HenkNetherlands

1 hour ago, Funky Fusion FoodsJ said:

With NCL's free at sea with most people having the open bar it has gone a little bit they way, however nothing as much as Carnival.

I've cruised twice with NCL now, once on the Bliss, once on the Dawn. Both were an absolute pleasure thanks to the crew, and super friendly and engaging fellow passengers. I haven't seen any problems with drunk passengers, my guess is because people aren't trying to hit the drink limit like on Carnival and RCL, because there isn't one on NCL. + both cruises were a week or much longer so you'd have to pace yourself if you want to make it to the end of the journey, unlike the 2-5 night party cruises.

11 hours ago, IRMO12HD said:

Navigator of the Seas Cabo and Ensenada, March 22-27, 2023!  Interior Virtual Balcony.  Looking forward to re-visiting the Riviera Hotel in Ensenada for another original margarita (plus it's just so pretty!), and whale watching or snorkeling in Cabo.

Margaritas followed by whale watching, sounds awesome ^_^ . Have fun!

@PhotoDennisLovely dog 🙂

6 minutes ago, hallux said:

Go to the NCL forum section.  In the area above the list of topics is a drop-down where you can select the ship you want to search for posts about.  There may be some recent dailies there, the CD is listed on the back page of them if that page was included.  The CD's change too, though.  When I sailed in April 2019 I had one CD, when I was back in October there was a different CD (both EXCELLENT!).

many thanks ^_^ 

5 minutes ago, hallux said:

Last I knew there wasn't a single solo host on a ship for every single cruise.  They switch it up so they participate in a variety of activities.  When I was on the Bliss in April 2019 the crew member that was the solo host had done it 2 weeks in a row, but he ASKED to do it (there were some B2B cruisers from the first week that were staying, he wanted to stick with them I think).  When I sailed in October the solo host was a different crew member even though the solo host from my April trip was still on board.

I was just wondering who my cruise director was going to be. Is there a website where it's listed who the director is going to be? For the NCL Bliss specifically. 

On 8/3/2022 at 10:26 PM, calumtdon said:

I also find myself a solo traveler and will be on the Christmas/New Year’s cruise on the celebrity constellation leaving Tampa on December 23 this year. This will be my first solo cruise. Looking forward to hopefully meeting some new friends and enjoying the holidays.  

Hope you enjoy yourself! ❤️

8 hours ago, Tinyrn said:

I just booked my first solo cruise on a big ship, the Royal Princess for April 23, 2023. I am very excited, but also nervous. This is a Pacific Northwest cruise.

I have only done a small cruise alone, Lindblad last year to Alaska on a ship with maybe 50 other people. I am doing another Lindblad trip this September with 100 passengers, again to Alaska. 

Would love to hear your advice, tips, etc!

I wouldn't worry about the cruise ship size. Folks are the same everywhere for the most part.
Just chill and do your own thing, strike up a conversation or two, you'll be making friends in no time.
For example I made friends just chilling by the pool and having a sip at a bar. 
Best thing about solo cruising is that you can do what you like, when you like, and when you feel like it, make some new friends. Enjoy your trip ^^

Eyoo lovely people! Good to see y'all here.
Cruised last month on the NCL Dawn solo, and it was great! 
Will be cruising on the NCL Bliss on 25 feb as well.

13 minutes ago, Sthrngary said:

@HenkNetherlandsThis reach out might seem odd.  Many years ago (Decades), I did a program for Nissan of the Netherlands.  It was one of the most critical parts and experiences of my life.  I visited many times. One time that comes to mind was a day called, Queens Day.  

 

Your country is lovely.  The people are super friendly.  The history is very interesting.  One of the people who was one of the many host I had was also named Henk.  Seeing your name reminded me of him and that lovely time.  

 

I hope you next cruise is a lovely one.  

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

Thank you for the compliment about my country, and i'm glad you have fond memories of your time here! These kinds of spontaneous interactions is part of why I like cruising so much!
You visited on Queen's day too, that's a great time to be here. Lots of parties and almost everyone is off work and just being happy!

Have fun on your next cruise ^_^

23 hours ago, queenschick9b said:

I was able to get for my cruise on Joy next month! I usually do the spa pass bc I tend to cruise in the winter and the Joy doesn't have that type of Thermal spa.  What are the hours of the vibe?  I know there isn't as much of an issue about getting a chair but I (and my pale skin) definitely would like to be under an umbrella (wind allowing).  Any advice?

