have all been very well done.

 

So far on NCL I've seen (from memory)...

 

-Blue Man Group

-Cirque

-Imaginarium (not sure if that's the name of the show but it was a good magic show in that venue)

-Rock of Ages

-Burn the Floor

-Jersey Boys

-Six

-Million Dollar Quartet

-Choir of Man

 

The last 5 are still active NCL shows.

 

That doesn't include the entertainment throughout the ships.  As mentioned, the Syd Norman and Cavern Club shows are excellent in their own right.

 

Plus, you have the comedians, the entertainers in the Atrium just about every night.  Is it changing?  Yeah....I think they're moving towards internally developed shows (like Syd's) so they don't have to pay the big fees for the Broadway shows.  Is it worse?  I don't think so.

 

But, I'm not even relatively close to being a  broadway show afficianado.

 

 

 

 

Several of the shows you mention as still being around are being cut though (like Six).  Also you can’t reasonably argue that laser tag and race cars are akin to “entertainment.”  NCL is really falling behind the competition with these cuts.  

5 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I dont understand when you say unavailable. Do you mean a gty price isnt available?

 

If you book 2 and one no shows they have not been giving the extra solo loyalty pt. I wouldn't go that route.

I mean if you literally search for one passenger booking it says all cabins unavailable.  If you switch to two persons, availability pops up.  Seemed strange to me . 

6 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Book a bogus second guest and show up for boarding alone; get taxes and fees for second passenger refunded automatically 

 

Done 

I had thought of that.  Seems so unnecessary but thanks lol!  

Topic describes it.  Found a pretty good price on a close-in sailing, but considering just going solo.  When I input just one passenger on RC's site the cabins come up unavailable -- but when I revise to search for 2, cabins show as available (with said decent price).  Any obvious workaround I'm not thinking of?

36 minutes ago, soup23 said:

Would seem like the days of the bigger ships having two Broadway style productions on the ship are over with Bliss now dropping Six.  

 

I am interested to see what is put on the Joy and Breakaway as those are larger ships that IMO deserve something more than an usual style cruise production. 

The larger ships will now mostly all have zero.  Choir of Man is not a ‘Broadway style show.’  

3 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Pardon me if this is old news. I looked on the first 2 pages and didn’t see anything. 

 

NCL announced they will close 9 production shows. No replacements have been announced. 
 

https://crew-center.com/ncl-close-seven-production-shows-brace-yourselves-innovative-replacements

 

Wow.  And Kinky Boots gone too.  The newest and largest ships will now have no Broadway shows and fall way behind the competition at RCL.  The apologists will say no big loss though.  

25 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

First clue that it might actually be worth watching! 😎

Ok.  

On 5/11/2023 at 12:40 AM, BirdTravels said:

Choir of Man is a Broadway show and is the most popular show on NCL. 

It’s not on Broadway and is a very pedestrian show with some quite average pub singers.  It’s not great.  

8 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Well, actually, there are precedents. 

Some examples;

One partial charter reserved the MDR for second seating for the entire seven day cruise.

Another partial charter reserved the 'Crows Nest', Hollands version of the Observation Lounge, for the entire time the ship was in Glacier Bay.

This doesn't appear to be a charter of any type but a commercial venture (Park West) leasing the venue for the entire cruise for their art sales.  One can see that this venue would be attractive since it a magnet for those specifically invited by PW.  Get them in for the view, feed them free champagne... 

Ok, those are good examples.  I guess at least with the dining room it would at least still be open at certain (reduced) times.  I’d still argue this is a pretty bad policy or precedent to set.  

Great review, thanks.  I agree that just having Choir of Man is not great.  They really need a second show (and something more Broadway-quality, with more of a plot wouldn't hurt).  And I'm sorry, but that's just ridiculous of folks to literally sleep in the observation lounge overnight.

10 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

It is normal on every cruise line. A group can do a partial charter, in this case Park West is comping cruises for their customers plus adding people who booked the cruise on their own. We have been invited to comped auction cruise events and turn them down. 
 

A partial charter group can arrange for facilities, AV, food, support. 
 

We were on the Prima last year when a travel agent group held their annual convention on the ship and took over various Venus, including the observation lounge, for their events. It was not for the whole cruise because it moved around, OL, go kart track, Stadium. 
 

Last month, our paid activity got cut short  when we got bumped by a wedding that had reserved the space. 

Not quite.  It may be normal for a group to do a partial charter and to reserve use of certain venues at a certain time(s).  But the entire observation lounge for the duration of the cruise?  You cannot argue that is "normal."

8 hours ago, craig01020 said:

It's very possible with a port-intensive itinerary. Having 1 or 2 drinks in the evening doesn't add up to much.

NCL's a la carte pricing is so high, though, that I think at 2 drinks you are still better off paying for the free at sea gratuities.  It's a no-brainer.

I wonder if this question has ever been asked.  If only there was a search function. 

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

Shorts are fine. Even on formal nights. 
 

And shorts and t-shirts should be ok in port unless you are planning to fly onto a glacier. It will be warm/hot. 

Average highs even in summer are mid 60s.  Not exactly what I’d consider “hot.” 

It appears Van Fleet has a checkered past and Royal, like past employers, may have had enough.  Especially if they didn’t cut this position but instead are hiring a replacement.  
 

https://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/civil/former-wtsp-meteorologist-jim-van-fleet-sues-station-managers/2302388/?outputType=amp

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/271433-more-stormy-weather-for-jim-van-fleet-bartering-legal-bills-on-wtsp-suit/

On 5/21/2023 at 4:40 PM, Oceansaway17 said:

Yes I agree but the luggage porters in Miami are aggressive and I won’t tip and I stand to the side to wait and watch to see luggage not shoved aside and forgotten.

You could just tip a couple dollars per bag…