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That’s amazingly helpful thank you … especially the insights about cellphone reception in the ports.

Hi, we are on Nieuw Amsterdam Alaska 14 day in June (16-30) I will need basic internet onboard to keep in touch with home (gmail, WhatsApp etc). My cellphone has a US/CAN data package available for just $12USD for 5gb over 15 days. trying to work out what is best for me. I assume my cellphone will only pick up a signal when in port? (My itinerary and map is below, inside passage, close to shore)…But even if I cannot pick up a signal at sea, with 7 port days that is a lot of opportunity to use it rather than ship Wi-Fi. Buying premium Wi-Fi in advance gives 20% discount but requires all 14 days and OBC cannot be used. I would be very interested in understanding the Wi-Fi options available onboard, the cost, the different levels etc. and critically the prices and how much they drop each day (as fewer days are left in the voyage). also to understand the availability of shore signal to my cellphone as the cruise progresses. any help or pointers you (or anyone ) can give would be much appreciated. Thanks.

On celebrity Summit, I got the usb working by plugging in the usb key and the tv responded and asked me if I wished to switch (there was no other way to switch inputs) it might work the same way if you connect the hdmi to an active device …the tv might detect the input and ask if you want to switch

My only HAL voyage last September we received our guarantee assignment just 3 days before sailing. That cruise was not 100% sold so I could understand the late confirmation due to upsells etc, my next sailing in June has been a complete sell out for 4 weeks now but I still don’t have an assignment. This makes far less sense

Actually the change is dreadful. You have to buy the missed port upgrade for each and every cruise. It only applied to one cruise…not a whole year as current.

My last NCL cruise [december] you could not use shareholder OBC in the casino.

Can you only take advantage of price reductions if you booked direct?? If not then do you just call your Travel consultant and ask them to get a reduction due for you? Seems awkward (does the price paid impact their commission??)

Perfect ..thank you so much

We are in Le Havre on Thursday Feb 8th. … 9am - 9pm so a long day. we are probably going to spend a couple of hours in Le Havre and then head to Honfleur. We typically embrace public transport but am finding it difficult to get a grasp of the bus routes and timetables. any help from someone who knows their way around the bus system in Normandy would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Drinks packages only seem to be heavily discounted at the point of purchase. Wifi is discounted, but only by around 20% or so for an entire voyage package. Once onboard there are certain Wi-Fi offers for ‘remainder of voyage’ so if you can cope without at the start, you can buy fewer days for cheaper later.

It’s really for slot players only, very hard to earn sufficient points on table play. I play $25 a hand blackjack and after monitoring the points I received I worked out I would need to play 14 hours a day every day of my cruise to get any kind of meaningful reward….or up my stakes to $250 per hand …..which obviously I was not prepared to do.

Wedding Update The Captain was legally able to officiate.... But he wanted $1000 😕 (probably plus 20% service charge) Fortunately there was an ordained minister onboard the passengers who carried out the service. Sadly, cruise Director Isha interrupted the ceremony mid way through with her loud 5 minute rundown of the days programme In short, very poor performance by NCL,, rescued by the good nature of the couple getting married... They were still absolutely made up that their wedding went ahead against the odds

Just a little update on the Wedding party. they are still getting married tomorrow…at 10am onboard (presumably by the Captain) so they will still arrive in NYC as husband and wife 🥰

Due to uncertainties surrounding ability to dock in NYC on 18th or 19th December, the current itinerary is now skipping Bermuda and heading direct to New York where it will dock two days early on 17th December, where it will act as a floating hotel for the two days. No official comment available yet, but captain said it was 95% certain at 11am this morning (5 hours ago) and we have now significantly changed course and logged a new schedule with the marine authorities, so it is definitely happening. Sadly there is a wedding party onboard due to get married in Bermuda. Not sure what they will do now?

If these are ‘net fare’ deals (which they wont necessarily tell you) then essentially you are buying from the TA and not P&O and so they can operate under their own deposit schemes….and as they are holding the risk, should you cancel, then a higher non refundable deposit can be typical. If they are just acting as the booking agent then they should follow the Cruise Lines deposit protocols.

HAL not included in the actual app … just 4 brands

Ours was around 3 days out

Can I just side track this thread with a question about Cruise Next Deposits. Are they similarly constrained that they have to be used no later than 120 days before sailing, or can they be used anytime, including on a late booking where full payment is required at the time of booking?? (Nb I know that double up has this 120 day constraint stated but not clear about non doubleup) Thinking of getting some when on board in December , but I like to keep my travel plans ultra flexible and often book less than 3 months before sailing.

Thanks. that would make more sense - News media reported it as heading from Hamburg -> Rotterdam ... which now appears to be Fake News

Notwithstanding the human tragedy involved, it seems a curious route for AIDAperla to take … it was travelling from Hamburg to Rotterdam … should not have gone anywhere near the area of water covered by the Ramsgate lifeboat???

thanks everyone - we have bought two each

With one plan you get one connection at a time... You can log off one device and switch to another but you cannot have two apple devices connected at the same time. I will need to let someone else answer regarding the maximum devices you can have on the multi plan... As I am android I only ever buy the single device plan

Hi all Onboard now (first HAL cruise) and have received the form asking me if i wish to purchase FCD's. A couple of (hopefully) quick questions ... Can you only use FCD's for deposits? What if you book late and have to make immediate payment in full? Can you still use FCD's as part payment in that case? Sort of aligned to the first question (if you can only use them for deposits) - do you have to book a certain number of months in advance to be able to use the FCDs - or to get the associated OBC? Again sort of aligned to the first question (if you can use them when making full payment at the time of booking), can you use more than one FCD on a single cruise and - if you did say use two, would you get 2 x OBC - or would you only get one (e.g. $25 for a 10 day voyage) Thanks for all your help - don't know whether to buy them and, if so, how many I buy!

Not when you book but when you check-in you provide contact details. I have mentioned that this does not cover those who do not have International Roaming (or change Sim Cards in your example) so this is not perfect but it is the best that HAL (and all other Cruise Ships) can do really. And as I mentioned, I also think that those who believe "every single passenger each time they disembark should hand over full contact info for the day" are massively over-reacting. HAL reached all but 2 passengers using existing methods. That counts as a great success in my book.

I am on the ship and I am not astonished in the slightest. There was not a problem in Haifa. Haifa was not close to the conflict areas (and remained so). Haifa would have been safe that day but the Israeli Ministry (correctly) opted for "safety first" and effectively closed the country down for tourism at 10:30am.