NancyW12

I sailed on the Pearl in the Before Times, so this may have changed. But, there was one coffee maker in the buffet that had fresh ground beans. You may want to walk all the way around the buffet at all the beverage stations and see if that machine snuck thru everything. Worth a shot. BTW- it looks just like the other liquid coffee machines, so look on top for the canister of beans.

To the poster who said the Waterfront would be especially good for inside cabin people- THANK YOU! I just got off the 8/6 sailing (inside cabin) and did a sleep, eat, thermal spa, waterfront rotation the full time. I remembered you saying that and followed that instruction. Brilliant!

Gonna add a couple of other things- unlike the Haven lady with the live post from my same cruise, I go as inexpensive as possible (the officers did not send dessert snack plates to the inside cabins LOL). I buy the cheapest sailaway cabin on board and a weeklong thermal spa pass, purchasing drinks as needed. This was my third NCL cruise and it wasn't my favorite ship. I think after doing the Pearl, Epic, and Escape (as well as some other cruise lines), that I really prefer the intimacy of a smaller ship, so favorite ship right now goes to the Pearl. Plus, the kids were...a lot of kids. The ship was 100% sold out. If a ship doesn't have a water slide, it generally doesn't have kids- just sayin'. Agree the pool deck was brutally loud and crowded, but the only time I went was to walk from the buffet to the thermal spa at the other end and just laughed internally. All these people shoved 12 to a hot tub or (literally)200 people jammed into a pool and 500 feet away is a calm oasis. hahahahaha.  In the Before Times, there was more abundance displayed on the Epic than the Pearl and I expected that on the Escape- such as the mid-afternoon grill out at the pool deck, the full scale Broadway shows, the Latitudes bottle of wine in the stateroom. But that's all gone in the After Times, so I don't know that a ship's size defines the amenities anymore. I loved Choir of Man and the Syd Norman shows at the Pourhouse, but the rest of the entertainment didn't hit my notes. The performers hinted that they were on two week rotations in and out so whoever goes two weeks from now will have different comics and piano players, etc so my opinion doesn't really hold water.

Due to some dietary restrictions, I mostly ate in the buffet. I was surprised that the menus were fairly common on the same night in the dining rooms and the buffet- usually the buffet is a day behind with repurposed leftovers, but not here. The food was excellent! The lighting was all the way up and people eating dinner in their pool clothes and kids running with a soft serve in their hand. If you are on the Escape and want a quieter buffet, go all the way to the back across the aft and it's as quiet as it's going to get. 

Shame on me for not researching the ports, so I can't *****- our itinerary was Honduras, Belize, Costa Maya, and Cozumel. I didn't like that at the first three, we were essentially on an island and there wasn't really a local experience to check out independently. You docked and either did the ship's shore excursions, haggled with a guy at the official shore excursion sale point, or walked in the predetermined, prescribed shopping path around similar stores and bars at each port. But that's on me, not NCL, and most of those ports had the other ships docked as well, so any cruise line would have had the same experience.

The original poster and Steelers lady are correct- MSC will NOT sell a cabin to a solo traveler for any fee unless it is one of their solo specified cabins. By the way, this is different than they were in 2010 when I did buy a European balcony cruise advertised at $499 a person for $998 for a solo. To those who are not understanding, the solo cruisers here don't really care if the room is labeled a Studio or a Solo cabin and only sold for one. We are speaking about an inside cabin being advertised as $359pp, clicking in on it, changing the number in the room to 1 instead of 2. Most cruise lines, that room will update and adjust to show the fare at $718 for a solo. MSC flat out won't let a solo book. Not on the phone either. The only solo they want to sell to is one buying their Murphy bed solo room for one. It makes no sense. AS a solo traveler, I am well versed in buying the whole room. Hampton Inn doesn't care how many people are in the room- the room costs $_____. It should be the same on a cruise ship (and usually is). Sometimes close to sailing, they will discount empty cabins for a solo, but MSC will simply not sell you the cabin at any price. Very, very odd.

It's amazing what a tip to a steward will get you. Last cruise, I had a lumpy pillow. I left $5 and a note asking if she could find some different pillows. She came back with what appeared to be an entire Haven bed set. I bet a tip would help a coffee maker of choice find its way to the room.

here are my two things.

The first, I took a huge amount of flack for on a similar previous post, but I stand by it- don't feel the need to be polite if someone wants you to do something that is for their convenience rather than your enjoyment. My example at the time was being seated in a dining room with two families to complete the table. I didn't know I could ask for a different table and no one told me because it was more convenient for the cruise line to stick the solo lady with the kids. Don't get bullied into a crappy theatre seat to make up numbers, etc.

