Birdie And Sue

I tip whoever I want however much I want whenever I want.

47 minutes ago, PortFees45 said:

"No one forces any of us to spend more than we feel comfortable with spending. "

 

Not really true. Look at the Encore. NCL is obviously making the decision to make the (tiny) amount of public upper deck space SO overwhelmingly crowded and unpleasant that pax who would never have otherwise opted for a Vibe pass now have to. 

 

For God's sake, look at the overhead visual of the Encore with the color-coded sections. I've been on Breakaway and Escape many times. The midship pooldeck area is always a ZOO except for maybe on port days mid-day, and that's WITH a free H20 and more public sundeck space. Take those away, and that tiny sliver between the stack and the forward stairs is going to be INSANE. So are you face with being told to buy a Vibe pass or get thrown off the ship? No, but NCL is still applying substantial "force" to get you to buy them. 

And NO ONE is FORCING you to sail that ship.

Unless you ONLY have casino charges and no other on board items on your on board account, you have no way to know which items your OBC was applied to.  In fact you don't ever specifically use your OBC anywhere.  You make your purchases on the ship and NCL applies the OBC on a daily basis to applicable charges.

7 hours ago, Ck37421 said:

Mars Bars in the US are Snickers Almond. Milky Way is similar to Three Musketeers but not exactly the same. The European versions are sold in some stores here in the US, along with Maltesers (yum). My husband worked for Mars for 20 years so I know way to much about them 😂

Milky Way is nothing like a three musketeers

8 hours ago, 2bthere said:

Just to throw this out there but maybe they are testing the public to see if increasing Vibe on the Getaway will work?
I've been on Breakaway and Bliss and neither one of these ships had this present - open to public/Vibe and Haven; loved Spice H2O.
Increasing Vibe on Getaway would only amount of more people pushing and shoving their way up to get ? more passes. Blowup in NCL faces? Or, as suggested, make them part of the "add on" when one hits the days to book,
Again, just wondering.

 

Or maybe it will be enough Vibe spaces so that it eliminates the mad rush that exists now and people have been wining about since day one.  Perfect example of a company doing something that has been (at least) indirectly requested by its customers and then catching hell over doing exactly what was asked for.  😮🙄

So there has been a LOOOOOOOONG history of people being frustrated with the Vibe selling out quickly and people getting all pissed off at how they missed out, and now when NCL extends the Vibe so more people can get passes it is 'awful'?  OK I get it. 🤔

6 hours ago, sulala said:

That is so odd, so I looked into other posts and found where someone showed their bid page and it did only have blue!  I snapped screenshots of what I normally see, which has different colors along with the category (poor, fair, etc.). I have no idea why some are blue...anyone else have an idea?

Are these both the US site?  I notice the blue one explicitly states USD.

On 6/23/2019 at 7:16 PM, PortFees45 said:

I didn't think NCL could sink any lower than the shrimp cocktail upcharge, but closing off the entire port/forward sundecks to the public to expand Vibe is downright disgusting. 

 

I can't count how many times I've walked past the normal-sized Vibe on previous cruises, and it was deserted. Even in good weather it closes at night. 

 

Now besides losing the only really quiet public sundeck on the ship, passengers can't stroll to the front of the ship at night, and that large portion of the ship will sit entirely unused for large periods while everyone else is jammed into the remaining spaces. 

 

Disgusting. Shame on you, NCL. 

 

I'm a loyal Platinum cruiser, but Frank Del Rio listen here and listen good...I will never set foot on one of your garbage new ships. I sail out of NYC, and I know the Bliss is on the way. I don't care. The Bliss similarly has the port and forward upper sundecks blocked off to the public, but in this case it's for expanded Haven access (I can't decide if that's more or less offensive than the Vibe expansion). 

 

I'll sail the Escape so long as the Vibe remains unmodified, and I'll always jump at the opportunity to sail on the elegant and perfect Gem. 

 

But this return to Titanic-era class systems, with whole tiers of the ship off limits to general passengers when the -Away ships are already overcrowded as it is just reeks of rank corporate greed. The shrimp cocktail thing is just tacky and annoying, but it won't ruin anyone's cruise. This, on the other hand, has a major impact on ship quality of life, and it's a disgrace. 

Oh how terrible! 🙄

21 hours ago, dcruiser50 said:

As I predicted awhile back class cruising has returned, 

Heaven = first class

Balcony or above = 2nd class

Lower than balcony and GTY. Sail away, = steerage 

It will not be long before areas of the ships block off areas for each, 

I am not complaining you get what you pay for just my observation 

Sounds like complaining to me...  No one I know has ever experienced anything close to what you describe.

