Cruising Lynne

Follow the Leader may be familiar to some.

Googled Soca music: Soca music Music genre Description Soca music is a genre of music defined by Lord Shorty, its inventor, as the "Soul of Calypso", which has influences of African and East Indian rhythms. Wikipedia Creator: artist Lord Shorty npr.org Parent genre: Calypso music

I am so jealous!! I am also looking forward to your review and photos. Three inches of snow today at my house in Massachusetts. Wish I was headed to St. Thomas 🌴🛳️ Bon voyage.

I wash the coffee pot and run water through a couple of times. It is clean enough that way. Thanks for reminding me to pack a small container of dish washing liquid. Otherwise, I just use the liquid hand soap that is in the cabin bathroom.

People really like the Dover sole. I have had the sea bass and the Dover sole different times at Le Bistro. I much prefer the sea bass. It is thicker so tends to be juicier. Both are mild tasting fish.

It appears that some of the bigger events they have are on land. So maybe it won't be so bad on the ship? Some of it could be fun music to hear on a Caribbean cruise. If they use the pool area at night, maybe the rest of the ship will be more quiet and enjoyable? That said, I would not like to be on a ship with that big of a group, and agree that they should charter the whole ship. I watch a lot of cruise vloggers on You tube, but still would not have liked being on a ship with all those vloggers walking around filming on the recent vloggers cruise. We were on an RCCL cruise once that had a music group cruise on board. A lot of the group liked to hang out in the Schooner Lounge each night and we never got to sit in there once. The only good thing was that after their group went in the theater for a Beach Boys concert, they let the rest of go in. It was a good show. I hate to get cancelled for a charter, but it can be hard to be around a large group that you are not part of.

The cruise isn't until October. I think that they may add more excursions before that. Guess it depends on the itinerary.

Where is that beating a dead horse meme?

I would like to know if others start receiving letters. We were on before that. I find it hard to believe this would happen on such a new ship. Could the passengers have contracted Legionnaire's elsewhere? This comes just after La Lido Loca posted on You Tube about Legionnaire's on American Cruise Lines which occurred at various times over the last year.

There are many things on NCL and RCCL that generate additional money for each cruise line. Both have shops, casinos, expensive spa services, art auctions, added fee restaurants, and added fee attractions (indoor skydiving on RCCL, Go-Karts on NCL) etc... You can choose what extras you want to pay for, and what you can do without.

I have cruised many times on Royal and NCL. Both have added fees. Every time I order a drink on Royal I am shocked at how expensive it is. I still think NCLs "Free at Sea" is a good value if you like to have a few cocktails each day. Free at Sea also includes some internet time and money towards excursions. NCL still has a passenger dress code for their fancier MDR and certain specialty restaurants. I dislike the NON Freestyle dining and prefer to go to dinner when we want to and eat dinner at our own pace without waiting for others to finish that extra app etc. Only Prima has the menu that does not change. It is a big menu with many options.

Though I am not a millennial, and born on the Gen x /Baby Boomer cusp, I have had no desire to go to Syd Norman's or the Cavern Club to hear music from just one group. I guess I listened to Fleetwood Mac and the Beatles so much when I was young, I really do not think it would be worth fighting the crowd to see these performances. I like more variety. I prefer to see the groups that play out by the pool or in the Spinnaker to being in one of the more crowded clubs. Certainly do not want to wait in line to get in. I like it when a DJ or band can read the crowd, and play a variety of music that most of the people will enjoy. By the pool on a warm weather itinerary, I like to have a steel drum band that plays some reggae etc. and a DJ that plays a variety of music when the band is not there. Though during one of my favorite afternoons by the pool, on a late spring cruise, was when they were playing classic hits rock music. I looked around and the crowd was mostly my age group. So I guess I would not care if the Beatles tribute group was gone, but I feel bad for anyone who is counting on seeing them, to have them pulled at the last minute. They (NCL) know when contracts end so a gap between contracts is not a good excuse for an advertised band to not be there.

