Saint Greg

One tip that I got from NCL people is that $50 off is per excursion. So if you have excursions booked in Juneau and ISP, you can still get free tram tickets there. I’m on Encore next Feb. And there’s a chance I may do a Bliss to Alaska this summer so keep an eye out for those.

Exactly, that’s the point. Don’t listen to a poster on here who says they’re charging drink and specialty dining gratuities on things they aren’t going to use. As I pointed out, those can be removed by a simple check box. I’m on this thread just to keep that type of misinformation checked.

Very very little. I see way more of him taking shots at CC. I constantly see him referencing posts that don’t exist here. You can find more people taking pot shots of him on Facebook than you can here. People create groups making fun of him on Facebook.

It isn’t all about drink packages $450 vs 2k. Two steakhouse dinners for $12 vs two steakhouse dinners for $100. $50 off of excursions vs $0 off of excursions.

I booked that cruise in April.

I didn’t book sail away. Read it again. Regular rate.

Yeah those are pretty rare. I’ve been trying to do one for years but the offerings are so limited and it’s usually pretty expensive.

That was not a sail away rate. That $450 was a regular rate that included drinks. I even said in the post regular rate. You need to working on the reading comprehension. I have never seen sail away available. I assume that’s open close to the cruise like carnival’s super saver.

Sounds like since you had so many sea days they treated it like my transatlantic. That’s very rare. You probably have to book a cruise with a ridiculous number of sea days.

Well if you book a sail away fare it doesn’t include free at sea. So even if available I probably wouldn't book it. I got a great regular rate on Alaska last year. Like $450 I think.

Historically they’ve done sea day brunch until 1pm on sea days. But recently they’ve been shutting it down at noon which is lunch time. So I guess if you want to eat lunch before 12 you can say you had lunch there. But I’m talking other days on the other lines. I ate in the dining room on embarkation day on Princess. A lunch menu is different than a brunch menu. Carnival does it on journey cruises. And the journey I was on they only did lunch every other sea day. The other sea days were the brunch menu.

I’m curious how you feel about John constantly taking shots at cruise critic. Leading his minions to believe this website is evil.

Really no different than what you said about NCL. Probably a cheaper campaign to have a guy posting it on Facebook. In the end what really matters is NCL comes out cheaper in all categories except gratuities. Maybe internet if you buy it without the bundle.

That’s right. And if you want the stuff in the right you can get it along with internet and additional specialty dining for $300. Still cheaper than just the carnival drink package. I did the upgrade last year but didn’t really use the stuff on the right. If you read the thread you’d know this. I’m considering not doing the upgrade next time. On NCL they call specialty coffee Starbucks because that’s what it is. It’s on the right side.

it’s all the same to us

If you read the whole thread you would’ve read where I mentioned the $20 gratuities. They also charge that every day instead of the big one at the end.

It’s like you aren’t reading what I post. Everything on the left is included. Which I think covers most people.

Oh yeah. It’s not all free. Especially the excursion one and the internet. The free internet is only 150 minutes which is useless. The $50 off excursions is nice and you can use it as many times as you want. I used it 7 times in Alaska. I know what you’re thinking. Mark excursions up $50 then give them $50 off. But when things like the trams in Juneau and ISP are $50 and you get them for free, it’s hard to dispute the discount.

I guess “included” is proper terminology. That doesn’t stop John heald from talking about all of the free or complimentary items on carnival. Unfortunately none of those items are alcohol.

I know you’ll never cruise NCL. I don’t care about that. I do care about you posting baloney sandwich misinformation about it that may impact other people’s decisions.

Next time I’m going to re-evaluate the difference between the $300 upgrade and just buying internet alone. Last time all I drank from the right side of the menu was Bailey’s and Starbucks. Probably Grey Goose but I’d be fine with Tito’s. I think beer, Tito’s, Jameson, fireball, Bacardi, Capt Morgan, Malibu, Kahlua, pretty much covers me. I can live with a mahoneys substitute for Bailey’s. If I’m in the solo area they have those fancy coffee machines I wouldn’t mind trying. In video tours I’ve usually seen orange juice in there in the morning. It would be really convenient to be able to get my coffee and screwdrivers right there. I’d just have to stash some shots of Tito’s in the room.

Just for the $156 pp gratuity you get unlimited stuff on the left. And anyone who goes with that in your eyes is an “occasional light drinker” and naive for thinking they’re getting those drinks for free? You’re ridiculous.

And that depends on the person. I wouldn’t use a photo package. Unlimited lunches on regal at least, would be too much. I’m not a sushi guy and I ate at Alfredo’s three times. Unlike Carnival, NCL and PCL have the dining room open for lunch. And for buffet people ( I am not one) the Princess buffet is not to be missed. I went through it one day. It’s as big as carnival’s but every station was in use and they were all unique. The options were incomparable. Multiple internet connections. Nice but not a big deal for a solo like me.

I want to reiterate that you don’t have to buy a package for alcohol on NCL. The $156 gratuities a week gets you most things…unlimited. But If you are buying the package Princess is nice. It’s $100 more than NCL but you get gratuities paid. You don’t exactly get streakhouse meals included like you do with NCL..but a couple nice lunches. You have the 15 drink limit to deal with but not the 5 minute rule. I ordered two at a time pretty regular. And they will deliver you unopened drinks anywhere on the ship. So on a port day where I wasn’t going to hit my limit, I’d place an order to my room for Coronas or Guinness and fill my fridge for the sea days. Don’t ask me why but Coronas in a glass bottle are much better than the cans on Carnival. NCL and Princes have bottles for some beers.

No problem…