kdawg954

7 minutes ago, Javajitterz said:

So that won't work our 1/8 Escape cruise. We do not meet the 48 hours in advance requirement and NCL won't be testing us at sea to make that port

When on a close looped cruise, there could be exceptions made.  it's possible that the test at the port and 100% vax status, in addition to current Covid percentage below the threshold on board, will allow you to visit.  It's not as cut and dry as say flying into the territory where these rules would be fully enforced.  Many times a close loop cruise is considered the "start of travel", so you test and start travel to PR the same day (which is obviously testing within 48 hours before start of travel) even if you leave Sunday and don't get the San Juan until Thursday.  Hope that makes sense. 

Not a guarantee obviously, and maybe NCL will reroute, I'm sure discussions are/have being/been had between PR and NCL on this.

Mannn I absolutely lucked out on my 12.26 to 1.2 cruise out of San Juan.  I literally only tested at the pier with NCL the entire trip.  Came in two days early, which was 3 days earlier than the testing requirement to enter PR kicked in . .  And then I stayed two days post cruise in Isla Verde before heading home which is before the testing requirement to leave the island.

Just so many trap doors to cruise out of San Juan right now and not being able to head home in a car like if you were on the mainland, if you do test positive.

I still haven't tested since coming back and not going to as I feel fine.  Also no Sara alerts yet either.

Good luck to those that have a trip in the near future out of PR and make sure you are insured.

9 hours ago, purplecow15 said:

I’m confused. When I go to my account about upgrading to PPBP the details list Veuve Cliquot as available by the bottle for dinner. Is that the case or not ?

It was definitely only Moet Chandon as the highest end included champagne by the bottle on my cruise last week.  Veuve was only by the glass.  Moet was not by the glass.

Drank plenty of both.

In hindsight, living in Florida, I totally should of just taken a cruise out of Florida over the holidays vs. flying to San Juan.

Just too many variables, and I completely lucked out with flying in before they added the test requirement to enter Puerto Rico as I just didn't have anything scheduled.

Got comfortable with the state of Covid when I booked and didn't think it would of gotten as bad as it did with Omicron.  Definitely a lesson learned.

On a positive note, I had a tremendous vacation between time in Puerto Rico and the cruise so it worked out but I feel like I got lucky with no flight delays/cancellations and the cruise sailing and no positive test.  Just feels like a bunch of hurdles and if u can avoid any of them you should because one trips you up it messes up the whole trip.

29 minutes ago, raschueller said:

I am still a tad confused. I can order a bottle with dinner and one with lunch as well? We got the plus package because it just makes sense for us, but the ability to be able to order a bottle of wine with each meal would be a huge plus.

 

 

I don't want to give the wrong answer here.  But I was told I can order an included bottle with any restaurant meal, at any time, unlimited amount.   At dinner I was encouraged to order a second bottle of wine, in to do the Moet at dessert if I wanted to.  Obviously this doesn't mean u can just order a bunch of bottles for the room.  We took one sealed bottle of Moet Chandon to the cabin 7 nights in a row, in addition to the wine bottle(s) we drank at the table.

I never bothered with breakfast or Lunch because it was so easy to go to the pool bar and get a drink.  I only cared for wine at dinner.  But from what I was told it wouldn't of been a problem.  Keep in mind there is a lot of glasses that aren't included in the "bottle" so once I did a bottle i switched to a glass of something to try it vs. getting a whole other bottle of something else or what I was drinking.

Keep in mind some servers are more versed in this package than others, but the ones that were more familiar absolutely loved to see the card and knew the power of it.

56 minutes ago, viperfoth said:

Can I do a bottle of Veuve for appetizers and then another bottle for dinner

 

What about wife getting completely different bottle?

 

what do they do if you don’t drink it all?

Veuve bottle not included, only the glass, unlimited.  Moet Chandon bottle is included and ordered a bottle every night for the room at dessert (was a NYE cruise) and did a bottle of wine and Pellegrino for the meal.  We usually just went to the glass of wine if we finished a bottle of wine before we left but we absolutely could of did a second bottle and the Moet if we wanted to.

