UKstages

i have a slightly different view. you are correct, of course, in that most people have smart phones (except for the three onboard the getaway i saw last week with flip phones), but a heck of a lot of them use them only to take and make calls. some know how to use email. some text. but not everybody. my dear departed mother had an iphone, which was a brick unless somebody called her... if she remembered to charge it at all. she didn't purchase an iphone, mind you, we bought it for her. that's what i mean when i say they haven't fully embraced technology... they may have a smart phone, but using a touch screen or retrieving a PDF document or pinching and squeezing to enlarge a document is beyond their ken, or - for some - their arthritic hands. there is also a matter of trust... certain members of a certain generation are inherently distrustful of electronic communication. it isn't "real" if they can't hold it in their hands. these are the same folks who get their bank statements and their quarterly investment statements via snail mail, rather than email. and insist on printing out their edocs, "just in case," even though you can pull them up on your phone or even just download a photo of the bar code, if you're concerned about cell or wifi service at the pier.

request shrimp cocktail? my understanding is you ask for a pound and a half of shrimp with a gravy boat of cocktail sauce to be delivered to your table nightly. 😉 yes, you can request a shrimp cocktail, provided cold shrimp is on the menu elsewhere, typically in "shrimp louie."

yes, i was on the joy in october and they had a full solo program. i only went to the meetups twice, to find somebody who wanted to join me when i used lattitudes specialty dining coupons, but they met every day.

this would likely alienate many in their traditional core demographic, some of whom have not yet fully embraced technology or even if they have, would find it difficult to read the tiny type of the daily on a phone screen. the folks who have difficulty ordering in the indulge food hall... these are the same folks who might not understand how to access or read an e-daily. i agree, but there are folks who relentlessly request the dailies of the cruise critic posters who have recently sailed. seems to have something to do with scheduling dinner around showtimes. but, as you point out, the schedule can fluctuate wildly. if you want to know when showtimes are, i can predict with great certainty that shows in the theatre will start sometime between 7 and 7:45, with a second show starting between 8 and 9:45. shows last between 60 minutes to 95 minutes, with your big broadway musicals topping out at 95 to 100 minutes. you're generally safe if you schedule dinner at 7:00 or earlier if you plan to see a late show. or schedule dinner at 8:45 or 9 if you want to see the early show. if you want to eat in a specialty restaurant and see a show in the same evening, and you're not a fan of taking advantage of the "early bird special" when dining, don't plan on going to bed before before 10:30 or 11. entertainment scheduling is the same on every NCL ship.

i was on the 1/27 sailing as well. this data was true for that sailing, but mario started extended leave today, 2/6, at the conclusion of the 1/27 sailing. i do not know who has replaced him or if it will be just on an interim basis. one thing is for certain, however: it's a very sad day for fans of nintendo video games. the getaway will no longer have mario and luigi at the helm!

you can purchase on the NCL site within your account, but assuming you are using multiple giftcards, it it would probably be best if you called a cruise consultant. the transaction could be tricky and the NCL site doesn't handle anything out of the ordinary very well. transactions using multiple giftcards are often mistakenly identified as fraudulent transactions.

this is the point that nobody seems to be commenting on. the OP wished to use giftcards, which have a specific dollar value/limit attached to them. you certainly could not use a giftcard as the "card on file" because it would likely fail the initial authorization and subsequent hold authorizations. you can probably put a standard credit card on file and then visit on the next to last day and use as many cards as you want to close out your account. i just got off the getaway this morning and i did in fact see somebody use more than one card to settle their bill last night. i doubt they were using giftcards, however.

i've been at sea myself, so missed most of this thread as it was being posted. last i checked in, you were still planning and packing! glad the trip is going well (for the most part) and that you're having a great time. with regard to refunds for the seldom-used vibe, no way! it says right on the receipt "weather permitting" and "no refunds." i just got off the getaway this morning and the vibe was at about half capacity... ten day cruise and i was only able to use the vibe five days, mostly due to stormy weather and the cold leaving and returning from new york. i still felt it was worth it. the main problem that i see with the tablet ordering in indulge, for luddites and the elderly, is that once they figure out how to order and submit... they haven't actually submitted the order... there is another prompt that comes up asking them to confirm the order... a lot of people miss that! on my prima cruise last year, i pointed that out to several grateful folks who had no idea. oh, no! are you saying it was built for the eponymous "contemporary cruiser?" if only this same principle applied to the indulge food hall!

yes, almost always 88, but i left out of 90 or returned to 90 once when two NCL ships were in town.

great, detailed review... thanks! yes, the no kids aspect of the vibe has major appeal. but i also find that many adults act like children elsewhere on the ship, whereas they are more likely to act like adults in the vibe.

straw man argument much? none of this is what the issue was. as @cruiseny4life pointed out, the issue was that you said NCL has all flights handled by a third party. he wandered in and said, no, that's wrong, it's not a third party. and your response was that everybody says NCL air sucks and has lots of challenges... all of which may be true, but it's not what this contretemps is about.

