macewank

It's always told me to check back August 8th in the app and the site.

Yeah I called the main number and my pcc. Both said "it's not available check back tomorrow" which doesn't make a lick of sense since yesterday was day 120 when they were supposed to go up. Haven and higher tier latitudes get earlier booking dates so I'm guessing they gobbled all of them up.

Went to book my Vibe passes for the Dec 8 sailing and they were sold out before they ever went on sale (assuming this is latitudes status related. I'm only silver). Looks like only having 2 US sailings made this a popular trip. Wooooof! Crossing my fingers I'll be able to snag a pass before we sail

Looking forward to hanging with Curly, Mike, and Rommel on the Viva vibe this December!

There are no cabanas in the Vibe on the Prima, so I don't think that's going to be an option for you. Haven does not get entry into the Vibe, and if Vibe is at capacity, Haven won't be able to skirt that number. I'm told Vibe has more chairs than they sell passes, which is not the case in Haven, so.. That's a perk, I suppose, that brings Haven folks to VBC. The idea with the Vibe is really that nobody under 18 is allowed to enter. It's quiet and there are private amenities to take advantage of if you're so inclined (2 hot tubs, the bar, bathrooms, etc...) .. If the weather is cooperating, it's 100% worth it in my experience.

As a solo, it's really annoying that these offers never apply to studios or other inside cabins. Really devalues the cruisenext program for us.

Would be incredibly difficult for law enforcement to prove that unless she outright admitted it, and even then, would it be worth their time?

NCL may ban her or something but it's incredibly unlikely she'd face legal problems here (US) given the crime didn't happen here.

It wouldn't surprise me if NCL did get a fine for bringing it in, and it would surprise me even less if they passed that right along to the person, along with notifying US CBP that she boarded with drugs. Play stupid games win stupid prizes.

I think Vibe passes go on sale 120 days before sailing. Don't quote me on that though. It's definitely some pre-defined amount of days though.

Excellent write-up! I was on this sailing as well and think you hit most of the notes. This wasn't my first NCL sailing (I've done the Encore previously) and really other than the layout being slightly wonky (this especially came into play during disembarkation), I loved the ship. That last sea day was, indeed, rough. Kevin said he was sailing well above normal cruising speed back to NYC to try and stay ahead of the storm that was coming up from the South (the reason we had to leave Bermuda early) and between that and the storm eventually catching us.. wooof. It was tough riding for sure.

Trying to decide if I want to splurge for an early July as well. Definitely know I'll get use out of it on embarkation day, and probably the first sea day, but after that...I'm not sure. I used it during my trip to Bermuda out of NYC earlier this month, I guess, so as long as the weather isn't *worse* than the cold weather around NYC, I think it'll work?

Local does change to a limited late nite menu and stops serving alcohol, though. Something to keep in mind.

Yeah this was less of a "go to the beach" cruise and more of a "I don't want to be in Illinois for a week and might as well tick a couple travel boxes" :P. New cruise ship and new country. Glad to hear nothing's going on with the port. Bummer to hear about the weather though. Looking at accuweather's future forecast it looks like it's gonna be pretty crummy next week (Wednesday night says 25mph winds and rain.. Thursday is warmer and not raining, but still gonna be pretty windy) so I guess we'll see what happens with my trip. Has anyone ever run into this on a 5 day trip? The itinerary is: Depart NYC Sea Bermuda (overnight stay) Sea Arrive NYC Guessing with the 2 day stay in Bermuda that there's a chance we could make it down to the Caribbean or something, but probably not? Anything else around there that we could be diverted to? I haven't seen anything about other ports of call.

Hey all! Not sure if this belongs here or in the port of call section, but the question is specific to NCL so I figured I'd go here. I've been watching the Bermuda Cruise Schedule page (here: http://www.marops.bm/Documents/Shipping_schedules/2023 Cruise Ship Schedule.pdf) and it looks like NCL has not actually docked there since mid-January (several ships have been scheduled but they were all cancelled). Just curious, is there something going on with the port or is it just crummy luck? I'm going out on the Prima next week from NYC to Bermuda and hoping we don't end up with a Cruise to Nowhere (not sure if we'd have enough time to divert to a different port or not)

oh no! i'm on the prima in a couple of weeks and was looking forward to saying hi

No wristbands on my pre-Christmas cruise on the Encore. They did give us a keycard to access Vibe though... Which was sort of odd, because the room key works too. I'm quite sure people were giving the extra key to their friends to sneak them in.

When in December was that? Nicklas Persson was at Captain when we sailed just before Christmas.

looking forward to following the journey!

if it's available on your boat, it will be included in the regular drink package

yeah that's weird.. but you can probably just show up earlier if you want. i don't think the check in times are enforced

there are hot tubs and a bar. it's supposed to be a low-key alternative to the main lido deck (sans pool, obviously)

I probably caught COVID on my Encore sailing in late December (18th thru 23rd) which sucked, but it wasn't a consideration when I booked the cruise and hasn't been for booking future ones. At this point, I've put myself in the best position possible to deal with it and I'm mostly done letting it impact my plans

As with anything, it's always good to shop around. I didn't see anything wrong with the prices I paid (with credit) for a recent excursion in Ocho Rios, but I've been looking at the prices for stuff at my upcoming Bermuda cruise and...yeah, the cruise line has quite a bit of markup in it (more than the $50 credit for a few, in fact) so... Do the research, book accordingly.

Solo cabins on the Encore (Breakaway+) open inward, but...there is no vestibule. IIRC, the balcony cabins opened outward