seemoreroyals

So far nothing to get rant about.  Except for the bad weather.

That is strange.  We booked the vibe on Prima for last years cruise almost a year out and we booked the vibe on Escape for our cruise later this year almost a year out.  Good luck.  Hope it works out for you.  Maybe someone who has booked the vibe on Viva before can chime in.  Must be a different policy depending on the ship.

ETA -  Maybe go with the cabana rental.  Access to vibe comes with it I think for not much more than the cost of 2 vibe passes.

Meh on the free water.  The only way I will drink it is out of the box over a glass of ice.  Otherwise it does not taste very good.

Prima does not have cabanas in Vibe or at least they did not when we last sailed in December.  They did keep a carafe of fresh iced water next to  us at all times.  Thought that was a nice touch.  Prefer over the boxed water.  

14 hours ago, Tracibelle said:

Available 120 days before sailing online. 

As soon as you book your cruise,  if the TA or CAS or NCL agent working with you will not do it for you,  go to the entertainment section on your reservation on NCL's website and see if Vibe is available to be booked.  Our past two cruises I was able to do this on the Prima in Feb 2023 for Dec 2023 cruise and on the Escape in Feb 2024 for our Dec 2024 cruise.  In both cases I was able to book the Vibe on the same day our cruise was booked.

Don't rely on others.  In some cases they may be up to date on Vibe booking policy but in our case working with CAS the agent said we could not book vibe until closer to cruise date.  Both cases they were wrong.  If you book far enough ahead you should be able to get the Vibe with no problem.  If you book closer to sail date I would check every day for availability in the event somebody cancels.  I would not wait until on board or rely on others for help.

25 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

Do you see your certificates in your account?   If you do, when you go to make a payment, click on payment amount putting $250 in the box, then go down and click on your certificate, then go down and click on the I accept box (or whatever it states), then hit make payment.

Thank you for pointing this out.  I have always in the past called CAS and waited on hold to get something like this done.  Just checked my account to verify the $250 had been deducted and for the first time noticed the payment button.  Upon hitting that I realized that my remaining CNC's along with their cert number are listed there.  Next time I am going to do it myself instead of waiting on hold for CAS.  

Thanks everyone for bringing up the March 22 triple up cruise next certificate offer.  Just got off phone with CAS and switched our upcoming cruise from 2 cruise next certificates to 3 cruise next certificates.  Depending on how you look at it we saved either $125 or $250.  They also told me that this offer is good through the end of this month.  If you have extra CNC's on hand it's free money there for the taking.

Do you have to use a specialty dinner or pay an extra fee to dine at Supper Club on Escape?

1 hour ago, FirmBeliever said:

Cruising on Prima next January for a 14 day Caribbean itinerary.   Vibe is $329 per person.  Seems like a lot!  The videos are tempting me though.  

 

We have only cruised once, also Caribbean last month on the Encore.  Vibe was sold out before we even booked.  We attempted to go to the pool a few times, but found it completely overwhelming and it was not worth the trouble to even try to get into the pool or hot tub.  I was sad not to have at least used the hot tubs as I really enjoy them.  Sitting in crowded loungers was not fun for us at all.  We also would never want to claim spots at 7am and walk away from them.  It just seems so entitled.  I'm also a former teacher and don't particularly want to be anywhere near kids any longer unless they are well behaved.   On the Encore we spent a lot of Sea Day afternoons in the couches outside on the deck that had the speciality dining places and hung out a lot in the Observation Lounge and bar area.   

 

I'm fair skinned, so am not a huge sit in the sun all day person - shade umbrellas are a must.  Husband also needs shade.  We do enjoy cocktails - but are not party party dancing hooting and hollering people.  We love a good bar tender and trying new drinks.  Chill vibe with opportunities to meet small groups of people would be perfect - which I gather can be the case in vibe.    I'm 55, and my husband is 59 - we are retired.  I'm a tad nervous about the reviews I'm reading about crowdedness on the Prima - but I read the same about Encore, and we did not experience that at all.   Do we sound like good Vibe candidates?  

That's a bargain on a 14 day cruise.  Don't have regrets.  Book the vibe if you still can before it sells out.

15 minutes ago, zqvol said:

The only catch is that if you are not a sun worshiper, then the vibe is a waste of money

We are definitely not sun worshipers.  We moved around a bit and got some help from the crew to place the provided umbrellas in such a way to keep the sun off of us.  

We do like being outdoors though.  Especially when it is about 75 degrees with a nice breeze. Wife and I side by side enjoying a good book with a carafe of water and each of our favorite adult beverage awaiting our attention.

