RosieRoo

37 minutes ago, leithbones said:

D

Ditto.  Have been contemplating this exact topic.

Should I try anyway?  See what happens?  "Nope" is the worst I can get.

If they up my FCC or allow cabin upgrade on top of FCC, yay me.

Go for it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Good luck. Let us know if you get a good result. 

I was told the exact same thing, one time only. I never tried to do it a second time. 

1 hour ago, surgie said:

When can I book an Alaska cruise for 2024?

Follow this thread. Lots of good info. 
 

We did this same suite on the Pearl.  We had all the perks of a suite except access to the Haven area. So, yes to the butler and the concierge. 

1 hour ago, CT-Scott said:

We went through a travel agent, but my wife doesn't want to "bother her" to inquire about a room change.  Do you know if I can contact NCL directly or would I need to work through our travel agent?

Bother your travel agent if you want to get it done. I don’t believe NCL will work with you since you booked thru a TA. Mine called NCL and worked with them over the phone. The prices had taken a huge drop and I was able to upgrade several levels without paying any additional fees.  Also, if you don’t want to upgrade your cabin, your TA can also request a FCC for the difference in price. I got a FCC for a cruise that was paid in full when the price dropped after final payment. I wasn’t interested in an upgrade on that one. Good luck. 
 

Don’t forget to check the price of upgrading directly with NCL. Cruise November 12th in the lowest level Haven suite, have the option to bid on all other Haven Suites, minimum bid is $250 pp. I just upgraded my cabin to a larger suite in the Haven for free because prices have dropped. 

2 hours ago, graphicguy said:

My TA’s “perks” are not inconsequential.  I get hundreds of dollars in fare discounts and OBC (like AMEX OBC and specialty dinners, which NCL can’t/won’t offer).

 

Plus, I don’t have to hang on the phone for hours like you would with NCL.  I just call my TA.  She calls NCL and waits on hold to get my requests taken care of.

I agree with all of the above and will add that during Covid when I had cruises cancelled and refunds and FCCs to be issued, it was my TA a who spent hours on hold handling everything. 

Sailed in an aft suite on the Pearl in June. Loved the cabin and didn’t miss the Haven since it has no restaurant. We still got all the other suite benefits, just not the use of the Haven itself. 

2 hours ago, Greygooser said:

Just want to update, I ended up just booking through NCL. The big travel website offering prepaid gratuities did tell me it would show up as being billed from NCL on my Amex, but I was already getting a great deal so I didn't want to risk it. Thank you all for your input.

Not sure if you know this, but you can still transfer that reservation over to a TA for extra perks if you find one.  I believe you have thirty days in which to complete the transfer. 

4 hours ago, Greygooser said:

 

I have reached out to a few but they basically just match what NCL.com does. No prepaid gratuities. Nice to see a fellow NH resident! I got to meet several on my Bermuda cruise out of Boston a few years back.

 

I’m sorry I can’t recommend a TA, but it’s against the Cruise Critic guidelines.  Keep searching.  There are some that discount off NCL’s price or provide OBC. 

3 hours ago, mscloyd said:

Sure wish I had seen this offer before it expired (if it was even available on my Amex card).  I have final payment coming up in a month.  Dang that would have been nice.  Doubt there is much chance they will offer it again anytime soon.

Mine expires 12/31. 

6 minutes ago, vettesale said:

Or can't you just book directly with NCL and then transfer booking to your TA?

Absolutely. 

6 minutes ago, dandelpino said:

Not sure when you're sailing but I'll be on Joy in an aft suite in two weeks so I can come back and let you know. I only started reading about the vibration issues after I called in to upgrade from a forward suite and now there's no turning back now.

We are on in another couple of weeks also. Considering upgrading my current suite to an aft now that prices have come down. I’ve been hesitating because of the comments I’ve read on here. Most were from almost a year ago so I was hoping a recent cruiser might chime in. I hope the problem has been fixed for your sake.

Hello fellow NH resident. It doesn’t matter if you book direct or through an agency as long as the charge comes up as NCL. There are tons of TAs out there that will provide you with extra perks. Just make sure they don’t charge any additional fees for cancelling or making changes. 

Looking to book an aft suite on the Joy, but I have read some previous posts that say there is terrible vibration on the aft. Has anyone sailed in an aft suite on Joy recently that could comment if this has been fixed?  Thanks

The arctic crossing is usually once a year and very popular. I had the one for 2023 on the Serenade ending in Boston booked and then Royal went and cancelled it. Looks like they aren’t doing one in 2023 that ends in Boston.  Celebrity had something similar where they had one sailing from Bayonne to Iceland and then Iceland to Boston, but the pricing was really high when I looked at it. There are some good deals on transatlantics, but the suites and the most desirable cabins don’t last long. If you’re looking for something special watch the deployment threads here and jump on it as soon as it comes out. 

Just experienced the new MTD schedule on Voyager. They don’t open now until 6:45 so the line was ridiculous when we arrived for our 7 pm reservation (reserved months in advance).  After waiting almost an hour we gave up and went to the Windjammer. Ended up switching to fixed seating at 8pm. 

On 10/2/2022 at 12:43 PM, Norseh2o said:

After final payment, our TA asked about cabin upgrade or onboard ship credit for price drop on our October, 2022 cruise. NCL offered fcc good for 1 year after cruise ends. With many (non- NCL) cruises booked between October 2022 and October 2023, the fcc is pretty useless. 

Are they transferable like the Cruise Next certificates?  Maybe you could make a deal with a friend who does have an NCL cruise booked. 

On 9/30/2022 at 2:00 PM, CDR Benson said:

 

Thank you for your kind words.

 

Aye, 14178 and 14778 are the hidden gems of Norwegian Joy's Haven.  As I mentioned above, even if money were no object for me, I would not want any other Haven suite on board Joy other than one of those two.  The mid-ships location was especially handy the last full day of our cruise, an at-sea day when the ship was buffeted with heavy seas and high winds.  My wife and I barely felt it in 14778, but you can bet the folks in the Haven staterooms forward and three decks up sure did.

 

 

 

Thank you for sharing this. Just booked 14778 on the Joy for November. Glad to hear all your positive feedback. 

Thanks all for your advice. Decided not to chance the 11 am train. It’s actually cheaper to fly out of La Guardia to Boston than it is to take the train. I’m assuming I should be able to make a 2pm flight  from there. 

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to answer. Much appreciated. 

23 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Agreed - but some times the ship is late, or something else does happen. If I have an option, I generally go for the surer thing.

I always tell people that about flights, so I appreciate your opinion. 

10 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Probably, but I would take it easy and book something closer to noon, and hang out in the lounge if necessary.

Thank you for taking the time to respond. The next Acela is 2:10. We are in the Haven on NCL so we are usually able to disembark first if we want to.  Ships arrival is 7.  I was hoping the 11 would work. 

Cruising into Manhattan and want to take the Acela to Boston. I have never done the train before. Would it be reasonable to book an 11 am train?  Does that allow for enough time to get to the station?  

I know some people like to keep control of their reservations themselves, but I’ll give you the flip side of that. I use a TA whose pricing is always less than NCL and during Covid they were the ones who took care of everything, spending hours on hold with the cruise lines to get things done. Last week I noticed a price drop on one of my sailings which is past final payment. I sent an email and in a couple of days I had FCCs for almost $500.  It pays to use a TA if you find a good one.