a few scenarios could cause the closure of certain restaurants, shows or attractions that your friends have attributed to being on a transatlantic cruise, when really it has nothing to do with the cruise being transatlantic. one has already been mentioned and that is reduced capacity... it may not be deemed necessary to open all MDRs if the ship is sailing with low numbers. nothing to do with being a transatlantic per se, although TAs do generally have a smaller number of passengers. a reason for cancellation of shows could be illness within the cast. i have been on a number of cruises during which shows were canceled (presumably due to COVID). and yet another reason venues could be closed is that the ship is about to go into or has just completed dry dock and the closed venue is being prepared for construction or being touched up and made whole after dry dock. in that case, yes, it may have happened on a transatlantic, but it has nothing to do with being a transatlantic per se. they just happened to have been on the way to a european dry dock.

it's a tradeoff. i typically shut my play down at the end of the gaming day, one day earlier... so i can have hosts do the calculation and then have a full day to explore the shops and make my purchases with monopoly money. pro tip: there is nothing to stop you from "window shopping" prior to the last day! i always have a pretty good idea of what i'm going to buy before i'm awarded my comp. additional pro tip: some people don't realize that the comp is a manual credit. after having shopped, you will need to visit a host once again to make sure they credit your folio. yet another pro tip: if you have additional nonrefundable OBC on your account, either from a tier benefit or from a travel agent or whatever, please understand that the host will not be able to give you the full credit of your comp until that amount is also consumed. the main reason the hosts want you to consult with them after you have finished playing is that their final calculations often include a win/loss analysis. if you play after you settle your account, and you win, it may look like you were over-comped. if you want to continue to play after cashing out, do so without inserting your room key or player's card and only play machines at which there is no possibility of earning more than $1199. play under the radar. i sometimes play 25 cent video poker on the last day, for which the top prize is $1,000. on my last cruise, i did in fact hit for 1K on the last day!

please see post #3.

huh? no, no, no. if you want to self-fund your own comps by applying your point balance to your folio, then, sure, don't convert your points to free play. you can apply them to your cabin charges right at a machine. you don't need a host for that. i routinely convert ALL my points to free play. and then i see a host on the last day of the cruise to "settle up." and the host gives me a play-based comp or a comp based on loss, whichever is greater. it can be applied to my folio or it can be used in the shops, typically until 11 PM. the fact that i converted points to free play has nothing to do with settling up nor does it impact the dollar value of the comp awarded by the host at the end of the cruise. if i still have a point balance, that can be "cashed out," too and either applied incrementally to my folio, added to my spendable onboard credit or converted to cash.

the false expectation is that they are removing the up charge for the foie gras, when in fact they are removing the up charge for the filet. there is no up charge for foie gras. you can't add foie gras to any dish for a set fee... it's not a lobster tail at cagney's! so, when people say they were successful in getting them to remove the up charge, they may think they made some sort of case, based on the fact that they have no interest in foie gras, that they don't eat foie gras and that it is inherently unfair to charge them for the foie gras. at the same time, the restaurant staff may be removing the up charge for the filet simply because they have that discretion and - logically - it's the same piece of meat served in some other venues (la cucina, cagney's). or they may be removing the up charge so as not to cause a customer confrontation. so, yes, NCL may be inconsistent... but many here are insistent that there is an up charge for the foie gras and there is not. so many folks erroneously believe that they can request that the foie gras be removed and automagically get a discount. but that NCL dog don't hunt.

have you considered that is exactly what @mandersen12345 has done? he essentially "prepaid" his next cruise. any of us who spend a considerable amount of time in the casino embrace this concept. win or lose, whether you put on 15K points, or 25K points or 40k points during a sailing, you are essentially paying for your next cruise.

here is my review of the prima from last may/june. i did a transatlantic back to back, the second leg of which was reykjavik to southampton. you may find it helpful. while it's true most people are initially resistant to change, most people welcome competence and passion. they will immediately embrace new ideas when well conceived and implemented. a lot of what they will find on the prima class ships has not been well thought out or implemented properly. if we simply accept that people are always opposed to something new and different, then how do we explain the near universal praise for the indulge food hall? (except for the challenge in finding a seat, of course.) that's certainly new and different and innovative... and people, for the most part, love it! the prima class has much to enjoy and celebrate, including some of the largest "regular" cabins at sea, but it suffers from poor design decisions at almost every turn. on top of that, the prima's build (talking about the ship here and not necessarily the class) was poorly executed (hence the rooms with persistent and disruptive noise coming from within the walls) and the executive leadership team (with the exception of F&B) is remarkably clueless and doesn't respond well to customer concerns or even take feedback. the main design problem with the prima class is that the designers assumed that the passenger load would be simultaneously dispersed among all the venues. there is absolutely enough capacity when you take into account all the nooks and crannies on the ship and all seating capacity of all dining venues. the problem is that more people want to eat in real time in the indulge food hall than want to eat at the local. more people want to eat in the commodore room than want to eat at palomar. more people want to eat at the buffet for breakfast than any other venue. and everybody wants to be indoors when it's raining and/or 45 degrees out (fahrenheit). most of the "good" and "bad" reviews of the prima class mention the very same things... the reviewer's attitude determines the overall tone and tenor of the review. some people love the ship(s) despite their flaws... others encountered some sort of overwhelming problem that tipped the balance toward the negative.

