rodndonna

On our last cruise this was the case for the next 2 cruises following the one we were on. It was a Med cruise and they were booked by a Mexican corporation for some kind of company retreats. We also have a radiologist in the family that attended a conference on a cruise. Apparently I worked in the wrong field and for the wring companies ....😐

If you need another vote ... October for better chance of good weather and colours. You mention you like the 10 day in June, so depending on what it is you like and how much you may prefer it, I would factor in "when in June?" If early June when kids are in school there are less tourists but weather can be pretty iffy and cool/cold. Late in June the kids are out of school but your chance for better weather improves quite a bit. I guess I would still weigh those in since you "seem" to prefer the June itinerary.

Yeah - I think so. The whole baggage routing and handling for golf bags (oversize) is separate from normal bags (and why they are more prone to delays and missing connections). Also since it was clearly golf club bags, there could be some VERY expensive clubs in there... and we paid enough for our clubs was happy to see them locked up like that (still worth waaayyy more than our clothes baggage). 😃

It was a lock mechanism applied to the zipper with a plastic bag that has info written on it with a sharpie. Don't recall the codes on the plastic but I assume it was related to the new routing or for the courier maybe?

I thought I would share our recent related experience with luggage delays ... We don't have airtags .. but had a good experience with Air Canada's newer baggage tracking system. Although it is still only rolled out in Canada (and maybe US by now) it saved us a lot of stress on our recent trip to Mexico. It was a golf vacation starting in London Ontario with a connectionthrough Pearson with 3 bags, 2 of which were the dreaded oversize (always a little more dubious....especially with a connection). In Toronto we could see our normal bag was loaded but that was it. While on the flight to Mexico we received an update telling us indeed the golf bags did not make our flight, but they were now on a later flight to Cancun that day. When we landed it was easy to update their tracking with where we were staying so in the end, we didn't have to waste any time and just went to our hotel with our 1 bag. The golf nags were delivered to our hotel by courier later that night - so we had them for our tee time the next day 😃 Lost and delayed bags stink, but just having some confidence where they are helps tremendously whether airtags or airline tracking. A final note those golf bags had some pretty serious plastic tie lock system put on them (not sure if it was AC or the airport) so that was a nice touch until I tried to get them off without scissors or knife (... nail clippers were eventually used to slowly eat though the plastic tie system)

Doing this cruise next month ... so looking forward to following along on your Live thread 😃

Would you be expecting a difference answer if she didn't look good in them? I've seen lots of stuff on HAL, not always flattering, so rest assured that is not a requirement (and shouldn't be)

I think it is because Early BB and Early Mariner both are associated with booking early, and the Early Mariner OBC is just not well known (not many people are booking "that" early generally) At least it's not as confusing (to me anyway) as NCL's two bonus certificates available for purchase - CruiseNext and CruiseFirst..... I would tell you the difference but I inevitably have to go back and read what it is again (someone posts a question to clarify on CC weekly... )

I don't think early booking bonus ever had a defined timeline from launch date like the early Mariner OBC does. It seems to generally be in the order of a year from sailing to be eligible (much longer than 90 days from launch) For example if I search on the eligible EBB cruises of 7 days or less, it is sitting at one year out (Nov 30 2024 is the earliest I see). For long cruises, it seems to stretch back into September 2024 to be eligible for EBB.

How early did you order it before your cruise?

Looks like a bargain to me - compared to that $90,999 original retail price 😜

They do fly form Pearson - we have an NCL BOGO flight from Pearson in January. I know the order of the list of the NCL airports is odd .. so was a little hard to find .. but it is in the list.

Yes - you can change your Celeb flights (multiple times before final payment) or cancel and book on your own (before final payment).

We're doing our first Princess cruise in April - and wondering - what is the benefit to getting the Medallion before arrival? Does it speed up check in?

We have been sailing mostly HAL since Covid, although after Celebrity cruise we have a couple more booked as well as future HAL cruises. For sure HAL is a better deal, but for equal cost I think I prefer Celebrity, but not just not willing to pay a heavy premium. Certainly for port intensive or itinerary focused cruises - I think HAL is typically better option. If I am just floating around the Caribbean visiting ports i have been to often multiple times, I feel like I can "splurge" a little for an upgraded on board experience. The other place they have it over HAL for us is in Hawaii cruises, offering one way options. Only Celebrity and RCL have those.

Understandable, Glad it all worked out in the end 😃

Not trying to play the blame game - but why did your daugher-in-law wait until 2 days after final payment to tell you she was 4 months pregnant?

Yes - you can just cancel your FE flights yourself on the site if before final payment, no penalty. You can then change your mind tomorrow and rebook ...and then change your mind again the next day ... until final payment. I wouldn't recommend cancelling if you don't have other flights booked yet though. Also- with FE, you can keep searching for better flights (prices) and do a Change Flight ... again .. as often as you want before final payment.

Yeah - mine (Canadian site) still shows $50 as well. so page is likely out of date.

I get redirected to the Canadian site - but it is still showing unlimited for non-alcoholic for the Elite 🤔

when folks say the "waterfront" is that "Ocean Boulevard" on the NCL Viva or would that refer to something else?

Wit regards to amount of drinks, it is capped at 15 drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic).

Not much help to the original poster, but you can also do the reverse and add alcohol to a mocktail. They have a "cool as a cucumber" on the mocktail menu that I love , and then once in a while I have them add "just a little bit of" gin ...🙂

In the chart - at the final payment date (first row) if it is non-refundable deposit - it will have a Cancellation fee which is amount your deposit amount. If it is shows $0 in that first row , then you deposit is refundable 😃

The Casino Players Club pays HAL for those "free" cabins they offer ... we do not know how much HAL gets for them.. but I expect it is close to $49/pp/pd