Luckycruising

I know it’s a lot of sudden changes for NCL, but does anyone have any idea what might happen with this cruise?  It’s a 5 day cruise from LA to Vancouver with a stop to San Francisco.  From what i’m reading here, i don’t think they can change the final destination to Seattle for example because the ship wouldn’t have went to a foreign port, am i right?  And i think the purpose of this voyage was to bring the ship to Vancouver for the start of the Alaskan cruises.  Any idea when i will ear something from NCL?
 

thanks for any input you can give me

Thank you everyone, I really appreciate it!

Like I said in another post, i'm new to NCL.  I've been reading constantly in the last few days, and there is one thing for which I can't find an answer, and it's about the Savor and the Taste dining rooms.  I've looked at reviews, I've seen menus for every restaurant, but I can't find anything for those "restaurants".  Do they offer the same menu as the Manhattan main dining room?  Or do they offer something else all together?

Thank you so much to the both of you, I really appreciate it!

Hello,

I have about 15 cruises down my belt (Carnival, RCL, Disney), but the NCL Joy will be my first NCL cruise.  I'm doing a 5 days cruise from LA to Vancouver.  I just did my online check-in, and in the dining options, it gives me all the options to make reservations for each night (paid venues and complimentary venues).  What I don't understand is do I really have to pre-book the complimentary venues?  I thought the concept of my-time dining was not having to worry about when and where I will eat, but will I be stuck to the buffet if I don't pre-book it?  Or can I just show up to the complimentary venue and ask for a table (I understand there might be a wait time for a table)?

Thanks for the help

If I may ask a second question, I've also upgraded to the unlimited wifi package, but it doesn't specify if it's for the room or is it for one device only.

thanks for your quick advice, i must have read that wrong. Back to square one. I haven't seen any roundtrips within 7 days, i'll go and check again!!

I just posted this in the Carnival section, i figured i might as well post it here!

Hello,

As you can see from my cruising history below, i've cruised mostly on Carnival, tried Royal and Disney once + a Nile River cruise in Egypt. We are a couple in their mid-thirties with a 8 year old daughter. I'm looking for an Alaskan cruise for next summer, and Carnival is not on my list (for 2 reasons, 1) i've read at several places and my TA also told me that Carnival isn't the best when it comes to Alaska, and 2) i want to leave or disembark in Vancouver (which Carnival doesn't offer).

So i've looked around, the NCL Sun looked interesting, but they only do 1 way and it's Vancouver to Seward (or vice-versa), and Seward is a 3 hours bus ride to the airport, which i'm not interested in, but then i saw the Grand Princess which looks really interesting (and it goes to Anchorage- the actual city where the airport is). Now, i'm looking for actual opinions of people who have cruised Carnival and could give me a good comparison Carnival/Princess. I don't really care about review of cabins, but mostly food and entertainment, overall overview?

Furthermore, for those who have done an Alaskan cruise (on whichever line), what is the best time to go?

Thanks a lot

Hello,

As you can see from my cruising history below, i've cruised mostly on Carnival, tried Royal and Disney once + a Nile River cruise in Egypt. We are a couple in their mid-thirties with a 8 year old daughter. I'm looking for an Alaskan cruise for next summer, and Carnival is not on my list (for 2 reasons, 1) i've read at several places and my TA also told me that Carnival isn't the best when it comes to Alaska, and 2) i want to leave or disembark in Vancouver (which Carnival doesn't offer).

So i've looked around, the NCL Sun looked interesting, but they only do 1 way and it's Vancouver to Seward (or vice-versa), and Seward is a 3 hours bus ride to the airport, which i'm not interested in, but then i saw the Grand Princess which looks really interesting (and it goes to Anchorage- the actual city where the airport is). Now, i'm looking for actual opinions of people who have cruised Carnival and could give me a good comparison Carnival/Princess. I don't really care about review of cabins, but mostly food and entertainment, overall overview?

Furthermore, for those who have done an Alaskan cruise (on whichever line), what is the best time to go?

Thanks a lot

Absolutely, a lot of people bring it back to the room to est on their balcony or to avoid the lido madness!!

Thanks everyone!! I'm relieved now. As for the amenities given to group booking, i don't really care, since my TA is already giving me a great OBC to start with! (it slightly went down because of the price drops which means lower commision for her, but it's still a great freebie! I would have paid the same amount if i had booked directly on Carnival, but without the extra OBC.

Hello,

I did my final payment to my TA (yeah), and now i have access to my documents on Carnival.com. I can see on my booking summary that there is a "group ID- group name". So i'm assuming the TA created a group booking. This never happened to me before, i'm just wondering, will this change anything for me? Should i be concerned? If the TA simply makes more profit this way, i'm really happy for her, as long as it doesn't impact me! I booked ES and have already had several price drops so far on my Christmas cruise (i wasn't expecting that!!).

