JandC_Cruising

The Escape is the smallest as it is only on the Starboard side of the ship, but still nice. The small size does mean a smaller crowd. Given the growing popularity, I'd expect them to expand it sooner rather than later by moving the entry to the port side to double capacity. The Joy not only now has both sides, but has the added upper deck since the refurbishing last month. The Encore is essentially the same as the Joy, but with one major flaw (IMHO). It doesn't have fully cushioned loungers. They went cheap and did canvas loungers with affixed head pillows. These are not nearly as comfortable. The Getaway and Breakaway are on both sides, but only have a double raised hot-tub on the starboard side. That said, the tubs have a high canopy cover to offer shade while in the them. The Prima and Viva look beautiful and are now in the Aft. We cannot wait to try them (we have future cruises booked on each) I really wish the Encore had the nicer loungers. If it did, it would be our favorite as it has all the other attributes. Both sides, two hot-tubs, and plenty of seating. The Joy vibe wins over the Encore (even though we like the Encore as a ship more than the Joy).

Oops...well..."Quite a handful" is really how most of us will think when we meet her! But dear mom and dad have NEVER seen her act that way before.

IT'S OFFICIAL! 🏆 Congratulations to the newest member of the "Dead Horse Club" to: "74 Latitudes Points - Should I be granted Platinum?" Previous honorees: "My 15YO Doesn't Eat Much - Can they eat off the child's menu for free?" "My Friend Doesn't Drink Much - Can I buy them drinks on my package?" "My 16YO Is So Quite - She can be on the Haven sun deck, right?" "My Sister is Passenger 3 - Can she use one of my specialty meals? Others?

I will give you a real life data point that is EXACTLY the same. A cruise as Gold left us at 74 points as well. We did not get any "bump" as most everyone on this thread is indicating is the policy. Our next cruise was a 9-day and, again, as indicated, there was no benefits added after night one. Of course our Platinum status was earned within 24hrs of completing that cruise. My only story of a benefit, was the watch salesperson offering me an extra 10% off as a "special Platinum discount", since I was "so close"...LOL! I'm sure he was offering the same 10% off to the next potential customer as a "First timer benefit". So specifically answering your 74 point situation, enjoy your next cruise as Gold!

First of all, colors do not matter. They are simply indicators for ship, not cabin category, so do not worry about the color. Black and white printer is fine. Also, for baggage drop off, just give your bags to any of the porters. They are all great and will handle the bags well (I usually give them a $20 bill and we've never had any issues for what it's worth). In Miami, you will be met at the entry to the terminal and up the escalators then to the Haven check-in to the left.

I saw the general notice. That stinks. Maybe the CN's will re-appear in your account quickly. We cancelled a cruise on the Joy for next March (which had 3 CN's on it from the last triple up promo) a few weeks ago and our deposits were back in our account in 48hrs. We booked the Viva for 2026 with the two of those the following day. Then we were able to add the 3rd to a cruise later this year when they launched this new triple up. Hopefully you get the same turn-around as we did and you can triple up a different cruise before the promo ends on Monday.

LOL! For years I've said that Starbuck's strategy has always been to make horrible coffee. That way nobody buys a simple $2.50 cup of coffee with cream or sugar, but needs to doctor the stuff up at $5-$6 per cup!!!!

You can use one, two or three......so yes...you can double up with the two CN you currently have in your possession.

So just you are very clear...you did not quote my words when your re-wrote it with the following Here is what you posted: Here is the sentence from my original post: Very different words and very different meanings.

I’m not sure why you quoted me but then edited what I actually wrote in post #4 The point was you can book and pay for excursions BEFORE you have made final payment for your cruise. Yes. You need to pay for the excursion but you can do so well before you’ve done anything other than a deposit on the cruise itself.

As Benjamin Franklin said, "nothing is certain but death and taxes"...the taxes get remitted to the various governments. On each of our cruises, we've been charged taxes at US ports (and in Europe, particularly Spain). the total on each cruise is usually less than $20 total. And we are pretty active drinkers. For those who are moaning about this, I'll ask: Who is "nickel and diming" now? If that $20 or so in total taxes is too much for you, book on another line that builds the tax into their fares. Rest assured, those other lines are not eating the tax bill to Florida, New York, Spain, or any other government agency.

NCL will accept reservations for their posted excursions as soon as you see them available on your cruise planner. You can even pay for the excursions before you have made final payment on the cruise. We have done that many times when there were excursions that were a "must-do" in our plans. If there are excursions you want to take, and you see them available, book them ASAP. Even Haven guests do not get priority for excursions. They will fill up.

As long as you are in the terminal and fully checked in with our keycard, waiting in the terminal for boarding, they will board "Platinum and above" after the Haven, but before "Group 1", which is the boarding # given to those who arrive at the terminal the earliest, but do not have any priority status. Last January we were in the terminal at 9:30am and it was a cattle call at 11:30 or so, when they started boarded Platinum and above since there were so many with that status.

Try posting your question on the Roll Call for that cruise. Someone who is booked on the cruise could look in their planner to see cost.

