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And THANK YOU to the OP for posting this!  I probably would have missed it since my cruise is so far away and I don't usually monitor for price drops this far out.  You saved me a bundle!

On 7/17/2019 at 1:00 PM, rtkenmore said:

One bad thing...  apparently this deal is NOT combinable with the Caesars discount unfortunately. 

I don't know if that's true.  I originally booked my Nov 2020 cruise on the Jade through Caesars with my discount.  I called yesterday to get the 20% price reduction and was originally told the prices wouldn't change for me.  BUT, I called back later in the day (actually just to have the promotion code added to at least get the $100 OBC and extra points), and they were able to give me the new reduced price!  Now, I did, for some reason, have to give up my previously acquired $100 OBC for booking with a CruiseNext certificate. I didn't really understand that part, but I saved $2k on my booking so I am certainly not worried about it.  The code they applied is LATVIP, so I don't think I get the extra points either....But I am not sure.  Either way the cost savins was worth it.  So, if you booked through Caesars I would for sure call and ask them to add the promo code and see how it works out. 

18 hours ago, rwest898 said:

I thought I read on an earlier post that Starbucks was included for the specialty coffee.  It's not a deal breaker for me if it's not but I guess I can call and verify.

Starbucks is absolutely included; we went there every morning on the Jade a couple of months ago and used Premium Plus with no issues.

We have sailed numerous times on Norwegian and Royal, but this December is our first time on Celebrity (Infinity) in about 8 years.  Just a couple of questions:  I am looking at booking Qsine.  I have read that it differs by ship as to which Qsine you get.  It sounds fun and interesting to me...should I re-think it? Also, is there a first-night discount?  I don't see one available online, as it's the same price for any night I pick.   Tuscan seems to offer one, but not Qsine.  Is there a possibility that there would be one once we board or does it sell out?  Just trying to get the best bang for my buck.

Second, if I get the 2-device surf package for internet, I have to attach it to a person, which would be me.  But I assume my husband could be the second device user?  That might be a silly question but I just wanted to be sure.  Thanks in advance for your insight.

1 hour ago, JennyB1977 said:

I have never encountered anything like what you describe, on any line. Was literally EVERY meal disappointing? Where did you eat onboard? Where do you eat on land that you enjoy the food (Ruth Chris, the Palm, Nobu, Koi)? Have you ever been on a mega ship before? Where did you feel crowded (the pool, the casino, the buffet, the Haven courtyard)? I see someone else explained about the A/C snowflake button. But did you really not say anything to your steward/butler the whole week about it?

This.

I am always a bit confused by super-vague complaint posts or reviews.  The food was bad, the AC didn't work, it was crowded.  OK, none of that is helpful for anyone actually trying to find out information on NCL cruises (or any vacation).  Specifics are helpful.  Saying everything sucked may make you feel better but doesn't help the rest of us one bit.

With regard to the internet question, you also pretty much have it right.  You do have the option to upgrade your package and pay the difference, to an unlimited package, among other things, once you are on board, which is what I always do as I use the internet quite a bit on vacation.  I have found that the 250-minute package is cumbersome to use as you HAVE to remember to logout every time you are done, or your minutes will disappear very quickly.  And sometimes it's not easy to determine whether or not you are logged out.

If internet is important to you, consider upgrading once on board (it will be an option in the Norwegian app, you don't have to go to the internet cafe or anything).  If internet is not important to you...don't worry about it.  Have a great time on the Bliss!

12 minutes ago, cruiseallways said:

We are sailing on the Gem and have the drink package. Can just one of us upgrade to the premium plus package as I don't drink much. Thanks

Unfortunately not.  Both in the cabin have to upgrade.

On a recent Getaway cruise, my parents did exactly that--got to the pier early, dumped their bags with the porters and then did the Intrepid tour, before boarding the ship.  It was a great way to bide the time before boarding, from what they told me. 

Find an open bar.

2 minutes ago, FLAHAM said:

Why should he get to sleep peacefully while you are already up and about?

Valid point!

Thanks for the photos, I think the curtain will be fine, frankly; it was just hard to tell how it works from the floor plan.  Thanks for all the input, it's much appreciated!

20 minutes ago, aero777 said:

We misplaced a card and had it re-printed at Guest Services. They left off PBP, which made more sense to us since it was replaced with the PPB :

Definitely a better way to do it, and if I get it again I will ask for the card to read that way. When we had it, our cards read PBP-3UDP-PPB, which many bartenders mis-read since they focused only on the PBP part.  

We have sailed the Jade numerous times before but always in an aft penthouse suite.  This time I splurged on the Haven, the courtyard penthouse (h5).  In looking at the layout of the room, it looks like the bedroom and the bathroom are all one space, which seems odd.  Can anyone who has stayed in one comments as to any privacy issues for the bathroom.  I can see that the toilet and shower are separate, but the doors appear to be clear-ish glass. Also, I basically want to know if I get up early and want to get ready in the bathroom, is there a way for my husband to sleep peacefully (in the dark) and not be disturbed?  

Cruise is not til Dec 2020 if that matters.  Thanks!

3 minutes ago, katzz35 said:

I was on the Dawn and I had bottles

of wine at dinner included in the package. Anything not included In the package (I’d say there’s about 10/15 bottles to choose from) are 40% off

This was my experience on Jade as well.  There were maybe 15 bottles that were included in the package at dinners, any other bottle was 40% off (which is really 20% off because there's always that pesky 20% gratuity).

4 minutes ago, mdsgu said:

I hope it's $35 and that Veuve is included.  My wife is SO looking forward to that in Europe!

