April7901

Here's a slightly different question, still related.  I've searched a bit but hadn't found an answer, and while I'm sure it's answered somewhere, I'll take the risk and ask again.

I booked under a promo that gave me two "Free at Sea" options... so I chose the beverages and the $50 per port shorex credit. There was a second promo running that gave me an additional $50 per port shorex credit - so I have $100 per port credit.

Two different questions, I guess... 

1) Presumably, if I book online or over the phone - it would apply a strict $100 per port credit - even if the excursions vary in price, right?  Example: I book a $120 excursion for Port A, and a $75 excursion for Port B.  I would assume by booking in advance, I would be paying the extra $20 for the first, and losing the $25 additional credit for the second.  Theoretically correct assumption?

2) If I pay in advance, the $50 per port would apply as a refundable OBC to my account after each excursion.  Will the full $100 be applied to the account regardless of the amount of the excursion?  Or would it still only be up to the cost of the excursion?

I'd just like to maximize the use of this perk, basically.  

54 minutes ago, Hearthosesteeldrumsplayin said:

Darn!  Now you'll HAVE to take a 3 day cruise!  (I can find lots of reasons to book a cruise!)  Hope you can do that!

Haha. I wish!  As a solo traveler, 3-day trips are rarely worth the price in my book.  Plus they mostly hit the Bahamas and bleh.  

Oh man.  Thanks to all of you who explained.  I logged in today and noted my account said I was Gold...  at 49 points.  My next cruise will net me 28 points...   three measly points shy of platinum!  

For what it's worth, I had the same thing happen (mysterious "purchased" OBC show up on my Vacation Summary), and mine is, in fact, OBC from my travel agent.  So....  there's that.  

2 hours ago, guidotkp said:

Just wondering if there are any special events that happen on the Breakaway?  We are cruising Sunday Nov. 11th thru Sunday Nov. 18th.  Maybe an 80's night, or White Hot Party?  If anyone knows of any of the special themed events, or nights going on, I would appreciate all the help I can get.

No Dailies yet - we're the first cruise on this particular itinerary out of New Orleans.  You should join our Roll Call here - 

We're doing a meetup, a poker run, a cabin crawl.. some of us have talked about meeting up to do trivia, the escape game, and other stuff!

Less than 48 hours. That was Breakaway though. You used the email address in the post from this board - groupeventjade@ncl.com?

I’d try again and put “2nd attempt” or something in the subject line. 

I got a response just about a week ago.  Which ship?

The events / group coordinator takes care of that for you!  Of course, if you happen to run into any of them on the ship, it doesn't hurt to reinforce the invite!

17 hours ago, omarchs said:

Thanks for the info!

 

Wonder if this is a permanent shutdown of the Julia street station? Have used it multiple times on cruises in NO. Don’t remember if it ran later than 7pm, but it was an easy/fun way to get to Bourbon street during the day with one transfer.

 

Another case where they want more cruise business and I can’t imagine the shuttles can hold as many people. There was one time they needed 4-5 streetcars to take the 1st wave of visitors off the ship so the streetcar was very popular to get around town so hopefully it will just be temporary.

It's supposedly only while the Four Seasons is being constructed, so - yes, should be temporary.

17 hours ago, delaware32 said:

We are at the Hilton Riverside . Will we be able to use the streetcar from there to Jackson Square or is this  available via the bus only ?

If you are going before next summer, the Julia Street terminal is closed.  There will be a shuttle of some sort, but the streetcar will not run to Julia Street.

1 hour ago, Ms Jo UK said:

The link states it is not valid in my location, so I am unable to read the article.  I was planning to use this after dropping off my luggage is this not going to be possible, on 25th November?

No, it won't, unfortunately.  The Julia Street terminal closed in July of 2018 for approximately one year while they're building a new hotel.

If you're going sometime before July of 2019, this won't be an option:

https://wgno.com/2018/07/30/two-stops-on-riverfront-streetcar-line-suspended-for-four-seasons-hotel-construction/

4 hours ago, Vyhanek said:

I don't think it goes over nearly as well as the Las Vegas style song and dance and las vegas style theater.   Its too edgy, too homosexuality in your face, too driven for shock value.

 

Rock of Ages is a Broadway musical.....  not something any Australian company came up with :)   It seems that all they're trying to do is modernize some of the entertainment, since I suspect that a fair number of the younger demographic cruising these days finds the Vegas-style theatre outdated and boring.  RoA might not be the best choice - perhaps something like Movin' On, Motown (oh wait, that's largely based on African American history, so that's probably out too ) or Beautiful would be better suited as a bridge between demographics.  But if I see one more crappy revue-style show (like Swing!) on a cruise I'll lose my mind.

And "too homosexuality in your face" is telling that it was even mentioned, frankly.  

I love the show - saw a touring production in Chicago a few years ago.  I'm taking my mom to see it on the Breakaway, and I think she'll love it.

That said, if I were going solo...  I would leave if I didn't think the cast was up to par.  I find NCL's entertainment to be very hit or miss.  I've left productions in the past because I just didn't care for the quality.  

