UKstages

despite my screen name, i’m an american accessing the NCL website from within the USA… and yet that is indeed what displayed… a page from the UK site. i booked a club balcony last week on a B2B and was trying to get the same room I had on the first leg. the US-based rep put me on hold and came back and apologized and said he could only give me a “guarantee” stateroom. i accepted that and two days later a cabin assignment appeared on my reservation. (it was not the same room, but was a midship family club balcony, whereas i had booked a club balcony.) the exact same thing happened on my last cruise… club balcony room was “guaranteed” followed by an assignment of a family club balcony a day or two later. at no time ware either of these rooms ever described as a “sailaway” cabin, as i believe sailaway cabins are generally offered at a discount. if he had called it a “sailaway” cabin, i’m not sure i would have agreed. i think booking a GTY cabin is akin to buying an airline ticket without being able to choose a seat. this can happen for a number of reasons relating to inventory management. you have a seat on the plane; you just don’t know where you’ll be sitting, and may not know until you arrive at the airport. it’s not a discounted ticket. is sailaway the same thing as GTY? could be, but it doesn’t sound like it to me. as far as NCL changing the room once assigned… that would be rare and unusual. it has probably happened, but if it happened with any frequency, we’d be reading thread after thread about it right here on CC. that’s an interesting data point, but may not have much relevance to an NCL booking.

i'm not sure NCL has any principles, but, yes, i suppose it is a "rule." you can find the relevant explanation in NCL's FAQs here: https://www.ncl.com/uk/en/cruise-faq/what-guarantee-stateroom-cene

are you talking about the 10/28 western caribbean 7-day itinerary out of miami? while that is supposed to be the first voyage without "footloose," it's still being shown as an entertainment option for that cruise in the app and the website. that's probably an NCL website snafu, but who knows? as for a replacement show, again... who knows? i don't even think NCL knows yet. but, lately, they've been quite fond of solo acts... violinists, singers and comedians. i don't think we should expect to see a large scale broadway production replacing "footloose."

actually, no. it can be assigned at any time, and you are guaranteed the cabin level you booked (or higher), but once assigned, that cabin is yours.

yes, clear the cache. but any erroneous banner on the homepage/landing page advertising old promo positioning is all on NCL. remember, we’re dealing with a website that still has outdated terminology such as “mini suite” (for “club balcony”). and the NCL website also routinely advertises $250 cruise first certificates, even after they’ve switched over to $150.

don’t know about the door, but the lounge is the “horizon” lounge.

if you have the free at sea beverage program, there is no longer a fee for bringing onboard your own wine. no limit to the number of excursions… you can even do more than one in the same day, if the schedule permits. but the $50 applies only to the first person on the reservation. daily service charges are $20 per person per day. You can prepay and avoid any future increase, should there be any. FAS dining in specialty restaurants… the number of meals you are awarded depends on cabin level and length of cruise. it’s not unlimited and advance reservations are helpful. these typically open up 120 days before your sailing. as for what you can order… it sometimes varies depending on the whim of the server or the imaginary policies of the individual restaurant, but your meal will generally include an appetizer, an entree and two sides and a dessert. sometimes an appetizer and a salad. your server will provide guidance. the prepaid dining gratuity is based on the retail price of the dining package. if you order something extra while dining, you’ll pay 20% on top of the price of that item.

no guarantee in bermuda, as to which way you’ll dock, but if you have a balcony cabin and you want the statue of liberty view as you depart new york, you’ll want the starboard side. lady liberty appears about thirty to forty-five minutes after departure. conversely, you can see her on the port side on your return, but you usually have to get up at four or five in the morning for that. port side leaving NYC features manhattan city views. as for generic starboard and port preferences… it depends. some people only like to move forward and get turned all around when they’re on one side or other, though how you feel about this often depends on the bed and sofa placement within the room.

the best time to order FAS+ is when you have access to somebody else's credit card.

i feel your pain. the old "CDC" excuse. why would the CDC shut down "private" hot tubs on stateroom balconies and not be concerned about the disease-filled cesspools on the public decks? (i kid, they are not - technically - cess pools; they are more like large circular repositories for diluted urine and spilled drinks.)

on the prima and viva, club balcony rooms are aft.

pro tip: pick up your stateroom phone (well, not the entire phone, but the receiver) and dial room service. they will be able to make - and change - dining reservations.

they're heated.. at least they're suppoised to be. they were on my prima B2B. but rumours never seems to be on early in the cruise. so... are they waiting in line for a show they haven't seen before? or are they queuing up for a show with a band they heard from others - on this cruise - is worth seeing in a club they've heard from others - on that cruise - fills up quickly? OK, so we have several different data points. the operative phrase may be "this cruise." it often is. but that may be because word spreads by the end of the cruise that the show is not that good.

i think the proven strategy is actually the opposite. go early in the cruise before the uninitiated realize how good the show is and the word spreads. my experience has been that lines are longer as the cruise progresses.