32 minutes ago, SireDoime said:

Exactly. But, is the free water the premium bottled water or is the water by the glass "on tap"?

NCL even forbids you to bring bottled water on the ship :
 

"Effective for sailings July 15, 2016 and beyond, guests are prohibited from bringing any beverages -- including liquor, beer and non-alcoholic drinks such as water, soda and juices -- on board either as carry-on or checked luggage, with the exception of purified or distilled water in factory-sealed containers for use in conjunction with medical devices or for the reconstitution of infant formula; and fully sealed and/or corked wine bottles for personal consumption onboard that is subject to screening and a corkage fee (for guests 21 years of age or older)"

 

So it seems pretty petty of NCL, to me. I really don't need to upgrade out of the Premium, but this whole affair makes me miss the drink package I had with Celebrity.  Oh well...

 

Moving on..

It's filtered tap water, which is basically what the carton water is.

I agree with you on the Celebrity drink package tho, included Evian bottled water and all the coffees and drinks . . . And the gratuities.

It's a big reason why I never did NCL outside of a 3 day Black Friday booze cruise but that is a different argument in itself.

10 minutes ago, donnaOK said:

 

@chuckhendo2 so sorry you and your wife are in quarantine and hope for an easy quick recovery for your wife (and for you if you also get it).  

I know you are conserving minutes right now, but just wondering if they wouldn't give you unlimited wifi for free...or they wouldn't let you buy it at all.  

I have a cruise coming up on the 9th...and if it happens...I have 250 free minutes...and don't really want to upgrade to an unlimited package.  But if a work emergency comes up mid-cruise I might far exceed those minutes.  I'm wondering if you can still buy unlimited data mid-way through.  And if it's prorated for remaining days...or is it the same price you would have paid day 1.  

So the key to this is, once you redeem your 250, you can no longer upgrade it.  You also need to have at least 5 days of Unlimited Internet to purchase an unlimited plan.

So if you cruise Sunday to Sunday, you can purchase the unlimited plan on Tuesday at a 5 day rate.  They will give you $125 from your 250 minute plan as credit towards 5 days of unlimited internet.  I believe when i looked the total would of been like $28 on Tuesday for the rest of the cruise.

Which honestly makes the most sense right now because most ships are leaving late from port anyways and u will still have internet most of Sunday . . . so u can either upgrade Monday for like $55 or wait until Tuesday for less.

2 minutes ago, SireDoime said:

Water should be included in ALL adult drink packages.

It's stupid I have to pay 490$ to upgrade from Premium to Premium Plus for water.

I actually agreed with this before my cruise.  Now I understand it better, Only because you can get water almost anywhere on the ship.  The way we stopped at the bar for 2 cartons, we could of easily just asked the bartender for 2 waters in a cup.  It was a bit of a luxury to just be able to grab the cartons and toss them wherever but if I had a stainless steel water bottle I always carried a cinch sak with me so while slightly less convenient it would of done the trick.

Its definitely a perk of the upgrade and gets heavy use, but probably the upgrade that is the easiest to get around without additional cost.  Canned drinks/squeezed juices/bottles/high end liquor all cost extra.  Water on the ship is accessible everywhere and free.

So I bit the bullet and upgraded for my New Years cruise on the Epic.

$487 after gratuity for 2.

Was the best decision I've made on any cruise (well and the $100  p/p Club Balcony Suite upgrade from the Inside Cabin this same cruise).

I can absolutely attest that the bartenders get giddy when they see you have the P+ and they absolutely remember you because of your status.

This was a New Years cruise, and basically I don't believe there was ever a limit to the amount of bottles you could have at dinner.  Every single night we had a nice bottle of Red wine for Dinner with a bottle of San Peligrino.  When dessert came we would order a bottle of Moet Chandon and they would ask if we'd like it opened and we said no and the server was like cool you can take it with you just consume in your cabin.

We stocked up most of the week and when New Years Eve came we went to the pool deck with a couple of bottles and a room service ice bucket and we celebrated in style.  It was a fantastic experience.

We ordered Starbucks every day, and the cool think about that is you basically can splurge on all the upgrades you want.  So I didn't have to settle for the $5-6 coffee, my coffee's were the $8 to $9 ones.

