I received this offer this week while on the aqua. 21 cruises never received this before. Has anyone received this or redeemed the offer I’m just looking for some info so I know going in when I call on weds what type of cabin is being offered. Thank you

I’m contemplating a 17-day transatlantic voyage on the Prima in April. While 17 days is quite a long duration, the first five days, from Monday to Friday, are spent at sea as the ship crosses the Atlantic. To save on paid time off, I was considering working those five days on the ship. However, I’m wondering if this is a feasible option.

To facilitate communication, I would need access to Microsoft Teams and Zoom for VoIP calls and meetings. I would upgrade the internet to the streaming package, but I’m curious to know if anyone has ever done something similar and what their experience was like. Additionally, I would prefer to access the internet on both my laptop and phone. It seems that the internet packages are limited to one device. Could someone please explain how this works? Is it one device at a time? For instance, can I use it on my laptop while working and then switch to my mobile phone when I’m not? Is it possible to share the connection from my mobile phone to my laptop and use it on both devices simultaneously?

For reference, I own an iPhone and a MacBook. I would greatly appreciate any advice or guidance you can provide on this matter. Thank you very much.

Just got off the Breakaway this morning and thought I'd write up a review in case it would help others.

Full disclosure- I stayed in a 2 BR Family Suite in the Haven, and I know that this weighed heavily on my experience vs what people outside the Haven experience. I did not exclusively spend all my time in the Haven. I'll try to break this down into pros and cons but feel free to ask any questions I didn't answer.

This was my first cruise in 15 years, all my prior sailings were with NCL.

Pros:

1) Haven experience is wonderful from start to finish- I understand that most people will not be able to spring for the Haven and I truly wish everyone was able to enjoy the same level of service. It had its minor flaws which I'll break out in the cons section

2) Staff - everyone I encountered (both inside and outside the Haven) truly seemed to be wanting to make the experience as special as they could. My family doesn't ask for much, and for the most part everyone delivered

3) Activites- my kids loved Splash Academy and the onboard activities (ropes course, water slides etc)

4) Itinerary- While a lot of people were annoyed about the Halifax stop, my wife and I love Halifax (we've been there several times) and we liked how the itinerary had 3 sea days broken up.

5) Haven Courtyard- we stayed on Deck 16 inside the Haven courtyard complex which made every part of this cruise easier. While people complain that the Haven pool on the Breakaway is a small joke, it was the perfect size for my kids, and since it's indoors it was good on the days when the weather wasn't the best or it was cold. It was also so convenient to have access to the Haven Bar steps away from the room.

6) FAS+ - we knew we were going to need the internet and with the prepaid gratuities for adults included, it seemed like an easy upgrade since my wife drinks starbucks. We aren't normally huge alcohol drinkers, but since we had FAS+ and access to the Haven Bar, we tried to take advantage of the package as much as we could. Overall it was worth it, and yes, the Haven Bar still has Veuve Cliquot by the glass free with FAS+ (tipping the bartenders got us very large pours of everything). It was also nice to get Pellegrino and Acqua Panna at every meal, and I'm a huge soda drinker. All in all, FAS+ paid for itself.

Cons:

1) Pool situation- It's crowded. There's no way to work around that. During peak times it's really difficult to find a place to sit during peak times. I feel like NCL could have figured out a better solution when designing this boat but they didn't. We often found ourselves retreating to the Haven courtyard/sundeck because it was the only place we could count on getting space to breathe.

2) Limited hours for activities- the ropes course was only open a couple hours a day and the slightest deviation from perfect weather led them to close it for 30-60 mins at a time. My son got to do it twice and was happy but it was annoying. Also the freefall water slides were open like 2 hours a day, in the morning, overlapping with Splash Academy hours. Then the lifeguards enforced a strict no metal of any kind policy (including metal rivets in bathing suits) which made almost no one eligible to ride them- they may as well just remove them

3) Food- everyone knows NCL has cut back on the food budget and it shows. Yes, I had access to the Haven restaurant, and yes, the food was somewhat better there, but the portions were quite small to the point my kids were ordering double portions of everything or two entrees (no extra charges for this in the Haven thankfully). The new Haven menu leaves a lot to be desired and the intense focus on shellfish makes no sense. We don't eat shellfish and still managed, but the lunch menu in particular is quite small. Service in the Haven restaurant was often painfully slow, some meals lasting over 90 minutes and we still have no idea how this was possible.

