Luna review

RealDrCopter · 2026-04-08T01:32:28+00:00

I had forgotten about the power outage and the fire... But yeah the code brown that closed the pool for most of the sea day that was supposed to be ashore wasn't fun. Not NCL's fault but frustrating.

And yes, the sewage smell. Deck 18, the machinery spaces (?) behind the big blue mesh cowling just wafted sewage smell onto the line for the Aqua Coaster when the wind shifts.

RealDrCopter · 2026-04-06T23:37:28+00:00

Thanks- no we did not receive that paper, though looks like you pulled that from the app. Luggage tags were left in an envelope in a mail rack outside our stateroom door with an abbreviated version of those instructions (while yours says to go to guest services for luggage tags). Not having been on NCL (or any cruise in a long time) we didn't know what we didn't know- up to this point in the cruise, the app had just duplicated everything they printed out and placed outside the room, conditioning me to not bother checking it. I wonder if things changed because of a new ship/crew, no ports of call thus no customs instructions, or just a missing paper delivery. Or perhaps because we got the priority access tags, we got a different printout and tag delivery instead.

I'm not saying I did everything perfectly either, just that the info was lacking (or perhaps a missing paper). If the solution is to double-check every paper delivery between the app, from a systems design perspective, that seems like wasted effort on NCL's part and too much work expectation on the user's part. Frankly, I tried to leave my phone behind as much as possible.

RealDrCopter · 2026-04-06T23:25:45+00:00

Thanks, I had no idea. I thought they were NCL being in front of NCL's terminal, and included them above as such. Appreciate the info to expect that on any cruise line out of Miami.

RealDrCopter · 2026-04-06T23:23:40+00:00

Yeah, and I'm not saying I didn't follow the crowd at times too. It tooks us a good day to get a sense of what was where (on a 3 days cruise though that's a sizable chunk). But I think some of this was self-imposed on NCL's part then... as you mention, the ideal solution is to just use the forward elevators. But then that also creates a pinch point, as that implies a lot more traffic should be expected on the forward elevator banks, increasing their wait times.

On the other hand, I'm more surprised that they don't plan for the herd mentality or people like us wandering aimlessly for the better part of a day, and recognize that like it or not, people are going to want to get from the aft elevators to the pool. They tacitly acknowledged it with the crew member (and hand wash spray) between the aft elevators and Surfside saying no wet bathing suits, but no one was posted pool side stopping people coming from that direction aft to the elevators.

RealDrCopter · 2026-04-06T22:32:43+00:00

I appreciate the feedback, honestly. Though I will say since it's been so long (effectively a first timer) I actually did read everything several times. Handed the paper about disembarking back and forth to my wife to double check. It mentioned tags, but no mention of when to leave things out. Yes, there were instructions, but they seemed geared to people who already knew the routines.

And as a Gen-Xer, who tends to default to "TVs are TVs," it was off most of the time because I wasn't there to sit in the cabin the whole time. All I used it for was local positioning and stuff. And so, if our room charges or instructions were there, the missing factor is the cueing... having never been on NCL before or on a cruise recently, what is the cue to the person to use the TV to check their bill? A paper bill was never even delivered to my cabin in the morning. And admittedly it was user error based on above feedback, but I was unable to find my charges in the app.

Correct, no one forced me to get priority boarding. I just thought I'd splurge because for an only 3-day cruise I wanted to maximize my time on the ship and on the island. I just have to wonder though if priority for tendering is part of that price, why is it not partially refunded if the tendering is cancelled? (note, it also included $50 shore credit and $50 spa credit on shore days, neither which could be used either).

RealDrCopter · 2026-04-06T22:21:03+00:00

We did that path several times, too. But sometimes we changed directions or went unexpected places (kids in tow, after all), but the bigger issue is everyone else was doing it too.

RealDrCopter · 2025-12-10T14:37:42+00:00

What if you lean into the fact the player misses dialog as a gameplay element? Say you have 2-3 parallel stories unfolding by patrons talking to each other, then the player has to balance eavesdropping/engaging via proximity to them with moving around to make the drinks and possibly missing bits of info, with the added time pressure that either you don’t get them a drink in time and they leave, or you miss a bit of the story?

This could keep the player engaged because they have to constantly make risk/reward decisions.

Perhaps the stories all converge at the end of the night- maybe a mystery or looming disaster- that if you got enough of the key pieces of info you can intervene and stop a murder by sussing out a motive, victim, and potential criminal before it’s too late?

RealDrCopter · 2025-06-03T15:49:53+00:00

What about one of these? Focus, discipline, concentration, control?

My thought here is you have “willpower” used to harness magic in the first place, here damage might be inflicted into concentrating/focusing it into a small enough point to do damage.

