complawyer

personally, i would rather be able to pick and choose my flights. i usually like to fly into the embarkation and arrival ports one or 2 days early . for european cites even possibly 3 days. i want to look around. consequently, im booking flights on my own. sure, in todays travel markets, there may be some snafu's but i'll take my chance. same with hotels. with cheapfare guru, or cheapoaire, as well as booking or hotels. com. your choices are significantly more than relying on ncl. im not knocking their program, it's just i believe in the old adage "if you want something done right, do it yourself"

in 12 years of sailing with ncl the most ive ever had to wait for mdr was about 15 minutes, any of the mdr's on board are huge. it may be tough, however, to book at the last minute for a specialty restaurant, sep cially like teppanyaki or le bistro. better to try and make reservations early either that day, or a few days prior. you can then cancel ahead of time if you can get into the mdr.

consider yourself blessed if the fcc credit actually comes through. generally speaking, ncl doesnt give away ice cubes in winter!

cappuccino, latte, extra $2.95 each. i like to order a cappuccino after breakfast and dinner, along with a glass of champagne at breakfast, and a glass of port after dinner. the booze is free, i dont mind the extra $6.00 a day. im also addicted to pepsi, and have at least 2-3 cans daily @ 2.95 . over 7-10 day cruise or longer, it might add up, but if it's something you really want, the overall cost as opposed to what youre already paying for the cruise itself, seems minimal. your're right, that ncl should include the cap or latte, but unfortunately they dont

by the way. i've swam with dolphins in costa maya, stingrays in grand caymen, rode a camel in tenerife and an elephant in thailand. swimming with pigs, doesnt sound like anything i'd pay to do. see my last post, or even if it were free. ugh!

on some ships, you can actually stay on board and still be able to swim with pigs.... just saying!

just like the world keeps spinning round and round so goes the ncl sales. as we used to say in the army "SSDD". they alternate between the 35% off sale and the 70% off sale. this has been going on in one form or another since nov 2019 (or even earlier) to the op who got a $479 discount, i say "good for you. after 4 years of watching these so called "sales" i take them with a grain of salt. the prices rarely ever change (some may however) from sale to sale. every cruise i have looked at for the last 3 years, regardless of the "sale", the price has stayed more or less the same. doesnt help anyone if they go down after the last payment is due now does it?

if your bid has not as yet been accepted, you can simply cancel, and re-bid with your new card number.go to ncl website, look up your current bid, and it will give you further directions to cancel, or change

chiefmate, how come you never look at the same cruises i look at?

we booked a 9 day cruise out of athens march, 2023 and one from copenhagen to london july 2023. we cancelled both ,as there is a much better (cheaper) cruise this nov. it's 11 days instead of 9 , haven instead of the dawn, a few 1000 cheaper, and a more inclusive itinerary (with ports identical plus a few more. the july we cancelled because i thought the price was to high. but 2023 cruises do exist

i think the jan south africa to dubai is 18 days, then you can back to back from dubal for another 18 days. my friend is booked on those 2, but even for an oceanview cabin the price imo is outrageous this nov lisbon to rio is 14 days, then you can continue rio to buenas aires for another 7 (total 21 days). ncl star

as a practical matter, i would say no. even if you do priority boarding, the ship isnt going anywhere for a few hours. you may be able to sit around, eat and drink, but i dont think that's worth the price of admission. in18 cruises since 2010 (all on ncl) i dont think it ever took us more than an hour to board, then we were hustled to the buffet along with a few 1000 of our closest friends, all trying to get a seat, or to the pool area (still trying to find a seat) and fight off all the attendants trying to sell us the daily frou frou drinks at around $8.00 per, but you get to keep the special cup (plastic no less) which becomes s piece of junk when you finally get home.

nyc hotels can tend to be rather pricey. what i usually do is go to either booking.com or hotels.com. either can give you multiple choices for location, prices etc. if youre driving, you also need to factor in the cost of parking for the duration of the cruise, unless you can take a train, or have someone drive you and pick you up. i would google any hotel that shows proximity to the port. ive heard some horror stories about new york cabbies.

