ratfam

So for what its worth, my parents did a B2B and were on the prior cruise where there was no noted noro issue.  They have friends in Florida and had received an email that one of them had a bad stomach bug and that it was going around the area, so presumably it came onto the ship with someone who boarded in Florida.  My parents emailed a few days ago  or so that the buffet was no longer self service, that was the first sign to them that something was going around, then the missed ports.  Presumably the ship will have a deep cleaning before the next cruise and also it seems that they were not going to be able to make their planned ports of call.  My parents are well, fortunately, and probably have been overly cautious--they are not going to the buffet and have not been to shows but have gone to the MDR at night, and have probably limited themselves more than they needed to but I an appreciate the concern particularly as they are in their late 70's.  There is one big production show that they was not able to be performed on the prior cruise and I have encouraged them to attend.  They are disappointed but have been anxious about getting sick so say they will be glad to be off the ship.  They said that the crew has been out in full force cleaning and wiping down everything, so it sounds like appropriate actions are being taken.  Very unfortunate all around, and Princess will undoubtedly get terrible press for it between this and the Diamond Princess incident but my parents felt like they were doing all they could.

My parents are on this cruise, just emailed us and we are trying to figure out if we can help with their air rebooking.  Feel terribly for the sick folks but also for all those whose probably long planned for vacation has not turned out as hoped.  Naive perhaps as we have cruised often but I didn't realize that norovirus could end up preventing shore stops.  Sounds like there was not much information yet.

We had the drinks package as a "free" perk (had to pay for the gratuity on the cost) on our recent cruise on the Encore.  We had never done this before so weren't sure what to expect but we really enjoyed it.  It pretty much covered everything in terms of cocktails at the bars--I think there were some premiums liquors that may have been extra but the vast majority of the menu at the cocktail bars were within the $15.  There were a number of wines by the glass that were within the package price.  There were 6 of us and it did allow us to order different things rather than being committed to getting everyone to agree on a bottle.  And at dinner in the MDRs the servers tended to bring a really generous pour or sometimes they even kept the bottles close by and just kept topping us off--probably made it easier for them than needing to run back and forth to the bar.  

The rule was you could get two drinks at a time, which was nice because we would pick up drinks for each other.

The only thing I would do differently next time is bring a lot of small bills since we realized we have no idea whether the bartenders gets the gratuities that we prepaid.  We didn't regularly frequent the same place so we hadn't established relationships with particular bartenders that we would have gone back to tip but it would have been nice to have something to tip along the way and we were just too dumb to think about it until the end of the cruise.

I think easiest to book anything is the screens by the elevators, you will see them right when you board.  Only challenge is that you need to book room by room so to use the board you need to have a key card for every stateroom with you.  It shows you how many tickets are available for each option so you will know whether you will be likely to be able to get your whole group in.

Go in with an open mind and positive attitude and you will have a great time.  We were on the New Years' cruise with a group of 6 and if everything I read happened we would never have had a lounge to sit on, would have waited an hour for dinner every night, wouldn't have been able to get a drink at a bar or get into the Cavern, and wouldn't have been able to get reservations at things like laser tag and go karts if we weren't first on the ship.  None of these things happened even though it was a jammed holiday week cruise.  I stopped reading reviews that were negative and instead focused on research that was going to help me plan ahead to understand how the ship worked for things like reservations so that I could make the most of what I wanted to do.  While I did note in my review that for reasons like too much loss of complimentary activities and space our family did not think we would return to NCL, we had a fabulous time, thought it was a beautiful ship and that the staff was great, and we have no regrets about going.  Kindness and flexibility pay off!

On 1/14/2020 at 9:14 AM, measlesmom said:

We are also a multi-gen group of 6 going on the Encore. We will be boarding at different times. Where do you suggest would be a good “meeting” place during Sail Away?

thank you. 

