dolphin1313

Hi All

 

I am considering booking a solo cruise for the first time as I have recently separated from my husband but still want to travel. I've noticed that you have to book the drinks package for both people in a room. I have been thinking about booking a discounted room for 2 adults and then cancelling him as a no show.

 

Can you then cancel his drinks package for a refund and keep mine? Also if I was changing the booking to my son, can I then cancel the husbands drinks package.

 

This may not be the correct forum for this so I apologise in advance if not the right place.

 

Thanks

Brooke

Hi Brooke,

Like Lois said, you should ask the cruise line or travel agent since each cruise line has their own policy.

That being said, I've cruised solo quite a bit on NCL and Carnival have never had to buy 2 drink packages. My experience is that you only have to buy multiple drink packages is when in there are multiple people in the same cabin and they are all above 21. If you're still not within the final payment then you should be able to make a change to the names without penalty. Otherwise there could be charges for a name change but you should talk with the cruise line or travel agent you booked with to see if this could be waved. It never hurts to see if they'll work with you.

-Mark

Do the ships without studio cabins have a coordinator?

Yes they do have a solo coordinator, at least on all of my Gem sailings they did.

I also live in Maryland and am considering a Breakaway cruise out of Manhattan in March. Just starting my research as I have not sailed from New York in the past. My first inclination is to take Amtrak from BWI to Penn Station, NY. One way cost is $49. Penn Station is 2 1/2 miles from the dock, about a 14 minute taxi ride according to mapquest. I also read some time ago that one of the cruise lines [can't remember which one] arranges for a Greyhound Bus to the dock from downtown Baltimore. Anyone have any info on this possibility?

I don't know about the Greyhound Bus going to the dock or not. However, at worse you could take the bus to the bus terminal which is maybe 2 miles from the port. My one cruise friend took the Bolt bus from DC to NY and took a taxi to the port.

If you look in the 10/31 roll call they have new ports as well.

 

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Here's the new itinerary for the 10/31 Gem sailing:

Revised Itinerary:

Day Destination Arrive Depart

Tue New York City, New York, Us 4:00 pm

Wed At Sea

Thu At Sea

Fri At Sea

Sat Basseterre, Saint Kitts - Nevis 8:00 am 5:00 pm

Sun Castries, St.Lucia 8:00 am 5:00 pm

Mon Bridgetown, Barbados 8:00 am 5:00 pm

Tue Fort-de-France, Martinique 7:00 am 1:00 pm

Wed St.thomas, US Virgin Islands 7:00 am 1:00 pm

Thu At Sea

Fri At Sea

Sat New York City, New York, Us 10:00 am

Just got an e-mail from Norwegian that it will be another week before we have a revised itinerary for the GEM sailing on 11/11 from NYC!!

I received the same email for the Oct. 31st cruise on the Gem

How did you already get the revised itinerary for December? I'm sailing in October and still don't have the revised information. Where did you find the information?

My friend's on the 12/3 sailing and she received an email from NCL about this revised itinerary.

Has anyone received information on the itinerary for the Gem sailing on 10/31/17 out of NY?

No, I haven't heard where we're going yet. NCL sent an email Tues. the 19th and said that they will let us know within 2 weeks. So we should know by this coming Tues.

i've done plenty of cruises with my family. now i'm planning a solo cruise on ncl gem. does the gem offer a group dining table for solos' or single seating if i prefer?

You can always get a table for yourself. But table sharing I haven't had much luck with. However, in my experience, the solo host most of the time will arrange for a table(s) at the solo/single at the nightly get together which is held every night somewhere between 5:30 and 6:00pm. The time will be in the Dailies every day.

Wouldn't it be great if NCL changed the eastern carib itin to St. Lucia and Barbados? If they cut out Nassau, it should be completely doable. Any thoughts?:champagne-toast:

That would be great!

