cruzbound

Hi all I saw this thread when I was in the South Pacific area trying to find information on excursions we are going to Nee Caledonia in December 2024 for a one day stop. NCL hasn’t told us anything about insurance needed to visit there. They have sent us information on Visas we need but no mention on insurance. I don’t normally buy insurance at all when we travel but for this trip I am thinking we should just because of the cost, etc. With that said where should I even start to get the right coverage? Thanks

We took our first NCL cruise this past September 2023 on the Spirit from Hawaii to the French Polynesia. We really enjoyed it a ton. The food in the main dining room and Cagneys was excellent. Crew was great. The adult pool area was so wonderful at the back of the ship. We are going to the South Pacific in December but unfortunately for us it is not the Spirit. Wish it was in the Spirit. We are goin on the Sun. No adult pool. Bummer. Hope it is almost as good as our Spirit experience. Enjoy!

Hi, We are coming to Kauai via cruise ship (NCL) and booked an excursion (not through the ship) and I am trying to figure out how to get to it. They do not provide transportation. It is the river tubing with Kaua'i Backcountry Adventures. They are located on Kuhio Highway in Lihue. Can anyone provide me with recommendations on how we should get there? If possible I prefer to have some form of transportation booked before we arrive on the island but we can just go with the flow when we get there (if taxi is the best way). We are on the island overnight so we don't have to rush back to the ship that day, so not sure if renting a car is a better way to go but then I need suggestions on how and where to do this. I appreciate any help. Thanks, cruzbound

Our cruise is on September 15-27, 2023. Thanks for the insight.

Hi All, So we got the email for the potential bidding for a room upgrade. Has anyone done this? Was your bid accepted? If so, how was the upgraded room? I know there is no choice in what room you are upgraded to - front, aft, middle - so I am kind of nervous about maybe doing a bid because we have never been in a room in the front of the ship. We always get aft or middle area rooms (less movement). Has anyone been in a front room and what was it like? Do the waves hit it hard and you feel it? We are going on the Spirit to Hawaii and the French Polynesian. We have an inside cabin and I was thinking about trying to bid for a balcony (we are first-time cruisers with NCL - we have cruised over 25 times with RCCL, so we get a balcony on there for a really good price so we don't have to do any bidding when they send theirs out). Thanks, cruzbound

Thanks georgiacat. So NCL assigned you a check-in time, you did not get to pick? Does anyone know if that is how all their cruise ships work? We are going to do some scuba diving the day we embark and was just curious if they assign times and we can't make it on that time and come later, it is not a problem, right? Thanks!

Hi All, So we made the final payment on our cruise - our other two couples backed out but we are going so we can form our own opinion on NCL and also we love the itinerary. A few more questions - what time do they let you start getting on the ship? I know they told me that the latest is 5 PM but of course, we don't want to get onboard that late. Also, once you are checked-in in onboard what time do the actual staterooms open up? Sorry for the 20 questions, I only know how RCCL works (check-in usually starts at 10:30 am and they open the staterooms up at 1 PM). Thanks, cruzbound

Thanks all for the information. We have always sailed on RCCL (20-plus sailings with them). The couple we are cruising with on NCL, have good friends that went on POA and did not speak highly of it and they were RCCL cruisers so that is the reason for my posting. This has nothing to do with opinions, just a quick question - will NCL customize, so to speak, the meals? I do not do vegetables (so would they leave them off the plate?) and I only like certain kinds of potatoes (so if they have potatoes I don't like, could I get mashed potatoes in their place?). cruzbound

Hi All, We are scheduled to cruise NCL for the first time and we have started hearing not-so-good stories about some of the NCL ships, etc. I need your opinions, honest either good or bad, on NCL ships, food, entertainment, etc. Just so you know were are scheduled to be on Spirit but I would like thoughts on this one and others (particularly Pride of America as this is where we heard more of the bad opinions). We are going to be on sea days for 5 days straight on Spirit - will we get bored or are there enough things to keep us busy and if so, what do they have? Thanks, cruzbound

Hi jbcallender and all, So say the shows are only once a night at 8 PM on Spirit for our cruise, what time should we make our dinner reservations at to be able to catch the shows? I don't know how long it takes on NCL for dinner. There will be 4 or 6 of us at the table. I know on RC we normally do the 8 PM dinner time and are done by 9:30 PM (at the latest, this last cruise we did, we were done early than that a lot of the nights). Thanks, cruzbound

Hi, So hubby could wear a tropical shirt and nice shorts for dinner and he won't stick out or be underdressed? Thanks, cruzbound

Hi all Thanks for all the helpful information. I have another questions. I have been told that NCL is very informal for dinners. With that said do they have any official “formal” nights? Trying to see if the hubby needs t bring his suit or not. cruzbound

Thanks BirdTravels - very informative.

Thanks all for the answers on the drink package. They don't have a problem getting two drinks at a time - I just remember how it works on RC so I wanted to ask.

