KAYKAY121

On 5/16/2023 at 12:47 PM, fava said:

I am replying to an oldish post here but its funny.

 

We were in the Vibe on the Bliss last November.  On the Bliss the 19th desk is split between the Vibe and a public deck area that looks like the Vibe with the padded loungers but defiantly wasn't.

 

On the last full day of the cruise a lady who clearly had a pass opened the security door and stood there shocked, mouth agape, and then turned and quickly walked away.  She had spent the entire cruise on the public side of the 19th deck thinking that she was in the Vibe the whole time.

 

We related this to the bartender and he told us that a few cruises previously somebody complained to customer service that that there were kids running around the Vibe.  The bartender was shocked because there were no kids in the Vibe.  So he looked at the bar records and found that they had used the bar on the public side of the deck, but never used the bar on the vibe side of the deck. 

 

They both paid for the Vibe but never actually used it.

That is my favorite secret spot on the Bliss. I hate they took it away on Encore to expand Vibe. We haven't paid for Vibe because we have always traveled with friends but found that small bar outside to have fantastic service. We like the liveliness of the pool deck when not overrun with kids. 

We are cruising this Sunday on the Encore.  I love NCL and hope to say that when i return.

I hesitantly check my email every day for an itinerary change notice because I want to know. Yes, the terms and conditions, BLAH BLAH BLAH! We know they can do whatever they want due to the T&C. It doesn't change that NCL has changed and NCL IS canceling shows, ports, changing drink packages, etc. AND All  at our expense after we have paid for cruises that were sold to us with different shows, ports, drink packages, etc. I will fill out a comment card while onboard (if I remember). It is blatantly obvious that it is not weather. I have tried asking questions on here about a couple of changes since we were last on the Encore and you pretty much just get rude responses and ZERO help from the keyboard jockeys. 

We didn't book any excursions in DR or GSC because it is constantly changing. It is frustrating. I know I will have a great time no matter what is on board and no matter where we go. I was excited about the DR and now question if we will even be there and check the port calendar daily. It has changed but we are still on it so my fingers are crossed. 

Just know you aren't alone in your frustration. NCL's marketing has change to focus on gaining  new cruisers and away from retaining their customers and it shows. 

10 hours ago, SeaShark said:

 

I posted the dailies here from my December 4th cruise. It stands to reason that I was onboard for that cruise, and am not onboard now. It also stands to reason that I am answering from the 12/4 dailies as the 12/4 dailies are the topic of this thread as opposed to it being a "live onboard" thread.

STILL not answers to my questions regarding the ship. I will move on. thanks

On 1/2/2023 at 7:04 PM, BirdTravels said:

Here's something similar from earlier this year

 

Is Deck 19 all Vibe and haven now?

5 hours ago, SeaShark said:

 

No...just as on every NCL ship, you can Dress Up or Not each and every single night of the entire cruise.

 

And no entertainment in the Observation Lounge this cruise due to the week long Poker Tournament and associated events which were held in the port-side of the lounge all week.

Are you onboard now? Or are you answering from the 12/4 dailies? Just trying to figure out if they will have music in observation lounge. I am almost packed. LOL

is deck 19 all Vibe now or is there still a public bar just pas the stairs?

18 hours ago, Kirstys1 said:

when dining i order a bottle of proper champagne from the premium plus wine list and only order veuve by the glass at the bars, never had an issue except on the pool bars. 

Same. We were on the Bliss. I drank so much Veuve, they had it ready when they saw me coming. We are upgrading again on the Encore in 12 days. It is worth it to us since I think I need Veuve every time I sit down. 🙂

9 hours ago, macewank said:

Next time I get sent to Nassau I will probably just stay on the boat.  Huge letdown when they diverted us there a couple of weeks ago. 

I hope we get diverted to Nassau. I can have a beach day anywhere. We love Nassau.

1 hour ago, Karaboudjan said:

I believe that this is part of their strategy.  They want to move ships to higher-yielding itineraries.  FDR mentioned this in one of the recent quarterly presentations and/or investor calls.

NCL historically has very few ships in the Caribbean during summer months. 

