2 hours ago, casofilia said:

 

I am also unhappy that NCL has NOT provided any other number than one in the USA, an International Toll Call from New Zealand.

Use Skype.  

https://www.skype.com/en/get-skype/

US toll free calls are free, no matter where you are located.

Just throwing it out there that the Joy has 3 room, 2 bathroom inside family suites  that are sold cheaply and which are very quiet.  Has a fake balcony with live floor to ceiling video of the ocean in the middle room.

10 hours ago, drsel said:

 

Today, Carnival cancelled 2 of my 3 Cruises booked using fresh cash.(not FCCs)

 

For my 2 cancelled Carnival Spirit Cruises, the 2 deposits paid by me in fresh cash are US $550 & $344

 

The third Cruise which is not cancelled has a balance payment of US $635

 

1. So which deposit should I transfer to the third Cruise?

2. If I transfer both the deposits, can the excess payment can be converted to OBC or not?

3. Should I take a refund of $550 and transfer the other deposit of $344?

4. Carnival is offering Aus $900 OBC for each of the 2 cancelled Cruises. Can both OBCs be added on to the third Cruise?

 

Thanks in anticipation

 

My travel agent has advised me that Carnival does not allow multiple FCCs to be stacked.
As I already have one from last February, I am choosing the cash refund of my cash deposit for the 1/25 transatlantic on Valor.  I was not intending to make further payments.
 

Yes, I see that.  Thank you.

For the ill fated 5 March sailing of the Luminosa,  I have been credited only with border points and no cruise points.

I can only hope that I will be credited with time in Costa quarantine.   A month so far.

The letter was sent only to North America booked passengers.  12 hours later, on board there was a slightly different letter that walked back a few of the assertions. 

1.   Disembarkation in Marseilles is 100% voluntary.  The ship continues to the Italian ports.

2.   This level of compensation or any compensation is limited to North America booked passengers :  think Costa's water policy.

3.  $250 per passenger OBC, regardless of booked destination.  Plus up to $400 per cabin for travel expenses to be sorted later.  Plus some sort of future cruise credit.

4.  Costa appears very keen to off load the Americans and Canucks.

5.  There are few British pax on board, so no passenger mutiny.   It has been handled really well by the various cruise hosts/hostesses.

In my case, this was excellent news.   My trip to northern Italy was already dead in the water.  My hotels, train ticket and car rental sorted before sailing.  All fully refundable, as were my previous Italian arrangements.

 

There's force majeure and then there's someone having a larf.

Waiting until the night before sailing ... still not offering passengers the opportunity to cancel without penalty.

And $50 obc in my case!

No worries, I had already booked a hotel in Marseilles, just in case.
 

IMPORTANT COMMUNICATION

Costa Luminosa - Cruise from 03/05/2020

Dear Guest,

As you may have learned, the alert level for CoVid-19 declared by the World Health Organization has been raised, and this has led the health authorities of some countries to further increase their precautionary measures by introducing a series of bans on entry into their territories.

With the main aim to gain the most up-to-date information, Costa Cruises remains in constant contact with all the local authorities of the countries called by its vessels. This is done to allow Costa to make the most appropriate decisions and/or put in place the most adequate measures to be sure that the highest level of safety for its guests and crewmembers are met. Safety, in fact, is an absolute priority for us, both during navigation and on land.  

Given the continuous evolution of this specific situation and in accordance with the directives issued by US Department of State, who have further strengthened their restrictive measures on some specific north Italian regions (Lombardy and Veneto) , we are forced to modify  the itinerary originally planned for all American guests.

In light of this situation, the itinerary for your Transatlantic cruise aboard Costa Luminosa will now end in Marseille, France, on March 20, avoiding all the subsequent Italian calls.

Please see the itinerary below.

While we regret this adjustment, we certainly understand this decision could be disappointing and as a gesture of goodwill, you will receive up to $250 per person onboard credit* that may be used for expenses onboard.  Furthermore, Costa will provide transfers to the Marseille airport.  Guests will be responsible to change flights with airlines from Marseille, France (MRS) to the final destination if needed.  Costa will provide reimbursement up to $250 USD for airline change fee†, and up to $150 USD for 1-night hotel in the international flight city prior to departing home. 

