JennKach

I booked the highest oceanview and upgraded to balcony. They only had lower level balconies available so the MC rep changed me to a lower oceanview category and I got a small refund. No changes to perks.

If you don't ask, you don't get. I just booked a cruise today and didn't see any discounts available in my account or my husband's, so I called and asked. It took all of 10 minutes and I got 10% off! I love the great info on Cruise Critic. BTW the code that showed on my reservation is 10OFFS.

We had a similar situation but it was raining so we didn't want to wander around the city for hours. We first checked our bags at the hotel, had a leisurely breakfast, then coffee at Dunkin Donuts where we had free wifi and people watching. Then went to a movie when they opened at 10:00. The movie was so good none of us fell asleep lol, but at least is was a comfortable place to chill out and waste a couple hours. As any NYC traveler knows, it's hard to find restrooms as you move about so the theater was nice for that too. By the time we got back to the hotel they had a room ready for us.

I keep thinking about if my parents had to do this. My dad is mobility impaired and uses the bathroom a lot during the night due to medications and age. There is no way he could safely leave the room to go find a bathroom during the night, half asleep, with his walker, especially if encountering rougher seas.

We did an 11 day Dawn cruise and they didn't repeat anything.

An example of how NCL is managing supply issues from April. We left out of Tampa and the next day we were in Key West. The ship is late leaving Key West so we hang out on our balcony to observe, fully expecting a late shore excursion to come hurrying aboard. The F&B manager, several other officers and a bunch of crew members with carts were outside. 45 minutes after we were supposed to leave, they all came back on the ship empty handed. It turned out a supply shipment was late to Tampa, so they arranged for the truck to meet the ship in KW. The truck driver got lost and never made it to KW. We knew these details from speaking with the F&B manager the next day, but they didn't share the exact content, other than to say it was important. I never noticed any shortages so apparently it wasn't something I needed!

So the old locks have two lanes. Do the northbound ships always use the right side lane for example, or could they use either one depending on traffic?

One more question - is it luck of the draw which of the locks the ship uses? We are leaving Panama City and heading to Colon. I assume we'll use the old locks, but are they "one way" or do ships just use which ever one is available? I checked a couple map programs and photos appear to show ships going both directions in each lock.

Thanks everyone for the awesome replies and the picture!

I know that views of the Panama Canal transit from an outside cabin could be just looking at the canal wall. Obviously the low decks would be that way, but how high up do you have to be in order to see above the wall? I'm booked on the Jewel and considering changing to a balcony on a higher deck if it's advantageous. We will spend time up on deck as well, but it would be nice to relax on the balcony too.

I had good turnaround time too. I emailed on Sunday (obviously they are closed), and had my confirmation Wednesday first thing in the morning.

My daughter borrowed my backpack with my tag still in it. She was notified there was a tag following her and she thought she was being stalked lol. I was also getting notifications that my bag wasn't with me. It worked pretty well when we were on vacation, but it's not always accurate. We freaked a bit when we landed and it said the bag was still at our home airport. Eventually it communicated the correct location.

We had a noisy and smoky cabin down the hall with multiple security runs, and I took a different approach. Apparently they had a billing issue and their letter requesting them to come to guest services was placed on my door by mistake on the last night. Knowing they needed to take care of it or they couldn't leave the ship, I accidentally forgot to give it to them. I hope they waited in the same 30 minute line as we did to get off the ship, but got turned back at the end when they scanned their cards. Another one not ship related. Our new neighbors enjoyed camping in their yard and partying late into the night. They of course put the tent and firepit away from their house which ended up 30 feet from our bedroom window. We couldn't open our windows because of the smoke, and the noise was ridiculous until 3am. That morning my husband got up at 6, fired up the lawn tractor and proceeded to mow the grass slowly along the property line over and over until they bailed for the house.

Interesting. I called NCL and got a very helpful gentleman that explained there is a security advisory at the Panama City airport that doesn't allow NCL (or anyone else) to schedule transfers to or from the airport unless they have a flight that day. That's why I couldn't purchase a transfer from the ship to the airport and find my own way to my hotel after that. They also mistakenly charged me $180 for transfers which he took off my invoice. For the "pre" days, I could book the NCL hotel package for $240 per night that includes breakfast and transfers from the airport and to the ship in Panama City. "Post" cruise would be $250 per night and it was unclear whether it included a transfer from the ship in Colon to the Hilton hotel in Panama City. He elevated to his supervisor to try and get a more definitive answer. His impression from the available information was it does include that transfer, but I won't trust that info unless I see it in writing. For people flying out the day the ship returns, transfers from Colon to the airport are $50. I didn't ask about purchasing a NCL transfer from the hotel to port, or hotel to airport. So for now it looks like I'm scheduling all transportation on my own. Getting the $50 savings for air deviation, and booking much lower hotel rates on my own, I will come out ahead and have full control over my schedule.

If you don't mind me asking, which hotel are you using that includes a shuttle to the port?

