Sailing12Away

The only time I would say to speak with the concierge about Haven reservations is if you have a big group. Our last trip all of the Haven bar stool hogs were planning on joining each other in the restaurant for dinner the last night of the trip. For that someone spoke with the concierge to see if it would be possible, and how many tables could they reasonably squish together. But for just 2-4 people, just walk in when you're hungry.

Even if you make them at separate times? I just checked our upcoming February trip. I had already booked Ocean Blue, just went in and it looks like it will allow me to pick it again now several days later for an additional reservation. I don't want to hit the button and really do it because I don't actually want it, but you're saying if I went all the way through to the end it would error out?

For the DSC, I think as long as you pre-pay them - you get the rate it would have been when you originally booked the cruise. So even though they went up, you still pay the original rate because that's what the terms were when you booked. If you waited until you were on board, it would be the higher one possibly. $3 isn't much, but it does add up to several cocktails worth of drinks for a cruise as long as yours will be.

Enjoy the trip, looking forward to living vicariously through you and @CptBoatface the week after when his trip sails. Our first West coast trip is coming up in February with @oteixeira so I'm looking for hints/tips for the must see/do things on that side of the ocean. Today we're headed to a cask beer festival, so will definitely put a few back in our beloved 🐀's honor. It's just not the same with him gone 😞

Depends on how close to sailing. I snagged a 3br villa for a steal of a price about 2 weeks before sailing. Initially booked it with just 3 people, was able to add on a 4th a few days later and only had to pay the taxes & fees for them at the time of adding them on. The closer you get to sailing the more challenging it becomes though.

I'm not following you.... If I buy a sack of apples from the orchard for $20 and sell them on the street for $1 each, but you don't want any of my apples, I'm supposed to just give you a $1 instead for NOT buying my apple?

We fly out of JFK and have used the NCL air promo at least 3-4 times (I'd have to consort my signature to review our cruise history to remember all of them). JFK - Miami, nearly missed the cruise due to AA kicking everyone off the plane once we boarded so they could give it to a Colorado bound flight. Ended up being delayed about 2+ hours and got to the terminal at 3:15 for a 4pm departure. So close, but we made it. JFK - Honolulu was no issues at all. We flew JFK to San Fran I believe going there and then had a stop at LAX coming home. The layovers were minimal. First one in San Fran was cutting it a bit close, we landed on time but had no gate to park at. So we sat on the runway area for 45 mins until we could park. Had just enough time to get off the plane, pee, and thankfully our connecting gate was the one right next to where we pulled in from. Got to Hawaii and found my sister in baggage claim (they flew in from O'Hare) and no issues getting to the ship. JFK - San Juan was direct with no issues at all. Using them again to go to LAX in February. Both of us flying for $250 total to me is worth the possible risk. For international flights, my only recommendation is to fly in at least 1 day early and you'll be fine. You want to at least grab some fresh paella while you're there anyway. The cost savings we had by using NCL air is in the thousands of dollars for us so far, so we'll continue using it.

Correct. You can unlock the interior doors, but not the exterior balcony walls.

True story... friends of ours sailed on the Joy this summer. Her husband bought a tshirt from the ship and left that out on the final night to wear the next day. Woke up with the luggage gone and when he put on the shirt - it was a child's XL, not an adult XL. He had to walk to the terminal to get his luggage wearing what appeared to be a crop top belly shirt because he had nothing else to wear. My friend offered him her nightgown to wear, which he declined. So for anyone who saw them that sailing, you have their permission to continue laughing at his misfortune. When we were on Joy in September I bought him a new shirt and made sure it was the adult version this time.

Not only do I not fit into the robe, but I guess my feet are fat too and don't fit into the slippers comfortably either. As for dessert... last trip I started opting for just a simple scoop of ice cream/sorbet/gelato and then saving my dessert stomach for the Haven bar. Frozen grasshopper, mudslides, frozen tiramisu.... anything frozen and creamy and loaded with liquor is a better use of calories to me than those cakes and things at the restaurants.

Since you haven't yet sailed, can't you call NCL to drop the drink package and switch it to just a soda package or pay as you go? I think the soda package is $10/day, so you would save a bit of money if you're not big drinkers. We were literally looking at this itinerary last night for 2024. Don't quite have that much vacation time saved up for us yet, but if your east coast cruise goes well maybe you'll want to complete the full circuit in 2024. We're probably going to settle on the 12 day that goes back and forth past Cape Town.

Yeah... The beauty of being in an incorporated village is you get to add another 6k/yr in taxes to that figure for us. And this is all for a 40x100 postage stamp plot of land. At least in the boonies you get a bit more for your money.

The one thing about traveling is that we realize how expensive it is to be living here. We semi jokingly always scout real estate store signs of listings everywhere we travel. I can get a nice little bungalow on an island somewhere for what we're paying just in taxes alone in Nassau county.