I swear we had at least 50 boxes of the purified water this cruise between us.  Was so easy to just go to the bar and get 2 for the room before we go to bed.  

We were basically known as the VeuVeu twins . . . as when we went to Shakers we always ordered a glass of the $35 Veuve Cliquoet the entire cruise.  The only bad part about this was, it wasn't easily accessible on the ship.  I asked the pool bar to bring some up for New Years and they said they would but it didn't happen, only Prosecco but the Moet bottles made up for it.  Literally only Shakers and dining rooms had it.

Every drink we upgraded to the top of the line stuff.  Patron Anejo and Don Julio Respasado for tequila based drinks, and Don Julio Blanco for tequila shots.  Hendricks for any Gin based drinks.  Macallen Quest for Scotch and Zacapa for Rum.  Highest vodka was Belvedere and Grey Goose, both included in the regular package.

We only did the freshly squeezed OJ once but it was included and we often got the Bubbly can sparkling water as our mixer.

Just an incredible experience.  This cruise was a special one so I absolutely overdid it with the champagne drinking.  Just thinking about my bar bill without the drink package LMAO.  But even without New Years, I liked the vibe this upgrade gave me and I don't think I could cruise without this package ever again . . . I'd make sure I save the extra money to get it just to make the time that much better.

Plus I never had a hangover at any point, and I drank like crazy.  I like that.

Hopefully this helps people out and feel free to ask any questions as I really pushed the limits here.

On 12/21/2021 at 9:14 PM, Cruise Gopher said:

That’s a different “sparkling wine”. Definitely not as good. 

It is honestly the worst "champagne/sparkling wine" I've ever tasted.  I took one sip and poured the rest down the sink.  It was that bad.

3 hours ago, aubreyc1988 said:

While I agree with most of this, I think it is MOST PRUDENT to be buying unlimited wifi in todays world. I probably won't ever sail without it. In the case of an emergency, it is most useful and imagine being in isolation with no wifi! 

I mean 250 minutes gives you quite a bit of "emergency minutes" to run through during the week.  Plus port stops where u can connect to WIFI or have a phone plan that allows international data for free/cheap.  I believe they also will provide you unlimited internet if you are quarantined.

I've sailed with the Carnival social media package, and Celebrity unlimited . . .and I think the best thing about those packages were not worrying about having to log off the internet to conserve minutes.  My first time doing a 7 day on NCL for New years and if I had to do it over I would of upgraded on day 3 in which I think the total would of been $25/$30 for the rest of the cruise, vs. $80 if I did it on day 1 just to not have to worry about cutting it on and off.

But the 250 limit definitely allowed me not to bother with "whats going on" and focus on relaxing, which I definitely did.

12 hours ago, styxfire said:

There was a time when taking a cruise meant 100% ESCAPE from life's invasive concerns, the dramatic headlines, the political influences, the anger, the fear.  Wi-fi has destroyed that serenity.  As I desperately search for how to upgrade my wi-fi on my cruise next week, it occurs to me how toxic it is to maintain contact with the gossipy, corrupt, manipulated, hateful world.

          Sometimes, sailing on the ocean can be peaceful.  The wi-fi I'm addicted to will block that peacefulness.

Best decision I made was to not upgrade my WIFI and just ride with the 250 minutes.

It made me have restraint the whole week knowing I needed to save them for New Years Eve when we needed to video chat with family.

All the crew wear KN95 and that is the one that is provided in the stateroom.

Nobody questioned the layers of the masks onboard, but that is because 99% of the folks clearly had a good enough mask  (cloth, surgical and KN95).  I think I saw a handful of guests with a thin neck gaiter type and they were never questioned.

5 minutes ago, Patsfans said:

What hotel is the testing at and can you just go there on your own .. I would rather pay uber and cut my exposure 

Sheraton near the port.  Not a bad idea.  Go up the escalator.

Just got off the Epic.

Masks indoors while walking just wasn't a big deal.  

Covid is on board, know that going in.  We lost our stateroom attendant and most of our dining room team from the first night due to "isolation".  If vaccinated and boosted u probably won't get it or will never know u did unless u test for it post cruise. 

