Hutcha

When asked, my TA confirmed that dealing with MSC is very time consuming and tedious. It took months, and dozens of calls and emails to get a military discount applied to my two bookings. On your list of complaints/drawbacks, don't let others minimize your viewpoint. If it's important to you, that's all that matters. Someone else might have the same views as you, and they'll appreciate your insight. Thanks for the info!

They should make that the smoking casino. They got it backwards.

Can anyone speak to reliability? We are coming in the night before, and staying at a Hobby hotel. There are 7 of us, so we would need an XL and a normal to fit everyone and bags. My wife is nervous that we will get a bunch of drivers that cancel on us. Last year, out of Port Canaveral, we got a private van from Orlando, but here they want almost $600 RT for private transportation. How hard is it to secure a ride?

I looked at several cruises on NCL, that are over a year away, and the sail away rate is "sold out". How does one not pay for something they don't want ,but the rate is inflated because of it?

@corman-cruise you've awaken the beast. The NCL loyalist have come out to defend!! I would agree with you. NCL nickels and dimes you. Just because it's in the terms, doesn't mean you need to be happy with it. All cruise lines have been trying to extract extra money from you, in this post covid world, but I take exception to some of the things that NCL does. Forgive me if my numbers aren't exact, but here are some examples. Yes, advertising and marketing are great ploys that companies use to lure you. NCL is great at it. Take the drink package, and the gratuity on it. Other cruise lines include the gratuity when the package is included (MSC and Celebrity come to mind). NCL inflates the cost of the drink package ($119/day?) so they can extract a higher grat out of you. Who else charges this much for a drink package? Bottled water. What line charges so much for a drink package, and doesn't include bottled water? A big pet peeve of mine is the miniscule amount of top deck space that is taken up with pay for amenities, The Vibe, The Haven, laser tag, racetrack, etc I feel that deck and pool space is inadequate. For that reason I will not sail NCL outside of The Haven. The exception might be to try the Prima class. The Haven. Great product, if you can get it for the right price, but it still has it's limits. I sailed with the premium plus drink package. You could get a steak dinner delivered to your room, but if you want a glass of wine delivered with it, you have to pay for it. Same with the minibar. For the price these rooms go for it, those things should be included. The included internet is a joke. Is it factual, sure. I probably will sail NCL again, but I can't imagine doing it outside of The Haven. That opinion might change after my MSC Yacht Club cruise this fall.

I can't believe I'm beating @Two Wheels Only in answering this. It's the small victories in life. There's a great thread here, where he outlines all of the configurations. I think this is a great room to have. I had it on the Bliss, but I was on 13 and had the smallest balcony. Deck 9 has the largest balcony, so a great snag. The room is fantastic, and has a lot of space. I did not miss being outside of the Haven complex. It was about a 3 min walk to get there. Enjoy!!

It's really hard to compare Star class to The Haven..... but I did so here 😉 I agree with you 100%. NCL nickel and dimes you. Some people like it, because they don't care about some of the things that are included in an all inclusive offering. I like to not worry about the extras. I have my first Yacht Club cruise coming up this year, and I'm excited to see the difference. It's sort of unfair to compare The Haven to Star class. Better to compare it with Sky class. You can easily spend $8k, for a 7 day cruise on RCL, and not get most of what NCL offers at that price point. No specialty dining, no drink package, no shore excursion credit, but you do get unlimited internet. Once you get over $12k on NCL, you're closer to the Star class range of prices. This is where I can't believe that NCL doesn't include more.

If it were not marked, and advertised on their website, as going to the crewmembers, yes. Like a Resort fee, at a hotel.

NCL is a publicly traded company. It would be considered fraud, and a scandal, if they misdirected the money to something else. Not sure why you're so passionate about it, if you've only had to do it twice. If you know it goes somewhere else, why do you leave it on?

So, you are saying that it can be directed to "only the behind the scenes" personnel? There's a separate category, just for them?

It's the culture. They will tell you it's because they prefer to tip personally, but it's really because they don't agree with being told they HAVE to tip.

Too bad, and don't get your knickers in a twist over it. You brought up a topic that is easily searchable, as it gets brought up at least weekly. It is also a widely debated topic, so you're going to get people's opinions on it. Don't like it? Don't bring it up. You're free to have your own tipping patterns. It doesn't mean others will like it or accept it. Fact of the matter is, If you are only tipping "those that have given deserving service", you are stiffing those that you don't see providing services to you that would have received the tip.

Not really the definition of a "live".

With the balcony door open, it is loud. Close the door, and you can hear it, but it's not distracting. From the bedrooms, I didn't notice anything at all. We were on the 8th floor. Doing it again this June.

Don't worry about dressing up for formal night. Less and less do. On my cruise on Harmony last year, maybe 25% of the people were in what used to be consider proper attire for formal night. Book and pay for Chef's table. I don't know how large your group is, but the max it holds is about 12-14. For me, it was underwhelming. The best part was interacting with the others there. If you plan on filling it up with your group, I'd just go to a specialty restaurant. The food at Chef's table seems to be the highlights of what is offered at the other restaurants. Have the rest of your group get the ultimate dining package. If your group size is reasonable, the genie will handle all of your reservations for dinner. I don't think the genie will be able to give you specific times before the cruise. They are pretty busy handling their current guest. When the genie first contacts you, they will ask for your preferences, and if any others are traveling with you. Tell them your preferred dining time, what restaurants you want to visit, and what shows you want to see. They will also want to know things like if you're an early riser or like to sleep in. Breakfast in cabin, or at the restaurant. For shows it will be hard to sit with your group, unless you just go in with the masses. The genie will usually save the best seats in the house for you. They meet you at the door, escort you to your seats, and make sure you get you first drink. They will maybe hold a couple of extra seats for your party, but not for a large group. Have the genie plan a cocktail party in your suite. They'll have food and drinks set up for you. If other guests have the beverage package the genie can justify having extra drinks delivered. If not, there may be an extra charge for some of the drinks. Also for a charge, you can have a full bar, with bartender, set up. Feel free to ask any other questions. Also. is you have the app f@ce bo0k, there is a star class group that you can join.

I sent an email 9 days ago, and a follow up 5 days ago. I haven't gotten any reply, except for the automated one. In the past, I've gotten the approval back in just a day or two. What has been other's experience lately?

The Spa idea is a good one. Get them a couples massage. I wouldn't send wine and strawberries. They can easily get that for free, and the aforementioned email to the director might ensure that it is waiting for them.

I was on Beyond in Feb. I believe they were allowed to have one bar open per deck.

Here ya go. Thread is a sticky one, up top. B2B_TA_Status-Match_Conversion-Table.pdf

Thanks for clarifying. Yes, you get all the benefits of YC if your upgrade bid wins. Good luck!

Were you offered an upgrade or offered to bid on an upgrade. "a TA free cabin"? Transatlantic or travel agent? Do you currently have a gratis cabin and they are offering to move you into a YC interior?

Why? Doesn't MSC use the lights for DND or Make up room?

If your cruise is at least 6 months away they can..... but it'll cost a lot for all of the cruises they'll have to do.