Finally, you will be receiving a 25% discount on a future cruise (based on the cruise fare, this will be mailed to you at a later date).

Thank you for your understanding.

Costa Cruises

*Onboard credit amount is based on the Guest's original disembarkation port:  Savona- $50pp, Naples- $100pp, Venice- $250pp. Onboard credit is based on double occupancy, may not be used in the casino or for Hotel Service Charges.  Any unused portion will not be refunded.

† The reimbursement will be considered when receipts have been reviewed.  Please send receipts to customercare@us.costa.it  

3 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

But there you don't have the Observation Lounges. 

Once the teenagers on board Encore discovered the Observation lounge, it lost nearly all its value to me.

I still went at 05.30 for Muesli and was astounded to find certain passengers tanking up on it.  I would joke that the locusts had dropped by.

I was also on the same cruise and a previous one 2 weeks earlier.

By and large, I enjoy Encore but I am neither a sun worshipper nor a smoker.   The Buffet is fine for late evening dining, otherwise "look out".

The assistant maitre d's look after me after I tell them of my special needs.  It helps to be recognized from previous NCL cruises.   

The Manhattan Room has been destroyed as a refined dining space, the dance floor removed with noise levels off the scale.

The issue for me were the entitled children running in the narrowed corridors, never heeding warnings and not brought to book by cruise staff.  By the end of the cruise, packs of teenagers had taken over The Observation Lounge.  As a contrast, I was on Carnival the week before and I never had a problem there.

 

7 hours ago, ontheweb said:

I noticed you wrote "Carnival brand", not Carnival. Was the OBC credit possibly accepted by Princess? Princess used to allow you to book excursions in advance and not have the charge show up until you were onboard. When they stopped this practice, there was much grumbling from their customers. They compromised by allowing you to use OBC before the cruise to pay for excursions. The time limit seemed to be extended to make this work more efficiently.

No, my neologism "Carnival brand" refers to the "Fun ships".  This is an extremely rare occasion when I have booked more than 2 months in advance.

Was surprised and delighted that Carnival brand has approved my $250 for January, 2021 departure.

Carnival brand also approved $50 CCL benefit for dirt cheap 5 day sailing with 2 days' notice.

The lady's behavior suggests  Munchausen by proxy syndrome.   She isn't the first mother to play hero.

I thought we were at a small port in Costa Rica but I have been told it's El Salvador which would make sense timewise.  We have now been anchored the past 5.5 hours off a small banana port for a medical emergency.  It has been 6 hours since an announcement from the Bridge.  We were due to call in Costa Rica in the morning.  Yes, 3rd evacuation of the cruise.  This one is not routine.
 

1 hour ago, 2+2 said:

Although I am a little confused by how your bad experience all went down.  I  do sympathize with you.   I  had experienced an out of control employee than was overreacting to passengers. I  could tell he had the potential to  flip out, so I  did my best to ignore him. 

    What trigger him to physically harm you.  

After 3 attempts to enlist his assistance and his ignoring me, I got in his face.  Rather than take a step backward or request me to do the same, he took matters into his own hands.

I don't think he lost his temper.  This was his SOP.



 

Size12Stilettos wrote previously of their December 2019 embarkation at San Pedro on the Joy:

"SMS International Shore Operations was the company facilitating the embarkation process at the dock. They are the most unprofessional group of people I have ever witnessed. It took 3 hours to get onboard and for some 5-6 hours - the longest of the dozen or so cruises I’ve taken over the years. SMS employees were guarding the door like we were refugees trying to invade their border. There were handicap people waiting for wheelchairs for hours showing visible signs of pain. One woman with no teeth was yelling at people when they asked simple questions. Another with a lazy eye kept asking for management to come out and get order and provide information. That never happened. They even had ship representatives coming outside in full uniform not saying a word. I had to learn from scuttlebutt talk in line that the delay was likely the result of the Norovirus outbreak over the past 2 weeks which was reported by the local news. They were likely running late because they were sanitizing the ship. The only problem with this? Why wasn’t this communicated to us in advance to help manage our expectations? Why have us arrive at 1 PM to wait 2-3 hours? Why couldn’t we wait inside the terminal where there were hundreds of empty seats available? Want to know how bad it was? They had people fully checked in that morning around 11 AM, then they fooled them by telling them to go outside to get fresh air, they then locked them out and made them wait in line all over again. We’re talking about people who had turned in their health form and gotten their room key card. CRAZINESS!"
 

