Traveling Fools

To put the breaks the progress between tier levels (ergo slow down the added benefits gained by reaching a new level).

Perhaps...if NCLH wants to bring all of their cruise lines' loyalty programs into uniformity.

You are correct. Thanks for pointing out that Oceania is one of the Holdings of NCL Holdings.

Learned from experience that cruisers on Oceania (an NCL line) that all passengers regardless of cabin/suite booked only get one point per night.

$40.99....I bought 3 of them yesterday. One to welcome German visitors we met a a Celebrity Tokyo-Vancouver cruise several years ago. This is their 2nd visit. We are taking them in the motorhome to Key West and Orlando. The 2nd one to celebrate the first night in our over the water bungalow in Papeete pre-cruise. And the 3rd for celebrating our Bon Voyage from Papeete on Nov 7th.

That is an excellent question! Our Nov Polynesian cruise was a spontaneous decision. My wife is German and has been watching reruns of the German version of the Love Boat. It lasted much longer than the American version and had a slightly different format. Port Calls could last a couple of days or more and Passengers and crew booked hotels for the duration the Port Call. The had several episodes featuring Bora Bora and other French Polynesian Islands. On a Sunday night (Labor Day Weekend) she mentioned that visiting Bora Bora had always been on her bucket list. I drifted to my cave and found an NCL cruise on the Spirit that coincided with when we could squeeze a cruise into our schedule....AND the price was right. The only problem was there was just one cabin left. I jumped on it and reserved it immediately. Because booking was made past the deadline to pay up, I had to pay for the cruise at the time of booking. I sent an email to my TA and on Tuesday the booking was transferred to her and in appreciation she added more OBC to our booking. Enough so that we can pay the gratuities once we board. Another example, in early 2020, DW and I decided we were going to spring for a family reunion cruise in the Haven. It was after working hours when I started looking at available cruises. Our son and his family live and work in Germany, so we had a specific time frame in which to book the cruise. DW and I wanted to book the Deluxe Owner's suite and, if possible an adjoining suite. There was availability for both, so immediately booked those two suites and two others. After NCL confirmed the booking, I contacted my TA and had the booking transferred to her. Again, she rewarded us with beaucoup OBC. On other cruises, I found the one we wanted to book and let her handle it. Timing and cabin availability dictates if I book and then transfer. We do read the advertising literature sent out by the different cruise lines and sometime check the online specials. If we find one that tickles our fancy, I will check availability for the time we want to go and for type of cabin we favor. If we get a match, I call the TA.

Ditto with me. If the itinerary of the cruse is so popular and there is only one suite of the class we like available, I will book online and then transfer the booking to my TA. She too is part of a larger agency, so there is always a back-up available if needed. I have gotten lower fares and ALWAYS extra OBC when booking through or transferring a booking to her.

Wow, That's great to know! Something I'll keep in mind when we cruise out of Miami, Ft' Lauderdale, Cape Canaveral, or some other domestic port. But, it isn't reasonable when traveling to a foreign port for embarkation. I am generally not a drinker, but am strongly considering indulging on our November Polynesian Cruise. AND, if I'm going to indulge I'm going to drink top shelf booze and wine! Like many of you, DW likes to have a glass of wine while getting ready for dinner and one or two when we return to cabin for the evening. DW is from Germany and enjoys sparkling water at meals and sometimes, during the day (as do I). I am also a big coffee drinker, but unlike my brother I don't spring for Starbucks. So, it would be nice to experiment with the Starbucks' menu while onboard. And having a great glass of Veuve, Moet Chandon, or Feuillette with smoked salmon at breakfast. Being able to take a bottle back to the cabin is quite a convenient perk. Oh, and did I mention taking an energy drink or two on each excursion. All of these factors have me leaning towards upgrading to the Premium Plus package.

Gary, RE: Celebrity Suite status. I failed to include a comparison between the Haven restaurant and Celebrity's Luminae restaurant. Luminae has a different menu every night and we could order off the MDR menu as well. The Haven restaurant's don't change, it is the same one every day. However, my grandson who started sailing with us when he was 4 has been able to order mussels and lamb chops (not on Haven's menu) every evening. We just had to notify the Maitre d' by 5 PM.

