ChiefMateJRK

Does the menu really have an option for a single oyster? Asking for a friend who loves oysters.

Is this true? I've recently seen it reported that they refund everything except the base fare (i.e. port fees, taxes, FAS gratuities, prepaid DSC, etc.). I believe that @BirdTravelsjust posted that in the last day or two, and that is a cruiser who has been around this block about 57 times.

Wow. We get a lot of reports of this but rarely pictures that show how bad it can really be. We had an aft balcony on our last cruise (Joy) and never saw a hint of this. I guess it can vary quite a bit.

As suggested earlier in the thread, it appears to just be marketing. I was comparing insides, but I also have seen no difference in balconies. The floorplans I compared on one NCL ship are the exact same photos. So, to answer your question, the only difference I can find is about $50 per person more revenue for NCL. I suppose when it gets to the point where a ship can only be booked for guarantee fares (versus specific room selection), a person might be forced to select family to ensure there are enough beds for three or four people. Who knows?

Maybe that was their plan all along? 🤣

I have all three (iPad, iPhone and a nice desktop). I do almost everything on my desktop. I can type very fast and I get along a lot better with a mouse than a touch screen (my current computer does have one). Also, some of us still use Excel and Word a lot and you really need a proper computer to use those productively.

Exactly. I always get asked for my card because I always sail in steerage because.... I use the term steerage affectionately, not in a derogatory way. A few of my good friends here on the forum understand that when I use the term and we joke about it at times. I like to send the message to the casual reader/cruiser that they can have a fantastic time in any cabin on the ship and they don't need to be in the Haven to have a good vacation.😎

I have found them to be intermingled with "regular" insides all over the ships. I don't think proximity to kid's clubs is a factor.

If somebody thinks a certain cruise will be cheaper "last minute," they can book refundable flights months in advance and just wait to book the cruise later.

Bingo. This is what I was talking about. Large companies tend to become bloated with low performers and need a periodic purge. A lot of these companies allowed workers to work from home during Covid and many of those workers are now resistant to showing up in the office. If there is an across the board reduction mandate, it makes it easy to cut ties with the most problematic and to send a message to others. It's just the nature of the Megacorp beast.

Overnight ports on an AK cruise? What are those?

I'm guessing that you didn't spend over three decades at Megacorp??

This is steerage. We're all so drunk that we won't care and won't notice your exit (dramatic or not). Life is easy (and fun!) in steerage. Nobody takes nothin' serious. We're on vacation D$%nit!

When I was at Megacorp, a 9% layoff was nothing (unless you were one of the 9%). It may be that as things return to "normal," there isn't as much need for higher level staff.

What are the others?

Yeah. If there is a difference, I'm guessing somebody who has cracked the code will enlighten us.

That may be true for your TA, but it sounds more like a problem with their systems. I've found the posts by experienced cruisers right here on the forum to be much more useful than posts sharing inputs from random TAs. If this were a problem with NCL, we would have heard about it by now.

Isn't the insurance sold through NCL's website also 3rd party? (other than the cancel for any reason coverage)

I haven't been able to figure out the difference between a family inside and an inside that sleeps up to four. Marketing?

Yep. We talked about it for days. One guy's theory was that you had too much of that fine Brandy after dinner and got lost. It wasn't quite as shocking as when Rose went down with Jack to party with the peasants in steerage, but almost. We nicknamed you Cal and just hoped that the lifeboats wouldn't be needed. 🤣 ETA: just to get back on topic.... What us peasants in steerage do is look up the Haven cabin numbers and then order drinks at bars and tell them we lost our key card, but will they just take our cabin number? It works more often than you would think! (jk - no need to call in the mods)

Well, at the risk of sounding steerage, that Haven "feature" sounds like more of a glitch. I've always been asked for my card and never had an erroneous charge on my account.😎

Isn't that back when men wore suits on airplanes?

Do those allow shorts?

Who said I wouldn't be there with you? I was asking about 5:00 AM. 🤣

That sure doesn't sound "freestyle." 😡