FranknBeans

13 minutes ago, NLH Arizona said:

Yes, their guaranteed wage is $614, as I understand based on posts and if all DSC is left in place, these crew could earn about $1500-1800 per month. If DSC is reduced, then the crew will lose money, and the cruise lines only have to make up for lost DSC earnings if the crew's compensation drops below the minimum of $614.

 

As far as if is it dollar for dollar, no one on here knows; many can speculate, but no one has ever posted any proof either way.

Very true, I've asked officers at an "ask question" gathering a few ago an the officer refused to answer my questions with regards to the financial well being of the crew.

4 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

Yes, other Line’s drink packages are better but you pay full price for it. When I sailed the Bliss for 15 days the drink package for my wife and I was less than $500 for the service charge . Cruises of equal length on Royal or Carnival cost $1500 for the drink package ..... that $1000 savings buys a heck of a lot of bottled water and enough cappuccino to stop your heart. NCL’s free at sea drink promo is still the best value. 

I'm not talking about booze package I,m talking about non alcoholic pkg and when you drink 6 -8 doubles a day you certainly get your monies worth and my partner wasd rinking 2 large fresh squeezed every morning.

I hear you . My drug of choice is espresso/cappuccino but cant afford to drink on board and pay Starbucks ridiculous prices.

That' s the one thing I like about Royal Caribbean line  is there beverage package.

On 9/27/2019 at 4:54 PM, FranknBeans said:

 

I bought the package only because I cant get insurance travel insurance elsewhere due to medical history but I am covered by NCL's policy. One  stipulation was that I could not have seen  doctor or had any tests done 2 or 3 months Cant remember which it was) in advance of trip.

Ditto it was the only place that I could get insurance for many pre exiting  issues.

We love specialty dining because it keeps us from having to feed at the toughs.

4 hours ago, Edinburghgirl1 said:

Does anyone know if they sell Tag Watches on the Norwegian Jade? Regret not buying a watch on Celebrity Silhouette in March and wondered if I might get it in the Norwegian Jade. 

Be aware and check your on line pricing before purchasing,  go to the internet just outside the ncl store and google the watch your looking at. We did this and found the watch at more  than half Canadian  so i ordered it on line and have it already. The ship has a policy of matching price  but they refueled at this price 

22 hours ago, SouthLyonCruiser said:

WOW you have room for laundry from home after packing the necessities? KUDOS

WE are 2 males and travel with one suit case each. 

We bring a lot of our whites from home to get that hospital white back. Love this perk

The Hawaii cruise with NCL is the best bang for your buck. Because land vacations can be very expensive for food and other things.

Where as POA is your hotel and meals. 

Also NCL has the advantage  of over nighting in two of the best ports. The other cruise lines have very short port times thus off ship excuirsion compnaies don or wont over the normal tours due to lack of time. Most of the islands only have one road in and out so if there is a major accident you get stuck and may miss the ship thus the tour companies don't want to run the risk. 

The islands are very easy to get around so seriously think of renting a car. There are a lot of maps at your ready with all the major attractions marked.

We have done this cruise 3 times B2B and still are not tired of this cruise.

Hands down Hawaii for me. Because if your going to do Panama you should make it a FULL transit.

Its my opinion that Panama is a one shot cruise, if you do it a second time which we did 2010 & 2015 the 2 nd time became rather boring and anti climatic, that is unless you like ship longer ship time.

Absolutely NO.

29 minutes ago, skierjj said:

The night of San Francisco, we saw the show Velvet which was very good.

We had a late night dinner at La Cucina and a nice bottle of Spanish wine. I think it was a Tempranillo. The wine steward came over and suggested that we put it in a decanter. It was all very fancy. I had veal shank and I think Mike had a veal dish also. It was very good. 

This show w s one of the best ever and even stood up to the old Jean Ann Ryan Group of productions, this show was also made special by the fact that Candyce Glover winner of season 12 of  American Idol was one of the leads and she also did a show on her own to a stand O.

We too were on this cruise, the weather was just amasing as were the ports.

We had done this cruise before and knew that we wanted to take advantage of the deep discounts in the stores especially the smoke salmon which we bought a lot of.

I wont go into detail on the cruise as it's all been covered.

You may want to check to see if the haven machines have the frother because our aft penthouse on the jewel did not have one, thus wasn't able to use it. 

Also the jet's have been removed from the tubs the tubs   were refitted  by bath fitter'

Needless to say we were pissed as this was also a b2b cruise to Alaska and Pacific coastal.

Having a bit of a brain freeze!  We are doing Pacific Coastal Cruise  b2b with Alaska cruise.

We are in Astoria before San Francisco. Do we have to clear customs in both ports or just Astoria?

Looking at an excursion that makes it tight if we have line up for customs clearance to San Francisco?

Next will be a charge for "front of the line". 

