MagnoliaBlossom

Okay, I’m late to the party and love to play slots online, but I’ve been using DoubleDown for years. It looks as though this is a similar site but with points! probably a silly question, but do you only get points from purchasing chips, or do you accrue any from free play?

I have not had much luck lately (post restart) with getting a reduction after upgrading. 1) every part of the FAS offer has to be exactly the same. ie, on a recent cruise I had booked at 40% off all fares, then it went to 50% and I couldn’t qualify for a rate reduction.. 2) then my very knowledgeable, long time PCC said, we’ll the rate you booked went down, but the rate you upgraded to (BA) didn’t, so they look at where you land not began. Huh? That really doesn’t make sense to me but it’s their ball, their rules. It’s pretty sly on their part as, we all know, closer to sailing inside and ocean views are more likely to drop than balconies. Now mind you, it used to relay on the reduction of your “paid for” category, but it doesn’t seem to any longer. But that doesn’t stop me from asking every time I see it 😉

Because you can’t always know that there are not viable spores, eggs, bacterium etc, in the shell. The local authorities don’t make these regulations for the fun of it. They have a reason. Not that I believe, by a long shot, that big brother is always right, but we’re not talking about violating your constitutional rights, it’s a friggin seashell. When you get home,go to your local craft store and buy a bag of shells. Or if you want the authentic thing buy a shell from a gift shop on the island and bring home the real deal, which is cleaned and sanitized.

On some ships there are late night snacks in the casino.

I have seen the door decoration thing go both ways. At a CC meet ngreet the housekeeping manager said decorations were allowed if they were magnetic, but tape damages the paint so it is not allowed. That makes good sense, but it is the only time I’ve ever heard it, We are not door decorators but I do enjoy seeing some peoples creativity.

It is strictly enforced in Hawaii. And the reason given is indeed to prevent invasive species from spreading. Not petty by any means. Look at the damage that has been done in the Great Lakes area because of a shellfish that hitched a ride on a cargo ship.

The little flat ones. Not K cups.

I seem to remember getting an email announcing the First Ever Latitude cruise, with special events geared to Latitude members. Not long afterward the coupon showed up in my account. We had a conflict, so have passed on the opportunity, but it would mean flying and I’ve got to reeeeealy want to go somewhere before submitting myself to the torture of flying these days.

Yes, it was the Sun. We used to love it! And they had a very nice sangria, too

We danced on NCL for years. Our favorite was when Emily and Arvin would perform on the Spirit. There was a postage stamp sized dance floor, but everyone just got up and danced wherever they could find a few square feet to maneuver in. After DHs shoulder surgeries and the plate and screws in my ankle we don’t dance much but certainly miss it. And back when there was still a captain’s party, the show band played for a half hour or so and there was nice dance music then, too.

I’ve tried Starbucks and it just tastes awful to me. Burnt dirty socks. 🤮 But I know I’m in the minority, so I’ll just take my Community Coffee and go sit in the corner.

If you ask your steward on day one for a coffee maker, and tell him how many packs of regular or decaf you need per day it’s not usually a problem. I prefer to make my own pods with our favorite grounds.

Your OBC should show upmon your statement, but if you don’t see it in a week call NCL. I never use the OBC option, as I see it as a waste, so maybe others here are more knowledgeable about the nuts and bolts of it

What everyone else has said. Diamond here and I’ve never had a concierge help me or return a call. Not that I have asked often, and certainly not after the first two attempts back when they falsely listed it as a platinum Perl (when that was the top tier)

I was raised in Metairie and I have. Few Airline Highway stays in mt memory too. 😉

I no longer recall the ship but we were doing a Mediterranean cruise with John Heald, this was around 2007 or so, maybe. It was before the fundraiser was the Groove for St Jude and they did a walk for breast cancer. It was $10 to enter and you got a tee shirt and pink bracelet. We gathered on the top deck and walked laps. We had signs that could be worn celebrating a cancer victim. At the end there was a group photo of survivors and I remember there were about 100 or so. They actually ran out of tee shirts because they had only brought 300 and they were gone in hours of sign up beginning. john said he and the beards were worried it would be a downer and not the fun tone Carnival wanted to set, but was blown away with the joyous response. Yes, lots of tears as we walked, but hugs and joy and sharing. YeRs later I sailed with John again and was able to tell him how much that day meant to so many of us. He said he remembered it as a wonderful, if not surprising, day.

