kenns

How much did you pay for the Rebel Yell with NCL? I understand that the price is just for the boat ride there and back?

I am looking at the JVD semi-private charter with Kuralu and they're quoting $125 which includes drinks and lunch. Obviously anything we buy at the Soggy Dollar would be out of pocket.

thanks!

Don't mean to hijack this from the OP but curious what there will be to do from 5:30pm to 12am? We will be on the NCL Encore. 

2 minutes ago, GA Dave said:

They did greatly expand Vibe on the Getaway last month.

 

 

Thanks for posting. I bet they do this on Encore so FDR can maximize revenue and sell more passes. Like others, I'd be willing to bet that the "former laser tag area" becomes a much smaller Spice H20 with a  tiny grotto or waterfall type feature...don't think there is enough space for a hot tub, plus it'd likely be too hot and not enough shade anyways...

Agreed. You'll likely see most of them, if not at all, stay on and be home-ported in undeserved markets. This could be LA (as mentioned above), Charleston, Newport, Galveston, etc. If any were to be retired, my guess would be the Star given that its had its fair share of maintenance and performance issues.

Another possible outcome is that they "revitalize" these older ships much like Carnival and Royal are doing with their older ships. I don't mean just replacing carpet and the paint, but true "renovations" like the others have done. 

As a Bostonian, I know that the Boston to Bermuda is very successful so hoping that a Breakaway/Breakaway+ or Leo ship make their way here. I am pretty sure the harbor is deep enough for any of these classes as the Allure of the Seas has visited here before. 

Hi All,

Wondering if I should change my current reservation to take advantage of this promotion. I am booked on the Encore for February 2020, going to San Juan, St. Thomas and Tortola. 

I am booked on the Encore for February 2020. My current reservation is for 2 people in a large ocean-view room (OB) for which I paid $1,099 (still have until October 2019 before final payment is due) and got the beverage package and dinning package. That same room is now going for $1,149 (increased by $50).

I just did a mock booking for the same cruise, which as part of this promotion is offering 4 offers (no free 3rd / 4th guest & no discounted airfare) in the cheapest available balcony, which is going for $1,299. So basically, it'll cost me $200 more per person or $400 total to go from ocean-view to balcony and to add-on the $50 per port shore ex credit and 250min of WiFi.

Do you think the "better" cabin, shore ex credit and 250min of WiFi is worth $400? My original plan was to just jump on WiFi while in port to check email, and do excursions on our own. 

Thanks!

With Spice H20 not being on the Encore (at least not in the same location/form as found on the previous new ships), where else do you think there will places for shade? In other words, any free/public sundeck space that will have umbrellas? On the Getaway, we were able to find umbrellas (for free) in Spice H20. I saw that the Joy has those overhang things on the upper most deck - the Encore renderings show it'll have these as well.

As some have speculated, maybe Encore will have indeed have Spice in the area on the very top (where Laser Tag is on the Bliss) complete with shade/umbrellas and/or a water feature?

any word on when they will finally release the bars/restaurants/other features? I was told mid/late summer but that seems too far away...

16 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Choir of Man. “The most popular show in the fleet”. 

 

Remember to show up a little early and have the cast pour you a pint of beer. 

 

wrt the Supper Club, guest performers with complimentary dinners are booked through August with contracts as short as 1 week. NCL is evaluating replacing Choir of Man in the club. After Midnight’s 5-year contact is also up this year with no word on whether it will be renewed. 

they already announced Choir of Man as being part of the entertainment on the Encore so maybe they are just "moving" from Escape to Encore? 

Has NCL provided any recent updates on the construction at GSC - feels like it's been radio silence..RCCL is turning their nearby island into an amusement park and managed to get things done much quicker...

any updates or more intel on the Oasis dry dock later this year?

I am sure it will have the "Local" like the Bliss...I am envisioning it having the following:

Restaurants:

- The Local

- Garden Cafe

- Cagney's

- 3 Main Dining Rooms (Savor, Taste, Manhattan?)

- Hibachi

- Le Bistro

- Cagney's

- La Cucina

- Food Republic

- Los Lobos?

- Margaritaville? 

- Coco's?

- Q BBQ ?

- Ocean Blue?

- Other / New Concept?

As for bars/entertainment venues, do we know anything other than the Main Theater (Kinky Boots, Choir of Man, Prohibition Musical) and The Cavern Club? I assume we will also see:

- Social Comedy and Night Club

- District Brew House

- Other?

