hallux

They also made a post asking for excursion suggestions right here in the NCL forum -

The reason I'd prefer a ship with it is that it's an adults-only area during the day. Without Spice there is no such section of the sundeck unless I want to pay for Vibe...

Anchored or moored?

For this itinerary - maybe/maybe not. As I noted - I'm looking at this itinerary for next year as well, and I'm even considering not getting a balcony as it's a port-intensive cruise so the majority of on-ship time will be meals, evening entertainment and sleep. Overall - I'd sail the Bliss or Joy before the Encore ANY time, those ships have the Observation Lounge AND Spice...

There are several similar threads on this exact topic (the titles are nearly identical even, if I recall them previously). Here's a pre-filled search for threads where the Epic is mentioned (found using the drop-down at the top of the topic list in the NCL forum), you can browse these topics for info on the ship. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?type=forums_topic&search_and_or=or&search_in=titles&nodes=64&q=epic

I've been contemplating the Escape for my next one, but losing that walled-off smoking section in the casino is giving me pause. I'm not sure if I want to sail on Encore because of the Spice H2O decision. Plus, Encore is $300 more for a balcony on the same itinerary (I sail solo, booking it for two might alter that)...

In the Caribbean I'd consider paying a little extra for Escape due to that ship having Spice H2O, which the Encore lacks. However, Encore has a walled-off smoking section in the casino so you're not walking through a haze of cigarette smoke if you go through the casino or neighboring areas.

@rbxlady that's pretty much exactly what the T&C's I linked previously said is the policy. The only discrepancy is that the the 'minor' is a person under 18, for some reason 18, 19 and 20 are a grey area but based on the wording it seems under-21 needs to be in a room connecting with a 21+ in the same party. FWIW - a friend of mine is on Oasis of the Seas right now with her 4 kids (and two of their GF's), one is 21+, one 20, the other 2 under 15. The two 20+ wanted separate rooms but either the 21+ had to be in a connecting room and accept responsibility for the under-21 or the under-21 had to be connecting with her. He wasn't going to pay (the two 20+ were paying their own way) for an outside balcony so he had to be in a connecting room next to his brother. The point of this? ALL cruise lines have similar policies. I think some allow the 'minor' to be across the hall, if the ship has inside rooms and balcony accessed from the same hall.

Detailed in the T&C linked at the bottom of NCL's website - https://www.ncl.com/about/terms-and-conditions#s5m7

I just wash my hands using the hand wash station (soap and water with motion-activation and sinks) at the entrance to the buffet. Best design choice EVER on the ships I've been on (Bliss, Joy and Royal's Anthem all have this setup but the other ships in those classes all have them too I'm sure).

Your other thread wasn't enough? There may be some info in this thread, not sure how current it would be -

Bliss, Joy, Encore and (I assume) the new Prima all have enclosed smoking sections in their casinos and minimal outdoor smoking areas in addition to a cigar lounge that has only outdoor access. Bliss, Joy and Encore are all Breakaway+ ships, so they'll have SOME similarity to the ship you were originally planning on.

I'm not exactly sure what that means. When I used the promotional airfare in 2019 all I took was the flights and the ground transfer from/to the airport in LA. I booked my own hotel and did my own touring.

What comedians did you have? The ones that were on for my cruise in March were good.

lol, I was looking at it for March!

I believe the app and web-based cruise planner will only let you book shows for those in your cabin.

That's one of the risks of booking the first cruise, especially on a new class of ship.

I had to stop watching the live stream (maybe I should have just muted it) the guy kept mumbling under his breath making it hard to understand him and from what I heard he had ZERO knowledge of the ship.

But then you have the folks that bought them 2-for-1 on a cruise and have found they can't use them in time (FOUR YEARS later) and try to recoup some of the value by selling them at half price or maybe a little more than half price and get a little extra from them. Example - I bought 2 on my last cruise, price paid for each $250 certificate (after rebate) was $125. I now realize I can't sail in the next 3.5 years and decide to sell them. To just recoup my cost I could sell them at $125 each for the $250 certificates, but I could also pad it a little bit and ask $150 or $175 and make a little bit of "profit" while still giving the buyer some extra value for the certificate.

I used to check it 2x a year, but I haven't since I got my current vehicle a year ago (I guess I should get on that!)...

Prima is almost 200 feet shorter than the dock if my measurement is accurate, MORE than enough room to grow if they follow the Breakaway ships.

@bbqbearswere deviations requested? If not, NCL was entirely correct to book them in the way they were. The website, at least, informs people that the airfare won't be booked until 30 days prior to the cruise, the TA should have also known this. The TA also should have advised them to request the deviation, I would suggest a different TA next time if they didn't. Anyone reading the T&C's of the promo would also learn of the deviations, the terms for requesting such are laid out there and anyone reading the terms might say "hmm, what's a deviation? oh, I can fly in a day or two before? that might be a good idea". Yes, once the booking is moved to the flight department (I'm guessing sometime shortly after the 75 day mark based on the deadlines) nothing related to the flight arrangements can be changed.

Some trim levels of the Subaru Outback come with a full-size spare, and those that don't can fit one in place of the donut spare they come with.

2 shows a night, 2 nights each. The first show for each was 7:30, the second was 10:30, on my cruise in 2019.

This was the Joy. Still lots of Asian influence in the decor in places.