Sundiego

Thank you for this! I guess this question popped into my mind because I read so much about the stellar service at this hotel, so wanted to be prepared. But I understand what you are saying and appreciate you reinforcing the obvious 🙂 Denise

Staying at Albergo del Senato 5 nights pre-cruise (thanks Cruisemom and others!!) I get that Italy does not have the same tipping culture as we do in America. But if we are asking the concierge to make dinner reservations 2 or 3 times... tip or no tip? Thanks! Denise

These "smoking" drinks fascinate me. Do they require the Premium Plus Beverage package, or are they free with the basic drink package? Thank you! Denise

Didn't see this listed PSCSHS Prepaid Service Charge for Suites & The Haven We have a TA perk for prepaid gratuities. Didn't see this code anywhere until I printed my Edocs this morning. Denise

My most recent purchase was an IRA. No problem. Denise

That Hamilton Beach is what we had on our Bliss cruise last month. I had read here that you no longer see them on the desk when you first enter your cabin. Instead, they're stored on the top shelf of your closet and that is exactly where I found ours. I told our room steward what we needed (no creamer, no decaf, just lots of the little pods) and he kept us stocked. Denise

We've bought and sold cruise stocks over the years for the OBC. Just purchased NCLH on the dip for our upcoming transatlantic cruise. I sent them a copy of the confirmation showing the purchase of 100 shares. It had the Chas Schwab logo on it. Per their instructions, I blacked out our acct number. When I say "sent", it was all done via email. I attached jpg scans to the email and also inserted pics from my phone in the body of the email. Got approval email back within 24 hours with an amenity confirmation and obc was posted to my account as well. Hope that helps! Denise

Thanks for this info! So we're Platinum on a long transatlantic. Do you know if we get more than one bag? Denise

Just for the record, we booked through a travel agent and our Haven luggage tags came directly from NCL. And we've gotten some pre-Haven correspondence directly from NCL as well. Denise

NOOO! I don't want you to give up your seat 🙂 I really didn't mean to put you on the defensive. I was just tossing out some food for thought and trying to explain it's not about the access to the alcohol. For us, we enjoy sitting at the bar from time to time, watching the bartender shenanigans if that makes sense. I honestly don't pay that much attention to the seating or drinking habits of other people in the bar. We just like to kick back and enjoy, meeting awesome people along the way. Happy and safe travels to you! Denise

You sound like fun people so I'm not trying to be all cranky about this but what do you mean "in your defense" you're rarely there during the day? Most people aren't. We don't need help getting noticed and aren't worried about being covered by waiters. We enjoy the camaraderie of the bar and it's frustrating when the same people treat it as their own private section every.single.night and truly are chair hogs. Again, we'd probably enjoy each other's company but I just had toss out this other perspective. Cheers! Denise

Sorry, another dining package question 🙃 We are booked on the Escape transatlantic in the Haven. Have 2 dinners for Platinum plus 3 with the dining package. We just got off the Bliss and weren't overly impressed with Cagney's. Would our 5 "free" dinners mentioned above allow us to go to Le Bistro twice? Thx! Denise

What a thoughtful review. Thank you so much! I was thinking of reaching out to the "pre-concierge" about our dining reservations which are now a mess as we booked various shore excursions after booking the restaurants. I appreciate your encouragement to let them fix it all for us before we board! And I love your phrase "flamingo poop". I'm sure that phrase will come in handy for me at some point lol. Densie

I'm one of the ones who "caught Covid". Fully vax'd and boosted. But I don't blame the cruise AT ALL. We're leaving Oct 25 for Rome to board a transatlantic. And I'm really tired of people at home asking me "where do you think you caught it"??? Hell I don't know and why does it matter? What amazes me is that I haven't caught it before now. I'm around a lot of people. Bring on the cruising! It's good to be back 🙂 Denise

We were on the cruise with you and probably have posted together in "the other group". I tested positive the night before we disembarked. So that was Sept 16 and even though the symptoms were mild, I'm still REALLY TIRED. Since we all had to test negative to cruise in Canadian waters, it really was amazing how many of us tested positive! Denise

My husband had a few Whistle Pigs on the Bliss and it's his new favorite. Headed out on the Escape transatlantic Nov 1st, might be expensive lol. My question, he paid a $25 upcharge for the Whistle Pig. Does anyone know which Whistle Pig that would have been? I went to their website and see it starts with the Piggy Back 6 year and goes up from there. Thanks! Denise

Thank you! Makes sense. Denise

We are also on a transatlantic (NCL not Celebrity) November 1st with 5 days pre-cruise in Rome. I am curious if Celebrity still has the antigen test rule in place for all cruises? I noticed that you are not going to Greece, so I am curious what about your particular cruise requires the test. Many thanks! Denise

Bird, I would like to sincerely thank you for your many contributions to this forum. We're back to NCL after the long "covid break" and I can't tell you how helpful you've been, patiently sharing your knowledge again and again. This dining question gets asked in various forms over and over (by me included) and you always take the time to explain. You never get snarky or tell posters to search. Thank you for your kindness. ~Denise

Thanks. I did check them and see $65 euros so curious how long ago you used their service. Thank you! Denise

I love all these suggestions and am printing out this thread and taking it to Rome 🙂 About the airport pickup, I had emailed Albergo del Senato and they can arrange for a car. Price is 65 euro for 2 people. Is this the best solution or should I do something else? I'm not concerned about the 65 euro necessarily, just trying to opt for the path of least resistance. Thanks to you all! Denise

Thanks Cruisemom!! We are staying by the Pantheon (Albergo del Senato).

We are spending 5 days in Rome pre-cruise arriving October 27. I was going to book a private driver through our hotel from FCO to downtown Rome but the hotel is fully booked so I'm sure there is no chance of early check-in. I need suggestions for occupying 2 tired travelers for a 4 or 5 hours! I was thinking maybe Rome In Limo or Rome Cabs for a small tour? We've been to Rome before so I'm not interested in the "big sites". Appreciate any ideas, thanks!! ~Denise

Everything else being equal, we avoid connecting cabins. Had a guarantee balcony on RCL once and got assigned a connecting balcony. We could hear the neighbors arguing constantly through the "common door". After that fiasco, I carefully handpick every cabin lol. I would never rely on a TA or PCC to choose for me. Choosing our cabin is half the fun of cruise planning 🙂 Denise

They never called us! But when checking our onboard account via the TV screen, I did notice they left about 4 messages per day, all saying pretty much the same thing 🙄