Named-Tawny

On 7/12/2022 at 3:42 PM, MoCruiseFan said:

NCL does not have boats they have ships.

I mean, they have both.

You just hope that you don't need to board the boats during your cruise.  😉

7 hours ago, PCHENG said:

Does anyone know if NCL will allow you to bid on additional cabin categories as you get closer to sailing?

 

Right now I am in a Family Oceanview, and I have been invited to bid on either a balcony or club mini-suite.  Neither category interests me, and the minimum bid is greater than the price difference on the NCL website so you actually spend more by bidding.  I am interested in a SP inside family suite, but I did not get an invitation to bid even though there are plenty of availability. 

 

Assuming there are no takers for the SP rooms after the first round of bidding, will NCL expand and invite inside and oceanview guests to bid on the suites, or are we deemed not worthy enough?😄

IIRC, you're able to bid on staterooms two categories up, generally.  So if you're in a Balcony, you can do the Clubs and the Suites, and if you're in Oceanview, you can do the Balconies and the Clubs.

I've never heard of them adding more categories closer to the date.

Upgraded today for the Star from OV to Balcony.  Bid was in the mid-fair range, of CAD$300pp

Huh.  Just checked my upgrade.  It went from Pending (which it had been at for months, since I bid) to now just saying "Not eligible for upgrade" with no info at all (no rooms, no categories, nothing).

Still seeing my original room in the summary, so I guess I missed out.  Dang.

20 hours ago, WickedRed said:

Is there 2000 passengers on the ship?  It feels wicked empty and so far they are only using 1 MDR at night.  

 

Bummed we aren't going to Greenland, but I've never been to Norway so I'm not complaining. 

Do you know if they're doing two shows a night, or just the one?

I'm on the cruise leaving the 25th.  Hoping that weather clears up by then and we're able to see Greenland - it's one of those places that I never assumed would be possible without spending VAST amounts of money.

Still, if the deal is see Norwegian Fjords instead, and get a nearly free Caribbean cruise next year for the trouble?

Yeah, I'll be disappointed, but I'm okay with that eventuality.

Definitely would rather than then dealing with gale force winds in a North Atlantic crossing. (Although seeing waves hit my oceanview window would be an experience!)

On 7/13/2022 at 7:44 AM, ziggyuk said:

I tested this policy today on the Gem 

 

So today I bought another bottle of wine and blatantly carried it onboard in my hand.

After the scanner finally someone (after practically holding it to their face) sad "can I see your cruise card please" the "oh, you have the beverage package, that's fine".

 

So it's confirmed, as long as you have the beverage package you can bring wine on with no corkage fees

 

 

Oh gosh, amazing!

Just to confirm, do you have the Free at Sea beverage package (the Premium) or the Premium PLUS beverage package?

(I'm going to assume it's not ANY beverage package, or soda package here I come. 😉  )

20 hours ago, Ed342 said:

Anyone seen discounting before? Is this something new?

 

 

 

What even does a 'discount' mean when you're literally the one choosing how much you want to bid?

Bizarre.

11 hours ago, LaCal said:

If it’s not till August 1st why’s it to late to change and go a day early? 

Especially if it was the result of an airline schedule change.  GEnerally, if they change the flight by more than a couple of hours, you have the ability to decline that change and take a different available flight with the airline (assuming availability)

7 hours ago, victory2020 said:

Thank you. I'm usually willing to gamble, especially out of LAX with so many flights but air travel has gotten so unpredictable lately. I may book my own there since it's so important & let them bring me back. I'll still save some money.

I would love to hear some recent west coast to Europe stories.

If that is your plan, communicate with NCL about it before ticketing.

Generally, for return tickets on international flights, if you miss the outbound, the airlines will often cancel the inbounds automatically.  Assuming that they're the same ticket, and not just two one-ways.

1 hour ago, MrsBlackross said:

  I fly Delta quite often for work (precovid, I fly out of their main hub in Atlanta) and they had it back then too.  I can't speak for other airlines though.

It makes business sense from an airline perspective too.

Their goal is to fly with each flight as full as possible.  If there's space left on an earlier flight an hour or two before departure, and you're willing to get on that flight instead of the one that still has 8 hours left to fill up?  Yeah, that's going to be good for them, ESPECIALLY if the later flight is already full or overbooked.

Teppanyaki is probably perfect for a 13 year old.  It's easy to enjoy food (noodles and chicken type stuff) plus it's a show with chef interaction.

Moderno isn't the place to go for steak.  It's a Brazillian BBQ, rather than a steakhouse.  Think - waiters bringing you skewers of meat, and carving it off for you at the table, rather than presenting you with a steak and sides.

 

11 hours ago, roquejo said:

I have bid the maximum possible to test, 2 weeks before sailing.. nothing..

Just be aware that you can't really test it.

If they accept your bid, you're committed.  So I wouldn't bid more than you're actually willing to pay.

5 hours ago, Stickboy3327 said:

Good morning.  The TA said NCL has to refund the money.  It is not her decision. 

