JohnChiang

I’m on the Norwegian Spirit now and can confirm that the Costco 50 photos promo provides both printed and digital versions of your photographs taken onboard.

You can ask for multiple printed copies of each picture. For something different, they will also arrange a photo in black and white.

I’m on the Spirit in Valdez now.

Shuttles to town are free. Passengers are not allowed to walk the 3.5 miles to Valdez from the Container Port. Lots of space on the shuttle and no long lines.

I had this 50 photo promo 9 years ago on a NCL cruise. At that time, it was for standard printed photos.

You or a cabin mate had to be physically in the photo. So no photos of only your friends from another cabin. Also no souvenir photos of the ship or cruise locations without you in them.

I don't like getting photographed, so ended up with about 20 pictures.

All solo travelers are welcome to attend the solo meetings held nightly in the studio lounge. Just knock on the door during the meeting times and someone will always let you in.

They don't check your luggage departing the ship, so I don't think anyone will stop you.

However, here is a notice from today's Freestyle Daily of the Norwegian Spirit currently cruising south from Seward:

AGRICULTURAL NOTICE

Due to public health regulations -food of any kind (hot, raw or unpacked /packed) will not be allowed to be brought onboard or taken off the ship at any time.

Looks like all the NCL shore excursions at Icy Strait Point have gone up in price. There is very little competition from independent tour operators at that port, so Norwegian can charge more.

This is especially true at the port Valdez, where NCL charges $199 for a 3 hour bus tour around town, $249 for a walking food tour, and $429 for a glacier viewing cruise that usually cost only $164 if you can book yourself.

I’ve done 5+ cruises on both lines. Celebrity’s buffet and MDR are better, while NCL has more food options.

Celebrity tries to position itself as a premium cruise line, and it does indeed feel more premium than Norwegian.

As a solo traveler, the biggest difference is the cost. Celebrity will almost always charge a 100% single supplement. With a little searching, I can often find a Norwegian cruise with a small or no solo surcharge. And with a CAS discount, the price of a NCL cruise can be less than half of a similar Celebrity one.

Once in early May, when we were the first cruise ship of the season, the train went through snow that was piled higher than the height of the rail cars.

Thank you for posting the Dailey's, very helpful for my upcoming Spirit cruise.

Wow, didn't know that the room service charge is $9.95 now, and that I can use the dining package at the Sushi Bar.

Also free access to Cruisecritic.com from the Internet Cafe and on my own device. They must be desperate for reviews and publicity, good or bad.

NCL jacks up the prices of all their tours to compensate for the "free excursions" of their Free At Sea promotion. So the price difference is significant between buying on board Norwegian ships and at the train station, especially for a large group or family.

When I did the White Pass trip years ago, those that booked at the station were assigned their own car near the back of the train. (a better spot for taking pictures of the train turning up the mountain)

Both ships see the Hubbard Glacier but only the northbound Jewel gets into Glacier Bay.

As stated above, my northbound Spirit cruise was originally scheduled to go thru the Inside Passage, but it has been changed to go out the sea side of Victoria Island instead.

I chose the NCL Spirit in May because it offered a "no single supplement" deal for balcony cabins, while the Jewel only had the deal for insides and ocean views.

Also the Spirit does not have a kid's area nor Haven, so there is more space on the top decks for scenic viewing.

I've booked several guaranteed cabins directly with NCL. On one time my room was assigned the day after I made my reservations. But usually I found my cabin # 30 - 60 days before the cruise.

4 hours ago, DanielNL said:

I have also a coupon with 10% FCC, and one coupon with a normal 10% discount. Would both coupons be valid for just one booking?

I believe the answer is NO. If you try a mock booking of a cruise you want on the NCL website, you will be able to apply only one coupon in the payment section.

1 hour ago, philatiger said:

We have the coupon too, but it has a sail by date of April 23, 2023. 

 

Mine states expires 2/24/23, sail by 12/31/23.

So I have less than 4 weeks to book this offer, and it's good for any sailing this year.

