brigand13

Obviously, things can change with short notice, but I figured I'd add another data point: Food Republic was NOT open for lunch on Prima when we sailed last fall (early Nov.). . Wasn't really a problem though because Indulge is AMAZING!!!

You might be surprised with regard to how long some of these sailings have been available for purchase. I had one for Sept 2024 (AK to HI repositioning) cancelled that I booked in December 2021. The Spirit's schedule had been the same since the cruise resumption after COVID: Summer in AK then move through the South Pacific/HI area and Winter in Aus/NZ.

All three major cruiselines have seen stock price gains in the past month (RCL is up over $90 right now!!). I think strong bookings and a hopefully improving economy may be at the heart of it. I just wish the rest of my stock would move in the same direction as my cruise stocks!! 😜

Be aware that the provided Lipton tea isn't very good (flavor is kind of harsh and overly tannic because it's really more designed for making iced tea). If your husband is at ALL picky, bring your own stash because the selection is pretty limited even in the buffet/observation lounge/etc.

Hello all... So our group are majorly into escape rooms and we're considering the "Escape Room & Victoria by Night" excursion that's offered in Victoria, BC for our AK cruise later this year. Has anyone done this excursion in particular (would love your impressions) and do you know which escape room it includes? [BTW, sorry if this is a repeat sort of question... I tried searching, but when NCL has a ship named "Escape" and there's LOTS of talk about "rooms", it means a lot of noise in the search. 🤪] TIA!!

We did Cagney's in early November and my husband had the porterhouse. In retrospect, he wished he'd gone with the filet or the ribeye (which is what I had). His steak was noticeably thinner than mine and he encountered several spots of gristle. When combined with the bone weight, your 20 oz steak is reduced to probably 14-15 oz at best. I cannot fathom paying ANY upcharge for that porterhouse, much less an extra $20. If this is meant to discourage ordering of that particular cut, then I expect it will work well because it's simply not worth the upcharge.

Check Amazon (or other travel gear site if you prefer) for something similar to "Cruise Luggage Tag Holders"... They are little ziploc pouches that you can put the printed luggage tag into and then they attach to your case using a woven metal cable loop. You can attach them at home or after your flight and it's all about the same. Also, if it happens to be raining, you don't have to worry about the text on the tag smearing and becoming illegible. Best of all, they are quite inexpensive. I got a pack of 20 for about $12 from Amazon. That was obviously more than enough for our suitcases. But best of all, they are totally reusable (and make a neat little gift for friends or family headed on their first cruise).

I was a bit underwhelmed by the Indulge breakfast offerings. Definitely didn't measure up to their Lunch and Dinner options and it's pretty much the same stuff that's served in the buffet, but oddly felt less satisfying/convenient E.g. I like LOTS of capers when I do a bagel with cream cheese and lox/smoked salmon, but the "kit" they gave me in Indulge only had about 4 or 5 of them (and yes, I could have gone back and asked for more, but I don't have to do that when I serve myself at the buffet). That said the little chocolate croissant/pastries are the BOMB!! But they are likewise available in both Indulge and the buffet.

Coke Zero and Sprite Zero were both included with the PBP (i.e. the one that comes with standard FAS) when we were on Prima in November. That said, it was generally a can and so wasn't available at fountain locations (e.g. on Prima there is a soda dispenser in Indulge that had Diet Coke and regular Coke, but no Coke Zero). So if you're a Coke Zero drinker, you may not find it EVERYWHERE, but you should find it and it's included along with any other soft drinks.

Double-check your account. When we booked excursions onboard, the excursion was charged at full price and then the evening after we completed it, I received a $50 CREDIT to cover the FAS excursion benefit. Since you have FAS+ which gives you the excursion credit for everyone in the stateroom, I suspect that the two $50 charges for the excursion you booked onboard are actually credits (or at least should be). If they are indeed charges, you should be able to bring that to the attention of guest services and get it corrected.

Hands down, my single favorite item from Indulge were the Datiles con Alemendras (bacon wrapped, almond stuffed dates) from Tapas. It's the only dish we had every time we ate at Indulge (since the Tapas menu stays the same for both lunch and dinner). They are just a perfect little bite. The sweet from the date, the nuttiness of the almond, smoky bacon, and top it off with BLUE CHEESE!! OMG, I'm definitely going to have to try making those at home. Other stand outs were, from Tamara, the Chicken Korma and Short Rib Dosa (BTW, this thing is HUGE... think burrito instead of taquito with regard to size since it's not obvious from the pic on the tablet). From Nudls, the Agnolotti and the Fiocchetti (both from the dinner menu). From Seaside Rotisserie, the Picanha and the Tenderloin (from the dinner menu) and the Beef Shich Kebab, which was like kofta (from the lunch menu). From Q, the Jalapeno Cheese Grits (dinner menu). But really, pretty much everything I tried was delicious.