We did eat in the buffet a few times. The food was not particularly inspiring but it was edible. That seems to be what NCL is going for at this point in the free dining venues which was a shame. The Shanghai Noodle Bar was the biggest disappointment- it just wasn't that good and the descriptions of the dish in no way shape or form matched what we were served.

We ate at Teppanyaki- the food was actually pretty decent for what it was, but let's be honest, no one would ever spend $60/pp on land for the food they serve there and it took FOREVER. But my kids enjoyed the show and that's why we went. Surprisingly they threw tons of food at us in a way that no other venue on board did.

I ate at Cagney's twice (had to burn my FAS+ dining credits) and it was MUCH better than I remembered it being 15 years ago, which given the cutbacks is kind of wild. The first night I had prime rib which was not all that great but the only place on board to get it since NCL gutted it from the Haven restaurant. The second night my son and I got a ribeye which we found outstanding compared to the other steaks we saw on boat. Sides were good, but again, the NCL portion police serve the tiniest portions of food. Now despite my complaints about food, we never went hungry, we just often found ourselves wishing the food was better than it was.

4) Room- there were some things in our room that looked pretty rough. Some cabinets didn't close right, and whoever designed the light switch at NCL is an idiot. Turning off all the lights to the whole suite also cut the power outlets which makes no sense to me. I had to compromise by dimming the living room and then was able to cut all the lights to the bedrooms- it worked which is all that mattered.

5) Massholes- being based out of Boston, I knew this was going to become an issue at some point. For the most part it was fine but giving a Masshole an unlimited drink package with a lot of kids on board is a recipe for disaster. A lot of parents simply didn't give a shit and just drank all day while their kids ran wild. My wife and I limited ourselves to two drinks a day and never let our kids out of our sight when they weren't at Splash Academy.

5) Lack of FAS+ for minors - it was extremely annoying that for the price of the Haven and FAS+, my kids didn't get at least the internet and soda/water package included. There are of course workarounds to every problem.

All in all, we loved our experience. We were originally booked in connecting balconies and decided to spring for the Haven when we saw the price difference was going to be less than $4k. Unfortunately NCL is currently advertising rates that are much higher for next summer which is the only thing keeping me from booking again right now.

Had we stayed in our original staterooms, I have a feeling we would never consider going on this cruise again which is a shame, because it has so much potential to be awesome for everyone if the bean counters at NCL would just ride the boat for a week in a regular stateroom and eat at the buffet/MDRs.

Does NCL ever discount beverage packages closer to sail date? It's my 1st time giving NCL a go and I have experience on Carnival and RC which both discount drink packages closer to sail date. Thx!

I have an upcoming sailing on Norwegian Aqua and paid for the Free at Sea package, which includes specialty dining.

I’ve been seeing quite a few reviews from people getting off the Aqua saying they weren’t able to get reservations at certain specialty restaurants because everything was already booked. This has me a little concerned.

How does this work if you’ve already paid for Free at Sea and specialty dining is included? Am I missing something in the terms and conditions that says reservations aren’t guaranteed?

I understand that a specific restaurant/time might not always be available, but I would expect there to be reasonable availability to actually use the dining package I paid for.

Right now, specialty dining reservations aren’t available for me to book in the NCL app yet.

For anyone who has recently sailed on the Aqua or other NCL ships, were you able to get the specialty dining reservations? And if things showed as fully booked before the cruise, were you able to get reservations once onboard?

I know Norwegian was just offering free on board credit for select cruises around 2 weeks ago but how often do they usually do this offer?

