hernando52

Our luggage never causes a backup.....but husband does....1 knee, 2 hips & 1 shoulder replaced with metal parts...all of the bells and whistles go off when he goes through the metal detector!

I always bring my 16" under airline seat wheeled carryon with us onto the cruise ship. This little case contains our medications, our travel documents, and anything else we perceive of value that we have with us. Sitting on top of it is my husband's CPAP. We go to O'Sheehan's as soon as we board and this luggage is tucked close to us and under the table. We check our larger bags with the porters, but this case and CPAP will stay with us. After lunch, we generally find a place to sit and stay out of the way until our room is ready. I really have never taken note of what other cruisers are doing with luggage on embarkation day because we are starting our vacation!

We'll be on the Dawn in November. Does the Venetian Room still have the edgy artwork?

We're old retirees. One of our best cruises was early summer in the Mediterranean. There were a lot of US parents bringing their whole family on a cruise to celebrate graduations, etc. We enjoyed all of our interactions with the children (older and younger), who were excited to be exploring the European ports. They were well mannered and interesting to listen to. One of our worst cruises was over Thanksgiving in the Caribbean. At many points we wondered if it was an orphanage cruise because there seemed to be no parents anywhere. Our hall late at night seemed to be the setting for a track and field event! Lesson learned. For Caribbean cruises we always book the weeks that do not include a holiday and that are over 7 days long. And yes, we have run into the mad scooter people...they are the ones who also mow you down in the grocery store.......even in old age they have not learned any manners.

Oh great. We're sailing on the Dawn in November.......

OMG...thank you for that update on the Oasis class Central Park....Good Lord how could they think this would be a good idea. Not everyone wants the craziness of the 5th deck (kids place) or the top with all of the games...it was such a quiet refuge in the evening. People would stroll though and stop by the piano....we saw several couples get engaged in the cozy nooks and crannies... The pizza we had in Naples was the best we have ever eaten, though true NY pizza is right up there. We too miss our NY style pizza (Arthur Avenue). The pizza in EPCOT at one of the Italy restaurants was good but not great...but we almost fell on the floor with the price (this was a few years back & it was over $50 for a Margherita pizza with buffalo mozz. back then). Their cafeteria pizza is on par with NCL's. I don't think I have ever had real Chicago pizza so I can't comment on that, but I'll bet there are opinions out there!!

Hahaha...I usually don't go for the pizza, but on one cruise I had had an emergency root canal the day before the cruise, and during the procedure I ripped a jaw muscle. I didn't know what the problem was until after embarkation, because I could still open my mouth. It got worse after that, and could only open my mouth a sliver. That entire cruise I lived on soup, coffee, alcohol, and I could suck the cheese topping off of the pizza. It remains the only cruise I have been on that I lost weight.

We've never had a problem with getting our bags on board when we use the porters. The only problem I have ever witnessed during the loading of luggage onto the ship was when a forklift operator dropped the holding pallet of suitcases into the water....ooops.....I was glad our bags were not among those going for a pre cruise swim!

We're mainly NCL small ship people because we don't utilize any of the bells and whistles on the large ships (go carts, golf, wave riders, rock walls, etc.)...but there are 2 places where RCCL beats NCL for us. The Central Park concept on Oasis of the Seas was just fabulous for us. We could just go sit with a glass of wine and barely see a soul. The second is pizza....NCL has gotten a little better over the years, but by and large, their pizza is just terrible!

There are disposable self heating eye masks. I have seen them on Amazon & may buy a pack to help my dry eyes.

Contact the Access Desk regarding the need for distilled water. NCL has a few long extension cords, but we bring a heavy duty 12' cord with us to plug in across the room. It is a tripping hazard, so I would recommend getting heavy duty magnetic hooks and stringing the cord across the ceiling (walls & ceiling are metal) while the CPAP is in use. Unplug it during the day. Make sure that they have a nightlight in their room

I'm sure it will. I'll enjoy the reading!

New COVID testing and vaccination policies for NCL have been published. Covid testing for vaccinated cruisers will be eliminated for vaccinated cruisers after 9/2/22. There are individual country exceptions that remain, so make sure to read everything carefully.

I pack a couple of the very large "ziplock" bags. I fill it with water, soap & whatever I want to wash...squish it around....empty it in the shower, put in rinse water & squish around again....squeeze out excess water & hang to dry. At the end of the cruise I just toss any that I have used....works very well for small things and doesn't weigh a ton. The rest of the bigger stuff I send to the ship laundry.

