HodgeNNicole

Thanks for the help. I pay extra for the California weather living here, so I hope it is over 50 degrees!!! LOL

Thanks for the info. I also thought Diamond status allowed for early boarding as well. Just looked at the loyalty perks and that seems to be gone. I thought it was suites, Key then Diamond and above. Looks like that changed as of 9/1?

We are sailing on the Navigator in December. Kids are wondering if the water slides will be open? Anyone have any insight for us???

I am wondering if the check in opens based on the time zone of the ship? Meaning we live on the West Coast and we typically cruise out of Florida. So on the day that we can check in typically we can do it at 9pm West Coast time as it is midnight East Coast time. We are taking a cruise out of Los Angeles in December and were wondering if we will need to wait till midnight to check in or will it work the same way we can check in at 9pm. Just trying to get an early arrival time which is why we are asking.

We were just off the Wonder of the Seas on Royal and we only had service in the AM. We are early risers and every time we walked out of the cabin the steward saw us and asked if he could clean the room. I think he liked the fact that we were out early as most people sleep in. We. would get the cruise compass at night but norther service. I do miss coming back in the evening to a fresh cabin but also understand labor costs are going up and changes are only natural. We will make it work for sure I was just wondering as we are new to NCL and excited for a change...

Thank you for confirming what I was thinking Two Wheels. I was guessing the cabins for 3 would just have a sofa that is made into a bed but the cabins for 4 would have the bunk in the ceiling. Anyone have experience with the ease of just dropping it down when it is time for bed? Would I need a special key or anything??

just got back from Coco Cay we went to chill island and snorkeled right off the beach around the rocks there. It wasn't as great as Roatan or Cozumel but was nice and easy.

we are looking at a club balcony suite cabin. Hoping that there is a bunk in the ceiling for him that we can just drop down at night for bed and then have the cabin made up in the morning.

I know both Royal and Carnival have gone from making up the room twice per day to only once. I was wondering if anyone can let me know about this on the Escape? We are looking at booking the Escape for the Caribbean next summer and have our son guy going with us that will make the 3rd in the cabin. Wondering if his bed will be exposed all day because they only service the room once or not. By all means not a deal breaker or anything crazy just wondering??

Thank you all for the great feedback! I rally appreciate it. I think we are going to pull the trigger and try NCL next summer!!!

Hey gang, The family and I are veteran cruisers but looking at NCL for the 1st time. When looking online to book the website shows "free at sea package" to add the unlimited drinks it adds over $400 to the cruise price. My wife and I don't drink so I saw how we can eliminate that and save the money. Would I be correct that there will be some sort of drink package that includes just soda for a much lower price than $400??? Second question is regarding the Specialty Dining add on. It states save up to $180 and adds only $40 to the booking. We would for sure be interested in that. Can any of you NCL veterans explain that a bit more to me? Do we get to pick like 2 or 3 specialty restaurants for that price? is it just a discount when we eat at the specialty restaurant?? We are looking at "Club Balcony Suite with larger balcony" only spot it is available on the Escape are up front of the ship on Deck 8. Does anyone have experience with this area regarding noise etc? Looking forward to a nice change of scenery with NCL coming from Royal, Carnival etc.

I am thinking about using Daniel Johnson monkey/snorkel tour. However, I have tried to reach out to them with questions and it has been about a week with no return e-mail. Has anybody had any recent experience with them? Or can anyone answer where they go to snorkel on the trip? I have read that there are some shallower places near a reef and there is also a short boat ride to a location. My wife and younger son are a little tentative in deeper water so I was hoping to contact them about the shallower reef??

In the past we would get an e-mail asking if we were interested in bidding on an upgrade. I searched online and was directed to a site to put my name booking # in to place a bid. However, when I did that I got an error stating I was not able to bid as our cruise was over 30 days away? Is that new or did I mess something up? We cruise the end of July on the Wonder so we are about 75 days out?

Yes it was the Uber price that was $115 for the 3 of us from port back to MCO. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Vacation something. It was located across the street from the port and we actually walked with our bags across the street to the port. We were on the. Mardi Gras but I am not sure you. can walk if you. are at a different berth. Also the secret was to walk across the street after the cruise and grab an uber from there it was substantially quicker with no crowds etc.

We stayed at the Doubletree by the airport in June. Our flight arrived at 1:30AM and they have a shuttle 24/7. Called the hotel to request the shuttle, she told us exactly where to wait and in about 15-20 the shuttle arrived. checked in and went to sleep. Got up the next morning, walked across the street to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Then took an uber to the the port. I think the Uber was like $115. Very easy and simple. Hope this helps

Basically you don't put your bags out the night before disembarkation and when you line up to get off the ship take everything with you and walk off. Hopefully you have passports and are US citizens. That makes things very easy and quick. Walk right. through customs, use the facial recognition in customs, then walk outside and grab an uber. You will. be at at FLL quickly. My only question would be the date of 12/24 and the crowds flying out on that day being heavier than a normal day. But the other posters are correct an 11AM flight is very doable under normal situations.

My wife, son and I recently paid about $100-$120 from the port to MCO in June if that gives you an idea of the cost. Like the other post mentioned it might be a tight squeeze for 6 plus luggage in 1 car.

If you are traveling on the Mardi Gras. I would highly recommend the Holiday Inn Vacation hotel. It is directly across the street from the ship. My wife,8 year old son and I walked from the hotel to the ship including luggage. It is a very easy walk with NO traffic. The hotel has a great pool, lazy river even a big slide. It also has a mini golf course, movie theater, arcade and a walking path to the beach. I would highly recommend it for the day prior to a cruise. Upon arrival back in port we walked off the ship, as soon as we were outside of the port we requested an Uber, walked across the street to the Holiday Inn and by the time we walked across the street the uber was there. It was amazing, easy and not crowded. Everyone else was dealing with the crowds for the shuttles, taxis etc and we were already on our way back to MCO. I am sure the hotel would work for other ships as well but it is walking distance from the Mardi Gras you might need to uber to the other ships.

We were on the Mardi Gras in June and used Uber to get from the port to MCO and it was $115 for the 3 of us. Hope this helps

It is a camping hammock that comes with straps to be wrapped around a tree. The hammock itself has long cords that can be adjusted for length. I attach one of the straps around a pipe or some sort of structure that is located up high. Many times it is a steel support for the divider between the balconys. Then the other side I can wrap around the railing somehow. Both sides of the hammock can be adjusted for length. Granted when I am done I am only a few inches off the deck still plenty room enough to gently sway in the sea breezes. It has carabiners on each end so in the event the wind picks up I just un clip it and bring it in. I wish I had a picture for you but I don't. I will say we mostly choose an ocean view cabin with a larger balcony so not sure if the regular size of balcony will work or not.

I bring a hammock on every cruise and very much enjoy it. In fact on several occasions I park my self in it just before bed and often wake up several hours later! LOL. Never have I been asked to take it down.

Now that would explain why over all the other cruises I have taken we always end up with the bed by the bathroom LOL!

We are looking at booking the Wonder for Summer 2024. Trying to figure out if the pattern of the bed near the balcony or the bathroom pattern is the same. We are looking at Cabins 11260 or 11264 would they both have the bed near the balcony or am I doing the calculation backwards??

Thank you for the visual that really helps. I am not big on playing frogger with luggage and an 8 year old!

I have read here several times that it is best to walk across the street from the terminal to this hotel to catch ride share back to MCO. (We are on Carnival, Mardi Gras) Is this doable with traffic, luggage etc? Also what about being dropped off at the hotel and walking to the terminal for embarkation?