ontheweb

I guess we were lucky that it never rained on our British Isles cruise in 2014. I agree with do it.

My DW once found a great price with one of the consolidators. I called our TA to see if he could match it. He could not. He said they must have bought a lot of cabins, and he was not being allowed to do that. He said he understood why we would take a big savings. We have gone back to him since then. He said he appreciated it. We do get good prices and good service from him. Plus, I appreciate being a name, not just a number.

We once had an excursion back from Dover to Heathrow that included Canterbury. It made it seem like we were not ending our cruise vacation even when there was that final ding. And for the cruise we had booked for the summer of 2020 that never happened due to Covid, we were booked on an excursion back to Heathrow from Southampton including Stonehenge. My DW actually said she was looking forward to that even more than to the cruise itself.

I also found when the wind blew that getting to the buffet on deck 17 could be quite an adventure.

We also walked around on deck 8. Believe me, it is more difficult with colder weather, especially if the wind was blowing. Was there a lifeguard on the deck 17 pool? There was on our cruise even though the first rule posted was that there was no lifeguard.

Great review, glad to read one that does not feel that they must bash the ship. You talk of all the positive things without leaving out that there are things that are not perfect. Agree with you totally on the Donna Summers show; the entire cast was great, but as my DW put it we would not have paid to see it on Broadway. Hudsons was truly a gorgeous dining room with an expansive view of the ocean. We had asked days before if we could get one of the tables right next to a window on our wedding anniversary (sea day between Norway and Iceland), and were told it was first come, first serve, no guarantee. But on our wedding anniversary, they did give us one of those tables. And later they tied out hands together and gave us a cake. I liked all the little lounge music venues, though sometimes they were a bit noisy with chatter from the bars nearby. Also tables were taken up by game and card players. I don't know a solution, but it would be nice if NCL could keep those small venues without the tables being taken up by those not there for the music. I even caught one of the entertainers (solo guitar player and singer) leaving a theater show and asked how it felt to play with people not paying attention. He just shrugged. Syd Normans was great. I was glad I had learned of them from reading these boards. i even got to speak with 2 of the singers. I really do not remember any children on our cruise, but it might have been due to the itinerary, London (Southampton) to Reykjavik. We did get to the Local on our last night. I wish we had discovered it earlier. I think I would have gone there several nights for dessert. The hot fudge sundae I had that last night was just superb. I assume your cruise was a much warmer weather cruise than ours and you got to take more advantage of deck 8.

Do you ever wonder when you are checking people in if it is someone you have reacted with on these forums?

No the worst sensation is when you wake up and this is the first conversatiom. Me: Happy anniversary. DW: Happy anniversary. Could you get the daily and read to me when the medical clinic opens.

So does mine, Shoprite. In fact often the cashier will take the receipt and read to you "how much you saved". Though they are now going to self checkout which does stop it being read to you, but it is still on the receipt.

And now we have brought Daffy Duck into the thread. Does that count as a duck I found?

My DW would absolutely LOVE the pools being open earlier!

OOPS, I was thinking of luggage tags when I posted that not boarding passes.

We both had the fish and chips. DW had a Caesar's Salad and I had pretzel bites with IIRC a cheese fondue to dip them in. And then came the dessert menu. I wish we had discovered that earlier in the cruise!

Let me add one off the wonderful things about the ship was the main dining room (Hudsons) overlooks the ocean. On our anniversary, when we told them we try to eat at a venue by water, they gave us a table right by one of the windows. On our last night, we tried the Local, a free dining room dedicated to comfort good. And when we got to the dessert menu, I ordered the hot fudge sundae. It was awesome. DW said, you are not going to eat that whole thing!. To think we just had celebrated our 46th wedding anniversary and she did not know me at all. 🤣

Yes, public bathrooms can be a problem with no currency. We make sure to use the bathrooms in museums, and since DW is an art teacher (now retired), we do visit many museums.

We did that cruise, London (Southampton) to Reykjavik last summer and loved it. Were there some problems? Of course there were, the main one was we booked it for itinerary and 2 of the 8 ports were missed. We liked the small music acts at the lounges and even got to meet a few entertainers. (One pair even wished us a happy anniversary.) Was it perfect? No, tables were often taken by people already there playing cards or games and the bars were somewhat noisy, but we still enjoyed the music and the small setting. I once caught one of the entertainers (a solo singer and guitar player) leaving the theater and asked him what it was like playing when many were not paying attention. He just shrugged. We got into Syd's the first night even though we were late. The only real line I remember was for Rumours. I even got to speak with 2 of the singers. Note in case you have to sit, I stood, but it is rock and roll. The only time I did have a seat, I ended up getting up as your body is supposed to move for rock and roll. We did spend a little time on deck 8 which was obviously going to be a much better venue on a warm cruise, but it was ok. Can't comment on any Haven issues or non-issues because we did not book the Haven. My bottom line advice is to go looking to have a great time, not to nitpick problems. We truly enjoyed our cruise and had a lovely wedding anniversary on a sea day between Norway and Iceland. I hope this helps you with your decision.

You can just tell them your cabin number. (But be sure to get it right!)

We always bring I think it is called a bathroom caddy. You hang it up and put in toothpaste, toothbrushes, dental floss, etc. (It was a very practical gift from one of our nephews a long time ago.)

You are not alone.

All but one couple made it to a meeting of those who were on the Alla tour in St. Petersburg I had set up through our roll call. I had to find them to let them know where we were meeting to disembark for the tour.

Sometimes typos are very interesting and also truthful. 😉

Aha, so anything can be offensive, even a Star Trek joke. 🤦‍♂️

We got both pounds and euros for our recent cruise with a day prior to the cruise in London and one day in Amsterdam. We managed to spend the pounds, but we could have got away with just using a credit card. And in Amsterdam, several places would not take Euros, only credit or debit cards, and we ended up with most of our euros left over.

😊, I was going to give this post a reaction, a Ha Ha, but I thought a smiley was more appropriate.

The only port we ever visited that you either did not get off or basically required an excursion was St. Petersburg. You could theoretically get off the ship without a private ofrship excursion, but the cost and hassle of getting a Russian visa really did not make it practical. And the cruise lines really tried to scare you into avoiding the private tour companies and using their larger and more expensive excursions. Of course, no one at the moment or the near future, is taking a cruise that includes St. Petersburg as a port.