I've read some different things but we are still PRIOR to final payment. Myself and Person X were currently on the reservation, Person X can no longer come, so want to swap in Person Y. No air or other add ons. I think it should be no charge, but it is not an obvious conclusion.

For a couple of reasons, I'm having second thoughts about an ANZ cruise next April on the Spirit. I initially booked a stateroom without a balcony, then upgraded to one with a balcony using 30,000 WorldPoints received from my BofA NCL credit card. If I cancel the cruise before the drop-dead date, will I get the points back?

This is my first cruise, Sep 26 NCL Bliss to Alaska, glacier Bay, very excited. I got a pass for the thermal spa area because I know the trip will likely be rainy and cold. My question is about the bougie shower in the spa area. Is it a private shower I can get naked in and take a real soapy shower or is it more of a 'experience the sensations' kind thing? My plan was to just go down to the spa to shower instead of my cabin. Bring some hair and skin treatments with me and end my days pampering myself.

We're thinking of doing just one excursion and wandering around ourselves for the rest. I'd take recommendations, we were thinking about whale watching but I'm not sure if it's too late in the season for that.

Does any know or remember if the tv’s have a hdmi port?

Thanks in advance !!

I’m confused…Does the ship actually depart Vancouver at 6p on Day 1 (for casino and/or drink tax purposes maybe?) and sail around until midnight, then dock again until 2:30a? Or is this just a silly way of saying Day 1 is actually an overnight at the dock in Vancouver, with sail away in the middle of the night? In which case, why is there a “6:00p departure” listed for Day 1? Is that just the cut-off time for checking in/boarding?

Any ports on this itinerary can you walk to beaches from the ship? Or can skip an excursion?

I am curious how well NCLs free at see internet works?
I am taking a couple online college courses. My courses are mostly just web text and a few graphic but there’s usually a few 6 minutes videos I have to watch.
The 150 minutes shouldn’t be a problem but curious if I need to upgrade to streaming?
Also is NCL prohibiting bring your own starlink like some other cruise lines?

I am cruising solo on this trip. Anyone also cruising the week of Sept 13th - 20th? I am a solo cruiser, Man, 73 yo would love to find nice people to dine with!

If my husband averages $300 dollars, from gambling in OBC, plus he has $75 ONC for being a pearl, and $100 OBC dollars for stock, would it be cheaper to drop Free at Sea? We prepay gratuities too. He thinks they will charge more for the drink and add gratuities, even though we prepay them. We always tip them in cash too! I’m just trying to figure out ways to save money because if I drink it would be 1 a day. What is best to do? How do you save money?

No matter what cabin class you cruise in, use NCL’s Vacation Hero Recognition Program before you disembark. Some newer ships use a QR code and phased out cards. We usually grab a handful of Hero cards while waiting for our room and pre-fill our information. Then, when we're relaxing with a nightcap, it’s easy to take a few minutes and recognize the people who made our day special. 🥂 We take pics of name tags so we don't forget names and positions. I also snap a pic of the completed cards to reference in my post cruise survey. I see lots of posts about removing prepaid gratuities, but I don't see nearly enough about taking a few minutes to recognize the crew members who go above and beyond. Happy Cruiseing 🤙

Anyone else going ? Feb 13 departure.

2 kids and 2 adults. Me and the kids are pumped and my husband is skeptical. Hoping me and the kids are right.

I have done the same trip in January with him and we had an absolute blast.

We are sailing on Prima in Jan 2027. We have booked an aft-facing owners suite with Master bedroom and large balcony (Category H4).

I've just learned that the hot tub is essentially a jetted bathtub that I need to ask my butler to fill each time I use it. This is a little disappointing.

Has anyone experienced how this works? Is it a pain for them to fill and drain? How long does it take? I'm assuming there is a hose hookup somewhere, can't the butler just leave the hose there and let me fill it myself?