If you are willing to forego the official party on the pool deck then anywhere in the "waterfront" area is probably great.  We ended up in the outdoor seating by the District, grabbed a drink and watched as we headed out to sea.  I think there were only two other people there so it was peaceful (although we had a nice chat with them) but we got to enjoy the views, particularly good since we all had inside cabins and wouldn't have seen it otherwise.

On 1/11/2020 at 9:37 PM, imlulu said:

Thank you for the info. We too have been to St Thomas before and aren’t shoppers. We have never been to St. John and this the interest. I was under the impression the beach was Trunks Bay? 

 

We are in need of a break so am sure we will enjoy. Thanks again! 

 

 

Yes the beach and snorkel excursion does go to Trunk Bay

10 hours ago, imlulu said:

Thank you for the review. DH and I (early 50s) are on the Encore and NCL for first time in 2 weeks. We have been cruising RCL lately and DH wanted to try something new. I wanted to try Celebrity but the price was steep.  We have already booked the Baths and are considering the St John snorkel and beach excursion. It is scheduled to depart at 1:15/1:30 which is weird as we have whole day in St Thomas. Could you provide some more info on both excursions ie tips, pros, cons?

 

thank you! 

For the snorkel and beach excursion the afternoon start would allow plenty of time if you wanted to get off the ship and walk around St. Thomas area near the ports first, which could be a plus--since we aren't big shoppers, have been fortunate enough to have visited St. Thomas before and since we had been out late the night prior for New Year's Eve we just used it as a chance to sleep in.  There was not really time to do anything after the excursion prior to departure.  Pros were great crew on the ferry, a lot of interesting information and narrative from the guide over the loudspeaker system during the ride and a large and fairly comfortable ferry with a smooth ride.  The beach I would say was just ok--we didn't spend much time on it, we pretty much used all our time snorkeling, and the snorkeling was pretty good, we saw a lot of fish and coral particularly near the rocky area.  If you really just want a beach this wouldn't necessarily be the best excursion.  The beach had restrooms/places to change, which was nice.  It also had a restaurant/bar which we didn't take advantage of, we ate on the ship.  Beyond not necessarily being the greatest beach if that was all you wanted, the other biggest con would be timing--maybe 1.25 hours at the beach, but we hadn't visited St. John before and enjoyed the overall experience.  There were people of all ages.  We really enjoyed it even though the weather was not great and it rained much of the ferry ride there.

The Baths, really it is a beautiful and unique area and we were really glad we went, not what I have seen before in the Caribbean.  The only downside is that it is a little more challenging--because of my back problems I did a lot of research and it does stop and start at the same place, but it is a one-way-through path for the most part so if you decide you can't make it you are doubling back.  The hike to the first beach is not super challenging but the terrain is very uneven.  You start at one beach, which was by far the nicest of the two, but knowing that particularly around the holidays the entrance to the caves backs and that it might take me a little longer we went straight to the caves.  You do have to wait to get into the caves because it is a ladder down one person at a time, it probably took us over half an hour to get in and longer for others.  The second beach was rockier and that was where we had our time but we were still glad to have phased it that way.  The ferry ride was just a ride, no information, but it was pleasant enough.  Staff was just ok, you were pretty much on your own.  Second beach did have restrooms and you could shower off or change.  Highly recommend hiking sandals like Tevas versus water shoes.  If you are claustrophobic the caves may not be for you, there are some tight spaces.  There were people of all ages on this as well.

Let me know if you have any questions I may have missed!

On 1/9/2020 at 1:05 PM, dshefter said:

Thanks for your review. We are sailing the Encore in 10 days. I know you didn't purchase Vibe passes, but were they selling them in the Q restaurant or The Social? How easy was it to use the Kiosk to book comedy/go karts/laser tag? We have Priority Boarding, so don't see getting reservations on these things an issue. But would prefer to avoid lines if at all possible.