Yes. $12.95/day +20%Gratuity per person.

No. They have not run "discounts" on the FAS+ since they created that program.

Call your group specialist and they will assist. Given they work specifically with larger groups, I would hope they are given a bit more "access" to the dinner reservation system. (full disclosure: I don't know that for sure) As others have said, they only release a % of the reservations to the pre-booking. We've had to make changes to plans upon boarding in the past and have done some on embarkation day without issues. There is a staffed central table to make any dining arrangements when you board. It is usually at Teppanyaki or near Guest Services.

yes. Before final payment, simply call and have them re-price your cruise. The only caveat is that you will be subject to the promotions going on at the time of your re-price. So, for example if you had done the Buy-one-Get-one Airfare with your original booking and then the price goes down and but the Airfare promo is no longer active, then you would loose that benefit. We have repriced cruises many times before final payment without issues.

This is exactly right. I've seen a variance in the taxes often. I don't know what the tax rate is in San Juan, but 9% tax on $15 is $1.35, so those charges are not out of the realm of reasonable, assuming either 1 drink or 2 drinks per swipe. One of the bartenders in the Vibe last March on the Joy out of Miami told me that he held back the swipes once it was "sail-away" and would then put the drinks through once we were in International waters. Sure enough my drinks in the Vibe after 4pm were not charged tax.

Start researching now. For the most part, unless the ship is scheduled for a dry-dock, the restaurants, entertainment venues, and basic features of the ship will not change. Excursions are port specific, so as soon as you see them posted as bookable, expect those to be firm. It may take time for more excursions to appear, but some will book up and then disappear. Entertainment is more of a mystery. You will not know until cruise time who the various bands, singers, comedians, magicians, etc. will be as those contracts are relatively short, However, you can expect in the Escape that there will be comedy and "Howl at the Moon" in Headliners, an assortment of bands in Syd Normans, singers and such all around the ship. We've been on the Escape a number of times since 2019 and will be on her again in December. "Choir of Man" has been on ship for years. Seen it ever time on board.. The ship is one of our favorites.

I am the coffee-boy every morning with our Premium Plus upgrade. Never an issue ordering two at a time.

You can see who makes what charges on your TV monitor or you can ask for a current statement from Guest services at any point during the cruise. Even if it all goes to one final credit card, the statement shows whose keycard was swiped. Here's a snip from one of our past cruises where you can see where DW's card was swiped vs. all the other times when it was mine (no other "source" listed)

It is about maximum "NEW" revenue stream! There are thousands of variables in their "mysterious" algorithm. However, the original cabin fare is not a factor...nothing is changing that original payment, so factoring that into the algorithm makes zero financial sense. If two customers are bidding on a balcony and there is only one to give, then the higher bid will win regardless of the original price each paid for their original cabin. Here are two examples Customer A: "Inside" and is bidding 150pp on a Balcony Customer B: "Oceanview" and is bidding 100pp on a Balcony Customer A Wins!!!! NCL is getting $300 additional in revenue. (vs. $200 additional if B wins) That is the NEW REVENUE regardless of what these two customer's originally paid for their cabin. But, if you add one more customer to the mix: Customer A is in an "Inside" and is bidding 200pp on a Balcony Customer B is in an "Oceanview" and is bidding 100pp on a Balcony Customer C is in an "inside" and is bidding $100 for an Oceanview Well now here is what happens: Customer B is awarded the Balcony (+200) Customer C is awarded the Oceanview (+200) NCL Nets an extra $400 total by upgrading B&C and leaving A in their inside even though they bid higher. What any of those customers already paid for their original cabin is meaningless. The PlusGrade algorithm is daisy-chaining upgrades to figure out the largest new revenue stream for NCL.

One of our favorite Specialty restaurants in the fleet is Pincho's Tapas. It is only on the Escape and we have enjoyed each time we have sailed her. It will be open for lunch on sea days (at least it was a couple of years ago) and that was a nice change of pace. For lunch we shared one of our specialty dinners (then did the same another night at Food Republic). I know there has been talk about some of these (order four dishes locations per specialty meal) restaurants not allowing sharing any longer, but we have never had an issue. Like every other ship, we love Le Bistro and also Bayamo (called Ocean Blue on other ships). Enjoy the Escape. It is one of our favorites in the fleet. We are back on her in December for the Holidays!

I do not think that the Getaway offers "Haven Spa Cabins" any longer. Last year, NCL seemed to eliminate all their "Spa" cabins across the fleet...Those were the cabin classes that INCLUDED access to the Thermal spas. H9: Haven Spa Suite M9: Club Balcony Spa Cabin B9: Balcony Spa Cabin All those cabins were changed to standard Haven, Club Balcony, and Balcony cabins without the Thermal Spa access. Current deck plans on NCL's website are updated to reflect the changes. You now need to purchase the Thermal Spa pass separately. I believe if you booked one of those category cabins prior to the "reclassification", then you still get the access, but if you are trying to book a new cruise on one the ships, these old classifications are not available any longer.