Cruise4Twos

18 hours ago, Sunseeker11 said:

We are cruising Jan 29.  I have booked a shuttle with Coco Tours.  We fly in the night before and are staying in La Romana.  When we disembark we are  using the same company to take us from the port to Club Med for the day - our flight is late. I will use a taxi from La Romana hotel to cruise port and from Club Med to airport 

Would you care to share more details. What airport? How much are the transfers?

On 11/2/2023 at 10:03 PM, COREYATMN said:

I am also interested in any replies to this post......

I Googled transportation from these locations, and there are shuttles for about a hundred bucks PP.

Hoping someone has some recommendations for same?

When I was booking my trip, I remember the NCL shuttle option being $45 pp per trip. Just doublechecked. I can't use it inbound but it may be an option outbound.

2 minutes ago, MeHeartCruising said:

 

I don't follow you.  On this current promotion, during the cruise booking process, you select your air departure city and the amount of the airfare is shown to you before your book.  For my October 2021 cruise out of Venice, they would charge me $950 for the roundtrip airfare.  I'm solo, but if there were 2 going, it would be 2 for $950 in airfare (hence the value).  I don't think they can/will change that airfare price at a later date for those booking with these current terms.  Or Did I misunderstand you?

You did misunderstand me but, it's irrelevant now. The NCL rep I talked to yesterday said that there wasn't airfare pricing because they were too far out. She must have been misinformed because there's pricing in the system now. They also changed the past guest offer from 15% off and an extra point per day to just and extra point per day so my past deal without airfare is a better deal.

Pricing is dependent on the type of cruise. Yes their Caribbean cruises seem to be overpriced. Although many of their overseas cruises are at great prices and they have itineraries that I can't find on the other general (not premium) cruise lines.

Also with NCL I trust what I can see. For this new promotion, they're still offering the past guest offer but they've increased the cruise pricing. The problem with the airfare is that the cruises I've booked are so far in the future that airfare pricing hasn't been determined. I'm not going to lock into a deal without knowing the price. I saw what they did when offering balcony at at oceanview prices. They just raised the price of the oceanview to be the same price as the balcony. Without seeing prices they could just raise the price for 1 ticket to what it would cost for 2 tickets.

On 10/13/2020 at 4:17 PM, MeHeartCruising said:

 

Depends on the cruise.  Fare prices on 2 that I have booked for Oct. 2021 are the exact same as last week.  The airfare is offered at $950 for me from Pittsburgh (to Venice, Italy).  If there were 2 of me going on the cruise, it MIGHT be a worthwhile trade to lose the 2 perks additional perks I would give up to get a second person to fly for free.  Those perks are rather unimportant to me.  But since I'm traveling solo, it's not worth me having to pay $950 more for airfare + lose 2 perks.  My biggest issue is that for international travel, I'm not going to give up my control over flights and seats for that deal.  I'm figuring I will end up paying at least $1250 for my airfare unless I get lucky.

As an FYI you can pick your seat(s) just not the flight(s). Once you get the airline confirmation code, go into the airline's website in order to pick your seat.

A Feb cruise is one port different than a Dec 2021 cruise at a much lower price, a no brainer for me. In addition that one port can be visited as a pre-cruise excursion. If things are still bad, that's what nonrefundable deposits are all about.

I wrote this for another discussion. Some of it applies to your question so I’m reposting it.

Unfortunately things have changed on all of the cruise lines in years. Back in the day for me the food at the main dining dinner was about the same. Now many have cut premium meals from the main dining room. NCL no longer serves butter escargot, top cut steaks or seafood at the main dining dinner. You’ll probably get some specialty dinners with your package. The specialty dinners are better that what used to be served in the main dining area. Personally I would rather have it the way it used to be but I don’t get to control that.

Drinks are the same across all the lines as far as I can tell.  Tours are the same across all lines, often run by the same local companies in the ports. The activities such as dance classes, bingo, trivia, champagne art, pool parties (except Carnival IMO) along with lounge areas, beach lounge chairs, towel policy are basically the same. NCL does have a credit program for activity participation where you can get a prize (playing cards, Tshirt, etc) at the cruise. I know small, but something. Typically free exercise classes in the morning 7 & 7:30am. I think the gyms are nice but it depends on the ship. Most Royal Caribbean ships have a solarium pool separate from the party pool(s), NCL typically does not. The theatre shows depend on the ship. And yes NCL and everyone else still use cruise cards how else could they get people into that credit card mentality. I'm pretty sure that NCL has an app but I have a dumbphone so I am not well versed in apps.

