Rob_H

They are discount coupons that can be brought on board, to use to pay part of the cost of future cruises on NCL. In effect, they are $250 gift vouchers that cost $125 each. You can use one per booking normally, more than one if some conditions are met (like two for a balcony or better booked more than six months ahead) or if there is a promo on.

Maximum eight cruisenexts per person (not stateroom) per cruise. There doesn't seem to be a limit to the total number you can accumulate on your account.

If you don't want to travel Cunard (which doesn't have any port stop on the way) look for a ship going the "wrong way" (not the usual seasonal migration between the Mediterranean and the Caribbean), and connect it with a normal transatlantic before or after. For example, the Norwegian Sun last month (which we were on) went from Miami to Lisbon to reposition there for the winter. Many people on our ship then took a different transatlantic back the other way afterwards - Europe to North America - as there are many that time of year. An example later next year would be the Carnival Freedom that goes from Port Canaveral to Barcelona on Sep 21, arriving Oct 4. Returns include Holland America from Amsterdam on Oct 7, Princess from Southampton on Oct 9, Celebrity from Barcelona on Oct 19.

Also an email address for each passenger (can be shared). The first time you use any email address, or a phone number, it'll be sent a verification code. So be sure you have access to the email addresses, and can see the texts on each phone. After you enter a (postal) address, the system may suggest a standardized (corrected) version. In some cases (like ours) that "corrected" version will then fail to be accepted (NSW changed to NS), so just press "use as entered" or similar words. You'll also need a decent internet connection. As part of the process you have to play a Youtube safety video one time for each passenger. We found that step impossible using the onboard wi-fi on a sea day (to check in for our next ship), had to wait for mobile data on land. Same for us. Doesn't have to be perfect, just get past the filter, if it's not that good a fresh photo will be taken at the physical check in.

Is the theatre in the Dawn the same as on the Star? We were just on the Star (Lisbon-Buenos Aires) and didn't like the theatre as much as most. The seat pitch is very tight, no legroom, like an economy airline, and there are no cupholders. Views from the side balconies instead are not great (too many curves and glass).

Thank you for such a detailed "live from", especially the photos! It's a lot of work, and it is appreciated. We're booked on the Dawn West Africa in 2024 probably b2b with one or two cruises before, South Africa r/t and Mauritius to South Africa, so the final stages of your cruise were especially useful to know what to expect. We took the Jade Athens to Dubai then on to Singapore in late 2019 so it was interesting to see and compare your experience on the first cruise as well.

We were on the Sun last month, Seattle to Miami 20d b2b with Miami to Lisbon 21d. Account closed out at end of first leg, Internet minutes did not carry over. Six days after that we got on the Star, Lisbon to Rio 14d b2b with Rio to Buenos Aires 7d. This is being billed as one account, and Internet minutes rolled over to cruise 2, like normal. So, some ships still bill b2b as one account, as normal in recent years. Some have a separate account for each leg.

Some codes that show extra points will be given, usually from "past guest" offers: LATITUDE - one additional point per night LATDBLX - two additional points per night As mentioned before, LATREW* appears on most bookings, doesn't have extra points.

The cruisenext people usually have an accurate count, for the current cruise and an estimate for the next cruise. Most other staff will have a rough idea of the count. Since we're on that next cruise (Sun, 11 Oct from Seattle to Miami then b2b to Lisbon), does anybody currently on board know the estimate for the next cruise?

It's best to save all numbers on your phone in international format: a + then the country code then the number. To put it another way, the "exit code" from mobile is always a "+", no need to know 011, 00, and so on like in the old landline days, it doesn't vary depending on the port. (to enter the +, press and hold the zero key). For US and Canada numbers, save them with a +1 in front, like +1 (212) 555 1234. They'll still work fine when you're actually in the US or Canada, but will also work from mobile everywhere that you can make calls. For a UK number like 0712 345678 it'd be +44 712 345678. To get back to GSC, we had minimal reception using Google Fi (uses most of the same roaming partners as T-Mobile) while anchored (in April 2022). Had to be high up on the ship to get anything at all. Onshore, there was even less, in a bit of high ground there was a weak signal from a nearby island. Both anchored and onshore, mobile data was essentially unusable.

Yes, I've now gone back to doing my own bookings for anything new, these are just a few historical bookings past final payment that sail very soon. The changes were a while back, had to be done twice due to the PCC and ended up costing us a few dollars more. Mostly it's now just queries about NCL errors (too long and silly to go into here) that could be fixed easily in webchat but they insist I use the PCC, who is hard to reach.

I made some bookings through a NCL PCC (Personal Cruise Consultant). Now whenever I need to make any changes I have to go through them, can't be done on the webchat. This adds delays (many days) and they have made errors that needed to be fixed, with more delays. I've learnt my lesson and haven't used the PCC for any future bookings. Is there any way to get back control of the few bookings I've made through this PCC, so I can deal direct with NCL and not have this layer of delays and errors? In other words, remove them from the booking? Is that something anybody has done?

