hallux

3 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

I said to DH before Donna Summer that I really didn’t know sny Donna Summer songs.  And then, after the performance, I was like yeah…I knew most of those songs.

That happened to me with the Rumours show on the Escape.  I walked in knowing some Fleetwood Mac songs but not confident I could recognize songs from the album, I ended up singing along with most of them.

You've been banned from NCL.  It's working for me...

google.com - search term "norwegian breakaway balcony size spreadsheet". first result

Isn't Google great? lol

17 minutes ago, BeachBum92 said:

Is there now texting available within the NCL app that allows you to text like on airplanes now?

There has been since at least 2019

17 minutes ago, BeachBum92 said:

and was there any cost to you to utilize it?

$10 per person.

7 minutes ago, zqvol said:

BTW there is no need to haul your own luggage ashore, please ignore that bad advice posted above.

No need, but if you are capable of it you certainly can do it.  I've never put my bag out the night before.

12 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

Seriously though, they will only stick to the cocktails on the menu? I can't tell them the ingredients to something and have them make it for me?

On the Bliss in late January one of the other solos had a drink from back home that she liked.  She asked at the pool bar if they could make it (with her guidance since it wasn't on the menu) and they made it for her.  They even made a couple more when another solo wanted to try it and she needed a refill.

I sailed the Escape a year ago - had a GREAT time!  The Choir of Man was excellent, the band in  The Pour House was excellent, Howl at the Moon was excellent.

49 minutes ago, KansasTexan said:

the one Beatles show I saw

On the Escape?  That ship doesn't have a Beatles band on it, was it one of the other bands doing Beatles songs?

I still say it's best to just contact AT&T to find out exactly what your plan includes.

20 minutes ago, BarnCat1 said:

Will we need any type on International Phone Plan (iPhone) for our upcoming Canadian cruise?

20 minutes ago, BarnCat1 said:

What will we need once on land?

Not knowing anything about what carrier or plan you have I think everyone here would be wise to just suggest you check with your carrier as we simply don't know what your plan allows for this.

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

Average tip is $5-$10 per night for the waiter and assistant waiter.

Proving my point, I think.  Net cost when that plus the DSC is actually HIGHER than NCL when the next part is considered.

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

On NCL where you will never get the same waiter, we tip for good service

On my last cruise I don't think I had more than one instance of service in the MDR being quality enough to deserve a tip.  Asking for water refills, empty plates being left longer than typical, slow service.  Even if I had been carrying cash for tipping (I don't drink alcohol, I carry a refillable bottle of water from my cabin) I wouldn't have felt them worthy of a tip.  Shoot - things were so rough in Taste and Savor that they even had servers from specialty venues helping out, I saw Cagney's, Teppanyaki and Q at least.

9 hours ago, Distinctive-Destinations said:

They get up and walk out without leaving a tip.

That's what I do.

Now that I think about it - while NCL DOES have the highest DSC of any mass-market line, many are also not inclined to tip at the MDR on NCL where as on a line like Royal with traditional set dining with the same waiter every night you ARE more likely to give an extra tip to them at the end of the cruise, right?  So the reality is that NCL's overall gratuities are a little LOWER ($3-4 pp/pd or so higher DSC is $21-28 for a week for one person, but I'd give them more than that for a regular waiter for a week).

11 hours ago, RWK1952 said:

We want to have wi-fi access in the cabin which includes the ability to send/receive emails, but we don’t need to be able to do any streaming.

          Our reservation includes the internet package which provides 150 minutes per guest and appears to include email capability.

The included 150 minutes will work in your cabin, but only for web browsing, the email access is restricted to public areas 🤣. Yes, all web-based functions (email included) except streaming should work in your cabin.

11 hours ago, RWK1952 said:

We also will want to book at least a couple of nice, specialty dinners which I assume we will need to book and pay for separately. 

          Our reservation includes a 2-Meal Dining Package.

Yes, and adding 2 additional meals as an upgrade to your 2 included would be a one-time cost of $80 or $100 (it'll be available once you make the reservation).

11 hours ago, RWK1952 said:

We would prefer to have all of our gratuities prepaid.

You can opt to pre-pay those.  The beverage and dining service charges for the Free at Sea packages will be due at final payment, your daily DSC can be pre-paid though, so you don't get them added daily.

11 hours ago, RWK1952 said:

Anything we need to be wary of with these discounted flight arrangements?

Scroll through the forum, they're not as frequent recently but there have been MANY threads in the past discussing this promo.

