The Traveling Man

We did this tour just prior to the COVID lockdown. As I recall, the walk from the bus parking area to the meeting point was at least 10 minutes, almost 15. From the meeting point to some of the interesting parts of town was another 10 minutes or so. In the afternoon, you’ll need to plan on leaving the Uffizi museum about a half hour before your bus departure time, or about 15 minutes prior to the appointed meeting time.

That reminds me of Johnny Depp in “The Tourist.”

I don’t think that it’s a case of NCL intentionally trying to make it seem difficult. Rather it’s NCL’s IT department having difficulty trying to tweak their software into doing things it was not originally designed to do. Compounding the $50 Free at Sea discount on top of the Latitudes discount seems to give them trouble. We usually try not to worry about it, but simply wait until after we have taken all our tours for that cruise, then finding a time that the Shorex desk isn’t crowded. It only takes a couple of minutes to get the discounts applied. No big deal.

Yes. 75019 here.

Would that be Bedford?

Sometimes they don’t show up on the website until shortly before the sailing date. I think they still do offer them, so you can keep checking back, or just call NCL to verify. There also are some independent tour companies that offer them.

Seriously? Snorkeling in Alaska? What’s the water temperature there?

As a general rule, for ships arriving at Civitavecchia at 6:00 AM or so, don’t plan on taking an international flight out of the Rome airport before noon.

Thanks. My memory was a bit fuzzy, but that’s about my recollection of it, too.

Sorry, I may have misread the original question. I believe you may be right. If only two of three or four in a cabin are Platinum or above, you only get two certificates per cabin. I have never traveled with three or more Platinum members in the same room, so my response was based solely on what I heard a Cruise Next manager say. Maybe I misunderstood them or maybe they were wrong. Either way, good on you if you have received more than the standard two, and my apologies if I misled anyone.

It probably occurred at the same time they made some other major changes to the Latitudes program on 1 February 2017.

Actually, no you don’t. Whether one of the guests in a stateroom is Platinum or above or whether both the guests in a stateroom are Platinum or above, the stateroom receives two certificates, each one good for dinner in a specialty restaurant for two persons. One of those certificates allows you to receive a bottle of wine, the other certificate does not. This is how it has been on NCL ships for about a decade. This is what my wife and I have received on about 25 cruises since we became Platinum.

Yes, I noticed that. If they had been willing to carry their own luggage, however, they could have joined the line to debark much earlier than they did.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Sorry to hear about your difficulties. Unfortunately, your experience is not atypical. This forum is filled with many stories similar to yours. First, NCL has no control over the airline. They simply are acting in the place of your travel agent to arrange your flight. Once you are booked on a flight, they essentially wash their hands of the matter. If problems occur, "that's on you" seems to be their attitude. This is unfortunate, of course, but not uncommon. NCL also serves as an agent for you in arranging travel insurance. NCL does not furnish the insurance, so they can claim no responsibility for the actions of the insurance company. That company may deny a claim or make it difficult to justify a claim, as you indicate that yours did to you. Once again, sorry, but ship happens. There are a few ports which have earned a well deserved reputation for causing delays upon debarkation. We have not sailed out of Galveston, but we have heard of this happening to others who did. It seems to be a frequent occurrence in Miami, particularly on cruises that visit certain Caribbean or South American countries. We experienced an almost two hour delay exiting the Pr1ma in Southampton, England in September, 2022. It happens sometimes, so if you have a tight connection, be aware. Knowing that you had a bus to catch, a long commute to the airport, and a relatively early flight, you might have asked for an earlier debarkation time slot. Yes, I know, hindsight is 20/20, and you probably had no prior indication of the bottle neck that could occur. Unfortunately, now you know. We learned that lesson the hard way, too. On that Pr1ma trip to Southampton, we had booked a National Express bus from Southampton to Heathrow. We thought that more than two hours would be plenty of time to catch a taxi to take us the half-mile from the pier to the bus station. Boy, were we ever wrong. We stood in line almost two full hours just to get off the ship. When we missed our bus by just a couple of minutes, we ended up paying another $175 for that taxi to take us all the way to the airport. NCL turned an equally deaf ear to our predicament. So, all of this is not what you asked for, a suggestion as to how you might pursue a successful resolution of your situation. I wish I had better news for you, but unfortunately I don't. I can give you the contact information for someone at NCL who may be able to help, but I would caution you not to get your hopes too high. Ms. Katty Byrd NCL Senior Vice President, Guest Services kbyrd@ncl.com Good luck and best wishes. I hope you spend some time reading many of the other threads on this forum, picking up tidbits of helpful advice from others who have gone this way before you.

