hallux

13 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

For NCL is just think a full refund is enough is ridiculous

This sentence structure is a little odd, but it seems like that's what you're saying, referencing this:

1 hour ago, dbrown84 said:

And I challenge you to find where I said it was JUST a refund 

As for this:

1 hour ago, dbrown84 said:

Actually, it's not.  Move on 

It IS more than a refund, per the first post the person is getting full refund AND 100% FCC.  That tells me that 200% of their fare was given to them in some manner.  That's more than a refund in my opinion.

10 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

right, which ain't ish

I can't argue that it doesn't cover expenses incurred to get to/from the port for a cruise they didn't get to take, but it's more than JUST a refund as your post that I quoted made it seem.

1 hour ago, dbrown84 said:

For NCL is just think a full refund is enough is ridiculous.

They didn't get JUST a full refund, they also got a 100% FCC

17 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

The thread below did mention A/C and bathroom issues on Breakaway....

 

 

That person posted the same here...

2 hours ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

I think that Galaxy Pavilion on Encore will be reduced in size or removed and Spice H2O will be placed there. 

Actually, I believe the laser tag on Encore is where Spice is on other BA+ ships, so removal of that would make room for Spice...

I have one on my account - 10% off discount Future Cruise Credit.  I have to book by June 30 this year and sail by June 30 next year.  Not sure where it came from, and I don't think it was there until recently.  My last cruise ended almost 4 months ago.

7 minutes ago, grouchomarx said:

Great, thanks for the info!  Do other bands besides the Beatles band play in the Cavern Club?  I thought I read that somewhere.  

When I was on the Joy in 2022 they also had karaoke in there.  I don't recall other bands playing there but they may have (they do on the Bliss).

1 hour ago, Capitan Obvious said:

No, you don't need an activated card to board.  As I often sail with children, their cards are always inactive so that can't spend money...doesn't prevent them from boarding. Pay attention...the ability to spend money was specifically mentioned.

Semantics.  You're referring to an 'activated' card as one that can be used to spend.  I was (and I think others as well) considering not being 'activated' as in 'not functioning AT ALL for use on the ship', cabin door or even entry to the ship.  By THAT term a card that's not 'activated' would NOT work to pass from the gangway to the ship. That's where the confusion about a card not being activated comes from...

8 hours ago, Floatyman said:

2. No cartons of water without a "water package" I can get 15 gin and tonics as part of unlimited drinks, but unless I pay I have to bring a water bottle and fill from the buffet. Now I'm carrying around a water bottle all day. 

So instead of asking for a bottle/carton of water at the bar, ask for a glass or two.  I don't have a problem carrying a refillable bottle around

8 hours ago, Floatyman said:

6. Daily tips charged to card, and last I've seen the highest in cruise line class

Admittedly, they are fairly high, but you can pre-pay the DSC.  Last I knew MOST of the lines charge the DSC (or whatever they call it) to the room daily unless you pre-pay it.

1 hour ago, newNCLcruiser2010 said:

Okay so I just just charge all the onboard expense to my credit card and then when I return and everything is posted use the points to request a statement credit?

From a standpoint of earning more points, yes.

1 minute ago, Capitan Obvious said:

They don't scan you on the gangway during embarkation

It's only been since January that I last cruised, I thought they scanned my card on embarkation when I stepped foot on the ship.  It's always a juggling act of paperwork, card and hand sanitizer.

48 minutes ago, Capitan Obvious said:

At this point, your card is activated when you check in at the terminal...simple enough to change the activation event to the muster station scan onboard.

It would be a little more complex than that - the first scan is when you step foot on the ship, so it would need to be activated for boarding but not for drinks or room access until it's scanned at the muster station.

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

Do they? That's interesting and I don't doubt it'll happen. In my experience, I had to generate a confirmation through NCL's system, then email it directly to those I was working with. Granted, the last time I booked a NCL cruise was March, 2023 so the system also may have updated since then. 

Maybe it works different when booked through a TA?  On direct bookings I get a new confirmation PDF any time a change is made (dining, excursion, etc.)

7 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Just off the Joy and she was bunkering water in both Bermuda and New York. So, the water on the ship is the water from municipalities.

Interesting.  As you noted - in Bermuda it could be a challenge as they can't "make" water at the dock but I imagine they produced and stored water in transit.  Maybe they had an issue with the water system and they couldn't produce enough to keep up, or they bunkered some in NY because they couldn't get enough in Bermuda?  It should be noted, however, that one of the reasons NYC is widely regarded as a GREAT place to get pizza (or bagels) is the water used to make the product.  Does that make it better or worse for drinking it from a glass? 🤷‍♂️

It's a question to ask next time I'm on a cruise - I wonder if they run the water through the on-board water plant if it was brought on in a port?  If they do, then I would consider it the same as any other water received from the tap on board.  You know who would know?  @chengkp75

I agree with the other two.  You get WAY more benefit by charging all your onboard expenses to the card (those on-board spend $$ are worth 3x points) compared to cashing in for OBC.  I may have even seen a CruiseNext manager telling people this exact same thing!

