complawyer

you dont sound like a scrooge, to tip or not to tip is subjective and totally up to the individual. if non tipping is the norm where you are from, what do you do on excursions. do you tip the tour guide, or if you choose to do your own thing and go to a local restaurant do you leave a tip? do you tip your cabin steward?

yes, this has been covered many times before. the question is how much should you tip. since the gratuities are already included, no tip is actually required, and i dont believe the waiter/waitress even expects one. if you want do leave an extra tip, feel free to do so. if not, you're correct, its already included. that being said, however remember these people make very little money and anything extra helps them out. it doesnt hurt if you leave a tip and they get to know you. at the very least, i usually leave $10.

15-20% of what the actual bill would have been

better to purchase before y ou board

amyh13 sorry darling, even if you ever get the $1.00 deposit, all that means is that you'll just owe that much more when the final payment comes due. think about it in those terms. if you book a haven suite for $10,000 and need to ante up $1750 as a deposit, would it matter at the end that you still owe $8250, or you just put down the dollar and at the end owe $9999. same with an indoor cabin. if you book for 1200 and deposit $250 you'll owe $950 at the end. if you pay a dollar, you'll owe $1199 at the final payment. regardless of the offer, (and i always sail ncl, have been for 12 years now) ive always maintained that ncl doesnt give away ice cubes in winter. if you ask why i keep sailing with them, ive commented before that my criteria is price and itinerary, i have always found that ncl always gives me the best bang for my buck, so i can ignore most of the annoyances, real or imagined on all their alleged "sales", free at sea promotions, 3rd &4th guest fly free, if you look closely at all of them, you'll quickly understand that ncl has us coming and going either way. by the way, the current sale has been going on in one form or another for over 3 years ncl could actually waive any and all deposits. you get all your previously paid out sums if you cancel before final payment is due, or you pay it all at once (or in increments) before final payment. either way ncl doesnt really lose anything, they just dont get the free loan

i just didnt want cruise nurse to be confused since she asked about "tips" and not the daily service charge. if the crew isnt getting any of this money, wouldnt you think that ncl i s making enough off all of us, not to stick us with this charge also?

i hope cruisenurse 2 doesnt get confused. at the risk of sounding repetitious , nurse, ncl includes "daily gratuities onto every sailing, for every person in a cabin. they range (i think from 15-20) per day per person) the only way these can be waived is to go to guest services and "DEMAND" they be taken off the bill the day before the cruise ends. of course, if you do this, you will (at least in theory) be depriving the crew of there share ncl rationalizes these charges as being divided among their many staff people, so everybody gets a fair share (they are to frigging cheap to pay a fair and decent wage) so we all get soaked for these "gratuities). you can pay them upfront, or they will be added to your entire tab at the end of the cruise. Tips, however, are a completely different animal. a tip is exactly that. the money goes to whoever you want it to go to. if you get a drink, give the bartender a buck or two. if you get decent service from a waiter or waitress, regardless of the venue, leave a few bucks. (just like you would do if you were on land in a restaurant) if youre in a haven, give the butler and concierge a larger tip if their service was exceptional. i always tip my cabin steward $20 at the beginning of the cruise $20 inthe middle and $20 at the end. just be aware that regardless of who and how much you tip, you'll still be charged the daily gratuity at the end of the cruise. so dont confuse the terms.

its back to 120, we're on the epic nov 15th, final payment is due july 18th

you still get breakfast and lunch in either cagney's or moderno

ncl has a trans atlantic on the star from lisbon to rio this november. a 2 bedroom suite is $7500. i think 14 days in a suite (with butler and concierge) with all food and drinks included, is one h**l of a bargain, no matter how you look at it. even if the star has no "haven" per se, you still get all the perks of a suite.

i always order a cappuccino after breakfast and dinner. it's about $2.95. you can order in any of the specialty restaurants (except i dont think teppanyaki), and in the mdr's

maybe the guy on the telephone wanted to up the price because of a commission!

i may be mistaken, but when ever ive checked celebrity or royal, regardless of price, i have noticed their cabins are smaller. i looked at a jr suite on royal, and its about the same size as the club suite on ncl. celebrity suites seem to be more expensive than ncl also. again, i concede that i havent prices either of these cruise lines out lately, but i find that for price and itinerary, ncl has always given me more bang for my buck.

of course i knew, i was just adding a further comment. anyone that had cruised with ncl in the past 4-5 years gets the "joke" about their sales.

i would love to, but it was a few years ago, so i really dont remember. i can tell you there was me, my wife, grandson and his friend, and it was considerably less than the shore excursion for 4 people. you can take into consideration what the excursion costs, and then negotiate with the cabbie

hey, a sale is a sale!

we got a cab at the pier, had him take us to pompeii,paid to get in, walked around on our own for a few hours, made arrangements to have him meet us back at a pre-designated spot to take us back to the ship.had a pizza before he got back, just make sure you dont pay him until youre back at the dock

even if the cabins are listed as "sold out" if youre given a chance to upgrade, give it a shot, you have absolutely nothing to lose but only do this if you're sure you want the upgrade if you have a winning bid. my daddy once told me a good deal isnt a good deal if it's not what you want!

shrike, i would never ruin a can of ice cold pepsi with rum. i would, however have a glass of chivas sitting by my right hand

anyone who thinks that either the 70% off 2nd guest or the 35% off 1st and 2nd guests is a great deal, i have some choice lakefront property right outside of las vegas. you can contact me here. lol

the "sales" are an ongoing joke. go ahead and mock book a cruise. when you get to the "total" click on price breakdown. i have yet in the last few years actually seen where you can save money. even the fantastic 2nd and 3rd person sales free, again, check the price breakdown and you'll see that the costs have just been re-distributed to guest 1 and 2. the show a jacked up price, and its scratched out for the new price

that's the right attitude! book what you want and upgrade after. if your bid wins great. if not, y ou havent lost anything and saved $$$

im a pepsi addict. drink at least 5 cans daily. even with breakfast. people give me odd stares at dinner when i have a pepsi with my steak. even more so at breakfast with eggs benedict

it isnt an automatic done deal. you will get a notification from ncl if you are eligible for an upgrade

you will be asked for your passport information when its time to check in on line for the cruise itself. you'll probably be asked for your passport info at the airport. we took a cruise from athens this past april. usually, i like to get the boarding passes when you can (24 hrs prior to your flight) even with the passport info, delta would not allow me to check in for the flight on line, but when we got to the airport all went smoothly