genealogyfan

We thought Le Bistro was the best one out of all the speciality dining restaurants. Ocean Blue was also a really good one that we had on the Breakaway.

When I was on the Pearl in Sept 2022, I upgraded to the unlimited internet. My friend who shared a cabin with me couldn't use the 150 minutes free minutes. We were told, the unlimited was for the whole cabin and therefore we didn't have the 150 free minutes for the cabin. We also had to log off one device for the other person to use the unlimited on their device.

It's available to anyone. At least last time I took it, but we had to pay for it. There are limited amount of tickets available.

Did you have to report at all to your muster station? When I was on the Breakaway at the end of Oct, we watched the video online and they emailed it to us several times. Then we had to report to our muster station (which was I think the theater). All we had to do is swipe our card to "check in" and say we watched the video.

Another site to compare and look at the different policies of travel insurance is 'insuremytrip.com" It'll give you an option to compare insurance policies and select options you want. I also check to see the cost that AAA offers with their travel insurance. I mostly get it for medical evac, medical etc.. but nice to cover expenses. Last year I finally used travel insurance (luckily not for a medical reason). Our connecting flight on Air Canada got canceled twice (original and rescheduled one), and we were stuck overnight in Montreal. Air Canada made everyone book their own hotel as they claimed they ran out of vouchers. We booked a hotel at the airport (no help from Air Canada). They lied and claimed we would get reimbursed for all expenses. I submitted all the receipts to Air Canada to get reimbursed. Then they claimed they had a max hotel cost for reimbursement and my hotel was over that max. They only reimbursed me for the hotel part up to their max. I used my travel insurance to get the rest of the money that Air Canada didn't cover.

There is also a large curtain that can be pulled and separates the toilet and the tower/tub from the rest of the cabin. If you are traveling with someone else and need a private area to change, just pull the curtain and make sure the door to the hall is locked from the inside and then you can change, etc.. My friend and I didn't think the bathroom setup was that big of a deal. We enjoyed having more room behind the curtain to change, etc..

Thanks to this post for mentioning the LATDBLX code, I had no idea it was on my current reservation. I'm so excited as my current reservation has the LATDBLX code. I'm getting 24 points for my 8 day cruise. After this cruise I'll be a platinum. Nice bonus.

Natural Pool is not a beach. It's very rocky and a "pool" surrounded by rocks. We took a ATV tour and someone else drove to get there. It's not easy to walk to the natural pool either. Are you thinking of baby beach as the beautiful beach. Here's a photo of the natural pool. https://www.earthtrekkers.com/adventure-aruba-visit-natural-pool-daimari-beach/

I'd recommend the sunset cruise by Red Sail. The pier with the boat is near the Hyatt. I've taken it a few times, very fun, low key and not very crowded. It sails 5 days a week. It has hors d' oeuvres and a complimentary bar featuring beer and cocktails, but also non alcoholic drinks too. http://www.redsailaruba.com/modules/resqwest/display_activity_details/1850

We have gotten posh passes before and they were totally worth it, but our cruise then only sailed around the Eastern Caribbean. We totally liked it wasn't very crowded and there were no seat hogs. I have no idea the price now (got them 10 years ago), and whether it's worth it, especially for the sea days up the East Coast.

Does anyone know how windy or cold is it sailing from the Caribbean (specifically Dominican Republic) to NYC in late April? I'm taking the NCL Epic Cruise that sails from Puerto Rico on Apr 14 and ends in NYC on Apr 22. I'm trying to decide if trying for the posh passes is worth it. Specifically for the last two sea days where it is sailing to NYC and will be out in the Atlantic along the East coast sailing up to NYC. I wasn't sure what category this should go under, but since it's a Norwegian ship, I figured I would post it here. I have gotten posh passes in the past and it was nice to be up there in the Caribbean, but not sure how it is out in the Atlantic along the East Coast. Thanks in advance.

I would suggest search the info and deck plans of your ship. That will tell you what dining options they have and which are free and which are specialty dining. Also when you log into your NCL account and selection view your reservation, you can explore the dining options, reservations, entertainment, excursions etc..under the "explore & plan" tab. https://www.ncl.com/cruise-ship/spirit#!#things-to-know

I think normally one of the free sit down restaurants doesn't allow shorts, but pants like jeans, casual are allowed (possibly at least one or more of the specialty restaurants don't allow shorts either). You can wear casual pants, jeans, etc..