 

Also, now, after 6 weeks, I received an email from NCL stating my refund request has passed the "preliminary" refund process and now NCL has 90 more days to review and arrive at a final decision.  I am stunned and confused. Other posters said they received their refunds immediately.  I will be 4 1/2 months into the process before I get an answer.  Wow... Will think twice about sailing with NCL again as this is ridiculous.   

Just to reconfirm, you cancelled BEFORE the final payment deadline when the cruise was still 100% refundable?

That's very odd that it is taking so long.  Honestly, this feels more like your TA is gumming up the works, and not NCL.  Smells like shenanigans to me.

What jkjrislc said.  As a general rule, on the more 'scenic' iternaries, balconies cost a more significant premium vs on the 'sun' itineraries. 

$2500 sounds like about the price difference that I remember for the Greenland/Iceland 10 day, between OV and Balconies.

Thank you!  So it looks like option iv.  That's fantastic - means I can test before I fly.

Hello Friends!

So currently (and yes, I know it could change at any time) NCL for European departures, requires a COVID test taken within three days of the start of the cruise.  Does anybody know how those days are counted?

ie - does the departure day itself count?  Do they go by hours or calendar days?

eg: If I have a cruise departing at 4pm on the 25th, and I check in at noon, does the three days

i) Count 72 hours from departure (so I'd have to take it after 4pm on the 22nd)

ii) Count 72 hours from check in (so I'd have to take it after noon on the 22nd)
iii) Just count three days including departure day (so I'd have to take it anytime on or after the 23rd)
iv) Count three days prior to departure day (so I'd have to take it anytime on or after the 22nd)
v) something else entirely?

Has anybody heard anything concrete about how they calculate 'three days before'?

Thank you!

On 6/15/2022 at 6:52 PM, Superflyisme said:

I received an email to upgrade, and I sent in our bids.  When I use that link it says "We have no space available."  I'll assume our bids were not accepted???  Why would they send out an email if nothing was available?

It still allows you to bid because things can change.

Most likely, somebody in the category you're bidding for, bids for a higher category and wins it - that leaves their old cabin available.

There's also cancellations, and etc.

On 6/10/2022 at 1:03 PM, kylenyc said:

It's pretty good. YMMV.

I indulge on food I can't get anywhere else on the ship and rarely have on land...

Lox (they hide it at the far ends of the buffet), smoked salmon, cantaloupe and watermelon, (I hate buying underripe or overripe ones at the market... control issues too?), whatever's at the carving station, made to order egg station, and making my own italian cold cut sammich (no skimping on the hard salami or prosciutto).

This settles it.  We're going to have to try to buffet when we're on the Star in July.  😃

On 6/6/2022 at 11:05 AM, GeezerCouple said:

 

If one cares about the choices, then one should make the travel plans, and that's likely to cost more if one wants more desirable selections.

 

This is it exactly.  My partner and I are paying about $750 (Canadian) for our flights from NCL.  That's less than half the cost of what we'd be paying if we bought them ourselves.

For us, it made sense to give up flexibility and choice to save about $1000.  For others, it may not.

You know, I'm not sure if I've ever done the buffet, unless it's the early morning breakfast one, because I have a super early excursion.

Always figured why serve myself when I can get somebody else to bring me food at the MDR.

Is the buffet any good?

Yeah, we're cruising out of Reykjavik on July 25th (two day deviation) and got our flights email yesterday (still not on the trip summary page though).  Checked bags included, and I was able to select my seats on the Icelandair site.

Direct flights.

2 hours ago, pamelab said:

Can you get drinks on sea days and port days? Are there any times when you can't use this package?  Trying to decide between NCL and RCCL.  TIA

The only thing to keep in mind is that, depending on the port, you may need to pay taxes on your drinks while you're in US waters.

On 5/29/2022 at 9:26 PM, Red-Sol said:

So as I was perusing several sites looking at cruises I noticed that there was a cruise listed on *some* of them but not all. It is on the Getaway for a 10 day cruise on Sept. 12th out of NYC.One of the sites it isn't on is NCL...but knowing many of the problems they have with IT especially on weekends I chalked it up that it might be a problem from that. Another site I saw it on lists the itinerary but it reads in the opposite direction than it shows on the map (Image attached) Anyways was wondering if any of you Dick Tracy types out there can help verify if this is a legitimate cruise or not. 😉

 

 

I can't speak to the cruise existing or not, but that's definitely not the right map for that cruise, at least.  The map shows NYC --> Bermuda and onwards, while the text says that Bermuda is the final stop instead.

5 hours ago, melissa_t said:

This is a great thread and I've read the whole thing.  I've already decided to going to upgrade.  My question though, is if I wait to upgrade until I'm on board (I assume there's somewhere to do that?) can I use non-refundable OBC towards this?  Hoping someone knows.  That's the only reason I'd wait vs paying in advance...

 

Thanks!

My understanding is that yes, once you're onboard you'll be paying for it with OBC.