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Hard to say. I do believe as suggested that it depends on the ship. These choices are simply up to the individuals and are highly dependent on crew, passenger demographics and ports. You already have some established preferences. Chances are they will not change. My intent as nit to change anyone's preference. I can understand some of the things you have indicated as better on RCI For me at the end of the day overall my preference is the NCL offering.

BTW I have cruised a couple of times on Carnival and had a good time on those occasions. That being said it ranks well below RCI and NCL.

No Chops on the Explorer. I Guarantee we would have found it. the did offer some additional charge entrees in the MDR for some Chops offerings ...$30 for chops steak and lobster.

What is nice about this thread is there is no bashing. This is not full of NCL zealots ...just a bunch of people stating a preference. In my opinion if you like RCI you will not be totally disappointed with the Jade. The Jewel class ships are really nice. While they have elements of free style like dinning choices, the entertainment is similar in the main venues. Shows of some sort every night. Not the big productions like on NCL or RCI mega ships. My favourite cruise was on the Gem, sister ship to the Jade. I hope you enjoy your first cruise on NCL. No cruise is a bad cruise but there will be differences both good and not so good. In my opinion never enough to ruin your vacation. Just go with the freestyle flow and you will be fine.

I do not remember seeing an Asian option on EOS.

I thought I read that the second cruise is on the SKY and short duration. Also it does jot cover all passengers. The number of passengers us dependent the cabin category.

I booked the Breakaway in September during the free UDP and UBP offer. Right now with this deal the same cabin is about $200 cheaper but includes the extra cruise for 3 or 4 days on the Sky. So far, I am better off with my current deal.

True we were not greeted upon return to the ship on Port days either.. Again does not ruin a vacation but sure is nice!

On EOS there were 2 dining options. Portofinos and Johnny Rockets. I believe she will get a few more specialty restaurants when she is refurbished. We went to Johnny Rockets and passes on Portofinos.The burger was good but not great and because we were the only people in the place for all but the first 5 minutes of our meal the fun aspects were just not as fun as they should have been. The only other food choices were the MDR, Buffet and a small cafe in the promenade that served small sandwiches, limited pizza slice choices and some sweets. Pizza was never visible ..to minimize people choosing it. We pretty much stuck to the main dining room. food was good not great and after a few days meals were pretty much repetitive. This did not turn me off the cruise. It simply was not what I was used to and not preferred over NCL. I think it is good to check out other offerings. It certainly made me appreciate what NCL offers. On the other hand I certainly understand that there are others who Prefer the RCI offering. To each his own.

My daughter and I just returned from a 9 day cruise on Explorer of the Seas. While we enjoyed ourselves it was just missing something. I am not complaining we did enjoy ourselves. The best way to describe it is this cruise was missing the easy rhythm of an NCL Cruise. Good thing I brought my books with me because we often found ourselves with nothing of interest to do.

Pros on EOS: nice cabins, beautiful large pool areas, funky soda machines Cons| limited choices for dinning, buffet had no variety, shopping was rediculous with overkill tactics in the promenade nightly, debarkation and embarkation madness at Port Liberty.

We missed: Freestyle Dinning, Specialty Dining and O'Sheehans, quality of musicians, friendliness of staff, nightly parties and overall quality of Cruise Director and Staff.

For the right deal I would not exclude RCI from possibilities. However, I will look first to NCL.

Thanks all for your comments and personal preferences. Like many I have always leaned towards early. I think this time I am going to live on the wild side and do a later boarding! Maybe not as late as suggested but late.

I was at one point considering a sprint to the excursion desk for a Cabana on Labadee but have since decided for only 2 people the price is too steep.

By nature I am a pretty compliant person. So my natural inclination is to do as RCL suggests. I am not opposed to showing up 2. Personally the worst part of the cruise is waiting around for Muster drill and navigating through that first meal experience. So,if the crowds will not be too bad, I am thinking I could wait!

Looked at my cruise documents and RCL actually makes recommendations on boarding times. This is my first time on RCL and I do not recall on any other cruise being given these recommendations. Anyway..we are on deck 2 and the recommendation is to arrive at the pier is 2pm. We will be on the Explorer from Cape Liberty. I do not have a great need to board the ship super early. This strikes me as super late. What will the crowds be like in the terminal at 2:00pm?

We will be happy to spend some time at Jersey Garden Mall and board late....just do not want to arrive to chaos.

What are the shows in the theatre on the Explorer. Ihave not seen them described before

Thanks...I am glad that my interpretation is correct. Bringing wine onboard on NCL is a fee regardless of where you drink it!

