UKstages

my goodness, i wouldn't imagine that at all. the app is, to be polite, wonky. it does not mirror website functionality completely. key functions are missing or regularly misbehave. for some functions, it just opens up a browser window on your phone and sends you to the website. the chief purpose of the app is to be a seaside companion for "just in time" information. it falls down on the job when asked to serve as a sales tool. yes, you can "favorite" items in the app. the real question here is how the app treats items like air transfers that you've expressed an interest in and how it handles items that have been placed in your cart. when all is said and done with this sad saga, it will probably point to an app glitch or known defect within the app or an intentional feature that does not work as designed.

what makes you think the OP is concerned about how others choose to spend their money? i'm pretty darn sure she has no such concern. the OP is clearly concerned about she chooses to spend her money; she wishes to tip wisely and appropriately when traveling in the haven.

"six" is even a bit shorter. it runs about 80 minutes... and that's with the extensive reprises in the finale/curtain call. it would be just over an hour without all that. "six" and "choir of man" are the only shows that are performed on NCL pretty much exactly as they are on broadway or in the west end. i saw "jersey boys" onboard NCL and, while i never saw it on broadway, my sense was that they didn't cut much - or anything - out of it, except, perhaps, an intermission. theatre purists don't like when they mess with shows and cut out what they view as essential content. i tend to agree. "beetlejuice" is not a great show, but it is a fun show and perfect for a cruise ship. my opinion is that there is actually plenty to cut here without affecting the overall look and feel of the show. not necessary. i had never seen the movie and quite enjoyed the musical.

This will be a 90 minute “tab” version of the show. The show in its original form on Broadway ran two hours and thirty minutes, with a fifteen minute intermission. So they’re cutting about 45 minutes out of the show.

"free at sea" really should be called "for a small fee" at sea. you pay gratuities on your drink and meal packages. it's still exactly as advertised, but, technically, not "free." most in this forum think it's a pretty good deal.

this is exactly what this sounds like. it's clearly happened before and this TA is taking proactive measures to warn people, even if NCL is not. the TA is erring on the side of caution, saying it happens any time anything is ordered, but not immediately paid for. my spidey sense says that it only happens at minus 21 days. the problem here is that strange things happen when you're 21 days out. you order, or attempt to order, or contemplate ordering something, the app apparently thinks you ordered it... and since it's 21 days out, it immediately classifies you as somebody who hasn't paid for your reservation. it makes no distinction between something that hasn't been paid for after a year of planning or something that was possibly ordered five minutes ago. sounds like a serious app design flaw. uh, no. just... well, no. that's not the way financing generally works. i never heard of uplift, but i imagine it works the same as any other finance arrangement. uplift immediately pays NCL and uplift then becomes the creditor. the purchaser has a contract with uplift requiring ten or twelve (or whatever) equal payments over the course of a year. NCL can refund the purchaser and it has no bearing on the purchaser's obligation to pay the creditor. they would still owe the money to uplift. so, a "scam" such as you describe would simply not work. yes, credit cards can be stolen and used to purchase goods and services. but i know of no scammer that would request a refund be given from a company to which they would already have had to submit their personally identifiable information, such as name and address. if FCC were to be issued, it would have to be in the same name, which poses a problem if the credit card is stolen. and if a refund is made to the credit card, there would be no benefit to the "scammer."

the three bus rides can't be compared. two are lengthy rides to the airport, with tolls and traffic, one is a five or six minute (or less) journey from 45th street to 48th street. the marriott marquis is an easy walk to the pier, provided your luggage is on wheels and nobody in your party has mobility issues. few people who live in new york would think twice about walking for fifteen or twenty minutes. i live about a mile from the manhattan cruise ship terminal and always walk to the ship. walking also has an advantage: you arriving apart from a cluster of people all clamoring to get luggage out of the same bus or transport vehicle, take the same elevator and stand in the same security lines at the same time.

for everybody saying they haven't heard the whole story... what more do you need to hear? all parties agree that she financed the cruise fare and, as far as NCL was concerned, the cruise fare was paid in full. all parties agree that the airport transfers were not paid. the parties do not agree that airport transfers were requested or ordered. all parties agree that NCL canceled her cruise because the airport transfers were not paid for. NCL says they have the right to do that. whether they should have done it is an entirely different question. no reasonable human being would come to that conclusion, in my opinion. whether you're a fan of NCL or not, surely you can see that something is not quite right here with their response. this will end with an apology, a full refund and a hefty amount of FCC or a comped cruise.