On January 17, 2020 it got even worse.  My experience :
 

The January 17 boarding for the Joy was at best, chaotic.  Thanks go to the disembarking passengers who posted they were late getting clearance.

I arrived at 11.30, a line in the sun that was not moving.  I and my 20 year old son moved further away from the entrance and found a shaded bench.  We had drinks, WiFi and were quite prepared to sit out the next 2 hours, as the line got longer and then much longer.

I saw a lady with a Haven paddleboard and she said strictly Haven only.  Fair enough.   My son went to the nearby food truck for snacks as we settled in.

Then after circa. 1 hour,  an older gentleman came by with a Concierge Class paddleboard, working for security sub contractors, SMS International Shore Operations.
Well, that's us!  We are in a Concierge cabin.
 

3 times, he shined me and my son on, after we identified ourselves as "Concierge Class". Each time, moving away from us down the line towards the food truck.  After refusing to accept our printed boarding passes,   I started telling him off, he pushed me forcefully down into a flowerbed. After slowly getting up, he pushed me again. Bleeding profusely, police were called, besides paramedics.
 

No handcuffs for "Bob".  No offer of assistance or apologies at any point.   Cruise line is in SOP CYA mode.
 

He did me a favor. I am no longer fighting off the gang of 4 robbers from last October's robbery in a Paris hotel in my idle thoughts at night. My fighting days are well and truly over.  But I don't go cruising to get into fights.
 

Eventually we were escorted by a supervisor, given the "Haven" treatment. I like it.

Absolutely no explanation from anyone as to why this SOB would not do his simple job of escorting Concierge Class passengers.  In an attempt by my son and 2 by me, we acted normally, actually chilled.   He demanded boarding passes then would not accept them, just staring at them.
  
Look, I have been subject to a 12 hour delayed boarding in New York.    I am quite sanguine about these things, so long as the ship is not steaming away without me.   And to be clear,  I never touched the perp.  Not a finger.  And I never saw him escort anyone.   What was he doing there?

In other news,  Concierge Class, unique to the Joy, is brilliant.  I hope to stay on for the next 12 day cruise.
 
 

Well, the January 17 boarding for the Joy was at best, chaotic.  Thanks to the disembarking passengers who posted they were late getting clearance.

I arrived at 11.30, a line in the sun that was not moving.  I and my 20 year old son moved further away from the entrance and found a shaded bench.  We had drinks, WiFi and were quite prepared to sit out the next 2 hours, as the line got longer and much longer.

I saw a lady with a Haven paddleboard and she said strictly Haven only.  Fair enough.   My son went to the nearby food truck for snacks as we settled in.

Then after circa. 1 hour,  an older gentleman came by with a Concierge Class paddleboard, working for security sub contractors.  Well, that's us!  We are in a Concierge cabin.

3 times, he shined me and my son on, after we identified ourselves as "Concierge Class". Each time, moving away from us down the line towards the food truck.  After refusing to accept our printed boarding passes,   I started telling him off, he pushed me forcefully into a flowerbed. After slowly getting up, he pushed me again. Bleeding profusely, police were called, besides paramedics.
 

No handcuffs for "Bob".  No offer of assistance or apologies at at any point.   Cruise line is in SOP CYA mode.
 

He did me a favor. I am no longer fighting off the robbers from last October in Paris in my idle thoughts at night. My fighting days are well and truly over.  But I don't go cruising to get into fights.
 

Eventually we were escorted by a supervisor, given the "Haven" treatment. I like it.

Absolutely no explanation from anyone as to  why this SOB would not do his simple job of escorting Concierge Class passengers.  In an attempt by my son and 2 by me, we acted normally, actually chilled.   He demanded boarding passes then would not accept them, just staring at them.
  
