julig22

That is my understanding as well. You get a better upgrade if you book a better cabin initially but you don't have to book the best in order to upgrade.

First of all, quite a bit has changed in 3 decades. Per what I have read, TSA requires information from the airline (circa 2009) that matches your official id. You may not have to "use" your middle name to make a reservation and it doesn't have to appear on your ticket but that doesn't mean that the airline doesn't have the information available to provide to TSA.

Was on the previous cruise, we lost Skagway as well due to weather. Spent 2 days in Juneau instead. Skagway really taking a hit this year.

If you say so, good luck with that. But I like my TSA pre-check/Global entry so TSA has my middle name, just as it appears on my passport. And my real ID license.

Not required on a ticket purchase because they would already have the info in your profile. Do I Need To Put My Middle Name On My Airline Ticket? [2022] (upgradedpoints.com)

Where did you get that idea? While your airline tickets don't have to have your middle name, the information given to the airline MUST match your travel documents - middle names/initials ARE definitely an issue, especially if traveling overseas. Name changes or correctionsAll guests must provide their complete legal name exactly as it appears on their required travel documentation. If your full legal name(s) does not reflect correctly on your cruise confirmation, please contact Norwegian Cruise Line at 1800-327-7030 or your travel advisor immediately.Failure to provide your correct complete legal name prior to final payment, will result in a nonrefundable change fee of $150. Flights booked without your complete legal name exactly as it appears on your required travel documentation may result in denial of boarding by the airline.

Upgrades depend on the airline. Delta seems to allow it, most others do not, although that may depend on your status with the airline. Nor will they usually allow you to use points to pay for seat selection. I have been given the opportunity to bid on an upgrade a few times, same as bidding on a cabin on NCL.

I believe that Hallux is correct in that if there are no cabins to sell, there is no current price. At least in the past when I wanted to upgrade, I was told that there had to be cabins available both for the category I was in as well as the category I wanted, otherwise no price.

Yes, I've never put the coupon with the laundry. Just wrote platinum (sapphire now) on the bag and slip.

1. Your financial contribution to the sailing (your total fare paid, extras you've paid, Easy to get from a database and make sense - give the upgrade to the people who've paid more already history of sailing with NCL and your average onboard spend) This sounds like what the sports team I have season tickets too calls a "fan score". My seat upgrades and other benefits are based on my fan score. I can easily imagine NCL having something similar, again, easily obtained from a database. 2. Your Latitudes Status Easy to get this info too 3. #1 factored in to the ability for NCL to then either resell your cabin by sailing date, or accept a bid from someone who wants your cabin. I can imagine NCL identifying "hot" cabin categories or categories that they could sell easier than others. The outsourcer would have additional information on who's bid for categories (thereby also creating a demand). All these things could easily be used to implement an algorithm.Or, @haolenate could be full of it. I don't suppose we'll ever know. Of course anything can be put into a database and used in the algorithim - my point is that it's not necessary to include in an algorithm if their goal is to increase income, so why bother? Keep it simple. Upgrades are not part of NCL's reward benefit program, unlike your season ticket example. Point #3 is the only information actually needed to increase revenue. In the event of a tie, they have many alternative ways to choose - from FCFS (booking date, bid date), random draw. While they could use status or "spending" as a tiebreaker, it's really not necessary. Again, keep it simple. If they really wanted to look beyond the sailing at hand, it could also be easily argued that the better "reward" approach would be to upgrade new customers. Once in a balcony, won't want to go back, once in Haven, won't want to go back... But just my opinion. I don't know a guy

Sure it could but is TMI. And points 1&2 make no sense from a business perspective, bidding is not a reward system as far as I know. The point of bidding is to increase revenue so what has already been paid, etc. means nothing in that context. You are already booked on the ship, paid what you paid, probably won't spend more just because you are upgraded. Bidding is done through a computer algorithm. And I don't believe "the guy who is in charge" is divulging the bidding parameters, to be randomly posted on social media.

Simple answer. Your suitcase has to fit through the scanner. Otherwise it has to be checked.

Sorry, don't buy it. Bidding is outsourced.

It's very simple to restrict access to everything except specific named sites. Just like an employer can block non-employment related sites for example. They essentially block everything, then allow certain sites. While onboard, anyone can access the NCL site and Cruise Critic without even having a plan.

Hah. I had 3000+ plus points that just vanished. I was told they were on the final bill (which I conveniently never received on that cruise). Started at 0 on my next cruise, so I asked what happened, they supposedly checked and said it was on my bill. Nope. Still trying to figure out what happened to my credits. The points I have now don't match what they say I've earned. Lesson learned, cash out your credits!!!!!

Either the vendor pulled the excursion or it's sold out.

Depends on the ship. Can't remember if it was the Star or the Dawn but buffet was closed off at night. But the local/O'Sheehans should have ice cream 24/7.

You do not have to book the highest category. I often choose BF, so I can do just fine with booking the cheapest OV. Just applied my points to an upcoming cruise - put all my negotiating skills to the test and now have a BF balcony for about half the current solo fare. Originally booked BF but rebooked onboard OK (obstructed OV) on board, so got an upgrade to OA which also included a 10% discount for 2023 cruises. Then used points to upgrade back to BF, getting a cabin 4 doors down from the original booking (this particular cruise is GTY for all balconies anyway). Not sure that the OK-OA upgrade made any difference, paperwork shows OK-BF upgrade - but I'm very happy with the end result, saving about 2.5K from current pricing.

Or Mexico... A few years ago I was on a San Diego-Florida reposition cruise in October. Got notified in the terminal that we'd bypass Mexico and go around the storm, since going north really wasn't an option. The other cruise ship in port that day rerouted away from Mexico and went to San Francisco.

Nobody knows for sure. It could be random but IMO "seniority" is a real possibility if it gets to that point. I personally wouldn't change my bid unless there is a problem with the credit card.

First I've heard that you had to book the best possible ov???

Similar situation, FCC was considerably more than I expected. But I took the cruise in July still waiting on the FCC! It was originally denied and I called them on it because, contrary to their original assessment, the perks were the same. Got a letter with the amount, etc but so far nothing... But I also had FCC from a different cruise and it was in my account shortly after the cruise.

One stumbling block right now is that many upcoming cruises were booked with the 35% discount and 2x/3x points. They won't qualify for FCC. I was able to pay for an upgrade however, at about half what a minimum bid would be, works for me. They did implement some fairly strict upgrade policies last year, not sure what modifications have been made in the interim. However, my understanding is that any FCC must be approved by a specific department - so your pc can request it but can't guarantee.

I prepay a few days before the cruise, just to keep it simple once onboard. So not a loan. If I cancel at that point, I've got way bigger issues. With their totally wacky onboard accounting system, I like to keep it as simple as possible, as there is also no advantage to paying onboard since I have no intention of removing those charges.

It doesn't seem to recognize some of the autofill categories - specifically email and phone. Manually enter and it should accept them. Mine also got stuck last time, everything checked but still stuck. Closed the session, opened it again and problem resolved.