following up on my own comment here... i'm catching up on several months of old posts, as i've been away from CC for a few months and haven't sailed since last september. (i typically float in and out in the months preceding and following a cruise and i'm in the planning stages of my next adventure now.) i have since seen a thread in the casino forum here on CC in which people state that there were indeed some changes made late last year... different algorithms or such or having to work through offered certificates or some such before play-based offers can be generated. so, it sounds like there have indeed been some changes! i haven't called yet to find out what my current offer is, but i can certainly report back if there is a downgrade. i do find this the most off-putting aspect of CAS... with every other cruise line, you know what your specific offer is and you can call and book it. CAS offers only tell you that you have a free room, but they don't tell you where until you call. there's a big difference between an inside cabin and a balcony and a haven suite. perhaps. walked away a loser on my last cruise, playing primarily 3 line UX quarters @ $7.50 a hand. i do think the UX multiplier generally smooths out the ride. but you still have to get lucky. i was in atlantic city last weekend and had a 12X multiplier on one line, held two to the royal and had two more royal cards pop in on the draw. wound up with a 12X flush, but that one card made a big difference and robbed me of my $12,000 payday. as for the odds, would i rather play a 9/6 machine than a 9/5 machine? sure, but, ultimately, what's far more important is what cards you are dealt and what cards you draw. if you add up ALL the flushes that i was "shortchanged" on, i would only have enough extra bankroll to play two or three more hands. i completely understand. we can all relate. i don't doubt for a minute that you had a very bad run on NCL. i assume virtually nothing paid out. that's unfortunate. ugh! but slot payouts are determined over the course of - literally - millions of spins. how do you know NCL had the worst payout? all you really know is that you did really poorly. i'm sure that's true. but that doesn't actually mean that NCL has "the worst slot payout." it just means that you yourself couldn't win a darn thing. yes... and no. typically, the way these jackpots work is that - when reset - the computer picks a random dollar value, in this case it was apparently $26,694.40. let's say the reset value was $10,000. incrementally, every bet adds to that jackpot value. and when it reaches the chosen value, regardless of who is playing or the size of the bet, the jackpot will be paid. if it's a randomly awarded jackpot, it will be paid on the next spin. if the jackpot is part of a bonus event, it will be awarded on the next bonus. i don't know anything about that machine or how that game plays, but to advance the jackpot by 16K probably took eight or nine months. so, when a game's rules state that you're eligible to win the jackpot at any bet level, that's true... but higher bets will advance you to the chosen jackpot value more quickly. that's different than saying higher bets have a greater likelihood of winning! placing a higher or max bet only matters if you're on the precipice of hitting that preset value. (but, of course, you'd never know what the preset value is.) the other factor to consider is whether or not the progressive jackpot is a "must hit by $XXX" jackpot. if you come across a jackpot that must hit by $500 and it's currently at $489... then, yes, max betting will get you to the preset value more quickly. you can see how much it will potentially "cost" you by tracking how much the meter goes up for each bet, then dividing that by the dollar value left and you will know the maximum number of spins required to win the "must hit by" progressive jackpot.

yes, thanks for your answer. i completely understand. let me ask the question in a slightly different way; perhaps i wasn't clear. as far as i can tell, the "free" cruise they are referencing (that can't be combined) is the free cruise reward within myvegas. i would not expect to be able to apply a myvegas $$$ off reward with a myvegas free cruise reward. this is specifically prohibited. i get that. but i would not be using a myvegas free cruise reward. i would be booking a free cruise directly with CAS from a CAS offer. typically, i am able to apply FCC, Cruise Next or Cruise First certificates to the CAS "free" cruise to reduce the various fees and charges. i know the $$$ off myvegas certificates can't be used to offset fees or gratuities. but what about free at sea plus or wifi or additional specialty dining? that goes into my total cruise fare... can i apply a myvegas reward to offset these charges? honestly, i've looked at the terms and i don't see the "base price" mentioned at all, as in the myvegas reward can only be applied to the "base price." where are folks seeing that? is that a misinterpretation of the clause that says it can't be applied to "gratuities, taxes or fees" so it is thought that it can't be applied to other charges? for the record, NCL refers to the "price" of additional dining and wifi and they alternately refer to it as an "upgrade" or as a package," but not a "fee." also for the record, the terms do explicitly state that it can be combined with free at sea. hey, look, i don't reasonably expect anybody to have a definitive answer to this, unless you have done this very thing... i just wanted to clarify my question and point out that there is more than one kind of "free" cruise. i'll ask an NCL rep, then - most likely - have to HUACA. i can report back and share my experience.