is this in association with a slot tournament? i've done one of those. it's like a halloween party... some people get dressed up; others don't. it's a very modest affair that doesn't last longer than 90 minutes or two hours. a small cocktail party with passed canapés and a DJ and inconsequential decorations. most of the staff will be more dressed up than the guests. i think they distributed mardi gras-style masks to those who wanted them.

probably not. there is a long history of people hopping on "mistake" fares, but usually they are for airline tickets. how companies who post these fares erroneously respond... varies greatly. sometimes, they let customers who book keep the bargain fares and they gain a lot of favorable publicity.. other times, they invoke contractual language and rescind the fare and allow you to rebook at prevailing rates. my best guess, knowing what we know about NCL, is that they would fall in the latter camp.

currently on board the getaway. it is indeed the casino. they'll give you a claim ticket so you can return to retrieve your bag. (it's likely the only time you'll get anything back from the casino.)

respectfully, no, you did not. i know that's what you think you showed us, but you did not. you pointed to something wherein NCL says the charge is discretionary. and indeed it is. that doesn't make the old name "discretionary service charge." it merely means that the charge formerly known as the "daily service charge," is discretionary. (it's also applied daily!) oh, look! the word "discretionary" begins with the same first letter as "daily." what a heck of a coincidence! and those other acronyms were thrown in to show how preposterous this supposition is. just because something is something doesn't mean its name stands for that very thing, even if one or more of the letters is the same. TSA doesn't stand for 'transportation safety administration" no matter how many people think it does. DSC has never been an official acronym for "discretionary service charge." and though it's been said many times, many ways, here it is again: the charge has been renamed the "onboard service charge." and - surprise, surprise - it, too, is discretionary!

it's difficult to say. personally, i think you should call. reports in this forum and elsewhere have indicated that people often get a discounted fare for relatively moderate play. if you consistently drop a few hundred dollars in the casino on every trip, i imagine they'd like to see you again. i'd guesstimate that is good for maybe a 10% or 15% discount. and that would be on topm of whatever "sale" they have going on... such as 50% off. my suggestion would be to talk to a host while onboard. explain exactly what you just told us... 40 years, 27 cruises, consistent low level play, loyal to NCL. the host will tell you they have no insight to or influence over offers. and that is true. but they can write notes in your account that CAS folks in miami and phoenix can read that may help them to determine offer eligibility. offers generally have a "book by" and a "sail by" date. the book by date might be april 30th, for instance, and the sail by date may be november 30th. there is never a "must book in three days" offer, unless you happen to call when a longstanding offer is about to expire. as for doing research... that would usually be done before you call. most offers are not for specific cruises. you tell them which cruise you want to take. the offers stipulate the length of cruise, the level of accommodation (inside, balcony, haven, etc.) and any restrictions. the most common restrictions exclude the pride of america and the newest ships such as the viva and prima. occasionally, there are offers for specific cruises, but those are less common offers. nobody know for sure. if it's anything like a land-based casino, the algorithms that are used to track and analyze play are a closely guarded secret. but it's probably both. they look at your lifetime value as a customer, but they are very interested in your recent play. most casinos average your play from the last three or four visits and some "forgive" the lowest numbers. in other words, they take your three "best" play periods out of the most recent four. as for travel agents... i have no direct experience with this. but it's my understanding that NCL severed commissions for TAs a few years ago on casino rates and comped cruises. you can probably still get a TA to book it for you, especially if they charge an upfront fee for their services, m but i really don't know.

um, no. just no. that excerpt doesn't state that the "D" stands for "discretionary," it states that the charge is in fact "discretionary." but that doesn't mean that the charge formerly known as the DSC was named the "discretionary service charge." before NCL changed the name, they repeatedly referred to the "DSC" as the "daily service charge." why would they name it in such a way to encourage you from eliminating it? that makes no sense. also: there are fees associated with FAS, but that doesn't mean it was named the "fee" at sea program. many get OBC while sailing, but the "O" doesn't stand for "ocean" even though the credit is spent while sailing on the ocean. some eat meals in the "MDR" every day, but the "M" doesn't stand for "meals" and the "D" doesn't stand for "day" or "daily." this charge was renamed the "onboard service charge" and there's a good chance they did it precisely to avoid the confusion and misunderstanding you seem to have fallen prey to. this is like saying "LOL" after someone texts to say their mom died. regardless of how well meaning you might be and regardless of what you think it might mean, "LOL" does not mean "lots of love."

completely agree. i ate there twice on the gem. everything was barely edible and borderline bad. i remember dry noodles and under sauced stir fry, as well as egg rolls with virtually nothing in them. i'm not a fan of shanghai, either (on other ships). i do believe it has a lot to do with how good the chinese food is in your hometown. if you live in a major city like new york or san francisco and have access to great chinese food, orchid garden will seem like a pale imitation and a wannabe. if most of your chinese food comes from the frozen food section of your supermarket, you will likely think orchid garden and shanghai is exotic and tasty. no reservations. walkup only. and a line often forms twenty minutes or so before opening.