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2 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

We used American credit card miles to book a nonstop flight from ORD to Rome. Got to pick our seats (bulkhead with extra room) and no worries about missed connections. Would not want to book international flights through NCL.

Your lucky to be close to ORD to book non stop. No non stops for us and United wants ungodly amounts of miles just for economy. BTW my husband is from Wisconsin

I totally understand that - just first time flying out of us to another country for our cruise. Have never been to Rome so want to see as much as possible before cruise. Ncl hotels usually are quite higher than booking yourself. And I also like to have control over when I get on the ship. Any info regarding everything is appreciated. Best tours, transfers to hotels, etc. I am doing a transfer with NCL on the return.

TIA

I have 2 day deviation on my reservation but my paperwork shows arriving on 21st and ship leave on 23rd. So looks like I may only get one day before to explore Rome. Was hoping to get 2 full days. We are not sailing until October/November.  That is why I was looking for info in case I should try and not do NCL Air.

On 2/19/2023 at 8:01 PM, cwtravel said:

It depends on the type of NCL air you are using. If you were quoted say $1000 for two round trip US to Rome you are getting the BOGO (buy one get one free) rate and the answer is no. You get no say in the airline/flights, etc. what you get is what you get. 

 

If you are say quoted $1000 per person you are using the regular NCL air, not the BOGO promo and you might have more control over the booking.

I am on the Jade in May from Athens and since I had Delta points and wanted a specific type seat (premium economy as a minimum) I booked my own air. Others that are traveling took the BOGO offer because of the substantial savings. They know they get whatever they get from NCL.

If you are working thru a travel agent ask the what type of NCL air it is and what the terms and conditions are. If you are not working with an agent ask the NCL rep what type of air and the terms and conditions.

Good luck.

I know I am getting BOGO have done it many times but we have never used it to go out of the country. We always come in early too. I hoping to hear what people have experience that have done it. This way I can make an educated decision if I want to pay more and book my own flights. We know to log in and do our seating etc. I have some points on United but they want crazy amounts and not sure if I can pay and upgrade with the points or not. Thanks 

We have used NCL Air in the states but we are doing our first cruise from Rome for 10 days. Has anyone use NCL air to rome and back to usa. And what was your experience. Any issues ? What airlines did they have you on? Could up upgrade after getting the flights from NCL? Any info would be greatly appreciated!

TIA

Doug - I thought they dropped extra charge for Ocean Blue is that true? And then is it just extra for certain items on the menu? I always love your reviews and hope someday to be on a cruise with you and Sue. Have a great trip and tell Sue I love gummy bears too! 

Moderno

I am lactose intolerant and never have luck with finding alternative milk on my cruises. I do use the Lactaid tablets in my regular life when I am not sure how something is made or has a dairy product in it. I like to purchase the Kirkland brand from Costco as they are cheaper and more in the box than the Lactaid brand. Hope this helps!

We are cruising with free air and our friends changed their cruise to ours and got the free air too. Since we got NCL to link our accounts with a note that we want to fly together. We don't have our info yet so I cannot tell you at this time if it is successful

Fingers crossed 

I use to use a NCL person years ago who was great - then she left and the person they assigned us was terrible. So now I use and outside person who is fantastic.

I have followed this post for a long time. We are platinum getting closer to platinum plus have placed bids on the last two cruises and have never won a bid. Last year we did what I felt was a strong bid on havens ( we always book balcony since mini suite not worth extra $$) but no luck. Will try again on our next cruise this November .

We have done many of the specialty restaurants on our cruises. Last Cruise we were on the Bliss - our meal at Cagneys (and we always eat there every cruise) was fantastic and service was wonderful. We always do La Cucina and LeBistro too. One cruise many years ago ate at Moderno and my hubby got ill so we never eat there. I did not try Ocean Blue as I did not like very limited menu choices. We tried the BBQ place and it was just okay so I would pass on that one. Teppanaki is great also. The only time we have been told of limits is with my Platinum meals - never on my dining package perk. Hope this helps and enjoy your cruise.

He was on the Bliss last November as was at the mojito bar

I did a quote online with them for our cruise - 9 days a little over 4000 ade 67 and 75 and quoted 404.00 

higher than ncl rate

On a side note - what do you usually pay for the Nationwide Luxury Insurance for your cruises? 

how do you get the park west cruises?

if you are the only platinum member you will get 1 bag, but if you have a 2nd platinum then they get 1 bag too. So you could do and then do the 2nd one at a later date

they have lots of buses for you to board, We use it all the time and it has been great. depending on flight time they have early buses for earlier flights and later buses for the later flights.

on our last cruise some bars had paper straws and some did not - and one of the bars started cutting them in half as they were getting low - I got a large package of straws at the dollar store and gave some to my friends that were cruising with us. Frozen drinks do need a straw

Last November we used Execucar  for the first time. We arrived a day early so used them from LAX to hotel (Crown Plaza) by port. This was a private car and the total cost if I remember correctly was 55.00. The service was wonderful and we would use them again. The driver was calling me as I was walking to baggage claim. Once we had our bags and called him he was there within 2 minutes and had us to our hotel in 35 minutes. 

I really do not understand why everyone gets so crazy about this perk. We love going on NCL - when they offer the drink perk we take it and we are not huge drinkers but we do not lose on the perk when paying a gratuity that you will pay on ship with every drink anyway. But you also have the option not to use that perk. If you take the cheapest rate for your cruise (sail-away) then you get no perk and pay less but you cannot pick your cabin If you pick a guarantee room you may not get your room until a few days before the cruise but you get perks. It all really is what best suits your needs and what you feel your willing to pay. Most of all - enjoy your cruise!

our last cruise in November we had no problem having drinks brought to us. And we always take the drink package as a perk.

We always buy the trip insurance with NCL when we book our cruise and not the 25.00 one that you are talking about. One time my husband did not feel well and we went to medical center and he had to stay in cabin 24 hours but never got charged anything. Last November on our cruise my husband was experiencing a tingling in his arm. We spent 3 or 4 hours in the medical center and they ran all kinds of test. We chose not to go to a hospital and he started feeling better. That night we did have a large  envelope left in our cabin with all the tests and backup and a bill that we had to pay when leaving the ship at the end of the cruise. But NCL helped me contact the insurance company while on the ship via phone to find out what I needed to do. I am happy to say that after filing first with our supplemental insurance and then the cruise insurance purchased with NCL we got all of our money refunded back. So I was very happy and pleased with it. They also have a premium plan which is more money but the coverage we had was just fine fo r us. Hope this helps.

Okay I am a long time cruiser but always just locked all my devices away. We are platinum are have never used our 30 minutes. And like stated the line is usually pretty long at the internet cafe so I have never really checked. But this cruise we have later this year I have my 30 each and the 250 package. Can you explain everything we can do with the package and if there is more benefits added besides being unlimited. Or exactly what can you do with those minutes? Thanks I appreciate the information for a better  understanding  so I can take advantage of the minutes and/or cost to upgrade. Our cruise is 9 days . Many thanks in advance.😎

We were on the Bliss last November and we had the best dinner at Cagneys. We always go on every cruise and this one was the best all around. So maybe it has to do with it. We also do Le Bistro every cruise also.