allegrocontadino

Just found a great deal and booked my first ever Princess Cruise on the Emerald. I found availability for the cabin E326 , which has just a slightly obstructed view, which is therefore ideal.

I noticed the cabin is just above the Wheelhouse bar: does anyone know (I am wuite a light and early sleeper) wether this bar usually hosst music in evening/night or if any noise issues have been reported in the cabins above?

Thanks!

6 hours ago, Morecruisesplz said:

I am not sure how this is possible.  We also are at about 50 and bad weather can easily knock out wifi for a day or so. Not every cruise but it does happen. 

It is, actually. Always had great coverage with Celebrity, NCL, Royal, Tui, Costa, MSC, Celestyal, even with the now "dead" Pullamantur, and never had a blackout. I must have been very lucky apparently. Sailed in Europe, Persic Gulf, Indian Ocean, Caribbean, Asia. But missing the transatlantic where I heared that most of the connectgion troubles are... Might be worth waiting a few more years, unfortunately.

Thanks... Will have a second thought on this... In more than 50 cruises all over the world I never had a lack of wifi for more than a few minutes. But never ventured on a TA mainly for this reason...

1 minute ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

It varies A LOT depending on weather and route - so if you really need to depend on it - DON'T do it!

That is my biggest issue. Basically I am splanning to sail from Santo Domingo to Europe in March 2024, with a starlink-equipped ship (not RCL). I do not need streaming facilities but for work reasons (and with 6 sea days in a row!) I need constant connection to check my text emails etc. Therefore I am looking for some feedback on the subject before booking (or not).

Hello! Did anyone have any more recent experience with starlink coverage across the Atlantic Ocean during the westbound transatlantic crossings of Nov/Dec 2023?

Any reliable and up to date info would be much appreciated.

Thanks

It sounds absolutely fine, thanks!

Hello all. Quick question. i am considering booking a 16-nights hawaii trip either with Grand or Ruby. What concerns me is the reliability of wi-fi connection while at sea as Iwill have to check my emails regularly, and do some tasks while sailing. No streaming needed, anyway. Did anyone sail recently on this itinerary and could share with me a genuine review of the wifi coverage? Thanks

3 minutes ago, Go2SeaTheWorld said:

If Piraeus is indeed the departure port on the 20th, then think there may be a lot of passengers who will be flying in just in time to board in Piraeus and won't have any time for sight seeing prior to embarkation. Not to mention all the excursions already purchased for the full day in Athens. That would also be one less day to try to substitute yet another port by maintaining the 27th as scheduled.

I agree that, if this is going ahead, it is quite a clever choice (and Athens is also very well connected in therms of flights even for a last min change)

2 minutes ago, sjane39 said:

Where did you find that? 

 

https://www.olp.gr/en/services/cruise-terminal

At the bottom, on the right

9 minutes ago, Sheila127 said:

We hsve been promised, via our agent, that NCL will confirm by end of tomorrow the options!

That would be great...

We are just missing something official ehehehe

2 hours ago, Oil said:

Looks like it will be a pleasant  and not overcrowded cruise

my "only" worry is that they will purposedly leave a possible cancellation at last minute, not allowing anyone to reschedule itinerary. Imagine that today European customer service of NCL said that "they still hope to sail from haifa if situation improves, otherwise will give further communication nearer the time". This of course is leading many passenger to cancel without any "perks", and may leave the ship mostly empty, leading to a cancellation for this reason...

1 hour ago, DrMom4 said:

NCL is now offering cruise credits for the November Epic sailings (20th and 8th? Unsure of the second date).  No penalties. The credit is good through December 31, 2024

This should mean that at least the cruise is not being cancelled, I guess. Let wait then for the itinerary change.

Well, yes and no at the same time. A slot has been booked at Piraeus port, with specific times and "E" sign, which means "embarkation" as opposite to transite. Therefore the procedure has somehow gone ahead. I suppose that it is a little bit more specific than blocking any available ports of the Med fpr the same dates. Yet, we will see as soon as an official announcement is made.

36 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

The Crown Iris WAS in Haifa, I saw it on that site yesterday. It's now headed away from Israel and bound for Larnaca, Cyprus. I don't think there are any cruise ships currently docked anywhere in Israel.

Crown Iris has been "chartered" to bring back home around 800 Israeli guests from MSC Musica as it could not dock in Israel.

Piraeus Port Authority tends to be quite reliable, therefore I am confident this may be the final choice. Considering that the cruise is from today no more bookable, I guess official announcement is due soon.

1 minute ago, Valposada73 said:

For what it’s worth, found this on the Athens Port Authority ship schedule this morning.   Nothing official from cruiseline yet so don’t go changing flights in my account yet.  Ha.  

For anyone interested, even if it may be once again just a guessing, on the PIRAEUS PORT AUTHORITY (therefore Athens) chart it is now visible a call on 20 Nov of Norwegian Epic...

