littlelulu01

3 hours ago, kenns said:

So, what do we not currently know as of yet?

 

Food:

- Is there a main dining room?

- Is there a buffet or is the Indulge Food Hall taking its place?

- Is there a casual walk up style food offering near the pools (I suspect The Local or Food Hall)

- Will The Local be 24 hours like on other ships?

- Will there be other specialty restaurants besides Onda and Los Lobos? (i.e. Le Bistro, Cagney's).

 

Ocean Boulevard:

- Are the infinity pools on both sides of the ship adults only, aka the new Spice H20? or are they an extra charge, aka the new Vibe?

- Is the Indulge Outdoor Lounge open to everyone or does require an extra charge?

 

Top Deck:

- will there be the rumored go-kart track around the funnel?

- will there be a "main pool" in the traditional sense?

- what else is going up there?

 

Entertainment:

- we know nothing! 🙂

 

what else did I forget?

Spa.  I can’t wait to find out about the spa.  Only 28 spa balconies and no other rooms have spa access.  I assume spa is 16 forward where the spa staterooms are located.  I’m guessing the spa is going to be pretty special. And likely quite a premium to use.  The spa balconies on the Norwegian fjords September 2022 sailing jumped $300 pp since yesterday.  They sold out yesterday on the 2022 TA as did the entire Haven. Assume some of them are on hold and will return to the system. 

Regarding aft balcony sizes of  the following H4’s: cabin 10352 is 447 sq ft and balcony is 527 sq ft.  Cabin 12928 is 459 sq ft and balcony is 535 sq ft so not much difference.  

For the H3 stateroom - the balcony on deck 15 is considerably larger than deck 13’s H3’s.  The downside of deck 15 is being right next to Haven pool so potential for mechanical and deck chair/deck washing... noise. 

Has anyone compared the Haven area’s to other Haven ships?  There’s a lot of Haven suites- quick glance it looks to me to have more Haven staterooms than any other ship yet it also has very little Dedicated Haven common space.  Nice that it has a dedicated elevator. Looks fine for a warm weather sailing but seems odd this ship is sailing Norwegian Fjords, Iceland...and not the Mediterranean.  

On 5/9/2021 at 9:43 AM, Cruise Wonderland said:

 

The Haven categories will be coded "H2", "H3", "H4", etc.

There will be some non-Haven suite categories "SH", "SI", "SJ", etc. 😎

On 5/9/2021 at 9:36 AM, Two Wheels Only said:

Does anyone else think that those large forward-facing staterooms will have Haven access?

I hear the forward suites are non Haven.  Supposedly they’re like the ‘S’ suites on Jewel class.  Pretty sure the spa will be on deck 16 with the only dedicated spa access rooms being the 28 spa balcony cabins forward deck 16. Supposedly no Haven spa suites. The H 3’s are on deck 15 and I think 14?  With deck 15 coming in at 1750 square feet and the other deck h3’s having 1600 sq ft.  The larger H3’s are due to larger balcony on deck 15 h3’s. The H3 supposedly has balcony hot tubs too.  They sleep 6.  The H2 sleeps 8 and I’m sure they have hot tubs on balcony too. The spa balconies are supposedly 185 sq ft plus a 46 sq ft balcony with all spa balconies and rooms being the same size.  The design pictures look fantastic on these rooms.  The aft Haven suites look enormous and prices I was quoted on some of the Haven aft suites were not much more than the lowest category penthouse Havens. The spa balconies ran less than half for sailing I was looking at.  Prices IMO were reasonable and they included a lattitude booking point bonus. 

10 minutes ago, ESCARGO said:

Thank you! I see she is doing a southern &western Caribbean.  Where can I find the complete itinerary? What other ports is she sailing to? 

Sorry- I’m not a ta and only have just a little sleuthing info.  I’ve got the itineraries only for the sailings I booked.  I’d guess your TA or ncl pcc will have the specifics. 

Here’s a few pics;

10 minutes ago, ESCARGO said:

What is the date and itinerary after it gets to NY? Thanks.

5 nights 10/10/2022 Bermuda and Atlantic coast round trip New York.  Then on 10/15/2022 12 nights Caribbean from New York to Galveston: Curacao, Aruba, Cozumel 

4 minutes ago, jvsnana said:

WOW WOW WOW!!!!!  You may have company on this one 🤗

You gotta go!  I’m super excited. Something new and fun to plan for again. 

