TrumpyNor

Often for hotel reservations, even for "refundable rates" they will put a hold on the credit card you have given information about when making the reservation, either on the day of arrival or the day before arrival. And if it is not possible to put on hold the 1st nights fee, then you risk the hotel reservation of being cancelled. And if you then need to rebook shortly before arrival, then the rate is very likely to be much higher than your original reservation.

This. Quote from the terms and conditions: Dinner coupons are non-transferrable. Solo guests cannot claim two dinners. Coupons can’t be used for the same venue twice. 2 guests maximum. Dining options vary by ship. https://www.ncl.com/fr/en/latitudes-rewards-program#tier_benefits

First of all - 2023 will be the first time NCL do this itinerary, so not many that can give you any "inside" information on the cruise itself. But there is a CruiseCritic roll call for this cruise, I suggest you to join there to meet/discuss/learn together with some of your fellow cruisers: 😊 https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2853533-ncl-star-11-day-greenland-iceland-and-norway-august-4-2023/

I agree 100% with this, and actually had to do that myself last July, when my original flights (booked in advance by myself, not NCL, almost a year earlier) to get from Norway to Italy for two different cruises were "in danger" of getting cancelled because of a pilot strike, and there were problems finding "substitute" flights. I just had to book whatever I found, at a much higher price than normal due to all the crazy circumstances (cancellations/delays) at the time. And even though these "extra" plane tickets I purchased, were "economy tickets" that would not be reimbursed if I cancelled them at a later time, that was a better choice than loosing the two cruises that I had paid litterally thousands of dollars for. We ended up being able to use our original plane tickets, so at the end we just considered our "lost expenses" for those extra flights to be some kind of "extra insurance costs". Didn't really afford to do it that way, but as the alternative was to loose everything we had paid for those two cruises (total of 17 days, high season, were not exactly "cheap"), there was to me no alternative. We have a very good travel insurance, but doesn't cover strikes, so would not have received anything in compensation from them if we didn't get to Italy in time for our cruises....

When NCL states "3 days before departure" it is my experience that they count the actual dates (and not the hours), and that with the "3-day-requirement" you can make the test 1-3 days before sailing, but not EARLIER than 3 days before the sailing date. At least that was the case for our Gem cruise out of Trieste, Italy in July. So we decided to make the test 2 days before the sailing date. So in your case, if Spain requires the test to be done 1 day prior to departure, that means October 25th. And that should also cover the 1-3 days requirement from NCL....

I have been on many cruises with NCL over the years, and my personally experience is that cruises in the Mediterranean with a more "international mix" of European passengers and not always a majority of American passengers on board, you often may see more people dressing socalled "smart casual" instead of "just casual" in the evenings. It may be due to a cultural difference - that Europeans often dress up a little more than the average American when "going out with friends" (even if it is not "required")....

I have had wine with me twice in the past, when going on a NCL cruise. Both times the corcage fee was registered by someone who was sitting at a table located somewhere between the check-in area on the pier and the ship itself (close to where photographers were standing to make embarkation photos of boarding passengers). So definitely AFTER check-in.

This is from the Escape last month:

If you after your first of the b2b cruises by points should get to the Platinum status, then the Platinum benefits are there for you to enjoy for the entire second cruise. BUT, as points are autmatically added AFTER the cruise is completed, and this may take a few days extra, you should absolutely (as shof515 suggest) talk to the CruiseNext staff onboard, so that they manually can "upgrade" you for the second part of your B2B cruise. If I have misunderstood your post, and you actually will reach enough points for Platinum status during the second of your B2B cruises, then you will not obtain the Platinum benefits until you next cruise (as points are never added DURING a current cruise).

Have had binoculars in Gem Haven 2 bdrm suite (2008) and Jade Haven owner suite (2014) - but both quite some time ago, so seems according to others posts that this is not the case any more.....