There's a thread trying to track it here:  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2594030-confirmed-ncl-cruise-ships-that-have-straws-october-2018/

I mostly agree... I would add two caveats...  1) Teppanyaki is impossible.  If that's a "must" for you, I'd keep the reservation.  2) If you are traveling alone or as a couple, then doing things "whenever" works.  If you've got a group of 6+ - then you may not have that luxury.  That's just what I've seen in person and on the boards. 

1 minute ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

hmmm, October 22nd hasn't happened yet. Did you travel from the future? And it's not on Thursday either. :)

D’oh. The 11th, not the 22nd. 

I'm on the 11/11/2018 sailing of the Breakaway out of New Orleans. 

I got the offer to upgrade on 8/23.  I was booked in an Oceanview, category OB.  The offer was for either a mini suite, minimum bid $50pp, or a balcony, minimum bid $25pp.

I put in a bid of $95pp for a mini, and $75 for a balcony.

On Thursday, October 22th, I got the notice that we were awarded the balcony upgrade, and with the confirmation, moved to a forward BC on deck 13.

I've done cash deposits twice. I'm always on board before noon, and always been able to go straight to guest services and put down the deposit. I've never tried to "spend" before I put the cash on, though, but honestly, a difference of ten minutes probably won't mean having reservations vs. not. :)

On my Alaskan trip on the Pearl, I think there was some form of trivia at least three times a day - sometimes in a bar, sometimes in Bliss, sometimes themed, sometimes not.

I always went solo, and after the first day, had two "regular" groups that I joined. Folks were super friendly and once they realized I was solo, and especially after the first round when they realized I was kinda good at it, were super willing to let me join them.

We only won a couple games, and some games were easier than others - I tore up the tri-bond round, and the Michael Jackson round was super fun too. Others... well..... that's another story :)

I contacted the Bliss Special events planner

 

I don't know who exactly you contacted or where nor what the exact words were you used but contact

specialeventsbliss@ncl.com

 

 

 

The person there is the person to deal with in the first instance.

 

 

No there is no charge for setting up a Meet & Greet on an NCL ship through the appropriate person at "Special Events in Miaimi"

 

 

Mike

I just want to make a clarification point - there is no charge for a Cruise Critic Meet & greeg. For a private event for a special group of 70, there may well be a charge for a special event. I'm unfamiliar with that, but from the sound of the original post in this case, it didn't sound like a CC meetup, but rather a private group.

This exact situation happened to us when they switched us from Gem to Breakaway. Price went up a bit. Cabins not as good, plus they dropped one of our ports. Our big box TA did not know anything about it. Never contacted us (found out about it on the boards), and NCL never contacted us either! Very weird. We were so put off, we just ended up cancelling the cruise and rebooking elsewhere.

We were probably on the same cruise, 'cause this was my exact situation. No word from NCL - found out about the change on the roll call. I definitely don't blame my TA for the lack of communication on that - clearly NCL wasn't interested in discussing it either lol

I used Vistaprint to print off some reminder cards this time around. With the discount codes that cloat around, it cost me about $10 (which included shipping) - well worth the headache, IMO, and I left the back blank to remind about any other activities we decide on (cabin crawl, slot pull, etc). I usually like to do a walkaround of the ship anyway, and since Breakaway is completely new to me, finding cabins to leave reminders will be a fun way to get used to the ship!

The solo coordinator isn't a cruise director they are just in charge of getting the group to dinner. I think you were expecting too much.

This isn't really true. The solo coordinator has, at least in past instances, acted as a solo cruise director. I've had them organize bowling tournaments, trivia teams. dinners, shows, heck, even a shore excursion once. I don't know what their directives are from the cruise line, nor have I always had that happen. But there are definitely expectations in place based on past, and others' experiences.

I've had one good and one great solo hosts. Unfortunately, I can't remember either of their names, because I'm awful with names. One was on the Pearl in Alaska in 2015, and the other was on the Jade to the Western Caribbean in 2016.

I booked five directly with NCL and was always pleased with both the rate I paid and the 'perks' I had, if any. My best example? My 2015 Pearl trip to Alaska... I originally booked a 7-day in September in an inside, and was perfectly OK with the price. Then I opted to switch to a 10-day May trip, also in an inside, which was almost $1000 less - and since I had already made a sizeable payment (spare me the lectures), they ended up refunding me about $800 of that. Then, they offered a promo for the drinks package and free gratuities... I spent about 30 minutes on hold, but ended up with an upgrade to a balcony AND both the drinks package and gratuities - and apparently gratuities on the drink package, because I didn't ever send any more $$. Just after final payment due date, the price dropped again, and I was bumped up to a mini suite - all I had to do was call. Not bad, eh?

For my upcoming sixth trip, I used a TA. The rate was a little better, but more importantly, the TA offer was to cover the drinks package gratuities on top of the NCL offer of the "two free" things. We haven't seen a price drop - just increases. Though with a ship change by NCL, I was a little disappointed that somehow our rate went up a bit - which, really, should not have happened. We were not offered the option to stay on our original ship and change itineraries - just unceremoniously dumped onto the Breakaway. My TA is super nice and great when I can get her on the phone, but hard to catch or get a response by email. Considering that email is my primary and preferred means of communication, this has been very frustrating for me.

All that to say - having done it both ways, unless it's a truly spectacular deal, I'm not sure I'd use a TA again. And if I do, I'd probably look for a recommendation from someone to use a different one. I was pretty content to book and handle my reservation on my own.