alwalaska

Yep. I believe it is usually 20k or 25k signup bonus if they spend enough in the allotted time.

They could get a credit card and you can transfer the points to them for free. I transferred points from hubbies card to my card to do our upgrade on our cruise that is coming up. I'm not sure what the limit is, if there even is one, but I'm sure it is in the terms and conditions of the card.

So, just to verify, the Encore did go to Taino Bay and not Amber Cove? If yes, that is great news for future cruises that I might be looking at.

It has been several weeks since I received my upgrade bid email for my 2/9/2024 cruise, but then again, there are at least 100 empty cabins on the ship by my best guess. I can no longer find the site that listed how many empty cabins there were per category.

Where can you see real-time bidding? My cruise to AU/NZ has tons of rooms left, nowhere near capacity.

You can bid on upgrades though. I recently booked an interior. Did a double-meta upgrade on a 12-night cruise to a balcony and saved a lot of money. A lot more than if I had cashed it in for OBC or a discount on a cruise. I was recently given the opportunity to bid on suites. I don't know if my price ranges were different since my original cruise price was so much lower than those you had balconies that they paid for. My cruise isn't until Feb, so I don't know whether or not I will win a bid. I'm guessing not since I made the minimum bid.

From where we docked (Amber Cover) it was like a 16-minute or longer drive, and absolutely not walkable. Here it is on a map Paseo de Doña Blanca to Amber Cove Cruise Port - Google Maps. The only info I have from Taino Bay to town was what I gleaned from Google Maps. Here is a sample map - https://maps.app.goo.gl/N2Hea4PKyuerwFGKA . Just go out and put in the port and where you want to go and ask for walking directions. I know people walk it, but have said they were constantly being offered to be guided all along the way.

We didn't dock at Taino Bay, so I don't know. You can walk to town from Taino Bay. In general, taxis seem to be expensive, at least from the other port area. Local mostly share mopeds rather than taking a taxi. Our private tour was not much more expensive than what someone paid for a taxi from the other place where the ships dock.

The number is 866-625-6986. Luckily someone on here or the social web site that shall not be named gave me the number because I could not find it anywhere in my Latitude info. We booked 6 pm because it was the day going through the sounds and I didn't want to miss any part of that. I had read somewhere that you were out of the sounds by like 5pm, but I can't find where it was now. I called on Monday at 123 days and for the 15th, a couple of times were already gone. I think the missing ones were 6:30 and 7:30. Are you doing Valentine's Day? We're doing Teppanyaki for that at 5pm since it is a sea day and we can then go to shows or whatever else is going on in the evening.

Yes. We both applied for new cards last year and I moved his points to my card, and then used them to do a double meta upgrade from interior to balcony for our upcoming 12 night cruise in Feb.

So, it must be a Spirit IT glitch and not fleet wide. On my activities, I have the #1 showing there is a reservation, but, when I go to the day, I have column titles of guests, time, etc, but no Onda and no info about the reservation. Everyone on my cruise is having the same problem. Also - everything else looks normal. My email confirmation did not include the Onda reservation I made on the phone and if I try to print reservations, it doesn't show up there either.

I almost missed your sarcasm. 😁

Oh my goodness. This looks like a muster drill. What are we looking at?

Thanks. The other restaurants did not have the October 12 message, they had the Date, Time, and Guests options in the place where Onda had the Oct 12 (our 120 time) message. We are now at 120 days and the message saying I could book starting on Oct 12 now says "Not available to book" as you predicted. Does anyone know how to contact tech support without sitting on hold? It would be nice to get them working on it since those of us who made reservations on the phone still can't see the reservations in our daily planners.

What ship are you on and did you make the reservation on the phone or online? Just curious. We are now at 120 and no one can make reservations online for Onda. I called the Platinum and above line and they made the reservations, BUT, I still can't see the reservations in my confirmation which makes me a bit nervous.

Thank you for verifying it wasn't just me. I'll call on Monday if I'm still having problems.

Thanks. I've reached out to my TA, but I thought I would check on my own too.

Has anyone seen this before? I'm at 125 and Sapphire. I was able to book most of my dining for my cruise on Feb 9 on the Spirit, but ONDA says, Come back on Oct 12, not available for reservations, even after I click into it. All of the other dining locations said Too soon to reserve on the main page, but then gave me days and times after I clicked into it. Any thoughts? I don't have time to call right now, but I'll probably try later today if I can get a chance to.

Geoff, this may have been somewhere else in the 8 pages, but I don't have time to read all of them right now. It looks like cruises that stop in Tasmania still need to have vaccines and a negative test within 24 hours prior to the cruise. Does that simply mean that the state government of Tasmania has decided to opt into keeping the previous requirements rather than following the East Coast and WA cruise protocols, or are they enough on their own (don't know how to phrase it) that they don't fall under those suggestions, etc??

Thanks. I searched the NCL boards before I posted, but I didn't think to go to the general Australia boards.

I totally understand that, but NCLs rules are not always updated on all parts of their website and frequently the people on the phones have no clue what is going on. I was simply looking for insight.

Thank you! I didn't see the note under the major Australia heading that said it is for Tasmania only. That totally makes sense since the new laws were for NSW and Victoria I believe. Fingers crossed that Tasmania changes their rules before our cruise. 😉

Hi! I was wondering if anyone has any insight on why NCL has not updated their COVID protocols for sailings leaving from Sydney. On Aug 31st, NSW removed the need for cruisers to take a test before boarding the ship. NCL is still listing it as required. Both Princess and Carnival immediately updated their policies, but it looks like Holland America and NCL are keeping them, at least for now. I realize the first Sydney cruise isn't for a couple of months still, but it would be nice to be able to plan ahead. Thanks.

Since it is dirt cheap and balconies are less expensive than the ocean view cabins, that says to me there may not be very many ocean view cabins left. It might be worth seeing how much less your points are worth if you upgrade to a balcony with money and then use your points for payment on the cruise. Usually, the upgrades are worth more, but, sometimes the value of each point is worth less than getting what you really want. I would also do a fake booking and see how many ocean-view cabins are left. Depending on the interior category that you booked, there might not be anything available for a single meta upgrade. It varies ship by ship. I booked an IA on the Spirit and did a double meta upgrade and could only go to BB, not BA.

You can check both ports web sites and see where your ship is listed, but they weren't up to date with the latest info when we sailed. Also, if your ship visits there often, you can check the ship cams and see which port they normally dock at. The Sky almost always docked at Taino Bay when we were going, but the Dawn (our ship) and several of the others were either at Amber Cove or did a sea day or changed ports of call altogether. Good luck.