julig22

When I tried to check in for an upcoming cruise while still onboard a different ship I couldn't access the emuster video and wasn't able to complete check-in. The IT guy said it was a common problem.

Nope on seeing other excursions. Pretty stupid on their part IMHO but their choice. You can always call and ask.

Why would you expect anything different? Only thing "new" is double up on CruiseNext for any cabin, as of last Friday.

Not a high roller by any means but I was saving my points, had a number of cruises booked. Had over 3k after a few cruises, got on the next cruise and nothing. Got a lot of runaround, never got it back. According to them, if you have over 2.5K, they apply the $25 to your onboard account - but that didn't happen. Their records show I didn't have anywhere near that number of points, so they lost both my credits and my player points. Who really knows what happened - casino host told me they'd contacted the other ship and that's who told them the credits had been applied to my account. Got quite a number of stories/excuses as to what really happened - but nobody could explain how I went from having credits, regardless of the amount, to having nothing. Final statement confirms that I never got a credit to my onboard account. So - I'd recommend you cash in you points. If you can believe what the host told me, cashing in your credits has no effect on your points with respect to casino status, etc.

They will either use Gatwick or Heathrow, it just depends on what's available when they book your flights. They've always flown me in/out of Heathrow.

Euros will be fine, since that is what you have. If you gamble in the casino you will need USD. You can charge cash to your credit card (3% convenience fee) and the conversion would be done by you bank which should be cheaper than the rate the ship charges, assuming you don't pay additional foreign transaction fees - charges are US based. Many US-based cards give rebates for travel purchases so the 3% is often a wash - if your card works the same way. ATM on board is $5.95.

I wouldn't count on it. Upgrades and FCC used to be an either/or. Logically, the FCC is for the difference between what you paid and the current cost of your cabin. Since you upgraded, they would look at the current cost of your cabin - and if you paid for the upgrade, you paid at the prevailing rate. Also, if there are no cabins available they usually don't offer fcc. But anything is possible.

Even though NCL always get the blame when there are issues with embarkation and disembarking, they don't always have control of the process. Porters and immigration staff do not work for NCL. Most terminals are leased/rented, not owned by NCL so amenities aren't up to NCL. I've also been told that the people that check you in aren't NCL employees either, so they don't always know about priority boarding for example. And they don't have any authority to bend the rules either. When there are lines because there are only 3 people checking passports it's because that's how many officers were sent/availailable to do the job.

The Local (O'Sheahans on some ships) usually has Chicken Parm (with spaghetti) as their blue plate special at least once.

No service at sea - not in range of cell towers. Phones should work fine in ports, assuming your plan includes Alaska. Canada service also depends on your carrier.

Yes, assuming your original reservation would have been eligible.

Yes, I have done it many times - no problem if the NCL person making the arrangements understands that you do indeed want to keep your transfer - they actually have to do something to override the system (I had one PCC who, along with his supervisor, could never figure out how to do it!) Always make sure that when you get your edocs that the transfer is correct. My last cruise had the transfer from the airport to hotel/hotel to port, so they would have had no record of my reservation at the airport. I got it corrected -and then they cancelled my reservation anyway just a few days before my cruise, no notice other than an updated statement that no longer showed the transfer. I was not a happy camper, not sure how much to trust NCL with transfers going forward.

What about using WhatsApp? I have very limited experience with it but it works off of wifi and so would be free as long as you have wifi minutes. Maybe someone has used it onboard and can give pointers. I know I've been able to use it with my prepaid tracphone when I was out of the country, so carrier definitely doesn't matter, just need wifi access and both parties must have the app on their phone.

Any excursion offered by NCL. No limit. Port is irrelevant.

NO. $50 off each and every excursion that passenger #1 can manage to book.

Usually, assuming they have room. I think you have to let them know a couple of weeks in advance and give them your flight information. However, they didn't let me go back to the airport on my last trip and I'm kinda thinking they ran out of room (vs the bogus excuse they gave me). And if they tell you to just show up - don't let it go - insist on a reservation anyway! You can also usually book onboard for the transfer at the end of the cruise if you don't book in advance - but that can also sell out.