Do not depend on any stops.  It's out of your control and the cruise lines control.   We lost 2 ports and the third one we weren't allowed off.

Still knowing the ship full of 100% vaccinated and masks wearing in elevators and walking indoors have us a confidence not to worry about it.

It was great sailing at half capacity, everybody was really great and I really feel relaxed from what has been a stressful two years of not vacationing.

Was absolutely worth it.  One of my best cruises.

Just off the Epic and I thought NCL was great in mostly all aspects.

I will say where they fell short was overall communication.  Covid absolutely a sensitive subject amongst crew and nobody gives u much info.

It took us 2 hours from the Uber getting to port to getting on the ship, so not terrible.  11a to 1p.

.

I can tell you there was crew with Covid and in isolation and a few international guests, who had to test on the last day did have Covid.  We skipped 3 ports.

That bus ride to testing was the easy part, it's the wait to see if your numbers comes up to clear you or if the Covid tech calls you to retest that got me.  Nerve racking 20 minutes.

So I'm doing a NYE cruise which means champagne will definitely be a thing.  Is there Champagne on the regular drink package?  Do we know what kind?  If there isn't then I am gonna have to upgrade as that night is definitely gonna pay for itself

Just got upgraded on the Epic leaving 12/26.

Had a Inside Cabin and put a $100 p/p minimum bid for the Club Balcony Suite and it was accepted.  

Bids for $150 p/p (minimum) for Spa Balcony and $225 p/p ($175 p/p was minimum) for Spa Club Balcony Suite we're not accepted.

Did not put a bid on for balcony which was $75 p/p minimum.

Very happy with the result as these rooms were more than $500 p/p extra when booking.

Lawn Club would of been awesome and I really wish they had some sort of water slide . . . . but man was the service and food good on this ship.  

Yea decided to cancel this cruise before they charged me my final deposit.  Refund took 3 business days.  

35 minutes ago, PRH said:

Have a May 2021 Alaska cruise.  Attempted to L&S to 2022 but request denied because no same itinerary sails before May 4!!!!  I still wonder if the 2021 cruises will go but since I’ve already had four cruises cancelled with the “opportunity” for prevailing rates with pitiful OBC while I lose rate and benefits including booking on board obc, I am ready to pull the plug on Celebrity.  We are Elite+, not that that counts for much anymore.  The new prevailing rates are way too high—why pay $600 to $1,000 pp more for the dames perks and no obc?

Yea L&S to Alaska will be difficult as that season usually starts after May 4th.

My situation continues to be a May 14th 9 day on the Equinox in the Carribbean.  There is literally the exact same cruise on April 15th . . . but they are being stingy about it being 29 days earlier instead of the required 28 days or less (4 weeks).  I mean I didn't want to do that date to be honest but I would have.  So now when the 2022 Carribbean schedule officially is unveiled, I'm hopeful there is a cruise that fits.  Will for sure cancel if it isn't given by final payment.

Still haven't received a cancellation for this cruise and it is still in my account.

Just gonna be patient here as the optimistic part of me hopes they extend Lift and Shift further down the line and when the Caribbean cruises for 2022 open up (hopefully next week) I will have an option.  Not likely to happen but who knows.

If they pull some slick stuff like force me to take a FCC or something, then they won't catch me on their ships again once the FCC is used.

Also on this cruise and have yet to get cancellation from my TA and its still showing active in my Celebrity account. 

I'm still holding out hope for new cruise options in May 2022 on the Equinox and then Lift & Shift to that as I'm sure those cruises are going to be very pricey.

If I have to decide by December 8th, if no new cruises show up for May 2022 I will take the refund.  That FCC is gonna be a trap for a more expensive cruise with the new pricing.  

1 hour ago, KnowTheScore said:

 

Why would it matter to you whether anyone else has been vaccinated?

It doesn't matter to me at all tbh.  But I could see it being a requirement to allow passengers to disembark at certain ports so from that aspect hopefully cruise lines make it a policy to have immunization records so passengers that were wise enough to get the vaccine aren't limited option wise by others who refuse to get it.