gizfish

Keep in mind that pasta (and most likely) entree salads can be ordered as starters without incurring the extra fee. Did not try it with the salad, but the pastas were always the entree size. Also no one has reported back if the fee is flat rate for any more than one entree or applies to each additional entree as the wording is ambiguous.

Don't settle on going on embarkation day if that's not what you want. You will almost certainly be able to get a reservation on some other day. Just make the reservation on board asap. Worst case you go the day you want and wait till they can accommodate you, or you keep an eye on the reservation screens throughout the ship that show availability at that specific time.

That clearly won't work. Everyone knows thin mints are best frozen, and the cabin mini fridges don't get cold let alone freezing.

Another plus for NCL is upgrading to unlimited WiFi is not that expensive. Also, remember you aren't married to the device you initially log in on.

The balcony and ocean view rooms have blackout curtains. If you use a hair banana clip to connect the curtains, ain't no sunlight waking anyone. I sleep your hours,and my bedroom at home is as dark as a cave. Never had an issue with sunlight in a balcony room.

I thought of a quasi plus to NCL. Their starting bids for upgrades are much lower than MSC's. I know, I'm grasping here.

Don't forget your late night slice of pizza is a no go on NCL (and all your other slices will pale in comparison to MSC's). Also NCL has pretty desserts while MSC has delicious desserts. Your husband will most likely never find a cookie. The coffee on MSC is the best, so you may be disappointed with NCL's. Oh, and your room stewardess will definitely not be wearing the French maid uniform that MSC for some odd reason has them wear lol. Probably not a deal breaker though. Ooh you can leave your foldable foot stool home and ask the room steward for a lounge chair.

Just so long as the floor is not lava. Sorry I couldn't help myself.

The OP has been trying to enquire by email. Last time I called NCL they were still answering the phone and still had supervisors. Hence my saying "speak" with a supervisor.

We couldn't see which balcony it was coming from. But the smell was strong enough even though it was not near enough to see the source, that I would think it was smokinug. If someone were to be carrying weed on their person, I doubt security would catch them as there were no drug dogs at embarkation. Also, does gaping cause such violent coughing?

I would think free out perks all the other perks. But maybe that's just me.

I made a request through accessibility services for a two top and they emailed me saying it would best be handled by calling. I called the number in the email which turned out to be a regular customer service number. They told me the request was in my records. We went to the dining room where changes were being made on embarkation day and had no trouble getting the two top, and even getting a better time. I didn't even have to explain why we had the need. The next day we received a call from guest services making sure we had been accommodated. Relax and look forward to your cruise. Your key card will only say the table number and time, so verify at the dining room mentioned in the welcome aboard daily (ours said they would be there until four) that you are at a two top. Worst case scenario, you may have to explain why you need it, but most likely they will just accommodate you.

OP, speak with a supervisor at NCL and have them locate and listen to the tape of the call where their agent told you the certs were refundable.

Have you tried clicking through leaving the picture off and choosing cash instead of a credit card (or clicking through leaving credit card info off)? They almost always retake the pictures at check in anyway. And many have found they still have to activate a credit card on board.

I would be surprised if you requested the pasta Bolognese in the YC restaurant and they couldn't make it happen, since it is something available every night in the MDRs.

Just to clarify, a closed loop cruise is one that departs and returns to the same U.S. port. It it returns to a different port, a passport is required.

Actually, we have cruised more than 30 times across all mainstream lines except Celebrity and I have always requested (and tipped for) a lounge chair. This was the only time I asked the room steward for a lounge chair and was told no. (BTW to make my long story short I didn't mention the stewardess' supervisor said she couldn't okay it but I should ask at guest services. I didn't just go there trying to manipulate, complain, etc.) Also the officer's reason was due to safety, not due to the class of room. When people ask where we are going on our cruise I jokingly say "the balcony and buffet." Seriously I spend most of the cruise on the balcony and ake all my naps there. I'm thinking of bringing one of those folding camping lounge chairs next time, as even with my feet up, the regular chairs are too uncomfortable to nap in. We also found the beds on Meraviglia to be horribly uncomfortable. So good napping is a deal breaker.

Jaime, have you tried to get a lounge chair for that angled balcony? I asked on Mera and had such a weird response. Cabin stewardess said she had to ask supervisor who ultimately said it was not allowed. When I asked at guest services, it was like no one had ever requested this before. Finally an officer told the guest services clerk that it was not allowed because it could "break the glass on the balcony." Guess the large balconies and YC balconies are immune to that safety issue. Wondering if this is a fleet wide thing.

In the Haven, you can basically request anything as long as it's available somewhere on the ship. If it's something from a specialty restaurant, you will be charged. But if it's something from the MDR or something the Haven galley would normally have on hand, you can ask for it. If you know that you will want a shrimp cocktail every night, or see something on the MDR menu posted earlier in the day that you want at dinner, try to set that up in advance with the Haven maitre'd.

FYI, MSC has a policy that people without a drink package or with different packages cannot be seated at the same dining table. Take a look at this forum to see more about that, as I believe people have had experiences where the policy was not enforced.

The bigger bathroom in the club balcony, IMHO is not worth $150 more per person than the regular balcony. Personally I would only bid on the regular balcony. Good luck.

Virgin does not allow children which OP says will be sailing with them. Check out MSC.

With regards to the two shows in the Carousel Lounge that have a fee, it is $12 per show if purchased before sailing and $18 per show on board. There is some sort of discount if you have purchased a dining plan. The shows are both cirque style, one being about Houdini, and the other being a rock music show. The rock show was really, really good. I thought the Houdini one was just meh. You get to choose a drink from two signature drinks (a mocktail is also available) at each show. I have heard they leave additional drinks out during the shows, so some people have reported having addition drinks. But I have no personal experience with that.

That's actually a fallacy. Tip is not an acronym. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/tip-sheet/

The 20% IS the gratuity. If you want to tip on top of the tip that NCL has already charged you, that's your choice. I don't know how true the statement as usual it's common practice to tip actually is, now that the gratuity is already included.