Going solo on the NCL Gem September 30th to New England and Canada from Manhattan. This is a Solo discounted cruise by NCL, which according to someone I met on a solo cruise will have a lot more Solos onboard to meet. We shall see. I was on two NCL cruises with studio cabins previously and they were great. This Norwegian Gem does not have studio cabins, but I hope will work out well since it's a bargain for Solos. Inside cabins start at $869 for solo. https://www.ncl.com/cruises/7-day-canada-and-new-england-from-new-york-GEM7NYCHALSJBBHBPWMNYC?cruiseTour=1&autoPopulate=f&cruiseHotel=1&numberOfGuests=4294953450&pageSize=10&ships=4294961000&cruise=1&sortBy=Featured&from=resultPage&state=undefined&currentPage=1&cruiseHotelAir=1&itineraryCode=GEM7NYCHALSJBBHBPWMNYC

That'a a good price that you got for your cruise.

I've been on the Gem a few times and have met some good people but it is a hit or miss as far as the number of solo's on the cruise. Sometimes it takes a few days for people to show up at the solo meeting so don't get discouraged on the first night if not too many show up.

What is the "Great Outdoors"?

Do they do anything special for Halloween?

The Great Outdoors is the Buffet area outside in the Aft of the ship. They put fresh cookies out at 3pm in addition to a variety of different lunch items.

I've never been on NCL during Halloween so I'm not sure what they offer however, I would guess that they do special things for Halloween.

Got the email from Norwegian yesterday. We are on the Gem out of NY on July 22. Had booked an inside. Bid for a balcony, 150$ for each of us. We have been moved to a BB on deck 10, aft. Pretty happy about it. 15 more days.

Congratulations! That sounds like a nice price for the upgrade.

Hi,

 

I've always wanted to sail to Bermuda on either Breakaway or Anthem (5 day). I am an active 60 year old female, but is there enough to do on a 7 day cruise with the 2 night stay on Breakaway? Or, will the 5 day on Anthem be enough, with the one night over? Please help!!!

There's plenty to do in Bermuda for the 7-day sailing. Also, on the sea days, there is plenty to do. Of course either sailings will take about the same amount of time to get to the island.

Hi all, I'm doing a quick solo trip to see how I like solo and Carnival. I've noticed a singles meet and greet in the Fun Times, but I'm not single, just solo. [emoji57] Does anyone know if the meet and greet is more focused on hooking up or would be a good option for solo?

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Carnival's Single/Solo M&G is a good option for a solo cruiser but it's a hit or miss. Unlike NCL, there normally isn't anyone from Carnival's entertainment staff there. Just giving you a heads up.

First cruise coming up later this year. This time I am going with friends but usually I don't have anyone to go on a cruise with (hence this being my first). But in anticipation of enjoying cruising, I have a couple questions about going solo.

So just to make sure . . .

When the single supplement is 200 percent, and the cruise is say 1000, I would pay 2000 for the room I want (say a balcony cabin) No other hidden supplements aside from the normal taxes etc?

Am open to different cruise lines at this point but does anyone know if all of them have a 200 percent supplement or are some better than others? Is there a list of the cruise lines and their single supplements?

Thanks for the help. I like to know what I'm getting into and what I can expect to pay.

Hello cantgetaname,

You're correct that a single supplement is double the cruise fare but not double the port/fees and taxes. The past couple of years I've cruised quite a bit on NCL out of NY and have paid a single supplement from none to double the fare. Mostly they offer the reduced supplement as you get closer to the sailing but sometimes further out. For instance, my next sailing on Oct. 31st, I booked a 1/2 year out and have a 150% supplement for an inside cabin so you never know. With that being said, I wouldn't only go by the single supplement but by what the price is.

Your not allowed to mention travel agents websites, but there's one that I normally will go to when I'm looking for a vacation to go on. That way I can see all the cruises within a certain time frame to compare the prices.

Does anyone know how long this sale last?

It goes through June 30th.

Currently I'm booked in a mid ship balcony with UBP and Prepaid tips waived as our 2 choices. We also have no svc charge on the Bev package because we are part of a group booking...

 

If I upgrade to a mini suite, based on the current offer there are still 2 free perks available plus $140 OBC. Would I get that OBC and keep all my existing offers?

