Sail away parties

[Crazy42]

A long, long time ago, in a lifetime far, far away my husband and I did an NCL Alaska cruise. We stood on the sun deck as we sailed away from Seattle. As my memory is not what it once was I don’t remember very little of it.  Know it was cooler so not a lot of people were out. I have a vague recollection of there being free champagne. This time we’re on the Bliss and have an outside of the Haven Haven room.

 

So tell me, what are the sail away parties like? Are they only on the sun deck? What about in the Haven?

[luv2kroooz]

The CD, entertainment staff and youth staff with encourage everyone to get out and dance by the pool. You'll hear the typical songs like wobble and electric slide. It will last about 30 minutes or so. Cheap champagne is free for anyone on the Free at Sea program. Better champagne is available for an upcharge.

[gizfish]

When we were in the Haven, pre-covid, there was complementary champagne on the Haven Sun deck during sail away.  The concierge or butler should tell you if they are doing that.

[9tee2Sea]

Am I the only one that does not attend the sail away parties?  Although, I will be on my balcony during sail away, if possible.

[drew69]

51 minutes ago, 9tee2Sea said:

Am I the only one that does not attend the sail away parties?  Although, I will be on my balcony during sail away, if possible.

Same here, total chaos and totally overrated.  Prefer to stay on my balcony or the Haven sun deck for a peaceful sailaway with a drink I actually like instead of free sparking wine.

[Crazy42]

47 minutes ago, drew69 said:

Same here, total chaos and totally overrated.  Prefer to stay on my balcony or the Haven sun deck for a peaceful sailaway with a drink I actually like instead of free sparking wine.

Standing on the Haven sun deck with a drink sounds heavenly. We’re in a room with an obstructed balcony, not by choice, so sitting there with four of us wouldn’t work. 

[drew69]

6 minutes ago, Crazy42 said:

Standing on the Haven sun deck with a drink sounds heavenly. We’re in a room with an obstructed balcony, not by choice, so sitting there with four of us wouldn’t work. 

Yes, sundeck will work much better and especially with the ships with the forward Haven for sail away

[ziggyuk]

On 7/30/2024 at 6:42 PM, luv2kroooz said:

Cheap champagne is free for anyone on the Free at Sea program. Better champagne is available for an upcharge.

 

You will be lucky, no cheap champagne on Free At Sea, not even a good Prosecco, just a cheap Prosecco.

[julig22]

4 hours ago, 9tee2Sea said:

Am I the only one that does not attend the sail away parties?  Although, I will be on my balcony during sail away, if possible.

Nope. Depending on the cruise, I'm sound asleep following long travel times + time changes. If I'm awake, I'll watch from my balcony.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

5 hours ago, 9tee2Sea said:

Am I the only one that does not attend the sail away parties?  Although, I will be on my balcony during sail away, if possible.

I haven’t been to a sail away party in twenty years, maybe more.  We typically have a balcony and choose to have our own quiet party with a bottle of nice wine.

[BirdTravels]

On 7/30/2024 at 1:14 PM, Crazy42 said:

A long, long time ago, in a lifetime far, far away my husband and I did an NCL Alaska cruise. We stood on the sun deck as we sailed away from Seattle. As my memory is not what it once was I don’t remember very little of it.  Know it was cooler so not a lot of people were out. I have a vague recollection of there being free champagne. This time we’re on the Bliss and have an outside of the Haven Haven room.

 

So tell me, what are the sail away parties like? Are they only on the sun deck? What about in the Haven?

The Haven sun deck provides spectacular 270 degree views. We would pick up our favorite adult beverage (not champaign) at the Haven bar and head up to the sun deck for sail away. 

 

On glacier day, they will have a bar set up on the sun deck selling adult coffees and chocolates (along with free coffee and hot chocolate). They will open the sun deck to junior cruisers on glacier day.... which could be annoying for some (you're trying to enjoy the beauty of the glaciers and kids are screaming and jumping in / out of the hot tubs in the freezing weather). 

 

[Anoynmous Phoenix]

Never bothered with any Sail-Away "do" far prefer to eat a lovely dinner in Le Bistro with very few guests.

[olemissreb]

Since the 2 guys in my group have never been on a cruise before, we'll probably go to the sail away party as we leave San Juan (if they have one). If it gets to be too much, we can escape to the Vibe or even our balconies. 

 

I just live sailing past the fort though as we leave, so I may just end up staying out there until we've passed them.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

1 hour ago, olemissreb said:

Since the 2 guys in my group have never been on a cruise before, we'll probably go to the sail away party as we leave San Juan (if they have one). If it gets to be too much, we can escape to the Vibe or even our balconies. 

 

I just live sailing past the fort though as we leave, so I may just end up staying out there until we've passed them.

Check the time of sailing.  I’ve done six cruises from SJ and none of them left before 10:00 pm.   Too late for us after a busy embarkation day.

[olemissreb]

9 hours ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

Check the time of sailing.  I’ve done six cruises from SJ and none of them left before 10:00 pm.   Too late for us after a busy embarkation day.

We're supposed to depart at 7pm.

Edited August 1 by olemissreb

[ontheweb]

For our Prima cruise in the summer of 2023 from London (Southampton) to Reykjavik, the sail away party was listed with an asterisk as weather permitting. And the weather did not permit. 😢

[vacation44]

We also never attend sail away parties.   We prefer being in the Vibe or our balcony (if just my husband and I) during sail away.   

[MagnoliaBlossom]

On 8/1/2024 at 6:11 PM, olemissreb said:

We're supposed to depart at 7pm.

That will be a nicer time to sail, near sunset.

[cruiseny4life]

Sail away is typically about our dinner time, so we wander to the Haven Restaurant and have a quiet meal while not many guests are around. Most seem to partake of some other sail away ritual, so we enjoy a very nice quiet meal where we can start to learn more about our servers. 

[jrt.mom]

I've always just enjoyed sailaways from my balcony but since my next cruise I'm in  an interior room so I'll go find a quiet chair somewhere on the deck...I'm not into those mob scenes. 

[zqvol]

2 hours ago, jrt.mom said:

I've always just enjoyed sailaways from my balcony but since my next cruise I'm in  an interior room so I'll go find a quiet chair somewhere on the deck...I'm not into those mob scenes. 

Go up as high as you can get on your ship. It is usually very quiet up there. Have fun!

Edited August 9 by zqvol

[Calicoskies1234]

On 7/31/2024 at 1:04 PM, 9tee2Sea said:

Am I the only one that does not attend the sail away parties?  Although, I will be on my balcony during sail away, if possible.

This is what we did with our 4 travel companions. We all got drinks then went to our aft balcony.