16 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

It will be a lovely honeymoon gift. But,,, once it goes on sale online, it will sell out quickly, so if you want it, grab it. 

Good to see that you are coming around and changing your opinion on the vibe.  In the past you have been one of this forums biggest critics of the vibe.  

To the OP the vibe is a wonderful and serene place to get away and be pampered, away from the hustle and bustle, no chair hogs or screaming kids to deal with.  Wonderful drink service.  Bartenders and waiters are some of the best on the ship.

A great place to spend part of your honeymoon.  But like the bird says book it ASAP as it is very popular and sells out quickly.  Don't wait to get it when you get on the ship.  In all likelihood it will be too late unless there is a last minute cancellation.

5 minutes ago, joespin said:

Hi everyone. We had some friends just off an NCL cruise. Like us they only had a basic internet plan. I believe it is 150 minutes for the duration of the cruise. In any event, unbeknownst to them, they found out that even if you do not use the internet but have your phone connected to their wifi network you will be consuming minutes. They had to argue with the staff to get their minutes reinstated. What this means to me is you have to continually logon and log off of the wifi network to conserve your minutes. Does this sound correct to you?

You have to sign out each time you use internet.  If not your free 150 minutes will be gone in a flash.

On 3/14/2024 at 10:59 AM, Grandmafreddie said:

Thank you for Info. Which special restaurent did you enjoy going to make reservations with ppc in few mo.

To our surprise we thought Los Lobos was the best of the three we tried.  We both had the table prepped quac, cheese fondue,wife had carne asada, I had the spicy white fish.  Everything including service was wondeful.  Plenty of chips and  hot sauce.

We also dined at Cagneys and Palomar. Cagneys was great as usual.  Palomar was a disappointment for us and would not recommend.

1 hour ago, CharmCity2000 said:

How is access to the Vibe controlled?  Is it via a wrist band or to you swipe your key card to get in?

On Prima in Dec they asked for our room key on day 1 to verify that we had paid for access.  They put a smiley face decal on for easy verification on future visits.  

On any given day we watched quite a few attempts to enter the vibe with no vibe pass.  The staff usually got to them within a minute or two and escorted them out nicely.  

On Prima the vibe has a sliding glass door that requires key access.  Problem is after guest comes or goes it stays open for about 30 seconds.  

2 hours ago, cruisegirl1976 said:

How far in advance can you usually book the passes?

We booked our upcoming Dec cruise vibe passes for Escape at time of booking.  First part of Feb.  CAS agent that I booked it with said I would not be able to book vibe passes until about 60 days out.  Once I got through with her I went to NCL website and noticed vibe passes on my cruise were available for booking.  They were under the entertainment section.

It may vary from ship to ship.  I would try to book them as soon as you possibly can.  The vibe is popular with a lot of people and sells out fast.

To @Chirphy6438  some vibes do not have cabanas.

15 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Non-refundable is not the same as free.

Have a nice day.😒

12 hours ago, Grandmafreddie said:

So excited goi g in dec from ny cabin 12154. Hope its good. Did bibe gave umbrellas for shade. Booked it and spa. Hope you r having a healthy and fun cruise

Yes vibe provides umbrellas and will help you position the umbrella.  Vibe also has an area with tables and chairs.  We ate our lunch there daily.  The outdoor grill/buffet is literally just steps away.  It is quiet.  Great place to relax and read a book. No screaming kids.

Can't say enough good things about the vibe on Prima.  If you have not already done so there are several good utube videos that will give you a sneak peek of the Prima vibe.  Enjoy.

16 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Why does NCL calll it "Free At Sea"? Any marketing professional will tell you the quickest way to make a sale is to convince the customer they're getting somenthing for free.  Only a sucker believes FAS is really free.  Since it's 'baked into the price', it's not free.

If you want to sail with NCL it is free.  Their rules. Try going to customer service and see if they will give you some of your money back or some onboard credit for opting out of the FAS adult bev pkg.  They will probably try to be nice at first but in the end you are not getting anything back.

See it any way you want to see it.  Gotta love these tipping threads.  What this is the 3rd or 4th new tipping thread in the last couple of days?

59 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Not getting a discount for declining the drink package does not prove the drinks are free.  You're paying for them as part of the cruise fare which is a far step from being free.  They're 'included', which is not the same as being 'free'.

As far as I am concerned they're free.  As far as NCL is concerned they're free.  If not why do they call it FREE AT SEA?  

It's baked into the price.  If you decline the adult bev pkg you get nothing back.  Other than not having to fork over about $300 worth of tips. I stand by what I posted earlier.

No use slitting hairs over it.  Another tipping thread, another round of bickering and arguing.