We’re booked!  The September 13 Copenhagen to Southampton and subsequent transatlantic.  The ports are fantastic for the Norwegian fjords sailing: Oslo, kristiansand, Bergen, Geiranger, alesund, Amsterdam, zeebrugge, Le Havre.  Only one sea day.  
 

The subsequent TA is London, Shetland, rejivick, Halifax and New York. 
 

have not seen pictures yet but a few things my pcc told me:  the Haven is at the back of ship with an infinity pool.  They only have 28 spa rooms. Owners suites with hot tubs on balcony. 2 bedroom Haven is a true 2 bedroom for 2 couples.  They have no Haven access suites like jewel class but price wasn’t much less. Crazy big promenade deck.  

I couldn’t agree more.  My ta magically disappeared and it was my PCC who saved the day with COVID cancellations. He was good pre Covid but depending on perks a ta could offer, I’d sometimes switch a booking to a ta.  No longer worth it.  My pcc definitely earned my loyalty last year.  I’m sure others feel that way about their ta’s.  This past year I realized how important it is to have someone connected, reliable, honest and knowledgeable on your side.  

22 minutes ago, ScratchTheRat said:

What do you miss most about cruising? 😄

After a long hot day of touring, a friendly welcome back on a clean ship, crisp cool sheets, watching the waves and knowing tomorrow we’re waking up somewhere new and exciting. 

I’m due for my 2nd vaccine in a couple days.  We would have been fully vaccinated by our April 30 sail date till it was canceled. 
 

I still think we’re not far out for return to “normalish”.  The focus on vaccine effectiveness on new strains... is a bit sensationalized IMO and is trying to scare us.  Bottom line, people ARE getting vaccinated, vaccines ARE highly effective and a ship full of mostly vaccinated people is just not going to pull into port full of Covid.

I think we’re shell shocked and don’t know what to believe but if we follow mainstream science and mainstream fact backed news, we are making huge progress. Teachers will be vaccinated, they will return to classrooms, we will start vacations again.  

I am hoping for an early fall return to cruising with an experience much like past sailings.  The big difference I see is the coughing sick passengers will no longer be able to sit in the dining room, tour bus, elevators.  Cruise lines will crack down on them which I welcome.

I’ve followed the recommendations all along.  Many of my neighbors, coworkers, community... are now receiving the vaccines and pent up demand for vacations is going to be crazy.  We’re going to Hawaii in a couple weeks leaving two weeks after our 2nd dose.   I figure we’re the tail end of the quiet tourist destinations.

The horribly clunky roll out of vaccine further cast doubt but I see the wheels really starting to turn.  I also see a shift in vaccine trust.  I originally had about 40% of our staff interested in vaccine.  But we’re now at about 80%!! That is huge progress.  Many changed their minds when they saw coworkers not having any side effects. The mood at work has gone from that despair to sheer happiness.   I think life for many of us is about to change for the better and this pandemic will be something we won’t debate or discuss in the not to distant future.   

I think they have been giving 10% off if u opt to rebook.  I had a cruise canceled in March, 2020.  I took the credits and rebooked April, 2021 Jewel in a Haven suite - great price, big obc....

Im guessing that sailing might be soon be canceled 😢.  I don’t think I’m going to get back any cash because I already converted to a fcc. I expect it’ll be 10% off price to rebook.  I’ve got additional sailings booked.  Hopefully they’ll let me take advantage of 10% off price a sailing I’m booked at vs the today prices which have increased more than 10% since I booked. 

13 hours ago, HaveWeMetYet said:

Looks like quite a few don't want the vaccine, at least not right away.

 

At one Chicago hospital where the city's first COVID-19 vaccine was administered on Tuesday, 40% of the staff said in a survey earlier this month that they would not take it.

 

In Maine, 40% of staff and 30% of residents at the state's larger nursing homes won't take the jab, according to an "informal discussion" conducted by the Maine Health Care Association.

 

EMTs are also at the front of the line for the vaccine, yet approximately 30% of those who travel with New York firefighters are resistant to getting it, according to Annthony Almojera, a lieutenant paramedic who's vice president of FDNY's EMS Officers Union Local 3631.