Look, I have been subject to a 12 hour delayed boarding in New York.    I am quite sanguine about these things, so long as the ship is not steaming away without me.   And to be clear,  I never touched the perp.  Not a finger.  And I never saw him escort anyone.   What was he doing there?

In other news,  Concierge Class, unique to the Joy, is brilliant.  I hope to stay on for the next 12 day cruise.
 


 

I am confused.

Why didn't you just re-book your return flight to fall within "intended stay (in Schengen Zone) plus 3 months"?, 

As it was a Baltic cruise on NCL, you would normally be embarking/disembarking in Copenhagen.  You could disembark early in Helsinki or the designated Swedish port, both within the Schengen zone, after the excursion to the non Schengen Russian Federation.  You just inform GS after you depart Copenhagen.  

Alternatively, if flying into Copenhagen a day or longer before the cruise, you head immediately to the US Embassy  and you will obtain emergency passport replacements within usually 2 hours.  Then change your return flights back!

Yes, I've done it!   (I had a party to attend in Gothenburg).

The cruise itself is of no concern to the airline.  Instead of your 9 day cruise adventure, you're in Denmark for a week is what the airline needs to hear and what you tell Danish immigration upon arrival at Kastrup.

I am currently travelling on an emergency passport that I will renew at a Schengen zone US Embassy at least 6 months before expiration.  


 

4 hours ago, travkesa said:

Thank you for the review! We'll be on this sailing just in the other direction at the end of February. 🙂

I know y'all were on over Christmas, but how many families were on board for this sail? We'll have our kids with us too. What things did yours enjoy most when onboard for sea days?

 

I'm so sorry about your flooded stateroom! That sounds miserable.

 

Again thanks for all this great info!

As it was a holiday sailing, there was a huge contingent of well heeled cruisers from Mexico City who tend to keep to themselves even though multi lingual. (Saving a slot) This would also explain Dwight Blake's multi cultural -  soul to salsa - musical sets.

Of course, there are also smaller family units on board.

Our family (father and son) enjoyed room service the most on sea days, choosing to hide in our cabin.  Pater might venture out for afternoon tea.

Crooners had Dwight Blake.

Wheelhouse  had Touch of Class (no energy jazz)

Also,  London Calling.  Truly awful.  Handsome guy on cajon with girlfriend singing in monotone, except for "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" that she sang off key.

Caribbean party band, Topaz, with far too loud snare.

Classical duo, over amplified.  Excellent Ukrainian players but not tea time music.
 

I was on the same sailing and I absolutely concur with your analysis.

Having just finished a cruise on the Regal,  the downgrading of food items was shocking.  Eggs Benedict, French Toast only available on "rotation" now in the MDR.  Overall, looked like they needed a new chef de partie at dinner.

Only the great head waiter Giovanni saved it for me.

Well, here's a backhanded compliment :  the NY steak in the MDR was a lot better than the Rib Eye in the Crown.

Shocking, unannounced cutbacks in the International Cafe on graveyard.

The entertainment scheduling was dire.  Only 1 worthy lounge act :  Dwight Blake, only sparingly scheduled.

Aaron is best described in his native vernacular as a twat.   He was the proverbial deer in the headlights with the stage lift fiasco.  Then they cancelled the next night's shows to allow 2 sparsely attended re-running of the originally cancelled performance (the later one did take place as scheduled).

What's with the virtuoso steel drum player on the ships?   He ain't no substitute for ballroom dancing accompaniment.

All said,  I was still loath to disembark after 15 days.

 

Just went from 7 day Regal to 15 day Emerald.

I used to favor Crown Class over Royal Class ...

From the Emerald :
   
No more cartons of chocolate milk.  Rly!   Room service tries to charge $1.75.

No more free tea in the International Cafe in the middle of the night.

Hours  long gap in any food offered at night in IC.  The first night I noticed, I was advised no food from 3 am until 5.30 am!

No Eggs Benedict on demand in MDR breakfast, only on "rotation".

No mixed berries at breakfast, i.e. no raspberries nor blueberries.  Just tasteless strawbs.

Crispy bacon has been outstanding!  Poached eggs on toast with toast trimmed back!

