carohs

I enjoyed your review. Thanks for letting us tag along!

We went last month on the Jewel. Cabo is much too touristy for my liking and I really don't get what's so special about a rock, I mean arch. But Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan were great. I would book the itenerary again in a heartbeat, I just have to find the time to do that and everything else I wanna do.

Everything! It just checks all the boxes. My favorite part is that it fulfills all my requirements for how I'd like to spend my vacation days without having to compromise with my travel companions or budget. Everything is already on the ship so I don't have to spend time on transportation from one venue to another either so I feel like I'm maximizing my time on activities I enjoy. Extra bonus points because I don't have to preplan anything onboard to have a great time. I do take the time to research ports, but sea days are my favorite.

Agree some positives some negatives. For #3-5, definitely negatives in my eyes. One of my reasons for cruising is how very little preplanning and research I really need to do to have a great vacation. If I choose to research that's up to me, but I shouldn't have to, to have the option of enjoying/participating in every aspect of an "all inclusive" vacation. IMO NCL had more hits than misses at a price I am okay paying. Our food was good to actually delicious but I'm not so picky and love trying new things. Plus anything I get on a ship is better than what I can cook myself at home. For those that say they don't cruise for the food, well no. But also you gotta eat every day and if it's subpar, then it does take away from the overall enjoyment of the cruise. Also, people are always generally in a better mood when they're well fed which adds to the vibe of the whole ship. Happy neighbors or hangry neighbors, where would you like to be?

oooh, oooh, oooh! International costumes. Love it!!!

With that many families on board you will have to increase your tolerance level. Have you been to the parks lately? It's really no better or worse than there I would say. There will be lots of well behaved kids and lots of not so well behaved kids. Try to be empathetic. They're either excited or tired or hungry or had too much ice cream, but they're all on vacation too. It's hard learning to manage emotions and behaviors in any kind of new situation, especially for children, and cruising isn't something most kids do on a regular basis. Same for the parents! But if you go in with an open mind you will have a great time! Your grandson certainly will.

For those who have done PCC, I'm seeing that there's a Luau during dinner option and the Ha: Breath of Life show after. Two shows in one night seems like a lot, plus DS and DD won't eat if they're distracted. Are we missing a lot if we don't do the Ali'i package?

DD had 3 of these as her dinner (minus the jalapeño). The size was shocking because I had never seen anything served on a tortilla chip labeled as a tostada. However, since DD ordered 2 more servings I knew they must have been delicious.

Do you know the meaning of the word expectation? Your list of "expectations" for NCL are not the reality. Definitely more of a "wish list" than a true belief most of that will take place. If you have that kind of expectation from a cruise, than the mass-market lines are not for you. For those complaining about the amount of money spent to book a cruise (it's a lot!), have you ever considered how much more expensive it would be if all ship employees were paid US prevailing wages? Compare the cost of a 7-day sailing on the POA vs a 7-day sailing to the Caribbean, yikes!

That's awful!!

130 lb minimum to do a ride? That's crazy. I'm 5'6" and until COVID I only ever went over when I was pregnant. Why would they make a ride that excludes so many?

Thanks for sharing! I've been considering rebooking but this is a big negative. I had hoped with a longer sailing there would be less kids and large family groups, and more photo ops, so the lines wouldn't be as long. Hopefully it gets better the second week!

I'd be thrown off the brand too if I'd had the same experience with guest services as you. More than anyone else, it is their responsibility to ensure your cruise enjoyment and make things right if there are issues. Negative points for asking for a manager over a repeat issue, and never getting a follow up call or anything when they were unavailable. 👎 I hope that if you do give NCL another chance, it goes much better. But hey, there's plenty of cruise lines out there exactly because we all have slightly different preferences. Thanks for your feedback.

Are zero-proof the same as virgin? Is this the new PC term? Heh my bad Eta that a zero proof cocktail in my mind does not automatically equal a mocktail. Which is to me is same ingredients minus the liquor, eliminating the need to call it zero-proof. A quick internet search there is such a thing as zero proof liquors, who knew?

I believe nonalcoholic beers/cocktails have just as much alcohol as decaf coffee has caffeine. They're not truly non-alcoholic.

We decided to take the 25% incentive FCC on another line. What did we do? We got vaccinated, we took pre-tests, embarkation day tests, and wore masks the entire time. Was it ideal? No. Did we know we'd risk post-cruise quarantine? Yes. But we used our FCC and don't regret it one bit. We had a great time, and those ships being only so full and everyone vax and tested gave me more peace of mind then going to the grocery store. I also took airline credits, with the full understanding of the terms. I used what I could but I definitely lost cash on that gamble. I did not blame the airline. There's a reason they offer you 25%, and it has everything to do with the terms. They don't give out "free money" for nothing. They fully expect some people will not use the FCC so it's a win/win for them.