The kids are about the same for most cruise lines except Carnival IMO. They have kids programs and recently a teen hangout area (this varies on ships).  The volume of children typically depends more on the length of the cruise not the cruise line. Cruises 2 weeks or longer have far less children. Typically there’s always a few since some kids are not school age, home-schooled kids and foreign travelers with different school schedules. The small amount of kids on longer cruises have not been a problem for me

I actually like Royal Caribbean better than NCL. Although I’ve been traveling Norwegian since 2016. They are offering more exotic/better itineraries than Royal Caribbean at reasonable prices (not those of the premium cruise lines).  They have a great future cruise program. I am not a picky person and the itinerary means more to me than the cruise line. Although I did not like Royal Caribbean’s Empress of the Seas which had 2 cafeteria style buffet lines rather the food stations that most ships now have.

You’ll get better responses for most of what you’re looking for with a discussion that’s titled differently since most of us do not book the penthouse.  That being said, I agree with the aforementioned that drinks are the same across all the lines as far as I can tell.  Tours are the same across all lines, often run by the same local companies in the ports. The activities such as dance classes, bingo, trivia, champagne art, pool parties (except Carnival IMO) along with lounge areas, beach lounge chairs, towel policy are basically the same. NCL does have a credit program for activity participation where you can get a prize (playing cards, Tshirt, etc) at the cruise. I know small, but something. Typically free exercise classes in the morning 7 & 7:30am. I think the gyms are nice but it depends on the ship. Most Royal Caribbean ships have a solarium pool separate from the party pool(s), NCL typically does not. The theatre shows depend on the ship.

Unfortunately things have changed on all of the cruise lines in 8 years. For me on Celebrity 2007 and NCL 2012, the food at the main dining dinner was about the same. Now NCL no longer serves butter escargot, top cut steaks or seafood at the main dining dinner. According to Valley Village you won't have to worry about main dining. I really like their specialty dining restaurants. You’ll probably get some specialty dinners with your package.

Platinum rewards are 2 extra specialty dinners over 5 days, free bag of laundry per member, 30 WIFI minutes and a few other small things.

The kids are about the same for most cruise lines except Carnival IMO. They have kids programs and recently a teen hangout area (this varies on ships).  The volume of children typically depends more on the length of the cruise not the cruise line. Cruises 2 weeks or longer have far less children. Typically there’s always a few since some kids are not school age, home-schooled kids and foreign travelers with different school schedules. The small amount of kids on longer cruises have not been a problem for me. I've seen discussions where the penthouse pool gets taken over by rich teens. That will be a hit or a miss.

I actually like Royal Caribbean better than NCL. Although I’ve been traveling Norwegian since 2016. They are offering more exotic/better itineraries than Royal Caribbean at reasonable prices (not those of the premium cruise lines).  They have a great future cruise program. I am not a picky person and the itinerary means more to me than the cruise line. Although I did not like Royal Caribbean’s Empress of the Seas which had 2 cafeteria style buffet lines rather the food stations that most ships now have.

From the outside looking in, those penthouse perks do look nice. Some ships have specialty seating at the theatre for the penthouse guests.  I hope this helps.

Norwegian typically has cruises that hit these 3 ports.

You can enjoy a relaxing meal at the table at the buffet (staff or self-service). Time is saved in not having to wait for the meal to be served to you. 

NCL - it is not a free upgrade if the pricing is the same as the upgraded item!

On 3/2/2020 at 10:48 AM, Ourusualbeach said:

 

I can tell you for a fact that future cruise bookings are down.  Ask any large travel agency.  Are they down short term..no, are the ships still sailing full in the Caribbean...yes however this has definitely impacted future bookings.

 

NCL for one has already come out and stated that they will not lower pricing because of this and I expect Royal to do the same.  There are already a lot more rates available to travel agents at discounted rates than there usually are.  Royals not about to drop prices drastically across the board very far into the future at this point.  If this continues another 6 months it could very well be a different story

NCL is offering more perks and onboard credit rather than lowering the prices.

I'm happy for whatever I can get. Nevertheless it seems like they are giving away perks and OBC instead of lowering the price. I wouldn't be surprised if this is because of the current virus issue.

On 2/14/2020 at 5:13 PM, klfhngr said:

Obviously the buffet quality sucks on most cruise lines, so much food and money is wasted, flu's, noro, etc. shared with everyone!

 

Isn't it time for the buffets to go away and have smaller eateries (food courts)? So much space is wasted in the buffet area! More free food options, smaller portions=saved money by the cruise lines.

 

IDK, it's been on my mind and wondering if I'm the only one that feels this way!

You’re equating food quality with the buffet which is a misnomer. I cruised on P&O Australia which uses older Holland America ships where the staff serves you at different stations (like a food court). In order to keep pricing competitive, they served poorer cuts of meat (in particular beef, fish and pork) since they had to pay extra staff. Labor costs more than wasted food.  The experience of the food court other than the meat is better overall. It is more sanitary than the buffet. Less congestion than the buffet. There were 7 different stations inclusive of salads which offered a decent amount of variety. The only inefficient station was the Mexican station which always had a long line. The drawback is that sometimes the server may give you more than what you want of a particular item negating smaller portions. More space is needed for the servers. Although there’s a good variety of food, the buffet has more.

