JoieNsk

14 minutes ago, Liljo22 said:

It’s really up to you if you feel it’s worth.  The gratuities are $21.80pp/pd.  Glasses of wine are $14-$15 and bottles of beer are $9-$10.  Since you know you are going to drink around what the breakeven would be, you probably won’t be that far off from what the gratuities are.  I would see the package as a way to try different things.  If you don’t like a wine, you can just grab another.  If you are on a ship with a District Brewhouse, you can try different beers that you won’t normally try.  

Thank you very much!

I love beer - and ales even more. But I am not sure we will drink all that much on a port-intensive cruise.

But I really appreciate the pricing example! I will calculate again. 

We are paid in full though. As the cruise is 112 days out. I am not sure I can even add the "free" package anymore - even if I wanted too.

About contacting pre-cruise concierge.

Can you e-mail them? 

I found the e-mail about Haven. It is very general e-mail, but it does have the phone number to call.

Can somebody please explain me - what advance dining reservations are for? Are they for specialty dining? We are not into specialty dining, we have the port intensive itinerary. So our plan is to eat in Haven restaurant for sit-down meals, and buffet - for other meals.

I would like to book couple SPA appointments though. We are 112 days out. And NCL web-site shows that SPA stuff is not available to book.

Sorry, we are totally new to NCL, so my questions might sound stupid. 

Thank you in advance for any info.

On 6/11/2023 at 4:18 PM, amygutman said:

... arranged for a kettle to be in the room along with the coffee maker for my British friend who was horrified at the thought of boiling her tea water in a coffee maker 😂.

 

Just another Haven perk I know @Sthrngary has mentioned many times before. Many people under-utilize but I have found the pre-concierge to be so helpful - especially with herding all of the cats that comes with arranging a cruise with international travelers.

 

104 Days To Go!!!!!

Warmest, Amy

Wow! I want the tea kettle too!!!

When do they usually contact you? I got some e-mail related to Haven. But never read it :)))

Maybe that was the concierge? :))) 

Now I will make sure I rummage through my emails to find it. 

Thank you for the tip. You made my day with this tea-pot info. I was under impression on NCL tea-pots are not allowed (though we had them on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean). 

We never sailed with NCL before.

Our first time will be in October of 2023 - after we got cancelled out for February on Epic, like a lot of other people.

We rebooked, got exciting itinerary and were able to use the 20% off for rebooking (NCL gave this discount due to them cancelling us). Everything worked fine. We are loosing money on cancelled flights for February. But since our flights mostly were booked for points, we are loosing mostly very small amount due to cancellation fees on rewards. Only one intra-European cash flight we are loosing completely, but it was not expensive. 

We got a great rate for our cabin - the same cabin as in February - but about 35% cheaper! So I am not that upset. A lot of work to rebook everything. But we still are coming on top with the great price for our cabin. Very much on top.

But I decided not to take the dining and drinking part of the "free at see" promo. If it was REALLY free - yes, I take it! But it is not.

Now I found out that you can't get prepaid beers with NCL to keep in your cabin - there is no option to buy any beer package in advance. At least I could not find any? The wine selection to pre-buy - to keep in your cabin - is very limited. This is a very big difference compared with Holland America, Celebrity and even Royal Caribbean (we sailed with all those line before).

So I am trying to figure out if I made a mistake not including the drink package. 

We are not big drinkers. Not into cocktails at all. Glass of wine or bottle of beer - or nothing for me, and 1-2 bottles of beer for my husband. And we really like to have our drinks in our cabin - on the balcony! But I like juices, and we both like coffees. 

$500+ bucks we would be charged for the "free" drink package feels like really a lot to me - considering our drinking habits. The more that it doesn't even include specialty coffees!? The more that our cruise is port-intensive. So we might even skip sit-down dinners and alcohol on some days at all.

Is somebody else with me? Or I am stupid and/or just don't know how NCL works?

Thank you in advance for the info!

Sorry for the stupid question, but I could not find any sure info anywhere.

We never were on NCL before. And we will be in - in Haven - in October of 2023.

On the other cruise lines you often get some alcohol options included with the suites. Depending on the cabin type. Or even for everybody.

Is for example Haven bar included? Or is it upcharge?

We are not big drinkers. But we like to have wine and beer in the room. So you can just take a bottle out, and go to the balcony with the drink. I usually buy beer and wine in advance - from the cruise line. But I could not find any pre-paid beer options with NCL? Is there any?! Where can you get bottled beer to keep in your room?!

The sailing is in Europe - maybe that's why? Or this is just not a option on NCL?

Even the wine selection to pre-pay for is extremely limited. 