BUMP - very interested in this as well. I declined it on my recent booking as well, wondering if I too can call NCL and see about getting a credit or price reduction...can't hurt to ask, right? :)

7 hours ago, graphicguy said:

By this time, it was announced that the cabins were ready (yay!).  Just a quick update, I booked this cabin about a month ago, or about 4 weeks before sailing. I had been scoping out some cruises from NCL, Celebrity, RCCL, and to a lesser extent, Carnival.  Celebrity was kind of interesting with their drink promos, but they were a tad more expensive.  I had taken one Celebrity Cruise several years ago, and let's just say it was not very exciting.  I'm sure it  has its appeal.  Just that the highlight was the glass blowing demonstration.  I can't in all honesty say that my thrill meter jumped at all by glass blowing.

 

Ended up, NCL had the best deal.  $2,200 all in for a mini-suite with large balcony with all the perks (drinks package, dining package with 3 specialty restaurants, 250 minutes internet, $50/cabin excursion credit).  That was about the same price as a regular balcony cabin.  What's not to like?  A GTY cabin (no perks) was around $1,900 and change.  Even a solo cabin was $1,700 with no perks.  Here's my math.  With the drink package you pay around $20/day for tips/service charges.  All the drinks I want are included (I like Bulleit Bourbon, Tanqurey Gin and Tiutos vodka...all included).  I DID NOT find a beer that WASN'T included.

 

If you don't have a drink package, you can "pay as you go" or buy a drink package once on board ($99/day).  To me, the drink package that IS NOT included is the worst way to go.  You automatically add $700 to your cruise, without even including tips.  Pay as you go....if you only drink beer, the ones I liked ran $7/ea.  Craft beers are more.  But, for simplicity's sake, let's say they were $10/ea with tip.  5 beers/day?  That's $50/day.  I'd say wine would be about the same.  That's $350/week.

 

Mixed drinks?  $12/ea plus tip.  5/day?  $60/day plus tip.  Let's say that figures out to be $500/week with tip.

 

Big assumptions made  for only 5 drinks/day.  I would have at least a couple of beers in the afternoon while running around....maybe try one "drink of the day".  I'd have a couple of Bulleits, or Tanquereys, or, Titos before dinner, and a couple of Martinis at night....one before a show, and one after.  Let's say 7 drinks/day at an average price of $11/ea...that's $77/day + $15 tip= $92/day or $644/week if I were pay as you go.

 

The math is pretty easy.  The drink package they include is least expensive.  Pay as you go would be next up from that.  Buying the drink package on board is the worst way to go.

 

You can adjust up or down and see what works for you.  The above works for me.

 

 

sorry for such a specific question, but did you happen to see if Makers Mark was under the $15 threshold? My traveling buddy only drinks that, ha!

You are 100% correct BirdTravels - I just booked the Encore for next February so I am anxiously awaiting the details! 

I just posted in the Everything Encore thread that the NCL rep I spoke with today told me they are anticipating more info being released in mid-to-late summer...we shall see

Just booked her for the Feb 16-Feb 23 Cruise out of Miami. The NCL rep told me that they are expecting more details (complete deck plans, restaurants, bars, etc.) in mid-to-late summertime - we shall see.I bet it'll be extremely similar to Bliss with perhaps a change or two here and there...

Apologies if this has been asked before, but on the NCL site, it's showing the following entertainment options as being an extra charge, is this accurate or a website error?

- Choir of Man at $15.99pp

- Happy Hour the Musical at $29.99pp

Free Entertainment

- Kinky Boots

- Social Comedy and Nightclub

- The Cavern Club

Any possibility of HATM being on-board? On the Getaway, we went there nearly every night! 

Thank you! Yes - US Citizen

Hi All -

Just booked the Encore for Feb 16 to 23, 2020. My passport expires April 2020 - so about 1.5/2 months after the cruise. Should I go ahead and submit it for renewal now? 

BUMP - with the ship due to launch in the next 8 to 9 months, shouldn't they be releasing some more info around restaurants and bars? 

8 hours ago, CruisingNole said:

 

Interesting. $70 a day? I’ve been on many RCI sailings and have never paid that. In November I paid $45/day plus 18%. One of us bundled it with unlimited WiFi for $53/day.

$53 a day for both the beverage package and WiFi seems like a pretty good deal to me! The $70 per day number, plus gratuity, comes directly from the RCCL website...it says the actual price depends on the boat, sailing, etc. 

If NCL could include free "basic" WiFi with their beverage package, that'd be nice!

Great summary...if one chooses to go with the "Premium" upgrade and is paying $54.80 per day, that would be a total of $383.60 for a 7 day cruise...

So really, the only benefit of this "premium" upgrade is specialty coffees, bottled water, and some alcohol brands that are above $15 (e.g. Hendricks gin). If you stay with the $20 per day package, and order a drink for $18, will you still only be charged $3? or is that changing too?

On 1/30/2019 at 1:23 PM, ksmcdonald said:

 

Let me try to clear things up for you.

