Advice please re NCL cruising in the Caribbean

[navylark]

Hi

We are UK residents and usually cruise in the Med, Baltic and Norway areas. We have a daugther who lives in the States with two children age 6 and 4.

We want to treat them to a cruise for my daugthers 40th birthday.

Now the worry.

We have no recent experience cruising the Caribbean from the States but presume Miami is the prefered departure port but what about Port Canaveral

We also do not really underatand what 'Free Style' cruising means.

So with NCL vessels can anyone help with the following questions

 

1) Does Free Style mean you eat where you want when you want with no assigned table in any restaurant?

If so do lines develope at busy times?

 

2) The two embarkation ports seem to be Miami or Port Canaveral - which would seem the best from the point of airports etc

 

3) The ship options next year seem to be the new huge Epic ex Miami with 4000 plus passengers. What about check in with such vessels. I remember years ago that even 1500 at a check in was a nightmare. The alternative is the Pearl type also ex Miami or the Sun ex Port Canaveral. Any comments re what is best.

 

Sorry for such a general set of questions - but as 'rookies' in the US cruise scene we would value any thoughts

 

Many thanks

 

TheNavylarks

[dvan68]

I would think that you are correct in that Miami is going to give you the largest range of options for flights and cruises. Of course you could also look at some of the other east coast departures from New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, etc - different lines have different cities that they use.

 

This would be my first time on NCL as well. I would imagine that the larger the group you have, you may have to wait for a table at peak dinner times. Although the specialty restaurants accept reservations, so you can avoid that problem.

 

Check in does move along surprisingly quickly, but if you have the time, arriving to the port before noon will probably save you some time.

 

I hope that helps!

[nlt46]

1) Does Free Style mean you eat where you want when you want with no assigned table in any restaurant? Yes, you can eat where you want when you want. There are several "no fee extra" restaurants, but there are also some extra fee restaurants.

If so do lines develope at busy times? Yes. I've not had a problem, but some have encountered lines at peak times...7:00 -- 8:30. They give you a plastic light pager to notify you when your table is ready.

 

2) The two embarkation ports seem to be Miami or Port Canaveral - which would seem the best from the point of airports etc Miami has more flights and is very prepared for cruises. I've never gone out of Port Canaveral; so, I can't say with authority.

 

3) The ship options next year seem to be the new huge Epic ex Miami with 4000 plus passengers. What about check in with such vessels. I remember years ago that even 1500 at a check in was a nightmare. The alternative is the Pearl type also ex Miami or the Sun ex Port Canaveral. Some people don't like huge ships. No one has gone on the Epic yet; so, no one can report pros/cons of this particular ship. Some are very excited about it and the options that it offers. I myself would prefer the smaller Pearl type.

 

Have a great cruise which ever options you choose.

 

Nancy

[BikerAl]

For us, freestyle is perfect, for it is basically where we want to eat and when, in the (cruise included) restaurants. Then there are the surcharge restaurants, which range from $10 to $25 per person. These are Italian, Chinese, Japanese steak house, French and Mexican. For them, you normally need reservations, which can be made either 24, 72 or for the entire cruise, depending on your stateroom type and past cruise status.

 

Airline wise, Port of Miami is served by Miami International and Ft Lauderdale International, while Port Canaveral is served by Orlando International. There are many many flights into both areas.

 

You didn't mention the Dawn, out of Miami. It does 5 day western and 9 day southern Caribbean itineraries. I think the nine day visits some of the nicest ports in the Caribbean. These are only available November through early April.

 

Itinerary Details

 

 

Below is the itinerary for the cruise you have chosen and information about the ports of call you'll be visiting.

Day Port Arrive Depart Fri Miami - 4:00 PM Sat At Sea - - Sun Samana 10:00 AM 5:00 PM Mon Tortola 9:00 AM 6:00 PM Tue Antigua 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Wed Barbados 10:00 AM 6:00 PM Thu St. Kitts 11:00 AM 7:00 PM Fri At Sea - - Sat At Sea - - Sun Miami 8:00 AM -

 

Al

[Vol fan]

Hi

We are UK residents and usually cruise in the Med, Baltic and Norway areas. We have a daugther who lives in the States with two children age 6 and 4.

