vswan

I don't know about the Breakaway specifically, but many NCL ships have adult only areas. Thermal spas, vibe, H2O spice. Some of these are added costs but would give you a kid-free zone. Someone here will know if these are available on the Breakaway.

I've sailed on both NCL and Princess (not recently). Unless someone has done both of these lines in the recent past, I'm not sure that the advice you receive will be of much help. From what I've been reading all cruise lines are making cutbacks in a lot of areas and what I experienced is no longer what is happening now. This will also be dependent on the specific ships. I cruised NCL in 2022 and 2023 and had a good time. Lots of activities and food options - some better than others. What I can say is that I would pick the cruise with 4 stops, I like private islands. I like port calls, others like sea days. A February cruise should have less kids, but I've also found that school breaks happen at odd times and some vary from area to area. Are these both leaving from the same port? Is one easier/less expensive to get to than the other if not? It's really hard to have a bad cruise. Enjoy whichever you pick.

Heading on the Oasis in early November with my DD. I have been reading these boards and have wondered the same thing. Primarily about the food. It seems that everyone is spending extra on the food and they must be selling a great deal of beverage packages. Have cruised for about 30 years, many years more than once, and the only time I've had a beverage package or specialty dining was when it was part of a promotion and I could justify the cost of gratuities. I do like a beverage package, but my light drinking habits, beer-only, and the high per-day cost of the package make it easy for me to skip it. If the package makes sense for you, do the package. If not, don't do the package. It does make things easier and I do find that I might have that extra drink that I don't really need when I have the package. I haven't been on this class of RCI ship before and I will take it as a challenge to see where and when I can find decent included food.

I got the email yesterday about placing upgrade offers on my future cruise. I'm currently in an outside balcony cabin (Oasis). I am happy with what I have, but figured I would be even happier with a larger balcony. Did go online to see where the cabins could be located, and figured why not give it a shot. I bid on two larger balcony options just above minimum. Chances of my getting are not good, but I am happy with what I have, and since I have no idea what cabin I could be assigned just was not willing to bid higher. From what I can tell the one category only has 2 cabins, so pretty much not going to happen... Was just not willing to pay for any of the suite categories, even at minimum bid.

Why don't you just take their birth certificates. Just did the Alaska cruise with a 14 yr old and only needed a birth certificate. Not an issue. No one asked for his pass port.

Sometimes the offers that come in once you're home are better than what's offered when onboard. What I have found is that if I haven't booked anything for a while, the offers start getting better.

Used port valet early August in Seattle. Worked well. We set our bags out the last night and didn't see them until we got to the home airport. We kept a backpack each with our last bit of clothes and paperwork. Got a map as we were exiting the port terminal and figured out how to get to the light rail to the space needle and other things we wanted to see. Later in the day we took the rail to the airport. Didn't bother with an uber or taxi. Another option - they have a luggage check area located between where you drop your bags with the porter and the entrance to get on the ship. Think it was $5 per bag and they would hold until 3:30 - since I didn't use I'm not real sure on hours, etc.

I did, both of my kids did, but DH did not. So three out of four.

After looking at the little chart of what goes to whom, I wonder what would happen if you took off the tip amount for "other hotel services." Would your room steward and the waitstaff still get what they are showing, or would they just adjust what you left on your tip amount proportionately? (Much more likely). As to whether or not staff actually gets or RCI gets a percentage. Someone not even on the ship could technically be considered other hotel services. I also find it interesting that the regular rooms pay a larger percentage of the other hotel service staff - and have the largest number of rooms onboard.

It also bothers me that the gratuities now go to all of those who have made our "cruise experience exceptional." I can see paying tips to those I interact with, but the cruise line should be paying fair wages to those we don't interact with - can't they pay those who do the laundry a fair wage? Why am I expected to do that? And, if I am expected to do that it should be part of my initial cruise fare, not a gratuity. Of course I'm also one that doesn't think the hotels should be charging a resort fee - that is a mandatory charge that is actually part of the room rate and should be shown as the final price. Having said that, I pre-pay my gratuities and do not remove them. Figure that is part of the cruise rate at this point and figure into total when comparing cruises.

In the past (very long ago) I worked in a restaurant and both of my children have at one time or other worked in a service industry. After things opened up following covid, I made a conscience choice to tip generously - knowing that these workers have been the hardest hit by lack of work and wages. But, things have gotten crazy. When even the workers are hitting the "no tip" button when I don't have my reading glasses on to actually see what they are asking about on one of the screens, you know things have gotten out of hand. I am one of those that feels tips should be included in the fare price. If I choose to tip extra to a server or waitstaff, that's fine, but I don't feel it's my job to pay the salary of workers - it should be a bonus on top of their fair salary. That should be covered by the fare charged.

Have always thought that I've already paid for the food, why would I pay more to go to a specialty restaurant, I have now been to a number of specialty restaurants on a number of cruise lines. I enjoyed the variety and it was a nice to have another option. Having said that, when I looked at the RCI dining packages I was not impressed that they wanted hundreds of dollars and you still had to pay more for at least one restaurant and that the ala cart restaurants only offered $20 toward the bill with the package. Am I missing something? Doesn't seem like a good deal to me.

One one hand, I feel glad the the cruise lines are making up for some of the income that they went without during covid. In the long run the prices will probably settle down once things tighten up for the general public and the novelty of being on vacation wears off. On the other hand, I've enjoyed cruising at least once a year for more than 30 years. As of now I'm considering other vacation options for the next year. Hard to justify the cruise and air cost not to mention all of the extra charges. Used to be that we just didn't do any of the extras so it wasn't a big deal, now it seems that there are a lot more things that are "extras." Some of that is my own choice, as I've aged I am no longer willing to go without cruise insurance - not to protect the cost, but in case something medical would happen. I also now insist on a balcony cabin, just need the private outside space.