To the best of my recollection, the 3100 and 3200 figures for the Pr1ma and V!va are the same numbers for rated capacity at double occupancy which NCL have claimed for these ships for several years. Just like other ships, however, they frequently sail with hundreds more passengers than their rated capacities, as sometimes a third or fourth passenger is also booked in a stateroom rated for just two. Perhaps the numbers you saw were from a third party website which took into account this anticipated over booking. The earliest announcements about the "Leonardo class" ships, however, estimated the rated capacity as being approximately 3000, or about 75% that of NCL's larger ships. The gross tonnage of this new class of ships, though, is about 85% to 90% of the larger ships. That would seem to indicate that the Pr1ma class ships would have more room per passenger, but that has not been the gist of most reports from those who have sailed on both the Pr1ma class and the Breakaway class ships.

You cannot always rely on information presented by members of the Cruise Next staff. Several years ago, while the Pr1ma was still in the design phase and known simply as the lead ship in the Leonardo class, Cruise Next Manager Paloma made a presentation which showed an artist's rendition of how the new ships would look, along with some data that had been made public about them. The photo rendering showed the general outline of the ship, with the wide walkways around the back and sides of the ship. The infinity pools on deck 8 were shown and we were told that the Haven would occupy almost the entire rear third of the ship. So far, so good. The rendering did not show the race track or slides, however, so Paloma opined that these ships would be more sophisticated, more in tune with a more mature audience, with fewer kiddie attractions and a more upscale vibe. Look how that turned out.

The rated occupancy for the Pr1ma is listed on the NCL website at about 3100. For the V!va it is about 3200. The Aqua is listed at almost 3600. The Aqua has not yet begun to sail, but the Pr1ma and V!va frequently travel with 100, 200, or even more additional passengers. This happens as sometimes three or four guests are booked in rooms that are rated for just double occupancy. It would be great if NCL actually does reduce the capacity on board, but it seems unlikely that they would do so by removing staterooms and replacing them with lounge areas. In fact, several NCL ships which previously did have lounge areas had those lounges removed during a dry dock and additional staterooms were added. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that the information you received may amount to little more than wishful thinking. We can only hope that I am wrong and that the capacity of these ships actually will be reduced.

As noted previously, it actually was known as "Arthur's Day" as in Arthur Guinness. A quick internet search will provide details.

Thank you for all the great info you have shared with us over the years. We'll miss you, Mike. James

That's why NCL assigns check-in times, to spread out the arrivals over a few hours. If we all followed the suggested times, the lines would only be so long if a problem arises with the X-ray machines, the WiFi connection, etc.

Sorry for my typo. Obviously it should have been "tour" not "your."

Now you've gone and given them a idea.☹️

We really enjoyed the your to the original Olympic village and the historical museum associated with it. We actually have been there twice. On one of the tours we also visited an Agroturismo farm for lunch. Great food, wonderful educational experience.

Almost half of the seating area intended for the Indulge Food Hall is outside. When we were on the Pr1ma, the sunshades / awnings were unable to keep the rain off the outdoor seats, so their chair cushions were drenched. Nobody would want to sit on them. The crew eventually roped off the area and closed all the outdoor seating for the food hall. That forced everyone inside, making it difficult to find a seat during lunch. It may have been a little less crowded at dinner, when other restaurants also were open. Lunch in the food hall during cold or rainy weather, though, is going to be a real challenge.

Sounds like a good approach. The only X ships we have sailed are the Edge class. The Retreat staterooms there are night and day different from the standard "Infinite Veranda" rooms. The lounge also is spectacular. I agree that in recent years the price of Retreat rooms has gone out of sight, so our last few X trips have been in Verandas. We really miss the wonderful dining experience of Blu, though, so we may follow your suggestion and go Aqua next time. The staterooms are the same as standard, and we likewise don't get much benefit from the spa, but access to Blu may make it worth the money. Also, too bad that NCL doesn't feature dining experiences to compare with X specialty restaurants like Eden or Le Voyage by Daniel Boulud.