hallux

A "cash grab"? You got your excursions refunded, didn't you? In my previous example, where I WAS refunded something for the missed port earlier this year (see? NCL WILL refund money if more money for port fees and taxes were collected than was actually charged to the ship) I was refunded all of $10. There were 3,000 or fewer passengers on the ship, that's $30,000, MAX. Also - I imagine that Costa Maya's port fees were higher than an average of $10 per passenger, this was just the amount collected by the cruise line over and above what was actually charged by the ports visited. It may be the PRINCIPLE to you, but if you look into how things actually work you might realize there are other factors that play into getting a refund or not...

I'll let @chengkp75 confirm or deny what I wrote, he is retired from the industry. I read it in another thread and my explanation is what I remember from there about what happens. If you don't want to believe it, that's on you. You don't think it's reasonable? Taxes and port costs increase over time, if you book a 2024 cruise in 2022 and have port fees and taxes 'locked in' at a certain amount do you REALLY think those fees charged to the cruise line wouldn't increase in the 2 years before you cruise? If there are fewer passengers on board than expected, the per-passenger fees and taxes are higher than estimated so any amount more than what is collected is covered by the cruise line (or would you rather they pass that on to you?).

Assuming you are going to be in the same place ALL the time, and that your device allows this to work this way. Not all devices allow you to share a WiFi connection to other WiFi devices.

Read previous replies in the thread. The port fees and taxes you pay at the time of booking are just an ESTIMATE. The port doesn't collect on a per-passenger basis, so NCL estimates the per-passenger rate based on historical taxes and fees paid and historical passenger bookings for that itinerary. If NCL under-estimated the port fees and taxes, any savings by skipping the one port would then be used to cover the cost over and above whatever was allocated for the remaining ports. When I sailed in March we missed a port due to weather, there was a $10 credit on my account the next day. IF a credit is due (because a port was missed and they will have then collected more than needed for the remaining port charges) then a refund will be issued. In my case - I was on a cruise that had about 800 additional people on it than initially booked because of the Escape hitting a sand bar, so NCL had extra port fees and taxes collected.

My objection isn't so much that it's going up, just that it's going up so much all at once.

Yes, it would be in this section -

@cusematt4, do some math - pre-cruise price for the one-device unlimited package is $25.50/day, for a 7-day cruise that's $178.50. The noted on-board price is $29.99, making it $210 or so. That's the straight-up price, the UPGRADE price pre-cruise is $109.93, you're paying for all 7 days if you upgrade pre-cruise. In previous threads, the cost to get unlimited internet for the cruise, if you can wait until the day after embarkation to activate your internet and 'trade-in' your unused 150 minutes from FAS, was around $80 for the remaining 6 days.

Considering the internet packages listed on NCL's page actually indicate it's an online-only price and then lists the onboard price, that is the case...

Many threads on this. The "discount" is credit for the already 'purchased' minutes. The same can be done on board, and if you can avoid using the internet for the first 12 hours of the cruise you can save more by not purchasing the internet for that day. You get the offer when you activate the 150 minutes.

If they UNDERESTIMATED the port fees, NCL would have covered the difference. But with a canceled port, the fees that were collected toward that port can now cover the fees from other ports that were not covered by the original collection.

It is, and many companies don't offer wage increases commensurate with inflation. But, let's not talk about the increase as a percentage of the total fare, let's talk about the increase as a percentage of increase from what it was previously - it's a 25% increase in this portion of the cost of cruising, nearly 4x what inflation is. Oh, and from one video I saw this increase came hot on the heels of a very positive report from NCL - best day of bookings, best week of bookings, even best MONTH of bookings (probably for the year). People have been booking NCL like crazy, even though they were the only line without deep discounts, and now they feel the need to go and raise this cost by this much.

But on my Studio at $900 for a 7-day cruise with port fees and taxes, a $28 increase is a little harder to swallow at over 3%...

an 8% increase in the DSC would be WELCOME. For balcony and below this is a 25% increase (since they're now lumped into a "Club suites and below" category)..

Except that $56 increase this year is on top of the $20 increase compared to what it was only 3 years ago. Add that up, $76 increase in 3 years. At what point is enough enough? Do these workers deserve raises like everyone else in the world? Sure, but pay for that through the fares, that are also going up, rather than through the DSC that's eventually going to be as much as the fare if it keeps going...

The roll call for your cruise is here -

Apparently can't be done here, but there are social media sites that have groups where such exchanges can be arranged.

If only there was a website that offered maps and the ability to get directions and could reveal this kind of information... 🤣😇 6 blocks West and a couple blocks North to get from that hotel to the pier. Penn Station is 10 blocks South of the hotel.

Traffic, especially on port days. Maybe I was a little overzealous, I was just basing that on how delayed my mom and dad were in FLL when their pilot thought the flight was scheduled from Miami...

Who was that Cruise Director? I had the opposite experience on my 3 NCL cruises so far. There's a spa, no thermal suite though...

Each passenger pays for the FAS+ to get the upgraded WiFi plan. If only 1 + 2 upgrade (I'm not sure if only 2 of 3 passengers can add the FAS+ plan), your son will need to use one of your logins to get unlimited internet and whichever one he uses can't be online at the same time.

FLL is 60-90 minutes travel from Miami, plus you want to be there at least 2 hours before the flight. That means you need to be off the ship and on the road by 8:30-9 AM. That... could be tight but possible if everything goes your way. NCL also offers post-cruise excursions (which DO qualify for the $50 credit on the free-at-sea promo) that take you to the Everglades or on other tours then end at the airport, available for both MIA and FLL flights.

Not just prior to the assignment of flights, which can happen as close to the cruise as 30 days, but it must be done at least 75 days before sailing.

When I disembarked the Joy in March it was easy. Walk to the door of the ship, face scan, if you get green you walk off and go get your bag (unless you're taking your bag with you).

Refundable OBC should be usable for DSC/gratuities. Refundable is also the only OBC that can be used for CruiseNext, EXCEPT for the non-refundable that's given as a credit for the purchase of the CruiseNext which CAN be applied toward the purchase price.

That's a HUGE increase for Balcony and below. I'll be in a Studio in March, you can bet I'll be saving that $28 and pre-paying the DSC for my cruise. At some point these increases need to stop, especially when you consider how much fare prices are going up at the same time. I'd LOVE to be in a balcony, but I simply can't pay the $1,700+ for a balcony for the cruise I'm on, and that was BEFORE prices adjusted after the BF sale ended (price for a balcony has gone up $600 since then).