JandC_Cruising

The last three cruises (all this year) on Encore, Joy, and Getaway all had ONE table in the main casino area that was $50 minimum with an 8-deck hand shuffle. Other than that one table, all others were continuous shuffle and either $15 min (a few) or $25 min

The issue with this "strategy" is that if the excursion is sold out they will not let you cancel and immediately re-book if there is a waiting list for open spots, which often there are. If you cancel, your spot(s) will be offered to the first on the waiting list. And, as others mentioned, then you have even more OBC. If there is an excursion you want to be sure you take, best to book it ahead to ensure your spot.

First off, as is mentioned often, you do need to be prepared to get a cabin "anywhere" on the ship if you win a bid. This may, or may not be an issue to you. Only you can decide that. If you are particular about where you are on the ship (mid-ship, particular floor or range of floors, etc.) they do not bid as you may end up with a club balcony on a floor/location you are not happy with. All that said, we very much like the Club Balcony's for the larger bathroom. We enjoyed a club balcony on the Getaway this summer. It was a wonderful cabin. But we picked the cabin and knew exactly what was to the left, right, above, and below....Winning a bid doesn't give you that control.

They will not open your bags and count your bottles without you being present. Once they count they will charge the corkage fee to your on-board account (if you do not have a drinks package) and let you go on your merry way with your luggage and wines. They will only confiscate the wine if you request them to hold the bottles until the end of the cruise. For example, if you were traveling through Italy pre cruise and purchased some wines to bring home, and didn't wish to consume them on the ship, they will confiscate them and hold until the last day of the cruise (Just as they do when you buy a bottle of Rum in the Caribbean).

Yep...She's scheduled to cruise out of NY through April '24 . She heads back to Europe on April 29, 2024 (NYC to Southampton).

Here is the thread that I started months ago when we first noticed that all the Spa Cabins were sold out for 2024 and beyond. Just yesterday, those of us who made reservations earlier this year for 2024 and later in Spa Cabins received the official letter notifying us of the re-classification and ensuring that our reservation would still include access to the Thermal Spa.... However, as mentioned, moving forward, there will be no "Spa Cabins" in any category according to the letter.

Some cruises have post cruise land vacations options (like adding a land tour through Alaska at the end of the cruise for multiple days). But i don't know why they say "must be selected".

We just decided to book a December 2026 Egypt cruise on Viking yesterday and was shocked to see an October 31, 2024 final payment date! Rather than jumping in, we put a 72hr hold on it and then called to make sure it was correct. They said yes. We are planning to do pre and post add-ons to the cruise which adds another 10K to the total. Do you know if those can be added on at a later date? I'd rather not pay all $30K so early but would be fine paying 20K in Oct '24 and adding the other add-on's sometime in 2025 and paying those at that time. Since you've done quite a bit on Viking do you have any thoughts/experience on adding things after? Thanks..

Last month on the Getaway, the tickets indicated the meeting place and time (Theatre, MDR, Illusionarium...) Once at the meeting place, they will ask that one person from your group hold all the tickets and check-in for the bus # stickers for the whole group. That way they ensure everyone is on the same bus. Pretty simple. The trickiest part is if you have someone in your group that is running late and you don't have their ticket...saw that happen to a few disorganized (hungover?) passenger groups😆

If choosing between those two specifically,, Teppanyaki for the combination of good food and a fun show. We had a great meal and time at Teppanyaki a few weeks ago on the Getaway. Frankly, we haven't been thrilled with Cagney's on our past several visits. It has lost its place in our rotation. We put Le Bistro and Ocean Blue as our top meals and then rotate among others depending upon the ship.

The Pommery Rose was everywhere that we asked for it, including the Vibe. Didn't go to the main pool bar. It was at all the bars on decks 6,7,8 as we could tell (Sunset, Prime Meridian, Mixx, Bar 21, etc.) and on every restaurant wine list.

Just off the Getaway earlier this month. The Premium Plus Champagne available throughout the ship was the Pommery Brut Rose. It was pretty good and we had several glasses throughout the cruise. Le Bistro was offering Veuve Clicquot by the glass, but that was the only place we found it available and we enjoyed that with our starters that evening.

@PhillyTravelBug We are loving your review! We are doing this cruise (in reverse) in 2025. How have the seas been as you've traversed from Iceland to Norway?

Sorry if you thought I was yelling 😀 that was not my intention...I was stressing that "often" the system blocks the 2nd night booking..."but" there is a solution if one is blocked...

making reservations for multiple nights at the same restaurant IS allowed, but the point of my original comment is that OFTEN (as was our case and and several others above) the online system may block you from doing it. BUT it is easily solved (as we did) by calling or chatting online and asking an NCL rep to add the reservation.

