TrumpyNor

My point is that I go to the front of the line, show my ship card and get escorted to a table within minutes (instead of waiting in line).

Still two dinners, but only one that includes a bottle of wine.

I just show the host/hostess my ship card that shows my Diamond status, and say that my Latitudes status usually gives priority seating and ask politely if that may be possible at that time. The result is then usually that we have a table within 5 minutes.

Allthough it doesn't happen often, this is not really a "new thing". Back in 2019 I was supposed to host a M&G on a Mediterranean cruise, where our first seaday was day 3 of the cruise, which was confirmed by the regular e-mail a couple of months before the cruise started. Then on embarkation day evening (!), I was notified that they had changed the date to the first port day on our itinerary, which was the very next day/so day 2. And the time was one hour AFTER the pre-sceduled docking time. No need to say that no-one (myself included) could participate at that time, majority of us had shore excursions booked. Also difficult to reach everyone who had signed up for it with such short notice. In 2022 I had a similar experience TWICE (on two different cruises), where they (NCL) moved the meeting time one hour ahead than the pre-scheduled meeting time. I totally understand that the meeting times are not "set in stone" and that NCL may change date, time or location for various reasons. But it seems to be happening more often lately....

Like others have posted before me, when the itinerary has an overnight stay in port, the ship will simply be your "hotel" for the night.

When it comes to the "priority dining benefit", I have often (with great success) also referred to that when there is a long waiting line to get in to any of the complimentary restaurants. Of course done discretely, politely and with a smile - and that often has resulted in us getting a table very quickly....

There was a recent increase in the daily service charges as well, be rebooking you would get the new rates for that (just a few dollars per cruise though). 🙂

I believe that OP is talking about purchasing a regular upgrade, not the "upgrade advantage program".

Yes, as long as you are going UP in category (and price - even if it is only $1,00). I have done it numerous times in the past - purchased a regular upgrade after final payment. Just be aware that you will then get current promotional perks (sometimes different than what you had with your original reservation).

I am sorry that I somehow misunderstood your initial question. Actually most Norwegians have never been to Spitsbergen, and it is considered very "exotic" for us Norwegians as well. I am sorry that I don't really have much input for you in that regard, except providing you with the link to the official tourist information office for Spitsbergen/Svalbard: https://en.visitsvalbard.com/visitor-information/travel-information/tourist-information-centre Right now Norwegian authorities are actually considering making visits to Spitsbergen/Svalbard much more regulated and limited in a very close future. And one of the things that is considered is only allowing cruise ships that has maximum 200 passengers. Meaning that most cruise ships would not be allowed near Spitsbergen at all. The reason behind it is the negative impact on the volnurable nature in Spitsbergen the large number of cruise ships in the last few years has caused.

Since summer of 2023 is the first year NCL is doing those cruises, no-one knows.....yet. I am booked on a cruise from Tromso to Iceland myself, for August 2023. Since your cruise isn't until 2025, I suggest you to follow some of the Star roll calls with similar itinerary for 2023 and 2024.

Usually you can use one cruise next voucher per booking, but sometimes NCL have special offers where you can use two CruiseNext vouchers. Right now this is the offer: CRUISENEXT DOUBLE! OFFER Booking Window: February 7th, - March 16th ,2023 11:59pm ESTOffer Details: Book a Balcony or above stateroom on any sailing booked at least 4 months in advance and apply TWO CruiseNext, CruiseNext Haven or CruiseNext Lite depositsOffer valid for sailings beginning in 2023 and forward:Guests must book at least 4-months prior to sailing for any sailing in 2023 and forward

As my DH and myself have about 150 points left to reach Ambassador status and two free cruises, and we have a 11 days cruise booked for summer 2023 on the Star that would actually qualify IF I rebook it, so at first I thought I should just "cancel and rebook", as the final payment isn't until April. But then I checked the current rates, and they are now about $1000 higher for two persons than they were when I originally booked the cruise. So I will just be happy with my single point per night instead.... :)

This is the case for me: I have currently a rather expensive cruise booked for August 4-15, 2023 - where it may be very possible that the price will drop significantly after the final payment date which is at the beginning of April 2023. My next NCL cruise is booked for August 15-26, 2024. So the important question in my case then would be as follows: IF I received some FCC because of a price drop for the 2023 cruise, would I be able to apply that to the 2024 cruise, or would I just miss it by ONE day.....?

