AnitaVacation

idk.... I find it hard to believe that ALL the April sailings are sold out. And why can't I see any excursions on my sailing.... this just isn't setting right.....

We're booked on MG for 4/27. Earlier this week, someone in our fb group noted that when they tried to look at excursions, the website shows an itinerary of Port Canaveral everyday and no excursions (except Port Canaveral). At first you think...glitch.... reports that it will fixed in a couple days...but it's been 4 days and still says Port Canaveral. In fact, I just checked and the website does not show ANY sailings for MG in April. Should I worry?? I'm a pretty experienced cruiser, but I've never had THIS happen...

So, we are booked to cruise out of Tampa this December. I just booked our flights in and out of Orlando because there were better options and about 1/2 the price. We are coming in the night before and will get a hotel in the Orlando area. Now we are checking out our options for getting to/from Tampa for our cruise. I have looked at car rentals, shared transports, etc...it seems that Uber is looking like our best option (I love the door to door service).... HAS ANYONE HAD EXPERIENCE USING UBER TO/FROM ORLANDO AND TAMPA BEFORE?? THOUGHTS??

We've been under the Lido a few times...yes, there is noise....depends on what is directly above you... we had a deck 8 Vista Suite on the Pride a few times....we did hear them setting up lounge chairs (scraping across the deck) very early in the morning...at first I thought it was thunder.... and another time we were directly below the pizza place and there were weird noises on and off all the time....neither was a deal breaker for us....

We are also booked on the Venezia in 2024. I was able to snag an aft balcony on deck 2... very little information about this ship and this cabin... I have seen some photos/videos.... this cabin is in a weird place...its an aft cabin, the balcony is a little larger than usual, but then there is like a 10-15 foot stretch to the actual back edge of the ship.... oh well, new experience... looking forward to it

We do this for Nassau.... probably the last 4 or 5 cruises, we just stay on the ship. My husband has COPD & asthma and that walk from the ship to nothing-land would be too much...the shuttle is hit or miss....we get some breakfast and go back to room and grab our towels and stuff and enjoy the serenity deck.... cocktails and sun....just what I always wanted 😉 We've looked into some of the excursions like Margaritaville or Baha Mar....but what would we do there? Lay by the pool and enjoy drinks?? wait... 😆

Hmmm...good question... I wonder what happens if your friend is a no show.... I would hope nothing, he/she would be out the money she paid and the other two could sail as scheduled... but if he/she is the primary (and using a sailing deal in thier name) and they call and cancel, the other two would have to rebook and pay current price...depending on what the deal is, you might be better off with the no show option and splitting her share than rebooking... 😉

THIS.....is one of the best reasons to have a PVP!! I know some people just like to book direct and not be bothered, but I love the fact that I can call and leave a message for my PVP and she calls me back within a day and does not give me a run-around...if you do not have one, ask around for recommendations (extention numbers), PVP's love referrals!!

I thought this was the plan all along. Complimentary for the annaugaral season (which is past now) and then it would become a specialty restaurant with a charge. We ate there twice on our Feb cruise and honestly, I was not impressed... the food was just, ok, not spectacular....and the second night, it was so busy in there, our waiter forgot to bring our dessert...we sat there for about 30 min waiting and then decided it wasn't coming...so we left...

Carnival shares are less than $10 right now. I'm thinking about scooping up another 100 shares as I do have faith that it's going to rise... it's been holding in the $8-$10 area for a while.... the first 100 shares I purchased at $18.62, so, waiting for those to come back up... Carnival stocks were in the $50-$60 area pre-covid.... so at $10, it's a bargain....and I don't see cruising going away anytime soon...(other than that first 100 shares) I'm getting a better return than my savings account.... and It's not like I have $$$$$$...just some fun money in there.... Unfortunately, all of our cruises are casino deals (free), so we cannot use our shares for additional obc.... but it is a good reason to get some as well!! We use fidelity...it was super simple.

We were on MG in Jan/Feb. We were pleasantly surprised at the casino layout.... over where the table games are, is non-smoking and it seems like they pump fresh air right into that area.... my husband enjoyed it very much. He likes to play blackjack, but after a few days of breathing in smokey air, he starts feeling ill.... so this was great!!