from what i currently understand "venice" per se is no longer allowing cruise ships to dock there. if you check your reservation, it might say trieste whick is now the juping off point from the venice cruises. also, i think trieste is about an hour + from venice. most cruise web sites suggest (recommend) that you plan to arrive at least 1 day prior to embarkation, especially since venice is absolutely beautiful and amazing. you's be doing yourself a massive disservice not exploring for at least a day or 2. if there currently not many excursions showing up, dont worry. as time progresses, more and more will be added. you'll have plenty of time to pick and choose. the costs of the excursions, will show up on your final bill and be charged to any credit card you gave when you first got on board., we did a b2b from venice a few years ago, and even our cabdriver refused to take u.s. dollars. i suggest you convert the currency to euros at least a few days before you leave the states. for 10 days, i would probably want to bring round 500-750 euros. while you say you are not looking to add any unnecessary expense, consider a night or 2 as a necessary expense. worth so much more than the possibility of something going wrong, not getting to the port on time and missing the ship

why dont you try and see if you can stay in the same cabin on your b2b? much easier than swirching cabins. but yes,you can keep your water, it's all yours

njkate: youre correct, 26 hours is outrageous. it only took us 14 hrs to fly to hong kong. that being said, while its true you should have read the fine print, dont condemn ncl. your choice should be to book your own air fare. most cruise web sites advise to fly in a day or to early, we're on the ncl bliss to alaska departing aug 6th and returning aug 13. consequently, im booked on alaska air leaving los angeles on the 5th, and returning on the 14th. while i acknowledge there is the extra costs of a hotel room, but i think in the long run, it's worth it to avoid what happened to you. booking your own flights allows you to pick and choose the times, seats and prices that are convenient for you. my sainted mother once told me "it's not a deal, if it's not what you want" pay a little extra and get exactly what you want

why do anything? sea days are great days for just "chilling" and to do anything or nothing you want. while i enjoy exploring different ports of call (especially in europe) i'm just as happy with sea days, where i can lounge on my balcony and watch the sea go by. get a drink, and just enjoy being away from it all. go listen to music, read a kindle, if you're on a ship with a waterfront, grab a mojito from sugarcane and just flop down in one of the available chairs, take a deep breath, exhale, sigh, and relax. repeat as needed!

sam ting, totally disagree with you. ive gone on rccl website to only discover the following (1) prices are generally higher (2) cabins are generally smaller, especially at suite level cabins ( 3) with as many people as an rccl ship can carry, it's like booking an ant hill. im not enthused about sailing with 4-5,000 of my closest friends. ive been cruising with ncl for 12 years, ive posted before that my criteria for booking is itinerary and price. while ncl has disappointed me sometimes during those 12 years in other areas, they consistently meet my expectations with the price and sailings. when rccl can match that i might consider booking with them. and shrike, while i dont scoff at $50 off per excursion and 15% more off platinum level and above, remember ncl advertises "free excursions". Even someone like you ,who has either criticized, or commented negatively on basically every post ive written, needs to confirm $50 off is no where near "FREE"

if y ou feel that a ship that can accomodate 3000 passengers feels crowded with around half that many, maybe your expectations are a little out of line. we were on the jade apr 8 with about 1/3 capacity and felt just fine why would you even book a cruise if you worry about crowding conditions (especially if the ship sails at full or almost full capacity) did you think you'd have the entire ship to yourselves and a few friends. seems some people are never happy. maybe next time you should consider booking a cruise with a line that caters specifically to smaller crowds

we booked b2b cruises a few years back leaving and arriving from venice (this was when ships could still dock in venice) we booked as 2 separate cruises, but booked them both at the same time so we were able to stay in the same cabin for both itineraries

oh lord, i feel so rejected! (LMAO) let me know if you ever change your mind. the offer stands indefinitely

we had the covid tests 72 hrs before boarding to comply with the ncl requirements in effect at that time. at the pier we were also administered another covid test. we showed them the paperwork from our tests in the states, and waited for the covid results from the pier. to add insult to injury (so to speak) the 1st day was a sea day and the first port on the 2nd day was jerusalem. i dont know how they managed to so it, but on the sea day the israeli health ministry managed to get their people onboard the ship, and all the passengers were required to one agaain get another covid test ( this time administered by the israelis) . the next day, no one was allowed to disembark, and the ship was not allowed to dock, until all the previous days results were in. we had an 8:00 am shore excursion, but werent allowed off the ship until after 12

i hope you get the extra perks, but usually the points arent added until after the cruise

we sailed on the jade from athens last april 8th. stayed overnight at the athens marriott. so remeber that if you are leaving from a foreign port, the requirement in a negative covid test 72 hrs prior to sailing. we got ours on the 5th of april. there is a testing sight right in the athens airport just before the baggage claim. also if you are going in a day or more early, at the athens marriott, there is a hospital right next door. it took about 20 minutes to get a covid test and results. mind you at that time we needed the negative test to be allowed back on the plane to the u.s. finally, we had to go through another covid test at the pier, prior to being allowd to board. so dont worry, there are many ways to skin this cat

if he is, you'll be more than delighted. he's without a doubt the best concierge i have ever used while sailing in either a haven or regular suite. most of the time i just use the concierge to get me off the ship quickly on the final day, bruno, however was always right on top of things to the point i thought i was bugging him with our requests