Nilbog

Reportedly, neither the iMessage trick nor the NCL app use minutes from your Wi-Fi plan, and both work in near real-time. I've not personally tested this, however. If you want to go the NCL app route, you can probably get by with one person from each couple paying the subscription fee, and all communication funnel through those three.

I've been accepted as US military veteran, and I've heard they will be accepting Canadian and British veterans, as well, but I've not seen any details on the program. If I find anything, I'll be sure to yell out to my fellow veterans.

NCL can't communicate much better because there are so many variables involved and so many different configurations of VPN, that it would be impossible to create a standard response that covers every possibility. A lot of VPNs, even work VPNs, can work over port 80 or 443 (http or https), which wouldn't be blocked by the ship's security measures under normal circumstances. Some VPNs do operate on other ports, which can be blocked, though.

If you know which cruise you want to book next, check with your travel agent before your cruise and see what kind of deals & perks you can get from your TA. Then check with the CruiseNext desk while on your cruise. Compare to two offers and see which one works best in your favor and take that one.

The problem is your new cruise would have to drop a LOT to get another FCC. I received $2400 for our November cruise, and when I used that to book my next one I was told the FCC reduced the amount of the fare and did not act as a payment on the cruise. So, if the cruise originally listed for $5000 (for example), applying our FCC takes the cruise fare down to $2600. I don't think this next cruise will go below the $2600 new fare.

Read the book, The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914 By David McCullough before you go. It'll give you a detailed background of the building of the canal, and then you'll see it as you go through it. If the weather is nice, try to go up to the sun deck so you can go back and forth from side to side watching the lock operations as you go through.

If you choose to go with My Time Dining, make sure you make reservations for each night prior to the cruise. If you decide not to go to the MDR one night, you can always cancel the reservation in the app. For My Time Dining they will have two lines: one with reservations, and one without. The "without" line is almost always long, while the reservation line usually moves pretty quickly.

I recommend you follow Topnole's advice and go to the Roll Call for the cruise(s) you're looking at and ask someone who has already booked to get you the current pricing for that cruise.

That's a good case for going to Amazon and searching for cruise luggage tag holders (like mentioned a couple of posts ago). They're plastic, you slide your luggage tags into them, then use a steel cable (included) to attach them. You put them in the outside pocket of your luggage before flying, then at the hotel you take them out and attach them to your luggage, and voila! you're ready to drop them off with the port porters.

And why is a highway not high?

CC is more of a travel site, specializing in cruising. People on CC come to learn new things and share information based on their experiences. While there are some misleading posts on CC, for the most part people are trying to share the right information. The other site is geared towards things other than cruising, and misinformation is much more prominent there. People on that site are much more inclined to share rumors and 3rd- and 4th-hand stories that may have at one time been based on fact, but were led astray. The cruise lines know CC is cruise/travel related, and are willing to work with those people. CC has built up a reputation with the cruise lines that the other site hasn't, and probably won't.

If you had three different browsers hit the same home page, it's probably in your DNS cache. I'd try flushing your DNS cache (not your browser cache) and try it again. Or, while in one of the browsers, instead of just hitting F5 to refresh, press Ctrl-F5 to force a fresh DNS lookup of the IP address of the web page.

Great if you're Platinum, but not everyone in a suite is.

Which I've always found odd. Club Balcony Suites (formerly Junior Suites) get one bag of laundry per cruise. But real suites and the Haven do not...

According to the NCL site your butler will help you set up a cocktail party(ies) in your suite. Why not a brunch gathering in your suite for your family one or two days? Ask the butler and see what he/she can assist with along those lines.

Yes, when booking your cruise you can un-check any of the FAS offers.

When I upgraded from a Club Balcony to a Penthouse Suite, I was charged the difference between the suite rate of Daily Service Charge and the Club Balcony DSC, even though I had already prepaid my DSC. I can see where they will probably charge you the difference between the Haven DSC rate and your prepaid DSC on your existing cabin, at the time of the upgrade. Your scenario 1 won't happen just because you prepaid your DSC. I believe the most possible scenario will be #3. I would plan on that, anyway, and if you end up with #2 then you have some extra play money.

Do the balcony cabins on the Grandeur have a mini fridge?

When I tried to use the app while on my cruise, if I wasn't connected to the ship's wi-fi (not logged into my Internet plan, just connected) the app wouldn't show anything at all. I couldn't call up scheduled activities or even the My Account information. Maybe you've had a different experience, but this was mine two weeks ago.

We were just in both ports in September, and I don't remember any type of public transportation from the ship to the excursion areas in either place.

Thank you all for your service. 20+ years Air Force (Security Police/Forces) for me and 25 years for my DW. Just off the NCL Pearl last week, Harmony just before that, and will be on the Grandeur in August.

My experience was the same as Reallyitsmema in that we requested in advance for a shower stool, but it wasn't there when we boarded. I asked the steward and it was in the cabin within 20 minutes. It was tight in the shower, but it worked.

My fear is that when I choose Plan B and bring my wheelchair, they'll have the scooter where you drop off luggage, then I ride while my wife pushes an empty wheelchair.

Just keep in mind that if your scooter is delivered to your cabin, even asking for wheelchair assistance through RC, you have to get through security first. If there's a line at security, you'll stand there in line. My last cruise out of PC they delivered scooters before you got in the terminal. Two weeks ago in Miami, Scootaround said they were delivering outside the terminal, but they delivered to the cabin. I had to stand for nearly two hours to get through security before I got to wheelchair assistance.

That is completely correct, but you do need to be connected to the ship's wi-fi at the least. If you're connected to any other wi-fi the app is useless.