eileeshb

There is another scenario wherein you can lose a cruise next credit, I used one that had an expiry of December 31st 2022 but could be used for a sailing up to December 31st 2023. If I were to cancel the 2023 cruise now, that cruise next credit would promptly disappear into the ether never to be seen again. It was one that I had purchased pre-covid and had its expiry date extended as a result of that. for European customers our deposit is theoretically forfeit for any cancellation beyond 14days from original booking and the 14 days window is an EU rule to allow “cooling off” for online purchases, e.g. you were madly intoxicated when you made the booking and when you sobered up you realised you didn’t want it anymore. However if you are outside the final payment date and get ahold of a cooperative NCL person on the phone they may be able to move your deposit to a different sailing, it’s the flat out cancellations they want to avoid.

They won’t be allowed to exclude mandatory fees on the EU site thanks to the rules brought in to stop the airlines pitching €4.99 air fares which then had €50 in fees on top.

from what I can remember hearing the free tour tended to be early in the cruise while the paid version was towards the end so it simply may not have been safe to bring people into the provisioning areas when it’s fully stocked. When I did the paid tours the freezers were significantly under capacity when I saw them.

Supply v demand, a lot more guests on the bigger ships and possibly different levels of access. previously the paid tour on the breakaway/+ class ships had: theatre dressing rooms/backstage, food storage freezers and meat processing, main galley, recycling centre, laundry and a walk through the main crew area. The paid tour is normally on the last sea day , at least the couple of times I did it. There used to be free photo taken for each person on the tour in the galley and you get it printed and mounted by the end of the tour. AFAIK the free tour that higher grade latitudes gets has been a bit more limited and they don’t get the photo. The new paid tour seems to have expanded into more technical areas of the ship like the engineering areas and bridge in addition to what was on the old version. Or at least that’s how the description reads for Bliss anyway.

I think there was an opps at the backend in the latter half of the week as a few folks (me included) were able to book thermal spa passes well before they should have been available for our itineraries. My cruise is still more than 160 days away so I wasn't expecting to see the spa pass available to purchase until sometime next month.

That's fairly normal as NCL sees the studio lounge as a bonus feature and think of the Studio complex as a Haven for solos without all the extra bells & whistles. The meetups coordinator will usually organise a table at a specific restaurant each night after day 1 and book for a group to attend the theatre shows, we were brought in through a backstage corridor for early access to the theater on Epic. After that any extra activities depend on the itinerary and the coordinator assigned.

I'd recommend bringing at least one bottle/can with you if you are checking a bag. Places like hawaii have premium rices compared to the mainland for things like that due to import costs. Also you want to make sure it's one that works on your skin. I have a hard time getting one that works on my skin and doesn't make me itchy all day. Similar for after sun, I'd also recommend a few sheet masks for your faces to help recovery from excessive sun and dehydration. The watermelon one from sephora was my go-to until they changed the formula and added Aloe. I have the fun of being violently allergic to aloe vera which tends to influence me towards bringing all toiletries with me and I even make sure I've enough to keep me going for a couple of days in my carry-on. That last is a policy I took after having to hunt for moisturiser in Bangkok that did not contain a bleaching agent.

I'm sailing on Bliss later this year which was the first NCL ship to have an enclosed smokers area from the start in the Casino so hopefully that will eliminate the drift out to 678 Ocean place and the atrium. Smoking is usually allowed by the bar in Spice H2O and there is a cigar smoking enclosed bar on deck 8 which can leak out to the waterfront bar next to it. The other hotspot I found is a few of the ships have a semi-enclosed smoking area on the main pool deck, I had to make sure I crossed on the opposite side of the deck to avoid the stench from that one. Apparently the policy at the outdoor bars is that it's up to the bartenders as to whether they let people smoke in their vicinity or not.. The day smoking gets banned completely will be a joyous occassion for those of us affected by the smell.

There was a bunch of snorkel excursions that went to the exact same place as the turtle snorkel when I did it years ago. I will say that the location they used back then may not have fully recovered from hurricanes, when I went to Tortola 2 years after Irma & Maria the island was still recovering and a lot of damage was still visible. I know some of the boat/dive/snorkel excursions took a fair while to resume because so many boats and reefs were destroyed. I’d hope the stoppages due to covid will have given the reefs eco systems to recover so they might be back using the old locations again. The turtle snorkel I did was also on the VI cat back in 2017. Back then they had a presence on trip advisor because they asked everyone to post reviews on there after the excursion.

Yes

If you are not regularly around smokers it’s highly likely that is the cause of your nausea. It took having my own car for me to figure out that my “travel sickness” was from the smell of stale smoke ingrained in the upholstery of buses, ferries and my dad’s car. Since the smoking restrictions came into place in Ireland my previously limited tolerance has thoroughly disappeared. Once upon a time I could tell what brand of cigarettes was being smoked in my vicinity purely based on my reaction to it, Benson & Hedges were the worst of the lot.

