Linsuesue

Very true, but Hawaii is more expensive anyway. I would think the less expensive cabins would sell better at first. Once you cap your guest percentage limit then throw out the bidding process to many of them. Highest bids win, and you just made more money from people going on the cruise anyway.

There is no way to do a mock booking for our cruise, because it has not even shown up for weeks on the calendar. I guess they reached the capacity to staff ratio a while ago. It makes sense that accepting bids for upgrades is a revenue stream to help compensate for the lower percentage of guests. I believe someone on these boards said the capacity is in the 40-50% for this ship. Some people in the September cruises had their reservations cancelled, presumably because of the issues with staffing. I would think with that lesser amount of guests on the ship that there are unfilled suites and penthouses.

I just called NCL directly to see if I could upgrade our large balcony room to something bigger on the Pride of America cruise next month. He told me that there was nothing showing for me to upgrade any higher than where I was at already, and I should try the bidding form. I am sure, from comments on this board, that the POA is not sailing near capacity. I figure NCL makes more money through the bidding process. I was sent an upgrade page and it has 7 different offerings ranging in price from $225 pp to $1,700 pp for the starting bids.

The Splendor did in early August- on the first day.

On embarkation day on the Splendor in August, the drinks were served in pitchers and the pitchers were half off for happy hour. Each pitcher was $13.

We usually book our Spirit Class Vista suites as soon as the cruises are posted. That is our favorite cabin. Bear in mind that the configuration of those cabins isn’t the same on each deck. Go to YouTube and watch videos for 4228, 4237, 5266, 5295, 6260, 6329, 7298, 7347, 8268, and 8273 on Miracle, Spirit, Pride, and Legend. Then you will have a good idea of what the suites will look like. Our favorites are on deck 4.

We are scheduled to sail this cruise on Oct 1st. I am holding off on booking the hotel and airport parking for fear the POA won’t be sailing. I just called Norwegian about the cancellations. She said that the POA is Sailing in September but some existing reservations were cancelled to control the percent of passengers onboard. As of today, 8/12/22, there is no notification of cancellations on the Oct. 1st cruise. Our reservation was originally a cruise to Alaska in 2020. That was cancelled, and we have since then changed to Hawaii and rebooked it 3 times, because of cancellations. Even with the credits, each time we have to rebook, the airfare goes up. The last cancellation was January of 2022. When we rebooked the cruise, we had to pay hundreds more just to keep our cabin category. If Oct. 1st is cancelled, I will book an Air B&about in Honolulu and forget the Pride of America.

We cruised to Alaska last August and didn’t have to stop in Victoria. We didn’t miss it at all.

Now I will pick my itineraries based on where all I can go without needing to test. We love going to Alaska, but I can’t see Canada dropping the testing requirements any time soon.

I have not seen any recent information or observations about the Pride of America’s sailings. Staffing problems and restaurant closures were the last I heard. Has anybody sailed her recently to comment about the trip?

From John Heald: The link is for OnPoint Testing. Good Wednesday morning everyone and ………..hold on, sorry, my wife is refusing to bring me a mug of tea from the kitchen to the living room where I am working. So please hold while I send her a What Is App message to tell her how lazy she is. Right then, here I am having answered all the comments asked of me overnight and am here to do the same for the next 10 hours over on Comorvis Posts so please let me know how I can help you. There is only one comment I want to cover on my opening post and it the one asked the most every single day and that is of course about Covid testing. In fact, this week already Jacinta and myself have answered almost 200 questions on this subject alone. Here are just a few examples. “ We cruise next week. I have just learned that the Quest labs in my town are notorious for not having results back in time for a cruise. I know many places are now charging $120+ for test, and we have a party of 5. Any advice? “ “ Why have you not told everyone about OnePoint and that it is something we can use. It should be made clear by you and on Carnival’s own website. This is all just too stupid for words. Get out of the testing and stop lining the pockets of big pharm.” “ ------- are charging $149 for an antigen test here in Va Beach. Why is a covid test still needed when all the other airlines and cruise lines have said it is not. “ You know, when my late Father used to tell me off when I had been a naughty boy he would look at me and say “ I will not repeat myself, I will not repeat myself.” I always wanted to tell him he had just repeated himself but I never did. Anyway, I will repeat myself and say that testing is still required for Caribbean and Alaskan cruising by all the cruise lines as far as I know. And while keeping you safe is always going to be paramount it is also ( and here is the repeat bit) a requirement of the places the ships dock at…………Cozumel, Nassau, Aruba, Grand Turk, Cleveland, Juneau etc, etc. However, I do realise that the price of testing has risen a lot during the last few weeks and it’s the same here in the UK. So please let me clarify that you can use the free tests that were sent to you by the US Government and any home test that you may have. They need to be monitored online of course so please know you can use the link below for that and the cost is very affordable indeed. So here is the link for you and I hope this helps. Cheers and have a brilliant day and please of you can SHARE THIS with someone share is cruising soon, it might help them

What is the current expiration date for the EMed tests? We have 3 cruises booked- August, October, and January. The 6 pack of tests is a better deal, but not if they will expire before January.

Great information, and I will apply it in August. I wish the port valet service was available, because it was so easy and great!

Me too! We also sail in October.

When I click on mine, it still shows pending. There is a button to click on that says, “modify”. I presume, if you click on that, you can modify your bid up or down.

My favorite is the Roasted Wild Mushroom Bisque that has 4 different mushrooms and Gouda cheese. I would be happy with that at every meal!

I sail on the Splendor to Alaska in August and will be on the lookout for toilet dude! I sailed on the Splendor before, but never noticed him.

I don’t know if the ship is sailing at full capacity. If it isn’t, there shouldn’t be an issue with not enough parking spaces.

I have no idea, except maybe by the time you were ready to bid, someone else had bid on that cabin and was accepted already? I have only ever received 1 offer to upgrade. It doesn’t show how many cabins are left in each category. I don’t know if NCL accepts bids right way or sits on them until the last minute to choose the highest bid.

I tried this and it worked great! Thanks for posting. A mock booking takes awhile and doesn’t do any good if your sailing is showing sold out or sailing with less capacity. I was recently offered some upgrade offers for a sold out cruise. NCL is offering booked people a chance to get a better cabin, for hopefully less, without adding more people on the ship, and making more money on limited capacity sailings.

Thanks a million for posting this! I didn’t even know it existed. I was recently offered the chance to upgrade. My bid is so low that chances are slim, but I can at least keep track of it this way.

I hate to even think about this! We are booked on the Miracle in January 2023 for a 14 day to Hawaii. We are booked in our most favorite Vista Suite. I don’t know anything about Costa Magica but am guessing there are no Vista Suites to transfer our booking. One more uncertainty to add to the problems of flying and cruising now!

My card in April did the same thing. I brought it home, ran it through my laminator, and it is good as new.

I love Tracy’s Crabshack- but those prices!🤯

Spirit class gets our vote! We have been on the Miracle, Spirit, and Pride. Hopefully we will sail on the Legend someday. I am drawn to the quirky cabins- French door, bowling alley balconies, and 2 room Vista View suites. I love the in your face, Farcus/ Vegas interiors that are all so different. I appreciate that they aren’t cookie cutter designs. Even the grapes on the ceiling in the dining room make me smile. The ease of getting from the front of the ship straight to the back gets bonus points from me. Love all of the clam shells and the pool on the serenity deck. The laundromats have come in handy too. We hope Carnival does whatever it takes to keep that class of ships running💓🛳