Also in the suites we had some kind of sparkling wine on the embarkation day in the room. Is that the case with NCL? And what kind they give you? I only normally drink very dry - brut of some kind. As I tend to have bad headaches from sweeter sparkling wines or any sweet wines actually. So I am debating if I should just pay for Veuve Clicquot or Moet, to make sure I have something I can drink? As I might just have to skip on the option they have as a "present"?

We will be in Haven 2-bedroom family cabin.

Thank you in advance for the information!

Thanks. I found SC type on the deck plans.

Also this video somebody posted before gives great idea what the room looks like.

I probably would have not chosen it if I had to pay "full price" as it's going to be a lot of movement probably in this cabin. Also I prefer lower decks if I can help it.

But for the price I got - I'm O'K even with SC category. At least now, in theory :)) 

Neither me nor my husband have any general motion sickness problem, and we don't have any mobility issues. And I don't even care for the Neptune Lounge very much - no windows, not drinks :))) - so would not go there very often.

Hopefully I would not regret the guarantee thing :)))

1 minute ago, CruiserBruce said:

@DaveOKCreceived an SC, which is a Neptune Suite, which was the Guarantee booking they had.

I see!

Thank you!

I am not all that familiar with HAL cabins.

If you know - what is bad about SC Neptune Suite?

This is going to be our first ever guarantee. Normally I like to choose particular cabin. But this price was so good, that I figured - worth a try.

1 hour ago, DaveOKC said:

I hope you have better luck than I did on Saturday with by Feb 5 &12 NA cruises (casino guarantee also).  Got assigned an SC in a less than optimal location.  A week earlier there were numerous Neptunes open, so obviously what HAL did was to run the upsells (people on my roll call reported this) through first before they assigned us lowly guarantees!  I am disappointed in this approach by HAL, but understand why they do it (more money).

 

In the future I will handle this differently, depending on the ship........

Did you have Neptune Suite Guarantee, and they gave you Signature Suite instead? if so - that kind of sucks.

We have Neptune Suite guarantee this coming August. Got very good price (was told it was somehow a casino rate, though I never stepped a foot in any casino on HAL, and in general do not gamble anywhere :))) . I took it, as the price was twice cheaper as regular price for this type of cabin, and I assumed all Neptune suites are kind of the same. So there going to be no "bad" cabin - whatever would be assigned.

I like Signature Suites on the new ships. But I kind of paid for guarantee Neptune Suite type, not for Signature Suite. Didn't think Signature Suites were included into Neptune Suite guarantee.

3 hours ago, soccermom4 said:

@JoieNskIf you haven't already joined - come over to the RollCall for this cruise.  We have a very active group participating - and lots of great suggestions for excursions etc.

Thank you!

I found it already!

17 minutes ago, CruisinNana said:

Looking forward to hearing from you. You will love your “home away from home!”

 

Thank you!

Just sent two e-mails (hopefully) - first one without the subject "Pinnacle Suite info". So sent the second one - with the subject 🙂

11 hours ago, Dobby36 said:

If I am correct, we are on the same cruise - the 14 day portion of the longer south America one ending up in FL.  There is a good roll call going over in that section that you might miss because the name is titled under the full 31 day journey: 

 

Thank you again, Dobby!

Found the roll call. Never did one before. But I can see how useful it can be!

4 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Along with the bottles of water provided that were already mentioned, yes, there is water and juice in the Neptune Lounge...

 

Thank you very much for the info!!!

2 hours ago, Dobby36 said:

If I am correct, we are on the same cruise - the 14 day portion of the longer south America one ending up in FL.  There is a good roll call going over in that section that you might miss because the name is titled under the full 31 day journey: 

I'm so excited too! We are only in a veranda but looking forward to all the sea days nonetheless 😉

 

Thank you for the info!

We must be on the other part of the cruise - we are from BA to Santiago.

On 11/18/2022 at 9:04 PM, Bubbleswvwa said:

Enjoy the Pinnacle suite! We had a Pinnacle suite in 2020 and have it again in March and I can't wait....

Thank you so very much for the great info! Really appreciated!!!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO EVERYBODY!!!

The cruise is coming closer. I am both excited and a little nervous. As we have never been to South America before.

I feel very comfortable in any European country. As we have been to Europe so many times, on cruises and not. But SA is kind of unfamiliar land to me!

Also trying to learn some Spanish. But we had too much excitement in our family life lately. Also I work more now, as I became main provider for the health insurance for our family - since my husband retired recently. I know I should do a little bit every day. But I don't :))) I will still try 🙂 I still have about a month and a half to work on Spanish 🙂

On 11/18/2022 at 10:46 PM, CruisinNana said:

I’m in the Pinnacle Suite on the Eurodam right now. Must vacate on Sunday  and go back to reality.

When I have time to write which may be after Thanksgiving, I will give you lots of hints since this is my second time in a Pinnacle. ..