We did the Boyne Valley with a private tour guide (Derek Smith of Beautiful Meath Tours). He took us to the High crosses and then to Newgrange to tour one of the ancient burial tombs that predates Stonehenge. Fascinating. He shouldn’t wed us a variety of other places and it made for a wonderful day.

A little sarcasm here, in reference to Carnival’s financial straights - could it be their next ship is receivership? 🤔

That’s a good question. Precovid if you cancelled they were simply returned to your account. Post-covid they have added verbage that says if you cancel the BOA May deem your points forfeited. 😳. I first noticed it about a year ago when doing an upgrade they have to read the terms to you. When he got to that it was “wait a minute, back up there” and he said yes, it was new, and to his knowledge it had not been enforced but it was possible and the company reviews those situations individually. So, my advice to you would be to postpone your upgrade until you are positive you’re going. I frequently book cruises as soon as they post, as those are usually the best prices, but now rather than upgrading right away, I’m Waiting until closer to the date to make sure no conflicts have arisen and no grand babies on the way! It could be that they do not intend to enforce the forfeiture, but I’m treading on the side of caution. if anyone else has had to forfeit points, please weigh in.

As soon as the points appear in your account you can redeem them.

I assumed this would not be ideal for the lights due to the amount of light but not being knowledgeable about these things just wondered if such phenomena every happened during the midnight sun. My science teacher would be so ashamed of me 😢

We are booked on the Star 5/30/25. We depart Reykjavik and will be far north of the Arctic Circle in Longyearbyen (Spitsbergen) n 6/5 -6. Being so close to the solstice is it possible we might see the northern lights? We were in Iceland in August and B2Bers on our cruise said they had seen them the week before. Being a southern girl, I would love to see them. If not, well, there’s always National Geographic. 🤗

It goes without saying that, as julig22 said, IN to BA is not always the best use. You always want to compare the difference between categories. I’ve had times when it was less than $200 and other times when it was signifanctly more for an OV. You just have to be smart about using your points. I do however, assert that the worst use is for OBC.

The terms and conditions do not specify (that I can find anyway) if they differentiate from a book by vs a sail by expiration. As they do not I would advise you to call WP for a clarification. If you will not be sailing by May then use the expiring points for a statement credit so as to not lose them. Hopefully your next batch will allow you to use them for a sailing.p prior to their expiration. If it is going to be awhile before you sail you can continue to use your card, book a sailing which will give you triple points, and if necessary book a lower level OV which may not be too much over your IN rate, and that will allow you to upgrade to a Balcony, but not necessarily a BA category. May is around the corner so I would call WP today so as to make a plan for those expiring points. And no, you don’t need to book through NCL as you will book your trip in whatever way suits you with the appropriate level cabin for the upgrade you want to make. Then you will call the rewards number for WP (yes, you can do it online, but don’t- save yourself some possible headaches and talk to a real person) and do your upgrade redemption. They will notify NCL, who will send you an updated confirmation.

Eileeshb thank you for such a wonderful summary of the area. Maybe we should hire you to be out guide, 😉. We usually use Derek Smith for our tours and he is a wonderful young man. He even gave me great details about the area my ancestors were from and what they were enduring about the time of the immigration to the US. He took us to the Hgh Crosses in the .Boyne Valley and I thought he would weep as he describes the country’s lack of concern for the failure to preserve them in some way. We visited the ancient burial mound at Newgrange. What a treat! Can’t wait for our family tour in 2024, whole ch is a bit more of a British Isles sampler as our children and grands have not done this part of the world before. Thank you again.