PortFees45

As usual ole' FDR is full of it. Prices crashed in recent weeks. You could have gotten on the Bliss this weekend for $399 solo inside with no supplement. 

Is there any noticeable change in passenger demographics with the new passport and travel restrictions? 

56 minutes ago, skeeter195 said:

"I was told in a light hearted way that if someone states the T&C that they are never charged."

A senior officer told you that?!?

That is outrageous. It's unethical. Shame on you NCL.

This isn't a difficult thing to get everyone on the same page about. 

Stop having your waiters hassle people in specialty restaurants with the false claim the dining package limits you to an app, a main and a dessert. 

It's not in the T&C's, and you're only doing it in the hopes enough timid and/or uninformed passengers go along with it to save you the extra bowl of soup. 

Send an email to all your Food & Beverage Directors fleet-wide. Then at the next all-hands meeting with waitstaff, or in a subsequent message to restaurant managers, make it clear there's no limit on multiple apps unless or until the written dining package T&C changes. Platinum vouchers are different, but it's not difficult for the hostess to clearly indicate to the waiter if a party is platinum vs. dining package. 

It's gotten out of hand. Stop it. 

3 hours ago, insidecabin said:

Two 9n cruises late last year and quite a few times different restaurants we got the line "one of each on the dining package" 

 

Just say that's not what the T&C say and order what we wanted never got the surcharge. 

 

On Platinum dinner in Le Bistro order the lamb($36) you will get charged the $1 with 20c gratuity as it is over the $35 limit. 

 

I only eat in Le Bistro with a voucher and actually really like the lamb, but I never order it anymore because dammit even for only $1.20 I refuse to pay out like that. NCL squeezing their most loyal customers over a dollar (with 20 cents added for your convenience). You should be able to order anything off the menu. 

1 minute ago, cvil88 said:

We had 4 perks including the dining package. She was insistent that only one app, entree and desert.

She's absolutely wrong about that. If you sail NCL again and another waiter gives you that line, inform them that's not what the Dining Package T&C states and that if he/she is going to insist on applying restrictions that are totally inapplicable you need to talk their supervisor. If the supervisor digs in say NCL's arbitrary creation and application of restrictions on dining package guests that aren't stated anywhere in the T&C is a longstanding, tacky and inappropriate process, and that your next call will be to the General Manager. 

"-the specialty restaurants were excellent but the up charges were excessive (it was emphasized by our waitress at Le Bistro that you only get one appetizer, one entree and one desert. So when I asked about ordering the soup and a salad, she told me their would be an up charge)"

Were you using Platinum vouchers? If so that restriction, while tacky, does comply with their T&C's. 

If you used the Dining Package, that absolutely is wrong. The only restriction is on one entree. Otherwise you can order as many apps/soups as you want, and if a waiter disagrees with you ask to speak to the manager immediately. NCL has got to get this straightened out once and for all. I have a feeling they know guests are being given incorrect info, but would rather take the savings from pax either too timid or ignorant to push back. 

Escape. Not even close. It's NCL's "last good ship" before they jumped the shark "Titanic-izing" their new ships with large swaths of the open decks closed off to general passengers, and eliminating space's like the free adults only SpiceH20 with useless crap like laser tag and go-karts. 

Escape has a great crew, and the ship runs like a well-oiled machine. The food is great, and it's got the best buffet pizza of any NCL ship I've sailed. 

I'll never set foot on the Encore. The ship thoroughly disgusts me. 

I got put through to the concierge once for help with a dining reservation, but I had to be very persistent and was told no numerous times (referred to CruiseNext) before they finally relented. 

24 minutes ago, BEACHBARB said:

Where did you read this?  I was on the 2/2 sailing and disembarked on 2/16.  We had heard that prior to Saturday, 4 people had passed away.  We know of one for sure because we were in the Haven as was he and his companion.  So if this was the last night - that would make 5 deaths.  Please tell me where you read this because I am curious yellow!!!!!!!

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=677244

I was just scrolling through Bliss reviews, and was shocked to see this!

"Well this is the last day of our cruise and third sea day in a row. I guess that emergency announcement at 1 AM was a woman stabbed her husband to death last night. Pretty grim news she’s in the brig and he’s in the morgue. I’m sure the police will be waiting for her as we disembark in New York in the morning.