Is anyone in the situation of air deviations on both sides of the trip, and trying to figure out transfers? This pertains to the Jewel 2/22/23 10 day sailing which is a full transit embarking in Panama City (south end) and ending in Colon (north end). We are flying into Panama City two days early, and staying two days after, ideally booking hotels on our own in the Panama City area. NCL added transfers to the trip at $80 per person. I contacted NCL through chat to ask what exactly they were, and was told they don't do transfers with air deviations. That conflicts with info I've seen on cruise critic reviews about catching transfers at the airport or other hotels. I asked if they do transfers with NCL hotel packages and was told no. I asked if I could purchase a transfer from the ship directly to the airport (and take my own transport from airport to hotel) and was told no. I asked if there would be shore excursions post cruise that drop at the airport, and they didn't know. I'm really only concerned with getting from the ship in Colon back to Panama City since it is over an hour trip, with no easy transit options at the port. I know I can arrange private transport for about $110, but NCL's prices are so much better if they indeed cover all transfers from airport to hotel to ship and back. I have no issues booking the NCL hotel, or one close to it and walking to the Hilton to take the transfers. Can anyone report their experience in a similar situation? Is this one of those times I should call NCL back and see what answers I get from another rep? I've attached a screenshot of our transfer charge and itinerary which is quite confusing. NCL Itinerary.pdf

Thank you!! When I booked my cruise a short time ago, it wouldn't take two CruiseNext certificates. I went in my account last night and was able to successfully use the second one as payment.

I brought "Skinnies" and "Baja Bob" powdered mixes for margarita, cranberry, mojito and mule flavors and added to the alcohol with club soda or water. I also added fresh lime juice and mint as appropriate. Other people were adding stevia from the buffet in place of sugar syrups in their drinks. I agree they are severely lacking in low and no sugar drink options at the bar.

