Sundiego

Looking at the pricing on the MSC website, I notice it includes a 15% discount if you add it to your cruise before sailing. Are there any onboard specials? Any discount for Diamond? Thanks! Denise

We book through a travel agent most of the time so I understand those who say "NCL won't talk to you". The TA essentially owns the reservation and the NCL reps aren't allowed to discuss it with you. But the shareholder credit doesn't involve the NCL reps nor your travel agent. You should be emailing directly with Shareholder Services. We've always had prompt responses through emailing. If you think it's taking too long to get a reply, just email again. Don't call the main NCL phone number. They have zero to do with the shareholder benefit. Heck, I bet many of those reps have never even been on a cruise let alone owned one share of NCLH. Denise

We always book through a TA and have never had an issue receiving the shareholder OBC. Only issue I've had was receiving insufficient OBC on longer cruises but that has been quickly corrected by emailing shareholder services.

^^This. We always strive for carry on only. Sometimes successful and sometimes not depending on the "climate zones". But we always try.

How much coffee do you put in these? Like a heaping Tbsp? Thanks! Denise

The non-Haven rooms will have a one-cup coffee maker available. I read a tip here to bring our own coffee pods and the coffee will taste better than the "hotel-like" pads NCL provides. Go to Amazon and search for Senseo pods. There are other brands as well, search for pads or pods. We ordered the Senseo extra strong for our upcoming cruise. They smell great, we'll see how they taste! Denise

^^ This. And as @ggTexasGal states, it's from NCL and NOT the TA's invoice, but only the travel agent can ask NCL to generate it for you. It will show all the NCL promo codes in the upper right corner of page 1. We also have prepaid gratuities (actually called service charges which is the daily service charge for the cabin and has nothing to do with the beverage or dining package gratuities). On our Amenity Invoice these are shown on page 2 under "Add-ons" and are listed as "FREE PREPAID SERVICE CHARGES". Denise

We have done a few paid tours over the years but never the Latitudes tour (which I know is more basic). Where do we book the Latitudes tour? Cruise Next desk, Shore Excursion desk? Thanks! Denis

What??? No lamb at Moderno? That's our favorite restaurant and I patiently wait for the lamb to make its way to our table 😞 Denise

Sorry it's giving you such a rough time! We've tracked a number of cruises and have been watching our upcoming Sept 15 cruise daily watching for price drops so we could do a paid upgrade. All the price drops shown have been spot on. Love that site. Denise

cruise plum dot com

I understand what you're saying. We've gotten some good Haven deals, but when I compare to other options, sometimes it just doesn't pencil out for us. Example - we also sail the Yacht Club on MSC. It includes the spa as well as premium drink package within the Yacht Club. It can be a better deal for the things we value. Our next NCL cruise we are are keeping things simple with a Club Balcony and adding the spa package and paying a few dollars extra to upgrade to a premium cocktail here and there. That helps remove the sting for us. Denise

Thank you so much! And since I have your attention lol... for our 935 am flight, if we exit the hotel at, say, 630, would that be enough time to make it through a typical morning at Heathrow to clear security, etc. ? Denise

Thanks to you and @Globaliser for the excellent feedback. Our flight leaves at 935 am. We are actually booked with Internationalfriends London to Southampton via Windsor Castle. Their Southampton to London excursion options weren't a fit for us so I opted for cruise ship excursion. My last question, regardless of which excursion drops us off at Heathrow... do we tell the excursion driver to drop us off at T2 departures? And then is it apparent how we navigate from a drop off point to the Hilton? I assume the Hilton is outside security and we clear all that the morning of our flight? Thanks! Denise

