geneticfreak

Since 2020, people have forgotten how to people. The ill effects of the lockdowns will be felt for many years. 

Spiegel Tent is a dying venue. On the Getaway, the Illusionarium is used for small special events, private gatherings, a sketch comedy show, smaller musical shows and an escape room. It is being converted to Q at the next dry dock, and I would imagine the Spiegel tent will get a similar treatment. 

Last night was the first Wheel of Fortune show on Getaway. It was a learning experience for the staff. Overall not a bad show, but doesn’t need to be a main theater attraction. Could easily be done in the atrium it’s like deal or no deal. Theater was only about 1/4 full. Most people on the ship didn’t know it was happening until they got the day 10 daily, we found out during the officers dinner earlier in the week. Fortunately Getaway still has Million Dollar Quartet and Burn the Floor production shows, but for how long? 
 

Price is Right is more of a show instead of a money grab, and can pass for actual entertainment with some of the crazy games you see on tv. I’m interest to see which direction Press Your Luck goes. 

20 hours ago, UKstages said:

not sure that there is any connection whatsoever to the casino.

 

i don't think many choose to play in the casino instead of attending shows.

 

i spend a lot of time in the casino myself, but i also go to most shows in the theatre and i think NCL's shift away from broadway shows and full scale production reviews is a dangerous trend.

 

and it's not just moving away from broadway shows, it's the dumbing down of everything else... including using recorded music tracks for singers and other entertainers. and booking solo acts like violinists. it's not cruise ship entertainment and has no wow factor.

 

as for "kinky boots" or "footloose" playing to half empty houses... you can't run the same show for five or six years and not have a drop off in attendance when you have so many repeat cruisers. it has nothing to do with the demographics of the audience. it has much more to do with the fact that people have already seen those shows. people flock to the game shows not because of demographics or because they necessarily love game shows... they go because those shows are new and different within a cruise context.

 

this too shall pass. 

I agree, solo acts should be add-ons with just a limited couple week run. We’ve been on Breakaway 3 times and saw Rock of Ages multiple times each trip, because it might be the ultimate Gen X show. Not sure if anything is going to be added to the line up when we are on in September. At least we will get to see Million Dollar Quartet next week. 

14 hours ago, mking8288 said:

 

Pre-Covid, there were NYC sailings with many CAS players onboard, donating generously to keep the casino busy all week long.  Nowadays, apparently ... not so much anymore.  

 

 

That might explain why I've been getting comped Haven suites recently instead of club balconies.

On 2/26/2024 at 1:55 PM, FLAHAM said:

Who wants 2+ days of cold weather and uninteresting ports when a week out of Florida offers 7 days of warm weather and better ports?

Living in PA, it is much easier to get to and from Manhattan than Florida. Just an hour and half bus ride from Allentown the morning of sailing puts us on the ship just as the dining rooms open for lunch without getting up early and dealing with the hassle of airport security and other anxieties. Getting home is equally as easy, usually before lunchtime instead of some stupid time like 7 or 8 at night, if we are even lucky enough to get an earlier flight without delays.

As much as I like to see different ports, we've been to almost all of them in the Caribbean, and cruising is more about being on the ship than anything else.

The international day pass is the way to go. Cant be beat for $10/day while in port, especially since you don’t get charged unless you actually use it. plus many Caribbean ports are covered as part of your domestic plan. In interested in seeing how much better Starlink is on the ships. 

Escape is Breakaway+ based in shear size. More tonnage and more decks. Aqua does the same thing in the Prima class - bigger than Prima and Viva. Personally looking forward to Aqua, hopefully it fixes some of the things that just seemed off about Prima. 

The reason you only hear horror stories is because people generally take more time to complain instead of compliment. You just need to be a little flexible and expect that not everything will be perfect. We’ve done half a dozen cruises with NCL booked flights and have not had any problems. All were day of flights out of Philly, which is arguably the worst east coast airport. Their main priority is to get you on the shop, or it will cost them money. Let them do their job and have a good time. 

On Bliss now and Six is scheduled for two nights. Reservations are not available in the app, but can be made directly at the box office. Side note, the comedy shows are all sold out for the week already. 

Usually inside 40-45 days. Last cruise we received the flight out a week before the return, so they don’t always  book together or on the same airline. 

