Turtles06

If 100 or so people really do show up to a Meet & Greet, it's a pretty unwieldy number imho. Not really conducive to "meeting" people.

I don’t care about the “refreshments.” For me, the purpose of a Meet & Greet is to meet some of the folks from our Roll call, and, if Officers/Staff also show up, to have them introduce themselves as well. On NCL, the latter will typically give out their business cards/extension numbers, which can sometimes come in handy. It’s become pretty well known that many folks who sign up for a M&G don’t show up, so I don’t blame NCL for declining to go to the trouble of setting up refreshments, many of which will likely go to waste.

The cruise of course is not going to Paris (nor to London, either). Paris is hours away from the port of Le Havre. The best way to see the extraordinary city of Paris is a land trip, with as many days there as you can spend.

We've been on the Jade, the Gem, and the Jewel. Love that class of ship. Enjoy your cruise!

Thanks for the info. I suppose it's not the first time a deck plan was incorrect!

No bridge viewing room on the deck plan

Recent comments are that there’s no audible (or vibrating) notification of a new message. You have to check the app periodically.

Don’t count on that in the future. It’s the result of a tech loophole that NCL has been closing, according to many comments in this forum.

OP, you’re welcome.

I've stayed in non-Haven suites on the Jade, Gem, and Jewel, most recently on the Gem in early 2023. All real suites, Haven and non-Haven (I'm not talking about Club Balcony "suites") had priority embarkation and disembarkation. I can't say I recall what the listed amenities were for those cruises, but I would find it odd that on the Jewel-class ships NCL has carved out the Haven suites for priority embarkation and disembarkation and denied that to the other suites. Hopefully someone who has sailed recently can comment. I wouldn't pay $5,000 more for a Haven suite on the Jewel-class ships, but YMMV.

Got it, thanks so much!

Thanks so much for the great tutorial and advice! One question about the above — when you say “everyone is assigned a unique onboard number which you will find under Contacts,” who is the “everyone” to whom you refer? All guests on the ship? Only people whose onboard numbers you have permission (some how) to see? Sorry to be confused here.

Thank you SO much for all of your information. It's exactly what I was looking for. We'll be traveling with a mixed group of cruising vets and newbies, I suspect some will have unlimited WiFi, some won't, and I'm trying to make it as easy as possible for us all to stay in touch, make plans for meals as you mentioned, etc. The app sounds like the way to go, especially with the chat feature. (Is that different from having a group text? In other words, can you send a text to all of the members of the group, or is that the same as the chat?) When getting ready to use the app, is it difficult to differentiate between the ship's INTRAnet used for the app, and the INTERnet used for FAS WiFi minutes and additional paid-for minutes? (We'll probably have some folks not as "comfortable" with tech as others. 🙂 ) Thanks for mentioning the closed loophole for iPhone to iPhone texting. I've read that elsewhere and won't plan on it (especially since I suspect some of our group won't have Apple devices). Thanks again! And @mking8288, Henry, thank you for tagging @Sugar Magnolia for the assist! Judith

Huge thanks, Henry. Much appreciated! We’ll be traveling with a bunch of friends next year and I’m starting to look into the best way for everyone to be able to keep in touch on board. Thanks again, Judith

When using the texting feature, does the recipient of the text get any sort of alert that a new text has come in? (I know on some cruise line apps there’s no alert, you have to check periodically to see if you’ve received any messages.) Also, can you text more than one person at the same time (assuming of course that they’ve paid for and activated the messaging app)? Thanks!

Yikes!

All of my prescription containers describe the pills — the color, the shape, the markings.

Different countries have different rules for different drugs. Look them up, especially for any country that you’re flying into. (E.g., some countries restrict the number of pills you can bring in, some may require a letter from your doctor, some have stricter rules for controlled substances, etc.) Imho, besides checking the rules, the safest practice is to bring prescription drugs in their prescription containers, and not in a “daily plastic dispenser.” And just because someone on social media tells you they’ve done the latter and had no problem, doesn’t mean someone else won’t. Enjoy your trip!

I have the same question as the OP, and am hoping that someone who has sailed recently on the Eclipse in a Concierge Class cabin can tell us whether there are (still) footstools on the balcony. And any recent cruisers on other S-class ships, please weigh in with any relevant info. Thanks!

That would be extremely rude to the chef (and the other diners), so I assume you are joking.

Yes, absolutely. In Iceland, as we left one of our ports, the Captain announced the day before we were to call at Seydisfjordur that the winds would be too great and so we were proceeding to Akureyri early. Once in Akureyri, which was supposed to be a two day stay (one overnight), we wound up being unable to leave for an extra day because of a very fierce storm that was blowing across Iceland. It was so strong that ships that had not been scheduled for Akureyri were sailing down into the fjord to take shelter from the storm. As a result of being delayed in Akureyri, our remaining ports in Iceland were pushed back a day (kudos to the fabulous private tour operator many of us were using for being able to turn on a dime and switch our tours around). We also had to skip one of our three scheduled ports in Greenland. This stuff happens. And, on the same cruise, when we were just a few hours away from docking in St. Johns, Newfoundland, the Canadian Coast Guard called on us to turn around and assist in the search for a passenger who had gone overboard from an AIDA ship. We spent the day sailing back and forth doing a grid search along with the AIDA ship, until the Canadian Coast Guard could take over. The passenger was never found. It was one of the saddest days I've ever spent at sea.

I have cruised to both Iceland and Greenland. While weather can have an impact on port calls anywhere, there is definitely a risk in Iceland and Greenland of missing ports because of storms, winds, ice, etc. I don't think you can quantify it or try to figure out which is a better bet. Pick the cruise you would most like to do.

I don’t know whether the tubs on the Pearl have been removed, but they aren’t whirlpool tubs and you’d probably kill your back bending over the high tub wall trying to wash anything.

I assumed the OP was asking about using one of their freebies. 🙂

We used to love Le Bistro, but really disliked how it's been remodeled on the Gem. Has it been remodeled on the Pearl? On the Gem, it's now totally sterile, there's no warmth to the place at all.