When I tried to book a mock cruise on the NCL website, using the 10% FCC offer, I was allowed to use only 1 CruiseFirst certificate. While not using the 10% FCC offer, I was able to use 2 CruiseFirst certificates for the sailing I wanted. So there seems to be some limitations for allowable discount combinations. I will have to call NCL directly to use the MyVegas discount, and see if that can be used together with the others.

1 minute ago, shof515 said:

Double check the wording of the FCC. For about a month or so, Norwegian gave everyone a 10% coupon that is only valid on one specific ship on a specific date 

I got one of those too. For the Norwegian Eclipse on April 16th. But today I got 10% FCC good for any sailing.

15 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

If I might ask, where do you look on your NCL account to find that 10% FCC?

You can find it under "MY NCL" then "VIEW ACCOUNT".

I was trying a mock booking on the NCL website today, and notice that I now have a 10% Off Discount Future Cruise Credit on my account that wasn't there yesterday.

Is this a mistake? Did I get someone else's credit?(it has a number attached to it).  I have not booked with Norwegian for the past 3 years nor have I had a cruise cancelled. Has anyone else received this credit today?

Is this credit combinable with other discounts? I also have a $250 NCL discount from the MyVegas app on Facebook. If I can use both then it will be a fair amount of savings.

4 hours ago, ziggyuk said:

I understood it was on purchases onboard and did not apply to pre purchased packages.

I had a feeling it was only in Spanish (and possible Italian) waters, was that the case?

The Epic sailed out of Barcelona. The specialty dining package was purchased 2 months in advance on NCL's website in the United States with US dollars. This is why I thought this tax was strange. Has anyone else experienced this charge?

Got off the Epic Western Mediterranean cruise yesterday. Wanted to let everyone know about a charge that I had never seen or heard of before.

I had a balcony cabin with all 4 perks. Friends booked a sail-away mini suite with no perks, so they pre-paid for the 3 meal specialty dining package. Early in the cruise my friends noticed 2 $9.90 charges labeled "Food and Beverage Packages" on their TV account review. When we inquired about it at guest services, we were told that this was a 10% EU tax on the dining package, and was added even if it was paid for months before in the US. Our cabin with the dining package as a perk was not charged this. I found this kind of strange as I've never seen it mentioned on this board before.

We had a very nice cruise, and the one negative was getting into Livorno 4 hours late because of winds. The Epic was just too huge to safely dock with the winds, while other smaller cruise ships were able to. All the Norwegian shore excursions for the Livorno port were cancelled, and I feel sorry for those that booked them, as this was a once in a lifetime trip for many. Luckily we had booked a third party tour for Florence and Pisa. The port time in Livorno was extended, by 2 hours. Our tour driver had waited for us and our Florence and Pisa experience was only slightly shortened.

I also wanted to mention that I had a problem getting my large suitcase delivered on the first day. When I still didn't get my bag by 11PM, I went to inquire about it. I found that my suitcase was in the naughty room. The x-ray machine thought that there was an prohibited iron in there. When I told them that it was my CPAP machine, they gave me my bag.

Just got off the Epic yesterday in Barcelona. We had a 10:40AM flight.

Since I have Gold Latitude status, was able to get priority luggage tags from the Cruise Next desk. Walked off the ship at 6:30AM, picked up our bags in the terminal, got a taxi and was at the airport a little after 7:15AM. Even had plenty of time to use the VAT tax refund kiosk and do some last minute shopping near our boarding gate.

Burn the Floor will also perform in the Manhattan Dining Room on one or two nights.

When you book a sailaway or guaranteed balcony on the Epic, there is a good chance of being assigned a hull (PrivaSea) balcony cabin in the front of the ship. If an enclosed hull balcony does not appeal to you, consider a sailaway mini suite. All the Epic mini suites are well located midship near the stairs/elevators.

On the ships where Burn the Floor performs in The Manhattan Room, you should make dining reservations if you want to see it.

My ship will be in Palma de Mallorca on October 12th, which is a Spanish national holiday. How will this effect the city center area? Will some stores, restaurants, and sites be closed?

Thanks.