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Looking at Princess Cruises' shore excursions in Grand Cayman, a 2.5-hour stingray swim costs $70 per person, a 5-hour scenic island drive costs $100, and a 4-hour, two-tank scuba dive costs $180. In Juneau, Alaska, a 3-hour tour to the Mendenhall Glacier visitor center costs $50 per person. A 3-hour gold panning activity and salmon bake costs $125, while a 2.25-hour tour to take a helicopter ride to the top of the glacier, where you can walk around on the ice for half an hour, costs $420.
The Norwegian Cruise Line fleet
Norwegian offers a “Free at Sea” sale that can give you certain perks for free, including free drinks, Internet, shore excursions, and specialty dining. For some passengers this can save money, just be aware that the rate for a cabin with these perks included is usually higher than the base price for the room. Some cruise lines, such as Viking and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, include the cost of basic shore excursions in their cruise fares. If you don't care to do any specialty tours, you might be able to get all your port activities for free. Other lines, such as Norwegian Cruise Line, offer discounted tours or shore excursion credit as booking promotions. Some onboard activities such as go-karting also come with an extra charge.
Price of Cruising
Note that this promotion only applies to voyages three nights or longer, and all passengers sharing a cabin must choose the same offers (if there is a choice). Those booking a "Sail Away" (guarantee) cabin are ineligible for Free at Sea. There’s no arguing that the salt and sun take a toll on anything near the coast — especially ships. At the same time, the pace of development on cruise ships is breathtaking.
Like High-End? Stay in the Most Exclusive Area of the Ship
Just be warned that you'll pay a hefty fee to play in the Galaxy Pavilion. A weeklong pass to the venue will set you back $199 per person. There also are hourlong passes available for $29 per person, or you can sample a single ride for $8 (except for the escape room, which is priced separately at $15 per person). Norwegian Encore, Norwegian Bliss, Norwegian Joy and Norwegian Epic, for instance, have the Cavern Club, a reproduction of the British club that gave rise to the Beatles.
Foreign flagged ships (which most are) must incorporate a stop in a foreign port before they return to the United States. So if you’ve ever wanted to cruise Hawaii, NCL is your choice. Harvest Caye is located in Belize and is often visited on cruises to the western Caribbean. Like Great Stirrup Cay, the island’s big draw is the beach and water. As well, Harvest Caye has a large freshwater pool, as well as a number of bars and restaurants, wildlife exhibits, ziplining, and more to do.
An African safari cruise? Onboard a Norwegian Cruise Line adventure. - USA TODAY
An African safari cruise? Onboard a Norwegian Cruise Line adventure..
Posted: Sun, 24 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
During the height of summer, we found prices starting around $ per day on cruises from Miami on Norwegian Sky (an older ship in the fleet). For example, a five-day cruise on the Sky to Key West and the Bahamas ran $599 per person for an interior room in a recent search. The style seems more in line with a high-end hotel than a classic cruise ship. That said, the people — both crew and passengers — keep things friendly and down-to-earth. The Haven is a luxurious, high-end “resort within a resort” experience with dedicated space and amenities like a pool, restaurant, and bar that are only open to The Haven guests.
Billed as an upscale "ship within a ship" and aimed at luxury travelers, The Haven is located at the very top of vessels and often comes with private lounges, pools, sunning areas and even restaurants. Norwegian is known for offering a wide range of accommodations on its ships. At their core, Norwegian ships are mass-market ships, with entry-level cabins that are affordable to middle-class travelers. However, overlaid across most vessels are high-end suites and services that are at a luxury level, and the line draws a good number of luxury-seeking travelers.
Convenient Port Canaveral “Park & Cruise” Hotels
During the winter, the line will move many of its vessels to North America to operate sailings to the Caribbean and Bahamas. It also sends a few ships to Asia, Australia and South America, and it'll typically keep a single vessel in Europe, too. Smaller only than Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line and MSC Cruises, the brand has become increasingly known for having some of the biggest, most amenity-filled vessels at sea. More than half of its fleet is comprised of vessels that, by today's standards, are considered almost midsize. If you want even more perks, you can upgrade to Free at Sea Plus for $49 per person, per day. If the second guest is a child, their upgrade is $29 per day.
That’s why we suggest trying breakfast in the main dining room and checking out specialty restaurants during your cruise. In general the atmosphere that you’ll find on Norwegian’s ships is on par with other mass market cruise lines, although it does seem to focus on a more luxury and and upscale vibe. On the back of some Norwegian ships is an adults-only spot known as Spice H20.
Just know that since there is no dock, weather is a bigger issue on if you’ll actually be able to visit. If you head over in the late morning or early afternoon, there might not be a single open chair. During our visit we didn’t hit the pool until the peak time and had to just set our stuff on the ground.
Note the "based on double occupancy" caveat in the above paragraph. As is typical for cruise lines, Norwegian charges on a per-person basis, not per room, and it prices most cabins based on two people occupying a room. It does offer some cabins for solo travelers on some ships that are priced based on single occupancy. Instead, you get a $50 shore excursion credit for the first guest on the cruise reservation in each port. Unlike some Free at Sea offers, this perk does not apply to the second guest.
In fact, we’ve personally showed up to a restaurant that had a full reservation list and found it largely empty when it first opened, allowing us to grab dinner with no problem. Or other times there is still a space, even if the reservation list is full. Each Norwegian ship will have a restaurant (O’Sheehans on some, The Local on others) that serves around the clock.
So if you are someone with top-shelf preferences, then this might be the deal for you. Specialty RestaurantsMost eateries on the ship are specialty restaurants. Just like a restaurant on land, you’ll have a full menu with a la carte prices. Specialty restaurants range from steakhouses, to Italian, seafood, Japanese, Mexican, BBQ, French, and more. Evening ShowsNorwegian has put a big emphasis on its entertainment onboard the ship, and that means bringing Broadway shows to sea. The biggest-name shows are on their newest ships, including Choir of Man, Kinky Boots, and Footloose.
Norwegian is one of the few lines that takes special effort to cater to you. Many ships have solo cabins that aren’t charged a single passenger supplement. They also feature solo-cruiser lounges for socializing with your other solo passengers. Like other cruise lines, Norwegian charges a daily gratuity (the cruise line calls it a “service charge”). While most people won’t stay in The Haven during their cruise, it is an important differentiation between Norwegian and other cruise lines. As well, it’s also a sign of the more upscale atmosphere that NCL has for passengers.
If you want to better budget your cruise, then you might want a drink package. This way, you don’t have to worry about a surprise bill at the end of your cruise. That said, the lower prices for sailing older ships can be tough to ignore. You can sail largely the same trip for potentially hundreds of dollars less on an older, smaller ship. Outdoor DiningOne of the unique things about Norwegian is that they’ve placed a lot of focus on connecting people to the outdoors.
Unveiled in 2019, Norwegian Encore is, notably, the 23rd biggest cruise ship in the world as of this story's publishing (it will drop in the rankings over the coming years as additional megaships debut). At 169,116 tons, it's bigger than all but three Carnival ships. Only Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises have significantly more bigger vessels.
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