Second, have faith in yourself to handle port calls on your own. The default safety valve is the ship excursions, but you do things in your hometown all the time by yourself. Why would you not when on vacation? Trust in your abilities and try it out on the first port call. If it's too scary, they will always find another seat to sell on the ship excursion (or someone will want to cancel)

I sailed Epic as a solo in a studio. I lived on Deck 18 and in the thermal spa.

- Deck 18 sunbathing- as previously posted, take the elevator up, then hook a left and go all the way around to the front of the ship. There was never anyone there and it's an understood quiet area. The Haven without paying for The Haven. People will make you regret making noise though, so this is not the area for party time.

- Thermal spa has a balcony with the nice lounge chairs and the heated ceramic ones inside. Heaven.

- Just walk down the stairs! Take the elevator back up.

- I had crappy pillows and tipped my steward $5 to find some fluffy ones. She came back with what appeared to be an entire Haven bedding set.

- I cruised in the Western Mediterranean and had to choose between the ports and the evening activities, so beware if you want to see the shows, you're not going to be off the boat at 7am for the ports. A port intensive cruise isn't really fun on the Epic.

- I had no problems getting a solo table without a wait anywhere in free dining. The folks waiting were the 3+ groups. I waited at Shanghai for 10 minutes. Otherwise it was walk in everywhere.

This still doesn't make sense. Here's why:

Book and pay for your cruise. Paid.

Free at sea tips and DSC can be paid ahead of time. Paid.

Spa services you know you will use, like a massage or thermal suite can be booked and paid for ahead of time. Paid.

Beefing up your specialty dining program to more nights can be done and paid for before boarding. Paid.

So before you board, the cruise, the tips, the increased specialty meals, the wifi, the booze, the excursions, and the spa can all be paid for ahead of time. Anything you think you want to buy can be bought ahead of time and paid for to where there is no need for a cash outlay. Regardless, they make you put a CC down for incidentals (the same CC you're using to buy the OBC) so why prepay for sunglasses in the shop via OBC instead of just charging it to the exact same card at the end of the cruise? Quite honestly, it seems to me an excuse to shop at overinflated souvenir shop pricing (honey, I have OBC to spend. Let's go shopping). But for the poster above who said "It's refundable", it makes even less sense.

Serious question- why would you want to buy OBC? why not just charge to your room what you need and pay at the end? I get spending OBC that you earn for a door prize or as part of a promo, but to me, buying OBC forces you to spend that amount on the ship rather than see if you actually need that much.

I used to be all in on paying the DSC but I believe I may remove it next time. Here's the part that bothers me- if I knew the employees were getting paid (making up numbers here) $50 a day and then were getting a portion of the DSC, I'd be in. But, it's that language of "employee compensation and programs" that gets me- does that mean they are paid $10 a day and get tips split? How do they split the tips? Does everybody get some? What are the programs that the cruise line has decided needed to be provided in lieu of an employee getting more cash in their paycheck?

The language is too vague and while it might not go to the bottom line, the DSC is clearly not passed on to non-visible employees in its entirety but is used to offset something NCL doesn't want to spend its own money to provide- hence, it's going to NCL's bottom line.

I have to agree with Lois. Again, with no malice but bluntly, the cruise line isn't responsible for a passenger making friends. Would one expect to be invited to someone else's table to eat at Red Lobster? Or to join the couple next to you at the symphony for drinks after? Or to organize an event at the hotel breakfast? We wouldn't expect those things on land so why would we expect that on a boat?

I like an inside cabin for a single room.

The free restaurants are just fine.

Not a fan of a lot of the entertainment.

Never been to the casino.

The search function is failing me- which NCL ships have the thermal suite?

Thank you

On ‎8‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 6:24 AM, El_Rolfo said:

Isn't additional tipping like a "front-of-the-line pass"? You pay to get better service than the average Joe? This potentially could start a bidding war where, firstly, the ones who don't tip additionally get abysmal service and the ones tipping the MOST will even bypass the ones adding a dollar per drink? Hypothetically this could lead to that albeit in practice it doesn't happen as only few tip additionally? Based on my experience following the bar service I'd say 90% don't give additional tip, at least much less than the 75% figure mentioned here.

That's exactly what it is. I tip. If there are 200 people clamoring for a frozen drink at the pool bar, who do you think is going to get served first? The person holding their sail card and a discreetly folded bill. End of story.

I agree that the slowdown is due to lower deals. For example, in Jan 2017, I got a 5 day Miami-Cozumel-Miami solo on the NCL Pearl for $249. Summer of 2017, Mediterranean cruises on the Epic were soloing out under $500 for a week when you booked 3 weeks before sail. I watched to do the same thing the next year. Fast forward to 2018 and the Epic Med never went on sale. I paid $1000 for a studio, not $399 for an inside GTY. This year the only fire sales have been the Cuba itineraries that had to be changed.