More than one thing can be true simultaneously. I believe NCL bartenders are overworked and underpaid. I enjoy tipping a dollar or two for a drink and I do it at every bar, not just my regular bar. It makes me feel good knowing that I have brought a small sliver of joy to them. It’s just like giving gifts at holiday time. The joy is in the giving. At the same time, sure, I have noticed a smile of recognition when I approach, they remember my drink preferences and there might be a little extra pep in their step. But you know what else I have noticed? I often see that same smile and spirit for other customers who don’t seem to tip extra. For many of the hospitality staff, particularly the Filipinos, it is part of their culture to serve… they genuinely enjoy it and they are “people” people. That’s why they’ve been chosen for these positions. They know the deal; they participate in a tip pool that becomes part of their overall compensation and that guests are not expected to tip extra. They freely accept that. So, tipping “extra” is really about the tipper, not the tippee. It may or may not have an effect on the service you receive subsequently (most people seem to think it does, but that could be confirmation bias at play). If it makes you feel good and you can afford to do it… do it.

I certainly share your concern, I really do, but please realize that your PII will sit in their database for weeks and months and years to come. It’s probably already there if you’ve cruised with NCL before, visited their website, get email or snail mail from them, played in their casino or joined the Latitudes program.

Policy is the same. I haven’t been on the Pearl, but I’ve been on the Gem. I agree with the general sentiment here that a mature looking kid who is well behaved would not be asked to leave nor would he raise an eyebrow.

Catching up on older threads after having been away from CC for a few months. The criticism upthread about charters inconveniencing those who have already booked… I find that fascinating. Particularly the part about “thousands” of people being inconvenienced. I have no inside information here, but I doubt that’s the case. If the ship were fully booked or mostly booked, NCL would not likely have taken the charter. It would be rare for them to do so if the ship already had “thousands” of passengers booked. This ship’s capacity is around 3200 passengers, so to say that “thousands” were inconvenienced, would mean that two thirds or more of the ship was already sold. There would be no need for NCL to take a charter for that sailing if it were selling so well. That’s the other thing. Many here assume that NCL is charging more for the charter cruise. That’s not the way this usually works. When a company does a “buy out” of a ship, or a plane or a theatre, it’s generally at a steep discount. The chief advantage to NCL is that every room is pre-sold and it gets to shift the burden of managing the actual sale of those rooms to the charter company, which can charge whatever it wants. NCL gets its money regardless of whether all rooms are occupied when the ship sails. And in that regard, they might make more money, if the ship would typically sale with some empty rooms. It’s a trade off, with advantages for both the charter company and the cruise line. NCL saves a lot of back room administrative costs on a charter, and ensures guaranteed 100% capacity, but they wouldn’t typically sell a charter if the sailing was already booking at a healthy pace…and/or if the sailing’s departure date was rapidly approaching. I’m sure somebody can post their individual tale of woe to prove the exception to the rule, but charter dates are generally secured a year or more in advance and generally do not inconvenience already booked passengers. And if it does, it’s a relatively small number, perhaps a few hundred on this cruise. Again, I have no inside info… I have no idea how many passengers had already booked. But I’d be shocked to learn that there were thousands of passengers inconvenienced.

I’m new to this thread, so I may have missed something, even though I’ve read through the whole thing. Apologies if this has been addressed… I book “free” cruises through CAS, but also have a large balance of points through myVegas. I rarely redeem because most rewards are of low value or are simply not needed if you are already comped or have a host relationship. As best as I can tell, the “dollars off” rewards for NCL can’t be used for gratuities, fees or taxes, so is there anything I could actually use them for when booking a “free” cruise directly with CAS? I often pre-pay the DSC with a Cruise First certificate, but the DSC is considered “gratuities” and not eligible here for the myVegas redemption? Can I buy additional specialty dining packages, Wi-Fi or upgrade to Free at Sea Plus? (Sadly, unlike RCI, they do not seem to be offering slot play rewards. I’d be all over that!)

At the Manhattan cruise ship terminal, the two key strategies are to go very early or very late. Both have their advantages. I used to be a “very late” guy. Now I’m in the very early camp. If social distancing is a concern, go very late. As another poster said, it’s a mass of closely-packed people, virtually none of whom are masked. If you arrive late, you can typically waltz in with no crowds. If you want to be among the first to board, go early. The ship is often cleared for boarding between 11 and 11:30. If there were no passengers on a repositioning journey immediately before your cruise, they will sometimes let you on as early as 10.Unless you're in the Haven, the waiting areas t board at the pier are "NO FUN"! At the MCT, the “exclusive” Haven waiting area is pretty lackluster. More space, but the same crappy seats you’ll find elsewhere. A few lame finger sandwiches and some soda and juices. It is moderately more bearable than the regular terminal areas.

