jetter2

This is great to hear =]

I am turning 30 next year and I'm taking a 7 day cruise on the Escape. I booked a solo cabin and have UBP. I cruised the Star over 2015 Xmas with the girl I was dating at the time and loved it.

We had booked the Epic for this Xmas but broke up - but I still have that desire to sail on a fancy newer mega ship. The Escape seems so large and there are so many activities I think it would be a great solo relaxing trip.

What age demographic do you find most the solo cruisers? I always liked meeting a cruise gal for the trip ;)

I'm actually really stoked to cruise solo, I don't have to do anything at all that I don't want to do. From waking up in the morning to workout, to eating/drinking/lots of gambling, and even SCUBA in St. Marteen so, I'm stoked to say the least!

It COMPLETELY blows my mind when one person judges another !

....I'm not judging anyone. I just don't understand why people want to pay bills and use WiFi when they are on a cruise.

How did people get by on flights or cruises before WiFi!! We live in a always connected world now and elementary schoolers have cell phones beacuse their parents want to make sure they can get ahold of them. I'm not saying its a bad idea, but literally every generation that has ever existed up to this point got by without WiFi on planes and cruise ships - and now people die at the thought of going unplugged lol.

Different strokes, for different folks.

It blows my mind people want to use WiFi and stay connected on a cruise.

I build wireless networks for a living, and I can't wait to go unplugged.

I'm looking at taking a 7 day in late May for my 30th birthday present.

I like the newer mega ships as they have the solo cabins and people seem to like it.

I was just curious what the average demographic is of the solo cruisers. Is it real camp-y and everyone gets to know eachother and party together, or is it like any other cabin isle on the ship?

Are there many solo girl travelers? I would hate it if it was all dudes lol

I'm just curious what its like for a guy that likes to have a great time and party, to go on a cruise solo. I've only ever cruised with groups or with a girlfriend, but never alone.

So I am looking for as much insight as I can get from you guys =]

Looks Great!

Very cool! I would like to work there.

 

If it is a theme cruise, then it depends on the theme re: entertainment.

 

If it is "just business," then you should have the same shipboard entertainment as other cruises. Entertainment should be advertised on the NCL site for the ship.

Our southern region has taken up 500 cabins on a ****ty little Carnival cruise of the past 15 years as long as we hit our numbers. We also had a huge conference company wide in Orlando every fall. Because we are growing so much they found it cheaper and easier to just charter the whole dang boat. Its easier as we are all on board, the company has complete control of the boat(ie casino open times and bar closing times as we have meetings we have to attend), along with all the food, beverage, and lodging it just made more sense.

GF and I decide to skip Xmas with our families as we are in our late 20s, and all we get when we go home is a travel bill lol. We take Xmas back and go on a fun little cruise over the holiday and its become a yearly tradition for us.

Do you have a link, I can't seem to find what entertainment will be at least on our Xmas voyage?

We booked our Xmas cruise so far out that we get double points for each night, so it will up our ranking. I hope my company cruise counts towards my next tier as well :)

My company chartered out the whole NCL Pearl for an October sailing. It's a corperate conference event, I was just curious if I could get any info on the entertainment booked?

Aside from that, the GF and I are booked on the Epic for our Xmas cruise - we would also like to know what entertainment they have planned for this venture. Is it to early to know?

Not sure. I talked to 2 TA'S and NCL directly and got nowhere.

If you are within your no-refund window (like ~100 days or less out?) I don't think they will do it?

Also if the price drops they will adjust it against my account. I had a $25 down payment to make the booking. I haven't been recharged for anything.

This is why I use Cruisesonly.com ....year after year they happily add promos that come along to my booking. Last year it was UBP, this year it was SDP. Neither of those offers were available when we booked our cruise originally.

I think that you received the SDP (Specialty Dining Package), not the UDP.

 

It's strange that they use the letters "UDP" in the item number for the SDP packages. :confused:

You're right, its 4 free dinners for 2 (which is what we did last year anyways).

Not true. It's not that simple. You were probably able to do it, but in behind the scene they cancelled your existing booking and re-booked with the current promos. Because you were only a month into the booking the price was probably unchanged.

 

If the OP had a booking for quite awhile for them to cancel and rebook to get the updated promo could be quite costly... especially if they are Canadian with the value of the Canadian dollar taking a nozedive. At the end of the day, from my TA and directly from NCL they cannot just simply "add" and newer promo to a current booking.

 

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I've added a promo to my booking last year around 4 months after booking, and I did it this year.

$0 change to my bill. Just call and ask.

I'm results oriented so IDK what strings my TA pulls with NCL, but they always seem to come thru :)

Oops - yes, I meant the beverage package!

Call them, they will add the promo to your sailing.

We booked our Xmas 2016 sailing last month and got the UBP promo. Then UDP promo came out and we called and they added that promo to our deal.

Free booze and food! You just gotta keep an eye on the promotions as they change all the time.

