julig22

2 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

 

There are no assigned bus times. NCL does not "put you on a bus". Transfer buses are first-come-first-serve.

Not necessarily true. They often load the busses by tag color. So first-come, first served IF you have the correct luggage tag for the busses that are loading. And I have definitely seen it enforced, to make sure that those with earlier flights are on the busses first.

Last time I was in Seattle there were some issues with the port workers and they were only letting people into the various sections of the luggage area until the next color had been called.

When you book your transfer with NCL they will ask for your flight information. They will put you on the bus that best meets your flight time.

Last time I was on the Bliss, the busses were 8:15 for flights before 1:30, 8:45 for flights between 1:30 and 3pm, 9:30 for flights after 3pm.

5 hours ago, shanefm3 said:

If you book onboard thru app, room or tv monitors throughout ship  , you have to go to desk to get discount 

Correct. Exactly as stated in the FAQs.

Current NCL policy seems to be to post the post-cruise excursions at day 50.

I've been told by numerous CruiseNext managers that you can go to the same venue. There seems to be some wiggle-room with respect to certain latitudes benefits. And while it appears that their system might be tracking your use of coupons, it's fairly unlikely that the host/hostess will say no. Heck, some people report that they've been able to use an "extra" coupon (#3, leftover from a previous cruise), others have been turned away. Your mileage may vary.

3 hours ago, bladerunner6 said:

We just did the Total Solar Eclipse on the Discovery Princess and are booked for Egypt in 2027 so it is time to start thinking about the next one after that.

This eclipse is a possibility:

 

http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2030_GoogleMapFull.html?Lat=-34.96819&Lng=42.28699&Zoom=6&LC=1

 

I noticed NCL has this cruise in about the right time of year.

 

https://www.ncl.com/cruises/12-day-africa-from-cape-town-to-mauritius-south-africa-and-madagascar-DAWN12CPTMOSLIZRICNOSDIEPDGLUI?destinations=4294949304&numberOfGuests=4294949461&sortBy=featured&autoPopulate=f&from=resultpage&itineraryCode=DAWN12CPTMOSLIZRICNOSDIEPDGLUI

 

Is this a new cruise for them or have they being doing it a while?

 

Thanks.

They have been sailing from Capetown for a couple of seasons - I did the Capetown RT in December 2022, not 100% sure but I think that might have been the first season for SA. They've done various modifications since then, impossible to say what they'll be doing in 2030. If they're still doing any kind of route in the area, it's entirely possible they'll do an "eclipse" sailing.  Maybe they'll read this and get on it LOL.

check you spam folder - some of my NCL notices get marked as spam

4 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

Right, but doesn't NCL get to pick and choose which ports they use? If they consistently have issues with poor customer experience at a particular port for whatever reason (not talking the one off due to mother nature or weirdo things), isn't it in their best interest to stop using that port to avoid the complaints they know will come from guests?

NCL stopped cruising from San Diego several years ago, moved most departures to San Pedro, rumor at that time the decision was made due to various issues with the port.

@njhorseman who says they have to sail from NYC at all? From the complaints I've seen regarding the lack of upcoming cruises, maybe they've already made that decision. 

37 minutes ago, Buckeye10640 said:

Still confused about CN versus CF.  We used CN for our August 2024 cruise. We have 2 cruises booked for 2025 with deposits and did not use CN or CF for deposit.   Can I buy CNs in August and apply them towards the balances on the 2 cruises? Or can I do the same with CF?  These 2025  bookings are CAS inside cabins. 

Current posted rules say no, they are deposits for NEW bookings. But NCL doesn't always follow their own rules, especially with respect to CN - which they seem to allow you to add anytime. CF, not so much.

You'd be better off asking CAS what they allow.

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

I could be wrong, but I think the pier workers are mostly union workers.  NCL couldn't motivate them either way even if they wanted to because they aren't NCL employees.  

 

I can't imagine NCL trying to get them to work smarter, better, etc and the pier workers  taking direction from an outside source very well.

 

Thought I read one time even the baggage porters/handlers are union.

 

Nothing against unions, but forcing the pier workers to be more efficient is probably a lost cause.

AFAIK, the dock workers that take your luggage are unionized. So when they decide to have a work slow-down (happened in Seattle last year) - not much NCL can do.

Not sure about the contracted staff inside the terminal doing the check-in. 

Doesn't appear to be a mistake if you look at the actual itineraries. The early one overnights on day 1, the 2nd one overnights on the last day.

43 minutes ago, AllHandsAstern said:

I manually set my phone time to ship time to avoid this problem.

You're missing the point.  Not everyone understands how their phone clock works. And it varies, depending on the settings and your location.  Plus, if you set your phone to ship time before you get into port, it's not unheard of to have it change to local time, if it happens to be different.

I simply set my cheapie watch to ship time to avoid the problem.

56 minutes ago, OrtonPark said:

Hmmm. Maybe I didn’t explain it the way I meant to. Say I leave the ship at 11 AM ship time and all the board time is at 4 PM ship time. My plan is to set an alarm to go off in three hours, as a signal to myself to start heading back to the ship.

 

The time displayed on my watch doesn’t matter – it is still three hours after 11 AM ship time. 

I understand perfectly what you are saying. But if you are setting an ALARM for 3 hours and your phone time changes while onshore, you'll be a hour early/late.

