KeithJenner

Some quick observations. Whilst there are some obvious cutbacks, they are not having much impact on our experience. We upgraded to free at sea plus and obviously the champagne selection is more limited than last year, but the rose champagne was good. Moderno was very good as usual. We had lunch in o’Sheehans yesterday and my wife’s burger could have been hotter, but overall not bad. We did the latitudes behind the scenes tour this morning and it was very good. This is my first larger ship since 2019 and I’m enjoying it. The bar on the Waterfront outside Shakers is a great place. We spent a lot of the day there yesterday. Staff all appear happy and friendly.

Day 2 dailies. Howl tonight. 🙂

I just checked the notification for my taxi payment and it was 11.22 We were in o’Sheehans by 11.50 after checking in at our Muster Station.

That is usually our experience. This time we took a transfer straight from the airport (we stayed at the Hilton there), so got dropped off at the ship. Walked into the terminal, dropped off luggage, checked in and walked straight on to the ship. Took less than 30 minutes.

Just the two of us Mandy. Yes, I’ll get the officers details for you.

The aft balconies on deck 9 are indeed huge. I know cruise critic well enough to know there is no point trying to get all pictures the right way up. You’ll all just have to turn your computer over.

This isn’t a live trip report. I’ve done a few of them in the past, and I don’t think another one will particularly add much. instead I am starting this thread to answer any questions anyone may have and to post any observations I have as I go. Feel free to ask anything that you would like me to try to answer Embarkation today was very smooth and efficient. The ship hasn’t seemed particularly busy (we haven’t been any higher than deck 9). We have been drinking at the outside Shakers bar which was very nice. Dailies are attached. No Howl tonight. I don’t know whether that means they aren’t on this cruise at all.

Not wanting to put a damper on things, but that list is a bit outdated. For example, with Champagne, people with the premium plus beverage package can’t now get Moet or Veuve. The only option is a rose champagne (a quite decent one). I believe you may be able to get Veuve in Le Bistro. The selection of reds and whites does vary depending on supply, but it will be more a case of seeing what they have than looking through the menu. We have found that they often don’t have items that are on the menu (and sometimes have alternatives). If you don’t upgrade to premium plus then the wine selection is fairly limited unless you pay extra per glass. With the upgrade there are a lot more options, but not as many as that list suggests, in my experience.

You can book for as many people as you like (subject to availability). Just get the people in the Haven to book a table for 5. It will probably actually have to be for 6 as bookings for odd numbers are rarely (these days it seems to be never) available. Book for 6 and it will be fine when 5 of you arrive.

OK, I know that you get a free bottle of wine with one of the latitudes meals. This can be taken in any restaurant now (except the few that have special wine menus, such as Palomar). The wine would be available for Latitudes Platinum or above in any speciality restaurant on the Joy, including both Le Bistro and Teppanyaki. However, there is nothing to suggest that the OP is platinum latitudes. In fact their question rather suggests that they may well be fairly new to NCL, so the availability of a free bottle of wine that they may not qualify for and would actually be available in any off the other restaurants seems an odd reason to recommend Le Bistro.

Why do you get a free bottle of wine?

Done believe stuff just because someone on the internet makes a sweeping statement like that. Chances are (as in this case) that doing so could potentially cost you a lot of money. Depending on your circumstances, the best time to book is somewhere between a few years out and last minute. Over the years we have saved thousands by booking early. As an example, our cruise next week which was booked 18 months ago is currently sold out for most cabin categories and has been over £1000 more than we are paying for about the last year.

Southampton is a small airport with flights to a few places, mainly domestic or holiday destinations in France or Spain. I suppose it is portable that NCL could fly you from there to Paris or Amsterdam for a connection, but I’d say it is unlikely. I don’t recall ever hearing of anyone who has booked an NCL flight going to SOU. If they don’t use Heathrow then Gatwick is a more likely alternative.

The question was answered previously. You certainly can. I drink red and my wife drinks white. We always get two bottles.

Dining package meals, including free at sea and FAS+, are non transferable. As always on NCL actual experience can vary dependant on staff, but this one is an almost certain no.

You’ve been more often than me, so your experience is probably more representative. Maybe we’ve been lucky in not arriving at busy times, but I certainly haven’t noticed any particular extra time to get through.

NCL have worked out that adults are able to decide for themselves how to dress, rather than being told what to wear and when (with some very basic requirements in some restaurants). If you want to dress up then you can, if you don’t want to then you don’t have to. It’s your decision. Enjoy it, and decide for yourself what to wear. 🙂

How is it a pain in the backside? I’ve travelled to Europe a few times in the last couple of years and it hasn’t been noticeably different to previously. Maybe a bit busier due to covid restrictions and staffing issues. Certainly not a pain in my experience. Without Brexit we wouldn’t have needed to apply for ETIAS, but I’ve not seen anything to suggest that it will be a problem. A few minutes and a few quid, which we’d all rather not have to deal with, I agree, but really nothing major.

You can use them in any speciality. The details are on the NCL website as to what is covered (generally one of each course). You can book them in advance in the usual way. The main thing to remember is that the system will charge you for any restaurants that have a cover charge (Moderno and Teppanyaki) unless you have dining credits to cover them, and it doesn't take your latitudes meals into account, so basically book those restaurants first. There is a guide in my signature. It is a bit out of date, but the basics still apply.

Has it? I obviously haven’t paid enough attention when looking at the menus. Is this on all ships? I’m sure there haven’t been upcharge items on the MDR menus when I’ve been there.

When the Prima was launched they had a fixed MDR menu with specials offered from speciality restaurants. However I understand that this has now changed to the usual rotating MDR menus. It sounds like they are trying something similar again. Is the rest of the menu the usual rotating MDR menu or is it fixed?

We have been dealing with ESTAs for travel to the US for many years now and I’ve applied quite a few times and it is really not a problem. They have recently added a bit of messing around having to upload a photo of your passport which seemed to cause some complaints, but it went fine when I applied earlier this year. I believe that this will be similar so it should just be a few minutes to apply and a payment that we would all rather not make. It’s something we would all rather not have to bother with but for most people I think it will be far from being a PITA

Just to be clear, ETIAS is nothing to do with the UK. I believe that we are introducing our own version and if people are visiting the UK and the EU they will likely need both.

Champagne was always only at selected bars even when the package had more options. We usually only found it at restaurants and places like the wine or champagne bars.

Disembarkation should start soon after the docking time and there shouldn’t be any delays for things like customs (I’m assuming that this is a Med cruise rather than coming in on a Transatlantic or anything like that). If it is a cruise with multiple embarkation/disembarkation ports then it should be even quicker as there probably won’t be many people disembarking there. When I’ve seen Marseilles on Epic itineraries then it is usually one of a few embarkation ports. However, if it is a Rugby World Cup cruise then things may be different and a bit busier. However, there should still be no customs to deal with. I’ve never been into Marseilles from the cruise port, but I believe that it is less than 30 minutes by car, so you should have plenty of time. If it’s during the week then it will obviously be busier, but I’d have thought you’d still be ok. This isn’t a particularly common port for NCL (especially for disembarkation), so you may not get many replies here.