hallux

It may not be 100% free, but the increase in the fare cost is not nearly as much as buying the beverage package and dining package on top of the sail-away rate. I'm looking at a 7-night cruise on the Escape in March next year. A double-occupancy inside cabin is $1238 base price with the free-at-sea perks (before taxes, gratuities, etc.), $978 on the sail-away rate without the free-at-sea perks. If you want the beverage package anyway this absolutely is a good deal to get the free-at-sea rate, PLUS you get to pick your cabin! 2 drinks per day more than covers the cost of the gratuities for the package. Oh, a similar cruise from the same home port on Royal's Wonder of the Seas is over $3,000 for an inside cabin, before taxes and it does NOT include the drink package. Go to a 6-night on their Jewel of the Seas and it's close to $2k for an inside, before any kind of beverage package. Oh, when selecting for two passengers Royal charges nearly $200 extra per person just to be able to pick your room!

@disneylover89 click the My Account right below your name

My NCL menu in the top right. Interesting - if I use the app on my phone this coupon does not show up, I only see it when using a web browser on my Mac.

hard to do that when your ships don't move because of Azipod or engine issues. OK, a bit of an exaggeration, but RCL seems to have more than their share of engine (recent Quantum issues) and Azipod (Oasis and her sisters) issues in comparison. The point is that these are machines run by humans, stuff happens. and Royal is SOO much better? I've sailed both, there's not that much of a difference. I've commented in the other threads asking the same question - I really felt the NCL entertainment and bar staff REALLY enjoyed their jobs and interacting with the passengers, I didn't get that on my Royal trips. If someone wants something other than "The Days Inn on the seas" they need to look at Celebrity, Princess, Oceania, HAL or Regent.

Log in to your NCL account then go to the "View Account" section. Same place you'd see FCC or CruiseNext.

For most departures outside the US and Canada. Yes, I know you said "most", but it helps to be entirely clear. Cruises from the US and Canada will still require tests.

Huh, I have one also!

The eMed tests, if they indicate they are the proctored version, have it included in the cost.

The last idea - do the 2 bookings of 6, then visit the reservations desk on embarkation day and discuss the situation, they might be able to cook something up there...

If I recall, the biggest single table in the restaurants is 8. You may need to work with the group manager or whatever their title is in order to put something together. You could also book two groups of 6 (two different people will need to do this), then go see the host a night or two before the booked time and discuss with them that you would prefer both groups be sat near each other, or at a single table made up of two put together. Don't wait until the day of though.

so THAT'S why the NCL logo on the funnel wasn't lit on my last cruise! lol

Status doesn't matter, the fares NCL books don't allow for flight changes. You can TRY going standby for the earlier flight but that means hanging around the airport on the off chance you get a seat.

https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/cruise-faq/smoking

No they aren't. The SP rooms are Family Inside Suites that are NOT part of The Haven, they're the former Concierge Family Inside Suite rooms. Those rooms are in the space that is occupied by the Studio cabins and lounge on the Bliss and Encore. I thought they would also. It can't hurt to come prepared in case they don't.

The latest ones have QR codes to sign up for a proctored session to do the test and get it 'certified' so you can use it for travel. Yes, there is a cost for the proctor.

When there's negative attention to give, it's rightfully given. NCL had some earlier this year with the Escape hitting the sand bar and the Sun hitting the growler. Carnival just seems to have more events warranting negative attention than other lines. Between the fires over the years and fights recently (and in the past) there's plenty to get Carnival in the news. To be fair - ANY ship sailing the area could have bumped it in the same conditions. If you go find the thread on that topic you'll see an explanation of how radar can't distinguish those things from random surface clutter from the retired at-sea engineer that worked on NCL ships and peruses the boards. He also explains that, as the ship did, the ships slow down when sailing that area in dark/foggy conditions on the off-chance they come across such an obstacle, to help minimize possible damage. I also won't disagree that there are more entertainment options on an Oasis-class ship (I've never sailed one but I'm sure there is no lack of venues with offerings considering the sheer size of those vessels), but I've never been lacking of entertainment options on the BA+ ships in NCL's fleet. On my last cruise on the Joy I went to one venue, was not thrilled with the performance so I departed and was able to find another venue with a better performer. I don't think there were any fewer than 3 musical performances at most times in the evening, in addition to the theater show and the movie playing on deck.

Maybe covered in one of the many tour videos on YouTube? Here's one - Right in the first few frames of the video I see what appears to be the standard-fare electrical "box" right next to the phone directly next to the bed. Confirmed later in the video.

I can only imagine that thanks to threads like this there are people NOT on CC but wanting to get Vibe passes (and can normally get them) that won't because of the pre-ordering that they may not be aware of. They'll be some of the first to board and "sorry, sold out". 'huh?' I'm not in any way saying someone is out of line for pre-ordering it! Just a comment...

Browse back over the last few pages of threads, or leverage the search function and you will find MANY, MANY threads on this covering various aspects of the program. A single search won't get all the results, "BOGO airfare", "perk airfare", and other terms would get you different threads on the topic. Here's the first result, from page 3 of threads (ok, I guess you need to go LITTLE deeper than "the last few pages"), asking the exact same question as you. Something to consider - the BOGO promo is VERY different from the NCL Premium Air service. I imagine the Celebrity option you mention is more akin to the NCL Premium Air service.

I couldn't watch the WS on the Bliss in 2019 so all bets are off. One thing working in your favor is that there is VERY LITTLE going on in the major sports during the All-Star week (there are ZERO MLB, NBA, NFL or NHL games that week, MLS might be the only active sport) so it may get shown.

Geez, they've got that Carnival ship covered like they're hiding state secrets!

I've experienced the opposite on NCL. If there's no line they are happy to converse briefly as you enter the theater, especially if you've interacted with them previously and are reliving a mutual funny moment from the game show or trivia they were running for that previous interaction. I have yet to come across an NCL entertainment staff member that hasn't seemed to thoroughly enjoyed their job and interacting with the passengers at any moment. They have all been wonderful. Are my 3 cruises a small sample size? Sure, but first impressions are lasting impressions.

When you sign in to your online account for the credit card does it not tell you?

Here's a similar discussion from last week. It doesn't address the cost of the "package" if you buy on board but the per-bottle cost seems to be about double that of getting the package.

As I noted in a previous reply in this thread - the Joy, Bliss and Encore all have casinos with walled-off smoking sections. I imagine all the new ships on order (Prima and Viva under construction) will have this as well. Stick with those and you'll be fine. Go on an older ship and everything is wide open like it is on other lines.