Birdnutty

Always! They have a plethora of uses.

As an addendum to my original post... we were on the Getaway last month, and yes, the quantity of abundant cookies available at any one time has been drastically reduced. However, as others have stated, we received a plate in our room (Club Balcony) early in the cruise, they were available in the wonderful spread that NCL put out for the M&G, and they were available every night in the casino as a late night snack. Knowing they would most likely be thrown away after the M&G, some of us took plates of the left over ones to our rooms, therefore helping us avoid the dry times when cookies were not to be found. I always bring some Ziplock containers and/or bags to store things in, so they made keeping the cookies fresh easy. I also would abscond with a couple when returning to our room after I was done in the casino. God forbid we don't have cookies every time we want them. 🙄

Good to know! Really helps with the planning process. Just have to decide how much pressure we want to take on by building in too close a schedule. If we book an 8:10 train from Quebec City, and miss it, do you know if it can be exchanged for a later time?

First of all, thank you for your responses! So we can get off earlier than the 6 AM "docking" time? The ship will be there the whole previous day. Or at 6 AM sharp? Would prefer to catch the 8:10 AM train to Montreal, and I am trying to figure out how doable that is. I am concerned that the entire disembarkation process won't start until then, at which point we'd have the rest of the passengers to deal with. I've been in situations where that was a nightmare, and others where it was seamless and easy peasy. I'm not accustomed to a ship that stays overnight in a port with disembarkation the next day, so I have no idea what to expect. We don't have either one. Regular run-of-the-mill folks here. Also have never flown in or out of Canada, so I have so many questions. We can expect that it takes at least an hour to go through Customs/Immigration without these special programs, or should we plan on much more?

We're considering a cruise on the Emerald Princess that begins in Boston, and ends in Quebec City. As much as we'd like to stay and tour in Quebec City a second day (our ship is in port the day before and overnight before disembarkation), our time is very limited. We need to be home ASAP. Flights from Quebec City are few, expensive and LONG.Montreal has more frequent, shorter and cheaper flights Montreal Disembarkation starts at 6AM. We know it's a quick trip to the train station, from where we'd like to take a train to Montreal Airport, hoping to get a non-stop flight back to Boston, from where we will drive home (about 3 hours). Our problem is figuring out the timing. How rough or smooth disembarkation off the Emerald Princess is in Quebec City starts the whole chain. Is it usually smooth, or notoriously disorganised and chaotic? I do know stuff can happen. I'm just looking for an average situation. Is it possible to buy a ticket for an earlier train and then exchange it for a later one if there's availability? Or can we buy the tickets when we get there, thereby avoiding the pre-purchase time debacle? At that hour of the day, there's a 4+ hour difference between the first one we could get and the next, so the first one is infinitely preferable, but I realise how tight that is. Not quite as bad as flying, however. Has anyone done this, and how did it work?

Thank you! I now know what to look for and think I've got it! It appears that I have might have some refundable OBC from my TA that I'm hoping to use on a Cruisenext. Will I be able to do that?

How does refundable vs unrefundable OBC get applied? I have OBC from a variety of sources, and I have no idea which line item is for which credit. There are no codes listed next to the line items on my account where my OBC credits are listed. I got some from my TA, some as an incentive from NCL for booking, and I believe some as a shareholder, but it's impossible to tell which is which, which is refundable, which one gets used first against room charges, etc. I'm no stranger to cruising, being Sapphire on NCL,and high status on other lines, but this has me befuddled.

Guess I'm lucky, then. I haven't sailed NCL since last year and haven't been on the boards, so I'm a bit uninformed. Got lucky and just purchased 2 $250 ones the day before it ended. Whew!

Haven't called them yet, but I will tomorrow. Hope my issue is as easy to fix as versuco's. It's really bizarre to suddenly become a nobody.

