Wayward Son

I assume you were a week too early? We did the NE cruise in mid-September '22 and everything was as green as Spring. Definitely wouldn't book a NE cruise with any expectation of seeing Fall colors. That's a disappointment waiting to happen. The year we decide to try October, we'll probably miss it late.

Man, you guys are so spoiled. 😆 Talking about "the masses" on a 2700 pax ship. We've been sailing the mass-market mega ships (4000+) and can't wait to get on the huge Rotterdam.

Why? If OP can only book one spot, that one spot sold out the excursion. That is a fact. What is NCL going to tell them that we haven't?

We wouldn't want to miss an Alaskan sail away. Is it really that important when/where you eat? If you must eat at Cagney's on embarkation day (not sure why), I would attempt to change to a later time once on board.

NCL's website is very good. Royal, not so much. HAL's is not at all intuitive, and difficult to navigate and find anything, at first. However, once you get the hang if it, and understand how to find what you want, it's quite good -- 90% of the time. The other 10%, I just log off and come back later.

Curious. Are you accustomed to live music prior to 7:00? Does/did HAL do this? I honestly can't recall ever watching live music until evening, but this is my first HAL cruise coming up.

Ship's currency is USD, but as CruiserBruce said, whatever you have will be accepted.

I'm the exact opposite. I will not deliberately take a cruise that stops in Santorini. If I must for other reasons, that will be a ship day for me. There is much more to see in Greece than one overcrowded, unmanageable port.

Now see, this is where I get my panties in a bunch. You have not yet experienced NCL for yourself, and yet you already know won't sail NCL again. How does that work? You are bummed about Alaska, yet NCL goes to Glacier Bay and Celebrity does not. Why would you assume a problem? Wouldn't it better assume an amazing cruise? Only you can make yourself happy, and you're already making yourself unhappy before you even set foot on the ship. Give up your predetermined "problems" and you may find they don't exist.

I apologize if I've offended you in some way. I have been on 6 NCL cruises for a total of 59 days, and I can't recall a single meal in the MDR that took 90-minutes. On the other hand, I have asked the server to speed things up and was out in 45. I don't know what you've been reading elsewhere, or who these "thousands of other parents" are, but I can assure you, if this was as huge a problem as they seem to be making of it -- we would know it here.

I suppose they could try. But my guess is the Attorney General, or any lawyer, would take one look at the cruise contract and say, "not gonna happen".

Except that you do have a choice, it's NCL, you dine whenever you want. Perhaps you misunderstood me, so let me rephrase: Why would you choose to dine at the same time as you know your kids will be in the queue? If I recall correctly (and that's not a given), the kid's club opened at 7:00 pm every night. So why would you choose to be dining at 7:00 (or 7:15, 7:30, 7:45, whatever)?

Sorry, but I have to ask the obvious question, why would you choose to dine when you know your kids are going to be in queue for the kid's club?

I was just ready to ask that. Even if it's accurate enough to show it on the ship, how can it possibly show what deck it's on? I think fred went a little off the scale with the "12 doors away" thing. But then, I've never used them.

I've also found that it's very easy to confuse the kid's price with the adult price. Not sure if that's by design, or if it's just me.

It already has. You bought a $79 excursion.

I am not letting Wayward Wife see this itinerary. (wait, that doesn't sound so good does it...)

Who uses the elevator right after they embark anyway? There's a bar right there.

Drinking is what cruises are there for. Not a problem. If one bar is busy, walk a minute to the next one.

No one is arguing that point. We're talking about your non-sensical original "out of pocket" theory.

Oh my. Do my eyes detect oatmeal raisin?

This makes absolutely no sense, neither business sense nor common sense. Of course NCL is going to take a $200 bid vs. a $100 bid. Your "proof" notwithstanding.

Helluva bump. I believe they are much the same, but keep in mind the adjoining balcony cabins are not Haven, and will not have Haven access.

Thank you. Clear, authoritative (as much as can be on an Internet forum), conclusive, and no trying to parse a random YT video.

Sounds like your ship is close to a sell out. Consider how many Inside and Oceanviews are going to be bidding on your remaining balconies (which won't remain unsold over the next 99 days). Bid as much as you can, but even at max, your odds are probably just above zero.