I don't know where the Vibe passes were being sold, but the kiosk was super easy to use, same kind of touchpad functionality as a phone app and when we boarded (much later than you will with priority) no one was waiting, although we did have 1 or 2 people behind us when we finished.  You did need to have a key card for every room that you wanted to include in a booking though, with that you could select who in the room you wanted to add to a particular reservation.  The app was easy too, although we only did dinner reservations through that.  Even though we kept trying to link our reservations we still always had to book separately for everything other than the dining reservations, for that through the app I was able to book a reservation for 6 people without needing to add other cabin numbers and they just took the other cabin numbers or scanned other cards when we checked in.  The kiosks showed how many spots were available, so we could tell whether we would have enough room for our group of 6 even though we had to effectively book 3 separate reservations for 2.

We just got off the Encore NYE cruise.  There were a lot of options!  There was a Latin party and balloon drop in the main indoor area (there were a lot of Spanish speaking families, which I think is why this was the main indoor space party), a weather-permitting outdoor pool deck party with the cruise staff I believe, a through-the-decades party in the nightclub area, and a one-hour set with the Beatles cover band in the Cavern, which is what we did.  We weren't sure if there would be a new year's observance in the Cavern but they were watching the clock and counted down, and a little before midnight servers from outside of the cavern came in with trays of small plastic champagne glasses, all of which was nice (we all had the beverage package and had tried to order glasses of champagne at about 11:45 and the Cavern server said they had no more champagne glasses!).  We had done a RCCL NYE cruise and I will say that the Encore had many more options.  It is a great way to spend NYE, especially if you are traveling with a large or multi-generational group

6 hours ago, smplybcause said:

 

FYI Encore is the only one of the NCL mega ships that is this way. All the rest have Spice H20 on the back (where the laser tag is on Encore) that's a free adults only area with hot tubs. Some of the other ships have Spice too, but not all. 

 

Also, I think there's usually always one pool that's adult only and the one near the kid stuff allows kids. I guess they have it listed as a non-permanent sign in case they don't need it for some sailings. 

Thanks that is great information!    Also I was assuming that since the "Adults Only" was just a placard and based on the references to younger kids in the rules that it was a temporary thing but since I never asked I may have been wrong.  While laser tag was great fun the one time we did it, I would gladly have foregone those 10 minutes (and saved the $60!) for an adult pool and hot tub area

11 hours ago, L1211 said:

Thank you for your review. Very nicely done and informative. We just returned today from our first NCL cruise in few years. The entertainment and spaces to be together seem to fit our family better than the RCCL Mega ships. Different vibe somehow. Glad you didn’t let the things you didn’t enjoy ruin your vacation!  Sounds like you have a fun family!

The entertainment is the best we had ever seen for sure, and the way they had designed and included smaller spaces was definitely an improvement over the Oasis to us.  We did have a great time!

5 hours ago, Broons77 said:

Thanks for the review!  Had my family booked on the Encore in August from NYC, but was hearing much of what you stated as drawbacks.  Finally decided to change our reservations to the Gem out of Boston instead.  My mom has never cruised and was very apprehensive about such a large ship, and I was concerned with the lack or public space.  I'm sure we would have enjoyed the Encore, but the Gem seemed to be a better fit for us.  We have only cruised RCCL, so we're looking forward to seeing how NCL compares.

We did have a great time but also may not be mega ship people.  On RCCL our favorite was the Anthem, which then moved to the Asian market, and our second was Freedom.  Oasis we felt overwhelmed by and like everything was chaotic, we didn't feel that way on Encore so they made some good choices on how to make a huge ship still have smaller and more intimate spaces.  My parents were definitely a bit overwhelmed until they got the lay of the land, and I admit sometimes we would just be walking around the buffet aimlessly not even knowing where to start because it was so huge

5 hours ago, david_sobe said:

Great review.  I am curious about converting the main pool into an adults only area.  I never heard of this before.  Was this only for your cruise?  They did it because kids took over the hot tubs?  

Just wait till summer when ALL the kids are out of school.

 

The St John Beach and snorkel. I will be traveling with 2, 70 year old people who will not be snorkeling.  Can you skip snorkeling and just head to the beach?  If not, how much beach time vs snorkeling?