I’ve really struggled with how to write this review tempering some things that went amiss with the good things, especially in light of COVID challenges. It takes a lot for me to be disappointed on a cruise! Everyone on this cruise has a different perspective and your experience varies with what activities and dining you choose, what times you are roaming the ship, where your cabin is, and sometimes just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We did not have a Cruise Critic roll call as everyone decided to use social media instead to discuss and make plans. Many of those people had negative experiences, and some said everything was great. I also have a unique perspective with two cruises on other lines since January to compare with this Carnival cruise. On this cruise it was me (56), my husband (59), daughter (21) and her friend (21). My daughter cruised as a child but doesn’t remember much, and her BFF was a first timer. My husband and I mostly cruise NCL, but we are Gold on Carnival with 19 years since we sailed with them last. We originally booked inside cabins and took advantage of a price drop and senior special to move to ocean view. Then I got an offer to upgrade to a “suite” for $100 and jumped on that while the girls stayed in their ocean view. The suite was basically a balcony cabin on deck 12 with a little more space, priority boarding and disembarkation, and some cookies. Our cruise was the May 7th Paradise 5 day sailing out of Tampa which visited Roatan and Cozumel. Normally I prefer a longer sailing but the girls have job responsibilities which limit time away. I heard the shorter sailings are party cruises and it certainly held true. We flew down to Tampa in two groups without incident. My husband is retired so he headed down 5 days early to hang out at our condo. We girls arrived the night before with just enough time to have dinner and go to bed. Originally our flight was supposed to arrive at 9:30am, but Spirit changed schedules and we had to change to the late afternoon flight. I never like to cut it so close! They messed around with the return flight as well so the girls had to change from a 12:30 departure to 7:30pm. Covid Testing DD and I got our Covid tests two days in advance at Walgreens. It was super quick and easy in the drive thru and our results were emailed in an hour. Her friend did a rapid test at a local testing facility and was positive! After more than a slight panic, she got a PCR test which came back negative. There are false positives out there so leave yourself enough time to get a follow up PCR if needed. We printed out paper copies of everything and the port staff appreciated it. Embarkation We originally had a 10:30 check in time. Our driver (DS) was having trouble getting out of bed after working most of the night, so we ended up leaving for port around 11:15, arriving at 11:45. Each of us had a small backpack, DH and I had our CPAPs, the girls had small wheeled suitcases, and DH and I shared a suitcase. We checked our suitcases with the porter, entered the building and went up some escalators and back outside again on the 2nd floor. They were staging people in lines outside the terminal because there wasn’t a lot of space at the security stations immediately inside. I can’t remember which paperwork they checked at each point, but lots of workers were keeping us informed ahead of checkpoints. No one checked our appointment time. They did keep checking boarding passes to make sure you were in the right place, and this was helpful because suite guests get priority embarkation. They allowed us to take our girls with us even though they were not priority. Security xrays were next, and priority guests got to be next in line via a special queue. I made the mistake of having small scissors in my carryon which got confiscated. Then we had a checkpoint for documents and health questions. After that we headed to the desks where they verified our on board account payment, verified we had CPAPs with us, and checked docs again. There was a suite line, but it was very empty at the desks so they just put us at a closer one. I was the only one with verifly and it didn’t really save that much time. We then headed to board the ship and take the obligatory photo. Got the muster station demo out of the way and headed to our suite which was supposedly guaranteed to be ready, and it was not. I was looking forward to those few perks we were supposed to receive. We dropped our bags there anyways and ate lunch at the buffet until the announcement that they were ready at 1:30. Key cards were waiting for us outside the cabin door. Food Paris (buffet)- was open for all three meals and closed at 3pm until dinner. If you need food late afternoon you can get burgers, pizza and ice cream, or room service. The main serving stations have the same hot foods on each side of the restaurant. Food was just ok. We mainly ate breakfast here where the standard wet scrambled eggs, ham, potatoes, premade pancakes, sausage and breads were available. There were other stations with pastries, fruit, lunch meats and cereal too. I never tried the omelette station because of the line. All was self serve. Lunch had a yummy dessert station where my DH fell in love with the cookies and we kept some in the room for snacks. We love fresh brewed iced tea at breakfast (their idea of premade tea was awful) so we made hot tea (Lipton products) and poured over ice. Bacon was not available every day. Main Dining - ate dinner in the main dining rooms every night with “any time” schedule. You have to check in on the app and you see the estimated wait time before hand. This was one of the most frustrating things during the cruise. The time estimate was off every time, and not by a few minutes. One night it said 30-40 minutes and it actually took 90 to be seated. “Less than 10 minutes” usually meant 30-40, but once it was 5. I’m not sure where the fault is in the system, but planning around shows and activities was an issue. It seemed they were short staffed, or perhaps inexperienced, but it was not close to full capacity in the dining room. On the third night we had excellent service (and magic tricks!) and requested the same team for the remainder of the cruise. You