Fingers crossed!  I mean, it was for me, so hopefully that is correct.  It IS a new package so there was a learning curve at the bars, but the supervisors/hotel manager/beverage manager seemed to know what was going on and how the package works.

If your experience differs please report back!

17 hours ago, kboltwkreations said:

Just wanted to clarify, it was a $30 limit for you?? Another thread stated the cutoff was $35 per drink with PPBP. Trying to decide for our Breakaway cruise in 2 weeks. Thanks! 

That was me.  We were on the Jade and were told $35, which I believe is correct specifically because the Veuve Clocquot Yellow Label champagne was included at $34.95 a glass.  How do I know?  I drank it every day.

Re: the bottles of wine for dinner, they are noted on the wine lists in all the restaurants, so you can see which ones are included. 

1 hour ago, Alaskawhovian said:

 Also, is it an accident that this gets announced late Friday on a holiday weekend?

No chance.

This is ridiculous.  My parents are on this cruise and literally booked it for those two ports (as probably others did also--they are, I think most people would agree, the two best ports). They have insurance but are just devastated at all the time now they will have to spend booking hotels, re-booking airfare, and generally dealing with their much-looked-forward-to vacation now being way more stressful.  I'm so disappointed for them, and even more so because I SUGGESTED Norwegian to them last year when we all sailed together on the Bliss (that cruise admittedly went very well and was amazing).  

I really don't understand how NCL couldn't have had notice of this before now.  I will be taking to Facebook and Twitter also...not that it will make a difference but it will make me feel slightly better.  

16 hours ago, TPgal said:

I wish that NCL would include time to swap the ship set up in between sailings rather than disturb folks on a previous sailing who have no interest in the upcoming event, but I suppose – a quick swap is money.

OMG, we were in an aft suite and were woken at 5am to the trucks (beep beep beep.....)/construction/scaffolding being loaded once we docked in Miami!  My husband was livid, as we had planned to sleep til about 8:30, have a leisurely breakfast and then disembark.  We finally just gave in and got up and went to the airport early!

Thanks for posting!  I have all intentions of doing a review, it's sadly more in the form of bullets at the moment lol.  Hopefully this weekend I can get my act together! 

Hm, good question.  They close out all the accounts the night before/early the morning of departure...so I don't know if it would still work in the morning or not.  Hence maybe the 6am (or earlier) deadline? 

If you booked and fully paid for the excursions, they should reimburse you the $50 credit once you take the excursion. I've always booked on the phone and not pre-paid though, so I don't for sure know how that would work.  I assume they would just credit it back though.

1 minute ago, YankeesFan4Life said:

Or is it only available to purchase ON the ship??

As far as I can tell, it is only available for purchase ON the ship.  I believe it is now fleet-wide, though.

Just now, jakesnana said:

Here's my take on it - you're already paying $20 pp/per day for the "free" UBP. Then you pay an additional $35 pp/per day to upgrade to the Premium. Basically you're paying $55 pp/per day for the SAME type of beverage pkg. that most cruise lines offer, for basically the same cost.  If you're a drinker and would purchase the beverage pkg. onboard another cruise line then you're back to comparing the prices of the cruises, since you're going to pay about the same to have an equal beverage pkg. on either cruise line.

That's kind of how we saw it also.  We paid about $54 pp/per day for our last cruise on Royal, for what ends up being a pretty similar beverage package.

1 hour ago, purpleally said:

OP, you mentioned you had difficulty finding out where to upgrade. Where did you end up finding someone who would help?

also, can one order two bottles, one each at dinner?  The taking leftover back to the room is very appealing 

pretty sure I will do this for our February cruise

thanks

We ended up going to the bar outside of Jasmine's which is where (per the signage) you could also purchase the regular package, and the wine packages, etc.  However, the individual manning that booth, so to speak, really didn't know much about the upgraded package, and he had to call in a supervisor to figure it out.  Again, it's new, so I get it--just took a bit of extra time to get it all hammered out. Once we purchased it, we had to go to guest services to get new cards, as well. 

You know, I never thought about two bottles but one would assume you could order two, as both parties would have the package.  We didn't test that out actually--but I would think it would have to work that way.

7 hours ago, slugg said:

500 bucks for two people on a 7 day cruise. Ouch. To me, that’s very much not worth it. You could bring 33 bottles of wine on board for the same price. Not that you ever would, but I’m trying to illustrate the fact that if you want to mainly enjoy better wine, there are more cost effective ways of doing it.

 

If wine isn’t your thing, then the upcharge isn’t worth it as the rest of the selection in the PBP is pretty good. There’s always someone who isn’t happy, but most people will fare just fine with the normal drink package. 

Well,  I fly to all the ports so bringing any more than a couple bottles of wine on board is unwieldy for me.   Secondly, I think I mentioned in my original post that most people wouldn't take advantage of this package.  AlI I was trying to do was share my experiences in case other people were wondering how it works and then would be able to make a more informed decision.  Which I kind of was what thought cruise critic was for. 

16 minutes ago, erdoran said:

Something I found a little confusing - the stars on the menus, those are for wines you can order "free" by the bottle, right?  Because there were other wines under $35/glass with no stars - those are still included in the pkg, right, but only by the glass?

Correct.  All wine by the glass is included (unless it's over $35 but I didn't see any that were).  The bottles you get "free" can be ordered at dinner only (at any restaurant), BUT you certainly don't have to finish them and you can take them with you, leave them at a bar on the ship and drink them later, take them to your room, or whatever.