KonkyWonky

17 minutes ago, zqvol said:

I have never been on any ship that does not have room under the beds for suitcases. 

This ^^^^

Missed out on the offer this time around. I used the £350 off a £1000 spend the last time, not sure if that's part of the reason I wasn't offered this time around.

I am considering booking an NCL cruise this weekend, sailing Apr 2025 in the hope that we get another offer prior to final payment. Not sure whether to pay the deposit on my AMEX or use another CC, whether either would influence whether I get an NCL cashback offer further down the line.

Does anyone have any experience as to how the AMEX offer algorithm works?

It looks like all Asian cruises between Oct 24 and April 25 are affected as it's too difficult to get the ship to Asia. There's no longer any availability for these dates on the website.

Disappointing for those that were booked but understandable. It will be interesting to see where they reposition the ship to.

We sailed out of Athens (on the Jade) in Mar and arrived at the port around 1130hrs. We didn't get on the ship until 1500hrs.

On arrival at the port we were handed a numbered card. Groups were called up by number to check in. There were 21 groups in total, once group 21 was called they started again at group 1.

We were group 10, the group being called when we arrived was group 12.

We were on the Jade in Mar and they had a sale a couple of days prior to disembarkation day. The t-shirts featuring ports of call for the current cruise weren't on sale, however you could pick up t-shirts from previous cruise itineraries in a 2 for 1 deal. I can't remember the actual price but they were reasonable, although some of the ports were fairly obscure as were the designs.

On 3/3/2023 at 12:44 PM, step78 said:

We got our new cabin yesterday. Jade,  march 12

We're on Jade March 21st (same itinerary).

Is your sailing full? What did you upgrade from/to?

Enjoy your cruise!

Hi guys, we're booked to board the Jade in Mar 2023 and noticed on the NCL website it states the Jade was last refurbished in 2022.

When searching online it looks like the last extensive refurb was 2017, although it does looks like she was in drydock (Marseille) Mar 2022.  Was the latest drydock mechanical work only, or were there some improvements made at the same time?

Thanks in advance.

Curious what would happen if you had a cruise booked and booked flights independent of the cruise line.  It's unlikely you would have a need for the flights with the cruise being the sole purpose of booking them, would travel insurance cover the flights or are you effectively out of pocket for the cost?

49 minutes ago, NightWoman said:

Hi The jester,

I'm aware of the tier situation with regards cruise ships docking in Greenock but I find it strange that all the Greenock departures have just disappeared as the update from the the SG isn't due until the 19th of July then we should go to level 0 on the 9th August.

It's also highly unlikely that areas that are currently in level 2 will go from level 2 to 0 in one go but I may be wrong. 

Our cruise is the 11th August so it should still be showing, unless it's sold out. 

The plan is for Scotland to move to Level 0 on 19th July (link here).  There will then be further restrictions lifted on 9th August assuming all is well.

We are due to sail from Greenock on 1st Sept, thought by then we might be good to go but given MSC have removed all Greenock sailings from their website it appears not. 

I'm not sure infection rates carry the same weight they did prior to the vaccination rollout.  We aren't going to get rid of Covid, so long as the general population is safe then we need to learn to live with it.  The government are expecting a huge increase in cases, it's more likely to be the impact of them on hospital numbers that will be the determining factor on restrictions being lifted.

Thanks for the info guys, will get a look at this over the weekend.

Hi all, we're considering booking our first cruise on MSC departing from Greenock on 1st Sept.  I'm having a bit of bother trying to identify an insurance company that provides cover if you are instructed to self isolate by the Track and Trace team.  Has anyone bought a policy that has this cover included?

Thanks guys, have since received my FCC for a whopping £125.  We've only ever cruised with NCL and will definitely cruise again although likely to try another line given the current pricing of the NCL product.

Received the cruise suspended email on 16th Jun and the request to pay the final balance today.

Don't get me wrong it is only a small deposit, but I don't want to be in a position that NCL say I defaulted by not making the final payment and then they refuse to refund the deposit.

Hi guys, looking for a little advice.