Hi Gary, Joe here. The wife and I have traveled a lot using all means of transportation. We have been RVing since 2006, own a high end Class A and have taking the grands on cross[country trips every summer except during the COVID shutdown. We have traveled a lot by air, have used ferry boats, chartered a self drive boat to travel up the Canal Midi, traveled through Europe on trains, have traveled on both power and sail boats, etc. We lived in Japan for 4-years and Kuwait for 2-years and took advantage of a lot of travel opportunities. We also cruise and pre-COVID would take at least one cruise a year. After our second cruise, we have always booked suites. Mostly on Celebrity and NCL. We Have booked a suite with RCL from Miami to Cuba and were totally unimpressed and unhappy enough to write a letter to the CEO. Our first cruise was in 1984 aboard Carnival's Mardi Gras. We booked a large inside cabin on the main deck, but I don't think it was a suite. We also booked 3-Carnival cruises out of bot Ft, Lauderdale and Miami by invitation from a member of Kuwait's Royal family. He cruises exclusively with Carnival because of the almost none existent dinning room dress code. In 2008, we had a family reunion cruise from Vancouver to Alaska. We booked a suite and the only perk we got was a larger cabin...nothing else. By the way if you can do it, a family reunion cruise is the only way to go! You don't have to worry about cooking or cleaning and is low pressure. We agreed to meet for dinner in the MDR to share what we did during the day. I understand Carnival now has a Haven type section of their newer ships called Havana. We have not stayed in the Havana, but know all Havana guests must be 12 years old or older. Our last cruise was on Oceania's Nautica where we opted for a Vista suite. This was a 10-day cruise from Barcelona to Venice in Oct/Nov 2019. Boarding was a breeze, the suite was as large as an NCL Owner's suite. Except in the seated dinning venues, we didn't find the service to be any different for what we get on NCL. Their on-board entertainment was sophomoric, and the drink package that came with booking cover drinks consumed in the dinning venues. We didn't realize that until we order drinks from the main bar, which incidentally was very small, There two couples sailing with babies, who never caused a stink or problem. They were in the suite next to and never heard a peep. We did get a goodie bag of stuff we take home with us, i.e. shower 2-robes, 2-towels, a Oceania ball cap, a Oceania Billed open top hat, and a wrapped collection of toiletries. We did not take advantage of their Free Airfare. Instead we booked Turkish Air Business Class out of Miami. They offered great fares. WE flew from Miami to Istanbul and after a moderate layover from Istanbul to Barcelona. From Venice we flew to Istanbul and deplaned. Because we were flying business class we got a perk of staying 3-nigths in Istanbul on the airline (economy gets one free night). This was our first time visiting Istanbul so we extended our stay from 3 to 5 days. If you haven't flown with Turkish Air, We can vouch for their service. It was excellent! One thing I do not like with Oceania is that despite what class cabin you book everyone only gets one point for the cruise. There is no doubling or points per night for those who book a suite. Our longest cruise was 22 days from Japan to Vancouver aboard a Celebrity ship. We stayed in a Celebrity suite, that until they introduced the Retreat was our favorite suite. We have not yet booked a cruise that has the Retreat. Next longest was 15 days out of San Diego thru the Panama Cannel. It was a belated honey moon cruise for our daughter, son-in-la and 2 year old grand daughter. There was only one more infant on the cruise and little Robin was a hit with all the passengers. We were able to arrange for a baby sitter on 2-nights and enjoyed dinner in our suite with everyone. The 3rd longest Celebrity cruise we took was a 14 day South American cruise. Our other X cruises were between 10 and 7 days and were in the Caribbean. I can't say enough about how well the entire staff treated us....on each Celebrity cruise we took. All of our Celebrity cruises were pre Retreat, so I can't provide a comparison between the Retreat and the Haven. The only reason we shifted from Celebrity to NCL was because of the service we received on our firs NCL cruise. It was a 40th anniversary Scandinavian Cruise that took us from Copenhagen to Saint Petersburg. In Copenhagen we were able to met and spend 5-days with a good friend that we had met in Kuwait. She, her son, and mother were great tour guides! We booked an Owners suite and , as Gary suggested in another thread, we wrote a letter to both the on-shore Concierge and on-ship butler. We introduced ourselves, told them a little about us, made some requests, and told them our selection of booze (3-bottles). One of the requests was for seating at the now defunct Chef's table. Everything we requested happened. They even organized the Chef's table dinner for the night of our anniversary. Talk about service...our Butler even scolded me for not fully utilizing his service and relying to much on the Concierge. With the exception of our upcoming November 7th NCL French Polynesian cruise we have booked either the owners suite on none Have ships or a Haven suite. We only decided Sept 5th to book the cruise and the only suite available was a Penthouse. The service me, my wife and when they have cruised with us our two grandchildren have received as Haven guest has been extra ordinally good! I really thing we have gotten more bang for buck sailing with NCL. Cheers and Bon Voyage!

Thanks....sailing on the Spirit in November and thought that would be a great dinner option.

Does anyone know if they still offer the Chef's Table?

Thanks!

Does Anyone know we moor at Moorea? Is in Opunohu or Cooks Bay? Tried Search and got zip.