2 hours ago, Jetstreamer said:

This is Cruise Critic. We talk about cruises. 

 

I think most people are accepting of the situation but just want to know what NCL's plan is. 

 

I for one have enough mental capacity to both think about the implications for my cruise while showing concern and compassion for the people of Israel and Gaza. 

 

So let's get back to our guilt free discussion on cruises. 

Totally agree, In my case, I am booked on the B2B from Rome, therefore 8Nov-1Dec. But waiting to see how things are going to change. Fortunately I do not have flights to arrange/rearrange, yet I have a small concern the whole itinerary might get canceled... Let wait and see, hopefully the shortest possible time...

2 hours ago, Pushpit said:

For USA markets there is just a recommendation to get insurance. For European (other than UK) market, there is a (basic) compulsory insurance levy inside the booking process, that can be topped up if needed.

 

For the UK market then it's a requirement to get insurance, I've never been asked to show it though, there again I'm not visibly in compromised health, thankfully. I once boarded with a monster black eye and nothing was said at check-in (quite a lot was said onboard though!). Mainstream UK insurance firms won't normally insure non UK residents, but some specialist firms do it (mainly for UK expats) or will get brokers to quote. USA travel insurance isn't so well developed a market as the UK, but it can be found and would meet the UK Cunard requirement, I have a friend who does exactly that.

Thank you! That is what I thought. Thanks to a special offer, despite being an EU resident, I will book through US then. Thanks again!

Hello all. Quick question 8first timer with Cunard). i noticed, while trying to book via UK website, that an incurance covering GBP2.000.000 for medical expenses is required and it can only be issued to UK residents (we are not). Does something similar apply if booking through the US market? Or there are no compulsory requirements for insurance, as is the case of European Market?

Thanks

Just now, hawkeyetlse said:

Sounds like you are booking with NCL Europe or UK. In Europe, final payment is due 30 days before sailing. So in theory you only need to apply one CruiseNext deposit to secure the booking, and then when you get home you can get them to apply the second one and pay off the remaining balance a month before the cruise.

Correct. I am referring to euro rates for EU guests. Yet I had to pay all in full today, which will maek things more complicated I guess...

2 minutes ago, hawkeyetlse said:

You can totally do this, even after final payment. If your booking qualifies, you can apply two certificates. And they will refund $250 to your card (or $500 if you added two certificates).

Funny enough, I just received the booking confirmation saying that actually balance is due in October... Wonder why I was told (and charged) in full... Who knows. Therefore I will apply anyway the certificate once this cruise is over.

1 minute ago, dbrown84 said:

yes, but I wonder if you'll be able to apply any to your November cruise since you're past final payment.  So you don't actually have any payment due, right?  I've never heard of anyone being able to apply certs to an already fully paid for cruise which is beyond final payment.  But hey, maybe you can.... good luck.

I found it slightly strange too. The cruise was, thou, booked onboard today with the travel consultant. I don't know wether it makes any difference. And he said to me that in this case, as the payment is due in full, the certificate will appear as an "overpayment" and therefore refunded on the card used for the purchase of the cruise while onboard. Odd, but I want to think that it is true...

2 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

once again, the cruise next staff loves to confuse people.  You will receive onboard credit on your current cruise.  Don't worry, you don't actually have to use it.  It's offsets the cost of the certs.  so, you purchased 4 certificates at a cost of $1000.  You will receive $500 in OBC, thus making your actual purchase $500. 

Yeah! You are so right. I sat 5 min and I just realized that it is easy. Just they did explain it so weird that I got totally confused. And you can imagine that I run a travel business! Basically I bought 1000 USD future certificates, I will actually pay now USD 500 for them, and after the cruise ends NCL will refund to my card 2x250 USD for each cruise in booked for Nov '23 and I had already paid in full to the travel consultant today.

If I am correct, it is much easier than the way I was told... Still figure I will have to chase up NCL for the refund of 500 USD for each of the 2 cruises booked, but if this is the procedure, I will do...

Hello hello. For the very first time in my life I got lost in "understanding" how CruiseNext works.

Basically, I am currently onboard and decide to book 2 B2B cruises in November '23 on Epic. As i did not have any old "cruisenext certificates" and full payment is currently due for the November '23 cruises I decided to book, the consultanto basically charged me in full the 2 cruises, he made my apply for 4 cruisenext certificates (2 x each future cruise) and he asked me wether I wanted onboard credit as a bonus for the current cruise I am on. I told him not, as I already have enough, and he told me that, 48 hours after this cruise is over, i will be refunded for an equal amount on the next cruises as it will result like an "overpayment". This sounds quite messy and technically complicated.

I coukdn't even understand excatly how much will be refunded in the end...

Anybody can enlighten me better? Before going back to the cruise consultant and asking for clarification... I feel quite stupid LOL.

Thanks