When you start a package, minutes are consumed. At the end of a cruise, any remaining minutes are normally lost. If, however, you are on the same ship b2b, you can log back in and the remaining minutes will be available, plus a new package for the new cruise that you can start later (wait till the first is fully consumed). Even works if the second cruise is sailaway rate with no new minutes. We've done this many times this year, many back to backs, with no problems. Only works if the second cruise is on the same ship.

Also, access to cruisecritic.com, and ncl.com, is free with the onboard wifi. You do not have to log in, and do not have to consume your minutes to see them. But you have to be really, really patient. Both are super slow (and cruisecritic.com won't include images). Each page takes minutes to load. So be sure to be doing something else (like reading a book) at the same time. BTW if you have back-to-back cruises the minutes roll over to the next cruise (anything left from the first cruise can be consumed on the second cruise).

When you get a confirmation for a booking (or even a courtesy hold), check there is the code "LATITUDE" (not just LATREW*) in the top right corner - that's the extra point. Oddly, not all sailings that offer the extra point show on the offers page or mention it during booking. I recently made a b2b2b booking (three consecutive cruises), only one showed a latitudes offer during the booking flow but all three (unlinked) bookings show the LATITUDES code on their confirmations (The cruises are Star, May 31, Jun 12, Jun 23 in 2023).

Have you tried the booking without selecting the "open bar"? Normally the drinks gratuities are shown as a line item, like for the "free" meals, strange it's not shown on yours, maybe there is a fare for without open bar (the headline rate) then a higher rate with drinks included. Also, is there a "sailaway" rate on the cabin selection page? That's the cheapest rate, but adding drinks or meals (like you have) pushes you to the higher "free" at sea rate. Just like "basic economy" on US flights. A cheap headline rate but no bags included.

Are deposits refundable when booking direct online with MSC in Australia? Going through the booking flow, there are links to both: https://www.msccruises.com.au/images/sdl/b2c/TermsConditionsMay2022.pdf https://www.msccruises.com.au/en-au/Terms-Conditions.aspx These show deposits fully refundable before 120 days before cruise (like some other lines) for normal cruises/cabins. On the final payment page, down the bottom it has "Clicking on confirm you accept the Terms and Conditions " and a link to a third (!) version of the T&Cs: http://www.msccruisesau.com.au/forms/BookingTCs.pdf This one has an AU$ 150 fee for cancellations before 120 days. Does anybody have some actual recent experience of which is correct? If you have had a deposit refunded, is the process a pain at like many companies? This is for a potential 2024 cruise, so the deposit certainly needs to be refundable, things can change. Again, this is just for the Australia terms, I'm aware other markets can be different.

Yes, we've done that a couple of times this year (and I just realised we'll be doing it three times more this year!). Had to wait for decent mobile signal in a port if I remember right, it was very slow on board. It doesn't matter if you have to wait a few days to do it as you don't need to get a good time (just pick one at random) - you're already on board! Again you'll probably have to wait for decent internet, so you might miss an early slot that time. One of our check-ins will fall within a cruise on a previous ship as well, this year, so same problem for us.

The Spirit tendered at Opunohu, when we were on her in May. Google Map

We've had and used many of these coupons. You can apply one coupon per person to each separate booking. Online you can normally only book each segment of a back to back separately, so it's one voucher per person per segment. I don't know how it works if the two segments are on a single booking number (sometimes possible through an agent), we've never done that.

There are some photos, and descriptions of things on board, and the ports, in my "Live from" thread from our Hawaii-Tahiti and Tahiti-Hawaii cruises on the Spirit in May 2022:

Here's the roll call for our October 11 2022 Norwegian Sun cruise, 20 days from Seattle to Miami. Welcome! Follow the link below, and join the roll call and post your message. There's likely somebody else into knitting. Often there's an informal group in one of the lounges each morning, on these long cruises. Many on this cruise are also staying on for the Miami to Lisbon transatlantic, making a very affordable 41 day cruise. Here's the roll call for that cruise as well: Both cruises will also have a meet and greet, if you'd like to come to that. [edit] I see that cruisecritic has added a random picure to each link. 🙂 Yes, there's an error in the map (Horta is in the Azores), and the second photo isn't us. 🙂

Yes. The Norwegian Sun has to be repositioned from Alaska to Europe. A season of Asia cruises over the 2022/23 winter were cancelled (a couple of months ago) to be replaced with Canary Island trips from Lisbon and Malaga. We're booked on the reposition. This reposition is virtually a world cruise segment at a very reasonable price (and more port intensive). We get on in Seattle on Oct 11, go through the Panama Canal to Miami, then stay on b2b for the Oct 31 TA to Lisbon (multiple stops in ocean islands). Total 41 days. Some people on the roll call (for the TA) are taking a ship back to the US after (mostly MSC), a couple of them are using this TA as a way to get back to Europe from an earlier westbound TA. We're staying in Lisbon for six days then taking the Norwegian Star for our TA westbound, not to the US but to Rio then Buenos Aires (21 days).

The Sun is now under way, heading for Icy Strait Point. Glad to see her back in operation! Well be onboard for 41 days in October and November, Seattle to Lisbon.