julig22

Of course they know where they are flying from LOL. When you book your cruise and include the airfare offer, you choose the gateway - and the price varies, depending on that gateway. They can certainly buy bulk from various hubs, then add any additional cost for those of us who normally have to fly to one of those hubs.

Your guess would be mostly wrong IMHO. For the most part, they rarely use the discount airlines. At least not in my experience. And, other than a few complaints about carry-on fees for Spirit, I've not seen much posted in the way of bookings on "discount" carriers. And so far, NCL has always booked me in regular economy (so you bring a carryon), not basic. Delta, American, United, Alaska, AirCanada, IcelandAir, SW. Going on Condor next week - to Germany, then a charter, also on Condor, to Norway. Keep in mind that they are buying tickets in bulk at a discount - so it's entirely possible that it's actually cheaper for them to use a bigger carrier, with a discount, than a discount carrier with no bulk discount.

Yup. Even tho flights from my location are limited, they aren't limited to what they use for connecting flights. But I will often get a non-stop overseas for example, when someone leaving from one of my layover gateways will not. Contrary to popular belief, they do have guidelines to follow. I don't believe they go out of their way to make it difficult LOL.

Not necessarily. I've often gotten the exact same ones that I would have booked. But then again, I'm flying from a regional airport that has limited flights to begin with, so pretty easy to figure out what I'm getting from NCL.

2 completely different things. So yes, SH OBC is still applicable.

Just for clarification - was the double-points offer still in effect when you upgraded? They've been adding/deleting/adding double points cruises each month. I lost my double points - thanks to my PCC who didn't return my phone call - because the double points offer fell off at the end of the month. But mine was a price change, so obviously a different situation.

I can't say for certain but since it is a change to your reservation, I suspect you might lose the double points.

NCL will post their post-cruise excursions at day 50.

It's actually 5+ to Seattle, but I subtracted the hour I have to drive anyway to my regional airport. But sometimes it's worth it to drive to Seattle to catch a plane to wherever I'm going. Which happened to be Anchorage, returning to Vancouver.

As others have pointed out, having 3 NCL ships isn't the problem. Those slots would potentially be filled by other cruise lines. So then the complaint would be NCL shouldn't be going there when there are 5 other ships also in port. Crowded ports aren't uncommon these days, although the cable-car issue does make Santorini a little more problematic. Try someplace like Juneau, Alaska in mid-summer. 6 ships in port, the city is wall-to-wall people. They block the main street on those days. Best way to avoid crowds is to travel outside the heavy traffic times. Santorini was beautiful the October I went - no crowds, think we were the only ship there that day.

Yup. For me, an additional 4hr drive to/from Seattle actually saved me time (and money) when I took a Seward to Vancouver cruise. When I factor in the flight time to Seattle plus the waiting time between flights, I come out way ahead. Plus the doggie camp where my dog vacations is on the way to Seattle, it's the opposite direction when I fly out of my home airport. So that's a couple hours saved when I can drop off/pick her up on the way.

The NCL reps will be hanging out near baggage claim. They tend to not bring busses around until around 9 because they don't want to take you to the port any earlier. But the reps will be there earlier and take passengers to a waiting area. They should be around at least until early afternoon. I've sometimes asked in the Roll Call what airline & time others are arriving to try to get an idea. So far, it's always worked out.

I have gotten the SH OBC as a solo many times in the past. In all of those times, they only applied a partial credit once, on a many years ago on cruise where there was a partial solo discount. I've gotten the full credit for everything else, even on cruises where I paid no solo supplement.

There is no published schedule. Sometimes TA's/PCC's have advance notice of what the next promo would be.

Only NCL knows. I've been told that even the production crew doesn't always know the schedule until the start of the cruise, it depends on what else is happening. And that's on cruises with the same itinerary.