Taking the Oasis in November. Booked an outside balcony in April for base price of $2,336 for 2 - does not include taxes/fees, gratuities, insurance. Now it's selling for close to $3,450. In fact I did add the taxes/fees/gratuities/insurance and the total cost was $3062. That's a big increase in 6 months. I am not a big drinker - I'm a beer drinker, DD will drink more variety - but do like the convenience of a drink package. I can't justify $73pppd. Will take what wine they allow and buy the cooler with hard seltzers for her at $44 rather than spend more than $1,000 for the two of us for a week. I'm not loyal to any line. I look at price, itinerary and dates. I thought what I paid was plenty, but would never book at the current prices. Would look elsewhere.

I hadn't found that, but it looks pretty comprehensive. Think it has more on it than the letter that I took, but more is always better! From what I remember, the NCL bullets listed name and contact number but Canada wanted an address. That is on this form so should be good. Have a wonderful trip. Before I went I told my grandson that he was going to the kids program the first night to meet other people his own age so he didn't have to hang out with grandma the whole time. It was a great choice.

One other thing. My daughter is pretty savvy, and I sent her the NCL form to fill out, etc. She saw the Canadian letter requirements and wrote one, but didn't go to the website to see what was actually needed in the letter and had missed some of what they asked for. I double checked that when I was trying to figure out if it had to be notarized and realized that she hadn't included some of the items.

Not getting off the ship in Canada won't make a difference. You are in Canadian waters so need to do the Canadian paperwork. Not sure if you are flying or not, but I also felt more comfortable having the letter in case they had any questions. At TSA they also asked my 14 yr old grandson his name and his relationship to me. When I started to answer they gave me a "look" that he needed to be the one to answer. Got the impression that this was pretty routine. It would be sad to get to the port and not be able to cruise. Would be a disappointment for all of you. I know it's a pain, but I felt much more comfortable knowing I had anything I could be asked for.

Just did this with my grandson in early August. I was probably over prepared, but I wasn't taking any chances. I had a copy of my daughters divorce papers showing she had full custody. There is a form on NCL that needs to be filled out and signed by the parent(s). Although she has custody, her ex signed it also. Because you are going into Canada, there is separate paperwork that they need to have. If you look online it will tell you what to have included in the letter they need - parents names, address, etc., your name and that you have permission to have the child with you. It stated that it was recommended that it was notarized and I didn't want to take any chances so had both parents sign the paper and notarized. (This is due to human trafficking). I'm not sure that I actually needed all of this, but at check-in I told them that I had anything they could possibly need and they did take the NCL form and looked at some of the other items, but it was a whirlwind and I can't remember what was looked at and what wasn't. Have a great time. We did.

I think it really depends on what you are looking for in a cruise. My next cruise is on the Oasis with my 40+ yr old daughter. No kids, just the two of us. We chose this trip because we were looking for a lot of beach time and the itinerary fit. I also felt there would be much more for the two of us to do. Since I booked the prices have gone through the roof. Have sailed most main cruise lines - the most with HAL and NCL. This will be my fourth time on RCL. Most of the time I choose by itinerary, date, cruise port and price. There are some lines that I prioritize even if another has a lower price. If I am looking for a relaxed laid back cruise without a lot of kids, HAL usually wins hands down. Price is generally lower than Princess or Celebrity and I can generally find an itinerary I like. If you like a lively crowd and are going with kids, HAL may not be the best choice.

I'm going to make this very elementary. I have a RCI cruised booked for November. Before my last cruise I decided I needed a second credit card in case for some reason my credit card was frozen. Since I had a RCI cruise booked I decided why not get the points that I can redeem for my next cruise without any annual fees. I paid off my November cruise and charged another large purchase of more than $5,000. I paid the entire balance prior to due date. How do I redeem points? Are the points available online as soon as the bill is paid or does it take time to post? Who do I call, the credit card company or RCI? Is this all done online, with whom? How does the OBC get linked to the booking? Thanks for helping a newbie figure out what to do.

In early August I had my hair colored and cut onboard. When presented with the receipt I asked if her received the gratuity. He said it was split 3 ways - of course I can't remember who all gets it - but one third went to the company who owes the spa, he got a third and the other third I don't remember if it went to NCL or someone else. I did my quick math and figured what his third was and added a tip accordingly.

Was on the bliss early August. All the taps are going. I can't tell you what all they had, but they did have three ambers, including the Alaskan Amber, (you can tell what I like) had Husky IPA. Overheard those ordered a lot.

Just did this for an early August cruise. We waited to book until onboard and had no issues. I wasn't sure how many bags we would have to check - I had a fold-down to nothing bag that could either be packed or used - and as we packed a day or two before the trip determined that two would be enough, but decided to wait. We had an evening flight, set out the two bags and each carried a backpack for sightseeing. Works well. All of the paperwork we needed to fill out had a disclaimer on it that the direct luggage service does not work for everyone. I was concerned because I was traveling with my grandson who has a different last name that we might have an issue - but we were fine. You don't find if you are accepted in the program until late in the cruise. Boarding passes and luggage tags and delivered to the cabin. One other thing I noticed was that between where you drop the luggage with the porters and entered the terminal they had a luggage hold. I didn't need it, so didn't check out, but from the outside it had a sign that bags were $5 per bag and I think it said they would hold until 3:30. Was good to know as a back up plan if I needed it.

I'm not sure that the Bliss has the extended/large balcony cabin option. I was on the Escape on deck 8 forward, but not too forward. Think ships are similar so they may have them on the Bliss.

I was in the club balcony with the extended - large balcony - not the regular balcony size.