cfelbab

I was on the Viva in January for a Caribbean cruise out of San Juan. The Prom show was absolutely in the theatre. I was under the impression that this was a one time change due to some logistical issue. For what it is worth, the show worked fine in the big room. There were people on the floor dancing and the rest of us sat in the seats in the upper level. The artists did their best to make the show interactive even coming up into the seating area with some of the performance. So it is true that the Prom show (at least on Viva) is not always happening the smaller room. Frankly the smaller room on the Viva is almost more hassle than it is worth, people were in line for a half hour before the Fleetwood Mac show so that they could have a place to sit and watch the show. And don't get me started on the silly bowling alley room that they use for Comedy on the Viva. It's weird that the things that they most know are going to be popular are in such tiny spaces...

We cruised with a multiple members of our extended family in the middle of January out of San Juan. There were ten of us in 4 different cabins. This was our second time out of San Juan - we did the Epic out of the same port the year before. Compared to the Epic, getting onboard was much simpler. No long lines - we went to the port at 2 and were on the boat by 2:30. So that was nice given the issues people have experienced at that port previously ( a tricky location to get to with just one little road leading to the port). As for the Viva, very shinny nice and clean. A different feel than the other boats we have cruised on with NCL. The boat is broken down into a lot of little sections as opposed to bigger areas. For example, the area on the pool deck is tiny. But there are quite a few other areas where you can get sun and several smaller infinity style pools on both side of the boat once you find them. In some ways, it made it feel like you were on a smaller boat with less people. OTOH, even at the end of the week I was still getting lost wandering around the boat. The food in the main dining room was very good - the specialty restaurants even better. I was impressed that each time all ten of us wanted to eat together they were able to find a table for us all to sit at with almost no waiting. I expected that to be hard. The Indulge food hall was a very useful and tasty as well - some really good spicy Indian/Asian food there which I really liked.. We did not have much trouble finding space to sit anytime we at be it in Indulge or the buffet. The entertainment was pretty good - my favorite was the Fleetwood Mac show. The venue was too small for it - a lot of people have commented here on how you end of waiting for a long time to make sure you have a spot in the tiny room for this and the comedy. I am not sure why they can't figure out that people want to go to things like this on the boat and design the spaces to be big enough for that! The comedy room was particularly poorly designed - it felt like a long skinny bowling alley meaning almost nobody had good sight lines to the comedians. The cabin itself was pretty nice - we had a balcony mid ship on deck 11. I miss the little fishy carpets in the hallway that many of the other boats have which make it clear which direction is forward. It took us several days to realize that the patten in the carpet had triangles in it point forward every few feet - much less obvious than the swimming fish carpet. I did not care much for the Beetlejuice show - it felt long. The music was not that captivating although you could see that they spent time on money on it just not as fun as some of the other shows on the other boats. The theater is also used for the disco on some nights. Awesome sound system and good lighting effects but the room has almost no seating so if you don't want to dance there is no good place to sit and drink between songs you like. I found that people did not seem to hang out there very long and I think that was part of the reason. On the whole, a very good experience for us and I would cruise on this ship/class again. Compared to the Epic (which I know is not a good comparable), I preferred this. Compared to the Encore which we took through the Panama canal two years go, I would take the Encore over this.

I, too, was on the Baltic cruise that disembarked right before this ill fated journey. Our cruise was nearly perfect. The weather for almost the entire cruise was warm and sunny. We did not see a drop of rain until we were in Germany and even that was short lived. When we departed the boat in Copenhagen there was rain the last day as we wandered around town before flying home the next day. I was quite happy with the Dawn - decent service, good entertainment - especially the lady who sang with the piano guy in the Atrium multiple nights. The party band was also pretty good. Food was typical for NCL - not five star but certainly good. Having done a Baltic cruise about five years earlier I was thinking I would miss the Russia port but the "new" ports like Visby were quite interesting. I'm sorry that the next journey did not inherit our good fortune.

We are disembarking a NCL cruise in Copenhagen on July 2nd. The boat docks at 7am. Is there enough time to make an 11:55am flight?

We left this morning at 830 am. Already a lot of traffic at that time but it was mainly taxis and buses for people leaving. Last week we stayed at the Sheraton before boarding and I could see the boat and dock from my room window. There was a good amount of traffic lined up before 10am and when we walked over (at 1145) there was a lot of traffic and a line outside that was maybe 15 minutes outside and another 20 or so inside. I do not recall the sun being an issue in the outside line so maybe there was shade. Many people told me it took them 90+ minutes in a taxi to drive to the port because of the relatively few ways to get there. The port is nestled on a narrow piece of land up against an airport and when we left there were two boats loading. I would plan to arrive early if it were me and wait (ideally inside) for them to start letting people on (11 or 1130 I think is when that starts). Once on board If you have not done so already go book your show time slot and restaurant. Our boat was completely full and some people I met missed out because all slots were taken.

I just got off the Epic there this morning. I did not see any GlobalEntry option but the process was very light. Once you have your bags you stand in one of four lines which moved quickly. They were using face recognition to admit us and I did not have to show a passport or anything. getting off the ship was much quicker than I expected. A bit of wait for an elevator on the boat but then fast. Getting on the boat was a bit more involved. Lots of traffic on one tiny road to the port made for huge waits for most people. We avoided that by walking from our hotel to the port which was a fairly easy 20 minute walk on level mostly paved ground.

