Jose Zalfadilla

I may be in the minority of minorities, but I have never encountered anything negative when using EZ Air. I sometimes use it but mostly book directly with the airline. However, regardless of with whom I book air travel, I've been able to do the same thing with EZ Air that I am able to do with direct airliner booking, i.e., choose desired flight time, choose airline, type of aircraft used (by choosing schedule), choose or change seats, etc., all before Princess pays the flight in full. But, I have been cautioned by airline agents on the phone that the fact Princess will not pay them until close to flight date, exposes me to the risk of having my air booking cancelled because the airline wants the revenue now rather than later. But then, I'm always flexible of last minute changes to travel arrangements. If any of this helps.

Perhaps a cheaper way to get some of the benefits associated with Club Class (or whatever it's called now)? Other than special menu of 2 or 3 additional entrees, one may walk in anytime, perhaps have the same wait staff, shared or private table? I don't know, it's worth trying.

Excellent post!!!! Very detailed and carefully documented. Let me know when you go on any other cruise lines so I can follow your travelogues! Thank you.

Have cruised multiple other lines before and since my brief NCL experience. I'm aware most cruise lines' MDRs offer basically same menus aboard each ship. But, I will be on the Encore in March with grandkids and wonder if the MDRs (Manhattan, Savor, Taste) offer identical menus or not. I believe I saw a suggestion that there were some differences between the 3. No menus seen, only descriptions of their offerings in marketing and abstract terms. Right now, only Manhattan is available for reservations so I don't know how easy it'll be to make reservations in the other 2 MDRs once on board. Thanks for any info.

Asking for a friend. Truly, she doesn't want to engage in online exchanges so I decided to ask for her. They are sailing in April on the ENCORE with ports at Puerto Plata, St Thomas, Tortola, and Great Stirrup. They are 2 adults and their 4 children under 14 years. Mother is looking at between $3K and $4K for NCL provided beach excursions for their children. They asked me if beach excursions purchased on board were necessary or do these ports offer some proximity to beaches that they might find easy to get to -- or -- are there lower priced local vendors that would offer similar beach trips. All the parents' interest is for the beaches anf their kids since they live in the Midwest and this will be their first time in the Caribbean. Any ideas or suggestions?

From that same article: "One worker at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy was seriously injured in an accident at the yard on Friday, January 19. Trade unions representing the shipyard workers called for an immediate strike as they sought to raise awareness of safety issues. Emergency services from Monfalcone in the Trieste region of eastern Italy responded to emergency calls Friday morning. Scaffolding and an enclosed hoist used to lift material to the cruise ship Mein Schiff Relax currently under construction in the shipyard had collapsed." Well, the article refers to this accident as having taken place during the construction of a different cruise ship, in this case the Mein Schiff Relax, so not sure if it still had anything to do with delaying delivery of the Sun Princess to Carnival.

Princess Cruises, Fincantieri Mutually Agree to Postpone Sun Princess Delivery (investorsobserver.com)

Current plan is to hole up at the Marriott on LeJeune Rd and Uber next morning to the NCL terminal. Anyway, I use Reward points for the rooms so the cost of any property is not a problem.

Thanks! Actually, that's exactly what's happening with us. We live out west and our flights to anywhere on the east coast arrive late, usually after 7:30pm or 8:00pm, so other than time for a few drinks at the hotel bar, it is pretty much straight to bed afterward. I lived in Miami back in the 1980s (the Disco era and dancing 'til 4AM) and moved to the Naples area after that, where we spent nearly 30 years, so we're familiar with Miami's ins and outs. So, just getting a good night's sleep is all we care about, no longer interested in seeing the sights or even eating at Versailles or breakfast La Carreta. Point well taken, though! Thanks again.

For you Marriott people: Have you found it better and more convenient to book a pre-cruise stay at a Marriott property near MIA or near Miami cruise terminal?

Yes. I 'm aware of all their requirements, prohibitions, restrictions, etc., re. how to obtain back credit. Reviewing all of that was my first step since the credit had to come from NCL and not anyone else. I just thought I'd place my question before this august board in case someone else had been able to obtain credit outside of the NCL stipulations that were pasted on here in red. I'll admit my case is unusual, given the date and circumstances of my initial cruise. So...we'll see.

Found these pix from our 1st cruise on NCL in July 1974. NCL was then known as Norwegian Caribbean Lines and only had 3 ships, Skyward, Southward, and Starward. We were on a 7-day cruise out of Miami on the Skyward, sailing to Puerto Plata, San Juan, St. Thomas, and St. John. Now, I'm wondering, is there any way the new NCL will give us 7 points for the cruise? 🤣 Their "find a missing cruise" option does not include our ship and other than the pix I have, I no longer have receipts ($350 each for the cruise or $700 total for the 2 of us newlyweds) or the daily news briefs we used to get every morning that included actual news from around the world, weather for the area we were visiting, and some light humor "quotes of the day." Or, will I waste my time trying to get the Miami office to believe me and at least give me honorary credits?

Excellent review and post, BirdTravels! Thank you!

Not a cruise novice but last cruised with NCL in 2015 on a Med cruise, before they began building their floating condos on barges with theme parks in upper decks. In fact, I’ve only sailed 4 other times with NCL, the first in 1974 when they had only 3 ships: La Niña, La Pinta, and the Santa María. Actually, I’m wrong, they were the Skyward, Sunward, and Southward. Now, however, I have 3 young grandkids who have wanted to sail on the Encore, after seeing various YouTube videos with friends who have been on it and raved about it to my grandkids. So, knowing full well what my wife and I are getting into, we decided to take the kids on the Encore during the 1st week of April out of Miami, as a reward for having achieved and superseded their personal and academic goals this year. Yes, I’m aware of the number of kids who will join them in their misadventures during their Spring Break, so we decided to add their parents (daughter and son-in-law) on the cruise to keep track of them. So, question: How is the Encore compared with other kid friendly NCL ships? I know I can always stay out of kid venues and hole up in a bar or remote adult section of the ship, but just wondered about the amount of kid traffic on such a large capacity ship, whether they will need reservations for many of the kid activities they’d want to join, etc. They are 13 & 11 y/o boys and a 9 y/o girl.

...the embedded link to "Purchase Now" does not link to any Chef's Table offer on the X website. it only links to the general page that offers multiple dinner nights at specialty restaurants, excursions, drink packages, gifts, etc. No Chef's Table. Is this some generic email that everyone gets at some point, even after the allotted number of dinner guests for the Table has been fulfilled?