Setting a timer is different.

Usually yes. I think San Pedro is the only port that I've been to that also checked carry-ons.

22 minutes ago, OrtonPark said:

Rather than messing with resetting my watch or phone to local times/ship time, my intent is to set an alarm based on hours/minutes, rather than on time, if that makes sense. 

Unless your phone decides to change time on you when you reach a cell tower. I speak from experience. 

Setting a timer should work, calculating hours by current time only works if you know your watch/time settings will block any automatic changes.

2 minutes ago, DorothyB said:

Our last sailing was in February so less than three months ago.  We were in a Haven suite - 4 of us and three of us were platinum.  We still only got TWO of the meal certificates.  We did get three free bags of laundry.

From the FAQs

But if they aren't delivered, you'd have to go the the CN desk and ask - extra coupons aren't something that the stewards probably have on their mind as they are prepping the room for new guests.

47 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

That's why NCL assigns check-in times, to spread out the arrivals over a few hours.  If we all followed the suggested times, the lines would only be so long if a problem arises with the X-ray machines, the WiFi connection, etc.

They were enforcing times when I sailed from Stockholm a few years ago. There was no place to sit BUT there were gift shops where you could kill time while waiting for your time slot.

Had an interesting setup in Tokyo last month. From what I could tell, people were getting group numbers for check-in, not boarding. I have latitudes priority so went straight through from check-in, right onto the ship. And yes, I was at my assigned time. They kept trying to give me a # but the lady at the priority line waved us through. I'm wondering if that might be a more effective strategy, space permitting in the terminal. Easy to distribute #s based on assigned times, might help to get people to start following directions!

At one Q&A session (after we'd had pier runners the previous day), the captain explained how it works - at least how he handles it. First and foremost, CONTACT THE SHIP!  Which means contact the Port Agent. If they know you are late they will advise you on what to do. If they don't know why you aren't onboard they will most likely leave without waiting.  But it also depends on the port. Sometimes they just can't wait - there may be other ships waiting for the dock and/or channel, changing tides, or an already short time to make it to the next port.  And there are reasons that all aboard is 30 minutes prior to sail time. They have manifests to complete, gangways to disengage, etc.

As to contacting your friends 15 minutes after all-board time- maybe, maybe not. Once they knew they were going to be delayed, they should have called, even if they thought they still might make it to the ship on time.

1 minute ago, roddy good boy said:

Then that’s not the same thing, at all, is it? It is a legitimate concern when ports are changed or dropped from the original itinerary. A host of witnesses, on this thread, have written about the reasons for their disappointments. It begins to feel like bait and switch when you contract for certain locations and are provided entirely different ones. 

I was responding to a specific comment. Sorry you didn't catch that.

40 minutes ago, PartyPlannerLady said:

Wow!  I am not sure if before now I ever saw anyone complain about being goven $100 they were mot due ang did not deserve/  1st time for everything.

I can beat that - my Transpacific cruise in October (Alaska to Hawaii) just sent out an updated itinerary. Instead of a sea day before we get to Honolulu, we're arriving early afternoon the day before. Bring on the complaints about changes - affecting excursions no less!!

To be fair, I think they misread the changes, assuming the worst - and took down the post when it was pointed out that we were getting extra time in Honolulu and obviously excursions weren't affected.

And I'm assuming there will be no increase in port fees, at least not for anyone that is currently booked.  Fees/taxes that I assume will be higher due to docking overnight.

I've sailed/booked over 25 cruises on NCL and have never taken the FAS beverage or meal package.

The TA is incorrect.

36 minutes ago, UKstages said:

it seems almost silly to mention this, but here goes:

 

as you're departing the ship, don't just confirm the all aboard time... also confirm the ship's time. then look at your watch or your phone and confirm that the ship's time is the same as your watch and/or your phone. and remember, if you haven't connected to a mobile network while in port, your phone's time will - most likely - not be updated. (it won't update over wifi.) finally, remember that - under certain circumstances - the ship's time may be different than the local time.

Not silly to mention - I always use a simple non-connected watch and clock, keep them set to ship time.

13 minutes ago, boxedmoon said:

Using sites like Kayak instead of Google flight search shows most options with Tromso flights.

Oops, not Oslo, it's Helsinki. I've only been able to find 2 flights that would meet NCL's criteria - and those didn't show on Kayak LOL.

4 minutes ago, boxedmoon said:

The charter is for the same day departure from Tromso. With a deviation into Tromso I don't think they'll use it but I could be wrong.

They are using Condor and Wizz airlines for the charters I know of, both going to Frankfurt before another flight back to the US. The Condor charter is a 757-300 with all economy seats to Frankfurt.

Thanks. I wouldn't expect a charter with a deviation, they'll just cancel the deviation request if they choose the charter route. But from my location they can fly me to Tromso from Oslo on the appropriate date, so we'll see.

2 hours ago, boxedmoon said:

I don't trust NCL too much 😀

Never expected that using the BOGO would have resulted in this situation with a charter that on paper looks like most people would not make it.

I'd trust NCL with a charter, assuming you get to the charter flight on time.

Can you give some details? I'm on the following cruise, leaving from Tromso. And still no flight info. I've requested a 1-day deviation but would be OK with a charter instead. What is the flight itinerary? I know when they do charters to Papeete, they leave from LAX.