Hi All, I have a few questions regarding the drink package. So our friends got it on their reservation and we have four sea days in a row. I am sure they will be hanging at the pool with us most of the time (we don't drink) and I know of with Royal Caribbean people can get buckets of beer (like 6 at a time). Does NCL allow this on the drink package? Or do they allow one of them to go up and get two drinks (one for the wife or husband)? Do they only allow you to get drinks every so often - like once an hour, etc.? We have been on RC so much I know how their system works but never on NCL so I don't know their system and what to tell our friends. Any information would be helpful. I also have questions about leaving and returning to the ship on port days. So say the itinerary states we arrive at 8 AM - what is the normal time people can get off the ship? Say the leave time states 5 PM - what time do they say you need to be back on board? Can any tell me about their tendering process? We are tendering at one of the French Polynesian stops and we will have to get on the first tender - how do we make this possible? If we are in a port overnight - the next day, will we be able to get off the ship at any time (like even at 6 AM in the morning)? I am trying to plan excursions (on my own) and want to make sure there would be no hold-up on the second day we are in port as I would think that we would have gone through the custom check or whatever it is when we arrived the day before and nothing else would need to be done. We are going on NC Spirit - can anyone tell me what the shows on that ship are like? What are the timings for the shows - do they offer shows only once or twice a night? Sorry for all the questions but the website does not get this specific to answer these questions. So I am looking for you experienced NCL cruisers for insight. Thanks, cruzbound

Hi All, I have a few questions regarding the drink package. So our friends got it on their reservation and we have four sea days in a row. I am sure they will be hanging at the pool with us most of the time (we don't drink) and I know of with Royal Caribbean people can get buckets of beer (like 6 at a time). Does NCL allow this on the drink package? Or do they allow one of them to go up and get two drinks (one for the wife or husband)? Do they only allow you to get drinks every so often - like once an hour, etc.? We have been on RC so much I know how their system works but never on NCL so I don't know their system and what to tell our friends. Any information would be helpful - thanks. cruzbound

Cruise is not until September 15 but I will definitely get in and post afterwards and give you all my experience with this middle of the night disembarkation. If we go to the airport and get like a 6 am flight out of Papeete then it won’t be so bad but if we disembark in the middle of the night and they don’t get us a flight until like 10 pm or something I will not be happy having to sit in an airport for almost 24 hours.

Hi all. I really appreciate all the insight. We decided for a deviation so we will go in the day before so hopefully no issues with missing the ship. I will say the NC people are honest when they say they won’t separate people on flights that are in the same room but they can’t guarantee other travel companions in different rooms. We are a group of six and we could be on three separate flights. I am crossing my fingers bit not getting my hopes up. So having been loyal to Royal and on a ton of cruises with RC one thing I have never experienced is a huge itinerary change time. I have had it where they have adjusted our times at the stops by an hour early or late but that is it. I just looked at our itinerary online for this NC and on my itinerary they sent me it said we disembark at 8 am on the 27th and now online it say 12 midnight on the 27th. I have never heard of a cruise line expecting their passengers to get off in the middle of the dead night in a foreign island. Unbelievable and not get any sleep that night. Has anyone experienced this? Also how much does NC change their itinerary times? Thanks cruzbound

Thanks all - WOW, I guess we will probably go back to Royal Caribbean after this cruise as I know when you book air with them, they are responsible for getting you there on time. To have a program that they do not guarantee they will get you to the ship is completely crazy - especially when we have the transfer with them too. Our airport would be Metro Detroit in MI which I believe is decent size hub (probably not Chicago size but it is decent). I am waiting on our friends to see if they want to go in early and if they do, then we might just book the incoming flight ourselves and let NC get us home from Papeete.

Destar Are those specialty restaurants? Sorry for all the stupid questions but I know totally nothing about NC. Or are those the main sit down dining rooms? Thanks

Hi carohs What do you mean you get a credit? What type of credit for what? We are still six months out from the trip so we have time to make changes if it benefits us for sure Thanks

Thanks genealogyfan. This is helpful information. So just to confirm you say you don’t have to dress up for the sit down dinners. Anywhere even the specialty restaurants? What do you mean by not dress up? Can you wear shorts?

Thank you all for the responses. No need to answer on the wine question anymore please. Would love insight on dinner times, accommodations for picky eaters such as can I have them minus things from meals or change out a potato for a veggie, those type of things? Experience on flights booked thru NC. Are they responsible for making sure we get to the cruise in time? We booked air and shuttle thru them Thanks

I saw that about the beverage package but why would you bring wine when you have a beverage package. Makes no sense to me. The other line we use only charges a corkage fee if you bring it to the dining room. I guess that is why we use the other line. Anyone have any other info on my other questions and/or just insight to provide us since we have never been on this line. Thanks

Hi all We booked our first NC cruise. We smhave been on like 20 cruises but we have been loyal to ——. Don’t want to get in trouble for saying another cruise line name. Anyway we are going on Spirit and am hoping for information on NC in general. I know they don’t have the typical first and second dinner times so I was wondering what time of dinner reservations we should book if we want the chance to catch the shows? On our other cruises we usually take a late dining option bc we are dmscuba divers and don’t want to get back from excursions at 4 pm and have to rush to get ready for dinner. How is the food on NC? Do they accommodate picky eaters? How are the shows on NC? We booked the flight with NC also. Any positive or negative stories from using them? We are doing the Honolulu to Papeete cruise. By booking with them, they are responsible for making sure we get there before the ship leaves, right? In regards to the two bottles of wine per person. If we bring bottles they do not need to be opened with a corkscrew and we keep them in our room do they still charge the corking fee? Any other info/suggestions/insight would be very appreciated. Thanks cruzbound