Our NCL cruise ends on Sunday, Oct 1st. The best flight choice for us is departing Monday, Oct 2nd. So I booked an NCL "tour London" excursion that will drop us off at Heathrow in the afternoon. I booked the Hilton Garden Inn Term 2&3 and planned on the excursion dropping us off at Heathrow in the afternoon of Oct 1st. First question, does the above sound like a reasonable plan? Where should I have the NCL excursion driver drop us off? T2 or T3? Second question, I looked at a helpful video on Youtube of the Hilton and it looks like it's actually a long walk from the hotel to T3. We're mobile & great walkers, but we are seniors with luggage so now I'm second guessing that plan. Third question, if we stay at a Heathrow hotel that's not "IN" the airport, I'm reading don't do Hoppa, so what's a good solution for that? Last question, should I consider Aerotel T3 or Sofitel T5 instead? Many thanks for reading!! Denise PS we are staying in London one week pre-cruise so the NCL "tour London" excursion isn't really that appealing, but it was a way to get from Southampton to LHR and not arrive too early for check in to our hotel. So other ideas welcome!

Our NCL cruise docks in Southampton on October 1st. The best flight option for us is the following day, Oct 2nd. So we are spending the night at "Hilton Garden Inn London Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3" the night before our flight. My question, do I need to be concerned that National Express bus will sell out and we can't get a seat at our preferred time (I'm thinking the 945am bus). Does the 945 sound like a reasonable time selection since we're not in any hurry, but also don't want to get to LHR too early? I'm reluctant to book too far in advance in case we decide to book some excursion that gets us from Southampton to LHR (doubtful but you never know!) Thanks, Denise

They responded within a few days for me so I'd resubmit. Good luck!! shareholderbenefit@ncl.com

We will be in a Club Balcony on a 16-day cruise. We're both Platinum. So just how much free laundry do we get? Is this math too optimistic? It's a long cruise, so wife platinum = 2 bags and husband platinum = 2 bags Two people in a Club balcony so 1 bag for wife and 1 bag for husband. So 2 + 2+ 1+ 1 = potentially 6 free bags I'm not saying we need all that laundry done, but we will have travels before and after the 16-day cruise. And if need be, we can certainly pay for the laundry promo that happens at some point. But for now, is my math close? Denise

We've done three transatlantics, always headed west. We visit the embarkation city for about 5 days (we've done Barcelona, Copenhagen and Rome). Then we board the ship. I enjoy sea days and the casino. DH takes his Kindle fully loaded. I am easily entertained and like all the shows. Perhaps a small thing to some, but one of the reasons we prefer the west bound transatlantics is you clear customs at the U.S. cruise terminal instead of a U.S. airport. It feels so much easier to me! Then we are treated as domestic passengers at the airport when we fly home. Denise

Thanks for sharing your experience. That's a lot of disappointment in one cruise. We have enjoyed many good experiences on NCL but there's not much to defend here. They really failed in so many respects. Denise

We cruised the Haven and also the Yacht Club. I would give the edge to the YC for the reasons many have stated. We have been on close to 30 cruises and don't enjoy packing fussy clothes anymore and felt right at home in the Yacht Club with our casual attire. And I'm surprised nobody mentioned one of the best YC benefits - unlimited access to the thermal spa. On my upcoming 16-day NCL cruise they want to charge $399 per person for that. And MSC thermal spas on the newer ships are awesome. We are booked on the MSC Euribia next year. Our YC fare will include internet and the top tier drink package. I love NCL but the nickle & diming does get to be a bit much. Denise

@WESTEAST, also have a Killybegs stop so appreciate you posting this info. Thank you! ~Denise

Tip: laundry bags are paper. Take a plastic trash bag with you (similar to Walmart plastic grocery bag). Roll up your laundry and shove it in your plastic bag. Then put the plastic bag into Norwegian's paper bag. You can fit the max that way and if you do it right, the paper bag won't rip. If you're in the Haven, it won't matter because their laundry bags are larger and of a silky fabric so things fit nicely. ~Denise

Just posting this "data point" as a heads up. I submitted the shareholder benefit request the other day and promptly received the approval email and then an updated amenity confirmation. BUT... they only credited $100 OBC and it should be $250 since our next cruise is 16 days. Sent a follow-up email. So... if you are submitting for a longer cruise, be sure to verify the dollar amount 🙂 ~Denise

@RocketMan275, we used to live in Huntsville and have a mutual friend (Nancy). Email me when you have time! Denise ( sun.diego at g mail)