I also like the thermal suite on the Jewel class ships and Dawn. One thing I liked about the one on Dawn is that it also has a swimming pool in addition to the hot tub and small thalassotherapy pool. I prefer the saunas on Jewel class because of the giant windows.

While I did enjoy the e-muster process on my most recent cruises, I understand the reasons for going back to the old way. This video by Tony bothered me. I generally enjoy Tony's channel, but I felt that this one was a little out of line. I do feel that if everyone was quiet for a few minutes, and showed up on time, the process could be done more efficiently and painlessly. Why is being quiet so hard for some people? That said, I do hope that NCL can figure out a new way to do it more efficiently. I feel like a combination of the old way and e-muster could be better. Have everyone watch the video. Then have everyone go to the muster stations at the same time, like in an actual emergency, to get their cards scanned. Don't hold everyone there in a big crowd.

251 now. Thanks for the instructions. All this time on Cruise Critic and I never officially followed before now. Cheers! 🍹

This is exciting! Have a great time Sid. I cruised Prima in October. Once I got used to the layout, I did enjoy the trip. Based on past reviews I think you will like the Vibe on Prima. I did not go in it , but saw it from above. Looks really nice. We enjoyed lounging near the infinity pools on deck 8. I recommend the Indulge Food Hall for lunch the first day before it gets too busy.

When we cruised on Prima, it took me a few minutes to decide how we wanted to utilize the storage space. We had a balcony cabin with the closet that had three sections. There were a lot of extra hangers in our room, so I was able to hang most of my clothes in the first section that does not have a door. My shoes went on the shelf below them. I put the shelf down in the middle section for folded items and I used a small folding storage cubby from dollar tree for miscellaneous small items. I put swimsuits and socks in the wire basket type drawers. My husband had the next section which was big enough for his hanging items and it also had two of the basket type drawers and the safe. He had the night stand with drawers on his side of the bed for his extra items and socks and underwear. It worked out pretty well. Any more than two people and you would have to be really creative. I like the idea of the hanging shelves for that situation. I liked that the bathroom had a small drawer that I did not notice at first. The handle for it is where you would hang a hand towel. I loved the nice big shower with the glass door, and foot rest for shaving. I missed the longer vanity/desk that the away ships have. Also, it would have been nice if the TV could be angled to see it better from the couch. The room felt spacious and comfortable once we got every thing organized.

I am some one who was surprised that specialty dining ever became so popular. I never understood why so many people were willing to pay extra for it. It has led to lesser quality in the MDR. That said, I do enjoy my Sapphire specialty dining, but never do any other specialty dining. One reason is that I do not like having reservations to worry about. Takes away from the freestyle aspect of our cruise. Being informed of the 1-1-1 rule is not the same as being scolded though. I just hope that when they are in a better financial position, they start to add back what has been taken away.

Wow!! Have a great trip. Love Gem.

We were on this trip as well. Just when I started to get excited about St. Croix for a change from St. Thomas, they changed it back. We were lucky to book the Abi Beach excursion. The beach was rocky, but I had water shoes. It included lunch. Martinique was a last minute port, and they had some ship excursions available. We took a boat to see some sea turtles and go to a small beach before the rains came.

It looks nice, but don't think it is worth 339.00. Maybe on a cold weather trip.

Way off. For my April trip on Pearl it is 199.00 per person. Thermal Suite Pass Refresh, recharge and relax. Experience the ultimate in heat and water therapy at the Thermal Suite and enjoy the resplendent views. STARTING FROM $199.00 Prices vary based on voyage length. DURATION UNLIMITED

But the added Cagney's steak options have an upcharge. I can see that the Wellington would be more labor intensive to prepare, but they could have replaced it with a non-upcharge item. It looks like they may have added a dessert option? I don't understand the fuss about mac and cheese though.

That is good to know if I am on a ship that has the Observation Lounge.

This is a good question. I hope they have one of the drink stations open. Maybe the one that is just outside the buffet on some ships? Ask your room steward for a coffee maker so you can make it in your room. They will stock it up when they clean your room.