Trela1234

11 minutes ago, pdmlynek said:

What time does the ship get into port?  6:00? 12:00, 17:00?

I am not sure. The cruise that is in the week immediately before our cruise is a cruise that ends in Florida on 5/12/23. Our cruise starts in NYC on 5/14/23. So, sometime between 5/12/23 and 5/14/23, the ship will arrive in NYC. 

I just realized that our May 2023 cruise on the Joy to Bermuda out of NYC has an 11pm sail away time! We’ve been on many cruises out of NYC, but we’ve never had an 11pm sail away! Since it’s a later time, does it mean we won’t be able to get on the ship until later in the day? I’m hoping we can still get on the ship at the normal time (usually by noon)! If you’ve sailed out of NYC this late,  how did you like it? 

I’m a little confused about the price now. I was just about to purchase it for our 7 day May 2023 Bermuda cruise on the Joy, and see it is $229pp. For the heck of it, I checked for the price on our 7 day September 2023 Canada/New England cruise on the Escape and the price is $209pp. Not sure why there is a price difference. 
 

We booked a Canada, New England cruise for September 2023, in addition to our yearly Bermuda cruise. I’m not sure how to ask this without offending anyone, but what type of cruisers can we expect on a Canada New England Cruise? Put a different way, when we cruise, we take full advantage of the drink package (without being obnoxious), and like to go to the sail away party, theme parties, etc. In my mind, there isn’t as much partying on a Canada cruise vs. a Bermuda cruise (or a Bahamas cruise). Am I right, or can I still expect a festive atmosphere on the Canada, New England cruise? Regardless, we will still have fun because we love cruising! Thank you. 

45 minutes ago, tampadee said:

Cruise Cancelled by Guest

• If, following a declaration of a Public Health Emergency, you cancel a booking for a cruise scheduled during the declared emergency or must cancel your booking because you are prohibited from traveling to the vessel due to a governmental travel restriction, but the cruise is not cancelled, you are entitled to a FCC for the amount paid to Norwegian. In all other cases our standard cancellation policy will apply, as set forth in the Cruise Ticket Contract for your cruise.
• If you, your family members or travelling companions assigned to the same stateroom cancel a cruise booking due to testing positive for COVID-19 within 14 days of embarkation, you and they are entitled to a FCC for the amount paid to Norwegian. To qualify for the FCC, if your COVID-19 test was administered by a provider other than one retained by Norwegian, you must present your verified positive test result in a form acceptable to Norwegian.

This answers my question.  I have no objection to receiving FCC if I test positive just before sailing.  

I am, unfortunately, going through this now. Tested positive on April 20th. Embarkation was supposed to be on May 1st. I submitted my positive PCR test on April 22nd, and I’m waiting on the FCC so I can rebook. 

I was supposed to cruise on May 1st. I just tested positive for COVID, and decided to cancel because I’m not sure if I will feel better by then, or if I will still be testing positive. I do have travel insurance, but I didnt go that route. According to the NCL website, if you test positive within 14 days of your sail date, you can get a FCC. So I submitted my PCR test result, and I’m waiting for approval. I hope I can reschedule for June. This is my 5th cancelled cruise (4 by NCL and now this one by me) so I’m really hoping I can sail soon! 
 

I hope your husband feels better! I’m just started to feel slightly better after 5 days of symptoms. 

Also an Escape newbie, to add to the OP's questions: With a party of two, when you show up in the MDRs for dinner, are you seated at a two-top table or with a group?

We were seated at a table for two.

Just got off the Escape on Sunday. We received straws with all of our frozen drinks. Maybe they were trying to use up their supply? I’m not sure why the inside bars gave us those drinks in disposable plastic cups though. Seems like that would be just as an environmental concern as the straws.

We just got home from our Bermuda cruise today. It is absolutely beautiful, and a very relaxing place! The weather in Bermuda was gorgeous, but since we sailed from NY, sea days were VERY windy. I’m like you in terms of liking the experience of cruising more so than the itinerary. However, I liked being docked in Bermuda for 3 days for a couple of reasons: 1. I did not feel rushed to see what we wanted to see; and 2. Many people went off the ship every day while we were docked which meant there was plenty of chairs available for relaxation. We loved it so much we might do the same exact cruise next year.

If you book it now, you can always cancel and rebook as long as you are not within 90 days of sail date. Our last cruise (Breakaway to the Bahamas), I had our TA cancel and rebook 4 times due to price drops and better perks. We are sailing on the Escape the first week of May 2018. I can't wait! Hope you have a great cruise!

If you can wait until 4/22 the Escape will be sailing out of NYC.

This is exactly what we ultimately decided to do. Just booked our Bermuda cruise for next April on the Escape. Thanks everyone.

Looking for some feedback on the Breakaway vs. the Gem. We were 1st time cruisers and cruised on the Breakaway fm 4/2 - 4/9. We LOVED it! Best vacation ever! So now we want to plan something for next year. I see that the Gem also sails out of NY and the dates we are looking at are cheaper than the Breakaway. I'm just worried that we will be disappointed on the Gem because we liked the Breakaway so much. Any thoughts from those who have been on both? Thank you in advance.