Justaddvodka68

I called NCL today and was told I needed to print, notarize and mail in a special form in order to transfer my certificate to my parents. I have not done this before but it seems like more work than what was explained to me on the ship when I purchased the certificate.

 

Thanks

 

 

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Do your parents have a latitudes number? Just one of them needs to have it.

I've transferred certificates to friends and also between my husband's latitude number and my own with a simple phone call.

One thing to note - you do pay taxes on drinks when you have the UBP at GSC, just like when you're in a US port.

This was not the case in December. Is this new?

The problem is they are pre-mixing large batches with the mixers and alcohol so they can pour it straight into your cup.

 

 

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I've seen both . . . where they just have the juices premixed and ready to add the liquor, like bloody mary's in giant vat, and premixed things like aviations and other colored martini's that are in dispensers on the bar back. They pour some out over ice, shake and serve.

Both are gross.

I ask for my drinks to be fresh mixed and haven't even been refused.

More noticeable is how much they jacked up the prices of certain drinks (espresso martini and single malt scotches for example) to remove them from the $15 UBP limit.:(

Even the drinks not jacked up enough to exclude then, the drink prices are at the high end, which does suck for those without the package. It's like they're charging a couple bucks more for each drink to those paying to offset those of us with the package.

Depends....can I also get this cruise with no smoking, no balcony music and no DSC?

No children, no slow walkers, no loud talkers.

Family is going on the cruise together and picked the french restaurant. My husband is a super picky eater. Not much into fancy food. I know that it is a la carte so I imagine he could purchase a single appetizer if that is the only thing he wants but is it considered bad form to do so?

We didn't do any Specialty dining on our cruise in Dec with the kids. I love apps . . . more than the meal itself. We went to both Cagney's and LeBistro around 9-9:30 two different nights after already eating in the main dining room with the kids at 5:30 and just got our favorite apps. No one blinked.

whats the best way to pre-paid the gratuity? If i go online to my NCL account, it adds them to the cart and requires payment at the end. I can pay right then and there, not a problem for me. or do i have to call them up and tell them to add to my final booking. i rather not call them and be stuck on hold

If you want to add to final payment, you have to call. I hate calling too, because I'm just like that . . . but I've never held for more than a couple minutes with NCL.

I don't understand why people debate the salaries, wages, gratuities, service charges, and the like, when there are increases like this. I also don't understand why people often state that they don't care about increases in daily charges nor the 18% charge on the open bar cost (the later 18% has increased due to the ridiculous increase of the drink prices and UBP).

 

It seems that the main reason people don't mind the increases is because of the poor overworked staff; they feel strongly that they deserve it. People that object to the increases are often referred to as cheap.

 

Or it could be that people like me, don't care because it's a small amount over-all and when comparing where to spend my vacation dollars, NCL has still come out ahead - service for service with the perks they're offering.

I'm a bargain vacation shopper, (Two couples for a week in ST. Martin with airfare from NY and Florida, in two one bedroom oceanfront condos for under $800 and 20,000 Spirit air miles and 120,000 HIVC points, for instance!) A similar cruise itinerary on RCL, purchasing the beverage package, gratuity on that, a few nights in the specialty restaraunts, with gratuity on that, RCL's service charge, port fees etc and the out the door pricing, for us, has come out much better on NCL.

I imagine everyone's mileage may vary. If you're not much of a drinker, and aren't factoring in this perk, I can see where some could come out ahead on other lines.

I saw large increase on the Sky. The only reason I can think of, is because the drinks are free. I'm glad to see that those poor bartenders are going to get an extra $5 from every passenger that boards the ship. :rolleyes:

I'm friendly with one of the bartenders and he told me that every bartender wants the Sky because the salary is fixed and higher than other ships and not tip dependant. Cash tips are still kept by the staff, but because drinks are included, NCL pays bartenders more on the Sky.

I want to take a Southern Caribbean cruise and have these two picked. Any thoughts or comments on either itinerary? I have only been to Aruba once about 20 years ago and St Maarten once about 5 years ago. Everything else is new.

