UKstages

$5 would be the minimum per bag, i would think. tip less, only if you don't care if you'll ever see your bag again. you tip $10-$15 in total for a collection of three or four bags? or you tip $10 - $15 per bag, which is incredibly generous. same question... $10 per bag?

i have done this! your meal essentially comes in the same containers they give you for leftovers. please understand that Q food has a very short shelf life. and that fired food (like onion rings) will steam and get soggy once in a bag or enclosed container. as long as you don't mind your food being at sub optimal temperatures, and not being as fresh as it was when it came out of the kitchen, then you'll enjoy. (to be fair, much of the food served in Q is believed to be made off the ship and only warmed up in the kitchen, so maybe it's not that big a difference!)

i booked the prima a few days ago... about 45 days away from sailing. i went in and had no trouble getting dinner reservations for six specialty restaurant slots and three MDR slots, but i was flexible as to which restaurant to eat in on which night. granted, most of my reservations were for fairly late dining, 8:30, 9:00, 9;30... because that was the only thing that was available. but that suits me, and even so, i know that i can rejigger once i board, especially if i get on the ship early. i too am concerned about getting a lunch time table at indulge, especially since i'm on an itinerary with a potentially colder climate.

contact their VP of guest services to state your concerns and your reasonable expected compensation/resolution: katty byrd NCL7665 corporate center dr.miami, fl 33126 kbyrd@ncl.com

i'm on that side of the coin! i book CAS cruises routinely and the admin fee is a bitter pill to swallow. however, on my most recent booking, i found out something i didn't know before... if you have a percentage off coupon in your account, it won't reduce the "fare" because the cost basis for the fare is zero. that much i knew. but what i didn't know is that you can indeed apply it to the booking and it will take that percentage off of the admin fee! i saved about $50 doing this on an upcoming cruise.

none.

i completely agree. i wasn't suggesting they make those venues bigger. i was suggesting that it was unfair criticism of the prima to say that you couldn't get into syd's, for isntance,, since the inability to accommodate all guests is a factor for all ships with those small venues.

this is the way that's done: (from "five easy pieces") Bobby : I'd like a plain omelette, no potatoes, tomatoes instead, a cup of coffee and wheat toast. Waitress : [points at his menu] No substitutions. Bobby : What do you mean? You don't have any tomatoes? Waitress : Only what's on the menu. You can have a number two, a plain omelette, it comes with cottage fries and rolls. Bobby : Yeah, I know what it comes with, but it's not what I want. Waitress : Well, I'll come back when you make up your mind Bobby : Wait a minute, I have made up my mind. I'd like a plain omelette, no potatoes on the plate, a cup of coffee and a side order of wheat toast. Waitress : I'm sorry, we don't have any side orders of toast. I'll give you an English muffin or a coffee roll. Bobby : What do you mean you don't make side orders of toast? You make sandwiches, don't you? Waitress : Would you like to talk to the manager? Palm Apodaca : Hey, mac... Bobby : Shut up. [to the waitress] Bobby : You've got bread and a toaster of some kind? Waitress : I don't make the rules. Bobby : OK, I'll make it as easy for you as I can. I'd like an omelette, plain, and a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast, no mayonnaise, no butter, no lettuce, and a cup of coffee. Waitress : A number two, a chicken salad sand. Hold the butter, the lettuce, and the mayonnaise, and a cup of coffee. Anything else? Bobby : Yeah, now all you have to do is hold the chicken, bring me the toast, give me a cheque for the chicken salad sandwich, and you haven't broken any rules.

for the larger, grander requests, a day's notice is really helpful and virtually guarantees you'll get what you're looking for. the other thing you can do, apart from adding shrimp or a lobster tail, is that you can ask (with a day's notice) to have an entirely different cuisine. until the prima introduced the indulge food hall, the only place to get indian food was the buffet. if you're in the haven, and you fancy indian food, just ask. tell them which day you'd like it and they'll have it for you. it will be probably be an elevated version of what the buffet has on offer and you'll get to dine with your traveling companion in the haven and still have access to their apps and desserts.

thanks. i was pretty sure i knew what you meant. i just didn't want somebody to wander by and think you could choose flights. i cruise out of NYC mostly and walk to the terminal, but i will need air for a transatlantic that i'm taking in a few months. but i typically use frequent flyer miles for that and don't book through NCL.

actually, "club balcony" f.k.a. "mini suites" only get you one point in latitudes. it doesn't count as a real "suite," mostly because it's, well, not really a suite. so, just one point a night. but there is a current 3X booking promo, which gives you 2X additional points, for a total of 3X a night. as others have noted, the key difference in the club balcony is the larger bathroom and double sink plus the ability to book dinner reservations before those in lesser cabins. as with all cruise ships, make sure it doesn't have a surge protector. power strips with surge protectors are prohibited. hey, i think i know what you mean, but just to avoid confusion... NCL air didn't allow you to select flights, did they? i think what you mean is that you chose seats, logging into the delta website using your frequent flyer status, once the flights had already been assigned?

to be fair, syd's and the comedy venue and, on some ships, the cavern club... these always experience frustratingly long lines, and lots of disappointed cruisers who get shut out, regardless of the ship. so that may be an unfair criticism of the prima.. i'm sailing on the prima for the first time in may, so i have no firsthand experience, but it does sound like the crowding in indoor spaces such as the indulge food hall is a very real thing. it's almost as if they thought the crowds on the ship would be equally disbursed throughout all venues, regardless of popularity. it also seems to me like indulge should be a 24 hour venue, much like the local and that would take care of some of the crowding problems.

