dumbth

Wow, that is surprising they revived this trip, which I had reserved twice before. It omits the Marquesas now and does things in a bit odd order. Arghh, now to wrestle with temptation, but thanks for the heads up.

Thanks ar2c, but as a practical matter there seems no way to pay FCC for such extras on the ncl site. They get put in cart where only credit cards seem accepted. However I just noticed fine print saying unusual payment forms can be negotiated using the toll free number.

My FCCs still show June30 expiration for booking. Anyway, are they good for anything except a cruise itself? I am unable to use all of mine because they seem not applicable to 1) down payment, 2) prepayment of tips, 3) shore excursions, or 4) cabin upgrade bids. Is there anything I can use the leftover credits for at the same time as final cruise payment? thanks...

I wonder why I no longer get emails from NCL for almost a year? I noticed on their website that 2 of my cruises were recently cancelled, and rebooked one. No update notices from them or my cruise consultant. Anyway probably the FCC rules will morph yet again before I face next cancellation.

October is the last month where they offer us special cancellation privileges, so the risk seems less. If I recall they let us cancel up to 2 weeks before cruise; I'm not sure if we get back the deposit as well. This seems to also apply to cruises bridging over into November, so I signed up for the cruise allowing me into Lahaina's famous Halloween celebrations.

So I think the strategy should be sign up for the cheapest room and no extra packages or shore ex, at least before that two week period. Those needless extras would be the most sickening to lose your money on, and can mostly be revived just before or during the cruise.

Hawaii has mixed feelings about reviving tourism - the Hawaii Tourism Authority could be coordinating bottlenecks but is instead facing drastic defunding. You would think tourist tax and payroll revenues would be a motivating factor, but Hawaii can and will just tax residents more and more. The publicity about furloughing it's public sector is just an act - this will rarely happen even without tourist money. Hawaii has a form of crony capitalism run by major unions and big business, but not catering to non resident hotel owners or cruise/airlines. Hotel unions would be a factor, but there is so much transition to time share and airbnb etc. Take a course from HI chamber of commerce to learn and even navigate local economic dysfunction.

The one good use of doubling is with a thin neck gaiter; you can bring both top and bottom seams up over your nose and there is still enough cloth to reach your neck. With two layers being naturally spaced apart, it seems to offer even more than double protection without decreasing porosity much. Best for outdoor use because others may be skeptical of it's effectiveness.

As for mask overkill, there can be dire side effects like crashing your car into pedestrians. Some folks cannot get enough air to maintain consciousness, like a 300 pound person climbing stairs. Your glasses can suddenly fog up as you go from an a/c area to hot and humid. A waiter I know is constantly fogged up due to air leakage under the eyes. I was almost lynched by pushing my shopping cart to a big box entry door because I was too fogged up to see the mile long line.

My 10% coupons were tricky to make use of. When booking a new cruise I clicked on one of them and it gave a red invalid statement. Eventually I found I didn't have to unclick them, but they had to be accompanied by a credit card down payment rather than my future cruise credit. Then the 10% reduced price was acknowledged. The NCL site has odd human factors, but a lot of capability after trial and error.

2 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

I have no idea why anyone is booking cruises right now.  Expensive.  No sail date offered yet.  Unaware of new cruising conditions.

Not just for expiring cruise credits, but for better deals than when things do clear up.

For the same cruise cancelled 3/20 and rebooked 10/21, it came about the same price for a much worse class of room and going from several to no shorex. This is assuming getting much more than 30%.

I applied 30%, then 10% discount. My cruise credit was boosted by 50% rather than the 25% that most got. I had rebooked 2 cruises with the credits under some amazing 50% discounts, but they were cancelled. I gambled for a distress deal, but may be lucky to get anything for my money.

I just got my FCCs and 10% coupon, so made a reservation for my original cruise at about the same price with a much worse cabin. Halloween in Maui, which is the latest date they offer no questions asked cancellations up to 2 weeks before. I got the web site to accept my 10% coupon but FCCs are not allowed for deposit, so there goes a new $125 down the mystery hole. I had gotten a 150% FCC, but unless I luck out on a bid it won't pay for a comparable experience.

Yeah, but maybe we no longer have a time limit on how far out is the cruise we book (soon).

1 hour ago, jebhoward3 said:

Next question would be will the FCC's expiration date change to give us more time to re book again?

My FCCs just showed up with valid date ending 6/30/21 and 10% discounts ending 1/19/22. My April reservations disappeared. Does this mean in a practical sense I can book thru 6/30/21 for cruise thru 1/19/22?

I was thinking a scrapped ship may be essentially worthless after you take into account preparation, regulation compliance, etc. Look at the history of that Hawaii loop ship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Independence

which did pass thru the hands of NCL on it's epic journey trying to be scrapped. It gathered half million $ fines and was the subject of a global witch hunt due to it's ordinary amount of toxic material like found in common smoke detectors. It was eventually run aground and looted. It's sister ship the Constitution was "accidentally" sunk when being towed, probably saving more expenses than the value of scrapping.

This thread is so different from my humble NCL experience. I never made reservations for anything except shore excursions, which I strongly regret since that money looks gone down the toilet in the endless refunding with short expiration fuses. I was able to book at least one tour while onboard OK, and wouldn't care much if they were sold out anyway.

