brookie848

I had a facial on our cruise a month ago and was pleasantly surprised by the zero upselling. So I don't know if that was a anomaly or if they have gotten away from those tactics.

I agree with this. I tried a lot of things before taking generic bonine on my last cruise. It was my first cruise (after seven previous ones) where I didn't wish for death because of sea sickness. Bonus points for being able to take it with alcohol and it not making me sleepy.

A few years ago my husband was not eating a lot of meat for health reasons and he ordered the mac & cheese in the Haven one night. It was actually pretty good. Definitely worth a try if you are missing it from the regular menu.

It's gray and depressing here in Albany, but I wouldn't think there would be anything too interesting happening in NYC to cause delays. Have a safe second flight!

We were on the Epic a few weeks ago and our fruit bowl was sad as well. It was never refilled unless we requested something (our M&Ms and beverages in the fridge were never refilled, either). We also had a succulent instead of fresh flowers. I was really looking forward to the flowers since we haven't had any in our house in over three years and I miss them. My husband had a kidney transplant and fresh flowers in the house are one of the things that are technically illegal for him.

I haven't been in one of the new ones yet, but my husband went in one on one of our trips to/from the Finger Lakes last year. He said it was a nightmare -- he had to wait to use a urinal. It boggles my mind that they made them so much smaller. And there are a LOT of buses that use the Thruway. I can only imagine what is going to happen when a MegaBus and a tour bus converge on one of these at the same time. And it ticks me off that they put Chick Fil A in them. Do not put a restaurant that is closed on Sunday in a place that needs to be open on Sunday.

Nope. Didn't have to watch the video for our February cruise.

@CTCruiser001 I've really enjoyed your review this week. We were in the Haven on the Epic a few weeks ago. It was our first cruise since 2019. Of course we noticed some differences, but we enjoyed the trip. One thing I'm curious about is the snacks/butler service you received in the Haven. On previous cruises we would receive 2-3 plates of snacks every afternoon (for three people). On this cruise we only received one -- and they were a bit sad (one sandwich with no chips, four pieces of chocolate, etc.). Our M&Ms were full when we embarked, but were never refilled. We requested cookies every day, but we never got them unless we made a specific request for that day. Our orange juice and tea in the fridge were never refilled. I'm just wondering if this was a butler issue or if this is more of a general cutback. Regardless, we had a nice time. We just felt that the vibe was different on this trip. And as an FYI, we never requested room service or in-suite dining. We are pretty low-key overall.

When we sailed a few weeks ago, neither were required. If there is any sort of requirement, it is now port-based.

Definitely saw it a few weeks ago on the Epic at the Pool Bar -- it was insanity. And this wasn't on a sea day.

When we changed passengers last year right before final payment, our PCC re-priced the cruise for us because prices went down. Somewhere along the way, we got an extra point for each nights Latitudes-wise, too. It can be done pretty simply, but I'm sure throwing the airfare into the mix may cause some hiccups.

We used AirTags on our cruise a few weeks ago and had zero issues tracking our luggage. To the OP -- good luck to you. As mentioned above, we always, always cross-pack just in case something doesn't make it. It can be a bit of a pain, but I'm always glad we do it.

As an FYI, we ate at Cagney's twice on the Epic a couple of weeks ago and our meals were good. My husband and I had the filet mignon both times and they came out cooked perfectly and really tender. My brother had a filet once and the pork chops the other time -- he said both were good as well. I will say that all the meat we had was really good. We even thoroughly enjoyed Moderno, where we are usually disappointed. The filet there just melted in our mouths. Honestly, the only reason we chose to eat at Moderno is because my brother was with us and we knew he would like it. My husband and I expected to be disappointed, but were really surprised! It may be that Epic is getting their supplies from a different source since they are sailing from Puerto Rico and not visiting the continental US.

@Greenpea2Can you tell me your cabin number? We just booked the Viva today in a 2-bedroom and I'm curious about your balcony pictures. I'm only part-way through your threat because we were on the Epic the same week you were on the Prima, but I'm really enjoying your insights, especially about the Haven. We know Viva is going to be a different experience.

Only orange juice and water. No coffee or snacks. This is not the Miami terminal. 😁

We were on the February 26 cruise. We got to the port around 10 to avoid any traffic. We were in the Haven and sat in the designated waiting area. The ship did not start boarding until after 11:00. The waiting area inside was full. I'm not sure if there were lines outside at that point or not.

Deleted because I posted too soon!

Very late to this, but we were on the Epic and I looked for the Getaway and was disappointed not to see it in St. Lucia. The only ships in the main port that day were us at the main port and Mein Schiff 2 parked across the way in the industrial port.

@cruiseny4life Viva has an interesting itinerary out of San Juan next year -- no sea days (I don't know if that is good or bad). We could fly out of ALB and hang out in the Haven together!

I likely will not be following live (we are on the Epic starting on Sunday), but I am DEFINITELY interested in a Haven-heavy review. We're thinking of booking the Viva for next year and I would love to hear what you think of the Prima Haven. My husband pretty much refuses to NOT sail in a suite, which since it is his job to pay (any my job to plan), I'm okay with that decision. And I do understand the sadness of your friend not being able to cruise with you. Our friend who usually stays in the second bedroom with us had to bow out this year as well. We're going to miss her, but my brother is coming as her replacement -- it's his first cruise and I'm curious about how many last-minute panic questions I'm going to get today (we live in different states).

Looking forward to reading this one! I'll likely be late actually reading about your cruise. We sail Sunday on the Epic. We do have Unlimited WiFi, but that's mainly for my brother to stay in touch with people back home. I don't know how much I'll actually spend online. But are we maybe both in St. Lucia on Friday?

And I'm just now catching up! There's our hotel where we will be staying next weekend.

When we visited St. Kitts we did a private tour that drove us around the entire island. We learned a lot, including the fact that St. Kitts is basically the education hub of the Caribbean. There are a lot of different schools/colleges there. We also saw lots of monkeys. The train ride looks great. We're going to St. Kitts again in a couple of weeks and I looked at the train ride, but decided against it for this trip. It's the last day of the cruise for us (no sea day before we disembark) and we don't want to be too busy that day.

We've been on partially chartered cruises and I was not a fan. First of all, you will often have a bunch of people who have never cruised before, so there is a huge learning curve of "normal" or "acceptable" cruise behavior. And venues do get closed down. Our meet & greet was moved to a really weird place/time on that cruise. While some of the people on the cruise were cool, a lot of the people in charge were really rude. I actually "yelled" at two of them. We were on the Dawn, doing a martini tasting at Gatsby's. If you've ever done one of these you know that you pay for it and part of the experience is listening to the person running the tasting teach you about the drinks/history. That's one of the reasons we're there. Two guys were standing right behind us near the entrance to Le Bistro, where their group was holding some sort of event. They were talking LOUDLY right while the bartender is doing his class. After 5-10 minutes, I turned around and told them they were too loud and to go somewhere else and not to disturb us. I got visual high-fives from the other people in the class who were annoyed by them as well. If you can, find out what kind of charter it is and make a decision from there.

Someone on the NCL board posted a 36-page pdf ofNCL_Beverage_List.pdf drinks available -- not on all ship or in all bars, but you can take a look.