masspector

App now shows the new menus for our cruise. Not sure if they will be in that order but will check them every few days to confirm order and at least decide which nights we do not want to go to MDR. Strange we do not have a menu listed for lobster night.

I spoke to one of their reps at a travel show and she said that their northern lights cruise guarantees you will see them or they give you another free cruise to come back and try again. Of course, they are more expensive than NCL but she described the line as more like Viking with on board historians, etc so it is more of a learning cruise too.

Never been on that ship but I can give you my two cents worth. I love to read too and I have found it impossible on a cruise ship. For me, I need ABSOLUTE silence. Everywhere I go on the ship, inside, outside, empty clubs at 5am, there is piped in music. I have never been able to find a completely quiet area except my room. So i listen to music on headphones or an audible book.

Thanks for all of the replies. A fellow cruiser that is on Ovation now asked and they said that they "heard" they will start the new menus next cruise. I will check the app closer to cruise time and she is going to update after the next cruise starts.

I sorted by ship and destination. I get this. We are on the May 11, 2023, sailing. No sailings before that.

I looked for this in the forums but do not see it answered. I was able to find 9 of the 10 new menus. I assume welcome aboard will always be the first night and bon voyage will always be the last night. We are going on an 8-night cruise in May. My question is, is there a set order to the other days, such as Mexican is day 2, Carribean is day 3, etc.? If so, what is the order? In addition, there seems to be a discrepancy between the menus and the app. Someone on our cruise that is on a current RC cruise showed the day 2 menu in her app currently and it showed the grand marnier souffle. On all of the other menus that I can find that dessert is not listed. My app also shows that dessert for day 2 but not sure if that is my sailing or the current sailing. Unless it is on the one menu that I did not see. Can anyone that used the MDR on a recent sailing confirm if the app is correct or are the printed menus, correct? I used this link: NEW Royal Caribbean Dinner Menus 2023 · Prof. Cruise (profcruise.com)

Thanks, I will check it out

Thanks for the input.

Looking to do a trip around the tip of SA in 2025. I assume North America winter/ SA summer is the best time to go. Any recommended months? We are interested in wildlife and sightseeing. We have friends that did a Viking cruise from Santiago to Buenos Aires. They went in February or March. What lines do you recommend? Viking is a little pricey for us, was considering HAL. Any other tips and tricks appreciated. TIA

Thanks for all of the replies. Great info as usual.

Sailing Ovation of the Seas Alaska May 11. It still says that they are working on entertainment. Will we be able to prebook, or will we have to wait until we board? Thanks

NCL's obligation is to get you to your cruise on time. NCL is run by people, just like you and me. They can read the news just like anyone else and they know about the high number of flight delays and cancellations. They should take that into account. They should also have had a contingency in place if the original flight was delayed. Legacy airlines have agreements if a flight is cancelled or severely delayed. NCL should have been proactive in getting the customer on another flight to get there on time. Also, the driver should have taken them from LGA, if there was room. You cannot offer a customer a service and then just blow it off by saying, oh it was AA fault. Sorry.

Anyone stayed in this cabin before? Any issues with the bars above on deck 6? TIA

Just rebooked an Oct 2024 Med cruise with the sale and new military discount and saving $800. Our airfare dropped too as part of that $800. We have never been on NCL. Will there be any kind of Black Friday sale on shore excursions or package upgrades? Thanks

Thanks for the reply. I have been doing what you suggest, checking every day. I know the popular ones will sell out quickly, that is why I was asking. In fact one excursion that we are not interested in is sold out already.

I understand that these are unusual times with cruising just starting back in earnest and Alaska (Canada) especially. But we are 9 months out from our May 2023 cruise and only 4 shore excursions listed. Two of those are after docking in Seattle. Any idea when the shore excursions for May 2023 will go up based on 2022? Our October 2023 NCL cruise has like over 100 excursions listed. TIA

Best to check a little before your trip. Found this from 2020 As part of the restart, we revised the Blue Line schedule and it no longer includes the Gary Paxton Industrial Park. For now, the Blue Line will turn around at Whale Park. Also it looks like the bus does not run on the weekends. M-F only.

Thanks for the replies. I will check public transport early next year to make sure still running and schedules. Bikes sounds interesting too. Will check that also.

Cruise is in May 2023. What is the most efficient, most affordable way to get back and forth from the dock to fortress of the bear? Uber? Taxi? Thanks

I understand what you are saying. However, in my experience that has never been the case. Fortunately we have never had a cruise cancelled and I think this is the first vacation ever that we have had cancelled by the provider. Standard practice is if the price is lower the provider rebooks you at the lower price. In fact I have done that with another trip with the provider of the Japan trip. I know with cruises that policy usually revolves around final payment date but I think after final payment most lines offer OBC. I am a pretty savvy travel shopper that does a lot of research and knows a good price when I see it. It might go down a little after I book but not significantly. For example I booked air and hotel from Atl to prague a few years ago for 5 nights for $1150 total for 2 people. That was based on a lead price from NY of $499 per person. Might it go cheaper? Maybe but I do not think $299 for that trip is reasonable. If the norm was for prices to go down I would just keep looking in the future and cancel and book a future cheaper date but never actually go on a vacation. In my experience, prices usually only go up after you hit the sweet spot.

Interesting thread. I had a similar issue with a land based Japan trip. We booked June 2021 for a trip June 2022 hoping everything would be back to normal. Since it was the middle of the pandemic the price was great, which is why we booked. The trip got cancelled and fortunately we got all of our money back. My rub is similar to the OP. We did get our money back, but of course if we had taken as a credit the price in June 2022 was way higher than June 2021. I wish they would have just moved us to a later date at the same price. But they do not do that. So while all of these airline, hotel, cruise price guarantees were good during the pandemic to ensure that you did not lose your money, you in essence lost your good "deal".

Got it. Thank all of you so much.

Thanks for all of the informative replies. So let me get my timeline straight. One cruise is October 2023, might do a one day deviation precruise. Other cruise is October 2024, will do a 2 day deviation pre and post cruise. I have to tell them I want a deviation 75 days or more before the cruise, correct? At that time they will drop the transfers and I will get the credit. I will not know my exact flights until about 30 days before the cruise, correct? Final payment is 90 days before the cruise. How far out is the earliest that i can call and request the deviation? If I call before final payment they will drop the transfer cost from my reservation and will I see the credit so that my final balance is minus the transfer costs and the credit, correct? Thanks

Found this on the site. One application is good for 3 years Travelers will have to pay for the cost of ETIAS when they complete the ETIAS application form. ETIAS visa waivers will be valid for 3-year periods and will allow people to enter the Schengen Area for periods of up to 90 days (within any 180-day period).

What does that mean? They credit you $25 per person for requesting a deviation? I understand that the $25 for the Travel With Guarantee is a fee, but I do not understand why NCL would give you a credit. Thanks for the reply