Cruise Wonderland

As reading from the Azamara board, Doha will close its port for all other cruise ships during the World Cup period, since its terminal will be reserved for the 3 MSC ships (World Europa, Poesia, Opera) as floating hotels.

Also, it seems that the port will keep closing for more days even after the World Cup, for unknown reasons. From the below news posted on Costa board, Costa Toscana will cancel the call to Doha for all the voyages in December and January (and possibly in February?).

Does anybody receive any updates from MSC? Will MSC World Europa's itinerary also be affected?

I am afraid this cannot be done by yourself on the website. But the NCL call centre / travel agent can handle this easily. They can book an excursion for all the guests in the same room, and process the payment from each guest individually.

48 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Is TA gifted OBC ever non-refundable?

TA offers OBC to guests usually under the following two scenarios:

If TA directly pays the cost to "buy" that OBC to you, then it is refundable.

Sometimes TA may set up a group for all the their bookings on that cruise. NCL will offer promotional amenities, such as OBC, to these group bookings. Such OBC is non-refundable.

The following information is provided by MSC Asia office

- TRANSIT SAUDI ARABIA:

All guests can apply for Transit e-Visa by Sea.

Single entry visa valid for 48 hrs (USD 50 / person)

Guests can apply any time before arrival. Visa approval and insurance will start 48 hours before arrival to the port. Link to apply: visa.mofa.gov.sa

(if not provided guests will be allowed to remain onboard duriing the port of call in any Saudi port)

The following nationalities are not allowed to apply for transit e-Visa to Saudi and must refer to Embassy / Consulate (if not provided cannot remain onboard during the port of call in any Saudi port): Israel, Turkey, Iran, Lebanon, Libya, Yemen, Palestine, Syria, Afghanistan

On 9/25/2022 at 7:27 AM, Ethanol95 said:

More realistically, they won't be sending any ship to Hong Kong, because even though this is lifted, there covid policies are still much stringent if there were cases detected onboard leading to cancelled sailings etc. 

Totally agree. I don't expect any chances for the reshuffle of ships. The deployment for 2023 is confirmed and unlikely to have further changes.

Or there may be a small chance that Spectrum will come Hong Kong to operate a few cruises (if Hong Kong can charter the ship) and then back to Singapore again. But it is almost impossible to have the 2nd ship coming to Asia in the next 18 months.

In January 2020 (second last cruise before the ill-fated covid cruise) it was at Santa Fe.

In January 2020 (second last cruise before the ill-fated covid cruise) it was at Santa Fe.

All booking numbers have 8 digits. A few months ago it was still in 49xxxxxx, recently the latest bookings are already in 50xxxxxx

I seriously don't think there will be any 6-digit booking number now, unless you booked a cruise 30 years ago and keep rescheduling it every year until now 😂

Your TA have created a group on that sailing, and some extra amenities can be offered to the guests booked under this group. AMO is the code for onboard credits offered for group bookings.

AMO10 = USD 10 per cabin onboard credit

AMO25 = USD 25 per cabin onboard credit

and so on

18 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

If you're outside of final payment date, cancel and rebook.

 

If you're inside of final payment date, you're probably going to share.

Totally correct. But if NCL offers 0% single supplement on that cruise, I believe it is already quite close to the departure date (from the OP profile it seems they are on Breakaway in October).

Do you refer to this excursion?

($129 - $50 credit) less 10% silver/gold/platinum member discount = $71.1

Other than Vigor in Portland, I don't recall any other drydock facilities for cruise ships in the West Coast.

Not sure if she has to sail transpacific to go to Singapore. One-way journey requires around 3 weeks, so it is still feasible.

Voyager Class vessels are unable to transit through the Panama Canal even in the new locks, right?

On 9/22/2022 at 11:35 AM, resordanis said:

Just put a hold on  Spectrum of the Seas sailing from Singapore for 24 nights in an extended balcony cabin on deck 9. Any thoughts on the ship and deck 9? I think deck 9 should be ok, with no obstructions, but appreciate comments. TIA

Spectrum is similar to Ovation that you have sailed before. Deck 9 is totally fine and not obstructed.

Extended balcony has a larger balcony, but the indoor room space won't become smaller.

The following thread is for your reference.