The Adult Pool thing at the main pool was a pleasant surprise.  There was a non-permanent sign at one end of the pool that said  "Adults Only" but the pool rules sign talked about supervising younger kids and similar.  I never asked but assume that it was done as an accommodation due to the large number of young kids during a holiday week cruise?  I suspect it didn't relate to the hot tubs since no Adults Only hot tub was created.  There was no indication what constituted an adult, and there were some middle and high school kids there but no young ones and no behavior issues even though it was really just self-policed I think.  Honestly without that it would have been impossible to get into a pool without being surrounded by wild kids, so I give NCL kudos for the decision.

The beach and snorkel you could definitely just do the beach--it isn't a huge beach but totally fine, and I think that there may have been chairs available for rent.  We were at the beach over an hour (we just got lucky and got loaded onto a safari bus that left immediately so we were the first to arrive).  The outdoor seating on the ferry required climbing stairs but I believe there was indoor seating on the level you boarded the ferry.  The ferry ride itself was very nice and one of the guides provided a ton of information about the houses on St. Thomas, living on the island, St. John and the neighboring islands, etc. so that was a great part of the excursion as well (the ferry crew were all from the US so had interesting experiences with their moves).  My parents didn't join us but I think that 70 year olds who are reasonably mobile would be fine.  We had actually tried to get the champagne catamaran and snorkel but it was sold out and since she was tired of feeling queasy our daughter had us drop our wait list since she wanted to be able to be on the beach.  For the catamaran trip you snorkel from the catamaran and can only get to the beach by swimming there, so you should probably stick with beach and snorkel.  We all really enjoyed it.

Last week we arrived around 2pm and were able to get off the ship prior to 3pm.  I think that they really pushed to arrive early because our departure time was changed to 9:30pm due to closures around the port because of it being New Years Eve, and I would say if that was part of the reason our trip was so extremely bumpy until then it may not have been worth it.  We had no notice that getting in early was even a possibility but luckily we were able to pull ourselves together quickly.  I would say ask if an early arrival is a possibility and just plan to be ready a little early if you would want to take advantage of extra time.

Hi husband and I (early 50's), our 2 kids (early-mid 20's and undergraduate/graduate students) and my parents (late-70's) just returned from a New Year's cruise on the Encore.  I had not done as much prep as usual and what I knew going in came entirely from these boards, since it really helped our trip I wanted to pay it forward.  No photos here, just some thoughts in one (probably too long) post and a willingness to answer any questions!

Background:  My parents are devoted Princess cruisers.  Husband, kids and I have cruised several times to the Caribbean and one 2-week Panama Canal on Disney (we are Disney Vacation Club members), and more recently RCCL to the Caribbean and a 2-week Europe.  Husband and I have taken two 10-14 day European cruises on Princess.  All the Caribbean cruises have been at Christmas, New Year's or school spring breaks, and the European cruises in the summer, so we are used to cruising at busy times and on sold-out ships .  We have cruised the Oasis and Anthem on RCCL and the Regal Princess, so have some experience with somewhat comparably-sized ships.

Why NCL Encore:  We were finding parts of RCCL a little repetitive, including menus, so hadn't cruised for a few years, but we wanted to take kids and my parents on a NYE vacation and felt that a cruise would be cost effective and the best way to have something for everyone.  We wanted to try a new cruise line, and we thought that the entertainment on the Encore would appeal to my parents and our daughter while our son would like the activities.

Our Conclusions:  We had a really great trip (see "What We Liked") but our family of 4 agreed that we will go back to RCCL for any future cruises (see "What We Didn't)

Helpful Tips:

1.  Don't panic about not being able to get reservations, have somewhere to sit, etc.  As long as you are a little flexible it will be fine.  The ship was at capacity and we didn't get on board until close to 1:30pm but at the booking screens by the elevators we were able to get tickets for Prohibition the Musical and book the laser tag and solo and dual go karts as well as escape room (although we subsequently cancelled the dual and the escape room due to conflicts), and we got an all-ages comedy show in the Social although we couldn't get an 18+ show.  Boarding we had only booked shore excursions, Choir of Man and Kinky Boots.  I was only able to book 3 MDR reservations and we got in the other 4 nights with no wait.  The fact that we prefer to sit in the shade than the sun helped but there were chairs available every day between the bar and health club where you could still hear the music but be away from the fray, and seats would open up closer to the pools throughout the day.  Never waited for exercise equipment, never waited more than a few minutes at a bar, and we were not Haven, did not buy into the adult area, and did no specialty dining.  Our worries about being locked out of everything, including based on trip reviews that I read here, were unfounded.

2.  That said, even though my research was last minute it helped a lot.  We hit the booking board knowing exactly what we wanted and sped through it quickly (and knew we could book there and avoided the queue at guest services).  We knew where we would have a better chance finding loungers.  So having a general game plan helped--you won't be able to do everything, so decide what matters to you so that you can plan accordingly.

3.  Arrive a little early for Choir of Man and book it up to the stage when they start "opening the bar" for a beer--this was a great tip I found on the Boards.

What We Liked:

The main entertainment was fabulous.  Choir of Man and Kinky Boots were both lights out fabulous (Kinky Boots was every bit as good and elaborate as the national tour we saw years ago).  The Beatles cover band was enjoyable for all ages, and our NYE in the Cavern was a load of fun and far more intimate than a deck party.  Prohibition was not cheap (and since we had the free beverage plan the drinks we would have foregone all the drinks for a cheaper admission) but it was a load of fun and the performers were great.  Bar entertainment we found to be more hit-or-miss but we really enjoyed the piano player in the District.  The comedian we saw we did not enjoy, so much so that we didn't have any interest in going to the larger show in the main theater.

Food was really good (with the exception of the MDR vegetarian complaint noted below), we felt overall superior to RCCL and Princess.  The buffets for breakfast and lunch were very extensive, and we loved the Indian section and the Asian noodle bar at lunch.  Lots of fresh options, and we enjoyed having hand scooped ice cream and not just soft serve.  Cocktail menus were creative and varied.

The staff was, to a person, great.  Friendly, helpful, accommodating.  Even though things were crowded and there were plenty of rude guests, they were always lovely.  Most uniformly wonderful crew we have ever had.

The ship is beautiful, we really liked the intimate spaces like the bars, Cavern and Waterfront District seating which made such a huge ship feel smaller.  Lots of nice decor choices.  We didn't visit nearly as much as I thought we would but the Observation Lounge is a great space.

We did the St. John snorkel and beach excursion from St. Thomas and the Virgin Gorda Baths excursion from Tortola.  We really enjoyed both and felt that once we got going they ran smoothly and were well timed.

Sad that we had to use it, but the medical clinic was amazing.  My dad spent all of one morning, and then one evening and overnight, in the clinic due to chest and abdominal pain.  That place is like a mini hospital and the staff was kind and informative.  It was very impressive.  

The laser tag was a blast (I don't exactly sprint around due to significant back problems and still had a blast, this can work for everyone) and my husband and son enjoyed the Go Karts.  Trivia and wine tasting were cruise ship typical but a lot of fun.

While the internet service was not as good as my experience with some other lines, the app worked great as did the texting and calling with others on the app, which was available for only $9.95/person and made for a cost-effective way to stay in touch.

What We Didn't:

The upcharges.  This was our main disappointment and frustration with NCL, and the main reason our family would return to RCCL.  We really enjoyed the Solarium and adult pool areas on Disney, RCCL and Princess.  We were very disappointed to learn that NCL charges for their adult area--We were unwilling to add another $1200 to our tab to buy 6 people into the NCL space after already paying higher holiday pricing, and we weren't willing to leave part of the group behind on a family cruise.  While we were fortunate in that NCL had converted the main pool into an Adults Only pool for the week, it was impossible to get near a hot tub as they were always packed with small kids.  A la carte pricing for specialty restaurants is to us ridiculous--we have been more than willing to pay a $20 or $25/person cover for a specialty restaurant on RCCL, Disney and Princess, and we always would add extra tip on top, but paying what we would pay in a major city while already paying a lot for a cruise we found offensive (and while Teppanyaki offered a flat pricing we just aren't big Japanese steak house fans).  