Thanks

Hi. Wondering if anyone knows I'd there are the standard 4 top booths in either dining room on the Breeze? Not the half booth with 2 tables, I'm looking for a bench in either side. TIA!

Yes, we had a standard 4 top booths for traditionnal dining last year. I requested the booth (in every restaurant we go, i always request a booth).

Like with the soda package, the 15% gets split among all bar staff. Keep it on and tip extra if you want to.

Is it? I thought i had read that only the servers who had served me would receive a portion of the tips (hence the swipping of the card, they know who served whom)? That's why i was questionning it. I'm not stiffing anyone by removing it, if there is something, i'm the one being fooled into paying the tips twice?

Before some people get agitated, let me just say that i never EVER remove auto-tips for the rest of the staff. We even give extras. However, after reading the other thread on Cheers, i would feel exactly like the other poster did, i could never order a drink and not tip generously each time. So what's the purpose of "pre-paying" them when i know i will give tips anyways? And since there are no other people left out by removing auto-tips since i'm tipping directly the person serving me, why should i pay the tips twice?

Ah now, there you've done it.

 

Once you have a balcony, it's real hard to go back.

I've received that comment as well when i booked a balcony room for the first time, and you know what, although it was nice, i didn't get that wow factor from a balcony which would make me absolutely need one for the next cruises. If it's free, sure, but i wouldn't spend a dime to have one. Some people just aren't cruising for the room, i go to my room to sleep and shower, that's it!!

We will be 4 adults with an 8 year old child on the Breeze this Christmas. I will be requesting a private table. What kind of seating arrangements have you seen or experience for this size? Squeezed at a table for 4 or at a table for 6?

thanks

I live in New-Brunswick, Canada, and i've never worn shorts in October!! Definately jeans and long sleeves. It's not rare to have our first snow in October, although you are early October, so you probably won't see any.

Bring a warm jacket as well (in the Fall, i usually wear a North Face fleece jacket), if that can give you an idea.

In a similar vein, my husbands name (Christopher) was apparently too long for Carnivals booking system, per our PVP. On the booking it shows as Christophe - I emailed Carnival to make sure that I would have a problem boarding but they haven't got back to me. With the horror stories I hear about names not matching, I'm worried.

 

There must be more than one Christopher that has cruised with Carnival before - anyone able to shed some light?

I've had the same issue with Carnival, but with my last name- omitting the last letter. I've never had any issue boarding, and nobody even said something.

We always bring our daughter(who is red), and they never said a thing. She's 8 years old.

I can't believe nobody said the "kiss on the lips" yet..... It's the best drink ever!!

What i've always assumed (cause this is on every sailing), is that the system needs to charge something, this homeport advisory (from what i assume) is to sign up to get notifications if your embarkation is delayed for example.

Yes, they will automatically have their VIFP number. After your cruise, you can go in your profile and look at previous cruises , and click on travel companion, you will see their VIFP number (that's how i found my daughter's number). HOWEVER, although they have a VIFP number, a child cannot have his/her own profile on Carnival (i don't remember the minimum age, maybe 12????). When i tried to create a profile for my daughter, i couldn't do it.

Thank you all for your comments, but in the end, yes, i did get my upgrade at no extra 50$ fee. I'm someone who really doesn't care much about a stateroom ( i did try a balcony once and don't even care to book another one since i cruise for the ship and ports and i'm only in the room to sleep ), so that's why i almost always book an interior, but the idea of having 2 bathrooms for a Christmas cruise sounded like a nice gift to myself!!!

I'm booked early saver for a December cruise (so we are prior final payment).With the new promotion going on, i looked, and yes, the prices are lower, but instead of asking for a price reduction, i asked my TA to upgrade my interior cabin to a Deluxe Ocean view, and i only have to pay 229$ extra (total for the 3 of us!!- great deal). However, before hanging up, she said i hope they won't charge us for this. I asked her what she meant and she said Carnival imposes a 50$ fee for changes. I told her i was pretty sure that's only for date changes and stuff like that, not for a cabin upgrade. She said she will plea with them since i'm giving them more money.

Is she right about this or just confused? Could Carnival charge me a 50$ fee for upgrading cabin?

Thanks

Did the book Cruise Confidential say something about folks ordering more entrees? Curious...

It just said, like a previous poster said, that it's nice to at least order in advance. The galley is set up that they have set amount of time for such type of food (appetizer, dinner, dessert), so if the chain of desserts have started, the waiters have to go into a separate line and wait for your order. If you order upfront, the waiter can grab the extra plates and put them aside for you.