I just had no idea!! This whole topic about gambling and cruise perks was very educating to me. I have very bad luck (zero skills) when it comes to any form of gambling. The most I have ever won on a lotto ticket is $2, so you won't be seeing me in the ship casino or the Haven! Thank you for broadening my perspective!

The last time we cruised was 12/2019 on the Breakaway. At muster time we assembled in the O'Sheehans part of the ship with a hundreds of our fellow cruisers.....very unorganized with lots of folks who were happily celebrating vacation time with many adult beverages already consumed.... I admittedly had had a drink while unpacking before the drill. A lot of the cruisers did not even look away from their cell phones and did not pay attention to the demonstrations. I remember telling our cruising group that if the ship started to sink, we would be doomed! Perhaps if the video can be watched on a cell phone, people will actually watch it! I like the convenience of watching a video and then checking in at the muster station.....I don't think it would be any less effective than the old muster drills where no one paid attention.

I have enjoyed the last several posts immensely. We have nothing against the Haven and the Haven guests and maybe someday we'll win a bid to get to experience it personally. Years ago we had to make a choice....take a couple of cruises in the Haven (or an a luxury cruise line), or take several cruises in a NCL(or RCCL) non-Haven stateroom. Because we only have a certain amount of money in the retirement account for play, we decided that we wanted to see a lot of destinations and we could be quite happy in a regular room. Once in a while we have gotten upgraded to a mini-suite and that was wonderful! Heck, while our house was being built in FL many years ago, we lived in our RV camper with two large dogs. It was cramped, but life was good because we finally were retired!! But, we simply cannot afford the Haven! We have run into the boors out in the general public on the ships...."Steerage" or "Haven"...we don't know...We have heard reference to steerage more than once. We have witnessed the verbal abuse of the crew...the entitled seem to be everywhere, land or sea. We just try to focus on us and enjoying cruising. We feel pampered...no cooking, cleaning, making beds or reusing towels!! We wake up in a new destination when we get up in the morning...for us, it is a dream come true. We can eat, drink, and be entertained to our hearts' content. Could it be better...of course it could....but it also could get a lot worse!! Cross your fingers for us that maybe we'll win a bid some time!!

We give the steward some cash on the first day. We shall give out more cash at the end if the service was good. No gifts....I never have enough room in my suitcases for extra stuff!!

I'm pretty go with the flow when I am on a cruise, but the one thing I don't care for is when dining in a specialty restaurant and the photographer makes the rounds taking pictures & then sells the product later on to those around me who had their pictures taken. Some people I am sure love this, but don't count me as one of them. Any other time is fine, but not when I am enjoying dinner. I'll add here that the photographers are always polite and do not ask us twice. I also don't go to the casino or drink Starbucks coffee!. What do I like that others don't care for? A quiet place just to get away from the noise to have a quiet conversation or cocktail with my partner.

Thank you for the chuckle. But there are two of us still kicking around that continue to cruise. Not all are afforded the gift of old age, so we are thankful to have made it to "old fart" stage. NCL can certainly modernize to keep the youngsters entertained dancing the night away...if it is after 9PM, I'll either be on my balcony watching the night skies or asleep in my stateroom! And if you think I am old (early 1950's), then I can't imagine what you think about my husband's mid 1930's birth date! Time goes by very quickly, so make the most of what you are given!

Thank you all.....I was confused about the "fully" and "up to date" terminology.....The 270 day number only applies to some countries in Europe. Southern Caribbean does not require boosters and does not have a number of days that the primary series will be honored.

This is to the southern Caribbean. I couldn't find the answer to this question on NCL.COM. I'm asking for someone in my group & have to admit I am not up to date on the exact boarding rules for vaccination because I'm double boosted.

If you have not received your Covid Booster shot and it has been over 270 days since receiving all of the primary vaccines (1 or 2 shots), will you be denied boarding at the pier?

Necessary, no. Convenient, yes. I have a lanyard and different "holders" that I use depending upon where I am. Onboard I just have a slim card holder for a key card. When I go ashore I have a small zippered wallet type holder which can carry my key card, passport card, credit card, cash, & change. I wear them inside my shirt so no one can see them (yes, they look geeky, but we are senior citizens who ARE geeky). My husband has a men's equivalent so that we're not dependent upon pockets to hold everything.

Thanks! This was group-think to come up with possible reasons! I'm done with final payment now so I am looking forward to making dining reservations and bidding on an upgrade!