On a lighter note I went to see Jersey boys last night do not miss it it’s one of the best shows you’ll ever see true Broadway production!"

A quick Google News search doesn't turn anything up. Anyone else know anything about this? 

Sink in your room works great. Throw a slice of lemon in it, let it chill in the fridge, and you'll think you're drinking Evian. 

On 2/16/2020 at 12:32 PM, blcruising said:

Generally speaking, NCL beats everyone on last minute pricing. If you aren't terribly picky about stateroom location and don't need months of advance planning, you can get some great deals. I'm in my cabin from 1am-7am and then maybe late afternoon for a few hours to nap or get ready for the evening. Couldn't care less where they put me, but I've had good experiences with the guarantee stateroom.

Frank Del Rio hates you. 

I cruise for the price. 

1 hour ago, MrsKC08 said:

Since the crew member that would make the towel animal (Cabin steward) isn't paid hourly, but a salary...it makes not difference in the pay.

Also money/time to clean the towels afterward

On 2/15/2020 at 6:48 PM, ThursdaysChild said:

Not only do I not have any of the amounts refunded to my two credit cards, but Royal lied to me about having issued the credits yesterday.  I spoke with both Bank America and Citicard about any pending refunds, and they assured me that if ANY refunds were issued prior to 11PM last night they would at least show up as pending.  Nada. Yet Roman from RCCL's Resolution Desk essentially said "too bad, we've done all we are going to do and it will show up when it shows up".

 

Sorry to hear that. 

Was this near the end of the cruise?

They should require it for everyone. People who leave the country without a passport are flipping insane. 

Thought you lovely people would want to know. 

1 minute ago, cruiserchuck said:

 

So you may get your full refund after all (but not in cash.)  Call CNN!

"cash refund" is a term of art for a refund back to the card you used to purchase the cruise - I obviously didn't think I'd be handed a wad of bills. That said, a future cruise credit is NOT a refund. 

The plot thickens....

Dear Guest,

Here’s the latest concerning your sailing on Anthem of the Seas.

We are still waiting on the conclusive results from the CDC from their office in Atlanta, GA. We are planning to announce the status of boarding at 1:30 PM EST today. If we do not have confirmation of when we can expect results, our plan is to delay boarding until tomorrow. If we do end up needing to delay boarding until Sunday, we will provide you with updated boarding times, itinerary, and compensation at 1:30 PM EST.

If we have to delay further, and you no longer want to sail with us on Sunday, we completely understand, and you may cancel and receive a full refund.

We are hopeful that we will not need to delay your vacation further, but we also don’t want to have you start to make your way to the terminal only for us to find out that we won’t have the test results this afternoon.

We will continue to provide updates every hour. We greatly appreciate your patience and apologize for this situation.

Sincerely,

Royal Caribbean International

47 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

9am update, no changes. Next update at 10 

 

Anthem of the Seas Updates 
February 8th, 2020 at 9:00 AM EST
No changes have been made since February 7th, 2020 at 6:00 PM EDT. 
We'll share our next updates at 10:00 AM EDT.

If they had good news they've be rushing to put it out. It's been 24 hours since these pax disembarked, and they can't seem to confirm they DON'T have coronavirus

Just now, Another_Critic said:

 

You would think so, for the truly sick.  But is that going to prevent the "I changed my mind" people from showing up and not feeling well?

So if someone says "I had a fever of 103 last night and I feel like hell" - is someone at the Terminal really going to say, "Shut up, faker. Get on the ship and go hit the buffet!" 

They should just cancel the dang cruise. The revenue from one dinky little Bahamas sailing is a drop in the bucket for this company. 

1 minute ago, Another_Critic said:

 

I have a feeling there's going to be a large amount of people not feeling well tomorrow.

But for people that genuinely are feeling ill, wouldn't Royal NOT want them showing up to the terminal? So long as they have medical documentation, I'd think they would rather refund you without your having to go to the terminal, possibly sicken more passengers, and make this snowballing situation worse. 

3 minutes ago, JaneStarr said:

You need to click on the link and read the restrictions referred to in the excerpt I quoted.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/anthem-of-the-seas-updates

I did, thanks. 

This is the restriction my question was in reference to:

"b. Guests who report feeling unwell or demonstrate any flu-like symptoms."

So you show up at the terminal, say you feel like you've go the flu, and boom full refund?