What people say and then do are often different.  My initial just asking staff if they wanted the vaccine was less than 50% to receive the vaccine in group 1.   After holding some non judgmental open meetings, we now have 68% wanting the vaccine.  Some are still holding out - A few are firmly planted in elaborate conspiracy theory but some are not getting because they’re pregnant or have just recovered from covid. We still have a few days before vaccination clinic and I suspect we’ll be getting a few more to sign up. My hope is for greater than 80% and I don’t think I’m in left field with that target. When I tell someone that is young and healthy they can definitely refuse the vaccine but if they do it might be the end of next year before they have a chance to be vaccinated, they typically think about it and change their mind. We all want to get back to normal life and most of us deep down don’t want to attend the super spreader wedding, cruise vacation .... get COVID and be responsible for someone’s death. Sure there’s a very vocal group of conspiracy theorists but I think most of us tend to believe that these funeral homes, hospitals and doctors are not lying. 

40 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

Current rules?  He can simply state it as a term of employment.  You can always turn the job down, you don't have to work for NCLH on any of his ships.  

Definitely.  It’s more about how does ncl procure the vaccine for a young, healthy crew that are demographically last in line to receive the vaccine.  If ncl has vaccines for crew they can start cruising with vaccinated passengers-  in theory there’s easily enough passengers vaccinated to make ship profitable by April.  Perhaps I’m wrong and crew qualifies as some sort of essential workers so can jump ahead in line?  

1 hour ago, lanceholt said:

We're all for requiring proof of vaccination before boarding cruise ships....as long as the cruise lines ensures that  ALL crew are vaccinated as well.  

 

Idk how that will work. Did the cruise lines put in orders with the various makers?   The crew are not first responders, health care or essential employees and are as a whole young and healthy so in theory might be last in line for vaccination?  I’m hopeful the cruise lines do have a way to provide vaccines to crew so they can start up as soon as enough paying passengers get vaccinated. 

19 minutes ago, nomad098 said:

 

A quick and easier way would be a world wide Governmental mandate that anyone entering a country needs to have proof of a vaccination, this would mean if anyone sailed round trip from say Miami US for example you would need to a vaccine certificate to re-enter the US at the end of the cruise, sailing or flying from one country to another you would need vaccination proof to enter. This would bypass employment laws, moral or ethical concerns and make the implementation of vaccinated travel universal outside your own country or back into it. The ICVP yellow card is internationally recognised and set up for the job, would be quick to implement and a digital version could be adopted later.

Some countries might not want to mandate. Some diseases are not an issue for one country but quite a problem in another country.  I’m a USA citizen. When our daughter did study abroad year in college she had to get a couple vaccines that we didn’t have routine here but the eu did. She was over 18 and so I had to pay full price - insurance only covered till age 18. I don’t even know now what vaccines they were but I do remember it was hundreds of $ and a scramble to find a pharmacy that even carried them. It was an 11th hour situation where she wasn’t going to get her visa without the vaccines. The vaccine card you speak of sounds kind of like the chips in our passports? I guess if a system is already in place that is great.  I think the Italian embassy in San Francisco just required the vaccine record from our doctor?  Idk if our passports have ability to store that information but passports seem ideal. The ship, airlines... already has to scan to board so it would sure be quick and easy. 

18 minutes ago, njkate said:

What about those booked for later 2021? What about those sitting on thousands in FCC, will they offer refunds to those who don't vaccinate

Have you checked your cruise insurance policy? I know back in March, people were claiming on their policies when governments, cruise lines and airlines were refusing service based on what country ones passport was from.  In March 2020 I was able to get the airlines, cruise lines... to give me credits and my cruise insurance company even gave me full refunds and credits towards rebooking so I didn’t bother messing with claims.  I figured I’ll definitely use the credits at some point so I’m glad I hung onto and rebooked at serious discounts.  
 

Re fcc’s I’m not sure if insurance will cover that just because you can always get a vaccine at a later date and travel or just wait it out till enough of population does that it’s no longer an issue. You’ll probably get to travel in a couple years and I imagine ncl would be happy to extend fcc expiration to accommodate your wait. 

 Cruise lines will sail as soon as possible.  If a government mandated all foreigners receive a vaccine to enter their country-  well the ship will mandate all passengers have a vaccine if they want to sail. 

On 12/14/2020 at 9:34 PM, Wedgie23 said:

I couldn't have been more respectful when posing my question, stated zero opinions in what you quoted only facts as far as I know them. Considering there are people on this board who stated they were in the trials then they are a source of direct information I as I'm sure many others personally haven't had access to ask questions of until now. If that is considered 'flaming' in your opinion then in my opinion you are part of the problem when people who have legitimate concerns aren't allowed to even ask questions otherwise they hint they haven't fully drunk the kool aid yet and are ripe for the picking of the flaming torch carrying mobs who have. 

