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1 hour ago, cementhands said:

We are in the same situation. Next cruise credits expiring so we are looking at the Gem out of Boston for 13 or 14 nights. We’ve enjoyed the epic and Dawn quite a few times as well as the Spirit out of NYC twice. We’ve been doing RCL lately. But looking forward to the Ncl experience.

Does the Gem offer daily Zumba or similar? Are there many dancing opportunities? I know Second City is gone but are comedy stand up in it’s place?

 

here you go! :) 

Out of curiosity, is there a certain time of day bid acceptance notifications (and forbid-- rejections) get sent out?  

For the past couple of years, I travel exclusively--land and sea-- with shampoo and conditioner bars (yes, like soap bars for your hair)--they don't count against your TSA 3/11 liquids and I leave them in my suitcase.  You can buy these from "Lush Cosmetics"--online, if you don't have a store near you.  They have been game changers for me.  There are other makers, but I've been very happy with what I've bought from Lush. Because I only use them for travel, I've only had to re-stock one time-- I just popped in my local store this week.  

Does a bid show "pending" on the upgrade page?  This is the first time I've taken part in this.  

4 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

The general rule of thumb is 25% of the price difference in OBC. Our cabin category for our June 2 sailing dropped by $100 per person earlier this week. I called my PCC and she was able to get us $50 OBC (25% of the $200 total difference). Be cautious though. They will only do this for you one time per sailing. If you aren't sailing until July 7, the price might drop again between now and then and they will not offer you more OBC if/when it does.

There was a price drop in my category. I was given an option to upgrade to an OV (but we're not fans of those) and we're content with our inside. I took the OBC (25% of the difference).  If there's another drop, would they then give me an upgrade if they don't offer OBC?  I had originally called to see if I could do a direct upgrade to a balcony, but the cost was way more than I was comfortable with.  

If your upgrade bid is accepted are your taxes and service charges adjusted?

2 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Keep an eye on prices, because they may drop far enough for you to benefit from just paying for a direct upgrade, rather than going through the Upgrade Advantage Program. As far as price drops and bidding, the bid ranges generally don't change when prices drop. One thing I have observed is that sometimes a slew of bid acceptances will precede a price drop. I suspect this is because NCL wants to "lock in" those higher bids before people adjust their bids accordingly.

Thank you! I knew you would know.  Funny thing is, I'm good with our cabin, but it would be awesome to get an upgrade (and a nice surprise for the family). Could we have booked the cabin we wanted from the get-go? Sure, but we just wanted to book the cruise at a good price. LOL  Thank you again, JamieLogical.

I'm not sure if it was already covered, but I'm going to ask anyway: price drops.  I'm just over 30 days out.  Our sailing still has PLENTY of cabins available (in some categories it is showing 15--telling me there could be more(?). Prices are still the same as they have been.   I've been monitoring this sailing since we were invited to bid on upgrades. Will NCL institute a price drop? And how does / will this affect bidding?  

47 minutes ago, cruiser1955a said:

I can’t answer your question, but keep in mind that NCL considers your “total dollars spent”. People who pay top price for their original booking may not have to bid as much to win, and those who book sail-away or any discounted cabin might have to bid higher to win.

Other than that, your chances increase if there’s lots of vacancies in the category you’re upgrading to. You are getting close to your sail date. If there’s lots of vacancies, your chances are good with a medium bid. No guarantees.

"Total dollars spent." Does that also include extras that one has added to their booking, i.e., dining packages, excursions, etc.?  I bid in the "fair" range--barely so, and am wondering if I'm "overbidding"?😌

A couple of quick questions on MiniBuses:

1.  Cash only?  
2.  Looking at going to Warwick Long Bay (instead of Horseshoe Bay), will they take us there?  Will they pick up at WLB? 
     a.  Are there chair/umbrella rentals & food for sale at WLB?  

TIA

following

I've been monitoring NCL's webpage since I was invited to bid and for my sailing, there are a lot of cabins still available (in some categories, the max of 15 are showing--telling me there are possibly more if I understand it correctly).  From Insides up to Havens.  Should I just call them directly and offer what I bid for the upgrade I would like? Or wait it out?  We are 72 days out.  

1 minute ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Yes, except where stated, you are bidding on the entire meta. So if you win your balcony bid, you could be placed in any balcony on the ship.

Thank you, JamieLogical. I've been reading this thread trying to understand the process.  I was only thrown off when folks were stating they were putting in bids for particular categories.  But you've always explained (multiple times) perfectly. :) I put in slightly above minimum. It would be a great surprise for my family if I were to get it.  

Okay. I just got an invitation to bid for an upgrade a couple of days ago.  It gave me two choices: oceanview and balcony.  Does that mean all of the different categories within those levels?  We're currently in a family inside.  I only bid on the "balcony". I did a mock booking and from what I can see, there are currently  22 cabins within the balcony category available.  I'm sailing on the Gem.  