Here's a link to the NCL website of what you get with a club balcony and the other descriptions of the types of cabins. https://www.ncl.com/why-cruise-norwegian/cruise-accommodations/minisuites-and-balconies

You can make reservations for some restaurants online ahead of boarding. In the past, I've never had to make reservations ahead for the free sit down restaurants though. I was recently told by a rep from NCL that only 20% of the available restaurant reservations are available to book before boarding. Don't worry if there are no times available. Food is subjective. You will get different opinions from everyone. My expectations for a cruise line quality of food is low, so I'm normally not disappointed. We like going to the sit down restaurants instead of the buffets. I've always thought the food was ok to really good. My least favorite is at the O'Sheehan's Bar and Grill. Part of the free at sea usually includes 2 specialty dinner restaurants. We found Le Bistro to be one of the best specialty dining restaurants. If you can see the times of the shows ahead of time that would be helpful and then book your dining reservations from there. I think on my last cruise, there was an early showing and a late show for the broadway show Six. Usually the shows have two times. Norwegian is freestyle, so you don't need to dress up for dinner, can eat anytime during the meal times and you normally don't have the same section/table for a meal. I would search this message boards for experiences of those who book through NCL for their airfare. Mostly bad stories.

The Hilton in Palm Beach is a great hotel, great beach and within walking distances of alot of restaurants. Great location, friendly staff, etc.. There will be construction going on (check on their website), but I don't think that will be an issue.

Thanks for the info about times to arrive and boarding times in San Juan. We also want to try and get posh passes and want to arrive early.

Actually this isn't true on the ship I was just on in October. I brought a bottle of water off the ship and when I returned, they were allowed to be brought back on. At one port there was a bit of confusion, at first the person said I couldn't and then I dumped it, and someone else working said I could have brought the bottle of water back on. The next ports they didn't even ask or question me bringing a bottle of water back on the ship.

We sailed on the Pearl in September 2022. We enjoyed eating lunch at the "Summer Palace" the day of embarkation. It was quiet, less crazy and less stressful. We always like to eat at a sit down restaurant on that day. While we were eating lunch, they announced all cabins were available. If you do eat at the Summer Palace, ask if Cherry is working. She was a waitress there for breakfast, and we ate there for breakfast each day. She didn't work the lunch shift, but her schedule may have changed. We weren't the only ones asking to sit in her section at breakfast. We never ate at the buffet, but ate at the free sit down restaurants and specialty ones, as we had the 2 specialty dining package. If you have a specialty dining option, go eat at Le Bistro. It was the best food of all the restaurants and Cherry happened to work there during dinner. The entertainment wasn't the greatest on the Pearl, so don't expect much. Are you booking excursions through the ship or privately? We did the excursions through the ship, as the $50 discount made it affordable. Although when we sailed to Bermuda, which I think you are doing, I booked a private tour of the island on the first day and after the guy never showed, we caught another private tour with another couple on the dock. We really enjoyed it. We did book the beach excursion through the ship, as it was the last day and I didn't want to take the chance and miss the ship.

My friend and I did this ship and itinerary this past September. We never had an issue with tender tickets or lines to get off/on. Even when our excursion through the ship was in the late afternoon we got off pretty early without a problem. We used our excursion tickets as tender tickets. If you book a cruise ship excursion, that's your tender ticket. In fact on one port (not a tender), my friend and I happened to be the first ones off the ship. We just happened to be standing in an area and when they gathered people to get lined out to get off, we were first. Our stop in Charlottetown wasn't a tender port though. It was a fun and interesting cruise.

I recently talked with someone from Norwegian and they told me only 20% of the available restaurant reservations are available to book ahead of time. Once you board the 80% will be available to book. I’m not sure if she meant for the speciality restaurants or all restaurants.

When you board the ship, they may have dining reservations set up somewhere like the comedy club. When I was on a cruise in October they had dining reservations set up in the comedy club and had multiple staff helping people make or change reservations. There were plenty of signs where to go.

Thanks for the info. Just an FYI, Norweigan Cruise lines is sailing/docking there too. At least the Epic on the Apr 14 sailing is.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm thinking of using them for airport transportation - to/from hotel and cruise port.

In the past we have never made reservations for the free sit down dining rooms and we never had a long wait (maybe at the most 4 -8 people in front of us). On my most recent cruise, there was a set up for dining reservations in one of the comedy clubs the day we boarded (there were many signs showing where to sign up). Inside there were multiple crew members who could help each person wanting to make dining reservations. I was able to move around some reservations I had already made. I do make reservations ahead of time for the specialty specific entertainment we want to see (my last ship had the show "Six" on it, so definitely wanted to see that and there were only 2 performances). I've never had to make reservations for the general -crew member type shows.