I don't think this is actually the case. In my experience non-refundable was used first, for applicable expenses (not DSC), and then refundable.

 

 

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They use refundable first.

The GF and I just booked 12310 for the Christmas 2016 sailing.

You're pictures were a BIG help in the decision - I am looking forward to the stairs to nowhere =]

Cruising the Star for the first time next month and booked an 11:30 AM flight out of Tampa is that too early? We will get priority disembarkation with Platinum and a Suite but hope that isn't a mistake. Your opinion please? Also is there a place to smoke at the Biergarten?

You'll be fine.

Great post!

We sailed the Star over Christmas and had a great time. We never had really long lines at the bar though - and we were at biergarten a decent amount.

Great post, thanks!

We are still stoked for our aft balcony. We don't get sea sick and I can't wait to see the wake fall to the sunset :)

Get an aft balcony for not much more :)

We're sailing the Epic over xmas and were considering both the hump balcony rooms, vs the aft balcony.

We are in the corner of the boat so nobody walks by our door, and we get an aft balcony :)

I am very interested in using IConciege as a way to keep track of my kids. Can anyone comment on how well the phone and texting works while at sea?

I saw people using it all over the place while at sea, especially the calling feature.

We didn't use it on the Star, but when we sail the Epic in December I plan on getting it just so I can keep up with my gf on that mega ship :)

A little off topic, but I think goes to the heart of the question.

We`ve cruzed about 20 times: CCL, RCL, Costa etc. Going on NCL Star in March

 

We were curious about the monster ships: I recommend trying RCL`s Allure of the Seas or her sisters. It was wild seeing inside facing balconies, as you had breakfast in Central Park with live trees and birds chirping as the center of the ship is open. We tried to do it all: ice skating shows, high-diving show off the stern, ABBA play, some wild production with people floating around. The bar that goes up and down 2 floors, the parades, a Merry-go-round, 2 surf-riders, a zipline...music Everywhere. Not for everybody, but you should try it once. The entertainment will blow you away. JMHO!

This is defiantly on the "to do" list. We cruise over Xmas and with it being on a Sunday this year, our schedules were way more limited.

I had a blast on 2500 capacity ships, this will be a first for us. If we like the mega ships, we can always sail more :)

It seems that is the way the industry is trending anyways.

We put a deposit down this morning on the Xmas Epic sailing.

Hopefully it will knock our socks off!

It's a ship.

 

And what do you know about my requirements for connectivity?

 

I always buy the unlimited internet, because that's the extent of connectivity I require.

 

Your mileage may vary.

 

 

Stephen

 

 

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I have no idea how people got by 10 years ago.

I live in ATL, so I love NCL because they sail out of ports I can drive to(except Miami and FLL).

We are in our late 20s and heavy drinkers on vacations. This is one of the main deciding factors of why I went to AIs so much in the past. I like the idea of waking up somewhere new everyday, and having a casino to play in every night.

Sailing out of Florida, combined with a drink package are huge selling points for me. The problem with Carnival is they will outright cut you off after 15 drinks in 24hrs. Celebrity offers it sometimes but I haven't found a itinerary from them that I like.

For me I am looking for value. I will start cruising more often in about another year when she gets out of grad school - as for now we are limited to Xmas and off-semester times to cruise.

That being said, Xmas cruises are already pricey - we stayed in an Oceanview last month, we are getting an aft Balcony next year.

So if you get a good deal, on a newer megaship(which neither of us have ever been on), with free booze - deal me in!

I wouldn't go on a cruise unless I could get UBP. I cruise with my company every spring and they give us unlimited drink cards on CCL(some special group thing). I am on vacation, if I have to worry about any alcohol or food bills - I'll just go to a AI :)

There isn't much shade in Spice.

 

Edit to say that the Ice bar still costs with the UDP.

So do the shots/drinks exceed the $11/drink allowance for the UDP?

^^ That looks AWESOME!

GF and I love sitting on the boat and just drinking in the shade at the bar and watching the world go by. This looks like an excellent venue :)

We had UBP on the Star and we didn't have to pay for a single drink. Will this be the case on the Epic as well, including the ice bar?

After sailing CCL and then sailing the Star, we LOVED the bathrooms on there. I liked how they split the toilet and shower apart like that, it was awesome.

I saw the bathrooms on the Epic and I am not a huge fan, but then again anything is better than that stupid shower curtain on CCL!

It sounds great, and I am excited to go on a ship with a piano bar and dedicated comedy bar as well. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to gamble and I like have entertainment options outside of just the casino :)

Again, one of my favorite things about the Star was the BierGarten at the very top of the ship just behind the bridge. It looked aft out over the pool and had an AMAZING view. Does the Epic have any bars offering such views?

Also - all the entertainment is free right?

Thanks for your input but isn't the shows all extra cost on NCL

Not usually.

Piano Bars, Comedy Clubs, Theater entertainment, those are all free.

The Dine-&-See thing where you eat and watch Cirque de Soeli or something has an extra fee.