do that at the host stand after checking in on the app. The food was very good, and chocolate melting cake was on the menu every night! The wait staff danced, and they made my DD’s birthday special by making her a hat and singing. If I knew show times before the cruise, I probably would have chosen the set dining time instead. Not sure if you can switch once you get onboard. We ate sea day brunch here twice but other than a nice omelette and crispy bacon, I’m not sure I’d waste my time doing it between the time to be seated and long service times. Guy’s Burger Bar – We had a couple burgers and fries and they were very good, and fast service. Blue Iguana Cantina – The girls ate here and declared it delicious. Operating hours weren’t as long as the burger place and we never got to eat here because they were closed when we were hungry. Sushi – The girls ate here twice (extra charge) and thought it was great. Pizza and Ice Cream – I had a slice of pepperoni, and the girls ate here a couple times. The crust is super thin and crispy. It’s good for a snack but the toppings are lacking to make a meal. There was always a line here when I walked past with nothing ready to grab and go. I tried the chocolate ice cream and loved it – there was vanilla and strawberry as well. Room Service – never tried it. The menu had breakfast sandwiches for $4 though if you need more than just continental. Cabin We were in a balcony “suite” on deck 12. The cabin itself had plenty of room with a large couch, chair, coffee table, dressing table with lighted mirror, two closets and multiple drawers. Having two CPAPs was not a problem. I balanced mine on the back of the couch, and my husband used the tiny table on his side of the bed. We ran the cords under the bed and plugged them into an extension cord I brought. Guest serviced called our room to ask us if we needed anything for the CPAP’s so I ordered a bottle of distilled water. It was delivered for $3 plus a service charge. We could have brought our own, but it wasn’t worth the hassle dragging another 8 lbs in the hand luggage. The cabin steward provided bathrobes and daily ice at my request. They also asked when we would like our room cleaned. There were multiple outlets at the desk, and usb ports in the bedside lamps. There were wine glasses every day, and two complimentary large bottles of water for gold status. The fridge was basically useless to keep anything cold. Cabin service was fine and we got towel animals most days. There is no turn down service anymore. The ventilation system pumped in nice cold air, but also a ton of dust. It built up on our CPAPs every day and there was just no way for the cabin staff to keep up with it everywhere. It flared up the allergies a bit. Fresh pool towels were provided each day. A do not disturb sign was provided to hang on the door. My only complaint about the room was the toilet (and room) always smelled like urine. It looked clean, but somehow managed to have the overwhelmingly strong odor. We even washed the floor and walls around the toilet just in case. The girls’ room did not have this issue. COVID Protocols Just a few notes about how COVID protocols were handled. Passenger masks were not required in the terminal or anywhere on board. A small amount of passengers wore masks anyways. The two ports said they were required, but no one was wearing them. All Carnival employees wore masks except the performers while they were entertaining. Sanitizer stations were everywhere. Unlike NCL and RC, no one was pushing hand sanitizer at any of the dining venues. We did mini golf and they had signs and wipes to clean the equipment after use. I never heard any communications about COVID cases. Drinks The girls had the Cheers package and liked being able to try a bunch of different drinks. Specialty coffee was included. They probably just about broke even on the package, but I wanted them to enjoy themselves and not worry about how much everything cost. DH and I brought wine with us and purchased a couple drinks. We also got a free drink on the last night with Gold status. We had two days of shore excursions that included cheap or free drinks so Cheers didn’t make sense for us. Drink pricing seemed very reasonable compared to NCL, but more than RC. There was beer dispenser at $0.45 per ounce. Bartenders were hit or miss. The girls said some refused to make them the drinks they wanted, and were kind of cranky and dismissive. DH had the same experience when they insisted a particular liquor wasn’t carried, but it was on the shelf in plain sight. Other bartenders were awesome. I was bummed when I was craving a Bailey’s late one evening and they were out of it. Usually the bartenders are the highlight of a cruise so it was odd to find some so unfriendly and contrary. Excursions We did independent excursions and have been to both ports before. The girls requested relaxing beach experiences so that’s what we did. Roatan – We chose to go to Bananarama beachfront resort and dive shop. They offer a cruise ship package for $35 that includes transportation, a welcome drink, chairs/umbrella and snorkel gear. The reef is super close to shore so you don’t need a boat and it was a lot of fun! We hadn’t realized there was a 2 hour time difference so I had to make a panicked phone call and change our pick up time from the ship. Guest Services went above and beyond and let me use their phone. The private excursions aren’t allowed to pick up in the port area so we had to hike a bit outside the gate where we met our driver. It’s about a 35 minute drive each way to Bananarama. Food and drinks were a la carte, free wifi. There was an armed guard at the beach watching our bags when we were in the water. When it was time to head back to the ship, our driver was right on time and we had time to check out a few shops in the Mahogany Bay port area. Cozumel – I chose Nachi Cocum all inclusive at $59 each plus a $17 taxi for all each way. It was perfect. We had a palapa on the beach and a beautiful pool with swim up bar. The staff was incredible from beginning to end. Drinks and food were plentiful and the tropical beauty made it our favorite shore excursion. Everyone there was from a cruise ship, and we stayed the latest and had