suech1970

😫😫😫 it’s on the pack list! Thank you, I am beyond excited😁

Thanks for great post! 50 days till our Lautoka to Papette 🤞beyond excited now. Excursions and currencies sorted, just packing list to do. Noted they have wall fixed hair dryers in bathroom, did they supply any new ones in the main cabin or are you still expected to use that antique thing? If so I’ll put it on my list🙄

Thanks again😁. It will be the first thing I do after boarding for sure. I love a good filet mignon and proper BBQ. I always have to allow time for a trip to Walmart etc to stock up on my bbq sauces that we can’t get in UK pre or post cruise when in the US. Ps tomcruise92….. hoping Princess will be our fit. This was our default reunion cruise with friends we met on a Celebirty cruise. Originally we had a NCL cruise booked for Indian Ocean but they cancelled the sailing😭. So, our go to’s are usually NCL or Celebrity over UK lines. Would you know how early the chair hogs appear on Princess? Crazy early on P&0 and surprisingly on Beyond this year had to be on deck by 8 to get chairs anywhere!!! NCL you can rock up at 9/10 ish and get somewhere decent above lido. I’m not into poolside , somewhere a bit more chill, love a sun sea day😎🍹

Cheers both,🤞it’s dockside.

Wow, thanks very much all, great info and so fast too! Will keep checking in just in case something comes up before balance due. Talking of not hard and fast….noticed they had changed times of the excursions we booked🙄 So we should be throwing down pain killers by 8am at the Soggy $ bar, no hardship there but they’ve scuppered my jewellery shopping on St kitts by pushing trip back by 2 hours😡 Would you happen to know where they meet for excursions, some lines use the theatre, others dock side. Any info appreciated again😉

We are first time Princess cruisers from UK next year on Caribbean Princess. When does speciality dining open pre cruise? Interested in doing Planks does this take reservations pre cruise? ANY other tips for ship would be greatly appreciated 😉

This certainly sounds like an overnight in port. We have an overnight coming up in Lautoka and it’s list as 11.59pm and arrival 6am but I’m sure it won’t be going anywhere.

Oh, how cute. I’m excited for our first HAL in Jan and sick to the back teeth of playing cards🙄

Our first time as platinum in April and it turns out I enjoyed my free bag of laundry more than my strawberries 😆 Never missed the evening turndown, we were always disturbed when we were getting ready for dinner. I DO miss my towel animals😔

Personally I’d prebook my own transfer with tour/taxi company.

Rum

Recently off Beyond and we and a lot of others we spoke to, we’re totally disappointed with the lack of live music around the ship. This was the first Caribbean cruise that did not have a deck party or live band on lido deck, probably because they have an elephant instead of a stage! Great thinking someone! The 2 solo artists were as dull as dish water, that we saw in Eden. Who does their own material on a cruise😯Most of the audience were more interested in their phones, and that was the pensioners! What a waste of a venue! DJ couldn’t read the room any time he played, he’d got a set and obviously stuck to it.

Not long off Beyond and the chair hogs were a nightmare! So was the jogging track, especially first thing. Never have I had to get up so early to get 2 beds together, 8am on deck latest and even then it was a struggle anywhere, the weather weren’t that good either! We prefer deck above lido, but a lot of space given to jogging track, roof top garden and sofa areas around Sunset bar (which were also being reserved!) has obviously taken away space for loungers. Back to Solstice class for us😝

Try checking your port date against the port schedule on Cruise Mapper. For details of port docked or tender try What’s In Port website. Hope that helps

We are travelling Sept for the first time to the South Pacific. I have been looking for island tour companies. So far I have found two so far, both on Instagram, they are Moorea Mahana Tours and Moorea Miti Tours. They may be of use to you. Also found Alexlagoontours, his seems to be highly recommended, booking is through Viator. Hope these will be of help to you, let me know and recommend any😁

We have only been on one NCL far east cruise to date, and did not include Vietnam. However the visa, arrival cards and other paper work for this area were a pain. Every country in this area has different requirements🙄 it seems. We initially gave in our passports on embarkation, had them back, gave them in again then had them back during the cruise. We had paper notifications in cabin and pretty clear instructions as to what to do with the various visa/arrival cards. We have Vietnam on NCL next Jan, I have just read their requirements, so I’d be ok with letting them sort that out. Although, we are from UK and don’t need one, so I guess I’ll potentially fighting to get a refund, if they don’t check and just assume everyone needs one🙄