There are a few "tricks" to pre-booking reservations. 1. Book your "Fixed Price" reservations first (Teppanyaki or Moderno) so that it uses your F@S certificate. Otherwise it will try to pre-charge you the fixed rate if you already booked other dinners. 2. Online booking will only allow you to book the same restaurant ONCE. You can call and get another night booking for the same specialty restaurant, but for example the system will not allow you to book Ocean Blue for a 2nd night. Call (or use online chat) and an agent can do it if you like. 3. You can book as many Specialty meals as you wish - even if you only have 2 free meals. Just keep in mind the first two rules mentioned above. 4. The system doesn't care or need to know who is dining with you. So if you need a table for 4, just book it. The host will ask how each of you are paying for the meal when you get to the restaurant. 5. The system only has tables for 2, 4, 8...(even numbers). So if you need a table for 1, 3, 5...Just round up to the nearest even number. Again, the host will adjust the number when you arrive.

In short, NCL does not cover any baggage fees with their air booking. The baggage policy will be dictated by the air carrier you get put on. If the airline charges baggage fees, then you will need to pay them, unless you have status on that airline or some other benefit that affords you free baggage on that specific airline. For example, when we get NCL air and get placed on United, we get free luggage due to our United Status. When they gave us a Delta flight, we had to pay for luggage as we don't personally have any status on Delta. When they've put us on Southwest, there was no fees since Southwest doesn't charge baggage fees for anyone.

Just off the Getaway last week. To get a seat at the Noodle bar we had to wait in a line starting at 4:30pm and we (2) got the last 2 seats in the first round of seating. After that, they handed out pagers until they ran out of pagers. We were sitting in the two seats next to the host's desk. One family in line got to the front and was told a 90 minute wait. They asked "even if we are in the Haven" and then host handed them a menu and told them to go back upstairs and have their butler serve them the meal in their suite. That's what they did!

Just got off the Getaway...we had a Spa Club Balcony and bought the Vibe pass. After debating the same issues as you, we "pulled" our Haven bids a month before the cruise because we realized we had the best room with all the perks (spa, vibe, extra meals, etc.) that we needed. This is the best approach on the Getaway. The Getaway Haven is small. If you are looking for an adult "sun deck", the Vibe is a better choice on that ship. The Getaway Vibe is huge and was great for the days we had nice weather. The Getaway Haven restaurant is small and doesn't have an outdoor space. They setup tables in the courtyard to service everyone. In short, I would not recommend the Haven on the Getaway if you are planning on spending time on-board and lounging.

We just got off the Getaway last Tuesday (Lisbon to Southampton) with stops in Vigo, La Coruna, and Bilboa Spain. We were charge 10% tax on every drink throughout those 3 days in Spanish waters, regardless of being in-port or on sea in the evenings. We had the Premium Plus package and the taxes totaled $56.60. Once we were out of Spanish waters, we didn't get charged any taxes on any other drinks through the cruise.

I agree, you can find them through 2023, but looking at cruises into 2024 and 2025, they are all marked "sold out", regardless of ship, unless they are "H9 - Haven Spa Suites"

I've checked ALL 2024 Cruises on the Escape, Epic, Encore, Breakaway, and Getaway...I agree they are popular, but not that popular.

Just off the Getaway last week and had FAS+....They have bottles of Aqua Pana and San Pellegrino at most restaurants and bars. We would get Aqua Pana at restaurants and boxes of water to carry around (off ship). We would often grab a bottle of Aqua Pana at a bar before heading back to the room without issue.

We LOVE the Thermal Spa on all the ships we've been on...Escape, Encore, Epic, and most recently the Getaway. We are also very pleased they are adding a Thermal Spa to the Joy. We have a 7-day booked on the Breakaway in March in a Spa Balcony cabin. However, we were just checking to see if we could change to a Spa Club Balcony and noticed it was sold out. We then looked across dozens of cruises for 2024 and notice that it looks like all the Spa Balcony and Spa Club Balcony cabins on ALL the ships are "Sold Out" for the entire year. Only Spa Haven Suites are available. What is going on? Is this another NCL website glitch/error or is NCL moving to eliminate cabins that come with the Thermal Spa access?

We are on the Getaway in a week. We will be stopping at Zeebrugge and Le Harve as part of that itinerary. Zeebrugges is a simple 20 minute train or shuttle bus to Bruges which is a great historic town with beautiful sites, breweries and chocolate shops. The ship offers several excursions for Bruges and Brussels. Le Harve is quite a distance from Paris (about 2-1/2hr drive). The ship offered a bunch of excursion to Paris (the ship is in port from 8am to 8pm, so there is a ton of time, but it is still a quick trip. There are also excursions to the D-day beaches. (Le Harve is in Normandy). We are actually taking a train to Rouen, a Medieval town where Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake. There is a bunch you can do at most of those stops...But, as all have mentioned, these visits are all different than a land trip where you immerse yourself in a culture for a bunch of days.