I think its from 07:00 to 23:00(7am to 11pm). That's what the website says atleast. As far as an umbrella goes, i'm not sure how that works, but you can always try asking a friendly crewmember ^^

Thanks to this thread I learned that you can pre-book the Vibe simply by calling, even before it goes on sale on the website. Managed to snag a pass for the whole cruise, Bliss 25 feb  Panama canal, a sailing which appears to be filling up real fast. 
Love that I won't have to worry about being first on board, thanks folks!

On 6/24/2022 at 9:20 PM, Sailing Smooth said:

We boarded in Amsterdam.  We had arrived days earlier and toured other areas.  Come early enough to adjust to time zone.  First day is a tough one. Recommend a canal tour and getting tickets to Anne Frank house (month before) if Amsterdam is your port.  

 

Boarding in Amsterdam was slow going.  They did check our vaccine cards and passports, but disregarded any check in times and NCl statuses.  So we came after our time and waited a fair bit of time.  They didn't seem to have enough people working check-in and more than enough at the vaccine card/covid test check counter.  They seemed to have trouble with printing room cards early on--should do like Carnival and leave them outside of rooms. Once we boarded we headed to dining reservations as we had a large group of 16--it seemed that some of the reservations we thought we had were not to be found, but we worked out some new ones.  Then headed to  O'Sheehans for some lunch.  Always a dependable place to grab a bite or a drink.  The show on the first night was Shimi Goodman--he was good.  Sang some Broadway tunes, opera, etc.  On our whole cruise there was only one show per night (8 pm) as we had less than 1,000 people on board.

 

Day Two was a sea day--time to sleep in.  It's cool in the northern area of Europe, so little time was spent outside on most days..  The warmest place we found was in the smoking area up at the Bimini Bar.  The wind was blocked so we could enjoy the sun.  Noticed throughout the cruise that the shops were seldom open and definitely not always open in the hours posted.  

 

Day three-Kiel--we found transportation for our group from shoreexcursions.  They were waiting for us at the port and took us to Hamburg (@2 hour drive one way)--saw several sites--town square, drove by St. Nikolai Church, Speicherstadt, St. Pauli, Alster Lakes.  Had time to get out and walk around at Alster Lakes and Town Square.  Ate at a Brewery downtown Hamburg at Brauhaus Joh. Albrecht on the river--great location and good German food. When we went back, half of group was dropped at port other half went to Kieler Brauerie.  It's a short walk to back to the ship from there less than 15 minutes.

 

Day four Poland--went on NCl tour to Stutthoff Concentration Camp and Gdansk 8 hour tour.  The first part was so very sobering.  The concentration camp still has many buildings in place with much information about the camp buildings, its prisoners, and its history.  We began with a short video to give us some background.  Then, toured several buildings.  Water closet access is somewhat limited, so the lines were kind of long when we arrived.  After Stutthoff we went to Gdansk.  We had very limited ideas of what to expect there and we were pleasantly surprised.  Beautiful in tact old town area there with many souvenir shops, restaurants, ice cream stores, etc.  We spent some time shopping, having a beer, buying candy, etc.  There was no main dining on the ship that night, so we ate at O'Sheehans.

 

Day five Klaipeda Lithuania-  some members of our group went on tours (kayaking was fun), but my family just walked around the old town.  It's an easy walk from the ship.  Lots of restaurants along the river.  Fun places to rent paddle boats--they have a Flintstones one that is super cute!  This town seemed to have less historical buildings, but it was due to their destruction from after World War II by Soviets.  I found this quote:  Soviets decided to demolish all the city's major churches. Many houses in the Old Town and especially the New Town were destroyed as well during the 1940s and 1950s Sovietization of the city. These changes left Klaipėda without some of its original character that once made it unique among Lithuania's cities.  We walked around Klaipeda and found the statues that are scattered throughout the city.  There was someone local at the pier that handed out maps with various points of interest.

 

I'll add other stops soon...

 

 

 

Thanks for your summary of the trip! I was on this sailing as well, and I can confirm the food was great. But the people even more so! 
This sailing was my very first cruise, and it is addicting... so much so that i've already booked a Panama cruise from Miami on feb 25. 
For everyone who was on the Dawn with me, thank you for a lovely first cruise experience!