We did the Escape cruise out of Rome in August, and had several Greek ports on our itinerary. Didn't need to do any covid testing for those ports. At that time, the covid test requirement for Greece was only for cruises that STARTED/ORIGINATED in Greece (eg. Pireaus/Athens). And that was also according to the NCL Covid protocol. No testing for cruises that started elsewhere in the Mediterranen and had itinerary that included Greek ports. Edit: Different requirements if you are unvaccinated though....

I just tested it, and I get the same result as you (I am also automatically redirected to the ncl.com/fr/en/booking page, from Norway).

Unfortunately this varies quite a bit from ship to ship when crusing with NCL. My husband and I have Diamond status with Latitudes. Did one cruise on the Gem the last week of July, ship at just above 50% passenger capacity - except for the priority check-in and boarding (we were on board the ship less than 20 minutes after we arrived at the pier, and we arrived just before 11.00 AM) there were not any "special threatment" on board the ship (except for the "entitled" Diamond benefits). The following week we were on the Escape for 10 days - full ship (4.300 passengers), and both my husband and I were "threated like roalty" the entire cruise. I actually asked the CruiseNext manager how many other passengers with Diamond status there were on board, and the answer was that we were the only ones. There were also no-one with Ambassador status among the 4.300 passengers - so maybe that is why my husband and I received all this VIP threatment instead..... But the general manager on board the Escape actually said on several occations when we spoke to him that he and his staff considered both returning passengs (ALL Latitude members) and CruiseCritic members to be people to give special attention.

On our last two cruises (July and August 2022) we received Bvulgari products (hair & body shampoo, hair conditioner and body lotion). But personally I also like the "regular" hair/body shampoo that are in the dispenser in the shower - at least to use as shower gel - smells nice and fresh...

Unfortunately according to the Latitudes FAQs it seems like the discount is not valid on Free at Sea Wifi Packages. https://www.ncl.com/fr/en/latitudes-rewards-program/faq

I think you misunderstood what I intended to say - that we when two persons with the required Latitude status in one cabin get two vourcher in total = 4 dinners = 2 dinners per person. And my original thought was why a person travelling solo should be entitled to more than that... As several others have pointed out - solo travellers often pay double price to travel solo in a cabin that is intended for 2 persons, hence they should be entitled two four "Latitude dinners" in total. I still don't agree with that type of "logic" - as the price p.p. for a cabin totally depends on cabin type and offers/demands...

Just a side note: Not all of us book inside cabins..... 😉

My husband and I have both Latitude Diamond status, he gets two Latitude dinners, I get two Latitude dinners - I never understood why solo travelers think they should be entitled to more than TWO Latitude dinners only because they are travelling "solo"?

Yes, it is. Here is the list: https://www.ncl.com/fr/en/onboard-packages/dining-packages

In my case, EVERYTHING was refunded as FCC - including prebooked shore excursions. But this was in 2020, so they (NCL) may have "improved" their covid FCC since then.

Moderno and Teppenyaki has a flat fee instead of a-la-carte prices, so always book those restaurants first when using dining packages (for all 6 persons), so that the booking system doesn't charge you the fee upfront. Then continue to book the rest of the speciality restaurants for your group. 🙂

It means that I have chosen to prepay the Daily Service Charge.

On the Escape there are also a few "sideways" cabins on deck 9, and a bit more on decks 13 and 14.

Oh, absolutely. If it is regular casual og smart casual "summer dresses", then I often end up using them 1-2 evenings on board (like you say yourself, it is just for a few hours each time) and after that probably one time ashore at daytime. I never learn from my own experience though in this matter - I always bring too many outfits on a cruise even though everything is "only casual or smart casual" (often plan on using a different outfit every evening, plus at least different tops/t-shirts/summer dresses each day when ashore - and end up using the "favorites" several times, take use of my free Latitude laundry bags and ALWAYS bring back home some clothing that I didn't even wear once during the cruise). 😄

I always book directly through NCL, and when I receive the booking confirmation the included promotional perks are listed there as well, usually on page two of the confirmation (just above the "Important information"-section - please see screenshot below. I don't know if you receive that type of confirmation also when you book your cruise through a travel agent.