Yes, the bars are open and you can get mimosas at breakfast in the dining rooms. I don't know about the buffet because we don't eat there very much.

26 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

 

Maybe, but your perspective of NCL is skewed negative to the point where you won't cruise with them again. So your viewpoint is biased negative, and that bias has to be considered along with the advice you offer.

 

 

Dress UP or NOT really is misleading and irrelevant, no? The dress code, fwiw, is the exact same each and every day on NCL. You can dress up or not each and every day as you see fit. There is no restaurant or venue on any ship that changes their dress code based on a "dress up or not" schedule.

 

 

It has been two DECADES since NCL did away with the "traditional" dress codes and moved to freestyle. Its about time we, as guests, move on from the pointless "formal wear" debates.

I was just looking for which days they designate as Dress up or Not in the daily as they have several camera stations on those days. As a seasoned NCL Cruiser, I understand there is no dress code. Right now the daily only shows it on day 3 but my past cruises have had two. Thanks for the very detailed explanation. 

On 12/20/2022 at 12:47 PM, TominNC said:

No dress up days.It’s NCL

I know. But there are usually two with Dress UP or NOT in the dailies. 

Only one dress up or not night and no entertainment in the Observation lounge? 

Can you post updated dailies? Just curious as to how many dress up or not days there will be. 

4 hours ago, Vegasgreg19 said:

Our upcoming trip (Jan15th) shows a flip flopped itinerary on the ports schedules than from what NCL has for us. NCL says we are going to GSC first and the port schedules have us going there the last day. Also for DR shows 4 ships in port with 2 being the Carnival Celebration and HAL Nieuw Statendam and the Encore and Getaway also being there the same day. If both the Encore and Getaway can't dock at Amber and Taino Bay not an option because of the size, I am guessing we will be "Cancelled" and they will either then tell us about the flip flopping itinerary then instead of now even though they know already that we won't be docking there. I would rather they be upfront with us and tell us now rather than making it look like they had no idea and springing it on us like " Oh my gosh we are so sorry but it looks like we won't be able to dock today!" To me it just seems kind of shady to do folks that way.

The  Encore is scheduled to dock that day at 7:00 AM so it looks like the Encore itinerary will be ok unless they decide to move it to another port. I haven't seen any Encore deviations for DR unless I just missed them on here. 

2 hours ago, laudergayle said:

Actually its the Wanna Get Away rate…which has the lowest boarding rank.  I think we may be able to buy an earlier boarding position.  On a good note, SWA allows 2 free checked bags up to 50 lbs each…which is unusual these days.

It will be hard to get an A or B but with an A or B, we usually get to sit together. If  you get a C, you are SOL with middle seats only usually. 

3 hours ago, Karaboudjan said:

 

 

SWA is interesting.  That's the first that I have seen of NCL using them.

 

It might be the same cost to you right now, but who knows what sort of arrangement NCL has with the airlines.  

I realize they get rack rates and they buy seats even cheaper by purchasing X # of seats on a flight but I could see what they paid for the flight on my booking. It was the same cost as the earlier flight the day I got my reservation from NCL. I also have not seen SWA and that is our preferred airline. 

25 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

This was a trial…ATL to SJU.  How bad could it be…ATL is a Delta Hub and an international airport.  We took a 2-day deviation going out and selected our return same day as we disembark.  For anyone who may be interested…NCL booked economy on SWA, Atlanta to Orlando, Orlando to San Juan.  Outbound, not bad…11 am from ATL, short layover in MCO, 5:35 pm arrival in SJU.

 

However, the return flight is HORRIBLE!!  6:45 pm departure out of SJU, an hour and a half layover MCO, arrival at ATL at midnight.  And we live 90 mins from the airport.

 

As it’s said…You get what you pay for…lol.

I am with you!!! Mine was a different carrier but why not book me on the earlier flight that was the same cost? I guess if we land just before midnight it is the same day. It really stinks. 🙂

1 minute ago, DCGuy64 said:

Sorry, what I meant was, in your first part you said

 

So that led me to believe AA was originally in charge of both legs, but you elected to book your own flight back home on a different airline because American Airlines wouldn't allow changes. I was just curious what American actually said. I just found that weird.