5 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

The thing I like about NCL insurance is the "Cancel for any reason" clause.  Cancelling because of something in life came up unexpectedly is just as likely if not more likely to happen than an illness.

This clause is why NCL insurance is more expensive than the cheapie plans that sell you things that are extremely unlikely to happen.  IMHO, insurance is for things that are most likely to happen, not unlikely to happen.  

I have a Haven cabin booked and have peace of mind.  If our family cant make it from Argentina, our dog gets sick, a flood hits our house, or God forbid and injury, we are covered with 75% future cruise credit.

As with most things in life, you get what you pay for. I always laugh at the slick insurance companies who take people's money and offer them cheap insurance.  Sure if you one of you gets sick, you may be covered but the others in your party will be required to still go on the cruise.  If you miss the ship, you are not covered, etc.

I bought the package only because I cant get insurance travel insurance elsewhere due to medical history but I am covered by NCL's policy. One  stipulation was that I could not have seen  doctor or had any tests done 2 or 3 months Cant remember which it was) in advance of trip.

17 hours ago, QuickieGlenn said:

Thinking of taking a cruise out of New Orleans

 

But it looks like such a long trip up and down the Mississippi

 

How hard is it to find a hotel room?

 

Looking for some info for those that have done it

We did this cruise last year mainly for being able to spend a couple days in New Orleans and to experience the sail away. We would definitely do this cruise again as we want to spend more time in New Orleans.

For the most all of our cruises, we've done them over and over , so for us its about enjoying the ships especially when in ports while most of the ship is empty.

A good hotel for New Orleans is Embassy Suites by Hilton New Orleans Convention Center.  315 Julia Street, New Orleans, LA 70130  it put you just up from the famous Bourbon St. Smaller hotel but nice and staff were great and easy to get around. It also has a great private breakfast  area with full breakfast

Thanks for all the  replies.

1 hour ago, kapcruiser said:

We can’t seem to print edocs and we received our airfare, do you have to wait for a certain time before sailing?

What is your cruise date? Ncl will notify you when to print them.

1 hour ago, brownie43 said:

Just received a memo from NCL an have been put on a wait list for our pre-cruise  hotel stay. Do we wait or try a different alternative? Thank You!

I would book another hotel that has a good cancellation policy that will allow to cancel within a couple days. and just keep following up with NCL . Maybe see were you are on the wait list, 

14 hours ago, Birdie And Sue said:

Park West uses the term "Art" very liberally, as do they "original", "limited", and " one of a kind"/"unique".  Most of what they sell is posters or copies of 'art' printed on high end ink jet printers and they run them off by the thousands.    Before you spend a penny on anything there please do yourself a favor and google park west.

Totally agree put the google search to work on Park West as well as any artist you have in mind'

The auction is a total waste of time> unless you want a glass of varsol in a champagne glass.

You can most often buy on line much cheaper.

16 minutes ago, BaWBarmy said:

My first experience on a cruise ship was with the 'art' auction people. We were accosted just after boarding and asked if we wanted to guess the price of a 'genuine' Picasso engraving, the person closest to the price would get to keep the engraving. Whilst casting an inexperienced eye and placing a completely uneducated guess on the price of the piece the young lady tried to tempt us to attend the 'art' auction later on the cruise. I asked what sort of stuff they would auction, not knowing that this wasn't the only 'art' auction at sea. The reply was "well all sorts, who is your favo(u)rite artist?" I said it was Turner to which I got a slightly puzzled look and then "Oh sure, we have sculptures too"

 

Needless to say we went to the auction anyway despite the fact that we thought the auction staff knew naff all about art. Turns out they weren't the only ones, our estimate on the engraving was way out, although I never did see them give the $30,000 engraving to the closest guess.

 

Oh and the auction was terrible, those that had shown an interest in pieces pre-auction were swooped upon to make spectacular bids on items that were no better than a piece of paper dropped in a puddle of paint.

 

My advice is that no piece of free 'art' should be enough to tempt you to go to one. The sooner they kick them off the ships and dedicate the space they take up to something else, the better.

I would not doubt at all that the winner was a  "planted" person. I cant see them giving away $1k let alone 30K and we've done a lot of art auctions both US and Canada and never seen that sort of value ever given away and shady houses have planted personel in the audence to bid an item up.

Does anyone know if you can bring flowers on board In Vancouver for Alaska and Pacific Coastal cruise? The flowers would stay on board for the entire b2b cruise.

I know for the penthouse suite's they usually put some little tiny arrangement on the table.

I've called and asked concierge desk but they couldn't give an answer? We ere able to do it on our Hawaii cruises. Thanks in advance.

You can only get transfer from airport to port and vice versa. Yow would have to book and stay at NCL recommended hotel where you will (should) get to check in  for embarking at hotel and transfer to the port would be included,. At least that was our experience.