21 minutes ago, zqvol said:

Messed up logic. If you have 2 drinks a day you cover the cost of the package. 

I understand that the drink package is worth it.  My logic is pointing out that tips on drinks have already been ponied up in advance.

The drinks are free as part of the FAS.  If you decline the drink package they will not give you a discount on your cruise.  You just don't have to pay what amounts to about $300 in tips for a cabin for 2 on a 7 day cruise.

27 minutes ago, MyTMo777 said:

Been a few years since I sailed without a drink package so I can't recall (or there may have been changes). When I order a drink at the bar and they hand me the slip to sign, is there a tip automatically included on that slip? I know there's an option to add a tip, but checking to see if that would be on top of a percentage that is already added.

Yes.  Tips are automatically paid for you if you get FAS.  It amounts to about $300 for a cabin with 2 people on a 7 day cruise.  If you each have 10 drinks a day that is 140 drinks for 2 people on a 7 day cruise.  At approx $300 which you have to pay to get the free drinks that amounts to over $2 tip per drink paid in advance.

Paying extra is not expected or required.  I can only recall a couple of occasions I have tipped extra on the past couple of cruises.  One was when one of the bartenders on the Prima balanced a wine glass on his head and poured my wife a glass of chardonnay.  

If it makes you feel better to tip more tip more.  If you are like me and think $2 per tip per drink paid in advance is enough do not tip more unless the bartender does something above and beyond expectations.  

16 minutes ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

On our last voyage, two bartenders said they do not get a portion of the FAS gratuities, just the bar wait staff.

 

 

Either you misunderstood them or they are working you for additional tips.

Once you prepay your FAS tips you are not expected or required to leave additional tips.  Next to politics and religion,  tipping etiquette discussion on cruise ships is probably the most polarizing topic of discussion I can think of.

Do what you want.  Just realize you are under no obligation to tip in addition to the 20% FAS tips that have been set aside courtesy of NCL.

If you are worried about bartenders getting their share of what you have contributed via 20% prepaid FAS tips, like @Two Wheels Only posted that is between NCL and the bartenders.  

On a seven day cruise a cabin of two is already paying about $300 in drink tips.  There are some that will say part of that is the incremental cost of the drinks themselves.  However, if you opt out of the drink package portion of the FAS you will eliminate the tips but NCL will not give you a discount on your cruise.

To OP in summary, do what you want.  You have already done your part by paying the 20% prepaid drink tips.  If a fair portion of that does not reach pockets of bartenders then that is on NCL.  If they decide to funnel that money somewhere else shame on them not on you.  Enjoy your cruise.

No need to tip in MDR.  Simply get up and leave after dining there,  Already taken care of as part of DSC so you can enjoy a stress free cruise and not have to worry about who and how much to tip.

Anyone else besides me getting tired of some of the sanctimonious responses in these tipping threads?  

Just pay the DSC and be nice to your cabin steward and don't throw any unreasonable demands at him or her.  I guarantee you will have a great relationship with your cabin steward.

NCL replaced tipping with envelopes to cabin stewards a long time ago.  It is not hard to research the facts.

On a 7 day cruise a party of two is already tipping between 600-700 dollars assuming they get the standard drink package and the specialty dining package.  It is up to NCL to decide who gets what.  

This process was presented to all of us a long time ago as a way to enjoy our cruise without having to tip who and what amount.  I am more than willing to pay what I consider to be my fair share of tips expected. I cannot see a scenario where I would go to guest services and have them removed.

If you are in Haven you are expected to pay extra tips to concierge and butler.  Most of us folk here are in balcony cabins and below.  

36 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Hmmm...interesting. Everyone had to get those little name tag thingies and the announcers made a big deal of saying selection was random and could be anyone in the theatre. I think you cruised after us. Maybe they changed the procedure in December? Or, they just told us a bunch of hooie to make me nervous! 

It is random.  We did not go to box office to opt in and were quite surprised when my wife was selected.  Didn't win but did get a free t-shirt.

11 minutes ago, PaperSniper4 said:

BINGO!🤑

 

Sad but true. When a company produces more product that it can sell (100% occupancy), there is little reason to change anything to make the product more attractive to potential customers. Basic economics.

 

We too have been cruising for a long time, over 30 years in our case, and we still love it, but occasionally I wonder if we ought to continue. My poor wife will be very disappointed if there are no triangular "hash browns" on our cruise next month.😪 I can hold out a little longer as long as they continue to have excellent croissants.😎

 

 Doug

Most itineraries  have a McDonalds at at least one of their ports.  For now anyway your wife will need to get her hash brown fix there.