cruiseny4life

Ever since I started cruising (2022 - I know, oh such a long time), Norwegian has offered cookie trays like this one. I was thinking about the butter. Mmmmmmm butter! And a cake like substance. White chocolate chip macadamia are quite good! But a normal ole chocolate chip cookie, Levain style (Manhattan bakery) are the best.

What a much better option than those crispy gross cookies...sorry, not sorry!

We enjoyed Moderno on Getaway back on our New Year's 2022/23 cruise. Who knows the quality you'll get on Gem compared to my visit. I prefer medium rare meat. My husband, medium. We let our server know and got what we wanted. @graphicguy, we've always been able to let our server know at Texas de Brazil and Moderno what temperature of meat to bring. The cuts were typical Brazilian churrascaria cuts - not the leanest thing ever and it was spiced well. I suppose a wee bit on the salty side if you dislike salt. I love sodium, so it wasn't an issue for me! I missed the potatoes au gratin like Texas de Brazil serves and we did let our server know not to bring any of the sides as we didn't want to fill up on those. Except the cheeeeeeeese bread! Yum! The salad bar was very good - sushi, salads, shrimp sald, and more. Given NCL's cuts since that cruise, the salad bar may not be quite up to par anymore. I'd be interested in someone's take that has been there in the last three to four months. Someday we'll get to Fogo de Chao - it's just not in our area. Also, a cautious note on Cagney's. Some people love it. Some hate it. I'm in the hate it camp. Been there once. Never again! The steak was miserable, not cooked properly and the sides were no good, too. Be careful with that place. At least with Moderno, you get various cuts of meat and if one isn't good, you can just ask for another.

Ouch! Causing the cookie lovers of the world to cry! We do the same...if it doesn't have a warm, gooey center, I'm not eating 'em. No crispy biscuits for me!

My heart actually leapt almost out my chest...until I read your pot stirring words!

Customs? What's that? We took a Transatlantic from Barcelona to Manhattan back in November and were also in the Haven. We walked off the ship and waved at the agents as we went through the facial identity machine thingies. Ship to Enterprise (car rental) in 15 minutes.

Exactly. Last I looked, NCLH doesn't provide a Windstar or Uncruise experience. I don't really expect them to get into that market, either.

Thank you!!! What an awesome itinerary. It's on my lookie lookie list now! Roatan and Cozumel, also. With two sea days. It's one of the best itineraries I've seen!

Well, you certainly live up to your almost screen name.

Oh my! Little did I know the power I wield. 🧞‍♂️ I certainly hope that wasn't a highlight for you! I understand different folks are looking for different excursions. Have a really amazing cruise in May!

Nice detectivating work!! I like it!

Exactly.

No luck for the coffee machine on Pr1ma. No snack station either, like the Breakaway/Breakaway Plus ships have.

Bartenders/bar servers/ bar backs/etc. are covered in the 20% gratuity/service charge on the Free at Sea package. If purchasing a drink without a package, cruisers pay a 20% gratuity/service charge on that drink.

But, guest feedback! You're missing that...guests totally want to change their travel plans due to NCL being...well...reactive to guest feedback. Don't you see how much fun @marktwothousand is having changing travel plans? 🙂

For you my friend, for you! Go Sabres!!

Ok....ya got me with that response! Ya know, I did know a Mark with a K once...your last sentence did apply all those years ago. Haha

Stop this peer pressure, would ya!!! Do you know how many times I've tried to make that next month cruise of yours fit my calendar? Despite all my whining, of course I want to get back on a cruise ship!!

That chicken salad sandwich is surprisingly yummy!! I don't have it as often as I should.

So long as you call NCL three to four times, average the responses, and decide which one seems most plausible. Then expect the ship to do something totally different than all the responses.

I sure won't be contrarian on this one! I would never pay extra...well except for the now non-existent mozzarella sticks at American Diner. Specialty dining is so not worth much more than $40 - $50 a dinner (and it's only because it offers appetizer, entree, dessert that it gets to that $50 price). Otherwise, I'd never eat in the specialty restaurants. Prior to Platinum, we did purchase the upgrade 2 dinner specialty dinner package which equated to about $35/$40 per meal. Now that we've crossed the holy threshold, I don't think we'll be purchasing that package to have a whopping six meals per cruise (unless we finally get to go on a 20+ day cruise). By the way, I do enjoy Teppanyaki and Moderno, unlike some of the posters here. But, many of them think NCL offers "fine dining." To that I say...Olive Garden must be fine dining (no knock on the OG - I enjoy that restaurant very much when in the mood for overpriced pasta).

Maybe I'm a heathen, but why does it seem every European tour has to include a church. Once you've seen one, you've seen most of them. And heck, I'm not even an unholy person. I just don't need to see church after church after church. Take me to where the real people are! Oh....you should post this in your roll call. You'll have better experiences over there finding people who want to go with you.

Welp, I, for one, am here for these larger ships! I just hope they make them look like Icon so I can stay with NCL and not traverse over to RCL. Slides and surfing and parachuting and multiple pools and hot tubs and all sorts of whimsical decorations. Yes please!! Maybe some ice skating and movie theatres and real bowling and....oh my I'm excited to see what Norwegian dreams up. I'm hopeful it ain't more of the same. There's plenty of boats to take you to those smaller ports. Just don't sail the big ones. More room for me! I'm just going to be disappointed if the out the gate prices are like Icon!

I choose not to get worked up by other's posts on social media. It works well for keeping joy in my every day life. You could try it out. Methinks you need a little more of your namesake (though you misspelled it): Gotta keep those lovin' good vibrations a-happenin' with her Gotta keep those lovin' good vibrations a-happenin' with her Gotta keep those lovin' good vibrations a-happenin'

You can find much cheaper hotels (and probably better for you) on your own, than what NCL will provide. I do understand the allure of three days versus two, though, and would pay more for the hotel if the flight cost make sense. We used the NCL BOGO Program for our trip last November from Barcelona to NY. We flew from SYR>JFK>CDG>BCN. The trip went just fine. No issues and we were able to upgrade to more leg room for that JFK>CDG stretch. You say you're going with others - you should know that you are only guaranteed to fly with the person staying in your stateroom. Others may be split on to other flights, airlines, departures, arrivals, etc. It could span the entire day. You are correct that NCL will book your flights. You have no say, whatsoever, on these flights. If you don't like them? If you want flexibility? Too bad. You will probably be able to select your seats (like we were able to), but you might not be able to. For that SYR>JFK flight, we did select the seats, then the selection got lost, then we were just given whatever seats were left (happened to be comfort plus, so yay). Basically, you just have to be willing to take what you get. Go into with that mindset and you'll be fine. Also know, that if your flight is delayed/canceled/etc. you will have to work with the airline. NCL won't help you. It's not their job to and they are very clear about this. Read this before booking flights and know that anything on this page can happen to you: https://www.ncl.com/air-service-standards For what it's worth - my husband and I WILL use NCL BOGO Program again if the price is right.