Shows were easy to see with no reservations, but the main dining room was exasperatingly full with few lulls to shoehorn in even at open or closing time. Wow, I save so much complexity and money by not being a drinker. Well I did order one fancy drink when a bar gave free drinks for a special occasion, but found it was considered bad manners to order anything but a simple beer when there were a hundred freeloaders waiting.

I was just thinking of 20 years ago when the ship that did the Hawaii loop before NCL took over was being offered for one million. It was a fine old ocean liner in a retro pre-balcony style, sort of like a mini Queen Eliz. Also the furnishings were for sale in a warehouse I wandered thru - they had hundreds of it's cans of soda on offer too.

NCL must be wondering about early-retiring ships or mothballing instead of doing drydock upgrades. What a miserable task being a manager of such a beleaguered industry.

I was once signed up with POA and probably will be again soon. The first time I found it rather easy to score a cabin upgrade with a couple lowball bids just a few days before sailing. If true for next sailing, that would suggest to reserve the cheapest acceptable then gamble for better.

But that approach may not work this round, with a wave of folks trying to use expiring credits. I heard they may leave some cabins empty to reduce density or potentially serve as quarantine "jails". Also isn't there a drydock scheduled soon that will reduce availability, or do they push that out due to idleness?

14 minutes ago, divincenzo said:

I was keeping an eye on the Hawaii & French Polynesia and also noticed they have been removed from the NCL website over the weekend. Do they typically put up new dates shortly after?

As I recently posted, an NCL announcement in news section here months ago suggested the end of that route after this year. Jewel was going to be reassigned to Panama or somewhere. Maybe one last regular fall run may be permitted straddling Sept/Oct, I hope but I doubt.

22 minutes ago, jbcallender said:

I noticed that NCL no longer shows Tahiti as a port of departure or destination on their website.

Some months ago there was an article in the news section of this forum about NCL's Hawaii/Tahiti run being ended for the foreseeable future after the impending (cancelled?) run - sigh.

What is a wise timeline for responding to cancellation and rebooking? Look for cancellation at what, 8amEST monday? Then I suppose there may be a wave of rebooks using credits expiring end of this year or next.

Would the best prices come from ASAP rebook, or wait a while? I really want a balcony without commiting yet more money that may turn out lost forever; I was lucky with a lowball balcony bid before. Thanks...

21 hours ago, GA Dave said:

I actually read an article where they interviewed a doctor and he said many people in hot climates who actually have an internal fever would not register as having one on their skin due to sweating.  If you go out in the heat and sweat, the sweat actually cools your skin surface.  So, unless NCL is going to start using oral or "bend over" thermometers, they may be getting a lot of false readings, even in the hot climates.

I'm in a hot/humid climate with sweaty forehead and always seem to give a cold reading verging on clinically dead and buried. They take reading after reading just to find any warmth above background. I read about a correction factor they use, which I now forget, but when combined with my home forehead reader still showed me as cold as a ghost.

What I did is book a round trip including that April cruise Hawaii -> Tahiti -> Hawaii.  I think they will only try to do that route one more time next Sept/Oct, then reassign the Jewel to Panama canal cruises 2022+. I am tempted to switch to the fall sailings, but more expensive last I checked.

If it goes on, I would hate to disembark in Tahiti and then fail some sniffle test, but I bet disembarkation with luggage is required for technical reasons. I wouldn't even mind not leaving the ship the whole 4 weeks, and encountering every little island twice suits me fine as I get to see them in different weather conditions.

I don't understand how you navigate from an existing booking to a new offer. Do you cancel your old booking and rebook the new? Or does NCL willingly bless your old booking with new advantages, so we need to be constantly vigilant for offers to negotiate?

I have an apr 2021 booking that I guess is cancellable or downpayable in december. Some promotional discounts/credits may be lost if I cancel.  I don't chat with my cruise consultant much due to 6 hour time difference, among other things.

2 hours ago, kruisinagain said:

Booked for Nov 21 on Pride of America Hawaii cruise. I’m sure it will be cancelled and I’ve prepared the family for the disappointment, but secretly hoping it will still sail. There’s not much in the way of chatter or traffic on the boards or roll call.

I would start following the local Hawaii news sites like star-advertiser. HI is getting really hard core about renewing lockdowns, and sending officials to check visitors haven't vacated their 2 week quarantine hotel room for even one minute. Key cards only open door once, never again. I have given up following the wishful thinking of when HI is scheduled to relax because HI seems to backtrack out of ideology alone rather than facts on the ground.

Hope for the best, but here is a backup plan using comfy modern Euro ferries. You needn't post how much you hate it because others may want to be aware of alternatives. There is at least one huge Smyril line ferry between Iceland, Faroe Islands, and Denmark. I've seen a tv show on it, and it was an epic journey to carry vast loads of reefer trucks full of fish to Europe while still fresh. All ports were authentic colorful working locations, not bland Reyk or Copen.

You can add an overnight ferry between Denmark and Norway - quite festive with locals seemingly enjoying relaxed rules on alcohol and gambling. Take a train over the glacier to Bergan and then the epic Hurtigruten coastal ferry. Maybe you know them as super expensive with cabins booked up years ahead. Just go as a day tripper, and when evening comes choose a pretty port to step off for overnight in a guesthouse like I did. Your evening wander around villages and easy on/off are a nice alternative to crowded canned port excursions, and you can do this for a few or many days.