Yup, getting the message to the right person tends to work wonders. Years ago I was having issues with my NCL transfer back to JFK - they cancelled the excursion I'd booked and said there wasn't a shuttle. Apparently everyone on the ship was local LOL! I was not pleased. Got into an elevator with the hotel director, who asked how it was going. I started to just say great (the cruise had been good) but saw those stripes and told him about the transfer fiasco. They called within an hour to tell me there would be a shuttle waiting when we disembarked. One excellent reason to attend the Meet & Greet. They usually give you a card with the contact info for all the officers - and emphasize to use it. I've also had success with more general issues by putting comments in the box by Guest Services, got a follow-up call the following day.

You realize my comment was as a follow-up to my issue of referrals to "original container" - how that is a laughable term. Talk about taking something out of context and running with it. Note I NEVER said you could get away with filling a container with something else.

Assuming you have already booked the excursion(s) for the 2nd passenger, NCL should issue a refund - when my latitudes status changed and I was eligible for a better discount, I automatically got a refund. But if you call the Excursion desk they should verify or take care of it, if it isn't already in the works.

While I don't usually travel with family, I'd go with the savings if significant. You're going to be with your family the entire cruise, what's a few hours apart. Book the NCL shuttle from the airport, meet again at the terminal. But that is assuming that each party has someone capable of navigating airports, etc. - and probably not if there are small children involved.

I am fully aware that medications are coded - which is why I have everything labeled. I wasn't suggesting that anyone could pass scrutiny if they put something else into a labeled bottle, just the fact that having a label on something does not mean that's what is in the bottle. And what you get from your pharmacy is not often an original container - just original to you. As you said, the LABEL identifies the contents, whether the label is on a bottle or on a plastic bag.

I have to chuckle at the concept of "original container". Most of my prescription meds come repackaged (by the pharmacy). So nothing stopping me from filling a labelled container with anything I choose, especially if it happens to look like what's supposed to be in there. Nothing magical about having something in a labeled bottle, unless it's also sealed. So unless advised otherwise by someone in an official capacity, I consider anything with a label to be an original container. For travel to places with the possibility of having my medications checked, I had my pharmacy print out labels that are perfect size for the little pill pouches you can get. And print out a copy of the actual prescription. For OTC stuff, I either peel off labels if I can or copy the info from the web, use that to label bags.

A few things I've learned along the way, regardless of who books your flights. If you have the time, do NOT cancel your flight, especially if you have booked through NCL (or possibly any 3rd party) - the refund will most likely go back to NCL and you will have to pay for your new flight. The airline is obligated to find you another flight, at no additional cost. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean a flight that gets you to your destination in time - but if you can find a flight that works - ask for it! Google is your friend. I've gotten on alternative flights more than once when I gave them the flight information and didn't rely on their search. So I usually print out a list of alternative flights before I ever leave for the airport, just in case. If you know your flight is has been delayed, go to the desk and see if they can move you to a different flight/different route. The early bird gets the empty seat on the next available plane. And some of the reps will actually listen when you tell them you won't make the connection. You do risk your luggage taking a different route, so proceed with caution. After the fact, you might also get some compensation from the airline. SW automatically sent me a $100 voucher for a 1-hr delay that didn't even affect my plans. Canadian airlines have strict rules, I got $700+ when they messed up my flights (I did have to ask for that one). I don't know about other airlines, but it never hurts to ask.

Yes, they took the NCL BOGO offer. NCL bought tickets on an airline. The airline delayed the flights, not NCL. So the fact that they booked airfare through NCL is not relevant to the outcome. Their tickets were no different from what they could have booked themselves.

My worst airline cancellation/reschedule, trying to get to Quebec City for a tour (not a cruise) was with flights I booked myself... Flight was on time...on time...all the way to the airport. 15 minutes from the airport - flight cancelled.

How is the fact that they used BOGO relevant to what happened? Everyone else on the same plane had the same issues. Now, if it had been an issue of a short layover (which NCL unfortunately does do at times), I might lay some blame on NCL. But not the case here. And for what it's worth, I've used BOGO a number of times and have had issues with flights, but fortunately on the return. And, by using the number that NCL provides with the flight information, I have ALWAYS been able to make contact with NCL - and yes, in the middle of the night. In those instances I've managed to get things resolved through the airline but NCL was aware of the issue.