I am calling them today. I didn't have time yesterday. I tried to do it online and it won't let me. 

17 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Can you explain what you mean by this? What do you mean they don't allow changes? I've never heard of that. Do you mean "free changes," or no changes at all? I think depending on the fare class you might have to pay a change fee, cancellation fee, or rebook fee, but in all my years of flying I've never heard of an airline saying you can't make any changes whatsoever. That would be news to me. Anyway, regardless, I hope it all works out for you, I can certainly understand wanting to get home earlier.

NO CHANGES.... The fare going to MIA is changeable but the flight home is not. Two different airlines. 

5 hours ago, dexddd said:

We did exactly this.  DW and I had the air promo.  Delta out, United back.  DD also on trip.  Got air details about 40 days out.  Air on United cheapest was $500 for DD coming back.  Could book all three of us on AA in first class for around $600 coming back.  Plus I detest UA.

Thank you. I only called them to maybe get an understanding employee that MIGHT assist me with trying to change my flight (additional charges would have been OK) but what I got was you will have to pay a cancellation fee based on the fee schedule because you are within 45 days of sailing and you can't request changes or deviations to flights after 75 days. OH well, It is vacation and we are limited to days off so we are making it work. Just don't want surprise charges after we get back so I asked on here. 

8 hours ago, Karaboudjan said:

 

Ah, okay.  I misunderstood.  I thought you meant that your NCL flights were with one airline and the ones you booked were with another.  

 

So if your return flight is really one-way then I guess that would not be throwaway ticketing, at least from the airline's perspective.  

 

When you say NCL wants to charge you 100% do you mean on top of what you already paid, or just that they won't refund you anything for the flight that you don't want to take?  No refund seems quite understandable.  

I don't want a refund. My flight cost is reasonable even with the flights I booked. I was told to call reservations and cancel my flight but I would be charged the value of the flight  per the cancellation schedule because we were within 75 days of travel.  I am undecided if we will be using the flights and changing our other flights to a later date. 

3 minutes ago, Karaboudjan said:

Look up throwaway ticketing if you want to know what could happen and what is likely to happen.

Looked it up before posting. It isn’t clear. My tickets are both one way and  on two separate airlines. I didn’t book my new ticket with either of those airlines. I would change and pay to change but the airline my return flight is on isn’t allowing a flight change. And I don’t have an issue with that. I just need to be home earlier.

16 minutes ago, zzdoug said:

We have enough frequent flier points to get to the cruise but not for the return direction, so we are planning to use the one-person free promo in the return direction (Miami to SLC) after a cruise on the Escape in spring 2023. 

 

Do we have any choice in the routing, airline, or timing of flights?

Can any of you give us your experiences of what airlines are we likely to be booked on?  Is there any chance we would be booked on a nonstop FLL-SLC on JetBlue or Delta or one stop on Southwest?  Or are we more likely to be booked on Spirit, Frontier, Allegiant etc?

 

Also do we have to pay for luggage if the airline has luggage fees?

 

Thanks!

once your flight is booked, you cannot change it if it is on AA. If you have requirements, you have to request them 75 days or before you leave and there are charges. We flew ATL to LAX with one stop. It was nonstop returning. 
 

Luggage was charged on United. 

Thanks!!

Has anybody gotten their flights from NCL and used one leg of the flight but not the other? I booked an earlier flight on another airline for the flight home since AA doesn't allow changes. We would get in just before Midnight and not get home before 2:00 AM on Monday morning. My flights last time were great. I knew I was taking a chance but we could drive home before this flight gets us there. 

Secondly, I called to let them know I had booked a different flight home and wouldn't be using the flight they booked. They want to charge me 100% of the airfare because we are within 75 days of travel. I didn't have my flight info 75 days out and they won't allow changes (FINE). What happens if I just don't get on that later flight? The airlines are not the same. I know it is not illegal but what will happen? Anybody know??? Are they going to charge me? I can use the other flights I booked at a later date if this is going to end up costing a fortune. I am under $300 RT for two including my new flights home so I may end up taking the late flight home. I wasn't expecting that flight since we are in ATL and so many connections go through there.