PATRLR

Or, more likely they thought it best if those hellions from the mid-west were home earlier 😉 Actually, it was 10:00 as I remember it too and I'm on the east coast.

In my experience, the NCL reps are often far less reliable than asking in CC.

I don't disagree with any of what you write. I believe in the other thread I said as much.

According to this post it wasn't closed for the whole cruise and everyone onboard got some OBC and future cruise discounts. I'm far from an NCL apologist, but this sure sounds like a classic case of a bad start being allowed to ruin an entire vacation.

I wonder if this was the one where the "art" dealers were having a VIP show and took over that lounge. As I understand it, a couple of days in they opened up part of the OL. I also believe everyone got some nice OBC and future cruise discounts.

The officiating situation is a bit different because the coaches are right there. Makes sense for you guys to wave in the coach and then get out of the way. And thank you for being an official. I coach a high school sport and I know firsthand how much we need more officials. That's not true in my state. Being an employee of the enterprise does not disqualify you from Good Samaritan laws. Of course, that point is moot on an international cruise ship. Had this happened in the US, it seems to me that an employee who becomes aware of a personal injury situation and then leaves the scene with no other employee on the scene is a liability for the enterprise. I believe most customer-serving enterprises train their employees to call for assistance and remain with the injured party until the assistance arrives. Only very specific crew are trained to get people into life boats. See my comment above - the training should be "Call for help, remain on scene until that help arrives" Agreed. Seems the problem here is that none of the crew remained on scene. It makes me wonder if they actually are trained as we think.

I'm always suspicious of posts that include statements like this. It's as if they don't have confidence in what they are writing so they need to make a claim about others to support their statements.

Yes, I got mine for our Dec 6 2023 Viva cruise. I secured them initially via the "chat" feature on the web but ultimately had to phone the Customer Service number to pay for them. I've heard that you should be able to buy them either via chat or phone for all cruises through Deve 31 2024. People on 2025 cruises have reported inability to purchase, yet.

This is unfortunate to hear. One of the NCL differentiators for us was the entertainment. Seems like NCL is really deemphasizing entertainment which is going to make NCL more like the other mass market lines. Oh well.

Is that the bar we're setting for cruise line food now? I was bummed when I set the bar at Applebees level, now we're dropping down to McDonald's? 😉 By the way, for reasons I won't get into, I had the opportunity to have a McDonald's burger recently. I have to say, the Quarter Pounder I had wasn't bad, might even call it good. Much, much better than they used to be. I'd heard that they were stepping up their game in response to competition from the likes of 5 Guys and others and if the burger I had is typical, it appears they are stepping up their game.

I apologize if this has been posted elsewhere, I'd been trying to keep an eye open for it and hadn't seen anything before now. The Vibe on Viva is available for booking by either chat or calling NCL. It still doesn't show up under entertainment on either the ap or the website. We got ours:

Having seen both shows on Encore in November, I wouldn't characterize Choir as "second tier" at all. I get that you might not have enjoyed the show, but, in my opinion, it was every bit a headlining show as Kinky Boots was.

And you know this to be true, how? And they are compensated for their work based on their contract. If the DSC collections fall short of the minimum, it has been reported in these forums (and elsewhere) by a well-respected former officer that the cruise line is contractually obligated to make up the difference.

Not at all, very aware that happens.

Thoughts after reading this thread: The OL is a difference maker on a cold weather itinerary. I'd choose an NCL ship with OL over other line's ships, primarily for the OL. If the OL was then closed for the duration, I'd be very, very upset. I was shocked to learn that there are people who buy so much of that "art" that they get invited back on free cruises. Wow. Kudos to NCL for acknowledging that the other passengers were getting screwed and doing something to compensate. I suspect someone, somewhere went a bit rogue by allowing PW to use the OL.

You do it yourself.

I'll bet this happens a lot. And I know it would really, really piss me off.

By chance was this on the Encore recently? The CN manager on Encore in November did a great job explaining it straight up. It was the sales droids at the desk that do the lying. I'm not going to speak for @cruiseny4life but I agreed with what he wrote, exactly as he wrote it. I've witnessed the CN sales people flat-out lying. They tell lies as part of their effort to mislead the guests into buying more certificates. Has nothing to do with ASSUMing anything unless you are referring to people assuming the NCL employee is telling the truth.

Sounds like the classic timeshare sales approach. It's a shame these CN sales droids need to feel pressured into acting like slimy timeshare sales droids. You are purchasing a portion of your next cruise for 50% off, it's simple and should sell itself. But no, they need to talk fast and confuse the customer into purchasing more than they probably need. Exactly. Excellent advice.

I'm sorry, but, this is typical NCL in my opinion. My observation is that they are simply awful at communicating with their guests, to the point where it seems they just don't care.

Encore November it was encoded on the cabin card and they gave wrist bands that I think I only saw one couple wearing (ours were on our back pack which they said was "OK").

It is hilarious to me to think people actually believe what call center people tell them as if the call center people are all-knowing.

I don't understand why those two have so many followers. Their videos drag on and on, takes them forever to make a point. I listened to a few a while back but found them un-watchable. I just tried to watch the one mentioned here, more of the same, unwatchable. He starts reading this multipage letter he sent to Andy Stewart and says something about Andy reading the letter and I couldn't help but think there ain't no way he's reading that letter.

Yeah but it's inside. We like to grab our breakfasts and lunches and snacks and eat outside.

If this is true, that sucks. I know that when we come back from port we always like to get a bit to eat on the ship (we eat dinner late). That's going to really be a bummer if the only options are limited and inside (I'm not familiar with surfside grille).