 

11 day

SanJuan - sea/Aruba/Bonaire/Curaçao/Grenada/Barbados/st Lucia/sea/st marten/Tortola/San Juan

 

10 day

San Juan - sea/Grenada/Barbados/st Lucia/Martinique/Dominica/st Kitts/Antigua/Tortola/San Juan

 

 

 

 

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It's a tough call.

I'm all about the beach. The first one has St. Martin and Aruba which are great beach islands. The second has St. Kitts, which is a favorite of mine and several I haven't visited.

If you're into snorkeling, Bonaire and Curacao are known for that as opposed to the beaches.

They are both fantastic itineraries. If I was choosing, I'd go with the fall back tie breaker . . . longer is better!

gratuity. ... noun, plural gratuities. a gift of money, over and above payment due for service, as to a waiter or bellhop; tip. something given without claim or demand.

 

wage. ... noun, plural wages. A fixed regular payment earned for work or services, typically paid on a daily or weekly basis.

 

If you are mandating your customers pay a significant defined fee as a condition of carriage, and increasing it to cover your increased cost of operations (e.g. the crew's very reasonable demands for increased compensation in an inflationary period), that fee ceases to be a gratuity.

Exactly why it's not called a gratuity and instead called a daily service change.

$14.00 a day? Considering that is a typical tip for my family of 4 when we go out to dinner, it feels like a steal for all of the service we receive on board from the staff. We also tip above and beyond that because it just doesn't feel sufficient.

 

Needless to say, this is a non issue for me.

Exactly. Whenever these threads pop up, I wonder how poorly these complainers must tip on land.

Really? The Sky is going from $13.50 to $18.99??

Guess we'll just have to have one more FREE DRINK to make up for that!

I'm with you, I hated the envelopes and hated even more that people just didn't show up for dinner the last night so they didn't have to tip the waitstaff.

Agreed. I like knowing it's taken care of and I can extra tip when I want to.

As the cost of this goes up, however, I have been trying to time my booking for when DSC is a perk. It's worth slightly more than specialty dining, since they moved that to 3 nights, especially on a longer cruise. (We're doing an 11 day in October.) . I do the beverage package and DSC and just purchase a dining package for however many nights we want to do that.

I'm guessing that if you hated the "godawful" music, if wouldn't have matter if it was blasting or just loud enough for you to hear it.

I have a couple...

 

 

2.). In the middle of the night he went to pee (he was naked) and instead of going back to his bed, he turned and went out the door. There he was butt naked banging on the door.

This is why I stopped sleeping naked!

Has anyone ever done a 7-day cruise with nothing but what you're wearing and the necessary paperwork? We're a few weeks out from our Breakaway cruise and the thought of dragging winter and summer stuff from home, through multiple airports, NYC and then onto the cruise does not excite me. Can I buy a couple pairs of shorts, shirts, and bathroom supplies on the ship??

 

Any chance I can talk my wife into this strategy?? :) Advice welcome.

Another option is to ship your stuff ahead of time to the hotel you're staying at pre-cruise. (Assuming you are going in the night before.)

We've done this when we've traveled with a large group of kids. I've had Amazon Prime deliver boxes of snacks, cereal, drinks, etc to our condo the day or two before our arrival. Saves me using valuable vacation time shopping. Grab some milk on the way in and we're all set for breakfast.

Has anyone ever done a 7-day cruise with nothing but what you're wearing and the necessary paperwork? We're a few weeks out from our Breakaway cruise and the thought of dragging winter and summer stuff from home, through multiple airports, NYC and then onto the cruise does not excite me. Can I buy a couple pairs of shorts, shirts, and bathroom supplies on the ship??

 

Any chance I can talk my wife into this strategy?? :) Advice welcome.

Most of these answers seem to be, just take stuff in a backpack, but you're literally asking if you can purchase what you need onboard.

