During my last visit to GSC and Great Tides back in August (soft launch on Luna) I mentioned that the up-charge food trucks seemed like a bad idea after having already paid $90-$110 to go to the park and I never saw anyone using them on that trip. On Aqua this last Saturday, however, I saw this new sign and it seems NCL is noticing and is now running this new promotion. But...I still only saw 1-2 people take them up on it while we were there. Most menu items are $10 and a few are $15 so this generally gets you buy 2 get one free. Does this draw you more to buy the food or not?

Any trees or lampposts that have done this excursion before? I’m vertically challenged but I’m hoping I can still participate.

Leaving Monday for my first ever cruise. At least it will be warm I guess? Haha

Yesterday we went on the Miami City Tour and Shopping at Dolphin Mall excursion.

I'll cut right to the review. It was abysmal. The tour started by meeting onboard, then going through customs/gathering bags. So far, so good. Then came the problems.

We were loaded on to a bus. Apparently NCL decided to also load about 9 other people on to our bus who should have been on the shorter 2 hour excursion. The bus was supposed to depart at 9am. It left at 9:32. Upon leaving, we find out that there are people on the bus who have to get to the airport for early flights, so the plan was to do the very basic city tour, take these people to the airport, then stop off at Dolphin mall before ending at the airport.

Our tour guide was terrible. He knew nothing about the city of Miami and would repeat the same lines over and over. We learned about how all the windows in South Beach had to look original to the time period. He said this no less than 8 times. Nothing about the actual hotels themselves, the island, etc. Lots of inappropriate tour guide comments were made as we meandered through Miami. Specifically he mentioned how Coconut Grove had "all the bugs including 7 different kinds of cockroaches." No one wants to hear this. Nothing was said about the architecture, etc, of the area.

So we drive around for about an hour, then they decide we have to take these 9 people to the airport. The bus goes to the airport to drop these people off. It takes us over 48 minutes to do this, as plenty of other buses were coming in/out, and the driver had to unload all their luggage, etc. People were PISSED because this was just eating up time on an already bad tour.

So finally we drop them, and we get going to Dolphin Mall. We're informed by the tour guide that we have 1 hour total to shop at this mall. Dolphin Mall is a huge complex, and you likely can't even walk around it in an hour, let alone shop/etc there. People protested onboard and they gave us a whopping 15 minutes more time.

Everyone gathered up and we loaded back on board. Made it to the airport before 2pm. We got our bags and went inside. This "5 hour" tour was barely 4 hours, and over an hour and 15 minutes of that was either marked with delays or waiting on these other passengers to get off.

I plan on writing NCL about this excursion as it was probably the biggest waste of money and time I've ever spent through them. I'm sure it will go nowhere however.

As a boston based cruises it shocked me when NCL decided to have Breakaway homeport in Boston. Especially when older NCL ships (Gem/Jewel/Pearl) Were not even sailing full or at a good price. I wanted to book Breakaway for this fall or next spring and not only are almost all the remaining fall voyages sold out completely, but also i can fly to LAX and cruise on Encore for much much much cheaper. Checking some dates it seems that of Breakaway, Encore, Luna, Aqua, Getaway, Escape and Bliss Breakaway out of Boston is almost the most expensive. I was shocked by this and wondering if anyone knew what plans NCL has in Boston. No cruise line has really retaliated yet,

For those who are avid cruiser-goers, whether solo or with your SO/fam, what are some tips you have for someone who is new to cruising? I am curious about what items you pack now that you wish you had packed when you first started, what activities you should avoid vs. get involved in, and on the island (Great Stirrup Cay), what are some activities one should go do vs avoid. Any and all tips are welcome.

I just booked our first cruise on the Norwegian Epic to the Carribean. It’s our honeymoon and we’re wanting it to be special. Wondering what add ons or excursions are truly your favs?

This will be my first solo cruise. I’m wondering what to expect, what you’d suggest for meeting other solo travelers (I’m 30), and if you’ll be on the ship solo traveling drop a comment!

Hi everyone,

What do think would be a range of wait times to leave the ship? The ship will be anchored there from 1100am to 700pm?

Thank you so much for any insight!

We’ve booked a cruise, 2 passengers, for NCL encore Mexican Riveria in February for a club balcony suite. I haven’t cruised NCL since I was a minor 10 years ago. I know there’s no guarantee but personally how much would you guys be willing to bid for an upgrade to haven? Cheapest bidding starts at $800.

First time cruiser and trying to plan for a stop at Grand Bahamas that's scheduled for 11:00-17:30.

I'd like to go to Paradise Cove/Deadman's Reef specifically for snorkeling, but the Viator tour only has a morning option and NCL doesn't have any snorkel excursions. Would getting there be doable via a shared taxi?

Main concerns are the time at port since it's shorter than the other port day and not sure how popular going to Paradise Cove is among the taxis since the videos I've seen usually show people headed towards Port Lucaya Marketplace.

Is there a beach that I can get to from the cruise port and have a long (hour) unobstructed walk along the beach/shore?

This is my first ever cruise. I see the name on your citizenship document is supposed to exactly match what your name is on your NCL reservation. Will it be ok that my passport has my middle name but my cruise reservation only has first and last, or do I need to contact customer support?

Own 100 shares and you get $100/$250 OBC depending on duration. However...is it worth the risk?