When I started cruising, I used to use an online site that booked cruises only. They usually had some type of special offer, onboard credit, free gratuitues, etc. The did charge a $25 service fee, but the extra perk(s) were usually more than that. I even had a really great agent that I could call to book or if I needed to make changes. That being said.... it is my opinion that having a PVP (or whatever they are calling themselves these day) is pretty important. It's great to have JUST ONE PERSON handling your booking. If you need to make a changes or have any questions, they are just a phone call away... I love that I can call my person, leave a message, and she gets back to me usually within 24 hours. She will make sure I get the best deal, best cabin, etc. She really likes me because when I call her, I have all my details ready...ship, date, cabin #, etc.... Yes, you can get these same deals by booking directly at the website, but #1. whose going to help you if you need to make a change? #2. PVP's need some good steady clients to keep their numbers up, so help them out.... Also, if you get a PVP that you don't care for.... ask around, I'm sure people on here can give you the ext # of a good one. 😉

I would be onboard to paying extra for one (like ordering wifi, room service, etc)... but the current room service way works fine as well (most of the time). I do miss having the door cards. Every morning, we order 2 pots of coffee with cream and sugar.... it costs us a $5 tip every tip every morning. But I love having coffee on my balcony every morning and I am the type of person that does NOTHING before coffee.

We used to cruise mostly between Carnival and NCL. People would always ask me which one I liked better. My standard answer used to be 'Carnival has larger cabins, but NCL has way better entertainment.' Well, in the last few years, Carnival has upped thier game on entertainment and NCL has brought in ships with larger cabins... so it was getting evened out... So, I guess now my answer is 'whichever one gives the biggest bang for our buck'....I'm booked on the MardiGras 5x this year... We did a 10-day cruise on the Getaway in November, the lack of good entertainment was definitley noted...MDQ was our only night in the theatre for the entire 10 days, Syd Normans only had 4 shows in 10 days filled in with karaoke on non-show nights. Also, didn't NCL used to have some complementary movies on demand in the cabin? Now, every movie on demand is $10??? (my very first cruise was in 2006 on the Norwegian Magesty, oceanview cabin, 104 sq... can you even imagine??) 😶

Thanks! Good to know that they lied to me yet again!! My PCP (or whatever you want to call them) told me it was mandatory!! I just checked it out on ncl.com and it only says 'highly recommended'....

Yes, I agree.... if you are not a casino person, this is not the deal for you. I probably lost close to $1000 before I was sent a casino deal.... Free cabin/lose money...it balances out... like any gambling, the odds are always with the house 😉

We get casino offers often. Our offers are usually for a free balcony, drinks everywhere and some free-play $$. We spend on average, about 2-3 hours per day in the casino... usually after dinner or after the show, before bed....seadays, maybe an hour in the afternoon (especially if the weather is bad)... my husband plays blackjack, I prefer the slots... my husband almost always walks away ahead... I'm happy if I break even, I might lose a couple hundred...that's okay... we like to gamble... and we didn't have to pay for the cabin, so that money is what we take to the casino... I figure on a 7 day cruise, balcony cabin... costs about $1000 (per person/average)... we pay only the taxes (about $200 pp)... so, if I lose $300 in the casino, I'm still ahead... and I had my fun...sometimes they get me for more....sometimes I hit a jackpot (2x)....

Overall, we didn't save any of money using NCL air because they make you buy their insurance. BUT, now you have insurance....lol We only used them because we had a huge pile of credit from canceled covid cruises and wanted to use it up.... but we could have booked direct flights each way for the same amount.. We were booked on American (1 stop) going in and JetBlue (direct) going home...

You can request to arrive up to 2 or 3 days early... and stay a few days after... in fact, in the states, they give you a credit for doing so.... If we are flying in, or driving more than 6 hours, we almost always go a day ahead... so many things can go wrong.

We did not have any issue's when we used it in November.

Or 'unforeseen circumstances' 🙄

We were fed that same line a few weeks ago on the Getaway... it's not 'unforeseen' at this point... they know they cannot dock there.... I think they wait until the last minute to see what other arrangements (other ports) are available, for us, there were none... and too rough to tender to the beach...so three sea days, YAY! 🙄 (and still no refund of port fee) Seems like NCL is making alot of bad decisions lately... ps.... you cheerleaders crack me up...

Sorry, but I also find this explanation unreasonable. What about all the passengers that booked just a week or two before sailing (and there were many)? And... if this is in fact the reasoning, why isn't NCL being forthcoming with this information? Instead they choose the hush hush route at the expense of pushing passengers away... Our sailing on the Getaway didn't go to either port, cancelled completely. I would not expect a refund for a changed port.

I just got off the Getaway, casino deal and they gave me stockholder credit...

I quoted it as it stood.... I thought this thread was about port fees and port cancelations... seems to have been hijacked and taken in a totally different direction... (like I should be surprised by that) 🙄