 

Personally I have an autoimmune condition which causes my immune system to be overactive and attack my body even when 'healthy'. There is very little public information about what rna technology has done to people and their conditions long term in the same boat as me as it has never been approved before. What little I can find tells me autoimmune people should be steering clear of this. I had an anaphylaxis response to a vaccine once before, but I am far less concerned with needing a steroid injection to reverse that than I am with how this technology is going to interact with the condition I already have, considering there were already concerns about using mrna on autoimmune people before covid existed. That is a conversation that's going to be between me and my doctor, not me and the manager of a Chipolte whose demanding access to my private medical information in order to deny me service due to a condition I was born with which poses no danger to anyone but myself. 

 

Perhaps I have a unique perspective but I can certainly understand how everyday heathy people have their own concerns. There is not, nor will there be for years, sufficient data on what this could do to a pregnant woman for instance yet we see here they are already talking about clearing it for them when any logical person knows there simply hasn't been enough time to see that it's safe yet or even safer than contractive covid would have been. It doesn't seem much longer before they will be demanding it of everyone, even if you're in a group like myself who should not be taking it, not because it's good for the individual but because they decide it's good for society to inoculate everyone, damn the meek casualties. 

 

To see so many people applauding the idea that the unvaccinated should be under basically forced house arrest when if you trust the data we'd pose next to no threat to the vaccinated is extremely disheartening. 

I also have an autoimmune disorder and as such am at risk of serious complications from Covid-19.  Like most of us, I’ve seen firsthand what this virus has done to loved ones, our health care system and our livelihoods.   I can’t wait to get a vaccine!  I’ll be getting mine in the next few days. I know the vaccine might only protect myself so I’ll still need to mask up for a little longer. 
 

 The talks of short sailings with the unvaccinated sounds like an absolute disaster.  A ship full of the unvaccinated, many of which don’t even think COVID is a danger and refuse to social distance or wear a mask will quickly turn into super spreader ships. 
 

I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to return to fairly unrestricted sailings soon as long as all adults aboard are vaccinated. Children and those unable to receive a vaccine might have to wait just a little longer for return to activities such as cruises and most vacations outside their country. 

I’ve also got a Europe trip and cruise planned for next year. Also a result of a canceled March 2020 sailing.  
 

I didn’t purchase a cancel for any reason travel insurance policy.  I’m not aware this option is available anymore.  My Travelex plan stopped selling cafr options in March 2020. The cost of cafr insurance was pretty high back when they still sold  it-   about 10-12% of trip cost.  
 

The terms on rescheduling are currently much better with regard to airfare and cruise fares.  I booked Airfare with British Airways. I used miles but noticed they had really flexible booking options for cash bookings too.  
 

re countries open to us citizens-   I’d say the odds are looking good for potential travel.  I’m guessing we’ll have some conditions. 
 

2 hours ago, Fido Chuckwagon said:

You’d have to be unbelievably dumb to give actual money to these about to become insolvent companies at this point so I think a better question is who are the 44 percent?

Cruise nexts?  I used some cruise nexts along with the fcc’s and 25% discounts.  I didn’t give any additional $ but did get some sailings booked for 2021. 
 

idk what will actually happen when businesses start honoring all the credits.  Airfare and cruises will have the credits dispersed over a couple years but what about stuff like concerts?  Makes no sense with  2020 canceled and rescheduled for 2021.  They were paid for 2020 and then working for free in 2021? 

It’s not just a marketing ploy to get us to book again.  We’ve learned a considerable amount from diamond princess, restaurant, factories, meat packaging plant, nursing home, and even carpool outbreaks. We’re making huge strides with environmental changes that reduce spread. 
 

As long as Covid-19 is around and no vaccine or effective treatment, further outbreaks on a cruise ship will kill the industry. Even if the cruise lines were able to pack out a ship with willing passengers and crew, there’s just no ports that can afford the repeat cost of handling outbreaks. Ports turn away ships with norovirus.  They’re not going to be ok letting a ship with covid positivities debark.
 

These new guidelines are a great start.  
 

I wear a mask, you wear a mask, 6 foot distance and proper infection control are working wonders but Americans as a whole are not willing to adhere to these guidelines. I’d doubt a cruise ship could even reach the 60% adherence level.  But they might be able to get mandatory  adherence for critical times such as getting on and off the ship, muster drills, some onboard activities....
 