Inconsistent communications.  There was virtually no advance information about the process for getting off the ship at ports of call.  Because of being NYE and some street closures the ship was leaving San Juan earlier than scheduled so apparently they decided to try to get in early, and we did in fact arrive around 2:30 but since we hadn't been alerted to this possibility ahead of time we hadn't looked into things like information on the forts which were supposed to be closed by the time we docked.  Very little advance information about disembarkation.  All of this made my parents very anxious.

The mechanics of the ship.  Elevators were insufficient, and since only half of each bank went to floor 17 there were two sets of call buttons meaning that everyone always pushed both and the already insufficient elevators were making unnecessary stops.  Stairs are my only mobility challenge due to my back problems, so I try to avoid them whenever possible.  I have never had to wait so long for elevators--sometimes 5 or more minutes.  Not the end of the world, but annoying.  Also we have never felt so much movement on a ship, even though we have cruised this itinerary at this time of year.  Not sure if there were stabilizer issues or unusual weather, luckily only my daughter is affected by motion and she needed to hit the meds.  Some things may just need the kinks worked out--public bathroom toilets flush in theory when you close the lid and leave the stall but don't have a way to force a flush, so when they didn't work the whole bathroom would smell awful.

The loss of public spaces.  While as indicated we found plenty of places we missed thinks like the Promenade on RCCL and hated how even in our quieter area the lounges were so packed together it was hard to move around on the pool deck (another benefit of my back problems is poor balance, so getting to and from chairs was very challenging).  The loss of this space to paid activities like tag and the track, which we enjoyed but were only willing to pay to do once, and to expensive specialty restaurants, wasn't a worthwhile tradeoff for our group.

The lack of creative vegetarian offerings in the MDR.  Our daughter is a vegetarian and I don't eat beef or pork and lean towards pescetarian when away from home.  The vegetarian offerings in the MDR were limited to pasta dishes.  While the buffets did a great job, we wanted a calmer dinner experience.  Night 6 our daughter was over the pasta and didn't even order a main, just starters.  We were in Taste and a manager happened to come by for a routine check and we said that everything was great but we wished they had more vegetarian options.  He was Indian and vegetarian himself and when he asked what she had ordered for main and she said she had skipped he insisted on getting her something else, which was a vegetable stir fry that she loved.  He said we were the guests and we should always ask for what we want, but honestly we just aren't comfortable making extra demands on a crew that is already working so hard so for us that wasn't a good option.  We found the other cruise lines to be offering more creative MDR vegetarian options, including tofus and seitan, so this was a big negative for her.

Regardless, and even though I don't know that we will return, we have no regrets at all and loved our week on the Encore!   I hope, though, that these thoughts are helpful to people in planning and in setting their expectations so that they go in with the right mindset to enjoy their experiences.

I really appreciated everyone who answered my questions, and I am happy to provide any information that I can!  Happy New Year and happy cruising!

We just got off the New Year's week cruise on the Encore with a group of 6 and boarded and no advance MDR reservations, were only able to make reservations for 3 nights during the week (two Manhattan, one Savor), and we never waited.  The only night we thought there would be a problem we started at Savor and were quoted a 30-45 minute wait, and went across the hall to Taste and were seated immediately.  We went between 7 and 7:30, I will say that it was a later dining crowd during this particular cruise (even with kids).  Also, we actually preferred Taste and Savor to Manhattan, found them smaller and quieter (they all had a lot of kids but again holiday week cruise), and all had the same menu

Glad you enjoyed your trip, thanks for the tips!  Maybe not a great question for you since you had trouble with the app, but do you know if it theoretically would have worked in the terminal or only once on board?  Is the comedy show only booked in Social, or do you know if it is available via the app?  And did you use the $9.95 option to text people through the app on the ship's wifi, and if so was the charge for the full week or per day?  Thanks in advance!