I agree with the suggestions about not trying to convince somebody to do something they are uncomfortable with. In that case, a land resort may be a better option. That said if you really want to share the joy of cruising with a newbie, I'd suggest finding a very short cruise as a "first time". There are a few cruises out there that go from FL to the Bahamas and back that might be a decent place to start. These cruises are often very affordable which helps with the concern about "wasting money" and since they do not venture too far into the open seas I suspect that as long as the weather is not too bad, the motion will not be that much either.

Does anybody know if a satisfactory test can be obtained at the Athens airport upon arrival or what other options exist to get the test prior to boarding in Greece?

At least according to NCL's website, Greek authorities will not accept a proctored test. We used eMed back in April for a cruise on the Encore but that does not appear to be an option for this cruise. It needs to be in person and take place within 48 hours of the embarking.

Hi friends- We're going on a cruise in middle September on the Jade out of Athens. It looks like the current rules are that you have to get a test (even if vaccinated) within 48 hours of the boarding. Does anybody know if there is an option to test at the airport in Athens after getting off the plane and before heading to our hotel? We are arriving the day before the cruise so it does not look like it will work out for us to test before we board our flight in the USA (which of course would have been preferred in the event of a positive test)? Can you just walk up and get the appropriate test needed to be approved to cruise or do you have to schedule something? Are there testing options at the cruise port or any other options that are predictable and reliable?

So if I am understanding the requirements for Greece departures (I am sailing from there in early September), a fully vaccinated and boosted person (like me) needs to get a NAT test within two days of the sailing or a PCR test within three days. The test has to be in person not online proctored. Does anybody know if two days means 48 hours from the sailing time or if two days means two days prior to the day of sailing. For example, if I sail on Sunday can I test on Friday (while still in the USA) and meet the requirement? I am trying to figure out the best way and place to get a test that will satisfy the need and ideally alert me if there is an issue before I leave the USA.

I have 2024 Baltic cruise booked because they had some ports in the docket that I had never been to. Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Finland. The itinerary shows an overnight in Saint Petersburg but I fully expect that to be changed by then. Hopefully there is sufficient interest in the Baltic without Russia that NCL does not cancel its 2024 sailings in the region but we will see. I did get a chance to see Saint Petersburg and Moscow on a different Baltic cruise about five years ago. I am glad that I went when I did because it was very interesting to see these places and I do wonder if people from the USA or most of Europe will be traveling there again in my lifetime. This feels like a long term geopolitical shift back to a world that is de-globalized. The message in all this is not to put off travel to places you want to see because there is no guarantee that you will be able to do so in some distant future date. I was lucky on Cuba as well managing to get a cruise in before the restrictions were put back in place. I have my eyes on China in the near future now because it is not too hard to imagine China being off limits at some point in the future and I do think it would be cool to see the Great Wall.

While we are talking about the Jade and testing, what are people planning to do about the "test before returning to the USA'" requirement now that NCL is apparently not doing that on the boat. I have a trip to the USA at 1PM on the day of disembarkment and am not clear if testing at the airport is an option and doable with the relatively short amount of time. What are others doing?

I hope that is what happens. IMHO it is silly to still have this requirement when most of the world has done away with it and when we have at least as much COVID in the USA as they have in any other country. It does not appear to be materially riskier to catch covid overseas right now so this testing to keep US citizens stranded in other countries (especially if they do need medical attention) seems to me misplaced at this stage in the pandemic. All that said, I have a cruise on the Jade in Greece in September and now have to figure out how to make this work. My flight is about seven hours after the boat ports in Athens and it is not clear to me that there is sufficient time to rely on a test at the airport. Does anybody have specific experience with that in Athens recently that can offer advice? It's a disappointing change in policy. Had I know that this was going to happen I would have given myself an extra day on the back end of the trip in Athens so that it would not be a scramble to make this test work.

In general I feel like the thresholds set by the CDC with respect to COVID are not reflective of the current state of the disease. This is not the same disease as it was two years ago and if it only takes 6 cases on a boat of 2000 people to trigger orange, that seems silly. I feel the same way about the metrics determining if a region of the US is in "high transmission". As the mortality rate of COVID appears to continue to fall, I would think that the thresholds that trigger alarm should also adjust but they do not appear to be doing that. FWIW, I got off the Encore in early May, I've been on 6 airplane flights since then and attended a business conference last week with over a thousand people. Essentially "pre-COVID normal" activities.. I've taken multiple COVID tests and each one has come back negative. And yet people who I know that are hyper careful at work and elsewhere and are double masked and not willing to venture near an airport or cruise ship are coming down with COVID. COVID seems to go where it wants to go no matter what we do. If that's the case, we might as well get on with life. For me that means, staying current on vaccinations. Maintaining distance where I can. Occasionally masking especially in those situations where there is a lot of density or where I am around people who are vulnerable or anxious.. But not hunkering down at home anymore. To be clear, I'm not in a high risk category so for me it's risk/reward. A year ago the risk seemed much higher and at that point I canceled all my trips including two cruises. Today the risk appears to be manageable and the reward of travel is to me pretty high. I'm not getting any younger so waiting until there is zero risk might mean lot of missed opportunity. I don't think we're going to get good info from the cruise lines on the number cases on their boats anymore than I think we are get good info in the general community anymore. Maybe we have to assume that we are going to encounter COVID somewhere and protect ourselves appropriate to our health status. It feels to me that the risk of COVID encounter is high at work, in the local community and while on vacation so it's sort of a wash. The disruption factor of COVID while on vacation is obviously higher in that I may be quarantined or what not but that does not to me seem like enough a reason to avoid travel. Again, your mileage may vary and that's perfectly okay.