CrazyTrain2

Along the way, NCL discounts the A la carte to the point were for US it did not make sense. The break even on the base drink package is about 10 drinks per day. My wife and I are no where near 10 per day - EVERY Day - Port or at sea. The specialty dining can be bought for way less then they are charging you. Again, no pressure to use it or lose it. As far as air goes, NCL books sub standard fare basis that allows no baggage even in the overhead. It's super cheap to NCL because the airlines know you are going to be spending $75 -$100+ additional on baggage/ seat assignment/ bathroom privileges! each way. NCL Air booked us on TERRIBLE red eye flights with long layovers in the middle of the night (yes, we even purchased a deviation - so they brought us in 2 days earlier) with no recourse - we are screwed. The OBC/Discounted excursions are always a ripoff compared to doing it yourself and not being elbow to elbow with 50-200 other people being treated like cattle. Needless to say - this is my last cruise with NCL. They simply missed the boat at every opportunity and I have been feeling like they have been reaching into my pocket the entire time. The ability to Choose my cabin is literally being extorted into a bloated bill. Not the vacation experience I am looking for. I don't want to play games, I just want to relax and enjoy.

DON'T Just DON'T use NCL Air I'm going to take it a step further. Double check the pricing on the "Free at sea promotion". If I was to do it all over again - I would have saved hundreds by NOT choosing "Free {a comical statement} at sea" and simply doing a la carte as we went along. NCL is pricing WAY TOO high after all their add-ons and mandatory gratuities on products you are not even using. It seems like a good deal at first, then you dive in and you are actually getting ripped off. NCL is proud of their profitability and I would argue they are little more than used car salesman selling scotch guarding on the floor mats - at this point.

Our cruise ARRIVES at Bermuda ON Oct 25th @ 8am and we received the same letter. It is heartening that NCL is more confused than the cruisers. I can only hope the ship's navigation team is more competent. With enough complaints, NCL can get their communications worked out and there will be NO TESTING. This VACATION is supposed to be relaxing and recharging, it has been anything but.

Thanks for the feedback. This odyssey (on par with Homer's) started 2 years ago when the wife and I booked an Alaskan cruise that was Covid cancelled. We parlayed that FCC into the Family Bermuda cruise. In two years, a lot can change when booking a lot of young adults - Heck one even became eligible to take advantage of the drink package. Now that the date is finally approaching what seemed like a sure thing is now in jeopardy. I doubt his employer will let him off the hook because he is NOW the owner. I've never cheered so much for a positive Covid test for a family member since Bermuda is still making vaccinated people test (another Odyssey) . Thanks again for the sympathy/empathy.

#BermudaNeverAgain I've felt less violated playing 3 card monte.

I agree the website is squirrely and bit wishy washy - like my entire NCL experience has been. Here is my dilemma for my son-in-law. Reason - Work related Purchased essentials Paid in Full - by me Passenger #2 on reservation 2 people in cabin - Passenger #1 can go. NCL Air - another mistake Sails Oct 22nd, Flight leaves Oct 20 I hope he changes his mind, but that's the situation.

My kiddo loves high tea. Is it available on the JOY? Is there a High Tea Light on the Observation Deck?

NCL is becoming the Used Car lot of Cruising. "You want Scotch guarding on your floormats, right". No? Hey Tony, TONY!! Take the Fnnn scotch guard off the floormats, the cheapskate doesn't want to protect the velour interior. Yo Like Owning this beautiful 1979 Pinto is like "Free".

Love the Photos and all the details. But Filet Mignon at medium WELL, Not off my grill - you'd be thrown overboard.

3 days and nights of playing Dradel Dradel Dradel.

Hurricane Fiona tracking more westerly towards Nova Scotia as a Cat 1-2. Hopefully you can scurry back to home before it gets bad. Should be a little more fun out there on the dance floor.

Oh, the crushing sound of my hopes and dreams. Thanks for the info on the proctored Covid tests, I did not realize that NCL did the heavy lifting of marrying up the Covid test results to the TA record number. For some reason I was under the impression that I needed to upload test results to Bermuda to get the Thumbs Up.

I am holding out hope that Bermuda will drop its silliness soon, but we are traveling to that anomalous rock in late October. I'm approaching the 30 day window, but delaying submitting in hope that more sane heads prevail. How late is it safe to submit the Vaccine paperwork? 1 Week before sailing? 2 Weeks? Send it in with the Covid Tests 2 days prior? Tempting but probably not. I'm coordinating a group of 6 travelers so this is a real JOY. Come On Bermuda - The Queen is dead, you can join the rest of the world in welcoming tourists. Well except for Canada, eh.