>>I don't know if they have any shore excursions less than $50. << yes, there are some "tours" that are $50 or less. typically, they are a gondola (sky) ride or a hop on/hop off bus tour or a trolley tour, but they do indeed exist... in some ports.

probably better that you're not on the same cruise. less competition! all's fair in love and veuve.

dr. pepper is not distributed by the coca cola company (except in europe and korea), so it's extremely unlikely you would see dr. pepper onboard an NCL ship since NCL now has a partnership with coke.

dear ann landers: i have a battery operated razor, hair trimmer, toothbrush and alarm clock, as well as several other battery operated "electrical devices." they are all cheap and they were all made in china. my friends say they are fire hazards, but i just don't think so. should i unfriend them and continue to use these devices? or should i stop using these devices and remain friends? please advise.

i hear ya... and you're right. it is vague and confusing. for the record, they also show a lobster in their photos for "free at sea" dining and there ain't no "free" lobster at "free at sea" specialty dining restaurants. there is such a thing as the "24 hour rule," but it's imposed by the department of transportation and it applies to air travel. you have 24 hours in which to cancel your reservation for a full refund. NCL may make the whole thing cancelable within 24 hours if there is air travel attached to the reservation.

the real problem is that they let staff go during the heart of the pandemic due to lack of demand for passports and are only now rehiring and staffing up.

count me in the veuve camp. i find its erratic availability onboard NCL ship quite troubling. in any case, i'm moderately amused by those who have quite specific preferences and can write post after post about their preferred beverage, but then insist on calling their favorite tipple "french champagne." zut alors! if it's "champagne," then it is, by definition, from france. calling it "french champagne" is a bit like saying "japanese kobe beef."

that figure is more or less correct. (i've heard 40%.) but the odd thing is that more than 70% of americans say they have traveled abroad at some point in their lives. so... do the other 30% have expired passports? have they given up traveling? or are they all cruisers? or did they visit mexico or canada long ago when passports were not required? in any case, the fact that a majority of americans do not have passports has long been a major obstacle to growth in the travel industry. i remember a few years ago that qantas paid americans to get a passport if they booked a trip!

the current wait time for an expedited US passport is 7 to 9 weeks. yes, if you have a passport office in a city nearby (not a post office) and have travel within the next 7 to 14 days, you can get an in-agency passport more quickly, but you must make an appointment. those are the two requirements... you have to have an appointment and travel must be within the 7 to 14 day window (from the day of your appointment).

NCL is likely not worried about them at all. they are worried about something else. but, as mentioned up thread, they probably just find it easier to ban all fans, rather than get into an argument with passengers over the merits or safety of individual fans. we have seen this play out with a number of rules and policies. they are poorly written, enacted rather thoughtlessly, with nobody at NCL seeming to understand the full implications of their statement. people complain and then NCL quite often backtracks saying, "oh, that's not what we meant, here's the new policy." and whatever new policy they issue may clarify that small battery or USB operated hand held fans are permitted. but, for now, it seems that they are not.

not really. most benefits are calculated on passengers 1 and 2, as passengers 3 and 4 travel free... that is the main benefit to being passengers 3 and 4! it's really not about how many people the cabin holds... it's about how many paid to be on board.

when i was on the gem last year, almond croissants were available during the haven and suite breakfasts served at moderno. they can be found in what is normally the moderno salad bar area, along with fruit, smoked salmon, cereal, breads and other pastries. (this is in addition to the standard haven menu.)

agree with much of what @TampaGambler says here. there is a popular notion in customer service advocacy called HUACA... which means, quite simply, if you don't like the answer you're given, or if you know it's wrong, "Hang Up And Call Again." HUACA. as for the question of comps... your baseline room comp, your virtual cruise certificate, is absolutely determined by your play, probably by a computer algorithm that tales into account your average bet, how long you play and the hold of the machines you typically play. other factors may include how long it has been since your last cruise and what your incremental on board spend is. your CAS cruise consultant can't personally change those offers. what they can do is ask a supervisor (a human being) to evaluate your play and make a decision about some small aspect of your reservation... maybe it's a one category room upgrade or maybe it's letting you take an eleven day cruise when you're only approved for ten days. the 10% haven thing just sounds like a poorly trained agent, a new agent who hasn't encountered that scenario before, or a lazy agent who didn't want to go the extra step. my understanding is that these folks do not work on commission (sometimes i wish they did), but that there stats are looked at it when it comes from performance reviews: quality scores, number of calls taken, number of deposits secured, number of customers who don't sign up for FAS drink package. the challenge with CAS and other cruise lines is that, unlike land-based casinos, your consultant who books your room is not your host and can't really make player development decisions as a host would. even once on board, unless you're traveling on a ship you've been on before, you have no real relationship with the "host" team and have to reestablish yourself each cruise.