MichiganBound

I agree with the other posters. In my 4-5 times on Jade, the Thermal Suite was only really crowded on one of the sailings. It was nearly always empty on one of the other sailings. The views are great looking forward and also out of the sauna window. For me, especially on a TA cruise, the Thermal Suite is a must do since there are many sea days.

I agree. It seems quite late to be adding new December/January cruises at this point. I wouldn't be surprised if a drydock refurb is in Epic's future later this year.

HaHa...ain't that the truth! I got a dirt cheap Pearl balcony room on a 5-day cruise out of Miami in 2022. It was originally supposed to be a music charter cruise but the charter was cancelled fairly last minute. I booked about 10 days before departure😁. Even as cheap as it was, the ship was still less than half filled. It was wonderful!!

I agree with the OP. These color brochures are a complete waste. I don't even read them. I know what cruises I want and which ships I want. These brochures do nothing to entice me to cruise sooner or on a different vessel.

In my experience (I always travel solo), the solo discounts get much better the closer to the cruise date you are. I have frequently have booked cruises 30 days or less before departure. Obviously, to be able to take advantage of the last minute solo deals one has to be flexible and able to travel with minimum notice. Not for everyone....but there are great deals to be had if you can manage it.

I've been on several NCL trans-Atlantic cruises on Jewell-class ships. It's not unusual for the main theatre entertainment to be somewhat reduced. One show per night is normal for these cruises. I think it's a product of fairly low passenger numbers on these cruises as well as most fares being quite cheap. In my experience, even at one show per night, the theatre is usually never full.

I exited a cruise early 4-5 years ago. It was a Med cruise that was to terminate in Barcelona. I opted to get off in Malaga and spend some extra time in Southern Spain. It was kind of a last minute decision as I only advised them on the ship the day before arriving in Malaga. They were a little miffed as I had left it till the last minute to advise them. In any case, it all worked out. They did need to advise the port authorities in Malaga that I was departing the cruise there. I got no refund for the rest of the cruise that I missed...but I didn't expect one. Conclusion: It was possible to do back then. Whether things have changed since COVID? Who knows.

This is true. I have exited a cruise early and had to get my luggage off the ship myself.

Same for me. I had it on Friday but gone now. Weird.

Probably the Just Water brand.

There is another active thread on this topic. It indicates three NCL ships have some of their cruises in Jan/Feb 2023 no longer appearing.

Actually he was already given a good explanation upthread and he acknowledged it made sense.

Coffee makers and ice used to be a standard feature in balcony cabins BC (before Covid). Now they are by request only...but your room steward will be happy to oblige. You can request ice to be provided during the morning cleaning and also during the evening turndown if you like🙂.

I'm fine with Pepsi but I despise Aquafina water. Good riddance Aquafina...hello Dasani!!

I would agree. Hard to imagine Canada will drastically alter it's Covid cruise ship protocol for the small number of cruises that depart Canada still this year. The season pretty much wraps up in mid-October for Canada departing cruises.

That's my interpretation as well. I'm thinking of taking the Oct 10 sailing out of Vancouver.

Further to the above, I had been looking a cruise in 2022 that could work for me and ensure all adults on-board are vaccinated😀. The October 10 Jewel cruise departs Vancouver and ends up in Los Angeles 9 days later. As I understand it, a cruise originating in Canada only allows vaccinated adults on-board...at least according to current rules. So I could fly into Vancouver a few days ahead of time and board a cruise that meets my preferences. Also, I love the Jewel-class vessels. Big bonus, the cruise has a number of sea days which I also love. Maybe I can cruise on NCL before the end of 2022 afterall!

I expected the pre-testing to be removed so no surprise there. I was hoping NCL would hold firm (at least for a while) on not allowing unvaccinated adults on-board. Unfortunately they are removing that requirement as well. I guess I'll have to re-evaluate my thoughts on taking a cruise before the end of the year.

I can only repeat that the Star and Gem are your best bets. As one other poster already mentioned, I prefer the Jewel-class vessels over larger ships.

I peel them off pretty easily. Occasionally one might not want to come off but once I have laundered them at home a few times, they usually come off.

I hope you are wrong but you may be right. I would have thought that the sensible approach would be to get through one more northern hemisphere flu season (and see how that goes from a Covid standpoint) before relaxing the rules on unvaccinated cruising. That would take us roughly to April 2023. COVID is far from over. We're still losing about 100 people a week to COVID in Michigan. Obviously things are better than at the height of the pandemic but COVID is far from over.

I'll be very disappointed if NCL reduces restrictions on the unvaccinated.

With teenagers along, I think I would go with the more westerly itinerary. Roatan has lots of activities.

There are definitely solo cruise discounts on some NCL cruises but you have to wait till closer to the cruise date...0-3 months out. This obviously requires the solo cruiser to be flexible with cruise plans and to be able to book flights also on short notice. Not everyone can do that. If the OP is looking for solo discounts on cruises in say 2023, they are not likely to find any.

Thank for your response. Are there lounge chairs in the men's changing room area?