On 12/24/2019 at 12:17 PM, Peachypooh said:

You should be OK even if a holiday week. The show has an age limit. We thought the show was entertaining but

a bit off color which we didn't care about (We are in our 60's and 70's) but some might. My husband just took a 

sip of each and I just ad a sip or two of the non alcoholic selections. The singers/dancers were excellent.

Excellent thanks we will go for it!  I don't think anyone will be put off by off color content and our kids are above the age limit, so sounds like it will be a good choice for us

22 hours ago, kayteecat said:

We had the regular 250 free minutes that came with the Free at Sea perks, and while I wouldn't use it for any kind of video streaming the speed was decent and we had more than enough time for our needs (brief check-ins at home, check-in to our flight home from Miami). T had the unlimited Wifi package on the Escape, he didn't report any issues but I didn't use it whatsoever. I think even with the unlimited package, you can only have one device logged in at a time so if you and your husband can be logged in at different times, you could probably just pay for one package and switch off. If your kids just need to be able to message, you can pay $9.95 per person and be able to call/message anyone on the ship through the ship Wifi. If they need actual internet, you'll probably need to think about at least springing for a social media package for your kids to share. I am probably not the best authority on this, as I have the ability to fully unplug when I travel and usually take the opportunity.

Thanks this is just the information I needed!!!  We will share my internet package for any such needs but the $9.95/person sounds like what we need to be sure that we can stay in touch with the kids and more importantly my parents, who are a bit anxious about how we will all find each other since they are much earlier risers than us and the Encore is larger than the ships they have cruised on previously.  Really appreciate it, this will be quite a relief

Thanks so much for your review we cruise shortly and I haven't done much research.  I am wondering how you found the internet connectivity.  This is our first NCL, on RCI my husband's and my work would pay for the unlimited packages so that we could keep up and those allowed two devices at a time,  so when we weren't on our laptops we could connect our phones and the kids could be the second devices and everyone could text.  Not sure how to best manage on NCL

1 hour ago, Katxx said:

 

I found it was a lot easier to just use the app to book the comedy show once on board. I think you can do the same for prohibition. To book Laser Tag & Speedway, just head to a touchscreen near an elevator the minute you get on board. 

Thanks very much!  I will need to download the app for sure

1 hour ago, Peachypooh said:

Thank you! I believe that information  is accurate but no worries about getting reservations for the prohibition show. It was not full when we saw the show and that is even after letting the standby line people in. They give you five cocktails in an hour. If you ask they give you two sets of beads to wear and they serve you mocktails instead which is what I did. As for the other things you mentioned unless you are traveling on a holiday week I don't think you will have a problem and there is always the standby line.

 

Thanks so much!  We are on a holiday week but will do our best.  Did you like Prohibition?  We are a  little disappointed with all the upcharges but we really like the entertainment and are traveling with my older parents so that one looked worth the investment.  None of us could make it through 5 cocktails in an hour though!

Hi welcome back and have a wonderful Christmas!  We will be first time NCL cruisers and I have found the advance prep process online very challenging compared to other cruise lines we have used and it has been hard to get information from the customer service reps by phone, maybe because it is a new ship?  I was told I couldn't make advance reservations for the laser tag and racing but also for the prohibition show and comedy show--did you try to get reservations for those?  Not sure if returning cruisers can make these reservations or if we missed a window...

Hey ratfam. I am very embarrassed to say that I have not visited either of these museums, although they are on the "to do" list for this year (I know, you visit places thousands of miles away, but not ones which are on your doorstep). From others comments, I think the German Occupation Museum would be more interesting, although La Vallette is more convenient. It is very easy to get to the German Occupation Museum, you can either take a taxi or a bus (any bus that is leaving from town to the airport will pass the closest stop). The bus only costs GBP1 per sector.

Thanks much, and you are right we never take advantage of the chance to be tourists in our own town!