hallux

Have you looked at your "vacation summary" page?

If they thought they should have paid less then why did they book the cruise at the fare they paid? Don't book for what you HOPE to happen price-wise. If you're happy with the price when you book then you're not being penalized if the fare goes lower at a later date. A few weeks ago I booked a cruise for January because the price was acceptable to me. It's a bit of a 'bucket list' cruise (Panama Canal) and the price had gone up $100 since I'd started watching. I'm before final payment, I can always re-price it until the end of September, and after that I can request the FCC if the price goes down (I didn't take the airfare offer) OR ask for an upgrade to a higher cabin category. If I don't get that, I won't be SUPER upset, the price at the time I booked was still acceptable to me at that time. But I also don't expect NCL to come crawling to me asking for more money if the price skyrockets and they feel I under-paid for the cruise.

Yup, but as evidenced by the other thread people will ignore the terms of the promo and then complain when they got exactly what they paid for because they thought they deserved something different.

In the MDR, order what you want I'm curious how...

So... NCL is "heartless" for doing EXACTLY what you are warned could happen if you look at the T&C's of the promo. Here, let me help you - All guests booked within a singular reservation will be booked on the same flight. Each cabin is one reservation. The ONLY guarantee is that the passengers in each cabin are booked on the same flight. NCL used to offer the "travel with guarantee" where you could link reservations for the purposes of being on the same flight (it first was free, then it evolved to being a charged service before it was cancelled last year when the airlines had difficulty servicing their routes. I agree with @RocketMan275 book your own air if flight selection and a group being together are important to you, booking promotional airfare is not a path to success in that regard. Next time, as someone that claims to be so organized, I suggest you familiarize yourself with the terms of the promo and ASK QUESTIONS about it to be educated about what you'd get.

You can call them and ask. I think some have reported that they were allowed to. I did it 2x in 2019 but things may have changed since then.

Yup, that's the risk you take with the BOGO airfare, and it's WELL documented on the NCL forum section... For such a short trip to the embarkation port I would personally just drive. When you consider total travel time it's almost the same.

The last couple times I used the airport shuttle I had to call to tell them I was waiting, they weren't running regular circuits.

A quick search on google would reveal that the webpage for it still exists... https://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/premium-air

The BOGO promo is different from what other lines offer for booking air. If you use NCL's Premium Air service you do get some choice, that is more like what you get on other lines.

Your question may be better asked in the trip insurance section - https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/

I'll only ask for this if they have nobody else waiting. I usually fill in my room and have yet to experience what @BirdTravels did, on 4 NCL cruises on 3 ships.

You'll find similar discussion in this thread from less than a month ago - Deals can be had - As a solo I booked an inside guarantee with FAS perks for under $1600 before taxes and fees, for a 15-night Panama Canal cruise! That cruise is still almost 6 months away, it's in January...

No, but at the top of the list of topics for NCL is a drop-down where you can find pre-configured searches for posts mentioning each ship within this forum section

Pick a sail-away rate, no need to remove the perks but you don't get to select the cabin (if it's not just a guarantee cabin anyway)

Remember - guest 2 is not paying for airfare....

Specialty or complimentary - book for the number of passengers. They don't need to know who will be with you until you arrive at the venue.

It plays two nights, and can change from cruise to cruise...

You need to find out if it's refundable or non-refundable. There are several threads on the topic if you search those terms, it's hashed out in those.

Lots of info in the Florida Departures board - https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/386-florida-departures/ I'm sailing from Miami in January. I plan to fly to FLL and do a combo of public transit and Uber to get to my hotel in Miami the night before. That may not be an option for you with limited-mobility people.

Same space on the Bliss was also a Margaritaville but all of those have been turned into American Diner as the contract for Margaritaville ended (in 2019 I think)

I'm not sure how accurate that really is. I was on the Escape in March of this year, some "wear and tear" was evident, despite the "refurb" date there being just last year. It's marketing spin - that was probably the last DRY DOCK, but it doesn't really mean there were renovations done to or within the ship beyond the statutory requirements. The Escape went to dry dock last year after hitting the sand bar leaving Puerto Plata, but it was an emergency visit so interior renovations were not likely to have been completed as they wouldn't have been planned for. Take the Joy, for another example. I know for a fact that ship actually DID have major renovations in 2019, to "westernize" it, to the point that more work shouldn't have been needed inside so soon after but a 'renovation' date on that site is listed as 2020. The ship was built in 2017, with the 2019 re-fit I believe also accounting for the statutory inspections/dry-dock (I believe they took the opportunity to do it then, there's a whole thread on what was done). I don't know what was done to the ship in 2020, but she's going for dry dock and some ACTUAL major renovations (not to the existing cabins though) early next year, for which there are a couple threads already.

Are you sure you weren't on the ENCORE? Escape has a venue called "The Pour House" which has Syd Normans branding inside (the band/cast, during one of their shows, wears Syd Normans attire and references his inspiration for the theming), it's a small venue though. Or are you referring to the venue like on the BA/GA (I don't know which it's on or if it's both)? The DBH on the BA+ ships kind of takes the reigns for the 'beer hall' venue and on the Escape leaves The Pour House as strictly a performance venue. These performers rotate, but I will agree that the performers they had on my trip were EXCELLENT! One of the performers was only on for 2 weeks.

This is covered in the T&C's. Each room is its own reservation number, only passengers on the same reservation number are guaranteed to be on the same flight. This is also covered in the T&C's (now, it actually may not have been when you booked). When the cruise is on the West coast, it's certainly possible you'll be booked on a late-night flight to return to the East coast. When this happened to me in 2019 (it wasn't a BOGO offer then, it was free or reduced airfare) I took the opportunity to rent a car and see a few sights around LA before returning to the airport and waiting for the flight.

when I was in the DR on the Escape in March there was only one Carnival ship at AC but we still docked at TB as planned.