10-day Caribbean cruise
November
Four passengers, two balcony cabins (mid ship not obstructed).
Cruise fare, taxes, service fees, promo cost, r/t air, hotel one night before the cruise, rental car, specialty dining every night all passengers, soda pass for one passenger.

Grand total $1,605.31

14 hours ago, SomewhereCruise said:

 

 

1. I think OP was neutral and made it clear that there is a possibility;

 

Not even close.  He flat out stated as if fact "... and noticed that the reviews for Joy have been diluted/manipulated.", NOT might have been.  He goes on to say " Even with this manipulation ..." Again NOT possible manipulation.  He made several statements directly stating or strongly implying tha there absolutely was manipulation.

2 minutes ago, wvacations said:

Thanks for the information. Now I remember reading the Dining Packages were not transferable. Any idea if I can gift one of the Platinum Dinning Certificates to my son and his wife?

 

Each Plat cert is good for the plat member plus one oterh person.  One fo the two using the cert HAS TO BE the plat member.

On 6/18/2019 at 6:09 PM, nhquilter1 said:

If your bid is declined, do you get an opportunity to bid again or are you done?

TIA

Neither TIA nor anyone else can bid once rejected (normally).  Rejections are most often sent out after all upgrades are done.

No matter how you try to spin it,yYou want to do EXACTLY what they are telling you.  You want to cancel TWO existing reservations and make ONE new one.  There is noting a manager is going to tell you other than what you have already been told.

ONLY $150?  wow!

On 6/11/2019 at 4:04 PM, Zonagirl said:

Assuming there's a handpay jackpot, how are the taxes handled??

The amount of a win or the fact it is or is not a hand pay has zero impact on the taxability of the winnings.

12 hours ago, vpearlkc said:

 

Thanks for the information. Being a healthy 69 year old who still chooses standing tickets in front of the stage at concerts, I will stand in front of the window when I want forward view. I have no intention to get up at the crack of dawn to get a seat and am planning to move around the ship to see the canal from different vantage points. I would never be so rude as to reserve a seat in one area while roaming the ship for other views. 

That is odd, I would never be so rude as to assume that just because I do not see a person sitting in a chair, that theya re off roaming the ship.

3 hours ago, ColoradoWine said:

I'm following the instructions given here on how to get a Roll Call listed.    If you go to your cruise line and boat and look at Roll Calls...if your date isn't listed, there isn't a place THERE to add a new one.  It said to post like this.

Yes there is, it is called "start a new thread" just like you did to start this one.

5 hours ago, Sauer-kraut said:

They might have gotten there earlier, but if their butt isn't in the seat and they don't come back after 30 minutes they might be upset that their place holder will be found in the lost and found.

Yeah passive aggressive theft is a GREAT way to be on a cruise!  Also unless you stand there for the entire 30 minutes (or however long the NCL rules dictate) and observe the seatin question going unoccupied, you are making nothing but an assumption. 

4 hours ago, Greenpea2 said:

Lounge hogs don’t just get there early. That is someone who gets there early. A lounge chair hog gets there early, places items on a chair and disappears. I hope that is not happening in the observation lounge too!

Just because you do not see the person sitting in the chair does not necessarily mean they have disappeared.  There are all kinds of legit reasons why someone may step away from his selected seat for a period of time.  Unless the person who is upset that they did not get there first actually observes said seat going continually unused longer than the allotted time frame, any assumption of the occupant being that mythical creature 'chair hog' is just that, an assumption.

On 6/11/2019 at 11:16 AM, Kruisn'Kay said:

Yes it is. That is the only upside, at least to me! I would rather the smaller cabin and regular balcony. 

That is not what matters. You booked AT LEAST a BF.  That is what you got.

Someone will almost always get up earlier than you do and get a "better" chair.  That does not make them a hog.  It makes them someone who got there before you did.  Get there earlier next time.

No need to contact the casino at all.    Just have everyone show up at the agreed upon time, pick a machine, and go for it.

4 hours ago, scubareview said:

I'm booked on the June 23rd Escape to Bermuda and I just looked at my bids, the site is showing my H5 bid as processing, and my other haven bid is showing expired. So I'm crossing my fingers that I got into the Haven, I have not been notified, and my credit card has not been charged yet. But I like that my other bid expired. Once I'm confirmed I will reveal my bids. 

You have been

Walkie Talkies on a cruise - JUST SAY NO.  Don't be THAT guy!