SullytheBFG

Yes, I did this two days ago, we sail in 8 days. Upgraded from a balcony to Haven 2 bedroom suite! Paid the difference between my original booking to the new price kept my old promos and got the other two as well.

It is the first trip since my Dad died and we are taking my Mum with us so I want it to be special for her.

The price was very good never thought we could ever afford the Haven.

Also got to pick the cabin

Blimey!!

We are in a suite next week, with our poor exchange rate to the USD sounds expensive.

British people don't tip like Americans either.

I called main NCL UK number yesterday as I looked at our cruise online and noticed that there were Haven suites available at a great price. We cruise in 9 days so way past final payment date.

Asked if I could change and just paid the price difference from my original booking and the new suite price. Moved from a balcony to two bedroom suite for $1400 (equivalent) for 3 people. Kept my original 2 perks and was also given the extra two.

Very helpful and friendly.

There was no way I ever thought we could sail in the Haven, the price now is less than half the original price.

I just called the main NCL UK number, I am not sure if we have an upsell particular number.

I looked at the price I could book the cruise for a H4 suite online and compared it with what we had booked our balcony for. Less than £1000 extra for all 3 of us.

Rang NCL direct and asked about upgrade prices and they were very helpful.

Ignore my daft question!

Excellent news!

So do you need to go down from Haven and then up? Or is it on the same deck?

I called and spoke to the Upsell fairy at NCL and we (myself, otherhalf and Mum) have moved form a large balcony to a two bed suite in the Haven on the Epic. All for a good price!!

I never thought we would get to stay in the Haven!

Can someone answer the question if you are staying in the Haven do you get access to Posh automatically or do you need to buy passes? Sometimes like to get away from children :-)

Thanks in advance......

Just called the main NCL UK line to ask about an upsell. Myself, OH and Mum and traveling on the Epic on the 25th for a week in the Med.

Just moved from a large balcony B6 (B6) to 2 bed room villa with balcony (H4), USD equivalent $1400 for all 3 of us! So excited never thought we would be able to get to that level. It is a surprise for my Mum and her first holiday without my Dad since he passed away.

Kept all our previous perks and also now have all 4.

Soooo happy :-)

Posh was worth it for the day at sea because the ship is very busy so getting some quiet space was good, however I'm not sure I'd have bothered for the whole week as on the other days at port the boat was quiet anyway and there is an adults only area, H2O at the back which has a pool and hot tubs. Posh does not have these and can be really hot so I suspect your mum may prefer the H2O area on the days when the boat is in port. There are water mister things to cool you down but not as good as the pool. All depends how quiet your mum wants it as posh is very quiet and comfy chairs and beds. Another option for you mum may be the spa, we didn't use it but my friend did and said it was lovely....

Cheers for that. I might just get passes for the sea day and tell her to go to H2O as she likes to people watch and chat to people if they want to. We are getting off a few times as some of the places we have been to before.

Counting down to the 25th, seems that tomsgirl66 is on the same cruise!

Great review, we go in 12 days time from Barcelona. Now getting really excited!

Is posh worth it? I have my Mum with me who will not get off the boat during the week and thought it might be a nice place for her to be. Does it have a hot tub or any other cooling water feature?

We had vibe passes on the Escape earlier in the year and it was a really good area.

We are the opposite that is why we like the big NCL ships as the choice of restaurants is excellent. We normally buy a dining package for most nights.

We did RCL some years ago with family and hated the same table dinner every night in the same place.

Other lines are copying NCL, we went on the Harmony of the Seas out of Southampton and the choices of restaurants etc was a reason for giving it a try. We paid for the drinks package and dining package on there!

Happy to drink tap water and luckily in the UK we don't have to pay the 18% gratuity on the UBP when we get it for free!

Different people like different things..... :-)

On the Escape earlier in the year there were flip flops, shorts even men wearing baseball caps in Cagneys during dinner. Nobody seemed to care.

Wearing a hat at dinner is a big no no!

Also people wearing the basketball shirts with no sleeves (not sure what the correct term is) and t-shirts with no sleeves we would call them vests.

It would be nice if people looked like they hadn't just come in from the pool for dinner!!

The Escape is a brilliant ship. We did the 2 day Hamburg to Southampton and then two weeks a few months later in the Caribbean. So much choice in the different restaurants. I have only been on the Epic and Escape with NCL so cannot comment on the older boats.

We got given the drinks package and purchased a 12 day dining package which worked out a great price.

Do the Escape I don't think you will regret it.

I have only used the plugs for charging kindles, phones, ipods and they work fine.

As said previously any high power hair straighteners etc will not work.

You will need either a UK to Europe 2 pin adapter or UK to USA adapter. The USA ones scare the life out of me as they never look safe!

You will love the Epic we have been on her twice previously and are due to go again in just over two weeks.

I had a look at the shore excursions on NCL and they are really expensive. There are lots of companies that work to the ships schedule. For example we are doing a guided tour to Pompeii We are paying 51 Euros so £43 ish. NCL wanted £89 for a tour that looks exactly the same!

You don't actually need cash on the boat unless you want to gamble or tip extra.

The UK does not pay 18% on top of the packages as our consumer law is different. We sail the Epic later this month and got the UBP which covers drinks up to $15 and the 3 night dining.

We had the free drinks package for two weeks on the Escape in January which was fantastic. Our drinks bill otherwise would have been horrible!!

We have arranged to do a non NCL one to Pompeii, it is not that far from the port. NCL were ridiculously expensive, it is a half day one leaves in the morning and gets back at lunchtime so plenty of time to get back onboard.

We like NCL as we both have to wear business attire daily. I have also done a couple of shorter Royal Caribbean with extended family. On formal nights the entire boat seemed to be wearing black tie, I only saw one lounge suit. All the ladies had evening dresses.

Some times NCL can be a bit too relaxed on our last cruise there were people wearing baseball caps and no sleeved basketball shirts in the specialty restaurants.

Same here I could fill in the passport details etc. Just wouldn't let me print until 30 days out.

You have plenty of time!

When we were on the Escape last year and they were closing the bar down for the evening in Vibe. We used to get brought buckets of beer or a bottle of prosecco in an ice bucket without even asking.

We were nice and friendly to the bar staff, it helps :-)

Yes, there were cash games. My OH who is a good player came back after an hour with nearly $1k up.

The rake is not great but it's always good when you are sitting at a cash machine donation table :-)

For profitable poker cash games are better, lots of Grandads with happy feet!

We did a B2B in January on the Escape. You all meet in an advised area, get given a sticker that says still on vacation.

We were all escorted off cleared customs with the filled in form and then taken back on board again. It probably took 30 minutes.

May I ask Americans why putting a card in the electricity slot is such an issue? This has been in Europe for many many years, it saves on electricity. There is global warning....

Bong is a lovely bar chap, very entertaining.

I was in Rome two days ago and it was 39C/102F.

Should be relatively pleasant around lower/mid 20Cs maybe a little rain.

We are one week later on the same trip.

Thankfully we had the drinks package included in our booking! With the current exchange rate GBP/USD we couldn't afford to drink!

Aperol spritz hurrah!!