I was on the phone with my TA extensively today, booking rooms for this summer. Everything went pretty smoothly. Tonight, I tried to go into my account to check status, and it doesn't recognise anything about me. My email addresses, my username, password, nothing. Has this happened to anyone before? I guess I'm going to have to call tech services, but they close at 6 ET and don't work weekends. Any pearls of wisdom?

Just spoke to an NCL rep, and confirmed this online. The Cruisefirst program is now being offered at $150 for a $300 credit. It was $250 for $500 but that is now changed.

I know - it is kinda trite. But it's one of the things many of us look forward to, and miss when they are gone. Having Chocolate ganache is not quite the same, and it's hard to dip that in coffee... Glad to see they are not gone from everywhere - yet. For those of us not in the solo lounge, or in the Haven or with a butler, it's more challenging to find things sometimes. Will be on a concentrated mission when we climb aboard our cruise soon.

I second this. I have a similar issue, and need ice packs. I just bought a refillable ice bag - the old fashioned kind - and can always go to the Garden Cafe and get ice. Reading reviews on the ice bags reveal that it's a good idea to keep Ziplock bags at hand in case there is sweat or leakage issues.

Now I'll have to figure out a way to sneak into the Studio Lounge to get some.

Maybe it's time for us to turn the tide and start entertaining our room attendants with animals that we make up!

uhhhh - yeah, but this is an NCL discussion. RCL is a whole nuther discussion. RCL always had better buffet desserts anyway, IMHO.

Holy moly! Dem's pretty pricey cookies!

Please come back and let us know how you make out. And have a great time on your cruise!

Sorry you’re not buying their story, but it’s what they experienced. Maybe as an newer ship (Prima), they’re still providing the goodies they don’t bother with on the older ships like the Getaway. When my friend said they spoke to the GM and Captain and this is what they were told, I have a tendency to believe it. I will be on the Getaway in a few weeks and will come back with firsthand experience. As an experienced NCL traveler, I can try to work whatever angles I can find. And if I say no cookies (to non-Haven,non-Vibe people) then you can take that to the bank! 😁

Thanks for the giggle! I noticed that last time I was on the Gem, about a year ago, there were no prunes. Really? That's a staple some of us older folks have come to rely on. You could ask for prune juice, I was told. Which put me in a conundrum. I had found my magic formula to be 5 prunes. No more, no less. So, how much juice does it take to equate to 5 real prunes? Too little, and it doesn't work, too much and...well... you know.

Friends of ours just got off the Getaway last week. Balcony cabins, so no Haven experience for them. They said there were no cookies to be found. Anywhere. So they asked (and asked, and asked), and were told by the General Manager, Mario, who was sitting next to Captain Luigi, that it was a corporate decision that there were no cookies available except through room service, (and I would imagine in the Haven.) Could it just be the Getaway, or could this be one more cutback rolled out fleet wide to save $$? What gives with that?

I did a search and was unable to find answers to this questions before I posted. Probably did something wrong. Sorry if I bothered anyone. But thank you for answering my questions anyway.

I realise this is an older thread, but I'm hoping this poster is still active. Ngrund, how did it go? I'm looking to do this myself. It'll save me over $100 if I have a reservation. I'm curious as to the start time... are they rigid about when you get there? Or is the start time a general idea about the EARLIEST you can enter?

I understand that you can pre-pay for parking at the pier for a substantial discount by making a reservation through NYcruise.com. A savings of about $100. Has anyone here done that? They say they offer free cancellation up to the time you're supposed to be parking. Has anyone had to cancel? I'm curious, intrigued and hesitant, all at the same time. Please tell me your experiences.

Wow - so much useful info - thank you! One more question - is the CAS program the same umbrella organisation for all cruise lines? They all seem to call their gambling arm CAS, and each seem to offer discounts. I have a friend who is a substantial gambler and has told me some of her offers, but even she doesn't understand any of the background. Is it the same CAS for all lines, and they pool the info on all your gambling, or is it individually tallied by cruise line? I hope this is understandable - let me know if clarification is needed.