laudergayle

I was thinking of the security as a pre-board, pre-checkin check. If you don’t look like the photo you uploaded, the checkin agent will be more diligent in checking your passport or DL/BC…before issuing you your cruise card.

Yeah I saw that…fortunately I was able to edit…but not before you saw it…oops. Sorry.

Really?!? I would say uploading pre-cruise is the pain. However, it could be an added security check for the checkin agents.

When you do a general search the port taxes are listed in very small print at the bottom. I noticed the bigger the ship the higher the taxes. Makes sense.

I would agree that you are likely to see some partial closures of various venues throughout the cruise…and you can only hope that it isn’t an entire venue for the entire cruise. If it were me, I would shop around to see if any other cruises meet my needs/desires. I am that person who would fret the entire time before the cruise.

We paid $59 per person in February and we rarely used it. It was too windy so they didn’t put out the umbrellas, so it was just a sun deck with a bar. I will say, the bar served the best drinks. There was plenty of loungers and fun on the public deck. The only reason I could see paying $199 per person is if you wanted to pretend you were staying in The Haven.

As a non-Haven cruiser, we haven’t received vinyl tags since 2022. So…we bought the tag holders from Amazon with the stainless attachment. However, getting that stainless wire open is ridiculously difficult. I have to put on readers in order to see which part to turn…and even then I often can’t figure out which way to turn.

I agree that the arrival/departure for the cruises out of Seattle are logistically easier than the Vancouver/Seward/Anchorage cruise. IMO, the Vancouver to Seward has an amazing itinerary…Inside Passage (the Canadian passage), full 8+ hours in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and both Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier. The last two ports on the Seattle itineraries are short, with Ketchikan being half day morning and a shuttle ride to town. Victoria is an evening stop, and while Victoria is a beautiful city, the amount of time doesn’t allow you to fully enjoy it. However, the Encore offers more to enjoy onboard. We cruised out of Seattle in May 2022 and we are seriously thinking about the Vancouver/Seward in May 2024. Whichever you choose, you will be sure to enjoy.

Well to be fair, we did travel midweek as to avoid over-crowding. I waffled between Brennan’s, Commanders and Two Sisters…and it was for dinner. My kids enjoyed Commander’s Palace recently…and they said it was amazing. Despite the less than desired experience at one place, NOLA, for me, has the BEST food. NYC is nice because it is so eclectically diverse, but it is expensive. NOLA is Cajun, creole at its best and mostly affordable. Okay..now I need to look for cruises out of NOLA.

Court of Two Sisters was on my bucket list for nearly 25 years. Last July we did an impromptu trip to NOLA in July (can you say HOT). Well, I finally got to experience my dream restaurant. Oh my, what a total letdown. They were clearly stretched for staff…service and chef. I’m so sad that many of our finest establishments have suffered so much post-pandemic.

Yeah I didn’t realize they called the area around those ports the inside passage. So yes, it would be the Canadian Inside passage that NCL does on the smaller ships.

Yeah, in looking at others pics…I don’t think mine was cooked properly and,as you stated, too large.

I don’t think Encore can do inside passage due to size. Look at your itinerary map vs. that of a northbound Jewel out of Vancouver and you will see where the inside passage is.

I ordered it on NCL based on a dish my husband had a few years ago at a Wolfgang Puck venue. His was mixed with bok choy and some other things and I think it was called Korean BBQ pork belly. It actually did taste delicious. That being said, the slab of Pork Belly I got on the Breakaway was just nasty.

Call customer service and ask for excursion desk. 1-866-625-1167 in US. You should be able to cancel her excursion and it will be refunded to the card used to pay for it. Have her booking confirmation open as they will need info off that.

Don’t order it…it is DISGUSTING…lol. I ordered once, and I wondered why our server said, oh you’re eating light tonight. I took one bite and thought I was gonna puke. Needless to say, I couldn’t wait for dessert.

‘72 Dodge Duster cruising to Steve Miller Band The Joker.

I can’t wait till I get luggage tags sooo I can write my name on them. 105 days seems like forever!

LeBistro- Goat Cheese Croquet salad, the filet and Ile Flottante for dessert. Cagney’s — basic steakhouse. Shrimp cocktail, petite filet, baked potato and OMG Butterscotch cheesecake. Food Republic - new favorite specialty. Firecracker shrimp, water chestnut & shitake dumplings (amazing flavor), all the rolls. Los Lobos - I wouldn’t waste a specialty dining credit, but I would pay ala carte for the table side guacamole and chips.

LOL…I can’t unsee the clown now.🤣

Also, if you haven’t already, go to NCL.com. At the top click Explore…then click Ships. You can see the deck plan for the Epic by selecting What’s Onboard. In the shot below, I think you would probably like the BA cabins (magenta color) that are within the black box I drew. Best to you in finding the perfect cabin.🙂

We did cabin 12017. It is the furthest you can get forward before you get to PrivaSea cabins. We loved being on Deck 12 as it was an easy walk up/down stairs to the pool deck snd Garden Cafe on Deck 15. It is considered a Larger Balcony, and honestly I wouldn’t necessarily pay more for it. I liked being forward because we didn’t look down on lifeboats. Also if I were picking, I would pick a cabin with the bed by the balcony for two reasons. 1) if you do room service the steward doesn’t have to crawl past the bed to get to your living area, 2) there is more room between the sink and loveseat. Here is a pick of our cabin, and the arrow shows the cabin n the ship. The cabins in front of the red squiggly line are more likely to not look down on the lifeboats.

The Thanksgiving 2022 Black Friday sale was 50% off and the cruise we had been watching really did reflect a savings for those few days. We booked a Club Balcony on Bliss to Mexican Riviera in November 2022 for November 2023. The Club Balcony has been running $1000-$1200 per person more than what we paid. Score!

We had 13100 on Prima. We thought how cool it would be to sit on the balcony and watch the ship going forward. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. The solid barrier at the bottom doesn’t allow for you to sit and see anything but the barrier. You could stand, but it’s really windy. We determined that we wouldn’t do forward facing balcony again. If you’re looking at the suites on the corner, you would have both a forward snd side balcony which would be okay. You can zoom in on the photo and see the balcony. it was no issue to keep drapes closed at night as you could see nothing outside on the balcony at night.

Yes. As unfortunate as it is..it is reality.