luv2kroooz

Respectfully, I am not here to help you understand. You are free to read the message boards and draw your own conclusions. How you process information is out of my control. Nothing I can do about that. My response was written in a very intentional, deliberate manner and based on my understand of others experiences and personal knowledge. I stand by what I wrote with the intention of helping other members on these message boards. Over and out. Peace.

But it could also be your problem if you follow what NCL says and book independent tours only to have times adjusted and ports cancelled. If there are conflicts noted between NCL and port authority, make sure independent tours are fully refundable. NCL will not help you if they change the itinerary and you have money tied up with independent tour operators.

Predictable response. Good luck to you.

Yes, always go directly to the primary source, which is the port authority for the most up to date information. They know which ships are coming when. It is very sad that you can not rely on Norwegian to be upfront and honest. Norwegian has many times been delayed with providing complete and accurate information about itineraries. It is my opinion that they are routinely altering itineraries behind the scenes in the name of green initiatives. This opinion is confirmed by the experienced documented in this thread. In all cases I have seen, they have shortened port calls or eliminated ports altogether in a clear effort to keep their ships out at sea longer. This decreases fuel spend for their convenience at the inconvenience of the paying public. But they couldn't care less. I find it interesting that ports never get added or port times extended. They are usually eliminated and/or times reduced. They always start out the announcement with all the platitudes, thank you for sailing, it is always our intention, blah blah blah, trying to attribute randomness to these itinerary changes. Yet, these apparent random situations always result in decreased port times and cancellations. If they were truly random, the law of averages dictates that port calls would be extended and ports added on occasion, yet that never happens. An educated consumer is NCLs worst customer.

Yes, this is the thing. They intentionally made the ship and various venues smaller which is a great goal, in theory. In practice, there are still 3,000 guests onboard. So when you have 3,000 guests trying to fit their way into venues that hold 100, well, you can see the problem. The overall design is a major problem for the overwhelming majority of passengers. You can scroll through tripadvisor and over and again see the same complaints described in different ways.....disappointed.....beware....shortcomings....poor layout....never again....ship design does not work, etc.

Until the capacity of the public lounges like Syd's and the Improv are rightsized and until is able to create a main pool deck, we also have read enough opinions that we would not book a cruise on Prima. I am expecting revisions to the vessels currently under construction.

This is clearly being done in the name NCLs sail and sustain initiatives. Notwithstanding, maybe NCL will soon be offering in room fan rentals. You heard it here first, lol. 😁😁 An electric fan could be $9.95 per person per day based on double occupancy plus a 20% mandatory service charge. Battery operated fans could be $7.95 per person per day based on double occupancy plus a 20% mandatory service charge. Rechargeable batteries can also be rented for $.69 per person per day plus a 20% mandatory service charge, for our convenience. For valued Haven guests, ceiling fans are being installed. Fans can be selected as an add on in the app up until three days prior to sailing. However, if you add a fan to your cart and don't pay for it, your cruise will be cancelled and no refunds will be issued. The new policy is subject to change at any time at NCLs discretion. Fans subject to availability. If the policy does change or fan availability is limited, customers will not be entitled to a refund.

Yep, you sure can.

2. All pretty good. I would avoid Moderno. 3. No cartons of water included. Pay or drink from tap. 4. I've read good and bad. Never used the service to comment personally. I generally prefer to have direct control over my flight times and airlines.

This was just a deceptive move by NCL. Typical. If you remember back in September 2022, NCL announced it would be increasing the cost of the drinks package from $99 to $109 per person per day for our convenience - the highest price in the industry, with the most restrictions. At the same time, in an attempt to "soften the blow", they coincidentally began a promotion that made it appear as if the package would include 6 1L cartons of water going forward. Then, on December 31, just before the price increase, they quietly pulled the 6 1L bottles from the regular package, leading to this multi page thread by consumers who were confused, thinking they paid for something NCL was not providing. It's all just smoke in mirrors. They even had the media fooled with their cryptic, vague policy. https://cruiseradio.net/norwegian-drink-packages-increase-price-2023/ https://www.cruzely.com/norwegian-increasing-drink-package-costs-by-10-per-day/#:~:text=The price of NCL's main,%2499 per person%2C per day.

For the right price, I would give them another try. Carnival is widely know to be a budget cruise line. They are not HAL nor do they pretend to be HAL. We have found that they compare well with NCL. You can go to the NCL boards, like I have, to read reviews about cold food, tough meat, and supply chain issues. If it is the only cruise that fits your schedule and you want to take a cruise, give it a go. Go in with eyes wide open as the onboard experience post Corona is probably different than what many are used to pre Corona.

Sounds to me like that support tech representative might have just wanted to get off the phone so it sounded like the right thing to say at the time. In reflection, the response isn't logical.

Yes, this is what they have been doing over and again. They may not fully cancel the port, but they are delaying arrivals and accelerating departures. They have done this in the name of unforeseen circumstances, green initiatives, and port congestion, but it is really in the name of saving money on fuel and port charges for their convenience, not ours. If you are going independent on the shore ex, my advice is to make sure you have flexible cancellation with the shore side vendor or your tour could end up starting or ending at a time when your ship will be at sea. If you are trying to book NCL, they reposted the available tours a few days after they announced the itinerary changes for our sailing.

