graphicguy

Got one more free US provided COVID test left. Just scheduled my ONPOINT supervised test (onpoint-testing.com).

Depending on the ship you're on, as you mention, there will be a hot tub, a "cool" tub, a salt room, a steam room, a sauna, heated loungers. Order doesn't matter. You can take a book, take a nap, rest your bones, sweat out the libations you've been imbibing, etc. Up to you!

Yipppeeee!!!!

Since this sailing is going to Canada, this is relevant... Sail Safe Travel Requirements.pdf

I’m stuck between seeing how little I can spend to do this cruise vs using the money I’ve saved to get all the goodies. We shall see. Are you in the Haven, too?

Big thanks! I was wondering that myself. Appreciate you chiming in. Looking at the thermal spa right now.

No kidding? Yeah…we’ve kind of gone around and around with the NCL foibles after their hiccups during the restart, and then flirting with Celebrity. This is going to be fun!

We could make this an all CC cruise!!!!!

How cool. Hope to see you on board. I love Jamie’s reviews, BTW! I do like Celebrity. They had some great deals last year during Spring/Summer when they were starting back up. Now, Celebrity has really upped their fares. Doesn’t make them bad…just more expensive.

Thanks, Gary. I’m debating trying your Haven “Lite” plan. Torn between reveling in the little monetary output vs using the savings to upgrade to Vibe. Haven is sold out, so probably won’t bid on an upgrade!

Thanks’ Mods @Jazzbeau for correcting my title mistake. 🙂

NCL enriches their pockets because of you. j/k.....(kinda). Actually, NCL had a naturalist on one of the Alaska cruises I took. He was knowledgeable. But, it was held in the bar area around the Observation Lounge. While there were some who were intent on listening to the naturalist, there were more people going back and forth to the bar area for drinks while the lecture was going on.

Thanks. I'm planning to. This will be a first for me on the itinerary. So, that should be fun.

Pulled the trigger on this cruise just now. Not live yet, but will provide pics upon embarkation. Once again doing this solo. Nice being retired. Going to have to fly into one of the NYC airports. Just not sure which one, yet. Working on that currently. Had $420 in FCC left over from a price drop. The fare itself was a little under $900, all in (including "all for free"). So, subtracting the FCC, fare was right around $450 out of pocket. But, my TA is picking up the gratuities. Using my AMEX Platinum, they consider the Club Balcony Suite a "real" suite (albeit, not the Haven). So, they're giving me $200 OBC plus dinner at LeBistro (and some sort of bottle of wine with dinner). NCL is giving me another $75 OBC (which might be for being Sapphire Latitudes). And, another $100 OBC for being an NCL stockholder. Sapphire Latitudes gives me 2 fee specialty dinners. "4 for Free" gives me two more Specialty dinners. All-in-all, I'm eating at Specialty Restaurants 5 of the 7 nites. That works. Pretty good deal! Love end of season cruises. You take a bit of a chance on the weather being cooler, but get a great fare in return.

While I can't read all of some of the remarks on this thread given I think the offending party is on my ignore list (the only one there in all the years I've been a part of the CC community), I believe I know who it is. A few here like purport their conjecture and opinion to be knowledge. I am not that. I have taken 5 (soon to be 6) cruises since the restart...2 (soon to be 3) on NCL. I've tried to give first hand experiences sailing since then...whether it's regarding testing, boarding, ships and activities, ports, etc. Not conjecture or opinion....just my own experiences. As such, they are not based on some sort of weaving of this or that to make it fit a tilted agenda, which the person in question is trying to do. Why? I don't know. Maybe it's to depress NCL's stock price. Maybe it's because they have little experience to share and their opinion has to suffice. Doesn't matter to me the reasoning. I thought this would be a fun and useful thread that would help those of us who sail NCL to spot and shop deals...not to fulfill someone else's internal need for validation. Anyway, there are some good deals to be had as it's end of season for both Alaska and New England. I just scored one for the end of October. Will start a new thread as it's my hope it will be a live report.

@SeaShark...just looked at the Sept/Oct New England sailings. I love doing last minute cruises, especially at the end of season (i.e. New England/Canada/Alaska). They tend to offer good deals because kids are in school, people want to sail in warmer climes vs cooler climes, the ships aren't sailing at absolute capacity (like they were when I sailed this past summer). Typical, the categories that sell out, are sold out. Studio cabins (which were priced higher than the Club Balcony I'm looking to book), Haven and Spa Cabins are all sold out. Really want to get on the Prima, but will probably wait several more months until the demand for that ship dies down a bit. Right now, those sailings are pretty pricey.

I’m not a rum drinker, but saw some folks drinking it on the Getaway at the Syd Norman’s outside bar. BTW….given you’re a bourbon drinker, they have Buffalo Trace on board, which is my “go to” bourbon (when I can find it at home).

To me, Alaska is one of my favorite cruise itineraries. As you point out, lots and lots of dining venues on board. If you don’t like the menu at one place, there are a bunch of others to choose from. Curious…it sounds like this is your first NCL cruise given your comments about Freestyle. Which cruise line(s) are you coming from to try NCL? LOVED Choir of Man. But, different strokes for different folks. Hope the rest of the cruise is better for you.

I kept vascilating back and forth. Finally, this past Spring I just bought 100 shares at $11/per. So far, while modest, it’s been a great investment for the OBC alone. That it is returning 25%-30% additional as the share price rises has been a pleasant bonus.

Button down are the only type of Hawaiian shirts I have. Don’t think I’ve ever seen pullover Or IZOD type Hawaiian shirts.

That's still a 20% ROI from just OBCs if you hang on until it hits your buy price.

Wait just a gosh darn minute. You just got off your ship. 😉

I collected $100 investor OBC on my July cruise. And, this one (if I book) will net another $100 OBC in Oct. I think it was trading at $14.80 today the last I looked. I've seen the alleged experts peg it between $16-$26/share in the short term. So, if things stay the same as today, I'll have nearly a 60% ROI on my NCL stock + OBC ($1,100 investment). Try getting that anywhere else. I saw some talk about shorting the stock here on these boards several months ago. Who in their right mind would short a stock that's selling at its low? Not very smart. AS you say, the ROI is well ahead of anything I have in my portfolio, too. My TA is off today. But, I dropped her an email about booking. She should get back to me by tomorrow.

You are right. I meant the Breakaway! I stand corrected! LOL!

Almost forgot, with my Investors OBC credit, I may very well not come out of pocket with the OBC while on board. Plus, I bought when the share price was ~$11. It’s trading right now at almost $15/share. Nice ROI!