Did our 1st cruise to Far East last Jan with NCL, had amazing also exhausting time. Our tactic was to pick our favourite lines, narrowed the field down to 3. Then our must do ports, ours was Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bali, so that narrowed it down further. We ticked a lot off our bucket list in our 1st Far East cruise! Really went for it on excursions, both with ship and pre arranged local tour guides, just in case we never went back… just booked for Jan 2026 with NCL again, just for itinerary alone. Celebrity and Princess came close. Jan/Feb was a good time to go, very dry apart from couple of downpours, but this can vary from region to region. Humidity was pretty high and temps of 28 to 34🥵. You could look at getting a B2B cruise if you have up to a month to spare. Our cruise was from Kuala Lumpur to Bali, other passengers had been on previous leg and were staying on for next leg. I always do lots of recon for our cruises, this is why I found your post….planning for the next one😆. Hope that gives you a start, happy to help 😁

We love a cabin on a low deck, makes getting on/off in port so easy, no waiting forever on lifts, when time in port is precious! Looked at deck plans and personally I’d go for anything on 2, as Pink15 said avoiding a few cabins either side gangway. Deck 3 outside cabins look like mainly run under a prom deck and some of the aft cabins under the dreaded “big white space” which could be anything but probably the kitchens for Gallery and 47 as it spans deck 4 and 5. We are always very happy in “steerage”😆 a lot less foot fall than anywhere else on ship

I was all stressed out last week about booking South Pacific flights for 2025, with all those cancellations and now out of the blue my Indian Ocean cruise is gone😭😭😭.

That’s great Nancy, there’s not a lot of action on SP boards. Had to go back years on the reviews to get some info😖. Also use ShipMate app but not a lot on there either, guess it’s a part of the world a lot less travelled than others. I’m a little apprehensive and a lot excited, like our 1st Far East cruise, if SP is half as good as that, it’ll be awesome…..apart from the journey😩

We sailed for the 3rd time on NCL Sky this year. A ship that’s 25 years old and she is no way near in the sorry state that Epic is in. Having watched Ben and David’s previous vlogs, I feel like Epic was a disaster from the start and they just don’t want to spend any more $$$ on her. All public areas on Sky were and well maintained, cabins may be dated but everything was in full working order. This has also been our experience on Gem, Jade and Jewel, all older than Epic. Our only disappointment this time was the buffet, major cost cutting from our last sailing 12 months ago. The only times I’ve been let down has been with Customer Services on board. wait staff, bar tenders, cabin attendants have given 100%, could not fault them, on all of our cruises….so far

Unfortunately you’ll be there before me, so you’ll have to report back whether we need earplugs 🙄. We don’t travel till next Sept. We’ve booked this trip as a package but I usually get to pick hotel &f flights to suit us, so I asked about staying at the Hilton. It was $400 extra😖. I have never had so much trouble booking a mid range hotel, the is certainly a lack of them! I may have To pick your brains about the other islands, there is not huge of info and my other posts have been fruitless. You’ll have plenty on Moorea if you’re spending a week there. It’s our 1st time in South Pacific and we don’t like taking ship excursions ( on NCL) but a little stressed about arranging trips without potentially loosing $$ if we don’t make port etc. Have had a few emails from companies who want full payment and 24hrs our notice to cancel🙄.

According to management response to complaint of noise they said they were starting project for sound proofing rooms under restaurant and next to club but who knows. We have to choose between this hotel and the Royal Tahitian, so I’ve been looking close at reviews. Our stay is only one night post cruise, but a good nights sleep is important before the 25hour journey home😖. Think we’ll go with Kon Tiki and just ask for quiet room not on 6th floor 🤞🤞🤞

Anything up to $15 is included, over that you pay difference plus gratuity

We’ve sailed both Reflection & Silhouette a few times, would sail either again. We don’t believe in spending a lot of money on cabin as we spend very little time in it. We tried and tested a balcony once, major waste of money for us😖. Our go to cabins on both ships are always on Plaza / Deck 3, oceanview or inside. No difference in size, quality etc just the window. Location is superb, for us, very quiet, fast for get on and off and a bar at the end of the corridor open early till late 😉. Our friends booked Conciege and were gutted to find their cruise cost double ours and their cabin was exactly the same in size😖