Food quality in Lido awful but still above run of the mill NCL.

Poor steak in Crown Grill, took it back for the puppy (DS).

Complaining to officers fixed most of the above.

Entertainment?   Princess is self destruct mode, I'm afraid.

2 hours ago, smithop said:

 

Can you elaborate on the “free access to CruiseCritic.com”?
 

Did you purchase social internet and they added CC to what was allowed?

Did you have no internet package and they somehow gave you free internet for CC only?

 

TIA

The option is in the Community Zone, along with ncl.com.   It was added mid way through our recent Thanksgiving cruise on the Pearl, so I assume fleetwide.

So you can now browse cruise critic for hours without charge.

Speaks volumes as to how much NCL is vested in the site.

Boarding Joy mid January for the inside Concierge experience!



 

On 11/9/2019 at 5:32 PM, xeena said:

how bad is the internet on nieuw statendam?   (i am now spoiled by oceana and viking where it is "free"...)

 

i usually only check emails twice a day, delete spam and send a few imessages....I know where several wifi spots are in the ports we will visit....but it might be worth buying the 100 min package if it does not take forever to connect on board...any advice?

Incredibly bad.

Yahoo, Twitter, .gov sites, plus many others are blocked.   Hotmail and gmail are not, so try and get Outlook or other email program to collect Yahoo mail for you.  Most days,  Yahoo mail would ping and once a day you would get incoming emails but would have to reply using a different email.  Attachments could not be downloaded from Yahoo.com.

Strangely,  Whatsapp and Facebook and TV streaming generally functions well but there are times when everything grinds to a very slow crawl.

They know perfectly well they have a problem.

After negotiations on board, I received $200 (refundable) credit on what had been a suite class perk.

I use a combination of shipboard and mobile internet.  

On 4/21/2019 at 2:07 AM, arowe6 said:

I wondered this as well. If so there are going to be a lot of disappointed passengers on the TA crossing. Can’t imagine what the inventory is like now after what it was on the cruise before. 

 

Andrew 🙂

I no longer drink, so a non issue for me.  And yes, I followed you on the t/a. No illness to report but a medevac off Land's End en route to Zeebrugge.

On a previous long cruise on the Regal, I ate every afternoon in Alfredos.   This time, just twice in 15 days after a woeful first pizza.

I opted for late sitting in Allegro.  Best move ever.   Go to dinner anytime from 7.45 pm - 9.15 pm, though usually at the earlier time.  Romanian maitre d' Robert had my back at all times.

My son and I liked the old internet plan (250 free minutes each) but love the new one.  Upgrade to unlimited always on for 1 person and use the 250 minutes and 4G as back up.  Log in can be shared between devices.

 

On 5/16/2019 at 12:43 AM, PTC DAWG said:

LOL, that’s new one on me...

 

what type of group?

Why are people so reluctant to say?

Transatlantic, large group?   My money is on Mainland Chinese.  It's largely an incentive market with the factories paying an all in cruise price for workers 20 years removed from sleeping with swine.  Thank NCL marketing.

I always bring my own maple syrup on board.  The Gem first confiscated my jug on a recent Canal voyage then after its liberation, it was stolen.  They offered me Smuckers as compensation!

The only near mass market line to offer the real stuff is Cunard.  Not Princess, not HAL.

Yet on the low rent overnight ferry between Stockholm and Tallinn, they were serving it in the deluxe breakfast buffet.

 

 

8 hours ago, Slburrough said:

 

You may be interested to hear that that evening Guest Services called "urgently" wishing to speak to me. Errol Bailey, Hotel Manager on the Getaway then called and had a long conversation with me. He had been told I had "taken the mic" to cause trouble. He cautioned me that the Captain had been informed of a passenger revolt and that Security had been informed. I was warned not to do anything similar the following day in Bruges.

I had thought Errol was one of the good guys.  I stand corrected.   Was Roger Gustavsen still on board as Master?

If so, that would be 2 years in a row he was stitched up by Operations.

Let's face it, a rogue culture has taken over at NCL.

Platinum Plus twice over, definitely not making it to Ambassador.