If everything disappeared, you might check to see if an itinerary change has been announced or if port times are being adjusted. I have personally experienced this situation where I had shore excursions "favorited" in my account one day and then the next day they were all removed. An itinerary change was announced. For thext day or so, no excursions were available at all and then within 2 or 3 days later, the excursions were reposted with the adjusted times. Not saying this is the case with you, because I don't know, but that is what happened with us!

Yeah, their wine selection leaves a lot to be desired. The beer menus on the non-District brewhouse ships is looking a bit weak, too. Aside from their ridiculous "Mickey Mouse" pricing on a few things like Crown Royal, Chambord, Baileys, there is a lot of decent liquor included. For us, we really don't enjoy the frozen sugary drinks...maybe one or two at most in a day. But we do enjoy Belvedere Vodka, Bombay Sapphire, Jack Daniels, and Patron so we are pretty much good to go.

One of the most appropriate, careful, prudent measures.....executive compensation during and after Corona. Would not have fully solved the problem, but could have helped.

Why would they want to mirror Days Inn? That is an entirely different product and target market. Everything I see from NCL is about delivering unparalleled vacation experiences. If your interpretation is correct, then they are not differentiating themselves but really just paralleling their competition.

Unless or until NCL can't find enough crew to staff their ships, they are not going back. We would actually consider opting out of daily servicing of our stateroom in exchange for a reduction in the DSC, which is absolutely out of hand at $20 per day. Seems like it could be a win win....less rooms for the overworked crew and we don't have to pay for service for which we find little value. Of course, then the math wouldn't work out for NCL, who uses the DSC to compensate their crew and pay for their benefits and onboard programs. I know how to make a bed and am glad to reuse a bath towel a second time after my shower. And I really don't get the comparison to land based hotels. Who cares what happens at land based hotels? Since when have land based hotels become the standard for cruising? People make the comparison to land based hotels when it fits their narrative. Well, Days Inn doesn't provide turn down service, so the cruise lines shouldn't either. Okay, well our local days in doesn't charge us $40 per day in fees and charges, either.

They have been known to increase the laundry allotment. That was preCorona, though.

Yes, the system on the Viva will probably feel a lot different than the Jade for the reasons mentioned above. There are pluses and minuses to the reservation system. I like the fact that once we have a confirmed reservation, then we know we have a seat and can enjoy the ship until 15 minutes or so before the show time. No need to wait in long lines. On the other hands, if you get shut out of the reservations, then you have to do the standby line and hope you get in. Also, reservations require you to keep a schedule and some level of advance planning. You have to eat at a certain time so you can get to the show. It creates some structure which kind of contradicts the whole concept of freestyle cruising. This is one of the things a really enjoy about the Jewel class. They never really feel crowded to us. We can always get a seat in the theater or in a lounge and we can just kinda let our evening develop as we go. You probably won't be able to just show up at Syd's or whatever the comedy club is called, Improv? 15 minutes before and expect to see the show.

I think there is a lot of truth to this. Loyalty programs in general are unsustainable, especially as you see these double and triple latitudes points being awarded. Pretty soon everyone will be Platinum and they'll have to scale it back. The cruise lines are definitely targeting the newbies. Its no different over at Carnival or Royal. We are Diamond over on Carnival, but they really don't care about loyalty either. They want the new cruiser who wants to spend money on overpriced pictures, roller coasters and all the other stuff that doesn't interest us. We find a lot of faults with NCL. Its loyalty program, however, is not one of them. It has its drawbacks, but overall we are happy with it. Finally, yes, the go carts take up way too much space on the already cramped Prima. I predict they'll be phased out as new ships are developed.

Oh man, so FDR only got to keep your money for a couple of months, then he had to turn the sales tax he collected on your behalf to the great state of Cali. He would definitely not be happy with you.

For cruisers with an upcoming sailing on NCL, it looks like you can "favorite" anything you might be considering purchasing on their website. There is a little heart icon that you can click and it will add your selection to "FAVORITES" instead of the actual "SHOPPING CART". You can do this with shore ex, gifts, dining, etc. So, if you are just browsing along and see something that sounds good, but you aren't ready to buy, don't add it to your shopping cart. Instead, click the little heart and it will add it to your favorites. Once you make a final decision, you can either make the purchase, remove it from your favorites or just let it sit in there. By the way, I am testing this on a laptop with Microsoft Edge. I imagine the app works in a similar manner.

What is more sad is that NCL refuses to accommodate the guest. They want to keep the fare paid and not allow the fully paid passenger to cruise AND they also refuse to refund the money even though they won't let her sail. Bad business decision, but not surprised. NCL digs in when it comes to things like this.

Premature? It's been well documented since January. Multiple NCL itineraries, multiple NCL ships. I am not going to list them all. But don't believe me... Cruise over to the Norwegian roll calls for just about any ship in the last four months and see for yourself....you will locate frequent last minute itinerary changes being made in the name of port congestion, sail and sustain initiatives, and unforeseen circumstances.