Although I like the food court service, I wouldn’t want the increased costs that come with it. If people preferred it (food court), the industry would migrate towards it. Think about freestyle dining. Even though Norwegian had problems in the beginning with long wait times for a table, people preferred it and the industry migrated towards it.

27 minutes ago, pacruise804 said:

For Boscov's do you mean the department store?  Which location are you near?  Susquehanna Mall is closest for me, I never thought to check there for transportation.

Yes they have travel depts in both the Colonial Park and Camp Hill locations. You just missed their cruise show on 1/19 but AAA has a free travel show on Sat 2/1 at the Western Premier on 800 E Park Dr. I like getting the cruise booklets ( a little old school) and freebies. Typically they give out a brochure that speaks to this but I don't see one in this year's brochures which is not a good sign. Regardless, I would still check. 

Two hours at the most. Leave no later than 7 am. With parking fees since we do long cruises, we like to take public/group transportation.  Boscov's travel in our area has a cruise + transportation deal with the local ports (Baltimore, NJ, Philly, NY). I'm fine with being driven 4 hours to a port that morning. Amtrak is the most relaxing for me but I will take a bus if the deal is right. If your city has parking fees at the station, typically the next town a few miles over has free parking. Since most cruises depart from ports other than what's local, we take the train to a big city in order to catch the flight unless we get lucky on a flight deal from the local airport.

On 12/16/2019 at 12:35 AM, cruznjan said:

I think it's because I'm African American, but I keep running into people who feel they have to explain everything to me without my asking. They KNOW I have never been on a cruise before (I have been on 14 - I think).

You are not alone. If you look young, it's even worse (middle aged - 17 cruises with 3 more scheduled). We no longer do main dining because of the racist conversation of some.

When we get to the buffet just after getting on board. Nevertheless, I do like the pre-planning.

7 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

This topic is about changing your booking to a higher grade of cabin at a price that reflects the current difference difference between these cabin grades. However remember Azamara also have an upgrade system where once you get to round about 90 days before a cruise you can bid to upgrade ( see the sticky topic Upgrade Bid Experiences).

I'm glad this topic informed us about not being able to change your booking to a higher grade without a TA fighting for you on Azamara. This would be a problem for me as I haven't found a good TA.

I'm glad you informed us about Azamara's limited upgrades. This would be a problem for me since I haven't found a good TA.

3 hours ago, IDKaren said:

Do you know which airlines NCL normally uses?? 

Ncl has a list of the airlines they use on their website.

We're booked on direct flights from JFK to London via AA and Venice to JFK via Delta 2 days early with no hotel requirement at 35 days out.  It seems like if you do a generic flight search, if there are several cheap nonstop flights for the major carriers, there's a good chance to get nonstop flights. If you notice the cheapest from the major carriers have connections then there's a good chance to there will be connections. The times are good.  It's a better deal overall than I can book myself.

The add-on price is for an economy ticket. One you're booked you can pick any economy seat available on the carrier's website. There were plenty of seats available on the outbound flight about 10 seats left on the return flight.

3 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

If one is only going to get 25% OBC, it does take a rather substantial price drop to generate much OBC.  Some people do see such drops.  Personally, having typically booked lower end sailaway rates, when prices drop, I am looking for an opportunity to upgrade for a tiny fraction of the original cost.  I recently went from sailaway to a slightly nicer cabin with perks for a few dollars (plus gratuities on selected perks).  Not much time left but if prices drop more, there isn’t more room for me to move up.  To me, that was better than asking for a small OBC.  Obviously, some people may not have the option yo upgrade.

 I go for the best deal that pops up first. In this case the rooms that I considered better were extremely higher or sold out, so it was OBC.

15 minutes ago, mom says said:

Yes even here in the backwoods of Canada we have online banking. However we, in an abundance of caution, prefer not to access our bank accounts through WiFi with possibly dubious security while travelling. 

I like to pre-pay bills that come due while I'm away because I don't want to have to think about them on vacation.

P.S. - I use a checklist when packing. Occasionally I need to add to it.

21 minutes ago, Budget Queen said:

I'll  continue to disagree. 🙂  I've gotten on those "newer/ships/ hotter itineraries"  at give away rates.    The fact that those can be very costly to begin with,  allows for potential unsold space.   I'm open to any opportunity-  and have the great flexibility to take advantage.   I sail with a itinerary priority first and don't care about the ship.  I've been on 16 cruises already this year-   I gave up trying to predict anything a lot time ago.  🙂    

We don't have to agree about everything. I've done pretty well although not perfectly with my predictions. I will agree that it's not about the ship for me either, it's definitely about the itinerary which is why things have worked out well for me.