New to NCL

[Nightengale212]

My hubby and I just received an NCL cruise comp from a local casino in collaboration with CAS and went ahead and booked a 7 day Western Caribbean out of Tampa on the Star departing March 2012. For a reasonable price we upgraded to mini suite 11102 on Deck 11. Not that it matters, but curious to know if the balcony in this cabin is covered or uncovered.

 

We have sailed only Princess and have enjoyed all our cruises with this line, but after our recent Alaska cruise which was good, we began to think about trying something different. When this offer came up we jumped on it and are looking very forward having the Freestyle experience, so any NCL newbie tips and or any specifics about CAS booked cruises would be most appreciated.

[bjinouno]

I would try to do a cabin search for your room on the Star, you can try these boards, or you tube, I found good photo's there, I would say the balcony is covered.. but I have never been on tht ship. or do a google search

[elkman7x7]

My DW and I have done four cruises on the cas program.We only cruised with princess before getting the cas certs.

 

We love the free style dinning. After being stuck eating at the same time and with the same people it was great.If you meet someone on the ship you can just go eat with them.Have made many friends this way.

 

Don't forget to go to casino host and get your card for free drinks in the casino when you are playing.

 

We had one bad room on the NCL spirit.We booked thru Ncl and she recommended the room.Do your home work and you will have just as much fun with NCL.

 

The first cruise we went on with ncl the whole week I would say i like princess better,bla,bla ,bla.My DW told me remember Mark the good old saying (its hard to teach a old dog new tricks).Go with a open mind and you will have a blast. LOL

[rvsullivan]

From looking the deckplans it appears to be a covered balcony.

[biker@sea]

My hubby and I just received an NCL cruise comp from a local casino in collaboration with CAS and went ahead and booked a 7 day Western Caribbean out of Tampa on the Star departing March 2012. For a reasonable price we upgraded to mini suite 11102 on Deck 11. Not that it matters, but curious to know if the balcony in this cabin is covered or uncovered.

 

We have sailed only Princess and have enjoyed all our cruises with this line, but after our recent Alaska cruise which was good, we began to think about trying something different. When this offer came up we jumped on it and are looking very forward having the Freestyle experience, so any NCL newbie tips and or any specifics about CAS booked cruises would be most appreciated.

 

My tip would be to make sure you attend your C.C. Meet & Greet.

 

NCL is very active in Cruise Critic. meet your cruise staff, write down their phone numbers. The officers can and will take care of any problems that may arise.

[Nightengale212]

Thank you all for responding to my questions. Wow, a drink card for free drinks while playing in the casino is a nice comp and something I knew nothing about. Is there something that identifies you as CAS booked cruiser that you need to show to get your drink card ?

[elkman7x7]

They should know that you are a CAS member.Just go to casino host in the casino.She will have a list with your name on a list. Don't forget to get your red chips from the NCL web site.You get 3-5$ red chips for 10$.Its in the section were you can order gifts,spa money, for someone on the ship.You can get this deal for each person in room.

 

Google cruise coupons on net. There is a site that sells a coupon for $25 dollars and its worth $50. You can play these in a slot machine.Again you can only take your winnings out of machine.So pick your machine and play your 50 and the take your winnings out.

 

We are doing back to back cruise in Jan.We did not want to carry alot of cash for 2 cruise or get our credit card hit in one month for our cruises.So each month I call Ncl and put money into our on board account.So i started this 6 months ahead of our cruise. When I get on the ship I will have 12 hundred in each ship board account.If we pull into port we just go to casino cage and tell them I want a hundred bucks,they give it to me and we go on shore and spend it.This works well for us and we pay a little each month for our vacation and we dont have to worry about carrying alot of cash.

[VideoTech]

.....If we pull into port we just go to casino cage and tell them I want a hundred bucks,they give it to me and we go on shore and spend it.This works well for us and we pay a little each month for our vacation and we dont have to worry about carrying alot of cash.....

 

You do know that you will pay a 3% transaction fee every time you visit the casino cage and draw money from your on board account, right?

 

Although this is less than an ATM withdrawal fee, it will still add up.