Rock1t

Thanks so much for the great review! I'm boarding the Breakaway on March 10th and it will be my first NCL cruise. I've been pretty apprehensive about the lack of entertainment options with SIX gone and I plan on finding a bar to spend some time at each night since game shows aren't for me.

Hello! I have been planning a 16 day Panama Canal cruise in October 2024 and have booked an excursion at every port except Puerto Quetzal. I am on a RCCL cruise (Radiance of the Seas) and have been wanting to do a Pacaya Volcano Hike and I know NCL offers the excursion (5.5 hours) but so far RCCL has not offered a similar excursion. I was wondering if anyone on a previous RCCL cruise has seen a similar excursion in the past or maybe if there is a local vendor that offers a volcano hike?

That's correct. It has a Centrum (atrium) which spans roughly 7 decks vertically.

I have no advice to offer because I am looking at a cruise to Progreso in 2025 on Brilliance of the Seas but it looks like the Cenote is at or near the Chichen Itza site. May I ask if you decided on one tour or the other and why? I am looking at booking this cruise specifically for the Progreso stop to visit Chichen Itza.

The furniture and desk area seem to be the same as the rest of the ship (and Radiance class) and was fine but a little worn. The bathroom seemed to be a little more updated than my cabins on other Radiance class ships with blue tiled floors, the round shower doors instead of a curtain, and the best water pressure of any cruise I've been on. I'm going on the NCL Breakaway in a few months and have booked a studio cabin so I'll be interested to experience the differences in layout and approach to a studio. I liked the location since it was a secluded hallway with only 8 or so cabins and there were 2 heavy glass doors that would close at night to keep any noise out. I never heard any music or the bands during the centrum parties.

Sure, it was the 10/1-10/8 cruise on Serenade of the Seas. I just checked my account today and the 14 points have been added. Personally I was okay with the solo room but was frustrated after reading that I wouldn't get double points even though I had paid double. I won't book a guarantee again due to others experiences after learning of others outcomes.

Maybe I am the exception but I recently booked a Solo cruise on Serenade, paid the supplement and chose an Interior Guarantee (there were no solo rooms available to book at the time). I was assigned a 2W cabin (4583) and expected to only get 7 points but was given the entire 14 points? I won't book a guarantee solo again given the risk of not getting the double points but just wanted to share this experience.

Thanks so much for this detailed reply! We went ahead and booked the Breakaway for Feb 25, 2024 out of New Orleans and will start planning some excursions now. I've been to Costa Maya and Cozumel many times, but this will be my first at Roatan and Belize. Planning to do a scuba excursion at Roatan and maybe have a beach day at Harvest Caye! I really appreciate the insight since NCL will be a new experience for us.

Another vote for the Radiance! Odyssey would be my second favorite. Happy to see lots of love for the Radiance class

I've been pricing the Breakaway from New Orleans for February 2024 and this would be my first NCL cruise after doing many RCCL and Disney so this thread has been helpful. After looking at the daily planners posted in the Live follow along above, the entertainment options looks limited since we do not go to comedy shows and Six is being removed in January. We are usually off ship all day in port, come back to the room, shower, dinner, and then go to a show (ice skating, Aquatheater, main theater etc.). I'm concerned that there may be a lack of entertainment options to fill the evenings outside of comedy. Does anyone know the plans for evening entertainment or will it be filled with variety/headliner acts? I was also shocked that the beverage package doesn't include bottled water on NCL so could we bring a refillable tumbler and use a glass (or multiple glasses) of water from a bar or buffet to keep that filled throughout the day?

I changed my 2024 Norwegian Fjords trip to a 16 day Panama Canal transit. I'm hoping I didn't make a mistake by assuming 2025 will have similar itineraries to 2024 since those regulations for the deep fjords go into affect for 2026... I'll book the day the itineraries are released for 2025.

Dining options just became available for my 10/2024 Panama Canal cruise on Radiance and Samba is still bookable for that far in the future but I am curious that if they are removing the restaurant (as others have mentioned in rumors) then I guess they would just refund those purchases?

I purchased the Coffee Select Card on the Radiance of the Seas in August 2022. The employees at the coffee bar were clear when I purchased it that any drink with extra shots of espresso would be more than 1 punch. I have access to the espresso machine in the Diamond Lunge but I only drink iced lattes so it was still worth it for me to purchase the card for triple shot iced lattes. I used the card up during my sailing so I cannot speak on whether it would be honored on other ships, but it did have the ship name and my room number on the card so YMMV, but I wouldn't expect another ship to honor it.

You can just call RCCL direct and tell them there was a price drop and as long as its for the same category stateroom you have booked, they will honor it. It has to be before the 90 day final payment date.

That is very strange since I'm currently booked on the October 1-8, 2023 Canada/New England cruise on the Serenade and we have excursions available for all ports including Portland. There are only 9 listed for Portland and most are Lighthouse or Kennebunkport tours. I plan on doing the Casco Bay Mailboat Tour on my own and checking out some local shops and breweries after.