JCDCA

1 hour ago, tewkewl said:

Yeah because you're used to the system and you may have different needs.  That's a pretty horrible system for people who want to decide daily when to eat and which show to watch.  We don't want the show to dictate our schedule.  If it was just me and my wife that would be fine, but we have a one year old as well, so this sort of pre-planning doesn't work well for us.

What system would you suggest?  Making reservations for shows is required on a ship of this size, unless you think they should have built a 6,000 seat theatre for Grease.  Making a few plans ahead of time should not really be this big an issue. 

Do you need to do anything special to "join" the CAS rewards program or just show room key when sitting at a table to get rated? Or do they actually have a player's card when enrolling that you can use in the machines a la the Vegas players clubs? Thanks.

OP: quick question. I also have an Amex Platinum and have read a bit about the extra perks of booking through them (can't just use the card to pay with as I understand it). Anyways, just wondering: if I book through the Amex cruise site with my Plat, do I still get the "free at sea" offers? How are those selected? Once I'm booked, I assume I can pull up my reservation on NCL site and start booking dinners, etc. Any insight into the general process is much appreciated. Thanks!

The Encore's hull art is bright and colorful and while it doesn't depict a sea creature or creature of any kind from the looks of it, it does far more for the ship compared to the Breakaway's hull art. The Norwegian Breakaway's hull art has been hideous since the first time I saw it. It seems like a bunch of items (heads, planets) thrown onto a ship hull. It doesn't flow or make sense and definitely seems tacky. While I wouldn't rate the Encore's hull art as one of the best in the fleet, it's definitely NOT the worst. That still goes to that unsightly Peter Max creation.

I'm not sure about a "bunch of items" just randomly conjured together. Several of the "items" or images are distinctively New York - which the ship was originally built for.

thank you, everyone. I think we'll go with 5 pm.

We always sail out of FLL, so it's our first sailing out of Miami and the reason why I am unfamiliar with port. If we make it to FLL before 12:30, we may ask to go standby if the flight is not sold out.

So why did you ask the question? The majority of the responses rightly noted that the earlier flight would be fine. Sounds like you’ll have 6 hours or more to burn now at FLL.

Don't really get the open bar complaint - you realize pretty much all NCL passengers can get an unlimited drinks package now, right? So for them, every cruise will be open bar. I sailed the Sky over Memorial Day on a 3-day, should have been peak "booze cruise," it was totally fine. People were well behaved, were enjoying themselves, and didn't see anyone overserved, vomiting, etc. A lot of complaints on these threads are exaggerated.

One of your major complaints being the freestyle dining concept is odd, given that is something NCL actively markets. Just a bit of research would have indicated to you that you were probably not going to like that system. In any event, you could have made multiple dinner reservations in advance.

The "orient?" Didn't realize folks were still using that term.

Did you not get off the ship at all? The private island is probably the highlight of the short weekend cruises (as far as ports go).

I looked at Royal Caribbean's Cuba FAQ and they only require it if you plan to get off the ship.

Do you not plan to get off the ship? If so, I would suggest reevaluating why you are booking a Cuba itinerary.

I took the Sky in May, but same itinerary as you. Did specialty dining, though, as I assumed the MDR would be pretty mediocre. I can't imagine even on a 3-day doing every single meal at MDR.

Got it, thanks. Sounds like the package may be the better deal, so I'll grab it. Thanks!

Apologies for asking a question that probably has an obvious answer, but is not clear to me at least. Have a short trip coming up on NCL Sky and want to go to a couple of the specialty restaurants. When I log-in, I see I have the option to purchase a specialty dining package. But I also was able to, for no cost, make actual reservations at the specialty restaurants. Wondering if I need to purchase the package prior to dining at these spots or if I can truly just pay a la carte where I reserved. Does the package somehow provide different/better pricing or what am I missing? Any reason to book the package ahead of time or can I really just show up to my reservations? Thanks in advance.