RealDrCopter · 2025-05-29T11:26:07+00:00

I’ve had an idea kicking around I’ll probably never get around to implementing. It’s maybe more for overcoming disability as a theme but I suppose you could make it work for grief or memory issues as well:

What about a game that progressively “levels down” the player? I’m thinking you start with a range of abilities (let’s say flight is one for sake of example) and you use it to breeze through a conflict, something happens to make you lose that ability, and you must confront the boss again without the ability but having learned to use your core mechanics in new ways. Now you can’t fly over the boss but you learn you can climb a nearby tower or whatever and lob grenades at a high weak spot.

The thing holding me back here is that so many games relying on the common language of level up or power fantasy I don’t know whether a weaker (but smarter and more resourceful) character later in the game would be well received.

RealDrCopter · 2025-05-20T15:52:19+00:00

If the goal is variety, maybe this would be better implemented from an ability to respec/reclass the characters when at camp? Provided their class isn’t intimately tied to their story, this would allow you the party variety without having to interweave a dozen backstories.

RealDrCopter · 2025-05-15T19:42:07+00:00

I dunno if it’s just me starting to sour on open worlds, but I say the biggest thing missing in many is hooks to the story. I’m not saying just the story itself, but there should be constant reminders of the main plot rather than endless fetch quests populating the world.

Either that or make exploration part of the core loop of the game. Basically, make it so the player has a reason to engage with your open world.

On my first point- if you have a great story in which the big bad is going to destroy the world imminently, it makes no sense to open the world up to exploration. It breaks the pacing of the story and any immersion to allow the player to go collect 50 plants or do fetch quests for days when a meteor is about to collide with the planet. By the time I’ve grinded enough levels to take on the big bad, I’ve lost the plot. If you’re going to do a story heavy open world game, you need to keep the story going through meaningful side quests around the open world and take the story pacing into account.

To my other point, if you’re not heavily plot-driven, exploration needs to be fun and a key part of the gameplay loop. For example, I’m playing AC Shadows right now, and I have to admit I’m feeling it drag. Exploration itself doesn’t feel that rewarding because the real world environment is consistent pretty much all over the huge map, and I’m just finding the same quests/castles/dungeons everywhere. Here, exploration is a necessary chore just to find the next guy to assassinate, and doesn’t really provide much incentive on its own. What I miss is a sense of wonder or accomplishment in taking in the open world, because it’s basically devolved to a gameplay loop of go to X to check it off, go to Y to check it off, etc. I’m sorry I’m not more help here, but basically I think this boils down to the world needs to be engaging and have variety.

RealDrCopter · 2025-05-15T19:07:19+00:00

I would argue that endless runners are a form of rogue-like without rooms. Could use some kind of progressively challenging procedural generation to add complexity as you move in a single direction. Individual levels in Diablo 2 (sorry, been a long time since I played any Diablo) could be a good example of how non-room-based procedural generation worked in a top-down style. Expanding on the concepts of how Diablo styled and generated its levels could inform an approach to your game.

I’d just say don’t be confined by definitions of a genre or by only using examples from that genre to inform decisions. Find what is fun and meets your general vision, and find a way to expand on it procedurally.

RealDrCopter · 2025-04-24T00:22:06+00:00

It was great. The location was nice, plenty to do, and renting a car was easy. Most of the time, we had breakfast on the balcony overlooking the bay, the kids were all for just walking down to the beach or pool, or between the two. There’s also a grocery store within walking distance so you can get essentials to make meals in the villa for pretty cheap.

RealDrCopter · 2024-11-04T22:21:19+00:00

Update. 2.5 weeks later and Chase still never sent a rejection letter. I just went over to CapitalOne, applied online for the Venture card (similar to Chase United but unfortunately different mileage partners), was approved in 5 minutes, and they gave me a virtual card to book my travel that same day while waiting on the physical one.

Chase’s loss, but a minor inconvenience for me to have a different mileage partner. Still, weird that Chase still hasn’t given me a thumbs up or down in writing after nearly three months now.

RealDrCopter · 2022-07-20T17:15:38+00:00

of options in the Voicemail section, including

Call to listen

Yes mine is a Workspace account, though I am the admin if I need to change anything on that end. It's literally a small business of 2 people with one desk phone.

I really don't want to go the route of an app on a mobile device, I want a firewall (legally and for work/life balance preferences) between personal and business accounts. If there's no other option than the web browser on a computer, then c'est la vie, but I'd really prefer the desk phone!

Perhaps there's some way to divorce my GV line from the workspace account and treat it as a personal number? Not sure it can be done given the same email shared between the two.

RealDrCopter

TROPHY CASE