CruiseFanatic223

On 12/12/2022 at 3:28 PM, SkeeterPilot said:

My wife and I are doing the Jewel Northbound from Vancouver to Seward.  We chose this cruise because it visits both Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier.

We just booked that same one too. But also playing into our decision was getting to Vancouver might be easier than Seward to start the cruise (less connections, potential issues). 

Been hearing these rumors for a while, but I've been holding out hope until someone could confirm. That's 1 of my two biggest gripes with NCL is having Pepsi products. So now I'll really only have one problem (the website). Can't wait for my two upcoming cruises!!

Not really sure how I feel about it - on one hand it shouldn't be a big deal since about half the menu is the "Classic" menu that doesn't change anyways. On the other hand, I do sometimes enjoy trying something off of "today's" menu. Hopefully they expand the menu since it won't be changing.

40 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

If you pick 10 restaurants near your home and you eat at them repeatedly, how often you you get a completely different menu as opposed to a consistent menu with a one or more daily specials?

 

Is this really something new and dramatically different that we've not seen before?

I think the only difference between this new concept and what you've said is that most people wouldn't be going to the same restaurant every night for a week.
 

That's a good question. I hadn't thought of that and checked my itinerary and it is the same way. But mine is in December. Hope someone else is able to chime in.

They should be able to accommodate you all in the MDR. However, you should visit one of the MDRs and speak with the maître d' and they might be able to have a table ready for you at the time you'd like to eat. Otherwise your group could have a lengthy wait for enough table space to open up.

I've never cruise with a group that large (just 6), so I'm not the best person to answer, just speaking on what I've heard that they might do.

We are going on a cruise out of Miami in a few days and live just north of Orlando. We're driving down the day before. Its about a 4 hour drive from our house, but it just makes it less stressful and allows us to sleep in a bit more on the morning of the cruise.

We're going if the ship is sailing. Had several cruises cancelled, even one for a mechanical reason prior to COVID even starting. We are ready to sail!!

7 hours ago, JennyLou97 said:

Our cruise plans have been cancelled 5 times already - we have our bags packed and will be leaving tomorrow for cruise departure on Sunday!  I'm 100% ready to set sail!

Encore out of Miami?

7 hours ago, SharkieQueen said:

We are due to leave on Sunday, and can’t wait. So excited 😀😀😀

Encore out of Miami?

7 hours ago, johnoj said:

Both of us tested negative late yesterday with a proctored test at CVS.  Leaving tomorrow for Miami and then the Encore on Jan 2.  We're going at this point no matter what.

So did we. We'll be on the Encore as well! See you then!

Typically no, and this goes for any trip not just cruises, unless there's something that I really need (like something warm as I live in FL and don't have many warm clothes). However, I was walking around Target today and saw this Margaritaville brand button down shirt that was very tropical. I knew I had to have this for my cruise next week lol

Its a slightly phased approach for me. 

The first "realization" that I'm cruising again is as we're driving to the port and the ship is in sight. Phase 1 of getting excited lol

Then once check in is complete and now we're sitting in the terminal waiting to board, followed by actually boarding the ship. Its always exciting walking across the gangway and into the atrium, getting to see the ship decor and everything is great, but the real "we're actually cruising" moment happens when we get to the buffet. Now we've gotten the first drink of the cruise, finding some food, and now not looking at the ship, but looking back at the terminal and city. That is the moment of "we're actually cruising"

On 2/27/2020 at 2:24 AM, jkgourmet said:

What I wish is that ALL cruise lines would enforce washing hands and use of Purell type stuff.  People just walk on by.

We were on the NCL Sky in December and I saw a crew member at the buffet physically reach out to block people from passing until they washed their hands. He was the only one who would stop people like that though.

Any word on if Margaritville is still on the Breakaway or if it'll still be there by early May? I've seen conflicting information, including a video from last month that still shows it on the ship but the NCL website doesn't list it. Sailing 5/6/20

We had been booked on a different line for this week which was cancelled (emergency repairs, not virus related). Instead of just taking the money, we booked with NCL in May despite all this going on. I'm not too worried about this virus. I'm taking slightly more precautions than with the regular flu season, but not anything drastic. Just wash your hands often and don't shake hands. The ship crew will be working to keep the ship sanitized and cleaned often, even more so than regularly.
I work in the public transit industry we're doing basically that. No changes other than an increased cleaning procedure. I'm still out in the field and with the public, just making sure not to shake hands (which I don't in this field anyways regardless of virus) and wash hands often. 

