UKstages

NCL doesn't want you to take food all over the ship, including your stateroom. (they have room service for that.) one notable exception is the indulge food hall on the prima (and presumably the viva). at breakfast, they have trays. at least they did in may 2023 when i was onboard.

say what? if you have the drinks package, you get a $15 subsidy, so to speak. so the price on the menu is not the upcharge price, it's the "full" price, the retail price that most people don't pay. the "upcharge" is the difference above $15 plus the gratuity on that additional amount.

this suggestion - all inclusive pricing - only works if all cruise lines do it. similar to the airlines, they likely won't all do it without guv'ment regulation. the "other options" would then be able to provide an apples to apples comparison.

rocketman275 is merely speculating about crew preferences.

oy. the reason the DSC (now OSC) was instituted was because many guests did not tip at all. so, the origins of the fee are sound. it was originally well meaning. it's a lot like including an 18% tip on a restaurant bill in a land-based restaurant in a major tourist area, particularly if many of the tourists are from countries that don't have a strong tipping culture or where they routinely only tip 10%. but, over time, the cruise lines have coopted that money and can pretty much do whatever they like with it. but also... if they remove it... many will not tip at all, if past is prologue. as far as what constitutes a "fair wage." they are paid a fair wage comparable to what other cruise lines pay, but that wage assumes they benefit from the OSC in some way... on all cruise lines. it's not a wage that most of us would be happy with.

what? me worry? ohmigosh, no. but thank you very much for your concern. if you look again at my post, you will see that i get the "convenience fee" waived. i am a ruby player within NCL's CAS ecosystem, which means i have a tier score somewhere between 35,000 and 99,999. while it's true that 3% is on the low end of the scale for what amounts to a cash advance (billed as a "purchase" on your credit card), it places the gambler at an extraordinary disadvantage. in simple terms, if you only run the money through a machine once, you can think of it as turning a 99.54% expected return on a video poker game into a 96.54% return, if you lose (most people do). it essentially turns the payback on an already unplayable 85% slot machine into an 82% return. to put it another way, if you manage to squeak out a $60 win on a two thousand dollar bankroll, you haven't really made any profit at all because of the "convenience fee." (of course, the payback on the machine actually stays the same, but the point is that you'll always be fighting your way to profit against the fee you paid for access to cash.) an advantage player would never pay 3% for access to cash without recovering 3% or more in benefits. (of course, an advantage player wouldn't really be playing in a shipboard casino unless there was an exploitable opportunity.) so, somebody who is "worried" about the 3% fee would actually be quite smart! see below for the other side of the coin, assuming that one has decided to pay the convenience fee. 3% is on the lower end for what amounts to a credit card cash advance, which comes along with none of the negative features of a credit card cash advance. with a standard credit card cash advance, you'd be paying 25% or more interest on top of the fee, which could be as high as 5%. NCL wants you to gamble, which is why the fee is relatively low and the terms (the "advance" is charged as a "purchase") are favorable. without a doubt NCL is famous for its nickel and dime approach... no argument there... but this is almost the opposite of that. i can't speak for other cruise lines who may charge less or may charge nothing at all (i haven't researched it), but if you're on an NCL ship, you have no other choice. i believe the "convenience fee" pricing is quite fair. try to finance a car or a home at 3%.

some of them. but the musical comedy "spamalot," currently being revived on broadway, was first performed in 2005. many of the jokes are the same as the film, but there was additional material added... as well as additional songs. the current revival has more additional material and topical references.

NCL pays prevailing wages for cruise ship employees. al the cruise lines pay about the same salaries and all have some sort of shared "tip pool." believe it or not, these are considered jobs of great prestige in their home countries and many of these employees are earning far more money than they would in those countries and many support their entire family (remotely) on the salary they earn at sea. i agree that the onboard service charge is a poor way to compensate employees. i've done many posts on this. essentially, very little of the money - best as i can tell - goes to directly compensate employees. it's more likely that they use it to paint the break room and throw pizza parties... that is to say, it goes into a general fund that NCL may or may not use to incentivize employees. and that is all the more reason, in my opinion, to provide additional tips directly to the employees with whom i interact. i don't adjust or rescind the onboard service charge because there are people behind the scenes whom i can't tip directly.

thanks for sharing your thoughts on the prima. los lobos is indeed exceptional... one of the best restaurants on the ship. (i am curious as to which restaurant in lincoln you think has the best mexican food... i've spent a lot of time in lincoln and i thought the mexican food was just OK. my favorite was a fast casual place called lina's - from omaha - but i believe they closed several years ago.) i liked onda a lot more than you did. i think it, too, is one of the best restaurants on the prima, along with the indulge food hall.

