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Count me in among people who tip hotel housekeepers. That is some hard, thankless work, and I like to leave a tip. I personally think it makes more sense to tip the person making my bed and cleaning my toilet than the person who dropped a plate of food off to my room. That being said, I still tip the person who delivers room service.

Thank you!

The email I received states that I need to print off luggage tags which are enclosed in the eDocs and attach the tags to my luggage. I don't see any luggage tags within the eDocs when I click the link. Is there some other place to find them?

My understanding is that main dining room reservations are now accepted prior to boarding only when the reservations are for parties of 6 or more.

This is very helpful, thank you!

As others have mentioned this is unlikely to be related to the tap water and could very well be related to the salt content of the food. Other possible contributors include heat (people tend to be more swollen in the heat than in the cold) and activity. If you spent more time on your feet than usual, that can also cause your ankles to swell.

I see in the image above that you can use CC for free (presumably does not use your WiFi minutes). Is there something special you have to do to make sure it won't eat up your WiFi minutes if you go on the websites that are free, or will it automatically not count those toward your minutes?

If you are traveling in general (not just on cruises) it is a good idea to keep a list of your medications and their doses if you think you might have trouble remembering in a stressful moment. Hopefully you will never need it, but in the event of a medical emergency, it can be helpful to for the medical staff taking care of you to know which medications you take and what doses.

This is super helpful, thank you for taking the time to explain!

Thank you for your response! The main reasons we are looking at other cruise lines (and why we are doing Haven for the cruise we have booked) is because of two issues: food and crowds. We aren't people who need the most interesting, avant-garde food out there, but we have been disappointed in what has been, in our opinion, a degradation in the quality of food over the past few decades. We used to always sail Royal Caribbean, but we are sad to see that offerings like good steaks, lobster, etc. have become rarities in the main dining room on RCCL. We also don't really love the giant mega ships. We are not crowds people, and we are definitely not looking for a party atmosphere. We don't need really small (like less than 1000), but we are also not opposed to it. The thing we're trying to avoid is the 5,000+ passenger mega ships. We also value service. We know that the crew on every ship is working their tails off to give the best service they can, but sometimes they are overwhelmed on the larger ships because there are just so many people.

Do you have recommendations for where to read a good comparison of the cruise line categories? My family has toyed with the idea of going with a non-mainstream cruise line in the future, but I'm trying to do some research that would get me direct comparisons and help us figure out what best suits our goals.

That's great advice, thanks!

Okay, thanks for the info!

If you book a spa service such as a massage, do you get access to the thermal suite for some period of time before your service, or does thermal suite access always need to be purchased separately?

Thanks for all these updates! I will be going on my first Haven cruise next month (although on a different ship). I've really enjoyed reading all of the helpful info you've provided!

Thanks, everyone, for all of the input!

Thanks for the helpful information, everyone! I'll be sure to look into making my reservation soon and see about contacting the concierge.

Thanks @DorothyB and @Sand and Seas for the info! If I bring my own reusable cup (like a Yeti or something), will they fill it with soda at the bar for me, or do they only serve in glasses from the bar? Sorry for all the random questions, just trying to get my packing list sorted out.

Thanks for the advice! That's a good point about being in the Haven on the last night. On previous cruises, we were on a cruise line that did scheduled seatings at the same table with the same waitstaff rather than freestyle, and we really enjoyed having an opportunity to thank our waitstaff at the end of the cruise.

Random question, but back in the day when I used to cruise with other cruise lines, I would purchase the soda package, and it would come with a reusable cup. Does NCL give you a reusable cup if you have a soda and/or alcoholic beverage package, or do you just get your sodas in glasses from the bar?

Thanks for the advice! We get one for each traveler since it's a 5 night cruise and we have Free at Sea, not Free at Sea Plus.

Hello, fellow cruisers! I am going on my first ever NCL cruise, and my first cruise on any cruise line in over a decade. I am very excited to return to cruising! I will be staying in a Haven suite and have the Free at Sea package. I am trying to decide when to book my specialty dinner. Does anyone have thoughts about the strategy of this? For example, is it better to do it on embarkation day, on an at sea day, or on a port day? Since I'm planning to do the Haven restaurant for the other dinners, does it make sense to do a specialty dining option in the middle for variety? Or does it not matter at all? I would love to hear everyone's thoughts. I also wanted to take a moment to say thank you to all the lovely people on this message board who have passed along thousands of helpful tips. I've been scouring these boards for weeks and have already learned so much!