Sundiego

Slightly off topic. Can someone clarify what the shareholder obc can be used for? I'm assuming not gratuities and not casino. Appreciate the feedback. Thanks!

Denise

We are booked in a Club Balcony on the Bliss in Sept. We were also planning on getting the weekly spa pass. It was $249 for the longest time and when I looked last week, it also went up to $299! Thanks for your post! I'm also curious if there's a chance it will fluctuate.

~Denise

Very thorough review! Thanks for sharing.

~Denise

On 5/8/2022 at 8:56 AM, KeithJenner said:

Basically, the perks are the laundry, booking restaurants and entertainment 5 days early, a bottle of odd tasting wine and snacks delivered a couple of times.

Keith, we've stayed in "real suites" where we've been successful in trading the odd tasting SPARKLING wine for a red or white. Have you had any luck asking (very nicely) a similar request of your room steward? We're in a Club Class on the Bliss in Sept.

Thanks!!

Denise

2 hours ago, susique said:

Remember you cannot use your Latitudes coupon at Ocean Blue and you can only use  one at Cagneys OR Le Bistro.  We just got off the Joy and we found it was better to use the coupon at Cagneys and Q (which I will never do that restaurant again).  We used the Free at Sea perk at Le Bistro and Ocean Blue.  We did love Los Lobos on the Encore.  

Another good tip, thanks! Although I don't really get the logic. It seems like I should be able to go to restaurant of my choice with MY Latitudes voucher and husband should get to choose a restaurant of HIS choice with his Latitudes voucher. NCL has made things so complicated. Yep, I miss the old days lol.

~Denise

29 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

Yes, you can take the unfinished wine with you. In fact, what we and many others do is ask them not to open it, so we can have it back at the cabin so we can pour ourselves a glass when we need it. I’ve never had any problem with that.

Thanks, Keith. That's a great wine tip! We're not huge eaters so I'm sure I'm way over-thinking this lol.

Two adults (husband and me). We will be on a 7-day Bliss cruise. We have the 2 dinners from SDP and we are both Platinum so we'll get 2 Platinum dinner vouchers.

So my questions:

1. We have a total of 4 dinners. We are considering Cagney's, Le Bistro, Ocean Blue and Los Lobos. In terms of "bang for the buck", does it matter if we use SDP credit or Platinum voucher at any of these restaurants? Or do you basically get the same "amount of food" using either method. 

2. One of the Platinum dinners comes with a bottle of wine at Cagney's or La Bistro, correct? So we would want to use one of the Platinum vouchers for that. Can I take the unfinished bottle of wine to our cabin?

Thanks for your patience in answering another food question! It's been awhile seen we've cruised. 😃

~Denise

PS. Keith Jenner posted this explanation back in March, has any of this info changed? 

" Latitudes gives you one app, one entree and one dessert. There is a limit to the cost of the entree (you pay the excess), but this isn't clear at the moment as the prices have recently increased and reports are that they aren't charging the excess.

With the free at sea meal, you are restricted to one entree, but other dishes aren't limited. There are some uncharges noted on the menu for specific items.

Arthur Javier for sure!! Everyone loves him. Such an awesome person and terrific no matter which ship or which position he's assigned. 

I'm trying to price a cruise and can only get so far before the site returns an error. I tried to view prices from a 3rd party booking site and they have problems communicating with NCL server. So, we wait...

~Denise

Got the email yesterday and the fine print says:

Government fees and taxes are required at the time of booking and range from $116.59 to $176.19 per person depending on sailing. Please inquire when booking. No other fees apply.

Best available stateroom will be provided based on availability. Should you wish to upgrade your stateroom experience, you can do so for a nominal fee. Please inquire when booking.

So I called and asked about the upcharge to YC and was told this particular promotion does not allow upgrades to another cabin type or experience. I'll call back later since the fine print refers to upgrades but I'm not hopeful. FYI... our code from email is "casino cruiser". Not sure if others have a different offer code?

~Denise

Data point... my deposit refund posted to my Amex card June 26.

Cruise was British Isles, 9/13/20. I cancelled on 4/19 before Princess announced the cancellation. I had a $500 refundable deposit. So it took 2 months plus a week for the credit to appear on my Amex. 

~Denise

12 hours ago, canadianbear said:

 

 

Tomorrow we have a reservation at the Pinnacle again for supper then sadly packing.  

 

 

So hard to say goodbye after a b2b!! Thank you again for letting us travel with you. Loved your posts!

~Denise

12 hours ago, Pepicou said:

Hiya @Sundiego if your chap struggles standing for a while, then please first report to your lifeboat to get checked off then inform your lifeboat crew or one of the Officers on deck that you need somewhere to sit. You will get escorted to the Atrium area located midships inside where there will be seating available (and a crew member assigned to demonstrate how to don a lifejacket to everyone sat there with you) 

Thank you so much!!

~Denise

8 minutes ago, canadianbear said:

When you get into your cabin there should be a “gift for you” card by the bucket with “champagne” in it so that is included plus the bottles of water beside it. 

So we don't care for champagne, will the concierge let us substitute it for a bottle of red or white wine?

5 minutes ago, canadianbear said:

 

You are most welcome!!  We are just relaxing before our Gala night dinner.  

 

If you've never been in a Neptune suite try to make sure you go to the welcome reception in the Neptune lounge as the concierge goes over all that is included and answers any questions.   It’s also a nice way to meet others.  Even though we’ve been in lots of Neptune suites we went to both receptions on our back to back mainly to meet others.  

Thanks for the tip! We've enjoyed the "suite life" on other lines, but not on HAL so really excited! Since you are so helpful, I'll ask a few more questions 🙂

Can you tell me about the muster drill? Where is it held? My husband can't stand for long periods of time so we always like to be prepared if it's a "mob scene".