We are based in the UK and were scheduled to take the Epic out of Barcelona on Sep 13th.  We have received an email from NCL stating that the cruise is suspended and we will be given a future cruise credit, or if we prefer request a refund via the online form.  Trouble  being the online form is not available until 6th Jul and our final payment is due on 5th Jul.  I received an email from NCL today advising that final payment is due by the date stated and if we fail to pay they reserve the right to cancel the cruise.

Surely if the cruise is suspended they have already broken the contract and therefore no further payments are necessary?

Similar article on the BBC in the UK

The claim is 400 million vaccines produced by the end of 2020, but the vaccine is unproven. The end of 2020 seems a long way away.  Wouldn't be surprised if the end game in this is that the virus mutates into something less harmful before a vaccine is  produced.

The Star leaves NYC for Europe on Apr 16th 2021 arriving May 2nd 2021, she will be in Europe for the summer but I've not seen anything to confirm she will be cruising the Fjords.  There is a fair chance she will as Jade has already been confirmed as covering UK/Northern Europe/Iceland, Dawn will cover Eastern Med and Epic Western Med.

Not sure if the current situation with Spirit will mean delays in announcing future itineraries.

As you are within the 90 day window of sailing you can book the speciality restaurants through your online account.  For those restaurants that have a flat fee the price is displayed, for those that are a la carte you will need to browse the forums for up to date pictures of the menus.  Remember to add gratuities (18% I think) on top of the displayed price.

To my knowledge O'Sheehans no longer does 'specials' although that may have changed again.

If you plan to visit the a la carte restaurants the dining package is a no brainer.

2 hours ago, Newleno said:

We cruise 1 - price, 2 - destination, 3 - ship  (a good ship for us is one with wide open spaces where you can see and feel the sea all over the ship, jewel class are great for us)

For the most part we follow this.

We are far from seasoned cruisers having only cruised on NCL three times.  I was always adverse to cruising (seemed too stuffy and old fashioned), but after a few years of gentle persuasion from the better half I relented and we did our first cruise around the Western Med on the Epic.  I was adamant I wanted to do a big ship and given there is no outside cabin option on the Epic I wanted a balcony!  Flights to Barcelona are easy to come by from Scotland.  We loved the cruise and that settled my mind to promptly book.....

An oceanview on the Star around the Eastern Med, bit trickier to travel to Venice in comparison to Barcelona but it was on the bucket list (despite us both being early 40's).  This cruise confirmed I was ok on a 'smaller' ship but confirmed I appreciated many of the aspects of the mega ships.  In other words I liked cruising and size of ship doesn't really bother me overly if the price and itinerary are right, there are pros and cons to both.  So having confirmed I love cruising in general we booked.....

The Getaway around the Baltics in a balcony, this one didn't really hit the 'price' brief but the itinerary was one we liked.  Equally that couple of extra days onboard swung it for us, as well as the opportunity to visit Copenhagen prior to the cruise for a few nights and then an overnight stay in St Petersburg.  Both were great cities to visit, particularly St Petersburg.  Having grown up during the 'second cold war' it was an eye opener and by far the best destination we have visited on a cruise. 

So, given price was my first caveat and we have so far only sailed in balconies or outsides we decided to book an inside on the Epic around the Western Med for later this year!  We weren't really looking to book a cruise but we seen such a ridiculous price including the PBP and SDP it would be rude not to.  Plus we will do three nights in Barcelona prior to sailing this time.

1 hour ago, bigjcruiser said:

Thanks for the above, helps me too. If you have free at sea can you book online beforehand (apologies I know this will have been asked before). We are a group of 8 and definitely want to do Teppanyaki but need to decide on the other two. 

Bookings can be made online, I think it's 90 days prior to sailing that you get the option to place reservations.

Teppanyaki is popular and there are far less covers than at other speciality restaurants ship dependant, given your group size I'd get it booked at the earliest opportunity.

I like both Moderno and Teppanyaki, personally I'd go to either before La Cucina but that's just my preference.  