First of all, let’s hope you win and that there are no losses! In an answer to your question about hosts, there typically is not a host assigned specifically to you. There could be three to seven casino hosts, a host “team,” and they are pretty much interchangeable, although there is always a lead or main host or manager. They usually sit behind a counter, often near or opposite to the cashier. Typically, you’ll get a letter in your cabin, along with your player and drink cards, that lists the names of all the hosts. There is often an invitation to a casino kickoff party, where you can get free drinks and small canapés. This is usually held in the cavern club or other small venue on the first night and the “party” is pretty lame, but if you’re looking to establish relationships with the casino staff, this is a good place to start. You can approach the casino host team to ask questions or for assistance at any time. In fact, if you have had pretty strong play on your first few days, it’s entirely reasonable to ask them for a comped specialty meal at one of the restaurants. As in land-based casinos, they learn pretty quickly who their strong players are and they may approach you first to check in, say hello, to offer a comped meal, or to ask if you need anything. The slot attendants learn pretty quickly, too, who the top rated players are and ten to check in regularly. Don’t expect a lot of OBC or comped meals for average play, even if you get comps - or a free cruise - with similar play at your local casino. If you spend four to six hours a day in the ship’s casino and have considerable play - or loss - they are likely to take care of you, Unlike using slot play in a land-based casino, if you have OBC that is eligible to be used in the casino, it transfers in as cash, so I believe you do indeed earn points on it and it would count towards your loss, although usually this would only be a few hundred dollars, so it wouldn’t really affect your stats or total coin-in either way.

This jukebox bio musical got decidedly mixed to negative reviews on Broadway and ran just nine months. If you focus only on the music, treat it as a concert, and don’t expect to learn much about Donna Summer, it has its moments.

I have exactly the same story to tell… $300 OBC given on the last night and I bought a bottle of johnny walker blue! I can confirm that hosts don’t generally want to deal with comps until the last night. I can also recommend that you use up all points before approaching he host… the first thing they will ask is if you have any points. They are more inclined to award a higher dollar value in discretionary comps if you don’t have any points to redeem. Also, if you have high enough player status to get cabin charge convenience fees waived (for cash deposits into your casino account), they will process those fee waivers as credits to your onboard account late in the morning of your last night. You should confirm this at the same time you’re asking about discretionary comps.

for the same reason that many chinese restaurants offer chop suey, which is not a dish that originated in china. these are dishes inspired by the flavors of the home country, but that have been altered to suit american tastes. many americans do indeed travel on NCL. chicken parm and spaghetti and meatballs are two of the most popular dishes on italian restaurant menus in the USA and many folks expect to find them in "italian" restaurants when traveling.

a quick question and a note about upgrading a "free" casino cruise on NCL... are you traveling solo? if so, be aware that, while there is no single supplement or penalty when booking a comped cruise, when it comes to an upgrade bid, your bid will be doubled... in other words, you'll be charged twice the upgrade bid amount, as if you were traveling with a second person, even if you are traveling alone.

they don't have to have an iPhone, but they do have to have an apple device that supports FaceTime. it could be a computer or tablet (iPad) or a phone.

