2026 NCL Cruise Critic cruise (proposed)

[Sugar Magnolia]

29 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

The worst thing was the Comedian/Magician who was neither funny or magical. The grand final was him doing shadow puppets. (Yes, you read that right).

 

OMG I think he was the same shadow puppet master on the Prima TA back in April. We all sat there with a mixture of disbelief, embarrassment and sadness.

 

[debenson0723]

@schmoopie17 I have been wondering how your adventure was going and so glad you checked in! You are not making me feel very confident about my trip to Rome in November...hopefully Delta will do a better job of getting me there than American did for you.

 

Sorry to hear that Mrs. Schmoopie isn't feeling well. That is always the worst on vacation. Hopefully it will be smoothing sailing from here on out. 

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise and we will all regroup when you return.

[schmoopie17]

@Sugar Magnolia @graphicguy @cruiseny4life @debenson0723 @JIMESOPUS

Last night was a great night. Went to Moderno for the first time. We were a bit apprehensive due to the reviews saying it has gone downhill, the meat is overcooked, salty, yada yada. Turns out everything (and I mean everything) we ate was great. Highlights were the filet, pork loin, spicy sausage, pork belly…and the rice. I ate almost a whole bowl of that awesome rice. Also tried sushi for the first time on the salad bar. I don’t do raw fish, but it wasn’t as disgusting as I had anticipated. Somebody should have told me not to eat a spoonful of Wasabi. YIKES! And, of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the pineapple.

 

What can I say about Choir of Man that hasn’t been said a million times? Very talented group of guys. I only wish the beer they give you on stage wasn’t Heineken. Never been a fan…but beggars can’t be choosers…and I managed to choke it down.

 

Mrs. Schmoopie is feeling better. Still hobbling around but at least her digestive issues seem to have cleared up. I’ll spare you the gory details, but it wasn’t pretty.

 

Not looking forward to the flight home on the 24th. I agree with jimesopus that I would rather take several days crossing the Atlantic on a ship vs. nine hours flying.

 

My T-Mobile is spotty…but reception is decent at the moment here in Sardinia, of all places. The ship internet is the next closest thing to useless. It kept booting me out, making me sign in repeatedly, etc. I’m done with it.

 

Edited September 18 by schmoopie17

[Sugar Magnolia]

2 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

@Sugar Magnolia @graphicguy @cruiseny4life @debenson0723 @JIMESOPUS

Last night was a great night. Went to Moderno for the first time. We were a bit apprehensive due to the reviews saying it has gone downhill, the meat is overcooked, salty, yada yada. Turns out everything (and I mean everything) we ate was great. Highlights were the filet, pork loin, spicy sausage, pork belly…and the rice. I ate almost a whole bowl of that awesome rice. Also tried sushi for the first time on the salad bar. I don’t do raw fish, but it wasn’t as disgusting as I had anticipated. Somebody should have told me not to eat a spoonful of Wasabi. YIKES! And, of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the pineapple.

 

What can I say about Choir of Man that hasn’t been said a million times? Very talented group of guys. I only wish the beer they give you on stage wasn’t Heineken. Never been a fan…but beggars can’t be choosers…and I managed to choke it down.

 

Mrs. Schmoopie is feeling better. Still hobbling around but at least her digestive issues seem to have cleared up. I’ll spare you the gory details, but it wasn’t pretty.

 

Not looking forward to the flight home on the 24th. I agree with jimesopus that I would rather take several days crossing the Atlantic on a ship vs. nine hours flying.

 

My T-Mobile is spotty…but reception is decent at the moment here in Sardinia, of all places. The ship internet is the next closest thing to useless. It kept booting me out, making me sign in repeatedly, etc. I’m done with it.

 

Great to hear about the turn of events and that we did not have to talk you off the ledge. 
 

I have always preferred Moderno over Cagney’s because of the buffet and I can choose to eat, or not eat, a variety of small pieces of meat. Last time I dined at Moderno on the Escape I only ate the pineapple, two pieces of the picanha, and several helpings from the buffet.

 

Very happy to hear that Mrs Schmoopie is feeling better. We’ve all been there and it’s a miserable state of being. 
 

