Wayward Son

I think you mean, jealously looking in. I'm fine with that. 😄

Correct. The point being, "at the moment". I'm not missing that at all. But there is a reason NCL is building new 3500 passenger ships, while still actively soliciting families -- all the cool stuff the kids want is an upcharge. NCL is also pushing The Haven, at a substantial premium, and are the king of courting solo cruisers, with private lounges and prices less than the standard double-occupancy rate (although still at a significant premium). That is the future, in my very not-a-professional opinion. Have you priced Royal's super-duper-mega ships lately? Outrageous. It can't last forever. And once they start dropping prices, they also start losing profit.

Heh. If you get disappointed over one cancelled cruise port, don't ever cruise NCL (or any other mass-market cruise line). It's pretty standard. NCL is the worst.

We have decided against that option w/ luggage. That is an excellent option. Yes, we are staying at the Airport Sheraton. I'm putting that down as Plan B. If transfers do not become available soon, I'll book the excursion and cancel if things change.

You may have missed that I said "at a profitable price point". Smaller ships have less cabins to sell to make that happen. The checkbook will balance just fine. The big ships have far more cabins to sell to turn a profit and will have a more difficult time. Regardless, any speculation on the issue will resolve itself. Sooner rather than later, I expect. As new cruisers become seasoned cruisers, ports start rejecting the monstrosity ships, and the price for a family gets too high (so they choose land over sea), the smaller ships will win in the end.

Your title says you want a hotel close to the port. Vicinity to the port doesn't matter, you can't really walk to the port from any hotel. You going to need a cab/Uber regardless. If you want to walk to the beach, you have hundreds of options. The only real question is how much you want to spend.

I learned that here before ever booking HAL. Don't do the auto upgrade.

Absolutely. I'm a cabin location fanatic.

Thank you. I booked early and received all the HIA+ benefits. Don't want to lose those. I didn't expect double points, and I also didn't expect to be able to choose the cabin. I assume that doesn't usually happen?

Just to clarify, if you choose an upsell, you still get all the benefits of your original booking, but you get whatever cabin they choose. Correct?

Great review, thanks. Encore is my favorite ship, but I'd never take NCL to Alaska. Based on what I can see (and have read) they just don't do it "right". I'll probably go Holland America. They've been doing it for 1000 or so years, and have it figured out.

🤣 That's the funniest thing I've read this week. Thank you!

2:30 or so has been pretty standard for the room on my last cruises. I've always had bags arrive before 5:30.

You've obviously missed something. Look again. Or, someone doesn't like you. 😆

Yes, and I believe many will. That's kinda the point. Smaller ships, at a profitable price point. I believe the super-duper-mega ships are going to find themselves in a position that they almost have to give away their cabins -- at a loss.

Overbooking makes sense for an airline, when there's almost always another flight to put them on. It makes no sense for a cruise line, where there are no options other than expensive compensation. I honestly hope HAL isn't attempting the best of both -- cancellations with limited compensation.

Another argument for smaller ships is that as more and more ports limit their capacity, the super-duper-mega ships are going to have fewer and fewer places to go. Personally, I think once the current "cruise boom" is done, the biggest ships are going to find themselves in the worst position.

Not on Carnival, apparently. All they needed was a last name and booking number. Pretty sad. Also, when was the last time you actually signed a form for anything regarding a cruise?

That is exactly our intention in August. However, HAL isn't currently offering that service. I find it unlikely that it's sold out (just keep running the shuttles until you're done), so I'm at a loss.

There is a reason that Encore is our favorite NCL ship. But since most of Encore's upper space is taken up by things we never use, the comparison to Rotterdam will be interesting. Also, I have never been on another ship that can compare to Encore's Waterfront or Observation Lounge. I also agree that I've never been on ship where I've said, "I'll never sail this ship again".

I appreciate your perspective, but of course it was "their fault". Crime is crime, but if my mailbox is overflowing and there's a 65" TV sitting in its box outside my house -- yes, it's my fault. No brainer.

I would prefer to believe this is the correct scenario, rather than believe HAL intentionally overbooks CO. Regardless, HAL needs to make OP whole.

I wouldn't bet the farm on that. There is a lot of background "pushback" on the bigger is better concept. There are too many of us who like the smaller ships to be ignored.

Those certainly are mega ships. The term "mega ship" was here long before the ships you mentioned were built. The newer 6000+ plus ships have no classification, other than the "Insane Class".

To each their own. We love the cruise through Puget Sound.