cruiserbear55

Sailed the Dawn nine times out of Boston. Finest ship in the fleet, IMHO, and hope she makes it back to Beantown someday!

My experience , on the Jewel class ships, is you'll get fountain soda at the bars. At the buffet, they're usually set up with cans, cups, and ice. They'll fill the cup with ice, then pour maybe a third of the can in.( You need at least some ice, as the cans are usually not cooled). You can also order two drinks at once, no questions asked. Sometimes you can sweet talk the beverage person into giving you a can, but I wouldn't count on it. Refillable bottles are a great idea. Fill a clean cup with water, then pour that into your bottle until full. Please don't fill your bottle by placing it right on the spigot. Very unsanitary, and could elicit very unsavory comments from those hovering nearby. Happy Cruising, and welcome to NCL!!

We book through CAS and have never NOT gotten an upgrade offer. I'd give CAS a call.

You never know where you're going in an aft balcony, but you always know where you've been!!

Book fixed price specialties first . (Teppanyaki and Moderno Churrascaria). Book your ala-carte restaurants third and fourth. As @KeithJennerstated above, sometimes the system doesn't know you have four specialty meals, and if you don't list them in the right order, it may try to charge you for two of them..

Check out “NCL Casino table games”. It tells you all the currently available games. There is no listing for surrender.

As @shof515 stated, in addition to solos, supposedly there are now solo insides, oceanviews, and balconies on each ship. Have tried multiple times to price a solo balcony on different ships, and all I ever get is "solo balcony not available".

Menus in specialty dining don't change daily. They could be the same for weeks or months at a time, unlike the MDRs. The left side of the MDR menu will be the same all week, and the right side offerings change daily.( Unless I got my left and right screwed up!) In the specialties, change comes slowly.At Cagney's, they may decide to change strip steak to a NY Sirloin, or change the seven layer cake to the lava cake, or not offer the Tomahawk for awhile, but then bring it back. But for the most part, you'll have the same menu all week.

Or on the internet.

Complawyer, you may have to recheck this one. The five tier levels at CAS are Jade, Pearl,Sapphire,Ruby, and Elite.One cannot have Diamond status in the casino, as it doesn't exist. And your wife can't be CAS Platinum, as that doesn't exist either.The only duplication between CAS and NCL Latitudes named tiers is they both have a Sapphire level.

Your first line says you're Diamond. Further along, you say you're an Ambassador. Well, which one is correct? You can"t be both at the same time. Diamond gets you a one-time cabin upgrade, Ambassador gets you a free cruise, not a one time cabin upgrade.

Would that be the round file? We still get brochures for a girl my son sailed with approx. 20 years ago, and for some reason used our address. Not to mention the almost weekly ads we get for our children, all of whom left the roost years ago. And all our attempts to stop the mailings fall on deaf ears. So they just go into the recycling bin. What a waste of resources!

If you opt for the beverage plus package, Starbuck's is included. The stand alone Starbuck's package is $12.95 per day, plus 20% gratuity.($108.78 for 7 days) It includes unlimited coffee, tea, Frappaccino type drinks, and their Refresher juice drinks. It doesn't include canned or bottled soft drinks, food,water, or Starbuck's merchandise.

Not your best subject, Chief Mate? (JK)

The best part of the NCL gift card program is it was discontinued on 12/31/21. Have never had an experience like I had on the Dawn trying to use a gift card. The folks at customer service were completely clueless as to how to process the card. It took three days of back and forth with Miami before they finally decided the card was legit and credited my account. All for $50.00!. As stated above , after a year they deduct $3.00 a month in dormancy fees.So, if you had received one issued in December of 2021 for , let's say, $50.00, you've now lost $30.00 to fees , and your card is now worth $20.00.

Book your set price specialty restaurants first, such as Moderno and Teppanaki. Book fixed price first, ala-carte next.If you book ala-carte first and fixed price second, the system thinks you’ve used your coupons up and will charge you upfront for the third and subsequent reservations. They don’t have three person tables. Just book a table for four. Decline the beverage package upgrade request if you’re not interested.

Two sets, two dinners each for the first four people. Fifth person also gets a set. It is good for two people at two dinners. If he/she doesn't show up with another person, the second dinner on that ticket is forfeited.In other words, the fifth person won't get four dinners for themselves. They will get two dinners for two people.

Occasionally, Ultimate Texas Holdem, Texas Holdem, and Let it Ride will be at $5.00.Though $10.00 is the norm. Have never seen Three Card Poker at $5.00. Doesn't mean it doesn't happen, just haven't seen it.Have seen Blackjack tables range from $2.00-$50.00.Don't play Craps or Roulette, so can't comment. There is a 3% fee to charge chips/cash to your onboard account.However, when NCL charges your credit card, anything you've borrowed in the casino goes through as purchases, not cash advances, possibly saving you some money if you don't pay off the card right away.Or cash is always an option. Happy Cruising!

If the system won't let you in at 125 days, call customer service. They will set up your reservations.Been there, done that.

After boarding, just move your brother and his belongings to your son’s cabin. Go to guest services and get him a key card/room key. NCL doesn’t care where someone’ s sleeping. .

We also did an eleven day land and cruise vaca. Four day land tour from Anchorage to Seward, and seven day cruise from Seward to Vancouver. Day transportation, hotels, breakfast and lunch were included, . Supper/dinner we were on our own.Daily activities i.e.train ride, rafting trip, Alaska Zoo, gondola ride, etc., were also included.This was a few years back, so things may,and probably have, changed. Happy Cruising!!

The sundecks on deck 13, both above the pool and forward, are great ocean viewing areas. Also, the Promenade deck,deck 7, has limited loungers available for those lucky enough to snag them! The Bliss lounge has windows, but is not really a good viewing area. You could always grab a window table at O'Sheehan's or the buffet, and hang out there for awhile. IMHO, the closer to the atrium you are, the greater the chance of some noise in your cabin. Outside of a few differences, such as no Great Outdoors and no Spinnaker Lounge, it's very difficult to differentiate the Dawn from the Jewel Class ships. When we first went on the Gem after sailing on the Dawn for many years, I was amazed that I pretty much knew the layout of the ship without ever having been on it! Happy Cruising!!

If he can't finish the e-docs at home, he won't be able to print or download them as they will not exist yet.However, per your suggestion, he could go to the cruise payment; guest info; insurance purchased; pre-paid amenities sections, etc. and print out all that applied. That way he would have hard copies to show them. Or he could download them to his preferred choice of media.

Is there another NCL forum besides this one?

A little time spent on the NCL website and you'd have your answers. And you'll probably find answers to questions you didn't know you had yet!! Happy Cruising!!