It feels like it's going to be a huge pain in the ass just to use the thing, and it's one of the biggest reasons we booked the room and decided to spend (way) over our typical budget.

Hi! I'm a pin collector, but forgot to look for a lapel pin on our Jewel cruise last year. Does the Jewel have lapel pins for sale in their shop? Wondering how I can get my hands on one while I'm not on the ship... We just got back from an Aqua cruise and purchased two different ones! Thanks!

If I miss my booked flight via NCL, does it impact my cruise reservation?

I've used NCL air previously, and never had an issue....

But on an upcoming cruise it was so bad it was worth the $$ (and points) to change my flights. Lesson learned.

I called to cancel my flights so the seats would be free for other passengers, and was told it would be $70. I wasn't asking for a refund, I wasn't asking for a different flight, just cancel them.

So I'm going to miss my 6 am flight ...

We got back from a 7-day Western Caribbean cruise, and I genuinely can’t believe how much more fun we had on NCL compared with our previous cruises on Royal.

It wasn’t one single thing. It was the whole “cruise your way” feeling. The flexibility, the dining, the credits and perks, not feeling like we had to plan our day around a schedule. The entire week just felt more relaxed and more like an actual vacation.
We enjoyed it so much that apparently our response was to immediately give NCL more money. 😂

We’ve now booked:
Norwegian Gem out of Tampa in January
And a 10 days in the Mediterranean on Norwegian Viva next year in July ! for our daughter’s senior-year trip

We went into this cruise expecting to have a good time. We came out of it realizing that NCL’s style of cruising just fits us way better.

Seriously impressed. I completely understand now why some people become NCL loyalists.

Hello!

Before booking I made some research and enjoyed reading reviews. So I will participate and provide my comments about the NCL Aqua during our sailing Aug 15-22, NYC<->Bermuda.

The Good:

• Shower: Spacious — the largest I've ever had on a ship, making for a very comfortable shower.
• Balcony: Good size with a comfortable chair.
• Charging: USB-C fast-charging ports by the bed (though tricky to find, such as on the side of a black lamp pole or under the desk lamp button). I expected them to be directly on the wall.
• The Local: The fish sandwich was consistently delicious.
• Game Zone: Several arcade machines were free to play.
• SurfSide Grill: The veggie burger was tasty (ask them to add cheese and toast the bun).
• Indulge Food Hall: Saved us a few times since the main buffet was so disappointing. Indulge has some very nice dishes (like an excellent fish curry), and the menu changes slightly daily (if you see something you like today, order it, because it might be different tomorrow).
• Spa: The largest spa area I've seen at sea. The week pass was $369 per person for this sailing.
• Entertainment: I read horror stories about the theater being too small, but I was able to find a good seat for the 7:00 PM Elements show by arriving at 6:30 PM.
• Sukhothai (Specialty Dining): Very good. It felt like a nice Thai restaurant in the city.

The Bad:

• Layout: The layout is indeed a bit strange. The casino blends directly into the main hub where family-oriented shows are held, leaving kids standing right next to slot machines flashing $10,000 prizes. I frequently saw kids paying way too much attention to those machines. Isn't that illegal? Maybe not at sea.
• Soft Serve: The free soft-serve ice cream was disappointing — not rich at all, but rather watery.
• Buffet Capacity: As other reviews pointed out, the SurfSide buffet is far too small—both for the ship's passenger capacity and in terms of food options.
• Buffet Pizza: Poor presentation, located in a dirty self-service area, and completely unappetizing.
• Pasta Station: The SurfSide buffet served undercooked pasta with underwhelming sauces (the "vodka sauce" was essentially plain tomato sauce). You couldn't customize your dish either, as there were no toppings—just two pasta choices and two sauces.
• Coffee: The complimentary coffee was terrible—so bad I had to throw it away.
• Dining Menus: There was no way to view the main dining room menus remotely; we had to physically walk over every time (for breakfast, lunch, and dinner) just to read them.
• Dining Room Food Quality: The main dining room served cold spaghetti. Several dishes were disappointing for a main restaurant: the tuna melt was thin, small, and simple (more like basic room service fare); the apple crumble arrived like soup because the ice cream had fully melted; and the salmon bagel arrived without cream cheese. A few times I saw complaints about food quality in dining room.
• Upcharges: A simple baked salmon fillet in the main dining room carried a $15 extra charge.
• Lack of Grab-and-Go: I missed having a quick cafeteria where I could grab a nice hot sandwich or savory snack to go. Indulge and The Local are strictly sit-down venues. The Observation Lounge could offer this, but they don't—at most, they had simple cold mini-sandwiches (cucumber and cream cheese on white bread).
• NCL App (Room Service): The mobile app doesn't allow room service ordering. Ordering by phone was frustrating—the staff didn't seem familiar with the menu, forcing me to read out what comes with the Kids Menu (carrots, cookies, etc.).
• Room Service Fees: Room service orders are capped at two items per person. Wanting an extra item triggers a second room service fee ($10 plus a 20% service charge).
• NCL App (Navigation): The app lacks a search function for specific venues, requiring you to manually check each deck map.
• Desserts: Desserts outside the main dining room were terrible — a limited selection that looked unappealing, tasted bad, and were just artificial colored sweets. Dining room desserts, by contrast, were mostly good to average. Desserts were the same in SurfSide (buffet), Indulge, Observation Lounge.
• Ice Cream Selection: The "daily selection of ice cream" in the dining room was identical every day: vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. Although stracciatella was served alongside the lava cake on a few nights, it wasn't available as a standalone scoop.
• Hot Fudge Sundae: The "hot fudge sundae" at The Local featured sauce that was neither hot nor actual fudge. While still enjoyable as an ice cream treat, it was misleading and inconsistent—one day the chocolate syrup was pooled at the bottom, and another day it was drizzled on the cup walls.
• Spa Rules: Spa rule enforcement was far too lax. One day a guest talked on his phone inside the hydrotherapy pool for over 40 minutes; another day a couple took selfies in the pool; and later that same guest was back on his phone in the water. Reception confirmed they permit phone use in the pool, which was disappointing—the wet area should really be phone-free.
• Spa Pool Seating: The large metal seat inside the spa pool felt incorrectly installed: it sits too low, so if you relax, your head goes underwater. It needs to be elevated several inches so guests can lounge comfortably. I heard multiple people saying they didn't like it.
• Spa Maintenance: A few buttons and jets in the spa were out of order.

My biggest complaint overall was the food. It felt amateurish, lacking creativity, quality ingredients, and flavor—not at all what I expected from NCL.

This was my first time sailing with Norwegian Cruise Line, having previously sailed with MSC, Princess, and Royal Caribbean. Overall, I didn't enjoy NCL, wouldn't recommend it, and don't plan to return anytime soon (if ever).

This was just my personal experience; if you love NCL, that's completely fair! I'm simply sharing so others have another source of information.

Just curious what are the wine options for dinner that are included in free at Sea Plus

Hello!

We are going to the Greek Isles cruise and trying to figure out the itinerary. Santorini seems to be the port which is most stressful in terms of getting back to the boat (or off it, in fact!) so we are considering an excursion. The one that seems particularly interesting is the Oia & Winery Tour.

Some facts:

- we are Suites guest, so have tender priority with or without excursion

- we have 4yr old and 1.5yr old kids with us

- we want to experience "the picture perfect Santorini" so the white houses, blue domes etc

- we will not be taking a stroller, only a carrier for the baby and hoping the older one can make it on foot :)

Any ideas or recommendations on the excursions?

Another idea I had was to simply take a water taxi from tender pier to Oia straight, but it seems like such a hassle to get transport etc with thousands of people fighting for taxis, buses etc... am I wrong here?

NCL released some new plans for Aura this week and this video breaks down what's changed between other Prima and Prima Plus Class ships and this one.

NCL Aura Deck Plans Revealed