WITraveler37

We have done this twice with our teens, once on Breakaway and then again last month on the Encore. When they did turndown service it wasn't bad as the extra beds were put away during the day, this last time it was a little tougher and we had issues getting into the closet with the Pullman downtown all the time. Other than that it works fine. There was plenty of space under the bed for our suitcases as well as bathroom and other storage. We get the angled balconies for a little more space outside which also helps.

When we were on the ship March 24-31 one of the crew working the escape room told us they were removing the escape room and about half the galaxy pavilion as well as laser tag and putting in a Spice H2O

Yes people are so much more pushy and inconsiderate. On the cruise we just got off of we had 8 adult sized people in the elevator, all of us with our suitcases as we were disembarking. The doors opened and a lady asked if there was room, we all said no and she said yes there is and proceeded to push her way in dragging her husband behind. Then there were the parentless 6 year olds in the buffet cutting in front of everyone and grabbing food with their bare hands. Can't expect them to know any better if their parents don't teach them but the severe lack of parenting I witnessed last week was baffling and doesn't bode well for our future. And I'm a parent (teenagers).

I wish I knew the numbers from last week. My guess is they would have been pretty similar.

My family of 4 got off a week long Caribbean cruise on Encore this morning so I thought I'd write a quick review. All in all we had a good trip. I don't think I'll book a cruise during spring break again as there were just too many people. We were never able to get chairs by the pool or on the sundeck so we spent most of our downtime on the Waterfront or in the Observation lounge. Food was generally good. Le Bistro was great. I never saw a cookie, but there were plenty of other good desserts to be had. Encore was a good ship, we enjoyed the gocarts and the laser tag. We tried to do the escape room but it wasn't working right so we ended up getting refunded for that. The guy running it said it doesn't work properly half the time and they're getting rid of it and most of the galaxy pavilion and laser tag in November. We enjoyed Choir of Man but we enjoyed the Beatles Invasion even more and saw them three times since their show is different each time. We got kicked out of The District because it is apparently 18+ and my daughter is 15. This is not posted anywhere but the bar tender kicked us out. As we are a family of 4 we were all in one balcony room. We did that on our cruise in 2022 and it worked great. However, the fact that they no longer put the extra beds away during the day was really annoying, we all hit our heads hard on the Pullman multiple times trying to get into the closet. We were on tender 13 going to Great Stirrup Cay and didn't get on the island until after noon. We enjoyed ourselves there but there were a lot of people upset because they didn't get there til much later and the food was closed by 2:30. NCL should do a better job of communicating to people exactly what time the food and bars on the island close down. I didn't enjoy the time the tendering took so I will probably avoid cruises with tender ports in the future. This was our 2nd NCL cruise, and it was a good cruise, the staff were very friendly and the service was good. Our first cruise was in March of 2022 when they were sailing at half capacity so we were spoiled. This cruise was at maximum capacity so it's not really fair to compare. I guess that's all I have to share. If anyone has any questions I'd be happy to try and answer them.

What was the first check in time?

Miami

It's been a very long day so if my questions have already been asked I apologize but I just don't have it in me right now to search. We're supposed to leave on our cruise tomorrow. After a long day of cancellations and delays our flight won't be getting in until about 4:00am. And our hotel cancelled on us when I called to find out if it would be a problem arriving that late. So. We have no where to go once we arrive. We aren't scheduled to check in for the cruise until 11:00. Will they allow us to check in earlier? How early can we arrive for check in? TIA

I tried searching and didn't find an answer. Does anyone know if you can get an itemized bill of who spent what at the end of the cruise? I've told my teens they each get a certain amount to spend and if they go over the rest is on them. I'm not sure what the easiest/best way to keep track of this will be. Do I need to put them on separate credit cards or can I keep us all on one and get a total for each person? Thanks!

cruise next are pay $125 for $250, and this only if you buy 2 or more. If you just buy one, it's pay $150 for $250. the cruise first $250/$500 are not always offered. the default amount is pay $150 for $300. they do offer the $250/$500 pretty often though And the cruise next also comes with OBC? Or is that something else?

I did a search but did not find the answer. My apologies.

I am trying to understand the difference between these two programs. From my understanding Cruise first you can buy for say $250 and you get $500 towards your next cruise. Does Cruise Next work the same way? It sounds like you get onboard credit with a Cruise Next purchase but is it still pay $250 for $500 towards your next cruise or is it just face value?

I guess that's one way to get cookies available on the ships again. lol

For some reason my other thread with specialty dining questions was locked so I have to start a new thread. I was looking at the menus for the MDR and saw that there's a special upcharge section with steaks and lobster. I was wondering if you can use your specialty dining credits on those items in the MDR instead of going to a specialty restaurant. TIA

Ok, this is fair and makes sense. Thanks for the explanation. I never looked at the dining packages so I didn't know this. I guess I will just ask at the restaurants when I try to make reservations.