gizfish

If it's important to you, leave it home as there is a chance you may get a security person who is overly zealous. I speak from personal experience with the NY port for an NCL cruise. I had a small screw driver set that I received from some company's promotion; small plastic case, maybe 1 1/2" by 2" in size with a handle and different types of screwdriver attachments in it in my purse. I wasn't planning on taking the ship apart, and in all honesty thought nothing of having it as it was always in my bag. Sure enough the security person confiscated it, only because she could not understand why I had it, even though it resembles nothing on the list of prohibited items.

Be aware that the theater is used in the mornings for rehearsal, and if you are above it you will hear and feel the bass from the music.

Wow so I'm guessing someone who goes on a ship that does not have Moderno on it should take NCL to court....I mean the web site advertised that Moderno is a thing, so obviously everyone is entitled to it. Arguments like yours are the reason McDonald's has to write that their hot coffee cup is hot and my hairdryer has to have a note on it saying I shouldn't take it into the shower. If people actually bought into this type of thing as false and deceptive, women everywhere would be suing the tampon companies because they still can't ride a horse or ace that high dive.

If you need to eat at a specific time due to medical reasons, fill out the special needs from that should be available in the manage your booking section. Once you get your key card, if the time on it isn't okay, you can go to the restaurant listed in the daily sheet (I think it was between 1 pm and 4 pm) to ask staff to change it. MSC assigns dining to those in Bella or Fantastica the traditional way with same time and table for the whole cruise. If you are in Aurea, you have anytime dining in the same restaurant each night. You can probably make a reservation for the whole cruise at the same time in Aurea. With regards to the "bad reviews," I would hope you don't spoil your cruise before it even starts because of some negative reviews. People tend to share more negative opinions than positive opinions. Also, reviews here are not necessarily an accurate representation since the number of cruise critic members are such a small proportion in the total amount of people cruising.

Fact remains this is still not something you have paid for.

Let Bistro and other specialty restaurants are technically not something you have paid for. Their availability is not part of the inclusive cruise price. A charter group booking the main theater, the main pool, the buffet, etc., for the cruise would be something that you paid for in your cruise price. Even stretching this to say specialty restaurants are something you are entitled to with FAS doesn't make a good argument since it isn't like all the restaurants are unavailable, just the one you happen to want. Yep it sucks to look forward to something and then find it's not available for your cruise. And it sucks when weather makes a port stop not possible, or a show is cancelled due to high seas, or the buffet runs out of something. But stuff happens. So where do you draw the line with making an inconvenience into a much bigger issue?

Carry ons are generally 22 by 14 by 9. There is a good chance your 26" will not fit and therefore will have to be checked.

MSC routinely has disembarking and embarking at many of the ports of call on a single cruise. Since their model is to sell their cruises in this way and NCL does not do this, it might not be so easy.

But you know the sports bra was obviously left "for your convenience..."

Aurea also includes access to the spa thermal area. If that is of value to you, than the extra cost for Aurea may be worth it to you.

Maybe it's like one of those motels that offer "hourly rates...."

I agree with those here who say you should have checked deck plans etc., to see what your actual room was at some point in the thirteen months before the cruise. Personally one of the high points of looking forward to my cruise is studying the deck plans and searching on line for my specific cabin number to see videos, pictures, etc. That being said, if an NCL agent gave you specifically wrong info during your call (yes there is a separate dinning area, yes separate sleeping areas...) than NCL clearly sold you a different room than what they promised you. You know how all their calls start with "this call is being recorded...?" That may be your friend here. Stop emailing and call NCL and ask to speak with a supervisor. Insist they access the recording of your call where you were specifically lied to. Only problem here is I doubt they have the tape from over a year ago. If at some point before the cruise you had done your due diligence researching and noticed this problem, the recording would have been a slam dunk.

Our experience with the ice cream by the pool was different. It was only on sea days and only a few hours, from like three or four till maybe seven. Also the buffet/ pizza was open for like 19 or 20 hours a day.

Where I come from, when one makes a reservation, it's for a table at the time they make it. It certainly is not rude to expect that someone with a reservation should be seated before those without. How can it guarantee a table when you get to the front of the line? That would mean they were already holding the table since they can't predict which parties of what numbers will reach the front of the line when. And, since they are holding the table, why not just seat the people who reserved it when they get there? If NCL does start taking reservations for the MDR, they should simply do what the other cruise lines do and have a separate line for those with reservations.

Careful...if your doggo realises what you are taking the pics for, they will surely insist on going with you. And then you will have to start another thread about emotional assistance dogs vs. service dogs and we all know what that leads to.