From my experience, if you call to upgrade than you get only the current promotion. If you call the Upgrade department and get an upgrade through them than you would pay the additional amount but keep your current promotions. I know that the upgrade department was an option when I last did this in January but don't know if this option still exists or not.

I received my passport renewal in exactly 3 weeks from the day I dropped it off at the post office.

I agree. Hate the new site. I can spend hours on a Saturday morning searching cruises, checking prices and itineraries, etc. I don't see myself doing that with this new site.

I agree totally. The way Carnival's web site is now, I won't be searching for cruises there. Just when I thought they couldn't make it worse, they do.

Not sure I quite follow you. When I was on the Epic in 2013 (and the program may have changed since then) I bought 2 FCCs which I used on my 2015 Alaska cruise (NB & SB so one each direction). I paid $250 each and got $100 each OBC on the Epic resulting in $300 total paid. Still a good deal but not sure where the extra $25 you quoted is coming from?? :confused:

I'm not sure what the special was in 2013 so I can't comment on that. However, when buying 2 FCC's now, you would have the following charges on your on-board account:

$250 FCC

$250 FCC

-$100 Credit

-$150 Credit

The first one they give you a credit of $100 and the 2nd one they give you a credit of $150. For the 3rd and 4th you would get a credit of $125.

At least it's worked the way it's worked since Feb 2016.

I am cruising for the first time as a solo (I am in my mid-60s and recently widowed). I am waitlisted for traditional dining (early seating) and confirmed for anytime dining.

 

Will I be seated at a larger or at a table for 1 in anytime dining? I really don't want to eat alone. I am hoping that the the Maitre D will find a place for me at the early seating in the traditional dining room, but I'm asking in case he can't.

 

thanks,

Debbi

When you go to the dinning room, just tell them you would like to share. I've always been seated with others when doing this.

Unless they have changed, when I bought my FCCs on NCL, you paid $250 and got $100 OBC on the cruise you bought them on, not the cruise you use them on. The nice thing is the FCC will count as your entire deposit, no matter what the deposit is supposed to be (I used mine on a 14 day Alaska cruise and the deposit would have normally been I think $600 but all I had to use to secure the booking was the $250 FCC).

You're correct that if you buy one $250 FCC, you get $100 OBC on that cruise so it's only costing you $150 for the FCC. However, if you buy 2, 3 or 4 than your net cost for each $250 FCC is only $125.

I'm reading these posts/replies and it prompted me to call NCL about my upcoming cruise where I am cruising alone. Apparently the NCL Sky does NOT have studio cabins and also NO solo lounge. They also do NOT, according to cus. svc., arrange meet up or cocktail party for their guests travelling alone. I was getting my hopes up reading these posts. Oh well ....

Like Quilting_Cruiser said, don't lose hope not all CS reps are always informed. I can't speak for all the ships; however, the Gem had a solo meeting every night listed in the Dallies on all my sailing on the ship and it doesn't have solo cabins. A couple of the hosts had a little party and some didn't, what they arranged (dinner, shows, etc.) depended on who was the host. Most of them would make arrangements for dinner and some of them arranged their schedule to have dinner with us a couple of times. Some of them would only spend a few minutes after introducing themselves and have the solos introduce themselves.

I'm currently on the breakaway docked in NYC. They are having us disembark starting at 6am and want everyone off by 9.

 

 

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Thanks for the information about disembarkation.

So reading the Carnival out NYC says you have to wait a day but I have never had to with Celebrity is that because its out of NJ? I thought NCL was the first day too and that's our of NYC. What a stupid rule.

I was just on NCL recently out of NY and had the drink package included with the cruise price which included the embarkation day. NCL charged the price of the drink on the receipt while in port but I was only charged for the NYC tax. Just like Carnival used to do.

The only difference between NCL and Carival that I can see is that the drink package was included in the price of the NCL cruise. I didn't check to see if you could purchase the package on the first day or not on the ship since it wasn't an issue for me.

Whatever the law is, I agree with you that the law is stupid.