the place to ourselves for an hour. If you chose to participate, there was massage, banana boat, snorkeling and parasailing for additional cost. Nachi limits their capacity at 130 people so it will never be crowded. Entertainment In the theater we only saw the welcome show and Love and Marriage. I’m hoping there were technical issues with the singers because it started off so badly. We never returned to see another show so I can’t comment on the rest. The smaller venue musical entertainment was all very good and varied like piano, guitar, steel drum, comedy, and live bands. The male comedian was hilarious and we went to all of his shows. The other, not so good. Lots of awkward silence in the audience and I felt bad for her. No bingo, trivia or art auctions for me. I tried to donate $20 at the casino and ended up with $33 after 90 minutes of fun. There were two deck parties that we watched for a bit. The first had a lot of dances led by the entertainment staff and Lei Lei did a good job with that. The other was the glow party. There were no crafts, afternoon tea, or meet the captain events. The nightclub was open late and it was nice to see so many people out past 10pm. The Ship Paradise hails from the loud and colorful era and is showing her age. We sailed on this ship way back when it was non-smoking and still enjoy all the smaller ships. The hardest thing to figure out was which elevator went to the floor you wanted. There was a noticeable lack of public restrooms around the ship, especially at the buffet and pool areas. Dress Code Dress code? Was there a dress code? Elegant night in the dining room had everything from torn and cutoff denim jeans and shorts, swim coverups and t-shirts, to full on beaded dresses and tuxedos. Dripping wet bathing suits were common at the buffet. I think you could pretty much do anything but go topless. Pools Of course there were some chair hogs and slim availability right at the pool, but we could always find chairs one deck up or back by the water slides. Bar service was not good outside the immediate pool area or in Serenity. Raunchy behavior however was not hard to find. Groups of people took over the hot tubs, letting everything hang out, twerking, slapping each other on the behind and filming it all. The language was horrible and this was all in front of families with kids. They were downing pitchers in the tub which I’m sure wasn’t helping, but really, have some class! Other observations We leveled up to Gold during this trip, and received the Gold amenities and key card upon arrival. Complimentary wifi within the app was useless most of the time. It was so slow that the sites timed out or took forever to load. The girls had the social media package with no complaints. I missed getting paper copies of instructions and Fun Times in the room. The electronic version was hard to find. There was a paper with QR codes for certain items, but the slow wifi wouldn’t load them. If you were a first time cruiser you would miss out on explanations for things like going ashore. Announcements were hard to hear. I noticed that our girls had different paper copies of items than we did in our cabin, so maybe we just didn’t get everything. This itinerary attracted a wide range of people and behaviors. From a survey in the theater, a vast majority were Tampa locals, with very few international or other state cruisers. I would guess 80% were between 20 and 60 years old. Many were family groups or groups of friends traveling together. There were a good number of scooters and wheelchairs, and a handful of kids in strollers. This was the most unfriendly group of people I have ever cruised with! Age didn’t matter when it came to annoying behavior since the most obnoxious group was middle aged ladies in my hallway. There were at 4+ cabins traveling together and they loved to gather and talk at high volume in the corridor, or in each other’s rooms with the doors open and music blasting. For the amount of times they woke me up after midnight, I wish I could have ordered them 6am room service as pay back. Another cabin (again middle aged women) in my hall had security there a couple times for smoking, setting off the smoke alarm, and leaving the balcony door open which caused a loud whistle in the hall driving everyone nuts late at night. Lots of pot smoking going on too all over the ship. Security showed up again chasing a group of teenagers running up and down our hallway. Heck, those were only the incidents I personally witnessed, and just in my small hallway, so I’m sure there were more. There was a fight one night at the casino bar. Guest services is not open 24 hours, so if you have issues after midnight, you have to wander the ship to find an employee to help. The phones don’t have a message telling you that they are closed. Even during business hours they never answered the phone. Disembarkation We received priority luggage tags the night before and could choose to meet in the Theater at 7:15 with our bags, or wait until 8:00 without. Everyone had to be out of their room by 8. Latest luggage tags were for 9:30. We chose to walk off at 8:15 (non-priority) with our bags and that was a mistake! The lines were horrible and took forever to get through customs. You could tip a porter to shortcut if you want. Once outside we called an Uber and were home 30 minutes later. Overall Thoughts Was it awesome? No. Was it horrible? No. Was it worth the low price I paid? Yes. Would I cruise Carnival again? Yes, but only because I know it can be better based on past experience. If this was my first cruise I wouldn’t return to CCL, thinking this was the normal expectation. Is the low price point attracting people that don’t know how to behave, be considerate, and respect the rules? Maybe. Is COVID to blame for long service times and surly bartenders? No, because NCL and RCI were able to pull off an excellent experience months earlier. Carnival just wasn’t managing well with the same cards every cruise line was dealt. I echo other Cruise Critic posters that the overall vibe just felt off, and that could be a mixture of inexperience, understaffing, and passenger attitudes. DH and I still had a good time though and look forward to planning our next cruise.

