slugg

Have you tried rebooting the internet?

“Freestyle dining” keeps being cited as, seemingly, the most popular reason to cruise with NCL. Are people not aware that the concept is not unique to NCL? I was on RCCL Oasis of the Seas and not once, ever, did I have to make a reservation for dining. I just had to wait about 5 minutes before being seated, except for one of the nights. That night, we had to wait 10 minutes, but they let us order drinks while waiting. Specialty restaurants had no wait whatsoever. As far as dress code, I wore jeans, a button down shirt, and no tie to the formal night. Honestly, I blended in just fine; it seems like the younger the cruiser, the less formal they dress. There’s plenty to like about NCL, but if freestyle dining is your top reason, you should know that other cruise lines are doing the same thing, but without the marketing term.

Aren’t they based in Miami? And their ships tend to be themed pretty much anything other than Norwegian. I’m starting to think... No way it’s Norway.

I’m not selling straws, they’re free. I normally sell them for $5 a piece, but I’m giving them away for free. After a mandatory 20% gratuity fee, of course, but it’s free for the Ultimate Straw. The Ultimate Straw is 5 inches long and very thin, commonly used to stir coffee. Enjoy an assortment of colors (subject to change without notice, while supplies last) included for free, plus mandatory gratuity. If you want to take it to the next level, you can upgrade to the Premium Straw package for just $10 per person per day (plus gratuity, required for all passengers in the same cabin, subject to change without notice, while supplies last, void where prohibited, batteries not included). These straws are longer and thicker, typically used to sip frozen drinks. Don’t hate me, I just provide perks so that you can have fun on your vacation. 😉

My wife has badass hair and needs a badass hairdryer. While most people may not need to bring their own, she would spend only 2 hours doing her hair instead of 4 if she can bring her own. Is she allowed to bring her own? Be advised that I’m not actually sure how long it takes her to do her hair, but it feels like hours. Actual time may vary from quoted figures.

I know this isn't what you asked, but I'd encourage you to reconsider what the unlimited go-kart pass is even worth. Those go-karts are very, very slow, almost walking speed, and people of all ages get bored of them very quickly. You may find yourself paying $200 and it would only be used a few times anyway. It really depends on the person, but they're really more of a novelty than real fun. Anyway, just something to think about. Cheers!

Awesome! Now that makes perfect sense. Thank you!

The port is Cozumel and it's a private company. But I'd also like to book excursions, mostly third party, at Roatan and Costa Maya. But for now, the short term goal is to figure out Cozumel. Thanks!

I realized that I did leave out that the excursion I'd like to do is from a third party, not booked through NCL. I'm aware of the signs, but I need to book my excursions beforehand. So I'm trying to get an idea of how much time I actually have. Hope that makes sense.

Thanks for the tangible advice. So in the context of booking excursions, how much time would you recommend as cushion for both disembarking and embarking?

Yes, I know, but then there's the fine print I shared.

So realistically, when would I expect to get off the ship and when should I be expected to arrive back at the ship?

I started to book excursions, then I saw this fine print on NCL's website: "Due to security reasons, all guests must be on board 2 hours before sailing. Disembarkation usually begins 2 hours after docking. Itineraries are subject to change at any time without notice." Is this the reality, in practice? Because most of the port days are 9 hours from arrival to departure, so that would make the total amount of usable time go down to 5 hours. It also severely impacts scheduling for excursions. The specific situation I'm planning for is an 8 AM arrival and 5 PM departure. The excursion I want to book takes 3.5 hours and is available at 8:30 AM, 10:30 AM, and 12:30 PM. It seems like all of these time slots have a conflict of some sort with the ship schedule. The issue with the 10:30 time slot is that if the ship does actually take 2 hours before disembarkation, that means I'd likely miss the meet-up point since we'd still have to wait in line to get off the ship, then rush into town. What say the collective sage wisdom of Cruise Critic?

Couldn’t you just get a sail-away?

They look sooooo slow. I can’t imagine anyone ever wanting to do them all day.