hallux

The faucet in your cabin. If you're out and about, those other places are options. Sometimes a bartender will do it for you also, if they're not serving other guests. I had one on embarkation day fill a vacuum-insulated aluminum bottle with ice then fill it with water (when I simply asked for water). Sadly, he used somewhat warmer water so the ice ended up melting anyway... The usual warning - it is requested that you fill a glass with the ice or water to then transfer to the bottle.

For the record - my group chat for which I received a message during the first day oof my cruise in March contains an iPhone user so it is not an RCS chat yet it still came through even without being signed in to the internet.

On my cruise on the Escape in March I was able to receive messages on my Android device using the Google Messages app while not signed in to the internet (just on internal ship WiFi). It was a group message so it was MMS rather than standard SMS. The Android recipient needs to be able to use WiFi texting in order for it to work, that may have been their issue. I bought the unlimited internet the following day so I was online the rest of the trip anyway... The "provider" shouldn't matter, it's the configuration of the ship's servers (specifically the proxy server into which you login to get internet access) to allow the messaging protocol(s).

I seem to recall that there was such a drop-off when I sailed on the Escape in March. Rooms were not ready until after 3 PM. My personal policy is not to carry on anything I'm not comfortable dragging around with me until I can go to my room. My carry-on is a small backpack that fits my camera bag, my tablet and some water.

They have to go without passengers, unless they visit a distant foreign port. See the PVSA..

It may be that your TA 'declined' the FAS promo meals and added the 4 meal plan as a perk they're giving you.

I'm not sure of they still do it, or if it costs more, but the Pan Pacific Hotel used to allow you to drop your bag with the door man/bellhop for $5 per bag. The Pan Pacific is the hotel sited right in the same complex (Canada Place) as the cruise port.

Valid in the past, may no longer be valid. Some reports recently (including my experience in March) that cabins were not ready until after 3 PM. Maybe a European cruise will be a little different with the multiple embarkation ports? 🤷🏻‍♂️

They aren't because they're often short contracts. I think one of the performers for Howl at the Moon on my Escape cruise was only on for a couple weeks.

At some point after you're booked you'll get an email (if your TA participates, there's at least one large one that doesn't) with the bidding process. You place a 'bid' to upgrade to a higher cabin class. If there are 10 cabins in that class available at some point in time and it seems they won't sell NCL will start issuing the upgrades, likely from highest bid to lowest. If 9 or fewer people bid higher than you, it stands to reason you'd get the upgrade. Bidding is a PER PERSON price. It's a way to sail in a higher cabin class and maybe not pay the full asking price for it.

Not all excursions going there use those vehicles, some might ride slightly better. My excursion in that vehicle went to Coconut Cove..

If it's the one I went to in the 6-wheel military truck - the bumpiness is not understated here. 20,000 steps logged on my watch!!!

Yes, that was very good too! I travel solo, one of the other solos got it as well, he thought it was very good (including the grits, and he's from Georgia so they know their grits!)

I create a folder in my Google Drive that contains the reservation docs for my trip - hotel, rental car, cruise, air confirmations (whichever are applicable) and put them in there from my computer. Then I use the Drive app to save the documents for offline use and pin that folder to the home screen (done on both my phone and my tablet) - easy access to whatever I need, even without internet access. For the OP - IF they downloaded, they would be in the MyFiles app, but look in the downloads folder. Also - it's a PDF, in the top right once it's opened you should have the option to download that file, THEN it might show up there. I did that for the Freestyle Daily on my last cruise - makes it MUCH easier to reference back to.

I'm surprised at your experience with the flounder. I've had that several times and always enjoyed it. The shrimp fettuccini alfredo is pretty good, I had it on my last cruise.

Bliss has OL, Thermal Spa, Spice. If someone finds all those venues important the Bliss is the best ship in the fleet. Joy is missing the Thermal Spa but is still a nice ship. Encore lacks Spice, Escape lacks the OL. They each have their pros and cons, but the Bliss has the most pros from that list of venues.

The price you paid is dependent on the perks/offers at the time of booking. At some point the option of the airfare promo drops off - price goes down. For someone that TOOK the air promo - should they be afforded that price reduction AND keep the airfare promo? No, because their cruise was priced at the time a promo they accepted was offered and now that promo is no longer offered. At this point, unless you booked a cruise right when it was opened for booking you're not seeing much in the way of changed promos. But if that IS the case - you're seeing reduced promos (less internet minutes, fewer dinners, less $$ for shore excursion credit) for that reduced price. If the price goes up, do you expect NCL to come crying to you asking for more money? Didn't think so... Shoot - I don't recall luggage being at the cabin before 3 on any previous cruise. With the reduced staffing, getting it by dinner is luck of the draw. You DO realize how hard these people are working to first turn over your cabin and then deliver your luggage, right? It's not like they're sitting on their backside doing nothing, they're BUSTING from 8 AM (or even earlier, prepping their carts in private) until luggage is delivered. You want those lower prices on the cruise? Expect fewer crew members cleaning your room and delivering your luggage. I agree with others - find a line with a more favorable crew to passenger ratio if you have this kind of expectation. A main-line cruise line will not meet these expectations. They can't let you off any earlier than CBP will allow them to let you off. The terminal needs to be staffed by agents for the screening. 7 AM is about the earliest I've seen the process start at US ports.

Duplicate...

Just to avoid confusion - Escape is a BA+ I made the same mistake - Escape doesn't have the OL or go-karts, and being the only ship in that class without them it can be confusing to include it in the class but the NCL site lists it as BA+.

Escape has The Pour House - which I mistakenly referred to as Syd Norman's because it had a tribute to Syd Norman as the person who the concept was based on...

I'm inclined to agree. Joy does have the Observation Lounge, but on a sunny itinerary I'm not sure it's a critical need. Now that I think about it - WHEN is the OP planning to sail? If in late fall/winter/early spring - Joy. If late spring/summer/early fall - Escape. Sailing out of NY can be cold, the OL would be a great venue to have in those cases. Not so much a need for a summer sailing.

There are some previous topics asking the same question. The consensus in those is that it's a 'boiler plate' indication and when you're eligible to book based on your status or booked cabin the options to book will open up.

Yes, there's a lounge and restrooms. Well, "lounge" is a loose term, it's not air conditioned, that I could tell, it's a bunch of chairs in a lobby area. As the time marched on the room filled more with people waiting to go to their cruises.

That won't go as planned. The rental agency shuttles can't bring passengers over until security at the port tells them they can. I did that in March - I was at the car drop-off just after 8 and had to wait until after 9:30 before the first shuttle over to the port.

This is the REAL answer. And if there are any calls by the CG or other entity for some kind of inspection that could delay the boarding further.