rpb718

I haven't heard the term "upgrade fairy" for years.  Back then, way before "bidding" and before folks would call NCL directly to try to upgrade - NCL would call someone already booked on the ship totally "out of the blue" and offer an upgrade for $.  There was seemingly no rhyme or reason on who they would call.  I know folks would post asking what someone did to be able to get the coveted "upgrade fairy" call.  We received the call 2 or 3 times starting in 2011 upgrading from balconies to suites, and given that we would cruise maybe once a year back then was a higher likelihood than most.  And the offers from NCL were a REAL deal back then too.  

So now we do the bids, along with 100s more people - but I still miss the days when the "upgrade fairy" was real.

1 minute ago, fastpitchdad said:

 

On my most recent cruise we went from Balcony to Mini-Suite with large balcony after a price drop and then to a Haven Spa Suite after another price drop both after final payment. 

I should have been more specific - any offers that involve OBC are one time only.  Upgrades to higher level cabins are still good to go.

20 hours ago, fastpitchdad said:

 

I would take the upgrade and offers and if it drops again I would try to move up again. 

I'm pretty sure after final payment once you take any offer it's good for one time only - as in once you take an offer you can't call back later if prices go down again.  

Sold out doesn't necessarily mean all the rooms are sold, just the number of people on board has hit capacity.

Say for a simplistic example, a cruise ship only has room in their lifeboats for 2,000 folks in the event of an emergency.  Now say that ships has 1,000 cabins.  If every cabin has 2 people booked that is the 2,000.  The ship is full and all cabins are booked.

Now say maybe 1/2 the cabins have 2 people booked and 1/2 have 3 people booked.  That's 2,500 - so 500 people too many.  To get down to 2,000 you have to stop selling after only 333 cabins have been sold.  This leaves 166 cabins that would be empty.

Long story short - so even if a cruise is sold out there are empty cabins that can be bid on to move people around.

I'm guessing here that there's $80 in the wallet.

JK - I think an email to NCL corporate would have been in order.

If it came back stuffed in the bag, I'd question whether it was even washed.

Did no one suggest earplugs?

1 hour ago, Ozzieru1e said:

 

I was in a mini suite on the Escape 5/2018.  The main difference between a balcony cabin & a mini suite on the Escape was the larger shower/bathroom.  I stayed in the Escape Haven Courtyard Penthouse 7/2019 and had to deal with a tub...but it was worth it. lol

Although I loved the location of the Courtyard Penthouse on the Escape (it was within the Haven complex), I booked a Haven Forward Facing Penthouse on the Bliss to experience separate bedroom & living rooms plus a it has a stand-alone shower.  

Our last cruise in May was also in the Haven on the Escape.  Loved it.  While the room and balcony may have been smaller than I liked, we spent very little time there and was in the lounge or up on the top deck most of the time.

We also have done the 2 bedroom suite on the Dawn, which had separate living room and bedroom that we also loved.  I think having 2 bathrooms and all the extra closet and storage spaces was a real plus on that cruise.

FYI - In the past one of the selling points for mini suites is that the bathrooms have a bath tub, which some people prefer.  You may want to keep that in mind when booking on the Dawn or Gem.  I have no idea if the Bliss minis have tubs.  My last 2 cruises were in suites so I haven't paid much attention to changes to minis.

Depends on what instruments you can play.  No tubas please.

I was going to just point out you were slightly wrong:  It wasn't more work for John after all.

8 minutes ago, mooche said:

Nooooooo.... Save the Towel Animals!

You'd have to have them declared as an endangered species first.

42 minutes ago, willsears94 said:

Ya..... no. 

 

I will just bring a 100 pack of plastic straws from the dollar store. Then I will sell each straw for a $1 to the first-timers 😂🤣

You don't add the 20% gratuity charge?  According to another thread, even if the charge is $1 Cagneys would add the gratuity.

I wonder how much the "Towel Animal" package will be?

My wife was laid off early this summer, and we decided to cancel our first cruise in about 3 years because while I was sure she would have a new job before then there would be no way she would be able to get time off. Our cruise was scheduled for November (the repo from Boston to San Juan) and we had booked a post-cruise hotel and had a great price on airfare. Looking back now, her losing her job was a major stroke of luck on our part. However, I really wanted to get back to St Martin because our prior visit was way too short, and it pains me to see the devastation there as well as other places we were to visit - some for the first time.