I think I've read something about room service (breakfast menu?) being enhanced for Neptunes. Any tips on that? I've followed your Pinnacle Grill/breakfast 'saga', sounds like all the kinks got worked out and it's a perk to be enjoyed.

Any other helpful tips are appreciated. Enjoy gala night!!

~Denise

5 minutes ago, canadianbear said:

There is a bar of white Elemis soap plus the liquid body wash.   I only drink lattes so no idea about the coffee maker in the cabin but I’ve taken photos and hopefully those can help.  I’m sure the room steward would bring more as it’s complimentary.  Hope this helps.

Wow! I really appreciate you taking the time out from your cruise to share those photos with me! So very helpful 😍

~Denise

1 hour ago, canadianbear said:

So after our breakfast we went to check out the gingerbread houses that they started last night. The Christmas tree also has a topper on it now.

 

Thank you for the wonderful photos! We will be getting on the ship as you leave on Dec 14! We are also in a Neptune Suite! We cruise often but haven't been on HAL in awhile. Can you tell me if there is bar soap or just body wash? And what kind of coffeemaker is in the cabin and what is the coffee provided in the cabin? And will room steward bring us as many as we want? Thank you!

~Denise

On 9/8/2019 at 11:49 AM, mafig said:

We've been on YC on both Seaside and Divina.  

How is Meraviglia different?

I realize it has not been in the US yet, so while there are review, I can't seem to get a feel for the differences, if any?

 

I know Meraviglia has a larger YC.  Does it "feel" more crowded?  What deck on M is preferred?  

Do most people find the service from the butlers and concierges still the same (excellent)?

What's the opinion of the restaurant?

How's the pool deck? ever crowded?  

Entertainment?

 

Lots of questions, I know.  

Hi there! We have sailed NCL Haven twice and NCL suite on a non-Haven ship. We have also sailed YC on Seaside. Next up is YC1 on Meraviglia. We are doing the transatlantic out of Copenhagen and our cabin is on deck 18. If you have any specific questions, I would be glad to get answers for you! We sail Sept 22 and disembark Oct 8.

Since you've sailed in both Haven and YC, you probably have your own biases. For us, butler escort at embarkation from curbside, the butler escort at every port, the Top Sail Lounge, the full access to Aurea spa, plus the priority elevators seal the deal for us! We love the YC. I confess I am annoyed that NCL has extended their nickel & diming to the Haven product, specifically charging gratuities on the drink package. And in my opinion, they've cheapened the product by allowing others to bid on a Haven upgrade despite the fact we've essentially paid full price. But that's just me 🙂

Anyway, let me know if I can provide any Meraviglia feedback to help you out!

~Denise

We leave next week and just received an email from Irish Tour Tickets cancelling our excursion 🙁 While I appreciate the alert and offer to rebook us on a different excursion or provide a refund, it does sort of put us back in "travel planning mode" at the last minute. We opted for the refund. The email:

"We are writing to let you know that due to operational circumstances we can no longer conduct the Belfast City Shore excursion on 26^th Sept 2019.

We have 2 options for you:

1.       Join our Giants Causeway Excursion on that day at no additional cost (please note this is a full day tour), you can have a look at our itinerary here: https://irishtourtickets.com/giants-causeway-tour-from-cruise-ships/

2.       If this option doesn't suit, a full refund will be issued."

~Denise

1 hour ago, psmarkle said:

Yes, booked onboard on Friday evening.  She told us the Voyager's 5% is the only discount that can be added to the Casino discount as I was trying to get her to also apply our 10% military discount 😉

Ok I just checked my booking and my scribbles. I did get the 5+30%. I feel better now!! Thanks again for the fun review 🙂

~Denise

2 minutes ago, psmarkle said:

Yes, booked onboard on Friday evening.  She told us the Voyager's 5% is the only discount that can be added to the Casino discount as I was trying to get her to also apply our 10% military discount 😉

Thanks for the fast reply! We sail in 40 days, so way past final payment but I'm still going to try and squeeze a few dollars out of this latest news 🙂 I'm not optimistic lol but it never hurts to ask I guess.

~Denise

On 8/11/2019 at 2:35 PM, psmarkle said:

Using both the Casino 30% discount stacked with our Voyager’s Club 5% discount, I booked for next April on the Seaside again (we love this ship and crew),

Wow... so surprised to read this! We sailed Seaside YC last October and have an upcoming YC booked on the Meraviglia using our 30% casino discount. Casino dept firmly told my T/A that no other discounts could be stacked with the 30% casino discount. Perhaps you said, so apologies if I overlooked it, but was your "30% cruise" priced and booked onboard or after you returned home?

Thanks for the reply and for the awesome review!

Denise

To clarify, since I've been through this a few times...

The Voyager discount for past passengers is a minimum of 5%. Some promo cruises are 5 + 10% and some are 5 + 15%. You can find these in the Voyager Club section of the website. And the math can be quirky. If it's a "5 + 15" cruise, that doesn't mean 20% off. It means 5% off, and then the remaining 15% comes off the balance (or to say another way, an additional 15% off 95% of the original cruise fare).

If you want the 10% military discount, as stated above you forfeit the Voyager Club benefits. If booking the cruise online or through a TA, you proceed as normal and call in after with your booking number for the 10% to be applied at which time they will remove any automatic Voyager discount that was initially applied.

~Denise

An alternative... walk up to a slot machine, download $100 from your onboard account to the machine. You'll see $100 credit on slot machine. Cash that out, take the $100 ticket and go to casino cage (cashier) and get cash. Then you can spend it however you want.

~Denise

Excellent review!! We've been on the Seaside, we've also sailed Princess. So it's fun to read your thoughts. Thank you!

~Denise