We're doing a trip on Prima next year with my sister, BIL, and their twin 12yr olds. Pricing is extremely high, so the 4 of them are in a family ocean view room. We're DINKs, so we're in one of the Haven owner suites with a hot tub. Already planning on having them spend most time hanging out in our room with us, with them using theirs for showers, sleeping, and downtime away from us. Whether or not something is possible is a very different discussion about whether it is enjoyable. Rooms that hold 4 people are not 2 adults + 2 kids, you can (in theory) fit 4 adults in there. *insert Jeff Goldblum Jurassic Park meme here*

Yeah... "just a cold" isn't always just a cold. I fell victim to that logic once. Got tested 'just to be sure' so I could put anyone else's concerns at bay only to test positive and be put in cruising jail.

Didn't notice, nor were we given a choice. Card was being scanned, and usually they hand the machine back to you to choose US$ or local currency and can add extra at that point. They just handed back my card, all done. That's when the conversation happened, a wee bit too late if we did want to remove the charge that we didn't realize was already added in the first place. Generally speaking, when we're in the UK we just 'round up'. So if the bill was 42.32, we'll tell them to charge it at 45. It's not an egregious amount, but the little bit seems to make nearly everyone smile a bit wider. When paying cash, as someone already said we leave behind the coins, including the 1-2 dollar ones.

Not sure if it was sneered at per se, but in May we were in London eating at Dishoon (https://www.dishoom.com/covent-garden/). At the end of the meal we wanted to add on a tip, but they wouldn't let us. "Oh, thank you that's so kind, but you're already charged the sitting fee so no need."

If it's before final payment and you have a remaining balance due, they deduct the credit from what you still owe them. If you've already paid the balance off, you get a refund to your original form of payment. My first 2 (3? I lost track how many there were, there was a lot for this trip) adjustments took money off my remaining balance owed. The last adjustment I had was the day after I made my final balance payment, one day before the final payment due date. That came back to my credit card literally today, $1899.24. Due date was the 27th I think, so about a week for it to show up. If you're after the final payment date, I think it is only offered as a FCC. No limit to adjustments made before that final date, but there are limits once you pass that point of no return.

We were in France in May and booked direct with a private guide. She was a young woman running her own wine tour van out of Le Verdon. One of the stops on our tour was to her boyfriend's family vineyard. We bought wine at each stop, including their family's stop, and chose to tip her as well at the end. Except in cultures where tipping is considered an insult and frowned upon, we'll give our guides tips based on how much we enjoyed the trip. The cost of the trip is for their expenses and time. The tip is our gratitude for how much we enjoyed it. Same thing with when we sail in Haven. Our cabin steward tips is already included in our daily gratuities, but we always leave a little extra. We don't miss that extra money when we get home, but it does mean a whole lot to them when they get it unexpectedly.

There's a few new threads on here about price drops and 'sales' and getting adjustments and such after booking. If you're before final payment date, you can get price adjustments if the cost goes down just like with RCC. Once you're past final payment date the rules are a bit different. If you've got your heart set on a sailing and particular cabin and you're comfortable with the price, book it now and just put the deposit down. Then from time to time reprice it out. If it goes down, call NCL and they'll lower your remaining balance. If it goes up, pat yourself on the back for locking in at a better price.

As many have said, if you're before final payment date there's no limit on the number of price adjustments they'll make. Once you get past final payment the rules are different. My next trip is February and we had 3 significant price drops before final payment (total of about 4K). With this new sale, the price is another $400 lower. We're past final payment, so not worth it to me to call, but I'm keeping an eye on that owners suite. When the price on that drops to where I would have paid it anyway with an upgrade bid I'll just call for the upgrade.

The Joy Panama canal trip this coming February has dropped again... $297/pp/day for Haven. That price includes flights to/from JFK, so if you drop those it's even cheaper. I think this finally puts the "Haven never goes for <$300/day" debate to rest finally.

Regarding the butler letter, on our trip in May on the Star, we had both the butler and concierge specifically comment on it saying they wished other guests were as straight forward and upfront as their NY ones. "NY'ers know what they want and are not shy about asking for it. It makes our job easier knowing what we can do to keep you happy and make it a great vacation." So at least in that experience, the staff appreciate the letter. Easier to keep track of what each room likes/doesn't like and giving a little bit of personality on the guests themselves makes you more memorable. So much easier having a face with a name and some info beyond "Mr/Mrs Jones in 17123". The staff do talk about the guests as well.... apparently there are photos hanging up in the crew only areas. We're hoping our faces were on there and stories shared about our previous trips with NCL due to us being in a garden villa and "good" guests not for being the PIA ones.

It all depends on the cruise and the type of cabin you're interested in. My upcoming Panama canal trip is in a Haven room, and the days before final payment prices were dropping by $500 - 1000/day for my room. I saved another $1900 in the final days before payment. Now that we're past that time I'm afraid to go look again, but I'm happy with the rate I'm locked into.

@bundtkate Regarding hot tubs... on our trip around Spain in May there were folks hanging out in the hot tubs till around 10pm. Not sure of the 'official' closing time, but so long as it's just a few people lounging and not causing ruckus they let you linger later than the pool. Not sure when you're sailing, but I'll be back on the Joy in February. My most recent trip wasn't a pool weather trip so didn't pay much attention.