Hi,

 

Is there any web sites that still do the casino coupons for NCL ? I use to get the slot coupons from SlotPlay but they do not do NCL anymore. I cannot find coupons on the NCL site either? Is this a done deal ?

 

Thanks

I think they were both phased out in 2014. We didn't have it on our last cruise in March 2015.

Here's what I understand, there were 2 cabins originally booked on the Epic. The OP and her husband have switched over to the Spirit, so now there is one cabin on the Spirit for OP and husband, and one of the Epic still for their 2 daughters. OP wants to switch both names on the Epic cruise because both daughters will not be cruising on the Epic and then switch the Epic cruise to one on the Jade (or do the name change at the same time as switching to the Jade).

(What confuses me here is that with only one daughter expecting, why will daughter #2 not be able to go on the Spirit in a separate, possibly adjoining, cabin?)

In any case, NCL UK only allows one name change per booking and to change both names amounts to a cancel/rebook. Without knowing what protections there are for booking the cruise through NCL UK against illnesses or other medical conditions that would prevent someone from cruising to be able to get the deposit back, I have a feeling that the deposit will be lost in this case unless the younger daughter remains and is switched to the Spirit cruise. Maybe DD #2 has a friend that can come along, but it this point is it worth it to bring a friend for DD #2 or lose the deposit?

What's so amazing about someone wanting to be connected while away from home ? Perhaps they have children or an aged loved one at home and want to make sure all is well.

Makes you wonder what everyone did in the 80's or 90's. I guess no one went on vacations at all.

I had to look it up and never realized that the very 1st cruise ship to offer an Internet cafe was the NCL Sky in 1999.

I love Germany, and it's (her?) citizens. :)

I believe since Germany is referred to as "fatherland", it wouldn't be "her".

I may get a bit of revenge though, for he & his wife just had their first last week and they had Twins....hehehe......

Your DIL's first name wouldn't be Katie - would it?

Thank you. I guess if we book, hubby and 25 year old son will be "on paper" in a cabin together, and I will be with the 20 year old with a $50 OBC.

As long as the supporting documents (passport or birth certificate, drivers license) show the son as being 25, you'll be fine.

If NCL is cracking down on this, I suppose hanging it inside the cabin high on the balcony door so it shows outside would not be an issue.

Cool, thanks for the info! Got the flag in the carry on! We'll fly it until the ship leaves port

Being a Pats fan from New England, I suggest when you do bring it in from the balcony to carry it yourself and not try to throw it through the open balcony door into the room.

We are departing Seattle aboard the Pearl tomorrow sailing in an Aft penthouse. I was thinking of bringing our 12 flag along and trying to get some photos of the flag on our balcony. (If you're not a Hawks fan, you probably don't "get" the whole 12 culture, but believe me, it would be cool to get those pics.)

 

Will we get scolded (or worse) if we do this? Should I just restrict myself to shooting a selfie of us standing on our balcony with it and then put it away? I could use Twitter and hope others in the area could grab a pic, but it would be disappointing if we had to haul it in quick. I am nervous to hang it up and go off the ship to try and grab the pic from the dock myself.

 

Any co-conspirators available? (Yes, I'll post this on our roll call too.)

 

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

Saw a 12 flag outside on an Epic balcony early this year in Cozumel - we were on the Sun in the same port at the time. I'm sure it'll be no problem.

Its a bit of a shocker, usually cruises from NY get rerouted to Canada if there is a storm.

I think I heard of this happening on NCL maybe once - the going to Canada part instead of South from either Boston or NY. What I do know is that when we embarked the Dawn out of Boston during Hurricane Igor, we went south instead of Bermuda.

I'm really curious now how many times a storm has caused an NCL cruise from either Boston or NY to go to Canada instead of either Bermuda or a southern itinerary? I keep hearing the word "usually" bandied about when talking about this scenario, but I'm thinking for a non-NE/Canada cruise to be diverted to NE/Canada instead of a warmer destination is a rarity. Did it happen more prior to the 2000s?