BirdTravels

We were on the breakaway a few weeks ago (before the change this week) and the restaurants only cared about items with an upcharge and charged you the upcharge (vs. $35 and difference from $35).

They have been using both Amber Cover and Taino Bay. We docked in Taino Bay in April. But that is the dock where the Escape ran aground in March. And talking with the Captain, it is a very narrow entrance which is extremely hard to navigate if there are gusty winds (all of the big cruise ships are just big sails). Even when we left, the captain was using full bow thrusters to keep us in the channel.

You would be horribly over dressed if you followed this direction. That doesn't say that you can't do it. but it is not required and the vast majority of passengers are in resort casual (or less) on Formal Nights.

Time to book a Haven room and enjoy!

So it is very very important to review the information that the Cruise Line sends you wrt your specific cruise, not random information on the internet.

wrt to testing, it is 100% dependent on where you are cruising to. you are still required to test for some destinations (e.g., Alaskan cruises, New England cruises).

We are Platinum members on Cunard and enjoy getting dressed up on when we cruise with them. We never get dressed up when sailing on NCL.

Lobster was removed from NCL main dining room menus in August 2016. Lobster is available in some of the Specialty Dining restaurants (for an upcharge if you are using a dining package). And is available on the complimentary menu in the Haven (we added lobster to every main course on our cruise last month).

Miss that. Thank you very much @LaCal

Yup. The 1 app, 1 entrée, 1 dessert has been that way for a while. We order what we want. Sometimes we get charged,,,, sometimes we don't. No, regular Specialty Dining Credits are not limited.

We saw it on the Breakaway a few weeks ago and we thought it was fantastic. A lot of times, on a cruise ship show, you will have a couple of good vocalists and a couple of "o.k." vocalists. All six of the SIX vocalists were outstanding. And the all-female backing band was outstanding too (the band also backed Burn the Floor). For fun, we check the cost of similar seats on Broadway, and they would have cost us $300-$400 per seat (depending on night).

So,,,, you know that they don't need to "collect names/cabin information". If you are a platinum or above, you are on a printed list by name and cabin at the Cruise Next desk (that's how they check your eligibility for various activities).

Great to see your first post. Probably not. Unfortunately, there are not many places to go from NY or Boston. If you go south, it is a long haul to get to Nassau,,, which isn't very exciting. And they sail north for the fall foliage, so May/June is not prime time for that. Consider sailing out of a busier port like Miami.

Yes. The requirement has not changed. You must carefully follow the direction provided by the cruise line for your cruise else be denied boarding. Fully Vaccinated Received primary series of COVID-19 vaccines with final dose at least 14 days before embarkation. Antigen within 2 days OR PCR within 72 hours You also need to do your ArriveCAN registration.

It's a free wine tasting (versus paying for a wine tasting). Everyone in our group seemed to enjoy themselves. We just drank wine. There were those who were busily taking copious notes.

Thank you very much. I still don't understand "Bottle of Wine offered in all venues offering Complimentary Wine list, Palomar not included." We will be dining in Palomar in a few weeks and I am trying to figure out if we can use our Voucher. I think that this says you can get your free bottle of wine at restaurants that have the free wine list,,, but they are not going to tell you which restaurants those are,,, except Palomar does not offer free wine. The only place Palomar is mentioned is this goofy sentence in the context of wine. Thoughts?

The last time we stopped there, we docked within the navy base and needed to use one of the authorized shuttles to get to/from town.

No the don't. The newer ships (Joy, Bliss, Encore), purpose built for the Alaskan cruise market, have outdoor heaters. Note the ceiling in Cagney's dining room on the Breakaway below. No heaters. Compared to the Encore with the headers above outdoor dining areas.

Hardly "thrown in". They have always been on the itinerary. Long transatlantics without port calls are very unattractive. NCL is trying to accommodate those who want to get on dry land once and a while.

When someone asks, my response is as follows. Tip at the conclusion of the cruise. Normally, on the last day, envelopes for tip are available at the concierge desk. Butler $10-$15 per day per person in room Concierge $5-$10 per day per person in room Room Steward (who gets something from the daily service charge) $5-$10 per day per person in room

at the end.

There is no "formal night" on NCL. It is Freestyle Cruising. They ask you to Dress Up or Not (we pick Not). On our recent 5-night cruise on the Breakaway, every night was Resort Casual - shorts permitted in all restaurants for all meals except Ocean Blue and Le Bistro that asked gents to wear long pants (jeans or dockers o.k.).

Can you provide link to this reference? I don't quite understand the note on Palomar "as the wine can not be redeemed". Can someone explain what that means?