Wayward Son

I just boarded the Rotterdam. The smoking section at the Sea View bar is nearly standing room only. If I were to extrapolate, I would say at least 15% of the passengers on this ship smoke. Obviously, if they are confined to one small area of the ship, that area is going to expand. That's just the way it is.

In theory, you are correct. It seems ridiculous to pay more than you need to. But for us, familiarity and comfort with a certain brand is worth $50-100 pp/day. We know the ships, we like the people (staff, crew, and passengers). We know what to expect and easily fall into a comfortable routine. It also helps that a couple thousand $'s doesn't mean a whole lot to us. I know that Wal-Mart has some excellent "Great Value" labelled products, but I still spend more on the name brand. Why would I do that? Because that's what I'm most comfortable with.

We've cruised on Ovation, a Quantum class in Alaska. We enjoyed it (except for paying for the drink package). We found it very similar to NCL's Breakaway-Plus class (Encore, Bliss, Joy, Escape). They are far smaller than the Oasis class. NCL has nothing similar to the Oasis or Icon class. Try one of the BA+ ships and see what you think. Royal will always be there if NCL isn't your thing.

That would be a hard "no" for any cruiser with any experience flying from SEA. Could you make it? Sure. Will you? Who knows. Do you want to risk it? Totally up to you.

Your "arrival time" will be provided. Your check-in time will depend on the line of people in front of you. Your Haven boarding time (assuming you're through the check-in line) will be among the first whenever boarding begins.

If that were true, they would be on Viking, Oceania, Seabourn, Silversea, Regent etc. I believe HAL passengers like the current ships and lower price. If HAL builds new, small, 1200 pax ships, you will be paying a lot more than current HAL prices -- and HAL will lose customers to the above mentioned lines.

Still way too early for us at Schiphol Airport from Rotterdam. You will have to carry your own bags off the ship, and 7:00 is arrival time, not disembark time, which will be somewhat later. Then, if you can immediately jump in a cab/Uber/car, have perfect traffic on a summer Saturday morning (unlikely), quickly and easily check your bags and get through security and to your boarding gate (even less likely) -- then you might make your flight. I wouldn't bet the ranch on it. Pay extra for a later flight if you have to, and enjoy some peace of mind.

There are plenty of +/- 1200 pax ships. But none at HAL prices. You can't have both.

Sure. Because 9:00 pm -1:00 am instead of 8-12 would make the the other 4000 passengers so much happier. It seems that many feel that the 9 is greater than the 4000. That's not the way the world works.

If I recall, they are only in Victoria 4-hours to begin with.

I'm going with the consensus that the tour operator was the ultimate cause of this situation. It could have been the family. It seems strange that they were the only ones to miss the ship. But I'm going with the tour company. That said, what is NCL going to do? How many tour operators are there in Ketchikan that can handle the number of people taking excursions from a 4000+ pax ship? Good luck with that.

To be honest, I haven't read any account, anywhere, that makes anything "clear".

Yes. Which is why I could never get a response from my wife. 😄 Getting her to check her phone manually for messages was like giving her a root canal.

CCL isn't the only company with "nonsense". It's a common theme for all cruise lines. Try NCL some time.

I may be too conservative, but I wouldn't do that flight out of Miami or Seattle, let alone Schiphol from Rotterdam. You're just begging for trouble.

Yes, $10 per person through the NCL app. We've used it once, and it did not give any notification or indication of a new message received. You needed to go all the way to the chat to see if you have any messages. This may have have changed, and it's possible I had no clue what I was doing. 🙂

We have found it a good practice to communicate your desire with your server every time. On one occasion, when we were looking for leisurely dinner, we had courses served way too fast, plates being removed before we'd finished, etc. We could have been out of there in 30-minutes if we ate as fast as the server wanted us to. On the other hand, one time everything was on track, timing was great, going to hit the show just right -- but then we couldn't get dessert to save our lives. Talk to your server. They will do everything they can to give you what you want.

Was an NCL transfer available, or not?

I have read so many disparate reviews of Q. Should we just try it once and hope for a good night?

Put me down for Teppanyaki. The food, not so much the show. The steak and shrimp is divine. Even though they've switched to NY strip, it was thick cut and cooked to perfection. I order noodles instead of rice. You can be social, or not. Sit at an end if you want to be less social. Moderno -- loved it. The filet, flank steak, lamb, pineapple, amazing. My wife loved the huge salad bar. We eat Italian all the time, so haven't bothered with La Cucina, yet.

In order to get lost, you need to know where you were to begin with. 😂 This thread is about what would be refunded in taxes and port fees before, and after, the new law in California went into effect. I haven't seen anyone talking about basic cancellation fees.

I don't think "bright" has anything to do with it. I just learned this new magic within the last week or so. I also use a laptop, which make the dropdown menu quite obvious as soon as you enter the @[name].

I would argue that there are still plenty of fine dishes left on the menus. But, arguing about food is a fool's errand, so, do as you will.

I can assure you it is true -- we were there. 😂 But I cannot confirm the cab cost as true, because I don't remember.

There were no transfers to Newark last November. But a cab only cost about $50, if I recall correctly.