Liljo22

More similar than different to those lines although its closer to RCI in that its geared toward attracting families. NCL's biggest advantage is the Freestyle dining. They do not have traditional dining where you have an early or late time and you sit at the same table every night. Freestyle dining is similar to Royal's "My Time Dining" but they do it better. No need to make reservations. All MDRs are set up for Freestyle so you just show up to the MDR that you want at the time you want and will be seated. The Free at Sea is a big advantage also. If you are a drinker, you just pay the gratuities up front on the package and you get unlimited drinks. Gratuities are $21.80 per person per day so if you drink two drinks a day you are already saving money. On Royal, with the dynamic pricing, you are paying somewhere between $60 and $100 per person per day plus 18% for their package. You also get at least one specialty dining credit(more for longer cruises and higher categories) for just gratuities which is around $9 per credit. Depending on the restaurant on Royal, you are paying $50-$80 for that credit. You will also get 150 minutes of wifi free for the first two passengers. NCL's biggest issue is communication. Precruise if you have to deal with customer service is not great. they are really unorganized on shore so if you have an issue, it may take several calls to find someone to fix it. They are also not great with communicating when issues arise on the ship like missed ports or delays.

$81 is still too high in my opinion. Its pretty much 7 drinks to break even unless you are only drinking higher end drinks like martinis and higher end whiskeys. $71.99 is the sweet spot to me. Its 6 drinks at that point.

Last years Black Friday sale didn't change the Beverage and Dining package prices. It more of a sale for excursions.

Yes they are similar but NCL does the Freestyle dining better than MTD. The big difference between My Time Dining and Freestyle dining is that all MDRs on NCL are Freestyle while the MTD is only a portion of the dining room after the early Traditional time. NCL never needs a reservation for their MDRs. If one is full at the time, there are others to seat you. On my last Oasis cruise, MTD didn't start until 6:45 so if you had reservations for a show and needed to eat early, you pretty much were left with the buffet or paying. We had the early showing of Aqua 80 and ended up paying for Playmakers because there was no way we would make it even if we showed up just as they started seating MTD. MTD is not necessarily bad. Its just NCL does it better.

Entertainment on the Oasis is ok. They cut the house band out of the Music Hall recently and only have DJs playing there. Cats is the stage show and a lot of people walk out which is sad because the performers are great. Its just not a great show if you don't know the storyline going into it. My favorite was the musician in pub. It was a great place to finish the night. Aqua 80 is an amazing show though. Try to make reservations for the ones earlier in the cruise because it gets cancelled if the weather is not great so you can wait stand by later.

You can get frozen drinks especially from the outside bars. Just be aware that during busy times they might make large batches without the alcohol and then add the rum afterwards. If you see them doing that, ask for an upgraded rum because the one they normally use makes the drink undrinkable when they do it that way.

I thought when RCCL went to charging extra for more than one, they also changed to Cold Water Lobster instead of Rock Lobster. Edit: From a menu posted in May, the menu says Maine Lobster when it only said broiled lobster tail previously.

You need to double the drink cost. You did $18 a drink for 2 drinks for 7 days with 1 person. It’s $21.80 per person per day so unless the OP are only a beer drinkers, they will save money by taking the package. Also don’t understand why the OP wouldn’t take the specialty dining option. It’s $17 for two meals.

You can deselect the drink and dining package if you like. There are blue boxes with check marks on the left side of the page when viewing the quote. You do not have the option to deselect the wifi or shore excursions since there is not additional cost for those items. Just don't log into the wifi if you don't want to.

Which airport? HOU or IAH?

Are you in a Sailaway rate or just declined the FAS? If you declined, you should call and ask to add the FAS for dining back in.

XO is still listed on the Plus page on the NCL website. https://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/790164-BEV_Package_Flyer_UOBP_PPBP Update_V7_no_crops.pdf

The temperature at Harvest Caye doesn't really have anything to do with NCL not stopping there. They just focus on the European and Alaska market in the Summer months and only leave a few ships in the Caribbean.

Is the international pass not automatic when you are on land in a country that you need it? I know AT&T will automatically charge you the $10 each day you are out of airplane mode in a country that is not included in your plan.

If you are out at sea when you are using the data, its probably going to be cheaper to just upgrade to unlimited. The Verizon cruise plan is $20 for every 50mb you use. You will easily use that amount per day just browsing without video. Check with Verizon for where you are covered internationally. There is no charge for certain countries. Also, if you can hold out on using data on the first day, you can then upgrade to unlimited on day two and get full credit for your free minutes and one less day of cost.

I understand you haven't cruised in a while but this is standard policy for the cruise lines. Once you are past the final payment deadline, you are locked in. NCL will offer FCC for 100% of the price but you can not get a refund.

Ok. The Haven is a ship within a ship concept where they cater to you with a butler and concierge. The closest you would get to that on Royal is the Star Class cabins. In terms of non-haven NCL and Royal, they are really similar. If you had a good time outside the bubble of the the Haven, you will be perfectly fine on Royal. NCL's pre-cruise communication for non Haven customers is also a mess at times. Edit: I just saw you mentioned you are in the Royal Suite. While its not Star Class with the Royal Genie, its still catering to what the cruiser wants/needs so you will be fine.

What other cruise lines have you been on? If you are trying to compare Royal against Cunard or Oceania, you are probably going to be disappointed. If you are comparing them against other mass market and mid tier lines, you have nothing to worry about.

Honestly, that's not a NCL thing. When we process refunds for customers, we tell them 5-7 business days. Some banks will allow the credit to go through earlier but I can't tell you how long its actually going to be. The worst customers are the ones that call up yelling about holding their money when they haven't gotten their refund after a few days. I refunded the charge when they originally called it and I have no control over how long it takes their bank to post it.

Don’t pay attention to the marketing. The price is going to bounce between two or three price point no matter the sale. Also, the price they list is the price you get it at. It’s not BOGO half off the price listed.

How many days is the cruise that one drink package and one soda package gratuities comes to $600+? Drink package is $21.80 per day and the soda package is $1.99 per day. At $23.79 per day, that would be a 26 day cruise. FYI..if that is what the booking is quoting you, once you get to the section to add guests, the system will see you have two guests under 21 and adjust the gratuities.

I still see it available under onboard packages. If you click where I highlighted below, it will take you to the flyer.

If you try to book a room with only 2 guests, the Family cabins holding more than 2 will be listed as sold out. Change the guests to 3 or 4 and the Family cabins will now show the Family cabins as available. I don't know if its new or not. Edit: I saw everyone mentioning Family cabins and didn't notice you had a OV w/ Picture Window which is a 3 guest. You can book this cabin with only 2 guests so the agent was wrong.

Carnival owned lines have exclusive rights to dock at Mahogany Bay. Its not about the size of the ship in Roatan that determines where it docks.

You are correct. I forgot about the cruises that have another stop in the US other than Alaska.