It's a little funny you're going between these two. We did the Sky in December and are going on the Breakaway in May (so I can't comment on that ship yet). 
We weren't 100% thrilled with the Sky, but it wasn't bad. And you've said you've sailed on her before so you already know and don't need a review. Based on what you've said in your post, I would choose the Sky for the ship and itinerary. If you're looking at cruising for the Haven, then obviously you'd have no choice between those two. But with that said, only $1,000 more for The Haven, I'd go there and take an itinerary I'm not too fond of and get the Haven over cruising the Sky to the Bahamas. 

Edit:
Just saw you've chosen the Breakaway Category H9, Have fun!

Glad I found this thread. Definitely looking into it and might try it for our cruise in May. 

8 minutes ago, 2+2 said:

Just back .  Miami took two hours.  But big time passport screening going on.

    You will be at the new terminal, and all the bugs should be worked out by then. 

So the new terminal is open which means they're not sharing half of C?

After seeing this thread a few months ago, prior to my last cruise, I've decided to start a "fleet" collection. So on the last cruise I bought a model, which was the NCL Sky and on my next cruise, NCL Breakaway, I plan on buying a model of that ship as well. I'll just need to find Disney Dream & Carnival Dream models since I've been on those previously.

Are you sailing on Disney Cruise Line? If so, they offer bus transportation from the ship to resort. 

Both for me.

I've sailed on the Disney Dream (2,500pax), Carnival Dream (3,600pax), Bahamas Paradise Grand Classica (1,600 pax), and most recently the NCL Sky (1,900pax). Our next cruise is aboard the NCL Breakaway (3,900pax). 

I enjoy aspects of both the smaller ships - less crowds, more intimate experience, etc. and generally a more relaxing vacation; While I also enjoy the larger crowds (more people watching), larger venues, more to do, and a busier vacation. 

It all depends on what we're looking for on a particular trip.

We sailed on the NCL Sky back in December. Everything, except for where to drop off luggage, was super smooth. 

We arrived in the port area at around 9:45. Parked in the garage, walked to Terminal C, couldn't find the drop off area for bags and the workers had bad english and didn't explain it well. There were also several others lost like us. After finding the luggage area, we went right in, no lines at security, straight to the check in counter, again no line. We were given Group 1 to board and were seated in the terminal by 10:00. 

Boarding began around 11:30 and were among the first to board. 

66 days (May 6) on NCL Breakaway

Some lines refer to ports named that way after the city or a nearby city to give a better frame of reference to passengers. So Port Everglades is the Fort Lauderdale port, but HAL might just list it as Fort Lauderdale (I'm not familiar with HAL). Same as Port Canaveral, some lines list it as "Orlando" even though its 45-60 min away from Orlando.

Not anyone I know, but people who have lived near me (town or two over). But after reading this, I'm expecting to on the next cruise since my girlfriend seems to know someone everywhere she goes, so it wouldn't surprise me if she knows someone on the ship.

On 2/4/2019 at 10:37 AM, Alison53 said:

Is the cruise line responsible to get us into town? I am sure there are many others even from other cruise lines that have docked at the OM but need special transportation into town. So how do they do It?

From what I've read and understand, if you're docked at OM the transportation is already set up for you regardless of cruise line. 

We went to Mattheessen's Homemade. THE best cookies and ice cream. I got two scoops of ice cream, but the cookies looked so good I went back and got one for later that night. Definitely will be stopping by there next time I'm in Key West.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/mattheessens-homemade-key-west

On 2/7/2019 at 11:21 PM, bdever said:

Isn’t January 1st Cuba’s Independence Day? I would imagine it would be very festive.

I wasn't sure, but I'm looking it up now. It seems that it is a holiday, just not Independence Day. 
January 1 is listed as Triumph of the Revolution and Victory Day, or Liberation Day while October 10 is listed as Independence Day.