i agree with much of what you say here, as well. we do have a slightly different focus when expressing similar concepts, though. i believe there is indeed an overall lower payout on cruise ships, but i also believe the overall casino experience is pretty much the same on NCL ships as it is on other ships and the cruise ship casino experience is very similar to land-based casinos. in all my NCL gambling related posts on cruise critic i've tried to drive home the same central points... • individual losses in the short term have far more to do with random chance than a "tight" machine, which - the theory goes - has recently had its payback changed to help meet some sort of revenue goal caused by a corporate financial downturn. i see the exact same complaints about poor payback in land-based gaming forums. my belief is the complainer just had a bad run... they weren't lucky. i see handpays taking place on cruise ships all the time, quite often when i'm not winning a damn thing myself. • changing payback is a cumbersome process and, as in a land based casino, a casino is much more likely to have a lower overall payback on newly installed machines rather than machines that have been onboard for awhile. if one believes that NCL has a corporate goal to tighten up machines (i myself don't think they do), then it's more likely to be true for a new ship like the prima... more so than an older ship like the gem. have there been widespread reports of bad runs and increased risk of ruin on the prima? i don't know. but that would certainly be something to look for. those are all newly installed machines which should adhere to NCL's tight payback model, if it exists. if you do see a newer game/machine in the midst of a bunch of older machines on an older ship, yes, that machine is more likely to have been brought onboard with lower payback, absolutely. • choose your game wisely. if you enjoy playing slots, be aware that many of the newer games are highly volatile, particularly those from aristocrat, WMS and konami. when you win, it's a huge payday. when you lose, it's embarrassingly awful. a lot of times, when people are losing big, i get the sense that they are playing "buffalo" and "planet moolah" games and such, which can deplete bankrolls very quickly... unless they are lucky enough to randomly get all the bonus features at once. it's not uncommon, on a penny machine, for a player to go through four, five or six hundred dollars or more without a bonus round. again, this happens in land-based casinos, as well as NCL ships. i don't see any difference in the way gameplay "feels" on NCL than i do elsewhere. • regarding the perceived reduction in NCL comps... when offers are downgraded to inside from balcony, or to club balcony from haven. i have yet to see this myself, but i often wonder if it's a play-based cutback or if it is indeed arbitrary. players are often the worst judges of their own coin-in. invariably, when i talk to friends with this complaint, after a few questions, they admit that they didn't play as much (time, bet level) on their most recent cruises. it's also important to note that qualifications may be higher now... they were more inclined to give away better cabins for "free" after the restart. now that more people are cruising, the inventory if CAS premium cabins may have been pulled back. • as for video poker pay tables... they ain't great, but they are cruise ship playable. i don't see an appreciable difference among all the VP paytables on all the cruise lines, but i haven't cruised every line. while cruising, i'm typically playing multi-line and UX games, which can smooth the variance and mitigate the paytable... if i'm lucky. if i'm gonna play a bit here and there to keep my offers coming, i'd choose to play VP, where i can control part of the outcome, rather than slots. my comment about how "nobody would play" was really meant to suggest that nobody would return. like amusement parks, casinos are judged on a marketing sentiment that factors in how likely a customer is to return for another visit, another cruise. if people see nobody winning, if they themselves don't experience a reasonable "time on device" for their spend, they are unlikely to return. nobody has a reasonable expectation of walking off the ship a winner, but they do want to get value for their money. if they don't, they won't come back. as for being a captive audience, i mentioned that in my post. it only goes so far, however. repeated exposure without sufficient "time on device" will lead people to keep their wallets sealed. i was also a seven stars player with CZR for more than a decade, but have given it up since eldorado took over (due to severe reductions in comps, gifts, rewards and slot play). the "free" balcony cruise benefit from CZR is what got me to return to NCL after a long absence. like you, i've spent a lot of time in casinos, on land and at sea. apart from their ridiculous administrative fee, NCL still provides good value to me and i'll continue to sail.

i've seen "the beatles" four or five times on various ships. yes, it's true... cavern club "sells out" very quickly and queuing is required if you want to get in. personally, i prefer the theatre shows. nearly everybody can get a seat and, when you come right down to it, on close examination (which is possible in the tiny confines of the cavern club), it's quite obvious that these are not in fact (spoiler alert!) the beatles. that is less obvious the further away you're able to sit in the theatre! nor are these guys "an incredible simulation," as the original broadway version of "beatlemania" proclaimed in their advertising in the 1980s. if we're being honest, i haven't seen a complete set of beatles yet on any ship in which all four of them were anything even remotely close to being "fab." on the bliss a couple of years ago, "paul" couldn't sing. if paul can't sing, you don't really have a viable beatles cover band. on the joy a few months ago, "john" was truly sensational and "ringo" was more than competent. "george" and "paul," however would have been laughed at and heckled in a community theatre production. paul didn't even know the set list order. (to be fair, upon returning from an excursion, i heard them rehearsing one afternoon, so perhaps they were putting two new guys into the show and they both needed some "HELP!") look, nothing i say here is going to dissuade anybody from seeing the beatles show, but i recommend going in with very low expectations. it's quite likely that one or more of the alleged lads from liverpool will be absolutely dreadful and that could put a damper on the whole show. also, the production values are quite low for this show, as well. the costumes and wigs are ill fitting and amateurish. the slide projections look like they were designed on a commodore 64 computer. (other than that, how did you enjoy the play, mrs. lincoln?) all that being said, if you can get past the variable quality of the performances, it's a lovely nostalgic show with great music.

the report of one steward having 28 rooms to service seems, well, incredible. assuming a very conservative thirty minutes are spent in the room each day for the initial daily cleaning, that would be 14 hours. assuming another conservative fifteen minutes are spent in the room for turndown/evening service, that would add an additional 7 hours. that would mean that particular steward was working for a minimum of 21 hours. that doesn't seem possible. and, again, these are very conservative time estimates which assume every room takes the same amount of time, not accounting for suites and haven accommodations. even the report of being responsible for 16 rooms seems incredible... the math just doesn't work out.