Wayward Son

Definitely not talking about the NCL card, but a better option. We have Sapphire Preferred. Not as as good as Reserve, but also not nearly the cost.

Your persistence is admirable (I think). I wouldn't waste my time on a simple email for $4.00.

It's any restaurant now.

We seem to be the only ones that care that the NCL card is not the best option, but, that's fine. I forgot about the travel insurance. It is incredibly generous compared to any of my other cards. And, if I recall correctly, you get the insurance if you pay any portion of the cruise with the card. The evacuation and medical needs to be supplemented with other insurance, but the cancellation and trip interruption is exceptional.

You can use both, but the 10% discount will only be applied to his base fare. Yours will stay the same.

Not so much naysayers, as pointing out that there are much better cards out there. If you travel exclusively with NCL, and don't do a lot of other travelling, then it may work for you. We travel often using other cruise lines, hotels, rental cars, airline flights, etc. With a Chase Sapphire Preferred card you can use your points for any of those things, and more, at 1:25 to 1 rate (80,000 points gets you $1000). Their sign up bonus is/was the best in the business. You get 5x points on travel purchased through Chase Travel, 2x on all other travel, 3x on all dining, etc. The annual cost is $45 ($95 minus a $50 hotel credit). It's been good to us. It's worth taking a look at the details for comparison.

I cut my slacks and made shorts. My wife was none to pleased.

I find it interesting how you create a visual that bears no resemblance to reality.

What's their confirmation number? 😆 Too soon?

Did your billing problem show up after you disembarked, or before? As a prolific cruiser, you obviously know that it is infinitely better to take care of any billing issues while still on the ship.

*sigh* One more reason to move on from NCL. If HAL goes in that direction as well, then I better start seriously saving my pennies. It will be Oceania for us.

My experience is if you show up after 12:00, you will basically walk onto the ship after you're checked in. YMMV. Ignore the arrival time.

I think you mean, jealously looking in. I'm fine with that. 😄

Correct. The point being, "at the moment". I'm not missing that at all. But there is a reason NCL is building new 3500 passenger ships, while still actively soliciting families -- all the cool stuff the kids want is an upcharge. NCL is also pushing The Haven, at a substantial premium, and are the king of courting solo cruisers, with private lounges and prices less than the standard double-occupancy rate (although still at a significant premium). That is the future, in my very not-a-professional opinion. Have you priced Royal's super-duper-mega ships lately? Outrageous. It can't last forever. And once they start dropping prices, they also start losing profit.

Heh. If you get disappointed over one cancelled cruise port, don't ever cruise NCL (or any other mass-market cruise line). It's pretty standard. NCL is the worst.

We have decided against that option w/ luggage. That is an excellent option. Yes, we are staying at the Airport Sheraton. I'm putting that down as Plan B. If transfers do not become available soon, I'll book the excursion and cancel if things change.

You may have missed that I said "at a profitable price point". Smaller ships have less cabins to sell to make that happen. The checkbook will balance just fine. The big ships have far more cabins to sell to turn a profit and will have a more difficult time. Regardless, any speculation on the issue will resolve itself. Sooner rather than later, I expect. As new cruisers become seasoned cruisers, ports start rejecting the monstrosity ships, and the price for a family gets too high (so they choose land over sea), the smaller ships will win in the end.

Your title says you want a hotel close to the port. Vicinity to the port doesn't matter, you can't really walk to the port from any hotel. You going to need a cab/Uber regardless. If you want to walk to the beach, you have hundreds of options. The only real question is how much you want to spend.

I learned that here before ever booking HAL. Don't do the auto upgrade.

Absolutely. I'm a cabin location fanatic.

Thank you. I booked early and received all the HIA+ benefits. Don't want to lose those. I didn't expect double points, and I also didn't expect to be able to choose the cabin. I assume that doesn't usually happen?

Just to clarify, if you choose an upsell, you still get all the benefits of your original booking, but you get whatever cabin they choose. Correct?

Great review, thanks. Encore is my favorite ship, but I'd never take NCL to Alaska. Based on what I can see (and have read) they just don't do it "right". I'll probably go Holland America. They've been doing it for 1000 or so years, and have it figured out.

🤣 That's the funniest thing I've read this week. Thank you!

2:30 or so has been pretty standard for the room on my last cruises. I've always had bags arrive before 5:30.