Karaboudjan

Yes, but I don't think the issue here is so much how this could happen as it is NCL's response. If this was an extraordinary circumstance that NCL did not consider why did they not reinstate the reservation or at least offer FCC to the passenger? I believe that at least one person reported having a similar issue that NCL remedied, so why did they allegedly not do something here?

So given that this seems like such a terrible policy is it not reasonable to think that there is some very good reason why it exists and is enforced in at least some cases?

They seem to be getting a lot more targeted with the Latitudes bonuses. Lately they seem to only offer them on certain 2023 cruises which I presume they want to get filled. I don't recall them being as limited in scope a year or two ago. We got triple points on a Prima cruise when they first went on sale and I can't believe they thought they'd need any help selling those... The question with the go kart track is how profitable it is and what they could do instead. Considering that it is wrapped around the funnel it is not exactly a prime or at least versatile location. If they do phase them out I'm sure it won't be for something as mundane as just more deck space for people to spread out.

And do we really think that NCL is not aware of the potential bad publicity from this? Of course they are, so they must have a pretty good reason for taking the position that they are.

I think this is one of those CC myths that just won't die. I was on the Prima in December (100%+ occupancy) I logged in at around 9am Eastern on T-21 and all check in times were available.

NCLH is a public company and the leadership's responsibility is to provide return the shareholders. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by 'driving the demise of the NCLH brands' but if FDR is in fact delivering superior financial results then he is doing exactly what he is paid to do. Customer satisfaction is usually a means to financial success, but it's hard to please everyone. I think that most of the reaction on these boards is because NCL and cruising in general is changing and some people either don't roll with the changes as well as others and/or don't understand that the landscape has changed and the lines need to adapt.

We did that in Port Canaveral. We arrived a day early so they just instructed us on what time to get back to the airport for the transfer. I believe our PCC did have to make up some flight information since their system may require that to complete the reservation.

There is a whole thread about this, although it has been quiet for a while. You might get some ideas from that. See below. Apart from that I have not seen a lot of discussion about upgrades lately. Since the ships have been fairly full lately upgrade options, especially to the Haven are probably very limited. To see what cabin you might get you could do a mock booking and see which, if any are available in the Haven. Most likely those are what you would get, although you could also have cabins open up through cancellations or people upgrading to higher-level suites.

In most cases NCL is quoting you a BOGO air figure long before they actually purchase the tickets, so I would not expect their quote to match to any going price at the time you book. Their figure must be an estimate of what they think they can get you tickets for when the time comes, perhaps adjusted for some loss they are willing to absorb in order to entice you to cruise NCL and/or some profit they think they can take.

But the NCL Premium Air also spells out a similar lack of responsibility. The info is a lot more vague in general, but it certainly does not give any of the reassurances that the other lines' info does.

At least you spend quite a bit of time docked with no wind from the ship's motion.

Getting through security and getting checked in should be quick in the Haven, but you will still have to wait for the ship to be cleared if you are too early. Depending on what terminal you board from the Haven waiting area may be small and get quite crowded.

Prima and Viva have multiple outdoor spaces.

Maybe there was an IT system problem? Were they using facial recognition? LA is hardly a stranger to cruise ships so it's hard to believe that yours was the usual experience.

What do you mean by overhang? Most balconies have another identical balcony above them. I might have seen some that are more open, but they were low down and you will probably have a bunch of other cabins overlooking you which I would consider a negative, not a positive. Hard to say much more without even knowing what ship this is...

Yes, if you have four specialty dinners you will be charged for one of them. If you want to take the trouble you can look at sample menus to try to decide which would cost you the least to pay a la carte, and if that is not the last one you go to just tell them when you check in that you do not want it applied to your Free at Sea package. I liked everything about Palomar. The food at Onda was great but the seating was a bit cramped. Cagneys was good but also a bit of a bustling atmosphere. Decided not to do Le Bistro on that trip but have always enjoyed it on other ships.

Pre or post cruise hotel? There are plenty of possibilities besides the ship.

We had vouchers in our eDocs.

I would try The Local. Seems like that might have the most affinity with a margarita. They were also the bar that we were directed to for a mojito.

Quite apropos to this I just saw an NCL 'Tips for Cruising' post on FB, and this one included: Want to cruise like a pro? Always fly into the cruise port city one night early. So you don't even need to come to CC after all to get that advice!

If "cheerleader" is an insult what does that make "apologist"? 🤔

I have not used either, but I don't believe that you 'add' Premium Air to the 2nd flies free promo. If you booked with the promo I think you would have to have that removed from your reservation and then you would get the Premium Air instead.

Am I missing something or should the 2nd response to Question 1 be 'Yes, delayed but still arrived in time to board'?

In Orlando we took the hotel shuttle back to the airport and got the transfer bus there. Most likely it would be the same in Miami. Your eDocs should have details on that. The one awkward thing with the process was that the eDocs informed us that the earliest transfer was at 11am after we had selected a 9:30 check in time. It was really no problem, though, since there is no penalty for showing up later than your check in time.

I have been looking into that also and it seems like Napier should be a good possibility. There is a bike shop that does rentals located just across the street from the visitor's center where the shuttle drops passengers off. I think that one of the other NZ ports looked like it might work also but I can't recall which one it was. I have been meaning to ask this question on the Australian/New Zealand Ports forum but haven't got around to it yet. That would be the best place since this question is not really unique to NCL.