The answer is maybe. There are plenty of t-shirt and sweatshirts, even light jackets for sale. I didn't see any pants, My husband forgot swim trunks and purchased a pair for $40 that were a size too big. He's a large. They had small, Med, XL and XXL. Of course. Had I done the same, I wouldn't have had a suit, as they had only two suits, and they were size 6 and 8. Which I am most certainly not either.

Toiletries you can get. At a premium, but yes, you can purchase toothpaste and what not in the onboard shop.

We made it to day 5 before I realized on one cruise that my husband had worn the same shorts every day. He had others, but they were his favorite and since he worn trunks to the beach and pants to dinner, he didn't feel they were that dirty after being worn a few hours a day.

You definitely need to pack underwear if you wear them, unless you plan to wash in the sink.

Bare minimum I'd say you need underwear, 1 pr of neutral shorts, a pair of trunks and your sandals along with whatever you're wearing to the airport. You can purchase shirts onboard and at every port.

:cool:i think cruise lines should offer new / different itineraries to Caribbean for winter vacations ,I would love more Southern Caribbean islands .ABC islands or others .I.m tired of same old same old eastern western routes ...done those many times ...Its time for a change ...plus longer cruises than 1 week ...12-14 days is best

Agreed! I'm doing a repo NY to Miami in October to hit some different islands.

You get a cheap plastic cup with the soda package, but not the UBP. But you don't need one. I do like to bring one, because I like my poolside drinks in an insulated glass that doesn't sweat.

Hi! So I'm booked on the Breakaway in November with my 3 daughters (24, 17 and 14). With the incredible prices and 3rd and 4th sail free it was an unbeatable deal. I have never stayed in an inside stateroom. I selected an inside room because I'm trying to keep it as low budget as possible. This is a post divorce trip with my girls and is a much needed mother/daughter getaway. It has been a heck of a year! I realize that we will be very crowded but I was wondering if anyone has any pictures or experiences sleeping 4 in an inside stateroom. We are on the 11th floor, midship. Thank you in advance!!

Use the room only for sleeping.

You can shower and change and do hair and makeup in the locker room at the gym. Plenty of towels, room to move and spread out the girly mess.

With that in mind, have each bring a beach bag and something to carry toiletries in. They have blow dryers in the locker room.

***Ops, should have the thread first. Apparently there's no locker room on Breakaway.

OK... what did you forget to pack on your last cruise?

 

Let us all learn from your... um... misfortune! :halo:

 

 

OK... go!

On my first NCL cruise with teh UBP, I forgot to pack my stunt liver. Now, I never leave home without it. :halo:

Hi all, I am currently considering a cruise on NCL. I just have a few questions I was hoping could be answered.

1. Does NCL have staggered check in at either NYC or Miami (that is actually enforced)

I usually sail with Carnival and their staggered is very strict and enforced.

 

2. Has anyone sailed out of NYC in October or November on NCL? I hear the water is very choppy around this time and even those who don't get seasick sometimes do, due to the motion , is that your experience?

 

3. Do mini-suites get priority boarding? If so, how does this work when you arrive at port?

 

Thanks for any info you can provide.

Sailed out of NYC last Oct just after Matthew went through. Smooth sailing all the way. I imagine the week before was not. You can never tell.

Sailed out of Pt. Canaveral in April and had two really strong sea days. You can never tell who'll get sick. So far I have no been sea sick once even in very high seas. My mom, who doesn't get sick, was very sea sick as soon as the big swells started - lucky for us another passenger had the patches and they worked great for her, she was fine the next morning, even though the seas were still high.

Are we talking about the 18 year old scotch?

That goes in my bag!

To be clear, do you think it is reasonable to expect us "Jerks" to move towards the center to accommodate you and your family?

No, not at all! End seats are great and I grab one when I can too. (although only when it's just me and hubby. If we have the whole crew, we move into the center so we don't have to deal with letting people in past all of us.)

It's just the ones that act all put out that annoy me. And ones who won't be polite and stand up when I politely excuse us and ask to be let in.