hallux

Your question was answered with the links I posted earlier in the thread....

As a baseline - https://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/cruise-travel-documents (it's almost like they want you to know). As suggested by others - it's not a bad idea to have one even if the cruise doesn't require it...

Shoot - I missed the direction. Thanks for the accurate info @BirdTravels

Footloose and Elements were also good shows. On SOME ships so far. See the next comment for a little more. There are a couple threads on this already. Part of the Observation Lounge is being removed to reinstall cabins (there were originally cabins in some of that space, which were removed for the 'Westernization" in 2019. This TA is the repositioning FOR that drydock so it's unlikely it will be cancelled. This is also where the Starlink reference comes in - they may be waiting until that drydock for the Starlink installation. Because the ship is heading 'across the pond' for the drydock it's extremely possible that some areas (such as the part of the OL that is being removed) will be closed off for work to begin during the crossing.

The CruiseFIRST, which I believe is what you were referring to being able to get with the current promotion, carries different (more restrictive) terms and conditions for use than the CruiseNEXT do. Make sure you understand those, it may help you make your decision. CruiseNEXT page, with the T&C's linked - https://www.ncl.com/cruisenext CruiseFIRST page, with the T&C's linked - https://www.ncl.com/cruisefirst-program

In a lot of cases municipal schools in the Northeast have both a Winter break (often President's week in my area) AND a Spring break sometime between VERY late March and mid April, coinciding with Easter usually.

I won't post it here, but I do find reference to him taking a position in May 2022 with a company in Oregon (where he was from) by doing a quick Google search. He was the CD on my first NCL cruise, I thought he was fantastic!

@ozziebound I was on the Escape in March, The Pour House (same venue as Cavern Club on the Bliss) did not require reservations. For my January cruise on the Bliss the Cavern Club is showing as 'reservations are not offered', unlike the theater shows that show 'too early to book'.

Read the Royal Caribbean boards and you'll find similar comments. Seems like a mainstream cruise line issue in general in recent years.

My PCC, whom I booked my cruise through and also got a friend connected to for booking the cruise, never responded to my phone call when I wanted to ad insurance and make my final payment. I didn't sit on my hands and wait, I just called the main number and got it done. Unlike booking through a TA you can just call and make all the changes you want when you've used a PCC, as has been noted by BirdTravels

I was on the Bliss out of LA in 2019, couldn't find the World Series anywhere, even at The Local.

For shows I believe you can only reserve for your cabin in advance. When you board, if you know your friend's cabin number you could reserve for them at the box office. All the bookable shows also have a standby line, and in most cases those lines get into the show. SIX is WELL worth seeing, I'm very glad I'll be on the Bliss again in time to see it one more time before the show is off the ship.

That's a show in The Pour House (or maybe it's named Syd Norman's Pour House on that ship), the cast performs Fleetwood Mac's Rumours album from start to finish with little story interjections about how the album came to be. I saw it on the Escape in March - it was EXCELLENT! Someone sitting near me walked out at the end saying it was the best show he's seen on board a ship... That show can't be booked - it's first-come, first-serve, I was in line 90 minutes pre-show and was about 50 people back!

Considering the international nature of the staff, having the name pre-filled might be appreciated. However - I'm not giving it back to them, I'll deposit it in the appropriate place.

first time on NCL, so unless you're in the Haven or a suite you can book them at 21 days pre-cruise (do your check-in and show reservations at the same time. SIX and Jersey Boys are the only shows you can reserve pre-cruise, though you may be able to reserve comedy on embarkation day (at the box office by the theater, starboard side).

@rodndonna the insurance is so much more than protecting you from loss of your cruise fare. Take, for example, the situation neighbors of my parents just went through. They went on an excursion, upon returning to the port (in Italy, mind you) the woman was hit by a vehicle drive by a tour guide. Broke her ankle, pinned shoulder, and I'm sure other injuries. Bill from the hospital was over $40,000, then there was the $10,000 expense to get home as they needed business class or better on Emirates in order for her to have a bathroom available on the plane that would accommodate a wheelchair plus the ability to elevate her leg in addition to needing special transportation from NYC to home over 100 miles North of NYC. Can you self-insure over $50,000 in costs? Granted, they SHOULD be able to recover some of it from litigation, but dealing with that as a US citizen against an Italian in Italy is going to be a challenge. These situations don't happen often, but you never know when they will and the couple of Benjamins to buy insurance pales in comparison to bills like that.

I think you keep on mixing up embarkation day and disembarkation day, making for some confusing statements. Embarkation day is the day you get ON the ship... @scottie920 think of it this way - NCL is acting as your travel agent for booking your flights and getting you a discount. If you book a cruise and self-booked airlines through a regular TA, that travel agent provides no guarantees that you make it to the ship, especially if you choose to fly on embarkation day. This is similar.

There are certain places where reading them as "rule" is certainly appreciated - Spice before 7 PM for example. However - when it comes to the "adult" comedy show I feel like some parental discretion should be allowed, and based on my experience it has been. I'm not sure what about an event at the DBH would have resulted in an 18+ sign. On my cruise on the Joy in 2022 there were some grandparents that brought their pre-teen grandson to the 10:00 PM karaoke. That boy learned some things no kid his age should learn but that event was NOT identified as being for more mature people. I'll be honest - even I, as a 42 year-old at the time, was a little horrified at the song selection by the group of late-teen people on stage.

and if you had waited until later in the thread you'd see an updated list...

@FlGoodShips the Bliss and Encore don't have the ropes course or much of a 'sports complex'

Which is PRECISELY what I'm doing for my cruise in Jan/Feb. Rather than rushing to LAX on debarkation day to make a 1:30 flight I'm staying an extra day, got a hotel room right by the airport and will arrive at home around 7 PM Eastern Monday rather than midnight that morning. I was going to need to take that Monday off from work anyway AND I'm SAVING money as I can book my return flight using points on Southwest (they don't have a late enough Sunday flight for me to catch so I'd have had to pay on another airline and the hotel room is cheaper than that flight).

The on-board packages rarely, if ever, go on sale. The best 'sale' you'll get is the pre-cruise pricing vs. the on-board pricing.

Spice, Vibe. That's all I can think of and I was on the ship in March. 1/6 of the top of the ship (everything forward of the pool on the port side) is free to use for everyone, it's just not all next to the pool.

Free-use deck space for all ages on the Escape is the largest of any of the ships in the class. It's not all in the vicinity of the pool, though. Suggested, but the kids can go if you allow them to. There's no strict limit but there will certainly be a warning. At what hour would you suggest they start 18+ comedy shows if 9 is too early? This restriction is only until 6 or 7 PM, then it's open to all. Was it a hard restriction with a 'bouncer' at the door flat-out saying 'no' when you tried to go in or was it just listed as a suggested age? All that said - the ages for venues (Spice, DBH, etc) and the comedy show timings are pretty standard across the ship class. Other ships in the class have go-karts and laser tag, some also have the Galaxy Pavilion, all of which cost money.

Interesting that I found that from a PC in the US...