4 hours ago, pancake718 said:

When looking at the Enchantment deck plans there are separate plans for up to 4/20/23 and for after 4/30/23. I am so curious to see what changes will take place! Couldn’t figure out much from the plans.

This is normal for all the Royal Caribbean ships. Usually they will update their deck plans once a year in around spring. The "changes" are just re-categorization of some cabins. There will only be a few cabins being changed to another colour on the deck plan.

17 hours ago, ChC said:

 

I can't find the 2nd January 24 nights cruise. I can only find 2 12 nights cruise between Singapore and Tokyo in July 2023. I thought the OP was referring to this cruise. Did I miss anything?

OP did not mention January. Only one of the comments said January but it is a misunderstanding.

July 2023 is correct (as OP mentions in comment #8). It will be 12 nights from Singapore to Tokyo, then another 12 nights from Tokyo to Singapore. Many passengers will be in back-to-back for these two cruises, so 24 nights in total.

1 hour ago, styxfire said:

Trivimp -- or anyone else with experience in partial payments on NCL's website,...

Will your CruiseNext will be available to use IF your initial deposit was made using a CruiseFirst?

CruiseFirst and CruiseNext cannot be combined in the same booking.

48 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

That is odd. I have booked 3-4 person rooms for just my husband and I. And I recently booked for my family of 3 an "ultra-spacious" balcony on Allure that sleeps 6. I wonder if it has to do with how booked up the ship is already when you tried to make the change?

Sometimes it is allowed, sometimes not. Each sailing is different.

I believe you are correct. It depends on whether that sailing is selling well. If revenue team thinks that the family cabins are / will be popular, then they may restrict a reservation which does not match the maximum capacity of that cabin.

If you cancel before embarkation (in fact I believe you have to do it at least 1-2 days before, since the system will probably be closed at last minute), the refund will go back to the card.

If you cancel onboard (free cancellation up to 48 hours prior to arrival in that port), the cost will become "refundable" onboard credit. If the onboard credit are not fully used until the end of your cruise, it will be refunded to you by cash at the guest service desk (if the amount is small) or by cheque posted to you later (if the amount is large).

On 9/15/2022 at 5:10 PM, Victoria2 said:

According to a US cruise agent's site, which has been reasonably reliable in the past, QE will be tootling around Japan May'24.

No further info yet.

This is not a secret. Those Japan cruises are already open for reservations for some time.

May 5th-14th (Japan roundtrip)

May 14th-24th (Japan roundtrip)

After May 24th it is unknown yet. Perhaps going to Alaska?

Singapore is probably the most suitable choice for you. The cruises there are already back to normal. The ship is Royal Caribbean's Spectrum of the Seas and it is suitable to children, and the sailings are not too long.

NCL will also be back to Asia but this will be in autumn 2023, after the Alaska season. Although the ship is smaller (Norwegian Jewel), it is also family friendly. But all the itineraries are 10 nights or longer.

Diamond Princess will be based in Japan. She will resume operations there from spring 2023 (if Japan government allows). Those cruises will sail to different Japanese ports and also include a few destinations in South Korea / Taiwan.

Pricing is already visible online (in my region).

2024 Feb 8th: inside cabins are unavailable

2024 Feb 18th: all the categories are currently available

2024 Feb 28th: all the categories are currently available

Waitlist with payment = priority waitlist

Waitlist without payment = normal waitlist

When the priority waitlist is cleared, it will be based on the fare on that day. You will be given a deadline (I think it is 48 hours) to make a decision. If you do not accept the fare, you can decline it and receive refund on the deposit.

Unforuntately it is not possible to lock the price when you create the waitlist at the beginning.

I think it is supply and demand.

NCL only has 1 ship cruising in AU & NZ, comparing with 4 ships of Princess and 3 ships of P&O Australia...

Also NCL Spirit is a smaller ship, and with fewer balcony cabins by proportion. That's why NCL decides to mark up the price if the balcony cabins are booked fast.

Perhaps try asking your TA to "cross reference" (link together) the four bookings. Although this is usually for the purpose of requesting the same dining table, I hope it will be slightly useful when RCI assign the cabin numbers.

Deck plan is available here:

https://www.princess.com/deckPlans.do?shipCode=SU

Only the cabins are shown. No details on the public area yet.

The suite area will be at the aft top deck, just like Norwegian Prima.