My wife and I are booked on this Cruise - We are so excited to have the opportunity to visit all the eating venues, meet some fellow travelers. It should be a blast!!

In a moment of weakness I booked through NCL Air back about 2 years ago. My mistake. I did however request a deviation to arrive a day earlier and book a hotel in NYC for the day. NCL booked us on the overnight flight 2 days before the cruise and for further insult on JetBlue (The worst baggage policy in the air). Jet blue only lets you take the equivalent of a fanny pack with you without incurring mysterious additional charges. So now I get to land at JFK at 5:30am with the family full of overpriced bags unable to check into the hotel until 4pm. I'd almost rather be a pier runner throwing the bags onto the ship as it embarks. To complicate things more, our return is on United with a completely different baggage policy. We are going to need a super computer to figure out the best way through this without incurring more charges than if we booked ourselves. My advice - Book your own flights through a travel agent. Any thoughts on how to get through the Jet Blue experience?

I really don't think anyone really cars about the additional $40/pp. They do care about the additional $25+/pp for a proctored test based on Covid Alpha (that no longer exists in the wild). The possibility of missing their vacation due to a false positive or a lingering positive (not a transmissible viral amount but test remains positive). The general hassle of the Bermuda test so close to embarkation. Covid is indefensible, even China with all its controls cannot stop a virus with Rho not (Viral spread indicator) factor exceeding measles. Bermuda "requires" masks indoors but does not enforce the rule - so who are they really protecting? The world has over 95% exposure to the virus through disease or vaccine - it's over folks and Covid is now like seasonal flu (without a season). A country trying to defend against the indefensible simply to collect a few sheckles is nonsense. This policy made some sense before the vaccines and widespread viral exposure but it no longer is efficient nor effective. Bermuda has the same case rate as the rest of the world with or without making tourist (in particular cruise tourists) play silly reindeer games. Net/Net Bermuda looses. I'd avoid it like the plague.

Agreed.

Perhaps they are looking to downsize?

I booked a family vacation a LONG time ago and the cruise is finally coming up. My son in law subsequently purchased a small business and has been running it well for about 5 months. We are post final payment and he is having concerns about being able to check in with the business while still enjoying the cruise. Understandable for sure. We would love to have him join us and also gain confidence that the business can operate for a period without him being there, but we also want him to feel comfortable on the cruise. I am curious for some real world experience from those that need to be in contact with the office while sipping a frozen on the lido deck. particularly on the NCL Joy - Bermuda itinerary. 1. Outbound calls 2. Inbound calls 3. Website check ins 4. Email 5. Text messaging 6. Client calls What has been your experience? We have the free 250 Minute package - should he upgrade to more minutes? Should he get a Bermuda WiFi package on Land?

Hmmm, I may be your sailing - repositioning from Europe to Miami. I also booked the bonus.

My greatest hope is that Bermuda wakes up and smells the coffee dropping all this useless administria. I'll give them $50/pp to JUST STOP.

There are two schools of thought and you are not going to like one of them.... 1. Choose passengers to cancel with the least loyalty points and favor those with more (Seems reasonable, especially if you have more loyalty points) 2. Chose with the highest loyalty - because they always come back I got screwed by this with Geico. I was what is called "a lifer". 25+ years with Geico. I finally repriced they're policy and it was 50% less with another similar quality company. So Geico lost me as a customer for the rest of my life.

Not quite an iceberg of a quarterly but maybe they hit a growler or two. The ONLY path out of this is consolidation, additional equity raises, and/or perhaps strategic bankruptcy for all the idiots that bought their debt. There will be no bailout for any of these companies. The smell of Braniff airlines is in the air. All Aboard

I doubt the Bermuda TA is reading this but by you collecting $40 additional from each passenger, you are LOSING MONEY. Clearly, the University of Bermuda business school has missed a few courses about taxation and total revenues. I am choosing to AVOID BERMUDA. Frankly, it's not that great and the stress of dealing with the Bermuda TA is just not what I want on my vacation. I do not want my vacation held hostage by some bureaucrat and their silly rubber stamp. Bermuda's port fees are already too high. There are plenty of places to visit other than Bermuda.

Well, let's just say you don't go to Denali for the accommodations or the food and your experience can be very dependent on the weather. So I would go in with low expectations for accommodations and be pleasantly surprised. Denali is about the OUTSIDE not the INSIDE. August is the end of the season so staffing declines and the restaurants serve whatever is still in the freezer. I did Denali on my own and happened to be there for incredible weather. Denali is extremely impressive but it also illusive often clouded for weeks at a time. Luxuries aside, Alaska is an amazing place but it is still pretty rustic - THANKFULLY.