Those are good rates, are you booking through Hertz directly? I will be booking through National/Enterprise, did you notice if they offered a shuttle at any of the ports?

What? Already sheesh, just to end up on Ebay. I keep eyeing September cruises hoping to get a chance at the Silver merch but now I'm thinking that is way too late. Can't believe the TA is that full. Usually it's on the Magic and that's a smaller ship. But it sounds great first day nonetheless. Enjoy!

Sounds like the views were just amazing, wonderful, fantastic, etc... I must look into this if we get the opportunity.

What's the fuss about defrauding NCL? Beverage package applies to guest 1-8 if over 21. There is no difference in cruise fare whether 2 or 3 or 4 adults in the room. Technically the only difference is the gratuities per person. If anything, getting a drink for someone without a drink package is a loss to the bartenders. This is easily solved with some cash on hand for tips. This with the assumption is NCL actually disburses the gratuities to the bartending team but we all know NCL isn't exactly transparent about that either.

I'm not disagreeing with you but you seem to missing my point. 1) Flexibility in arrival date. There have been reports of flights issued to arrive morning of, and also the day prior, without asking for deviation. Are you the person who is cranky if you don't have a chance to rest by arriving the night before, or the person who isn't okay with an extra night unexpected hotel cost? 2) Flexibility in arrival times. Uh oh, you might be left with hours before you can board with nothing to do! Or conversely arrive without enough time to explore the embarkation city. 3) Flexibility if flights go wrong. Yes, this can happen booking on your own but I have read enough (even just 1 is enough) reports that NCL won't talk to the airline, and the airline won't talk to you in these situations. While there are reports of NCL helping, even just once when they don't is enough for me to call that a gamble. I'm not saying it's likely to happen, I'm saying it's not 100% guaranteed that it won't.

Funny story: One day we had the option of both. Actually, it wasn't Pho but I couldn't pronounce what it was and it looked like Pho to me. This day DS was feeling under the weather and asked for soup. He loves the soup at our local Pho restaurant, so I bring him a bowl with broth and noodles. He complained it's not what he wants he just wanted the broth, etc etc. Enough whining later, we're on vacation, I go grab another bowl, this time chicken noodle (no noodles). He was incredulous I didn't brink him noodles in his Chicken Noodle soup and whined about that too! But he did finish the broth at least.

1st, sorry to hijack your thread @Liz.m.m. Please keep us posted if there's any updates. I would argue, given the number of disgruntled horror stories on here, that it is that much of a gamble. You have to be willing to take a chance it could go that wrongly. Although I would also argue that buying the BOGO air is far more likely to have a positive than a negative outcome and I've seen positive stories on here too.

I haven't been on the Spirit. We only sailed on the Jewel and loved it for the most part. I like read books, relax under the sun, crafty type of activities, and night dancing. The Jewel offered all of the above and I was never bored. In fact, sometimes I had trouble finding the time to eat dinner. On port days there weren't any increase of activities though and they definitely have more options in the evening than during the day. You might get bored during the day if there's a scheduled activity that is isn't interesting for you. We didn't because we used those as opportunities to read, play cards, or hot tub. Food was good, and especially the cafe always had options I was willing to try. Some of it was ok to good, but there were also things I tried that were truly delicious. The soup options were interesting, some things I had never heard of before. That's great because I love trying new things. Luckily I have good eaters because DD and DS also ate everything they tried, but they also mostly stuck to pizza and pasta. I didn't even realize Mac wasn't available in the dining rooms but it certainly was in the Cafe. That's also a plus because I do discourage my kids to eat it at every meal. The negs: free coffee was only okay and the mugs are a disgrace. Bring your own mug at the least. Smoking smell permeated beyond the casino boundaries and we "had to" walk around by using another deck. Kids club closing for intervals was more inconvenient than convenient.

Let's be real. "Are you flexible" is the totality in deciding whether or not to use the BOGO air. Are you willing to fly any airline, at any time? Do you have the flexibility to make alternate arrangements if a problem with the flight arises? Will you get your knickers in a bunch when said problem occurs and NCL refuses to help, or roll with it and get it resolved by doing all the leg work yourself? Does a TA really need ask any other question to give you a "probably" response? If you need more than that, then you as a consumer should engage in further discussion. Anything else is a sales pitch. Aka, an effort to sell you something that you otherwise wouldn't have purchased.