On our last cruise in April, I submitted my CPAP form and they told us there would be a charge for the distilled water, but they didn't actually end up charging for it. They also said they could not provide extension cords so I brought my own.

Yes I feel your pain. For the last cruise I brought Baja Bob's and Skinnies Cocktail mixer sugar free dry mixes. Skinnies has cranberry, mojito and mule mixes as well as margarita, but I prefer Bob's margarita. I also had them do skinny margaritas with just lime and club soda, but you could add artificial sweetener to it. Same with mojitos with just mint, lime juice and club soda or diet sprite. I think there's a pretty good market for sugar free drinks on board if the cruise lines would listen.

I just used a partially redeemed eCard yesterday on Paradise. The kiosk said it was invalid, guest services was able to put it in my account in seconds.

I don't know to be honest. There were only a couple kids on board and I never saw anyone in the windows of the kids club area when I went past.

We got the NAAT.

Hi Everyone, For a little background, my husband (59) and myself (56) mostly cruise NCL with a couple Carnival, one RCI and two other lines no longer in business. We booked a family ocean view back in October to celebrate our 25th anniversary, which is actually now our 27th due to COVID and elder care responsibilities delaying our trip. We are very laid back travelers that can find a way to enjoy ourselves in any situation. I bid for an upgrade to balcony but didn’t want to risk not getting it, so I chickened out and used my NCL Mastercard points to do a free upgrade to BA balcony a week before sailing. Yes I paid more than the last minute prices, but I had four specialty restaurants which helped make up the difference. I also got triple latitudes points putting me super close to Platinum. I guess I need to book another cruise! Our cruise was the April 17th Dawn 11 day reposition sailing out of Tampa which visited Key West (substituted last minute for Grand Cayman), Aruba, Bonaire, St. Lucia and Antigua, and ended in New York City. My husband and I spent some time at our condo in Clearwater prior to the trip which always helps me prepare to unplug. I’m lucky to work from home, and he is retired. His flight was uneventful, but mine five days later, was delayed several times and eventually canceled, so it took me 24 hours instead of 3 to get there. I wasted an Uber trip and inconvenienced my daughter twice for a ride. Eventually I arrived 7 days ahead of embarkation. We did last minute shopping and I keep a small amount of clothes and travel supplies there so I don’t have to pack so much from home. This trip didn’t work out so well with the cruise ending in New York, so I have to drag everything back to Michigan and then back to Florida. I hate paying for checked bags! Covid Testing We got our Covid tests two days in advance at Walgreens in Florida, having reserved exactly 7 days earlier when the new appointments opened at midnight. It was super quick and easy in the drive thru, no jamming the swab way up the nose. Our results were emailed in an hour. As a backup I scheduled tests at CVS since they allow booking well in advance. We visited FedEx Office to get paper copies of our results printed out. The port staff really appreciated it and it was easier than juggling phones multiple times or risking bad cell service, a lost phone or a dead battery. Embarkation We originally had a 9:30 check in time but the FB group mentioned drop off was still closed shortly before 9am, and TA’s were saying boarding was delayed. We took our time and our son dropped us off at 11:30. Each of us had a small backpack and our CPAPs were in the shared suitcase which we left with a porter. No one checked our appointment time. In order to enter Terminal 2 we had to show negative covid test and wear masks. In line we heard of an airport snafu where there were supposed to be 7 NCL transfer buses and only one showed up. A couple we spoke with had waited 90 minutes to get on the first bus. We were then allowed into the building, sent the carry-ons through xray, and went through the metal detector without incident. Then we moved on to check in. There was quite a line that snaked through a room and eventually we were let into the main check in area and directed to a line at one of about 12 stations. The agent used an ipad, asked us a bunch of health questions, scanned the passports, looked at Covid results, and took our pictures. I don’t remember having to show our vaccine cards at all. At some point during the process we went up an escalator. Stopped for the obligatory photo, walked onto the ship and rooms were ready, time elapsed: 45 minutes from drop off to boarding the ship! We left our hand luggage in the cabin and headed to the muster station to get our cards scanned. My husband got rejected because he hadn’t “officially” watched the safety video. Note: watch the video link from your own email or app!!! He just looked over my shoulder when I watched it, and it didn’t count in the system for him. The solution on board was to watch the video on the cabin TV and it registered him as complete. We hit Venetian for a sit down lunch and cocktail. Sailaway There were two ships in port and we left first. Carnival Pride followed us out, escorted by the authorities until after we passed underneath the Sunshine Skyway bridge about 6:45. We were right up at the bow, deck 12, and the view was spectacular! Not much room for error on the captain’s part. Food Garden Cafe - was open for all three meals, plus snacks, continuously from breakfast though 11pm. I thought this was very cool because I’ve been on some ships where there is no food available between 3pm and dinner, and that’s when I’m looking for a snack to tie me over until a later dinner. It was self serve except for omelette, pasta & carving stations. Food was very good at the buffet. I am diabetic so it was nice to have sugar free dessert choices. We love fresh brewed iced tea at breakfast (their idea of machine dispensed tea was awful) so we made hot tea (Lipton products) and poured over ice. All beverage stations were open. We ate all breakfasts and some lunches at Windjammer. Bacon was declared not as good as RCI but we were able to get some crispy pieces if we searched hard enough. They still had the little round hash browns. Main Dining - ate dinner in the main dining rooms 5 times, mixing it up between Venetian and Aqua. Menus were the same so it was just based on which atmosphere we preferred. Venetian is large and bright with high ceilings, and Aqua is small, dark and intimate. There was never a wait. We enjoyed the food, service was very good, and the bar orders came quickly. I wish they would post the dinner menus on the NCL app though like RCI does. Bamboo – we tried this one night and liked it so well we came back the next night! It is a no-charge restaurant with sushi upcharge. I highly recommend the pot stickers, calamari, lemon pepper shrimp and chocolate spice cake. O’Sheehan’s – we had a couple snacks here like chicken wings, pretzel bites, and irish stew (aka broth with a couple pieces of corned beef and potatoes). Loved the wings. Le Bistro – can’t complain about anything here! I liked that they asked for a more dressy attire and most people complied. I did see one man in shorts and the rest of his party in very casual clothes. We showed up early and were seated immediately. Food was excellent and the meal took about 90 minutes. Moderno – it was our first time at a Brazilian steak house and it did not disappoint. I didn’t fill up on the salad bar so I had lots of room for the rest. The pace was very