It should be, but I’d keep an eye on the locals to see what they’re drinking at the restaurants. Also tap water from bathrooms in Europe is not recommended a lot of places use attic tanks because our water system is not high pressure and those tanks are not always clean. Restaurants would use water straight from the mains supply rather than the tanks.

The tap water on board is safe to drink but some of us have an odd reaction to it that requires the use of diuretics to avoid having feet the size of balloons. They use the ship tap water for all the cooking, cleaning and ice as well.

If you upgrade the wifi you have already spent the "credit/OBC", same for cruise next vouchers.. do not let them bamboozle you with their "free money" speel.

nope, that's a different package that includes some other over priced features. You don't need to pay to use the tenders at all, it's just that certain folks have earlier access to the tenders and will be jumped ahead in the queue. Anyone in Haven, some suites and higher latitudes levels along with the folks who have excursion tickets get priority access to the tenders, everyone else has to book the ticket through the smart tv/screens or shore excursion desk or wait until everyone who booked a ticket has gotten on a tender. I suggest talking to the shore excursion staff on the ship after embarkation to find out when it will be possible to book the tender tickets.

I’m curious about which of the sports will be in-season in October? I’ve been to collegiate ice hockey match in Massachusetts and an NBA game in Phoenix both back when I worked for an American company and we missed half the NBA game. I haven’t been to an NFL or Baseball game at all, I’ve watched the superbowl on tv a few times (thankfully I don’t work Mondays at that time of year).

Depends on what you feel you need, but always cold after hot. Personally I go for the pool first and after that it depends what I need. I do know the stone loungers do not feel warm if you use them after the sauna/steam.

Anyone know if there is a possibility of getting take out and being allowed to bring it back aboard the ship?

I'm sailing on Norwegian bliss in October and we're due to be in Victoria from 8pm to midnight (presuming 11:30pm all aboard). I'm wondering if it's worthwhile even considering and excursion. The ones listed by the cruiseline are not jumping out at me but on a first round of research to book anything independently it seems our hours in port don't align with the local providers. It will be my friend's birthday that night so if there's anything anyone can suggest I'd appreciate it.

I picked the spa pass for my Mediterranean cruise as it was long days in port with a lot of walking so the jets in the therapy pool were very good as a bit of a massage. On my cruise the ship was less than 50% capacity so there was no need for Vibe, but it would probably be useful now that the ships are over 100% double occupancy. I'd check the price of a Spa balcony cabin to see if the cost of switching to that is greater or lesser than the cost of 2 thermal spa passes.

Dude. I am a woman. I’m also a buyer for surf shop so I order all the men’s, women’s and kids clothing and accessories in addition to all the equipment from 8 surf clothing brands, 6 wetsuit companies and a plethora of other suppliers. Your definition of a typical woman is not the same as mine or any of the women I know. Pretty much every woman I know gives out about the lack of pockets in certain types of clothing, and they will only cave to fashion of that sort if it’s a workplace uniform. Otherwise if they choose to wear something without pockets there’s this mad invention called a handbag which means they don’t have to depend on a man to mind their belongings. heck the way Irish women hand over something to their partner to mind for them is purely to place a virtual leash on him so he doesn’t disappear without warning.

You can book the tender tickets on the tv in your room or the smart screens dotted around the ship. I’d suggest talking to the shore excursion team as soon as you board to find out when the tickets will be available to book. I used the tv in my room to book my tender ticket for great stirrup cay and managed to get the first one after the excursions, haven and high tier loyalty status guests.

Nope again, women’s clothing designers (who are not necessarily women) think that practical pockets are unsightly . But this is changing, I’m seeing an ever increasing trend of adding pockets on occasionwear though it is on dresses with fuller skirts rather than the skintight dresses. the designer impact is actually starting to hit menswear, there’s a reason manbags have come into fashion. Men are starting to lose functional pockets just as women are starting to gain it.

I have a friend coming with me for this trip, I’ve found a few different tours across multiple platforms. The one that seems to have the most defined itinerary with tastings is the Chef’s tour which is 2hrs but there’s also a version that starts before the place is fully open. But there’s a bunch more with varying themes. I’m thinking a tour of some sort is the best way to make the most of our limited time in Seattle, otherwise we could be wandering the market complex for a full day and still not know what is worth checking out.

I’ve booked Belltown inn too as it seems to be the best value for it’s location. Walking distance to the space needle and pike place market, plus they have bikes for guests to use to travel a bit further if you want. The reviews online are very consistent which wasn’t the case for the other hotels in the same price bracket.