complawyer

keith, congratulations on realizing that ncl's method of doing math is completely different than the rest  of the world. this has been going on for a few years, they change the offer, but the prices remain more or less the same

graphic guy, imo. your  analysis is spot on. forget about chicago, try and price out a week at disney world.  my sister lives in orlando, and we've discussed this before. a week in the "value" category hotel, park tickets, food, beverages, etc can run over $7000 and i think that's a conservative estimate. i think a cruise in the long is a much better deal. as far as the balcony cabin, booking one for my wife and i is a no-brainer. nothing beats sitting out on the balcony with an ice cold heineken and my kindle, and yes, i go out whenever we have docked in a port to check out the view.

while we've cruise with ncl 28 x"s. and i agree the check in process is a pain in the tushie, but come on, realistically, is it that much trouble, maybe 15 minutes at most. if  youre gonna gripe, try and make it a major gripe, check in process (imho) is a minor inconvenience

i think that's great, but realistically, how many lobsters can you eat in one sitting? by the way, we got off the star on april 27th and we had a butler that brought all types of cookies to the cabin every day. , chocolate chip ,oatmeal raisin, macadamia, chocolate. so cookies are still around

to me it doesnt matter when where or how, regardless of the ship or the itinerary, im going to book either a club balcony, or a suite, and usually a suite.

not bragging, just trying to answer the question honesty. by the way if the cost to upgrade to a balcony is only $880, to me that;s a no brainer.. DO IT!

i didnt make this up. with the basic free at sea package, i always got the soda in  a plastic cup, unless i wanted to pay for the can.

the cruise we just took, gave me cans of coke or ginger ale for my wife. without even asking. guess i just got lucky but it was a 17 day cruise ,and i usually consume at least 2-3 cans per day

guess the entire wait staff didnt get the memo LOL

if youre  in a haven, either contact the concierge on your 1st day on board and tell him when and where you want to dine ,or call the available concierge number and tell then wat you want

drafterdw

i concede that i'm anal, but i start almost every meal with a glass of ice water. "NEVER" in 28 ncl cruises have i had any problem with the water i'm being served. looks like water, tastes like water, wet like water, it must be water. im not sure what is shown in the picture and depicted as water, but that has never been my experience. i dont believe any venue on any ncl ship would even pour something as ghastly as shown

sailing 12away. that i got the cans instead of  plastic cups, surprised the heck out of me. unless you bought the premium drink package, you usually got the coke in plastic cup.  we were in the buffet, and i asked to bartender for a coke and a ginger ale, and he gave me 2 cans, (no questions asked) throughout the rest of our cruise regardless of the venue, we always got cans, no charge.

so, i didnt try and look the proverbial  "gift horse" in the mouth

usually, if i wanted a soft drink (pepsi  prior to the change, coke afterwards) i would get it at any bar in a plastic cup, no charge, and as many as i wanted. our last cruise on the ncl star. which ended in lisbon on 4/27/2024, anytime i wanted a soft drink, i got a can with no problem, no questions asked and no charge.  and it was a 17 day cruise. usually, there is a bar set up in the buffet area also

disagree!!! if you use the mickey d's card for nothing else but their french fries, you're automatically miles ahead

we were on a b2b last year southamptom to copenhagen/ copenhagen to stockholm.

my wife, and our close friend who frequently shares the 2 bedroom suite, got off in copenhagen, wandered around for a while and came back s few hrs later. they did the same thing a ew years prior. we flew into venice a few days prior to sailing from trieste ,took a  shuttle to trieste, spent the night, went to the ship,and again, my wife and my friend got back off, and wandered around trieste for a while. at that time it was only a short walk from the pier to the shopping area. so yes, it can be done.

caveat, make  sure you get your tushie back on board 2 hrs before sailing

if you are booked into a haven or a suite, you're taken to cagney's for lunch

while they may not depart at precisely  the indicated time, why chance it. on an ncl sponsored shore excursion, they will usually wait until all tours are back. ive been on some ncl cruises, where the ship didnt sail until hrs after departure time. Unfortunately, one of the crew had died while in port, and the ship had to wait until a thorough investigation was competed. on some cruises, the captain will wait a little while longer.

on the other hand, if you're dumb enough to take the chance, one of the most entertaining things to do  on a ship, is sit on your balcony, and watch the pier runners scampering to get on board before the gangplank is raised. actually, it's not entertaining at all. it's sad to see those people lose track of time and rush to get back on. we usually get a cab in most ports, and tell the driver we need to be back at least an hour before the designated departure time.

mikeo. if they did away with the dsc and raised the fare prices, bet your a** people would them complain about the increase in fare quote the departed rick nelson " you cant  please everyone, so you got to please yourself"

my granny always said "dont look a gift horse in the mouth"  if the VIP gives you something extra while  on your cruise, that's great, if it doesnt, you're no worse off for the wear and tear

fyi, ive been monitoring the sept 26th prima from  iceland to southampton. it appears thecabin prices have gone down. i can now make my wife happy  and book a haven penthouse.

that

being said however, if she doesnt see the northern lights, my life is forfeit

nycruise4life.

as always, thank you for the information. i do note, however, that the list you sent, does not include sapphire or diamond status, and doesnt really tell you what you get for the different point levels

also on the form, it would not allow me to put   in the state and one other thing. since im very happy and have very minimal complaints about ncl  (ie. the falling apart hamburger buns) in the last 14 years and 25 cruises

in my  opinion,  and my opinion only, msc doesnt come close to ncl in it's itineraries, or prices. so until i end up in a box, i   guess i'll continue to sail ncl, and hopefully the 2 of you will someday be on the same cruise as my wife and i

cruise ny4life. you know 9x's out ot 10, i respect your opinion ,and your expertise as a travel agent.

however, the o p wanted to know if ncl shared points with other cruise lines,(which everyone here agrees they do not) i dont think he really cared as to whether or not other lines did so. by the way, i tried checking into the website you quoted, and it wouldnt let me fill in some or the required info, which is too bad, as ive always wanted to see what the hullabaloo was about the yacht club

ok, uk stages, where can i find the different benefits that MSc matches to ncl latitude status. By the way, we're diamond

removing the donna show? THE HORROR !

nikita, having traveled extensively throughout europe with ncl, it should be a "big thing" for anyone traveling to exchange for the currency of the country to which they are traveling. i dont understand why the op is making such an issue over it. does he really believe a server in any U.S. restaurant, or any store in the U.S. will accept euros to pay for their purchase? i can just see a visitor from Greece, Italy, France etc, visiting New York and trying to pay for broadway show tickets with euros.

ain't happening, nowhere, no how, no way 

distinctive. while i see the analogy, it's really not appropriate. by the way, i think most people that are serving such small amounts of time will usually get their sentences reduced for good behavior.

by the way, ncl is very inflexible when it comes to their rules, haven guests, shared drinks, suite restaurants, kids club and latitude points.

still, while getting a negative answer from just about everyone, it didnt hurt to ask

memo, i would have liked to have read this article, but it wont let me open it unless i purchase a subscription  to the times. can you encapsulate for me

from personal experience, i believe there really is no rhyme or reason as to how ncl awards latitude points.

last year we were on b2b cruise that started in southampton and ended 19 days later in stockholm.

the breakdown was 10 days 1st segment, 9 days 2nd.  we were sapphire at the time. when we got home, i checked and we had been awarded 95 points (or 5 per night) and instantly became diamond. so if that was my 1st cruise, at the end, i guess i would have automatically gotten to platinum status. by the way, we were in a 2 bedroom.  i expected 38 points after cruise, but since we got 95, im certainly not going to complain.