3 hours ago, Petersonfcu said:

And this is why I likely will not cruise Norwegian again.  We used to love the Norwegian specialty dining restaurants, and would always buy a multi-meal dining package.  But it seems they have jacked up both their a la carte and package meal  prices to absurd levels.   Perhaps I am misinterpreting the chart above (another problem with Norwegian now, its so hard to figure out what they are actually charging you for . . . .) but is the per-person range per meal now $25 to $45 a meal (including tip) if you are buying one of the packages above???   Tell me please I am not reading that chart correctly.  And the MDR food was a great disappointment on our last two Norwegian cruises, so that is not really a fall back for us.  I see folks dissing Carnival, and that makes me groan.   The "free" food on Carnival -- including the MDRs, Guy Fieri burgers, and even the fresh made pizzas -- is just better than Norwegian IMHO.

If you select the dining package as a perk my understanding is that you pay only the gratuities, so on a 7 night cruise you would get 3 nights specialty dining for €19.80.

If you didn't select the dining package option and visited one of the restaurants you would either pay the fee + gratuities or if A La Carte pay the final bill + gratuities.  This would be your most expensive option.

The other option if you don't select the dining package as a perk is to purchase based on the number of meals you want in the specialty restaurants.  The more meals you purchase the cheaper each meal is.

10 hours ago, Lou33 said:

What is the basis of the $118.80 pp/day price of the drink package?  Seriously, does "anybody" pay for the drink package if it isn't included as a "free" perk?  Are there people who would otherwise run up a bar tab of at least $118/day, every day, for bottom shelf drinks? I couldn't do that if I was 20 years old and on a spring break cruise, at least not every day.

 

It seems like they gave up on having people buy the package outright, and it is all about the free at sea perks.  They want people to feel like they're saving $1000 for a 10 day cruise, when in reality they're paying $200, not to mention the extra cruise fare to have the privilege to pay that extra $200.  

 

I think that the $69/pp/day price at Celebrity and other cruise lines is also very high, but the price at Norwegian just seems out of touch with reality.  

The price is only high if you are paying for it, and like you suggest no one pays for it.  Those that want the drinks package will choose it as a perk as it is by far the best value perk available if you drink even moderately.  Even light drinkers break even just by having a couple of drinks a day.

It's clearly a marketing ploy, compare the whole package and the top line, if other cruise lines offer a better package (for you) at a lower rate then maybe NCL isn't for you.

13 hours ago, mianmike said:

 

But the $240 savings per person makes selecting the Sailaway rate a good value decision for them.  Many people just take the added beverage package service charge and not the added cost of the cruise into account when calculating cost.  We have twice been able to choose our cabin on the Sailaway rate.  Granted, the selection was very limited.  Surprisingly one of the sailaway rate cabins we chose had a large balcony.  On other times when we couldn't select our cabin we have been happy.  

Totally get that, if you are looking purely at the top line sail away will pretty much always win if you aren't planning on drinking during the cruise.  My point was that the op thinks they saved money by not paying the gratuities on the drinks package ($140) whilst then spending $150 on drinks.

9 hours ago, Podie said:

Well, this of course is just my opinion...just off NCL Joy. When I booked, I was indeed offered the "free" beverage package and needed to pay 20% upfront, about $140. My travel agent then mentioned if I was willing to book a "sailaway" mini-suite (NCL picks the cabin) rather than the one I was booking, I would save $240 per person (2 of us) on the cruise fare but would not get the drink package. So we saved $360 each by booking the sailaway cabin (which was lovely), and spent less than $150 each on drinks during our 7 days. It was a definite win for us!

If you rarely drink then sail away rates can be worth considering,.  You also need to take into account that with the sail away rate you don't get to choose your cabin, so there is a reasonable chance you will get a cabin in an undesirable area (above/below public areas where noise can be an issue).

You didn't really save $360 per person, you saved $240 per person by booking the sail away rate which then removed your option to take out the drinks package.  You spent almost the exact same amount on alcohol as you would have paid on gratuities had you taken the drinks package, there was no saving there. 

1 hour ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

 

If only there were an electronic device one could use to find this information...

Someone got out the wrong side of bed this morning. 

By your thinking the forums should just be shut down, last  one out turn off the lights.....