Your booking should indicate which ports are tender ports (I don't think it makes a note if they aren't). On the Prima (Galveston to Miami on 10/31), Cozumel was due to be a tender port. We wound up missing it due to Hurricane Lisa, but I'm pretty sure it was indicated as a tender on my Vacation Summary tab for the reservation.

I think the posted end time was 9:30 pm, but they don't just kick you out once it hits that time. And the service remains exceptional even if you're one of the later diners (ask me how I know 😉). My take was that the menu was excellent. We ate in the MDRs three or 4 times on the 11 night cruise and there were STILL several items I'd have liked to try. but one can only eat so much before they have to bring out the luggage dolly to get you back to your room. 😛 Oh well, guess I'll just have to book another cruise on Prima.... darn....

I don't have food allergies so I didn't actively notice whether they list that sort of thing on the tablet, but I think they might have. That said, there were always service staff around who would eagerly assist with pretty much anything. And given the format of Indulge, it would be pretty easy to go to the counter for the specific kiosk and ask someone who is actively cooking the food. I must say I was quite impressed by their attention to stuff like this. I think we were literally always asked if we had any food allergies/sensitivities at all of our sit down meals (specialty and MDR).

We tend to eat at odd times (generally late) so we often were there later in the service window than a lot of folks. For example, the couple of times we went for dinner, we went after the early show in the theater. There was at least once around lunch time when we made a loop through, said "Nope, not today" and then headed elsewhere. 🙂

Totally agree with this and it's VERY, VERY short-sighted of NCL. Being able to check ship's time on the app while ashore would be SUPER handy. They could have some sort of countdown timer on the app splash screen which indicates how long you have until you need to be back aboard. Such wasted opportunity. It's amazing (and kinda sad) how limited this app is in the current day and age. I guess it's a situation where they have your money and they don't figure anyone is going to not cruise because of a crappy app. But they might consider that techy times may opt for a DIFFERENT CRUISE LINE because of better tech.

Patience?? Go at off peak times? Nothing new really to share here. It's the same strategy you'd use for getting a table at the buffet. You might watch for folks who look like they are finishing up and then claim the table as soon as it is vacated. Once you've done so, you can ask one of the crew to have it cleaned ASAP (if they don't move in to do so immediately anyhow, which they may).

The biggest menu differences I noticed were for Tamara, Q and Seaside Rotisserie where the menus have almost no overlap. Others like Tapas are identical for lunch and dinner. I think that the food items which show as "sold out" are for the opposite meal time. For example, I noticed that the spaetzle showed as sold out during dinner, but it's available at lunch time. Similarly for the Drink of the Day, the menu always lists all 7 DotDs, but all but the one which is available that day will show as sold out. (BTW, you can get any DotD at the Metropolitan Bar all the time. They are all part of the Sustainable Cocktails list which is served at the Metro Bar as a matter of course.