nice and we didn’t feel overwhelmed by the servers offering meats. I tried the filet, top sirloin, chicken leg, lamb chops, leg of lamb and pork sausage. The grilled pineapple with brown sugar and cinnamon was delicious. La Cucina – we got the filet as recommended on Cruise Critic. It really was better than any of the other venues, including Cagney’s. By this time in our voyage were were cutting back on food intake so I skipped the appetizer, had two bites of risotto (not worth the calories or carbs), and dessert. The only criticism I have for this venue is the noise level from the entertainment right outside at Gatsby’s. Cagney’s – we always eat at Cagneys and it did not disappoint. The open kitchen had my mouth watering as soon as we were seated. I was good and limited myself to filet, broccoli, shrimp cocktail and part of a dessert. We did not eat at Los Lobos, Teppanyaki, Top Siders, or use room service. I found the food to be really salty. I retain water just looking at a salt shaker and my ankles were AWOL on this cruise. That’s really my only complaint. The same thing happened when I was pregnant, but I can assure you that was not the cause on this trip. Cabin I had the TA choose the room and she did great with balcony 9128 midship starboard. We were steps from the Atrium, one floor from O’Sheehan’s, and an elevator away from the buffet, pool, and dining rooms. I liked the bathroom with separate large shower and toilet space. Unfortunately that took away space from the sink area and storage was difficult. I can’t imagine more than two people sharing the space. The room itself had plenty of room, but again storage was an issue. There were only three drawers and one wouldn’t open. The shelves are hidden sideways in the closet and it’s awkward and dark even with the closet light on. We used the couch area for clothes instead of putting things away. There was plenty of space to stash the suitcase and back packs under the bed. RCI definitely wins the storage war! Having two CPAPs was not a problem. I balanced mine on the back of the couch, and my husband had a tiny table on his side of the bed. We ran the cords under the bed and plugged them into an extension cord I brought. The cabin steward provided bathrobes and distilled water at no charge. There was only one outlet in the room so I brought an adapter that had two outlets and three USB ports. There were two stemless wine glasses every day, and two complimentary cartons of water even though we are only Silver level. A sign said they would bring a coffee maker on request. Cabin service happened in the blink of an eye! Even if we were only gone 20 minutes for breakfast we came back to a clean room. There was a dial outside the door to indicate if you wanted the room made up, turned down, not to be disturbed, or welcome. Bath towels were replaced twice a day, and the pool towels kept disappearing, though we were not charged for that. We had to hide them in the closet for use on shore excursions the next morning. COVID Protocols Passenger masks were only required in the cruise terminal at embarkation, in St. Lucia, and in some parts of Antigua. All NCL employees wore masks except the performers while they were entertaining. Sanitizer stations were everywhere. I saw lots of people cleaning walls, doors, railings and elevators. Hand washing/sanitizer was enforced when entering the buffet. We played shuffleboard and they had signs and wipes to clean the equipment after use. I never heard any communications about COVID cases. Drinks We had the drink package and made good use of it. It was nice to order two drinks at a time, or add an extra shot, which saved me some carbs if I chose a mixer with sweetener. I mostly had tequila or vodka drinks with club soda and fresh lime juice, or Truly (only available at limited bars), but splurged one day poolside with a mudslide. I also brought some zero calorie powdered mixers in margarita, mojito and cranberry flavors for variety. NCL really needs to step up with some sugar free mixers like triple sec since we can’t bring liquids onboard ourselves. The included wine selections were very limited but the cabernet was quite good at dinner. My husband enjoyed the tequila. We finally made it to the Tequila bar on the last night for him to try the much talked about spicy margarita, but he hated it. Note: that bar is only open from 5:30-9:30 so plan accordingly. We kept missing it due to excursions, dinner and show times. Same situation with the mojito bar. Excursions We normally do independent excursions, but with the NCL discount and lack of time to research, it was just easier and sometimes cheaper to book through NCL. We did go independent in Bonaire. It was our first time at all ports except Antigua. Note: on NCL tours you should arrive well before the meeting time if you want a choice of seats. People were very early. One of the excursions had multiple buses and ours left 15 minutes before the tour was supposed to begin. Key West – did the one hour conch train to get overview of the city, then walked around. The train was packed and several rows had to squeeze four people in where they should have only three. Prepare to be cozy. Had a lobster roll and conch fritters for lunch, and shared key lime pie for dessert. Ship docked right downtown. We had a delay leaving because a supply shipment hadn’t arrived. The supplier missed getting to the ship in Tampa, and again in Key West. Eventually the supplies were obtained in Aruba according to the food service manager. Aruba – Did “Best of Aruba” tour for 4 hours. Visited an Aloe farm and factory, rock formations, natural rock bridges on the coast, a lighthouse and 30 minutes on a beautiful beach. This was my least favorite port and wish we could have skipped the rock formations and spent more time at the beach. At least there were opportunities at almost every stop for refreshments and bathroom facilities. The tour operator provided bottled water at two stops. There was free wifi in the nice air conditioned port building with lots of chairs. Walked around down town but nothing too interesting. Lots of jewelry stores. Got to see the fuel ship pull up alongside us and fill up our tanks. Bonaire – only had from 6am to noon in port. I am not a morning person so it was a struggle to be off the ship before 8am. We rented a golf cart from Bonaire Cruisers and toured the south side of the island. It took about three hours and was well worth it. We saw the sights at our own pace and stopped at a beautiful beach we had all to ourselves. There is a lot of shopping in this port if you forgot anything. This was my favorite port and I wish we had a whole day here. We will return! St Lucia – We did the NCL catamaran trip to the Pitons and swimming at a small beach. At first we were disappointed to see so many people in line for this excursion, but we fit easily on the double decker catamaran with plenty of seats. This tour left directly from the pier next to the ship. The available refreshments were water, juices, coke, sprite and diet coke. The snacks looked like doritos and some other chips. Two bathrooms on board. We did a guided tour along the shore to the Pitons, then pulled into a bay with several other boats for a 30 minute swim. You enter the water via a stairway in the front or the back of the boat. The front water depth was about 4 feet, and the back was well over my head. Do not do this excursion if you expect to be deposited on the beach, or are not able to handle pretty strong current walking in the water. There was no assistance at the bottom of the stairs to get in the water. After swimming they served really strong rum punch which got the dancing