Does anyone know the status of Six on the Bliss? NCL site says temporarily unavailable, but that is rather vague. 

I forgot what level I was.  I know I was at least pearl, but might have hit sapphire. Guess I’ll find out when we get on the Epic next Sunday. 

I think limiting the thermal suite access to only spa cabins is the first step in crowd control. If any additional passes are sold, they will be extremely limited.


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I got mine back a couple days after my FFC showed up. The dates on them were reset to 4/2021, which made me very happy since they expired in March of this year and had to be extended to cover my May cruise. 

I think your assessment is right on. There are a lot of things I liked, but I felt like something was a touch off, and I still can’t figure out what it was. My biggest issue was the ultra sanitized atmosphere in The Local over the more pub like feel of O’sheeans on the other ships. Being a casino player, I really appreciated the separate smoking room, and look forward to that on the Joy. It might have ruined other casinos for me. The shows were all great. I get the characters and subject matter might make some people uncomfortable, but Kinky Boots has a very good message that you need to pay attention from start to finish. Choir of Man was fantastic as usual. I have a new favorite restaurant - Onda. I can also see the lack of free top deck space as being a problem, although we had no problem finding a decent seat to watch the Super Bowl or Endgame when we were up there. My other gripe was the amount of dead time for restaurants between 10:30 and noon and 2:30 to 4. It never failed, those were the times that we were ready to eat, only to be left with options of The Local or The Local. 

On 10/12/2019 at 11:36 AM, tomservo said:

I have free air booked from NYC to MIA. They couldn’t possibly screw that up, could they?

Went from Newark to Miami twice with no issues. They had me on the ship and eating lunch by 12:30 both times. They will get you there on time, no need to worry. 

We were on American. The option was only given the first time logging in to pick your seat on aa.com.  Since you are checking in through the airline, it is a separate transaction from the original booking by NCL. Other airlines might not give the option, or just simply might be sold out. 

We had free air from Newark to Miami. On the flight home I upgraded us to first class for $137 each. When you back out the $45 per bag luggage fee, it really only cost $82. It was well worth it, most comfortable flight I ever had, might have ruined coach for me.  

18 minutes ago, Red-Sol said:

More on Six:

 

http://www.playbill.com/article/six-continues-international-reign-with-norwegian-cruise-line-engagement

Reading this article, it still lists Rock of Ages along with the other musicals on the fleet. I really hope it is replacing Burn the Floor, as Six does not carry the weight of a full broadway show. 

When I first saw this was a thing I immediately thought of this

Any of the online booking for Encore is just there to show what will be on the ship. It’s too far out for any of it to be booked, and any charges showing for Choir of Man is just a bunch of lazy cut and pasting of old Escape information. A lot of the details of the ship’s layout has yet to even be revealed. Honestly, the misinformation on the Encore is confusing and could cost NCL money. Someone should be held accountable for the cut rate lazy coding. 

On 5/20/2019 at 4:56 PM, javierbjj said:

Which airline did you get?

I'm curious because I'm doing Newark to Miami in August.

We had United last year and American this year. Once I had the record locator number I was able to sign in on aa.com and pick my seats. Even upgraded to first class on the flight home for a reasonable price, needed it because we ate too much. 

Technically, no. Every now and then one would go through with someone else on the ship, but the most reliable was Facebook messenger. 

On 5/12/2019 at 5:04 PM, shout19661966 said:

1. people leaving kids in cabin unattended

2. my wife and I taking a picture on the stairs and a lady pushed her way by us in the middle of the picture.

3. Playing BJ dealer paid me on a tie and a player at the table pointing out her mistake to her.

Here’s my feelings on #3. 

I never get get involved in someone else’s hand, win, lose or draw. Know your bets and know what they pay. That is business between you and the casino, and as I will stay out of your business, kindly return the favor and stay out of mine. I don’t tell someone how to play, and only give advice when asked. 

Mis-pays happen a lot on craps because of the nature of the game, and when the stick is rushing the other dealers, it can happen more. I don’t sweat a dollar or two in either direction, as they tend to even themselves out unless a dealer is repeating the same mistake. If a dealer overpays me, I’ll attempt to correct it, but if they insist, it’s on them.