We want to treat them to a cruise for my daugthers 40th birthday.

Now the worry.

We have no recent experience cruising the Caribbean from the States but presume Miami is the prefered departure port but what about Port Canaveral

 

 

We also do not really underatand what 'Free Style' cruising means.

So with NCL vessels can anyone help with the following questions

 

1) Does Free Style mean you eat where you want when you want with no assigned table in any restaurant?

If so do lines develop at busy times?

We ate in the MDRs most nights and never had to wait. But we have dinner early - 6:30 or so. You eat whenever you want and have no assigned tables, wait staff, etc.

 

2) The two embarkation ports seem to be Miami or Port Canaveral - which would seem the best from the point of airports etc

You can also go out of Fort Lauderdale which is just a few miles from Miami. You can fly into either Ft. Lauderdale or Miami. Many Princess and Holland America ships sail from Ft. Lauderdale.

 

 

3) The ship options next year seem to be the new huge Epic ex Miami with 4000 plus passengers. What about check in with such vessels. I remember years ago that even 1500 at a check in was a nightmare. The alternative is the Pearl type also ex Miami or the Sun ex Port Canaveral. Any comments re what is best.

The Pearl is a great ship - been on her twice. The nine day cruise is terrific and goes to places that some other ships do not go.

Sorry for such a general set of questions - but as 'rookies' in the US cruise scene we would value any thoughts

 

Many thanks

 

TheNavylarks

 

Carole

[duncansdad]

You can also sail from New Orleans for the "Exotic" Western Caribbean.

 

Ports of call are; Costa Maya, St Tomaas de Castillia, Belize, and Cozumel.

 

The DW and I did this cruise in December 2008, and thought this was one of our best of 10 cruises.

 

An added bonus to this wondeful cruiise is the ability to spend some time in NOLA. IMO, NOLA is a city everyone should visit at least once.

[floridacruiser63]

Hi

We are UK residents and usually cruise in the Med, Baltic and Norway areas. We have a daugther who lives in the States with two children age 6 and 4.

We want to treat them to a cruise for my daugthers 40th birthday.

Now the worry.

We have no recent experience cruising the Caribbean from the States but presume Miami is the prefered departure port but what about Port Canaveral

We also do not really underatand what 'Free Style' cruising means.

So with NCL vessels can anyone help with the following questions

 

1) Does Free Style mean you eat where you want when you want with no assigned table in any restaurant? Yes

If so do lines develope at busy times? not usually.

 

2) The two embarkation ports seem to be Miami or Port Canaveral - which would seem the best from the point of airports etc For NCL, Miami seems like the logical choice heading to the Caribbean, many more options, many more flights into Miami International Airport.

 

3) The ship options next year seem to be the new huge Epic ex Miami with 4000 plus passengers. What about check in with such vessels. I remember years ago that even 1500 at a check in was a nightmare. The alternative is the Pearl type also ex Miami or the Sun ex Port Canaveral. Any comments re what is best. The Epic sounds like a great adventure, brand new ship, great itineraries. The Pearl will not be doing the 9 day Southern Caribbean this fall and winter, it will do the Eastern Caribbean out of Miami instead. The Dawn will be doing the 9 day Southern route out of Miami and I believe the Jewel will be doing the Western route, also out of Miami. However since I do not know when you are planning your cruise, these ships might be gone from Miami, (they are all repositioned to either Europe or to the West Coast of the US to do Alaska during Spring and usually come back to homeport out of Miami for the Fall and Winter Season - all except the Epic, which is due to arrive to its new homeport of Miami next year).

 

Sorry for such a general set of questions - but as 'rookies' in the US cruise scene we would value any thoughts

 

 

Many thanks

 

TheNavylarks

I hope you have a great cruise, no matter which one you decide to take.