Hmmm - with all the different replies from many of you, it has become even more mysterious to me. Allthough the "casino level" may be a good explanation for a few of us (myself included), for others it seems to be a completely different explanation - sometimes logic ones and sometimes not.....

That is probably it - we have played a little in the casino on past cruises, and several years ago (maybe 5-6 years ago) were enrolled in to their "Casino program" allthough we are very low end casino players, and never "gained" anything from that "membership". Thank you to you both for finding the explanation!!!

Well, so am I - currently Diamond status.

I just noticed that when I am logged on to my NCL account through ncl.com (not the app), and "click" on "My account" on the upper right side, the wording JADE shows on the top of the "box" - please see a screenshot of it below. Does anyone know what JADE stands for? I have no cruises booked for the Jade, and there is no Latitude level called "Jade" as far as I know (I currently have Diamond status). Of course this is not the most important question to find an answer to when it comes to cruising with NCL - I am just a little curious about what that could mean... ☺️

Sorry, duplicate post by mistake.

It could be worse - it could have been "returning to the old way of everyone gathering on the promenade deck outside, next to the lifeboats" instead of just returning to the meeting venues inside the ship, where you can actually sit down for the 15-20 minutes the muster drill takes..... As far as I know, the only ships that will have their muster drills outside on the promenade deck, are the Sun and the Spirit.

According to the European NCL booking conditions, there is a €50 fee for name changes and it can be done no later than 7 days before the departure date. As I am located in Europe myself, I automatically get to the European NCL page when typing ncl.com, but I am guessing that if you try to open the URL below in other parts of the world, then you would be automatically rerouted to the correct T&C for where you are located. https://www.ncl.com/fr/en/about/terms-and-conditions-ce#!#Changes Allthough booking conditions are different for the European and the American branch of NCL, it would not be logic that Europeans are allowed to change name(s) on the reservation up until a week before sailing date for a small fee and Americans are not. But then again, not everything NCL decides on other subjects is logic..... 7. Changes by you (1) Should you wish to make any changes to your confirmed holiday, you must notify us as soon as possible and in any event more than 30 days before departure except as set out below in relation to a transfer. Whilst we will endeavour to assist, we cannot guarantee we will be able to meet any such requests. Where we are able to do so, an amendment fee of €50 per person per change will be payable together with any costs incurred by ourselves and any costs or charges incurred or imposed by any of our suppliers. Restricted Air flights cannot be changed after confirmation. If your reservation includes a Restricted Air flight, any change will incur a 100% cancellation charge of the flight cost together with the full cost of booking another flight. It may be possible to make changes at a later stage but the costs involved in doing so will be higher. (2) If any individual Guest wishes to transfer their individual booking to another person (introduced by you), you may do so provided the person to whom you wish to transfer your individual booking satisfies all conditions which form part of your contract with us. Requests for transfers must be made in writing at least 7 days before departure and must be accompanied by the name and other required details of the person(s) to whom the booking will be transferred. The costs and charges incurred by us and/or incurred or imposed by any of our suppliers as a result together with an amendment fee of €50 per person transferring their place must be paid before the transfer can be made. For flight inclusive bookings, you must also pay the charges levied by the airline(s) concerned. Guests should note that airlines may not allow name changes on scheduled flights and that the flight booking may need to be cancelled (with payment of the applicable cancellation charges which may be up to 100% of the flight cost) and rebooked if a name needs to be changed. The rebooking will always be subject to flight availability and to the payment of the full cost of the new ticket. Restricted Air flights cannot be changed after confirmation so a 100% cancellation charge together with the full cost of booking another flight will apply.

Pre-covid that particular Epic cruise (7 days) actually had a total of four (4!) embarkation ports in severn days, so only two now (Rome and Barcelona), is actually not too bad. You will not really notice that there are more than one embarkation/disembarkation port...

The exact size of port fees vary depending on ports - but I find that $50 OBC in compensation is a better deal than actual port fees refunded as OBC. We have currently two 11 days cruises (both for Northern Europe, where port fees often are higher), and gov.tax + port fees (9 ports on each cruise) paid per person in advance is only around $210 per person on the first cruise and $300 p.p. for the second cruise.

I think I have understood what DIAXUP means - Diamond upgrade. 😊

On my reservation for a cruise in August 2023, there is one booking code I don't think I have ever seen before, and it is also not on the latest list posted here. It is DIAXUP - does anyone know what that could be?