I do think their crew are able to adhere to necessary guidelines. I don’t see an effective way to fully eliminate COVID from getting onboard but with proper environmental control it might not become an outbreak. If crew can have separate staterooms they could social distance. Less crew if less passengers.  Other high risk activities such as cleaning staterooms multiple times a day, working in various venues could easily be changed.   
 

Ships are able to contain norovirus outbreaks.  Had they failed, so would the industry.  The cruise lines will also learn to control spread of Covid-19. It’ll include some changes to our own behavior too.

17 hours ago, TSUmom said:

Hi little lulu.  I sure am glad we took that Med cruise when we did!  Hope you all are well

Wasn’t that an incredible vacation.  I remember writing a port review and the only negative (pre covid) was all the passengers who were sick yet still going on tour busses... I hope crew will be  enforcing a quarantine of sick passengers from now on.  It will be a welcome change and make cruises a little less stressful for those of us that were not crazy about fellow passengers germ spreading habits even before covid-19.
 

We spent quite a long time planning for that sailing, which was half the fun.  I’m hoping to be cruising next spring.  Stay well friend. 

3 hours ago, david_sobe said:

This is expected.  Its also fine for them to declare bankruptcy to reorganize debt.  Happens all the time.  

NCL was a very profitable company.  Even if it takes a year for a vaccine there are golden years yet to come.  I still think its going to get worse before it gets better.  I just don't see the amount of travel it takes to take a cruise and have thousands of people crammed together on planes, buses, and cruise ships during a pandemic.  We are seriously going to quarantine ships again?
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result.  IMHO if you cruise during a pandemic you should sign away your first responder rights.  I know that is harsh but why are you putting so many more at risk just because you want a vacation for yourself.  When the ship gets quarantined don't complain how poorly you are treated by the cruise line.  Don't complain how the government and hospitals don't want you.  Don't complain there is nothing to eat on the ship.  Don't complain how NCL wont refund your money.  Don't complain because you are stranded in port.

Its impossible to be with thousands of people who just traveled on planes during a pandemic and not expect several people to infect the ship.  That's not negative.  That is reality.  Cruise lines just took a beating online for discounting the pandemic and encouraging people to cruise. Now we want to go down this road again?

I get what you’re saying but not sure it’s fair to single out the cruise population. Depending on what media and political view we subscribed to way back in January and February - we were either dealing with a common cold/political hoax or an almost certain pandemic unless we started widespread testing  and social distancing.  Cruise lines didn’t do anything different than our government, airlines, and the general public were doing.  They were just easier to identify, single out and blame.  People were inadvertently and unknowingly getting on flights, ships... because they had zero ability to find out if they were contagious/had the virus. 
 

I think the cdc is telling the industry we aren’t willing to start back up with cruises... unless we do make changes.  Passengers and the industry would be insane to just go back to the same way of travel and expect a different outcome. But we also can’t just forget about ever leaving the house.  At some point I want to go back to traveling, flying, cruises... but only if I’m not blatantly risking my own and others lives.  I can see travel happening with viable treatment options to decrease death rates and severity. I can also see it with improvements to ppe and procedures to decrease severity.  A vaccine is a little too far away to wait on reopening the economy if we wish to keep any semblance of life as we now know it. 
 

We all see the protesters out in force, refusing masks and professing their rights yet when they and their children get sick, first responders will risk their life to provide treatment. If we were social distancing and had the ability to get tested when folks on land were sick way back in February We’d not have this excruciating lockdown today.  If.... The what if’s can go on forever but we have what we have and going forward I think the majority of us are willing to make changes to our behavior in order to return to an opening of our economy.  Very few of us are in the camp of, “I can cough on whoever I want and be dammed if I’ll ever social distance or wear a mask...“ Very few of us are ready to stand toe to toe for the sexy legs contest at the ship pool, Florida  beach. But we’re also not ok sheltered in place for a year. 
 

I have a Disneyworld vacation with my dvc points and flights Booked for this summer.   I’d say there’s a less than 10% chance I’m going. It’s still fun to think about.  I’m not spewing anger towards Disney for allowing folks to plan vacations that might not happen. Same with cruises.  Had I taken the cruise back in March I would have spent the $.  In my mind that was money already spent.  For me, taking that already spent $ and placing it on a couple different really nice Haven suites at prices I felt reasonable was a fun decision.  If I get to Disney World this year but it’s vastly different than previous visits I’m ok with that as long as I’m reasonably safe.   Same with cruises I’m booked on for next year. Tsa lines and flying actually scare me more than getting on a ship.