3 hours ago, BarnCat1 said:

However, this time I just received an email (over 200 days out) for an Upgrade Airfare Advantage (I am not paid in full).  It is showing me a great direct flight to secure now if I want to or I can wait, and they will assign a flight, as usual, before embarkation. I will have to pay extra (lowest bid $100/pp) if I want this great direct flight now.  This is new to me, and I am hesitant to do this. 

 

Anyone hear of this new program?

Someone posted about this within the last couple months.

29 minutes ago, GirlNamedJake said:

I did - since he may be AD, he wasn’t listed

you could have asked there, where people might look for it later in 2024, rather than the 2023 thread...

Just now, GirlNamedJake said:

Does anyone know which ship he’s on now?

Did you check the 2024 thread?

It looks like Beau would be a contract entertainer, not a permanently-installed fixture.  He may or may not be there on any given sailing.

1 hour ago, CruiseMH said:

As it is an open venue i would be surprised if NCL would ban smokers from the spice H2O.

The pool deck is an 'open venue', as is the sun deck, yet smoking is banned in those locations...

I can only imagine trying to get a design like that past SOLAS protocols.  ONE exit from an area with 100 cabins?  OK, that may be a bit of an exaggeration as there are crew areas that are used as egress routes, but it still wouldn't make a lot of sense.

39 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

The question is, how much of a savings remains if one  has too book a room in Vancover, a tour, plus other expenses for the day?

A tour, as I did, would not require a room.  My tour, in 2019, was under $130 for one person.  A $10-15 tip (or it was a flat $5 fee per bag? it's been 5 years) to the concierge at the Pan Pacific should be good for a couple bags storage for the day.

47 minutes ago, JamesIowa said:

From NCL.com

 

On Norwegian Bliss and Norwegian Joy, cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, cigars, pipe smoking and vapor smoking devices are permitted at Spice H₂O, starboard side.

 

Yes, but that also hasn't been updated since the Prima and Viva sailed as they're not listed in that FAQ, I certainly wouldn't expect a change from a couple weeks ago to be on there.

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

A point to consider.  Day rooms and day long excursions might be  a nice way to spend the day, they do have costs.  So, do the cost of the NCL (and yes, they do have costs) plus the extra costs of another day in Vancouver exceed the cost of the flights  you might book  your self?

It's not so much the costs - what flights are available for the route the OP needs?  When I was there I self-booked the flight (well, a TA booked for me) and the options were to rush off the ship and hope to make the airport in time or take the late flight.  Doing a quick look at flights from Vancouver to Little Rock on a random Saturday in June, the latest flight that gets there the same day is 12:40 PM, all the rest result in getting home the next day.  NCL is also not likely to book those, based on the cost of the flight.

1 hour ago, zombiehunter said:

The person running it basically had it set up like an AA meeting

Yeah, the one on my last cruise got that way.  I went to 2 or 3 and then just found a group of solos that were of the same mindset and we did our own thing.

The enclosed area by the pool may have been a dry-dock addition, but nobody has really reported from the ship since that was completed a couple weeks ago.  

1 hour ago, zqvol said:

Get a hotel room for the day and explore Vancouver, then enjoy a nice dinner. You will enjoy it. 

This.  Or find a local tour company and do an 'excursion' that will take up much of the day.  I did one that went up the Sea to Sky Highway to Horseshoe Bay, Shannon Falls, the Sea to Sky Gondola and Brittani Beach Mine.  That got me back into downtown Vancouver around 3, but they wouldn't take my bag on the bus.  For my bag, it just took a tip to the concierge at the Pan Pacific Hotel (attached to the cruise terminal) and my bag was secured for the day.  I grabbed dinner, grabbed my bag then walked down to the train station to take the Sky Train out to the airport.

Stanley Park also looks really nice, I didn't get there.

21 hours ago, Jordan61 said:

I think it ended in January.

19 hours ago, FBegg said:

No SIX last week on the Bliss.

I believe the last show was on the cruise ending Feb. 24, on the Bliss.

11 hours ago, complawyer said:

forget about good, it was amazing, you have to give the girls extra kudo"s non-stop singing/dancing throughout the show with nary a breather

I agree - I'm baffled that SIX didn't get the attendance that Jersey Boys did, SIX is arguably the better (though less-known) show or at least on par.  Even more amazing is that the 'swing' girls can do THREE PARTS!  I was talking with one, she was an American and had to do three parts with different accents!!