My husband and I recently returned from the 10/31 sailing of the Prima from Galveston to Miami (by way of the ABC Islands). I wanted to offer a tip we learned (from one of the EXCEPTIONAL service staff... seriously, these folks are TOP NOTCH) for the Indulge Food Hall which I hadn't encountered anywhere prior to our trip, but which worked like a charm. If you have special requests for any items you are ordering, put them in the "For" field for that item. This sounds like a spot where you'd indicate which person at the table a given item is intended for (and I suppose you could use it that way, but why bother when you can just claim the food as it is delivered); however, in reality you can treat it as a sort of catch all "Comment" field. So if you prefer your meat rare (or overcooked 😉) you can indicate that. Want the barbecue brisket sans sauce, you can indicate that. Want to order multiple entree type items from Q or the Rotisserie but you don't need or want all the xtra side items, that too will be honored (and will prevent unnecessary food waste as well!!). We unfortunately didn't learn this until about midway through our cruise when the lovely crew member overheard me saying I wished there was an easy way to the bbq without sauce (I don't care for sweet BBQ sauce, especially on brisket... Texas style FTW!!) and offered up the tip. Sure enough, tried it the next time and it worked like a charm. Other Indulge tips: Indulge is the IDEAL spot for lunch on embarkation day, but it WILL be crowded and since it's open seating you may have a challenge finding a table. TRY THE ALMOND STUFFED, BACON-WRAPPED DATES from the Tapas menu. Indulge has a LOT of great foods, but those dates were hands down our single favorite. Also, they actually are a small plate (two dates per portion) so they are a great little starter/finisher bite. If you have the beverage package, you can order beer/wine through the tablet. When you do, it will indicate the normal price for the beverage even after you scan your card, but once you navigate through all the screens and "pay" it will zero out the charge. The '66 by NCL beer (it's a brown ale not unlike Shiner Bock) which was only available at the Luna and Soliel bars during our sailing is one of the best beers I found on the ship (no idea why it isn't offered in more spots). The lunch and dinner menus are quite different for most of the kiosks so definitely plan to visit at least once for each meal just to try the different options. Portions are pretty large for many of the items and it's hard to gauge from the pictures just how much food you'll be getting. The orders come out LIGHTNING fast though, so to avoid food waste, err on the side of caution since you can always place another order, which will come out just as quickly. Since Indulge is such a NEW and different thing, please feel free to ask any questions you may have and I'll try to field them. On our 11-night cruise we ate in Indulge around 6 different times for a variety of meals so I managed to get a pretty good feel for it. And I CANNOT WAIT to sail on a Prima-class ship again so that I'll have access to Indulge again. 😄 I realize it's impractical, but this is something I wish they could roll out to all the other ships retroactively.

I suspect you may be right, which I why I indicated the where and when of my issues. There were a few areas where if felt like we were helping NCL with a bit of beta testing for certain elements. 🙂 Truth is, it didn't really impact us at all. Booking things from our TV wasn't much of an inconvenience. Just meant I had to pop back to the room rather than doing things on a whim right where I sat. Very much first world problems. 😄 Key takeaway still stands that if one method doesn't work, try another.

Not sure if this is true for ALL ships, but during my recent cruise on the Prima (which was also my first on NCL), I was not able to book ANYTHING through the NCL app. I could see the openings, but just got errors when I tried to book. I WAS able to book both dining and shows through the TV in our room (and those bookings then showed up in my app as did the ones I'd booked prior to departure). It MAY have been possible to book excursions through the TV as well, but we did those in person at the excursion desk. It's my understanding that you can also book dining somewhere in person (I think the exact location varies depending upon the ship). I also didn't try that option. Obviously, YMMV, though. I'd say give it a try once you're on board and if it doesn't work you can always try another method.

Fingers crossed that you are correct. I have NCL cruises booked for next year and the year after as well. It would be awesome to see them implement a refillable mug option like RCCL and some theme parks offer. 😄

I love this change and I love that it sounds like the Prima (which I'm sailing on at the end of October) will have Coke. I drink either Coke Zero or Diet Dr Pepper pretty exclusively. Now, NCL just needs to get some Freestyle machines and we're REALLY in business!! 😄 My husband does sugar-free and caffeine free which in many places means his drink options are water or water. 😛 So the Freestyle machines make a big difference for him.

One thing you might consider is doing a positioning cruise to or from HI. NCL moves ships through HI both to and from AK with the seasonal changes. You can get a cruise that hits several islands in HI and also includes French Polynesia or Alaska. The AK to HI cruises are naturally in the fall. The HI to AK cruises are in the spring and the ones that hit French Polynesia are earlier spring or later fall. The ship that usually does that route is the Spirit. Best of all, they tend to be longer cruises with several sea days between the port heavy days on either end (so you have time to rest and recover before hitting the vacation hard again 🙂 ). Just something to consider if you really want Hawaii and the timeframes work.

If you are a member of any hotel rewards programs, especially with any sort of status, I'd recommend checking their website just to see what the rates are. I did several months of work travel to NYC a few years ago and found that the hotel rates could vary quite a lot depending on WHEN you are going to be there. For example, part of my work obligation required travel in December which was exorbitant no matter where I stayed (peak holiday shopping season), so I just picked a hotel that was convenient to where I was working (Marriott Courtyard on the Upper East Side). However, the rates in January and February were DRAMATICALLY lower (like 1/3 of what they were in December) so I sampled several hotels around the city (and actually eventually settled back at the one I'd stayed in previously that was super convenient LOL!!).. If you're travelling in the off season, you may be able to find some really interesting historic hotels have pretty good rates. So don't rule out something cool just because you THINK it will be too expensive. Check online to see what's available at a price you're willing to pay and then pick whatever sounds the most fun.