All along I wasn’t sure whether you would want to fly all the way to Istanbul. Guess we have an answer now. Perhaps your fabulous travel agent can find a side to side cruise for you. I will be sailing out of New York to Europe next month and sailing back to New York shortly thereafter. 
 

Sorry about the ship’s poor internet performance. I did experience issues like having to constantly log back on but still managed to report (barely) a Live from the Escape.

Hope the rest of your trip continues to improve. Enjoy!

 

 

Edited September 18 by Sugar Magnolia

[mking8288]

2 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

Great to hear about the turn of events and that we did not have to talk you off the ledge. 

... Very happy to hear that Mrs Schmoopie is feeling better. We’ve all been there and it’s a miserable state of being ... 
Sorry about the ship’s poor internet performance. I did experience issues like having to constantly log back on but still managed to report (barely) a Live from the Escape.
Hope the rest of your trip continues to improve. Enjoy!

Ditto, I'll second that "motion" with anyone cruising, have a great time as it is what "you" made out of it, poor souls here been busy with housekeeping, laundry, provisioning, accounting, etc. (at "home" base ... haha) and can't wait to embark again next Thursday to check out another line/ship to compare and see how competitive, and, the changes all are seeing, reading and experiencing first hand.  

 

Sy, perhaps on your crossing next month ... see if you can have a cordial, nice conversation with the internet (iCafe) manager onboard to ask them, what's going on with onboard satellite WiFi at NCL, without and with (if installed) Starlink as most definitely, other line's ships aren't this horrible.  Our friends/CC neighbors will be on the Getaway doing the TA shortly, not sure if we'll get together with them for tea before they leave ... they will likely just use their 300 minutes x 2 to do whatever (unless the spouse "needs" to do some remote work into the office while away ... most likely, she'll wait till they are docked at a port & use cellular data)

 

Now that I'm nearly finishing up the QE trip reporting & writing up the off-line summary before I post it over there, time to catch up on the news, gossips, rumors and "issues" with NCL base here, and figure out the strategies ahead ... going to do a call into our TA that we're booked with (free DSC for 2 with the balcony booked  ... not from NCL) to re-price, looking that we can save about $300 on that itinerary, that's a pretty steep drop & lock that it (heck with the double point promo, most likely won't be able to keep it - but nowhere near saving up to $1,000 but we'll take it)   Being frugal meaning we can take taxis, Uber or car services instead of luggage on trains & subways and walking for blocks - with the clan following behind, struggling with their heavy bags (and, "I told them so")  

[JIMESOPUS]

I think I found the perfect ship for all of us " Luna " tics here on this thread, 

I present Luna, thanks to @Nathan Graveson for posting this on the other thread.

 

 

[JIMESOPUS]

Bookings are already open for the Luna, all out of Miami which is a nice drive, flight, or even train ride.

[Sugar Magnolia]

14 minutes ago, JIMESOPUS said:

Bookings are already open for the Luna, all out of Miami which is a nice drive, flight, or even train ride.

A B2B would be fun. Easy peasy. 
 

[schmoopie17]

Time to bump this up to the front from Page 5.

 

@Sugar Magnolia(or anyone else considering this cruise)...our TA notified us that the price for our balcony on the 2/6/25 Panama Canal cruise has dropped $300. She got us the lower price. I don't know about other cabin categories, but probably worth a look.

 

Edited September 25 by schmoopie17

[Sugar Magnolia]

4 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

Time to bump this up to the front from Page 5.

 

@Sugar Magnolia(or anyone else considering this cruise)...our TA notified us that the price for our balcony on the 2/6/25 Panama Canal cruise has dropped $300. She got us the lower price. I don't know about other cabin categories, but probably worth a look.

 

 

Welcome back @schmoopie17! Glad you are back online. Thank you for the tip. I saved $100 so my gelato budget has increased.

 

Hope the return flight was uneventful.

 

[schmoopie17]

4 minutes ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

Welcome back @schmoopie17! Glad you are back online. Thank you for the tip. I saved $100 so my gelato budget has increased.

 

Hope the return flight was uneventful.

 

The return flight was, indeed, uneventful. Other than the fact that it was long and boring, the fact that the landing was the smoothest I have ever experienced in over 100 flights is noteworthy.

 

I'll be compiling my thoughts on the overall trip in a couple of days, once my jet lag and cold/sinus issues have resolved themselves to be able to clear my head and be my normal cogent self. 😜

[cruiseny4life]

Just now, schmoopie17 said:

normal cogent self.