party started for the cruise back to port. The tour guide was pretty good and I would recommend this tour. There was free wifi in the port shopping area too. Antigua – Another early morning! We met at 8:30 for the Nelson’s Dockyard and fort tour. Our guide was excellent and we got a nice tour of the island on the way there. The buses here are vans that hold about 15 people, and there was only one bus doing this tour. Normally they have 5 buses full. We did two stops at fort ruins at high elevations that gave awesome harbor views with picture opportunities. Each of these had restroom facilities and of course, locals selling beverages and souvenirs. The final stop was the Dockyard which is a fully functioning marina and the historic buildings are restaurants, shops and guest rooms. The multi-million dollar yachts were incredible! There is a quick guided tour and then 30 minutes to explore on your own. This stop included a cup of rum punch, water or juice and bathrooms. The port area had shops but most were closed on Sunday. We found a bar with free wifi and paid 5 bucks for a diet Coke so I guess it wasn’t really free. Entertainment In the theater we only saw a singer, comedian, Elements, and the closing piano show, all 8pm showtimes. The last three were very good and I’ll stay silent about the first. The lounge musical entertainment was all very good and varied like piano, guitar, comedy, singing duos, a jazz band and guitar/keyboard/drum band. We never saw any of the game shows. No bingo or trivia for me. I got a chance to catchup on some Netfix shows before bed. We went to the art auction once to enjoy the people watching. I tried to donate $20 at the casino and hit for $127. There were two deck parties, one called Oceanfest that was excellent. Many of the musicians performed together and got a break from boring music to rock out to everything from Kiss to ACDC to Bon Jovi and Shakira. Too bad it only lasted an hour. I highly recommend. The other was the glow party, but it was so cold that night that we only stayed 15 minutes. Lounges The Dawn doesn’t really have too many lounges compared to other ships. The Atrium layout is awesome and very well thought out and utilized. First level is now a Starbucks, second story is large O’sheehans with cocktail seating in the center. Third level is just seating. I liked it when the musical entertainment was in the atrium. Other than that it was the Bliss night club or Gatsby’s, and the smoke for terrible at Gatsby’s with the cigar/smoking room and casino right there. The art auction turned Aqua into a lounge for their events. Pools With such an empty cruise there was always plenty of seating at the pool. Of course there were some chair hogs, but there were also lots of clearly abandoned towels. It was so windy that the chairs cleared themselves! We used the “warm” tubs a couple times. Bar service was very good around the pool. As we headed north for New York, the seas were quite rough and the weather got cooler. The last two days were not conducive to sunbathing and the pool was drained due to high waves. Cruise Critic Events The Meet & Greet was held at 11am on the first sea day in LeBistro. Several of the department heads attended and were briefly introduced. They had coffee service and pastries, and filled out name tags for us. There was an excellent turn out of over 60 people. It was nice to put faces with names, and recognize the people we’d run into over the next 11 days. The slot pull was immediately following and I believe there were about 35 people participating. It was fun cheering everyone on and we split the winnings to come away with $14 each. I did not attend the pub crawl but I did see a group of them heading up to Top Siders. Other observations This itinerary attracted a much older crowd and only a handful of kids under 18. The nightlife was not as lively due to that fact. There were reported to be just over 1200 passengers which was so nice! Most people were very friendly and went out of their way to say hi or start conversations. We sailed past the Statue of Liberty about 3:30am. She was not on our side of the ship so I didn’t bother getting up to go outside. My husband managed to call 911 by accident when he bumped buttons on the phone reaching for the light switch under the TV. Don’t do that. A voice came over the speaker phone asking what our emergency was. Good to know how rapidly they answer though! The ship tracker channel on the TV was weirdly wrong for a couple days. The time was wrong by like 3 hours and 42 minutes, and it said we were heading to previously visited ports. Bermuda triangle perhaps? You always run into some unique people on a cruise and this was no exception. There was the classic complainer we managed to be seated next to at dinner, who we then saw complaining again at guest services, cornering an officer to complain in the hall, and then again at the buffet. I would hate to go through life being that miserable. Then there were the entitled impatient people who ironically turned out to be from the city stereotyped for that behavior. I also heard a woman changed her bikini on the beach during an excursion, at no extra charge. Does anyone know the story behind the stuffed dog? I had the 250 wifi minutes that worked slowly, but I was able to put out a few minor fires at home instead of being surprised upon arrival. Note: your minutes expire on the last night of the cruise. I tried to log in just after midnight and the app was totally changed. I couldn’t view my account either. Our suitcase was one of the last to show up after boarding. I was getting nervous! Disembarkation We received priority luggage tags the night before and could choose to walk off anytime before 9:30. The other luggage tags had times of 8:30 and 8:45, and airport transfers got as late as 9:15. We were asked to be out of our cabins by 8am and wait in public areas. The ship was given clearance just after 8am and the stampede began. With Priority, we walked to the theater and were taken down a separate gangway which eventually joined up with everyone else. We found our bag and it took about 10 minutes to get through immigration. Just before the exit you will find snack machines and bathrooms. We headed out of the port area on foot and arrived at our hotel 12 blocks away just after 9am. Post Cruise and Travel home We spent the day in NYC walking off the calories from the cruise. After hanging out at the hotel lobby with comfy chairs, a clean bathroom and wifi, we walked to Broadway and bought our tickets to Book of Mormon. If you spend any time in NYC you appreciate a decent available bathroom. My husband’s policy is to use it regardless of need because you never know when you’ll find the next one. We had a Krispy Kreme snack in Times Square and you got a code for permission to use theirs. Then I was on a mission to find a discontinued lipstick that some Sephora’s supposedly still had. It only took three stops and I bought out the last ones on clearance. Score! I spent part of my casino winnings. Had an overpriced unmemorable dinner and thoroughly enjoyed Book of Mormon. It made Justin Golan look like a Sunday School teacher. After 24,000 steps today, we took the subway back to the hotel. The next day was spent getting a mani/pedi, people watching in Central Park, eating pizza and grabbing cheesecake to take home. We Uber’d to La Guardia because I didn’t feel like dragging the suitcase on the subway and bus. Normally we just have backpacks so it’s not an issue. Our flight home on American Airlines was uneventful and we were sleeping in our own beds by midnight. I have all of the Freestyle Daily newsletters if anyone has any questions.