NCL Sun/Aquafest Halloween 10/24/2012

We had such a great time on this year's Halloween cruise out of New Orleans that we signed up for next year's before we left the ship. We thought it's never too early to start a thread and start planning for a great 11-days in the Caribbean and South America.

The cruise is roundtrip from Miami leaving on Oct. 24, 2012. We live in Fort Lauderdale so this one is almost as close as it gets. Hope to hear from you soon.

Hi Ken & Fred,

We are also going on the Aquafest Cruise in October. We'll be spending a few days in the Keys and Miami ahead of time. We are taking a 3 week vacation to celebrate getting our Masters! Can't wait for the cruise, because that will mean I'm done!

Kip & Ken

Thanks for posting. We had such a great time on this year's Halloween Cruise that we immediately booked for next year. Have you ever done an Aquafest Cruise before? This will be our third. We live in Fort Lauderdale so maybe we could meet before the cruise, keep us posted on your plans and good luck with the Masters.

Hi guys,

Tell us more about the Aquafest cruise experience. This will be our first--we have done a number of RSVP cruises and a couple of mainstream cruises. We aren't too eager to pay the premium price of gay cruises and miss relaxation time. We are thinking a gay group cruise may be just the right mix for us. I'm looking forward to a 3 week vacation!

Kip & Ken

We've done Aquafest cruises to Alaska and this year's Halloween Cruise. There were about 265 gay men and women on Alaska and 550 on the Halloween Cruise of which 160 were women. Great mix of people. We have made many friends on the cruises that we continue to stay in touch with. Best of all is how hard Tom and Co. work to make it your best cruise experience. The hold many events on the ship and their excursions are a great value and often better than any offered by the ship.

Hi guys,

Kindof sorry to say we will not make the jump to the Epic. We really have no interest in the itinerary or the ship. So after corresponding with Tom, we are staying on the NCL Sun for this itinerary. Hopefully enough family will defect and stay on this cruise. We always seem to find friends, so I'm sure it will still be a great cruise.

What are your plans?

Kip

Just got the email from Tom Baker. The cruise is now on the Norwegian Epic. It will be visiting the Eastern Caribbean and the dates are now Nov. 10-17. Unfortunately, we will probably cancel. We've done the Eastern Caribbean more times than I want to remember and the dates don't work for us as well either.

Does anyone know if NCL offers its liquor package to the Aquafest group?

We too were originally booked on the Sun for the annual Halloween cruise. When the change to the Epic was announced we discussed it with several friends and decided the itinerary was much more interesting despite their new fancy ship. Those Eastern ports just aren't exciting to us.

While we love the Aquafest group and the Halloween parties, we really wanted to try these ports with the Sun. There is a group of us from Columbus, OH and a few from Houston/Dallas that are sticking with the NCL Sun! We started a Facebook page as well. Let us know if any of you will still be going so we can all hook up and make our own fun!

I am also staying on The Sun as planned. However, my partner Michael (the Aquafest DJ) will not be coming with me as he is still committed to the Aquafest events on the Epic sailing.

My partner and I have signed up for the cruise as well. We're sad that Aquafest had to change to the Epic, but we are thrilled that some of the Aquafest folks have decided to stay on this cruise. We are looking forward to seeing you all then!

Hi all!! I just found this thread. I moved to the Epic and am really looking forward to the fun. Tried to do last year's trip, but my work schedule caused me to cancel. What kind of costumes do people often wear?

Jo

Although we are not on either of the Aquafest cruises, we sailed on the EPIC this past fall from Barcelona. The ship was amazing, partly due to the fact we were in a penthouse suite which gave us access to the "Haven" private areas. That being said, if we had to do the cruise over again it would only be in the private suites. Getting from stem to stern on the public decks was a frantic mess on sea days. All of you should book the couples Thermal Spa package for the week ($120 I believe) which will give you access to the heated loungers, incredible therapy pools, co-ed dry saunas with a glass wall overlooking the ocean, as well as private mens and womens dry sauna and steam room in the locker rooms. It made sea days a real treat! We never ONCE ate any food at a buffet, just the EPIC club in the Haven area, and specialty dining. All was excellent. Mixed reviews from folks about the circus/dining ordeal and the ICE Bar. Pre-made drinks and kinda gimicky. There is also a clothing optional area for the whole ship....on deck 15 or 16 forward....me thinks. Enjoy her, and be prepared to walk a lot.

(Hi Scotty!!!)

I'm glad all of you are still going. I have also booked this cruise with a couple friends. Should be a great time!

I'm glad all of you are still going. I have also booked this cruise with a couple friends. Should be a great time!

Am looking forward to meeting you John. Indy is my hometown. Perhaps we can compare notes on Indy sometime.

We're looking forward to meeting you all.

Only 231 days until our cruise.

We will be joining about 5 other friends on this cruise. The itinerary looks great and we are looking forward to it.

Our last Norwegian cruise was on Pride of Hawaii in 2007. Similar sized ship and we had a blast!

Hope to meet some of you there.

We too were originally booked on the Sun for the annual Halloween cruise. When the change to the Epic was announced we discussed it with several friends and decided the itinerary was much more interesting despite their new fancy ship. Those Eastern ports just aren't exciting to us.

 

While we love the Aquafest group and the Halloween parties, we really wanted to try these ports with the Sun. There is a group of us from Columbus, OH and a few from Houston/Dallas that are sticking with the NCL Sun! We started a Facebook page as well. Let us know if any of you will still be going so we can all hook up and make our own fun!

Hi Guys, What is the name of the facebook page?

Tom and Mike

Here it is!

Here's the link to the Facebook group: https://www.*****/225278420880780/

Brian

Main roll call:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1349488

Thanks

What a surprise to learn that this cruise was originally a gay group cruise. Two friends and I are booked on the Sun for this cruise. We selected it for the amazing itinerary unaware of the Aquafest group. Very happy to see there will still be lots of gay people aboard despite Aquafest switching to the Epic. :)

Take a look at the NCL rollcall for this cruise on the straight side. A number of gay couples are on it and it is fairly active already.

Kip

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We've crossed the 200 day threshold. Currently at 197 days.

Hello, it is John and Anthony out of NYC, This will be our first time on an Aquafest Event. I have read that you have been on a few. Can you share with us what they are like. We have done many Cruises but not any of these.. hoping to meet other people. Thanks :)

Hi Ken & Fred,

 

We are also going on the Aquafest Cruise in October. We'll be spending a few days in the Keys and Miami ahead of time. We are taking a 3 week vacation to celebrate getting our Masters! Can't wait for the cruise, because that will mean I'm done!

 

Kip & Ken