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[mking8288]

21 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Adding, welcome home. 

 

The cure is to get back onboard soon, as Sugar girl knows all too well. 

 

Yeah, we saved $400 on our NCL balcony cabin next early Spring too with the re-pricing & probably lost our double points promo, no big deal at our tier level. 

[JIMESOPUS]

interesting read from Cruise Critic about NCL

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/norwegian-cruise-line-news?stay=1&posfrom=2&fbclid=IwY2xjawFhWNNleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHTAsRbTnSWwWnuVt_h1rq7FUCmPAwW42p0AVvfXiDzkHDbkp5aJug35x7A_aem_rJLLgR3M-Pm94sb2H0DcyQ

[JIMESOPUS]

Another strange thing popped up on my FB feed, reading the comments it's for random cruises, another bidding program to upgrade your flights

 

[GALSews]

15 hours ago, JIMESOPUS said:

Another strange thing popped up on my FB feed, reading the comments it's for random cruises, another bidding program to upgrade your flights

 

Thanks for posting. I'll have to check to see if if applies to our P of A in Jan. 26. In the meantime, we've booked the Sun Princess to see the eclipse in 2026. Princess as already sold out one ship for that event. Neither NCL   or Oceania so far have announced cruises to view the eclipse.

 

BTW @jimesopus, we are on I287 spending the night in Kingston to see a  classmate of mine and a work colleague of DH. Then it is up to Troy for  few days to celebrate RPI's 200th birthday. We return home via Binghamton, stopping to see a former roommate and her husband. BTW, wonderful driving weather, but better than what Florida is supposed to have.

[JIMESOPUS]

Going back to the Jade next month, CAS charter cruise, hopefully it's better this time

 

[schmoopie17]

2 hours ago, JIMESOPUS said:

Going back to the Jade next month, CAS charter cruise, hopefully it's better this time

 

Our favorite ship. Make sure you go see Shane (bartender extraordinaire) in the Martini bar.

 

He took excellent care of us for 14 days. He kept Mrs. Schmoopie's Cosmos and my bourbon flowing with regularity.

 

Edited September 27 by schmoopie17

[JIMESOPUS]

look what I found on the web, Free has been replaced by More, went back to NCL.com later on and it was gone, hmm 

[Sugar Magnolia]

5 minutes ago, JIMESOPUS said:

look what I found on the web, Free has been replaced by More, went back to NCL.com later on and it was gone, hmm 

 

 

Hmmm...so... more really means less?

My English is no good.

 

[cruiseny4life]

9 minutes ago, JIMESOPUS said:

look what I found on the web, Free has been replaced by More, went back to NCL.com later on and it was gone, hmm 

I've been seeing this floating around the net...careful reading all the details as it seems to have come from an european based travel agent. I think all the deets are right, but I'm not counting my horses yet.

 

As @Sugar Magnolia said, I'm sure it'll be less...and MORE fees at sea.

[debenson0723]

1 hour ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

 

Hmmm...so... more really means less?

My English is no good.

 

Correct me if I am wrong (I know you will) but does it say cruises over 12 nights get 3 specialty meals if you are in a studio, inside or oceanview? I believe our Prima cruise only includes 2 so this would be one additional meal. And a meal includes 3 appitizers, one entree and up to 3 desserts?  Can't wait to see the pricing on this. 

[Sugar Magnolia]

16 minutes ago, debenson0723 said:

Correct me if I am wrong (I know you will) but does it say cruises over 12 nights get 3 specialty meals if you are in a studio, inside or oceanview? I believe our Prima cruise only includes 2 so this would be one additional meal. And a meal includes 3 appitizers, one entree and up to 3 desserts?  Can't wait to see the pricing on this. 

 

Is that a rhetorical question? I'm not falling for that trap again.

 

[JIMESOPUS]

1 minute ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

Is that a rhetorical question? I'm not falling for that trap again.

 

Along with the missing site, we now have this enormous black cat in the backyard, here kitty

[Sugar Magnolia]

7 minutes ago, JIMESOPUS said:

Along with the missing site, we now have this enormous black cat in the backyard, here kitty

 

Good heavens! Are you sure that's not a ROUS?