"newlywed," "battle of sexes" and the current cruise ship version of "deal or no deal" are old school low-tech game shows, the kind that used to be done exclusively in the atrium, hosted by either the cruise director or a member of staff. lately, some of these have been upgraded to the theatre... but they're not highly produced slick game shows like "price" or "wheel." that is the direction that NCL is headed. whether or not they will continue the others is anybody's guess... something like "deal," for which there is a revenue component... i'd say - emphatically - yes.

in addition to the MDR, the american diner, with its new menu, is also a complimentary embarkation day lunch option (unless they change the hours of operation by the time of your cruise).

i'm certainly gad to hear that. my experience has been that i have never had a steak in the MDR that was remotely edible.

this is quite common on every ship. performers in "footloose" on the joy were also in "elements " and the ship's "broadway cabaret" (or whatever they called it.) two or more of the cast of "donna" on the prima are the "models" who display the prizes in "the price is right." and so on.

there is lots of confusion here. music licensing is completely different than buying the rights to perform a show that pays tribute to the fictional syd norman. when you see a "syd's" show in the pour house, that is in fact a theatrical presentation, just like "six" or "jersey boys" and there are rights owners of that "show" other than fleetwood mac, even though some of their songs might be used in the production. similarly, "broadway unplugged" is a generic collection of broadway show tunes... they didn't seek permission to perform those tunes nor did they need to... the performance rights are covered by umbrella licensing through one or more of the three licensing agencies... the same as the recorded music in the elevators and in the casino and the music played live in the atrium. with regard to the syd's shows, chris d’arenso and the team who put together those shows and the concept are the rights holders and sign the contract. they (not NCL) may have negotiated with the fleetwood mac folks, but i'm not sure they would have had to. they're just singing a bunch of fleetwood mac songs. just as the folks in the atrium sing a bunch of tunes by cole porter, elton john and paul mccartney and others. NCL is free to play and perform fleetwood mac songs or madonna songs or taylor swift songs throughout the ship. they are (presumably) hooked up through one or more of the three music licensing agencies which collect payments on its members' behalf. there is nothing to stop NCL from having an evening of fleetwood mac songs in the theatre. it just can't be a syd norman's show, as per the contract. as far as that contract goes, typically there is language in there that governs the terms of a renewal and the right for either side to end the agreement with X months of notice.

no. well, they technically can, but it's against the rules to open them, for fire prevention reasons.

ok, i'll weigh on the great cold food debate of 2024. in my experience, MDR food is typically served room temperature, whether it's supposed to be a hot entree or a cold dish, such as a salad or dessert. (the exception: ice cream, which typically does arrive cold... not frozen solid, but cold.) i've found this to be true across all ships of all cruise lines, not just NCL. the stuff comes out of an industrial kitchen and they're serving hundreds or a thousand or more of the same dish. they're not made to order and service being what it is, the plated food will often wait a few minutes before its picked up and brought to your table. the most egregious example of this on NCL is the prima (again, in my experience). so, when people say the food was "cold," i interpret that to mean "room temperature" and i would have to wholeheartedly agree. specialty restaurant food is hot (when it's supposed to be) and dishes from the indulge food hall are always served fresh at the correct temperature (yet again, in my experience).

the suites on most ships do have a butler, and they also come with invitations to breakfast and lunch in a specialty restaurant open only to suite guests. but as for that "upper deck area," that's either a reference to a public sun deck (to which everybody has access) or to the vibe, for which they would have had to pay to gain access.

enforce a restriction or contractual term? yes, indeed. easy peasy. as for all the rest, it depends on who "they" is... if "they" is chris d’arenso (the playwright) along with the producing entity that came up with the concept, the answer is yes, they could authorize the show to be performed in other venues, or other sized venues, if they so chose. if the "they" is NCL, no they can't perform the "syd" musical revues in another venue without the creative team's permission. can they perform individual songs normally heard in the pour house in the theater using some of the same performers? absolutely! nothing stopping them from singing those songs in the theater or the atrium or at a sail away party. presumably, NCL is fully licensed through ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. what they can't do is perform a collection of songs normally heard in the pour house (with or without the "character" identities and associated banter) if it would make people think that it's an ad hoc syd norman's "lite" show.

i believe i read that they were platinum on carnival.

problems with the NCL site virtually every evening! i haven't had any problems using chrome on a mac. i do have two alternate browsers, and i'm not afraid to use them in case of a problem. usually, at least one works. the only other suggestion i have for you is to - and i can't believe i'm saying this - try the app. are you 120 days out... or 121? the clock resets at midnight eastern time (US). that doesn't sound like your challenge, but i thought i'd mention. also, NCL are known to do major site updates on weekends and you may be experiencing problems because of that.

no, you're not missing anything. B1 are pretty standard aft-facing balcony staterooms. no butler that i'm aware of.

with the "regular" drink package, you pay the overage above $15, plus additional gratuity. if something is listed on the menu as $16, you pay $1.20... $1 extra plus 20 cents as an additional gratuity. the menu prices are the full prices, without the $15 discount. with the plus package, almost everything is available to you at no charge, with a few exceptions, mostly for super duper premium outrageously expensive spirits... louis XIII cognac is among them, if memory serves.. veuve cliquot is no longer generally offered, except in le bistro. they may have it in the haven. but probably no longer. pommerey rose is what they now generally pour as a premium "champagne" instead.

typically, no curfew. come and go as you please. (never been to livorno, but i can't imagine it's different than any other port.)

yup. the technical term for this is "manufactured spending." i never bring cash to the casino. i always charge to the room. i get the 3% fee waived due to casino status and i also earn 3% on the NCL card. it would be a wash, if i didn't have the convenience fees waived. for me, though, i'd be losing 3% if i used cash because i wouldn't get the benefit on the NCL card.

it is not mandatory, but it is customary. you can adjust it or remove it by visiting the guest services desk. please understand that the onboard service charge doesn't just compensate servers and housekeeping staff. it also compensates front and back of house employees in many other departments. so, the logic in trying to adjust it because of the number of meals consumed is a bit wonky.