So, I've finally finished your review. I think I might've started reading it when you first posted it back in 2015 and then got sidetracked along the way.  Thank you for putting it together. My family and I are booked to sail to Bermuda from Boston in June.  Your Bermuda "itinerary" was very similar on what we're planning on doing.  There just seems to be quite a bit to do and the luxury of being in port for 2.5 days is such a bonus that I was almost getting overwhelmed on "what to do" and "when".  At first, I was thinking about packing in a lot of sightseeing (we do a lot of land-based travel in Europe), but as our cruise gets closer,  lots of beach time is what I'm looking forward to (and I believe my family would not disagree)...although we all like to golf, so I need to figure where to fit that in...maybe just a round of mini-golf at the Dock Yard or find a driving range on the island.  

I must be in the dying minority. I have an 11 yo and 7 yo. My sons were taught to remove their hats at the table.  Regardless if we're at McDo's or a nice restaurant (although, if we're going to a nice restaurant, it's highly unlikely they're wearing a hat, to begin with).  Not a fan of rocking pajamas in public either. How slovenly the American public has become.  

On 1/19/2018 at 7:27 AM, Jason26 said:

Unfortunately the UBP on Norwegian is among the worst in the cruise industry. I love sailing Norwegian, but the fact that premium coffee and bottled water is not included is disappointing. Even Carnival allows the pre-purchase of a case of water for $5. I wish they were more like Celebrity where the added value offer includes the drink package, tips included, for any beverage up to certain dollar amount. Alas, it is a business decision.

AGREED.  Why call it "Ultimate" when it really isn't?  Come on, NCL, throw in the specialty coffee and water 😉 LOL 

I apologize if this has been asked before, but my title pretty much sums up my questions. :) Thank you in advance.

We are booked on the Gem for a Bermuda cruise, June 2019. The DH & I are trying to decide whether to pay for the SDP (just for three meals) or dine a la carte once we board. We had SDP on the Sky when we sailed a couple of years ago, but it was a perk since we were in a group. We loved it (especially Cagney's). The Gem also has a few more complimentary dining choices than the Sky. I want to compare prices on what is a la carte in the Specialty Dining restaurants as opposed to purchasing the SDP. If you have a picture of the menus, it is much appreciated. Thank you!:) :)

The roads are very narrow in Bermuda and as a runner I would not take a chance. Try the rail trail. http://www.bermuda-attractions.com/bermuda2_000036.htm

Is this trail easily accessible from the ship? We've booked a cruise for June 2019 (NCL Gem), and my husband is a runner; the ship track isn't going to do it for him.

The one who will be drinking soda needs a package. I don't drink soda or Alcohol and I didn't get a drink package on our last trip in Feb but my kids and DH did. The staff did take the cards sometimes when the kids and DH got drinks(soda)

Thank you. We last cruised on the Sky right after they introduced Open Bar so there was no question about buying packages and because we were in a group, we qualified for upgraded dining. Decisions, decisions.

So just for clarification: I booked a cruise and received the UBP as a perk (for the first two pax). I have two children in my cabin, as well. One child doesn't like soda. So to get to my point is I don't have to buy the second child the soda package, right? Or either child for that matter since I received UBP as a perk? I wish they would include everyone in the cabin on perks.

Sailed the Sky in June on the 4-day cruise. Overall, I didn't find it to be any more of a party ship than any of the other 7-day (or more) cruises we've been on. Easy to get drinks, bartenders were all friendly, and we were actually surprised that there were so few kids on board considering it's summer. Not sure if the idea of it being a booze cruise (it wasn't) holds people back?

 

We had a group of 10, ranging in age from 28-71. (I'm 36.) People of nearly every age range were on board the week we were on.

 

Since everyone has the beverage package, there was no additional tipping (besides the DSC) if you didn't want to. The cost of the package is included in your fare, so there's no service charge on top of what you pay like there is with the Free at Sea promos. If they did get a tip, the bartenders made a big deal out of it by hooting and hollering if someone tossed a dollar or two into the bucket on the bar.

 

As for activities, we spent much of our time by or in the pool, and there were plenty of poolside activities. IIRC, there were plenty of activities in the indoor areas of the ship, too, though we did not seek them out. Easy to find deck chairs all over any day.

 

Didn't see any shows, but the typical shows were offered (Welcome Aboard, Farewell, etc.). The Glow party was fun!

 

We had a very enjoyable experience on the Sky, so I say go for the B2B! Except avoid in March; I've heard it's awful because of spring break crowds.

We were on that same cruise. We brought our kids (9,4) and another couple brought their kid (9)...there were 28 or something of us in our group. I was a bit nervous of it being a "booze cruise", but didn't find it as such. We all had a great time. The open bar was a +, as Dolita stated, "easy to get drinks", didn't have to worry about excessive charges. We met another couple who brought their kids and they appeared to enjoy themselves as well. I noticed the passengers, in general, were a pretty laid back bunch while enjoying themselves. I agree with a previous poster: avoid March or whenever college spring break is in full swing.

From looking at the map, I like the location of the smaller ones too. I just don't want to be squished. There will be 4 of us. Are there 4 loungers, 4 floats, etc?

We were provided 4 loungers, 4 floats, a table with 4 chairs, towels, bottled water, small refrigerator, hammock, shower behind the cabana. As a previous poster pointed out, the large cabanas were on a rocky area, but it definitely did not detract.

Hi, what was the cost for the large cabana?

for our sailing it was $299; for the small, it was $249