 

NCL - free perk of the drink package for 7 days = $138.60 (pkg plus gratuities)per person

NCL - upgraded premium drink package $29pp/pd  + $5.80 (gratuities) = $243.60 per person for 7 day cruise

 

If you add $138.60 +  $243.60 = $382.20 for one person to have the Top Shelf Premium drink package for 7 days.  This comes out to $54.60 a day for a customer to purchase the free drink package that is equivalent to Carnivals.  Why don't they just say it will cost you $55 a day to get the top shelf liquor, bottle water and energy drinks, speciality coffee etc.

 

Not sure what you are confused about.   NCL would be getting the same $55 whether they want to spin it as free drinks plus buying an upgraded package (which equals $54.60) OR just tell their customers they need to pay $55 a day like Carnivals does.  NCL doesn't need to make it so difficult.  I don't understand why they need to increase their prices of drinks to outrageous amounts.  All they are doing is using  smoke and mirrors as a Marketing ploy and it is actually ticking people off!  Be honest and upfront!  

 

 

Bottom line, NCL is making $55 a day per person on their new upgraded drink package.  Just say that.  PERIOD!

ahhh - so they are offering the "Premium Package" to those with the beverage perk, for $29 per day + a 20% gratuity on that $29? Your math looks right to me, comes out to $54.60 per person, per day...Carnival's is $51.95 plus 18% gratuity which is really $61.30 per day ($429 in total)...so all-in-all the "free beverage perk" is a savings of $6.70 per day compared to Carnival's...at the end of the day, they are using the marketing gimmick of it being a "free beverage package" when clearly it's essentially the same as Carnivals - I completely agree ksmcdonald

The RCCL package is as high as $70 per day with 18% gratuity, so $82.60 per day or $578.20 for a 7 day cruise. So, in this case, the NCL premium package is much cheaper...

Hi All -

There has been a lot of confusion and back and forth on here, so want to make sure I have this correct.

So currently, with the "free" beverage package incentive in its current form, it's being valued at $99 per day. NCL is paying for this $99 daily charge, but the passenger is responsible for the 20% gratuity which is $19.80 per day (total including the 20% gratuity is $118.80 per day). A 7 day cruise equals out to $138.60 per person for this "free" perk. This package covers drinks up to $15 per day.

The soon to be implemented "Premium-Plus Package" will cost $153.60 per day, including the 20% gratuity, according to the link above. So with some simple math, this means that the new daily value is $128 ($128 X 1.2 = $153.60). So, does this mean that the customer will be responsible for the daily gratuity of $25.60? For a 7 day cruise, that would be $179.20. This package has no limit and includes basically all beverages (coffees, etc.)

Premium Package Customer Cost = $179.20 

Current Package Customer Cost  =   $138.60

Increase in Customer Cost =              $40.60

A $40.60 increase seems very minor to me, so I think I am doing something wrong?

Hi All -

I know April 2020 is a year away but I am already looking at April 18/April 19 to April 25/26 as that is school vacation week for those of us in Boston. I am looking at NCL's newest ships: Encore, Bliss, Joy, Escape, Getaway and Breakaway. I can't see any 7 day options for any of these 6 ships for that week. 

a) The Encore returns to Miami on the 19th, but doesn't sail again until Wednesday, April 22 (3-4 days later) on a 4 day NYC to Bermuda cruise, ending on Sunday, April 26. Does this mean she is deadheading from Miami up to NYC? That would be 3-4 days of no passengers on board. 

b) The Bliss is leaving on a 21 night cruise on the 19th so she is out.

c) The Joy is doing a 5 day Pacific Coastal cruise from LA to Vancouver on Sunday, April 19 to Friday, April 24 (not interested in this cruise due to itinerary)

d) The Escape is showing nothing for the entire month of April - has she been charted out for the entire month?

e) The Getaway returns to New Orleans on the 19th, but doesn't sail again until Thursday, April 23 (4-5 days later) on a 15 night transatlantic from NYC. Does this mean she is deadheading from New Orleans to NYC? That would be 4-5 days of no passengers on board.  

f) The Breakaway has two options:

    1. April 18th to April 22: 4 night Bahamas from Orlando 

    2. April 23 to April 26: 3 night Bahamas from Miami (does she deadhead the night of April 22 from Orlando to Miami?)

Unfortunately, given this, I will likely have to go with RC as they have multiple 7 day cruise options that week - unless we do the 4 day on the Encore to Bermuda or wait and see on the Escape. (we're not interested in the Epic or the older ships)

Thanks!

that was fast! :) thank you!

Hi There -

Is Fall 2019 still the timeline for Oasis? I am looking at an Oasis cruise in February 2020 but want to be sure she has all the upgrades by then!