I'm still waiting, but the deal isn't all that great. You very rarely see anything from Royal, MSC, or Carnival discounted low enough for a solo-occasionally HAL, but I don't think a lot of those are "deals", just lower than normal.

they have both stores and post offices where you are going. You can buy anything you need and send home anything you didn't.

My mom and I did our own independent travel in China and it was the one time I wished we had gone on an organized tour. There was a gate 1 group in the same hotel and they were having a good time. We spoke with a number of them at breakfast and that's who I would likely take for a guided tour in the future.

I was to glad have a Bubba Cup from Walmart (6 bucks, almost a yeti) and full size bottle of name brand shampoo and conditioner I picked up in port before boarding. Extra undies- you will sweat thru them.

8 hours ago, mef_57 said:

Solo, for me, is truly solo as in independent. No group tours. But I started that young and as an introvert, loneliness never enters my mind.

As others gave said, language doesn't need to be an impediment. In general people are kind and helpful. You'll do fine.

Traveling by yourself is empowering. You realize just how skillful and resilient you really are. If you are a true extrovert who needs others to thrive, then a multi day group tour may be your better option, however. As you mentioned, do a few days totally on your own and it will give you an idea of just how solo you like to be.

I should add, I am a believer that you control your own happiness, so even if on a tour, have plans of what YOU want to do and where to eat on the unscheduled times. Chances are even if the only single traveler, you will meet others. If you want company, do the inviting for others to join you. If no one joins, you will still be doing what you want to do.....not waiting on someone else to invite you.

Case in point- I was doing a solo cruise thru Greece (great deal on MSC) and had dinner at an outdoor café  in Mykonos, reading my trusty Rick Steves guidebook for the next days stop in Athens. I had already downloaded the audio Acropolis tour and the audio walking tour.. A young couple came up to me and asked if that was the Rick guidebook. Yup. They mentioned they loved his books but lost theirs prior on the trip. During dinner, I wrote down the directions of how to get to the Acropolis on public transit and then gifted them the guidebook since I already had the audio tour loaded. I ran into those kids up on the Acropolis reading that book. And then several times more on the ship. It's the little things that can change a vacation.

I was on the Epic in a studio and the pillows were horrid. I left $5 and a note to my steward if she had access to any squishy pillows. She came back with what was likely a full Haven bed set. Ask, and tip, and you should be able to get it if they have it on board.

I did! 52 year old woman. No problems in Paris at all. For (roughly) $100 total, you can get a 6 day transit pass AND a 6 day museum pass that includes the Louvre, Versailles, and 50+ others and go anywhere you want when you want!

Here are some fun things I did by myself in Paris:

got a hotel in the 5th androissment (Hotel St Jacques) about 3 blocks off the Seine from Notre Dame

became a "regular" at a local restaurant when after eating there for the 3rd time (it was good and cheap), they sent over an aperitif to start

went to Versailles- twice

ate lunch at a two star Michelin restaurant by myself- no way would I have taken a table for two at night when the meal is intended to last all evening with a companion, but lunch was outstanding and about $70 for a 4 course menu.

saw all the museums

went to a medieval castle at the end of one of the subway lines and ate in a restaurant that served the foot on the chicken (not getting that in suburban America!)

I would highly recommend taking the buses above ground instead of the Metro below, only because the hallways from entrance to train are very long underground and I walked more than I rode, plus the scenery and the friendlier people are all on the bus.

If one already had airline tickets, why in the world would you just not go anyway?  Get a hotel room, buy a rail pass, use Easy Jet and go within Europe? Italy and Spain are big countries. They have plenty of hotels. The refund from NCL should cover anything that would need to be charged on land. Why would you lose the airfare and skip the whole trip? Don't get it.

Just for fun, I Googled flights from Barcelona to Rome. Over 10 airlines offer flights for $200 or less. There is a train that takes 22 hours for $100. It sounds like there were multiple options available to get oneself from Barcelona to Rome using the allotted money without disrupting any previous plans. Might have had a hotel and some meals but that would be covered by the 50% refund.

the mug isn't all that great, but I had people asking me where I got it and why they didn't get one (LOL) with their drink package. I recommend a $6 Bubba Cup from Walmart- better quality, more capacity.

Bubba Cup- $6 at Walmart. Never used one before but had that thing attached to my hand like Velcro. It will keep your drink cold. Just ask for two soda cups each time. The bartenders will fill you up. ProTip: club soda is the same as sparkling water and club soda is included in the soda package, where Perrier and San Pellegrino are $5 each.

I travel solo. I buy the cheapest room on board and a thermal spa pass. Best combo EVER!