If I drink my wine in the cabin......do I have to pay the corkage fee. reading the policy I interpret it to be no!

Risk of delays of early morning flights are less than at other times. Generally the plane has overnighted in Toronto and you do not have to rely on the plane coming in from other locations. The chance are very good the flight will take off from Toronto on time. there may be weather in FLL but I would say again early in the morning in FLL is much lowere risk than later in the day. If there are delays I landing etc. I believe there is plenty of buffer time in terms of landing late!

weather delays in U.S are very common becuase of the way planes are routed. They often hop from city to city and bad weather can occur in many places. the whole grid gets back-Up and often you can experience travel,delays even when the weather is fine where you are. less risk with AC flights from Toronto where the planes tend to fly back and forth to U .S destinations non stop.

I do this all the time and rarely have problems with AC flights. However, avoid those flights with a changeover in Altanta from some of the US Airlines. they are a bigger risk.

Take a look at the West Jest flights. The service is very good and they do not charge for luggage! I would take West Jey over AC everytime ....with the exception that AC has more flight choices and if there is a delay you have better options.

I would take the 6:30am AC flight. In my opinion very low risk!

Yes this month for me too! April 24 on Explorer With Easter just before we go the 20 or so days actually only works out to about 12 working days left. Time too start packing!

I have an unusual situation. I booked a Haven pet he's stedurngthe free UDP and UBP promote. The value of this for us is about $1500..a little less but not by much. I also have an after cruise rebate of up to $500 upon presentation of receipts after leaving the cruise.

That is a lot to give up and the Haven prices would have to go own a great deal to make it financially worth my while. I feel we would have used the programs offered and we will get full from the programs. I cannot imagine a scenario where it will be cost effective to cancell and rebook at a much cheaper rate. Too much to lose and not enough to gain. That being said I continue to watch Haven prices..so far it would be the same price to book my cabin category and that does not include those promotions!

Same thing happened to me except I was trying to view them on my ipad. When I accessed the docs on my regular computer they opened right away!

I signed for my 19 year old daughter and she was able to drink wine and beer on the cruise. No hard liquor and they cannot buy beer buckets...just one at a time. She is legal in Canada and there was no reason not to sign. She went to the SPA daily, sunned at H2O, many of the shows...lost a few dollars with me at the Casino and enjoyed all the meals at the specialty restaurants. She went to a few of the parties, watched the game shows and surprisingly sang a few songs at Kareoke (who knew). She did not look for people her age. She seemed happy to vacation with Mom. We are heading out April 24 for a 9 day cruise...just the 2 of us. Oh and she slept in a few days until noon!

So we have opted for our first suite in the Haven on September 7. We have free UDP for 2 of us and free UBP for all of us (3) in the cabin. I purchased the third UDP so that we would all have the same ability to take full advantage of the offer. My question has to do with gratuities on these programs. We had UBP plan once before and the slip we signed always detailed the drinks charges, gratuities and left room for an additional tip. Does the free UBP cover gratuities and does the crew receive compensation for these free programs?

I have travelled as a single mom with my 2 kids. they are now 20 and almost 18. I have always travelled with their birth certificates and in recent year passports. I have never been asked even once about parental permission to travel with them either getting on any ship or through customs leaving Canada to the U.S. Not once! I was always prepared but never ever asked!

I was on the Epic in early December long after Slam left for the Breakaway. Fat Cats was being used for trivia and often was empty at night. I am not so sure they found a replacement on the Epic. I will be on the Breakaway in September...by then we will be able to assess just how seriously NCL took it!

I never purchase..I am willing to risk certain things and absorb on my own dollar. that being said I do have medical emergency coverage including medical if there is a medical emergency so there is no need to purchase more. That for me is the important coverage..the rest whatever might happen I am prepared to take that financial risk

If the CYB brings drinks and there is an auto gratuity of 15% ...who gets that gratuity? I am going to assume the CYB. So unless the service is extra ordinary why would we tip additional. I can understand if they bring a meal..$5 per useage makes perfect sense unless of course they also get a cut of the DSC? I too am in my first suite. I am paying a premium to be in a suite. I understand that the Butler and Concierge are not included in the DSC. I was under the impression all others were included. Either through DSC or auto gratuities. I have no issue rewarding extra to those who provide excellent service and will do so. It is my choice. I just believe that I should not tip twice as a rule if they already are getting one!

I leave on April 24 on the Exporer. Do Cruise documents matter? I was able to print the Set Sail Passes. When I try to download the Cruise Documents it tells me I opted to receive electronically and that they will send me email notification when they are ready! On the roll call many people are indicating they got their documents already.

I was not going to worry as I have the Set Sail Pass.