i’m very disappointed. i was hoping this was a thread about solar-powered internet onboard NCL ships. disappointment is also a word that can describe the internet on every NCL ship I have ever been on. i made the mistake once of purchasing the enhanced premium service (allegedly capable of streaming) and found it no better than the standard internet. throughput was rarely above 2 mbps. this was on the gem on a caribbean cruise in april of last year. as for starlink, the new internet provider, it’s only on one or two ships at this point. few people have experienced it on NCL. i anticipate improvement, but I don’t anticipate robust streaming.

it really depends on the length of the cruise. if i'm doing a seven or ten day... and i have two or four specialty dining meals thrown in there, i have found i really don't get bored by the menu choices. plus, when i find my favorite, i have another opportunity or two to have it again. if you're on a twelve or twenty-one day cruise, or you're on lengthy back-to-back cruises, well, yeah, it might get a little boring. but, remember, you will likely have additional specialty dining credits to consume in that case... plus they will bring you virtually anything you want in the haven restaurant with one day notice, or customize your order (if ingredients are on the menu and available in the kitchen) and they will bring you MDR choices and buffet items (such as indian food)... again, with notice. it's not my place to say whether you're being overly picky... but i have heard things around town. just sayin'.

duty free shop also often has macallan enigma and johnny walker blue, pending inventory availability. the mcallan sold out on my most recent prima journey, but they still had one JB blue on the final day of the cruise. with the OBC out there (for some) due to the hot tub issue, duty free shop could actually run out of some of the more popular high-priced liquor.

it's not utter nonsense, which is what i assume you mean. but it's not accurate. with regard to syd's, it's not music licensing per se. it's the contract with the folks who created the show. part of the unique nature of the show is the small venue and the intimacy. they will not move it to the theatre because the creative artists behind the show believe it won't be the same show in the vacuous theatre. and i happen to agree with them. also, it's in the contract that it can only play in the venue named after the show... syd is a fictitious character and you're watching the show in his club. the club is part of the show. with regard to the improv, all comedy that was formerly housed in the improv has moved to the theatre. at least that's the way it was on my B2B in may and june. which other shows perform in the improv? when i was onboard, it was an endless parade of lectures, trivia and crafts seminars,... no actual bonafide entertaiment.

what a great thread and what a great service you have provided with your comprehensive overview of haven dining options. brava! i see a lot of familiar dishes here, and also a few that i've never ordered (and now wished i had). my favorite remains the mushroom flatbread.

on my prima cruise, it was the commodore room (smaller MDR) that wa s taken over by a group the entire cruise. my favorite poirt on this itinerary! no matter where i went, where i looked... there were breathtaking views the likes of which i had never seen before.

i saw the show twice, although on two different cruises. the games (and the prreshow, the jokes, the patter and the “ad libs”) were identical. what was different were the gifts and the associated prize values that contestants had to guess.

i actually didn’t notice that. had i, i would have shared my favorite atlanta/coke anecdote… many years ago, i visited the world of coca-cola, which - for the uninitiated - can only be described as a shrine/museum/marketplace for all things coke. when i left the building, there was a huge line of maybe two hundred devoted people waiting to get in, as the attraction was quite new. i walked a few feet, turned to look at the line, walked a few more feet, then turned back to shout a warning to those waiting patiently in the queue: “it’s people! coca-cola is people!” a few people got it and laughed. everybody else thought I was crazy, i’m sure. the relevant point here about NCL is that they have enormous brand equity in the freestyle concept, particularly with dining. coke enjoys that same relationship with its fanatical customers. no mater what coke product is released, they don’t stray far from their secret recipe, their signature logo or their distinctive colors or their contour bottle. when they did, they failed miserably. so, in my opinion, it would be quite a business risk for NCL to mess with their signature freestyle concept.

you mean, like “new coke?” because that was, of course, soooooo… successful.

step 1. bring empty 750ml bottles from home, along with a small funnel. step 2. order two shots of your preferred top shelf liquor/liquer at any bar. step 3. go to cabin and pour the liquid through the funnel into the empty bottle. step 4. go to another bar and repeat the process detailed above. alternate among three or four of your favorite bars and continue until all bottles are filled. do not drink anything or it will delay the completion of your take-home bottles! step 5. go to the duty free shop onboard to determine your savings. with any luck, you will have saved $80 - $200, depending on your liquor choice, the number of bottles filled and the duration of your cruise. step 6. bask in the glory of a job well done!

i said this about the show in my prima review, but here it is again: when you are randomly called, they use the name as shown in their database and on your room key card. and since NCL almost always uses your middle name (if provided), they call all three names. the net effect was that it sounded like all the contestants were assassins! “lee harvey oswald, come on down, you’re the next contestant on the price is right!” ”mark david chapman, let’s play plinko!”