Thank you so much!

If you have those tips - I will really appreciate them!

Sorry, I was not responding to the topic for a while, as I was not getting notifications about new responses for some reason. I thought this topic died long time ago. But there so much helpful info here!

We are boarding HAL Oosterdam on March 10th of 2023.

This is our first time ever in South America, Argentina or/and Buenos Aires.

I am searching everything about BA and general tips for Argentina, as I am responsible for travel in our family ;)))  But we plan 2 days in BA pre-cruise.

Hope somebody will post here! Thanks in advance!

Thank you SO MUCH, to everybody - for the much needed info!

I am sure this question was asked multiple times.

But for some reason I can't find the info using the "search" feature.

And the info on HAL web-site is contradicting the info I found with Google.

Google tells me we can bring a bottle of wine with us. Google (and Cruise Critic info) says if you drink it in your cabin, there is no corkage fee. But HAL web-site says $20 corkage fee, with no distinction - if you drink it in your cabin or not.

Can somebody tell the true story - is there corkage fee for drinking own wine in the cabin?

 Also - is it a bottle per a person, or bottle for cabin?

And we can also bring the water (in cartons or cans) - up to 6 pack? Again per person or per cabin?

Thank you very much in advance for all the info!

We sailed on HAL once before, but that was 3 years ago. I remember nothing about what was happening with wine! :))))

16 hours ago, twodjs said:

Bottles of water are definitely included at no charge in the Pinnacle suite and are replenished as needed. A kettle was also in our P. suite, so if you don't see one, just ask...it will appear. And it does have a large microwave. The refrigerator is also much bigger than normal. Why not have a special afternoon tea delivered and set up in your dining area and invite a couple of new friends - the Neptune lounge Concierge will arrange it and can suggest other ideas as well - lots of good memories in that suite...make the most of it!

 

 

Thank you very much for the great info and suggestions!

The room looks great indeed. I looked again - this itinerary has immense amount of time on the ship - including all the scenic sailing days etc. I have never done a cruise with having so much time on board, honestly.

So such a nice "apartment at sea" - as essentially this room is sized like - would be a wonderful amenity in itself!

21 hours ago, RuthC said:

I believe the Pinnacle Suite has a microwave oven in which you can heat water for tea. 

Thank you!

That's a great idea. I do it at work. So I would just do it on the cruise too 🙂

21 hours ago, AV8rix said:

Cannot speak to the fact of whether or not the mini-bar items are included in the Pinnacle Suite but they DEFINITELY are not included in any other category of stateroom.  So the first thing that I always ask my stewards is to remove all of them, and they do this quickly.

Thank you! I will ask them too. If I really need something - I will figure how to get it. 

Do they stock juice and water in the lounge - so you can take it to your room? Disney and Celebrity do. I think Royal Caribbean does too.

But I don't remember what Holland does.

21 hours ago, REOVA said:

Have not sailed in Pinnacle but you can always ask cabin steward to remove items from fridge that you won't want (if fee based) we always do.  As for tea kettle, not sure they would have these. They do have coffee/pod machines but I find the taste of coffee in my tea ruins it. I would get hot water from Neptune lounge (or have them deliver each morning) and steep your tea. 

Thank you!

I agree about tea from a coffee machine - it sucks. I normally bring my own portable water heater with me when I travel. And actually I got away even brining it on the cruise with me. But one of the last times Royal Caribbean got it out of my carry on and took it away from me all the length of the cruise. So I don't take it on the cruise with me anymore.

Celebrity would give you a kettle if you ask.

I probably would just use a microwave - like later was suggested.

We are lucky to be in a Pinnacle Suite on Oosterdam for a South America cruise, as we got big future cruise credit due to cancellations, and we applied it to this cruise, so the room is not terribly expensive as it usually is. Plus it is a 14 days long cruise with a lot of on board time, and I am positive this would be our only unique trip like this - kind of a lifetime thing. So I splurged.

Long story short, we are getting close to the date - in March of 2023.

I found a bit controversial info on what do we get with the room. There is a big fridge in the room, and I read somewhere that it comes with a lot of bottles in it, but they are not included (like with Celebrity for example). But there is pretty hefty mini-bar type price tag on them. Can somebody who had this room confirm or not confirm this info?

If all those bottles are not included - I assume we can ask to remove them, right? I ordered beer and some wine, so we can drink it in the room - I would like to use the fridge for the drinks we already paid for.

Also can somebody tell me - if we can get tea kettle, so I can make my own tea? Life is not fun for me without tea.

And if somebody has some tips, we might not know - I would appreciate all the input. I've only been on HAL once, and for my husband this would be the first time.

Thank you in advance! These boards are priceless source of info!

Thank you, guys!!!
 

I feel better now! 🙂