alanstarr

The best reason to do the free tour is that, in the kitchen, you can see all the meals scheduled for the entire cruise. Helps with planning when you want to book specialty restaurants!

I'm hardly the one to ask about fashion advice! But I guess my best advice would be "layers". The biggest issue is that in Buenos Aires, there was a heat wave and it was in the 90's, so you have to pack for everything. One the days I wanted to spend a lot of time outdoors, I would just double-up on socks and thermal shirts, plus wear good gloves/hat. I found a nice hidden spot at the back of the ship in Spice H2O, right near the gym exit. It was protected from the wind, and you could still do lots of sightseeing through the windows from there without freezing, even when raining.

NCL just today dropped the solo supplement for the Oct Getaway sailings balcony rooms. You might be able to upgrade to a balcony for less than you paid for your solo cabin. Give them a call!

Pretty sure they were independent. A couple seemed to be there for the season, but I think my cruise was Liam's first time.

Stole this info from @teecee60. 😊 Grand Princess 20-day cruise, San Francisco to Aukland NZ. $1325 for Obstructed OV (only $66/day!). Departing Sept. 26th.

I'm traveling in Europe right now, and was running into the same issue. Couldn't book a cruise because it wasn't showing my CruiseNext in my account. Turned out to be an easy fix though - site came up perfectly on my phone! Not sure why it doesn't work on my laptop, but does on my mobile, but I was glad it did. Interestingly, if I use my phone as a hotspot and connect my laptop to it, the page still defaults to the international sites. So it only works on the mobile device itself.

I booked an Oceanview Picture Window, not a balcony, for $1350. However, with 160+ balconies currently available, I believe that there will be ample opportunity to upgrade, either through bidding or repricing. I believe the bidding window opens up at 90 days before the cruise? So maybe early next you should see an opportunity? But since the solo supplement was just dropped yesterday for inside and OV cabins, I'm hoping it will go away for balconies soon as well, and I just reprice for a couple hundred dollars extra.

Just booked this for $1100 after $250 FCC. Plus I get Sapphire benefits, and shareholder OBC. And I think they'll be no problems upgrading for minimum bids, looks like 100 balconies still available, plus another 67 family balconies!

NCL just removed the single supplement for certain cabins on the 13-night TA on Oct 22 on the Getaway from Southampton. $1330 all-in, including drink package, for picture window OV.

I've sent my request in twice over the past couple weeks. No response, not even an automated one. Cruise isn't until December though, so I also have time.

Another decent deal from Princess, especially if you like sea days. 21-nights from Los Angeles to Auckland NZ, leaving Oct. 8th. Total is $2585 for a solo balcony. Stops include Hawaii, Tahiti and American Samoa. (Interior is $1835, or only $87/night!).

Princess has a pretty good deal on an 18-night cruise from LA to Chile. Departs Los Angeles on Dec 1st, arrives in Santiago on Dec. 19th. Solo balcony is just $1894 all-in, other than crew appreciation. And it includes $200 OBC. (Insides and OV are even less, of course!)

Although its listed on some menus, be aware that I've only found Bookers on one ship so far (Dawn). And even that bottle was from 2015, and almost empty.

Last week on the Sun.

Huh, really bad assumption on my part. Guess I just thought it would/should be in a specialty restaurant, to make it truly special. I hear what you're saying about choices, but I bet most folks could find *something* they'd like in the Mexican, Italian or steakhouse restaurants. Le Bistro might be a little harder...

Theoretically they do, right? If you count the dinner with the officers? Just turned Sapphire this week, so not positive how that works, but seems like that's the case. I think a simple change is to leave the regular Behind the Scenes tour for Platinum, but upgrade Sapphires to the extended BTS which includes the bridge and engine room.

Your mileage may vary, but I recently came home from Japan with 17 bottles of whiskey (yes, 17 - an entire suitcase), and customs couldn't have cared less. I declared them and all they wanted to know is if I had any plants or restricted food items. (This was in Boston.)

One minor exception. If you use the voucher for sushi, you're allowed to choose up to 8 items instead of 4. But you can't do a doggy bag, so it's a lot of food.

Try lost and found/Guest Services? I know a lot of hotels have cables that have been left behind by previous guests, maybe cruise lines do as well.

I've been on 5-6 NCL cruises since the restart, and every one of them has a Solo Travelers get together, daily. On ships that have a Solo lounge, its held there (and the door propped open for those note staying in solo cabins). Otherwise its usually held in a bar - sometimes the wine bar, sometimes places like the Bliss Lounge, depending on what's available and the size of the group.

Patience and empathy for the hard-working crew members. (You'd be surprised at how many people forget that.)

Antarctica. Just the Magellan Strait alone is stunning, and that's before you even leave South America!

NCL just dropped their solo supplement on Alaskan 11-night cruise out of Seattle on May 22nd. Just booked an obstructed oceanview for $1380 all-in, including drink package/wifi/etc.

NCL Star 11-day Lisbon-Southampton on April 30, $938.80 total for obstructed oceanview, including, taxes/port fees, drink package, specialty dining and wifi. (But not crew appreciation.)

NCL Spirit - 7-day Seward, Alaska to Vancouver on May 16th, solo balcony is $1249 total, including drink package and taxes/port fees.