brookie848

Yep...tendering is dicey in any situation. A couple of passengers have died while attempting to cross to the tender/vice versa. It is NOT something I would want to attempt with any sort of major mobility concerns. I know we're one of the few, but we greatly disliked GSC. We hated the tendering process and just weren't impressed by the whole thing (this was before the new area was finished). If we're ever on another cruise that stops there we will likely just enjoy the quiet ship.

The Escape. I've been on both ships twice. The Escape is a better all-around ship.

Thanks for this. We will be on board in two weeks. This is our third time sailing out of San Juan on NCL. The arrival information matches up with my plans -- I'm glad it worked for you.

Before or after yinz red up the kitchen?

Tip: Bring a travel-size baby powder with you. It helps remove the sand from your feet. And I'm enjoying your review -- it's keeping me entertained as I prep for our cruise in a few weeks. Plus, we're thinking of doing Viva next year, so it's nice to see additional perspectives of the Prima.

Did not realize that this was an option for us, even though we wouldn't normally buy this. The only time we considered it was in 2021 for a beach rental. My husband works for a hospital and rules were constantly changing about travel. In general, though, we would not "cancel for any reason" -- the reasons we've had for canceling fall under regular insurance coverage. So while it was a ton of paperwork, we didn't have any issues getting a refund.

Not if you live in New York.

In Antigua, BeachLimerz. Our favorite place to go -- we like it even better than Jost Van Dyke. https://www.beachlimerz.com/

I understand the logistics, but I seem to recall that show changes didn't take this long in the past. Going three to four months with only one show option on the Epic is not the greatest. I'm sure they'll have something else in the theater, but it won't be on the same level as Priscilla. The entertainment on the Epic is just lacking. The are only three things listed -- Burn the Floor, Howl and the Moon, and Cavern Club. That pales in comparison to my first trip on the ship which had Blue Man Group, Legends, and the Cirque show in the Spiegel Tent. Is the Spiegel Tent even being used any more? This is by no means a deal breaker for me, but it is a disappointment.

It is not listed for our cruise -- February 26. You would think that if they were bringing something new in it would be announced/available for cruises. You are sailing two weeks after us. I don't think it takes much longer than that to get a new show up and running.

I'm checking in for my brother this weekend. I have pictures of him and his passport. We are using the same emergency contact information and everything goes on one credit card. If you have her send this information to you she might not even need to be on the phone with you.

The funny part is many people book with travel agents so that the agents will take care of any issues...

Henry -- I'm really enjoying your review. I'm looking forward to being able to longer cruises like this in the hopefully near future. One question about upgrading the Internet -- do you have to upgrade both Person #1 and #2 in the cabin? Or can only one person upgrade? Looking online before the cruise it seems that both of us would have to upgrade. Of course I might be able to do upgrade only one of us if I call.

We will not do FAS+ -- not worth it for us. My husband doesn't drink and he hates Starbucks. While I do drink, we have enough onboard credit to cover anything that isn't on the regular drink package. In all of our cruises, we've only done one ship excursion -- so the excursion credit is a complete waste to us. And we also don't use all of our specialty dinners -- especially on the Epic. At this point anything we upgrade will be a la carte.

Thanks to both of you. I have a feeling he's going to want to video chat, but I will double check. We all have Verizon and I know I will be checking our islands with cell availability and make sure our international plan is turned out. The only issue with him talking to the kids while in port is that they will be in school -- especially since we will be on Atlantic time and one of our port times is short -- from 6:00 am to 1:00 pm. We will make it work, though. Thanks!

So when we cruise, we usually never use our Internet minutes except for maybe the last day to check in for our flight and make sure all is well there. However, this cruise my brother is traveling with us and his kids are staying home with his ex-wife. He is going to want to call/contact them via Facebook (however that is done). I'm assuming that means we are going to need to upgrade to the streaming package? And from what I've read here it might be best to do this on board since we can upgrade/get a discount using our Free at Sea Minutes and our Latitudes discount. We plan on paying for one device and putting it in my or my husband's name (since we are Platinum) and then just let him use our login. Is this the best/most logical plan?

The reason I love Antigua so much is we go to BeachLimerz. It is a short drive from port. When we went, they arranged the transportation for us. It was not crowded (I think the first time we were there there were less than 10 other people there). They have been the best beach days we've had. Here is their site. You can contact them about day passes. https://www.beachlimerz.com/

My favorite port!!!

We weren't on the repo cruise, but we embarked when you disembarked. That was an interesting cruise! No hotels in Puerto Rico -- they were either not up and running or housing relief workers. We ended up flying to Ft. Lauderdale and spending the night there before leaving on a 6:00 flight to San Juan. The cruise had the best vibe we've ever had on a ship. Because a lot of people had canceled, NCL offered really cheap fares to Puerto Ricans. They were so grateful to have a week of air conditioning, electricity, food and everything else they had been rationing for the past few months. There were huge family groups on the ship that dressed up every night and got photos. It was so much fun. But our itinerary changed as well. I know excursions were offered, but I'm not sure how many. We ended up in St. Thomas. We just ended up going downtown and spending money we normally wouldn't spend in town to help the people recover. So if ports change, NCL will try to have some options in place.

Thanks! And we have no issue if our driver wants to return for us. We're looking forward to our visit!

@reedprincess We will be back in St. Lucia at the beginning of March and we have one of those weird port times -- not getting in until 1:00. You gave us great advice last time we visited when we wanted to rent a catamaran for the day (thanks!). A couple of questions about Vigie Beach -- will we be able to find a cab there for the trip back to the port? I know we can walk, but I'm post-foot surgery (I do not recommend breaking five bones in your foot) and I'm not sure if I want to walk that far. How late will the restaurants/bars be open?

We really enjoyed Romney Manor in St. Kitts. Beautiful garden and you can watch them make batik there (and then maybe buy some!). That is where Caribelle Batik is located. I believe they also offer a bar. That is what we plan on doing when we go to St. Kitts on our next cruise. We have lots of beautiful photos from when we were there between the plants and the batik hanging to dry. I'm looking forward to going back.

Hello! We have decided to visit Reflexions when we are on our cruise next month. Does anyone know how much taxi fare would be from the cruise port to Reflexions or can direct me to a site with taxi fares listed? I tried searching, but didn't find anything helpful. Thanks!

Thanks everyone! This is helpful.

It's been a while since we've cruised. Can someone remind me what we will need in order to do the online check-in for our cruise? Will we need our passport numbers? What about a photo? I plan on doing the check in for all of us in our cabin the day it opens up and I want to make sure I have everything that I might need.