1 hour ago, julig22 said:

Nobody goes to a muster drill - they don't exist anymore. They check-in at their muster STATION. And those are hard to bypass. Just because they weren't tracked down kinda confirms that they did indeed check in at their muster station before heading to the first bar they could find.

@Floatyman I 100% agree with this.  Maybe the people that were speaking hadn't been on a cruise since before 2020 and hadn't experienced the idea of just checking in at the muster station.  They would not have experienced on your cruise a muster drill like they're familiar with.  As you may have experienced, it's actually quite difficult to bypass the muster check-in, the only way they could do more to get you checked in is to hold your hand and walk you there instead of having you parade past people that point you in that direction.

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

Be sure your travel agent send you a new confirmation every time you change something on your cruise.

Unless it's something separate from the cruise (air, hotel, etc) that the TA is booking then NCL should be sending that to the email on file.  Though it might be helpful to get in writing from the TA that you requested a change.

I was in 14252 on the Joy, it was a relatively normal balcony but is listed as "privasea".  It was right where one of the angles on the side of the ship is

My experience in the Manhattan Room on the Joy was pretty good, but I also dined with someone with a food allergy so our table probably got a little extra attention.  I've honestly rarely been disappointed with the MDR dinner food on NCL.

8 hours ago, Floatyman said:

Muster - You're supposed to check in or they come find you. We spoke with tons of people who didn't and not one of them was tracked down

I don't get this - on my two cruises with e-muster they practically escorted everyone to their muster station (even those not in Haven cabins) upon embarkation.  It's not THAT HARD to stop by there, present your card and move on with the cruise.

8 hours ago, Floatyman said:

Nickel and diming - By far the worst of all the major lines. Bottles of water don't exist, and boxes of water require a $20 min "water package" 

The water produced by the ship is absolutely fine to drink, better than most municipalities in the US (and this should be the case on ALL cruise lines).  In 5 cruises with NCL I've only ever drank the cartons of water that are given as perks on my Latitudes status, the rest is tap from my cabin or from a bar.

5 hours ago, Damascus43 said:

Do you use minutes if you're not online?

Log in, do what you need to, log out.  This is done through websites (login.com and logout.com, the DNS on the ship resolves them properly but you can't see the same sites at home. though some say the NCL app can do this as well while on board).  If everyone has iPhones, Apple's built-in messages app SHOULD work as long as you're not sending images, without being logged into the internet.

5 hours ago, Damascus43 said:

If you put your phone on airplane mode, what can you and can't you do?

Airplane mode on, WiFi on, connect to the ship's WiFi.  Once connected, you can use the NCL app to get a PDF of the Freestyle Daily (the daily listing of events), make show and dining reservations, book excursions, look at your on-board account.  As noted above - if you all have iPhones you should be able to continue messaging each other, the NCL app's messaging protocol requires a port on the ship's firewall to be open that allows Apple's app to function to a degree without logging in and using minutes.

The NCL app changes to 'on board mode' and looks different once you connect to the ship's WiFi, you won't be able to see it and play around with it until you board and connect.  However, be sure to have it installed before.

One more thing - NCL offers messaging within the app for $10 per device.  It's hit-and-miss as to how well it works.

2 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

The one cruise we did with Royal, their beverage package was VERY expensive (even when we had a 30% discount). NCL's offer is one of the best bargains out there.

2 hours ago, Liljo22 said:

The Harmony OTS cruise I mentioned above currently is $87.99pppd plus 18% for the drink package.  That's almost $1,500 per couple added to the cruise.  The base fare is also $200pp more than the Prima on the same itinerary(Prima adds HC) with an Oceanview Balcony on both.  

 

How DARE we counter those saying NCL's free at sea isn't worth it by posting actual facts?  haha  I'm not a drinker and haven't sailed Royal since 2018, but I peek at the board periodically and see comments about them from YouTubers - their drink packages and dynamic pricing at Coco Cay put NCL's "nickel and diming" to SHAME...

2 hours ago, Liljo22 said:

Sure but just about all mass market cruise lines have these rates that are discounted because you are giving the line the ability to stick you where ever they have space.  On a cruise I am tracking with RCCL, they give you a $257 per person discount for this pleasure.  

 

Yup, that's one of the things you give up with NCL when you go from a FAS rate to a sail-away.  The difference is that with the FAS rate on NCL you get much more than just the ability to pick your room (on sailings where it's possible), you're also getting the excursion credit, beverage package (for $21.80 per day, try THAT on Royal!), some internet minutes and specialty dining for around $10 per meal.

2 hours ago, weisla said:

Try this thread

Both of which come up in the pre-filled search I posted 3 days ago but the OP hasn't returned to advise...

6 minutes ago, erisajd said:

its a fourier box

Did you mean Faraday?