Sorry, I misunderstood, thought you meant your cruise initiates in Quebec. Yes, they will take off the NYC transfers and leave the transfers for your return, as long as you don't request a deviation. As I understand it, the bus will take you to whichever airport. At least that's what I'm assuming, since I'm basically doing the same thing, but leaving out of Boston, not NY.

If you are using NCL air and requested a deviation, then they will refund the transfer fees and you will also get a $25 credit. And you are on your own with respect to getting to the port the following day, unless you booked your hotel through NCL. As to Quebec, they may fly you into Montreal due to the limited number of flights into Quebec, so that is an issue - and why I chose a cruise that ends in Quebec instead! I have seen a few discussions on the Montreal-Quebec issue, you might want to look to your roll call for ideas. In the past on other cruises, I have opted to keep the airport transfer, and just went back to the airport. However, on my last cruise they cancelled my transfer reservation (something about security, which the airport denied was an issue).

OK, believe what you wish. I see red flags. When I call my PCC, my call goes to my PCC, not NCL. If I got a letter from a PCC that I knew, I might call them and ask questions, although I'd probably skip the middleman and call corporate. Correspondence from my PCC always has names, emails, etc. and would probably say "call me" not a generic "call us". OP never indicated that they even had a PCC, let alone this one.

Did you miss the part where the number given was for a PCC, not NCL directly?

Pretty much any discussion on the pros/cons has your answers. But to summarize: Same room, same flights. Beyond that, anything is possible. NCL does not assign seats, seat assignments are per airline policy. Once you get your flight info, you need to go to the airline web site and work from there. Some let you choose - possibly at a cost - some do not. Some say wait but I've found that sometimes you can call and sweet talk them into letting you choose. When all the stars align, you can arrive the morning of your cruise. But that's a big risk these days, so a 1 or 2 day deviation gives you a better chance, still no guarantee. Weather, strikes, mechanical issues are always a factor. Getting to my cruises hasn't been nearly the headache as getting home has been, but it's just the luck of the draw.

That depends on the port but I think the majority of the time that I've used the NCL transfer I needed to collect my bags. That might involve just moving it a few feet to where the porters are - or around the terminal building. By having you collect your luggage you (and they) know that it hasn't been left behind at the airport - or left on the bus.

I've pretty much told every PCC, CN onboard manager and land-based excursion rep I've ever had contact with that they need to fix this. It's not something that can't be fixed - and pretty easily (IMHO as a former database developer). No reason that they can't show you what's available and just block you from putting it in your cart if it overlaps.

Prices change daily, the current sale is really no different than what they were offering yesterday or will most likely offer next week or next month. Prices might go up more, they might go down - in my opinion, pricing and current sales are not necessarily linked. Think of it like the stock market - prices fluctuate for many reasons. Never heard of a TA that won't adjust prices, so if your TA won't adjust prices then I'd look to see if the perks are worth it.

https://www.ncl.com/air-service-standards While this doesn't actually differentiate between premium air and BOGO, I think it applies to both. Previously, they also said that they wouldn't book overnight layovers but now they just say 5hrs. I've done several European trips and only had an overnight layover once - but only because of a last minute change to my flight schedule due to SAS going on strike. It actually worked out well because there were sleeping pods in the airport and my flight out was at about 6 am, so I just stayed in the airport. On the other hand, the flights from Europe to the US tend to be afternoon flights, so no opportunity to take any post-cruise excursions - at least from London and Rome, I haven't flown to/from Greece. Pretty sure that attempting to get you home on the same day isn't even on their radar. Yes, it would probably save everyone a lot of angst if they gave you some choices - but I don't ever think that's going to happen. On my last cruise, they booked a flight with a 45 minute layover in Seattle, instead of the next flight that was about 4 hours later. Had they called me, I would have said give me the later flight (which I ended up on anyway).