New to Norwegian

[anniversaryfun1017]

Hello everyone, I am new to Norwegian. So sorry but I am unfamiliar with the abbreviations so I will spell everything out. The questions I have are as follows:

 

1. Is it normal for final payment to be required 4 months prior to the cruise?

 

2. What are your thoughts on the new Harvest Caye private island?

 

3. How often are free gratuities offered?

 

4. What are the best offers to take as freebies?

 

5. I always thought Norwegian was must less than Royal or Carnival but that doesn't seem to be the case. Have their prices gone up lately?

 

6. What are the best ports to visit?

 

7. Does Norwegian offer shuttles from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami port? If so, do you know the price?

 

8. I booked an aft balcony and would love to bid on a suite. When can I if my cruise is at the end of April, 2019?

 

Thanks for your time in responding to my questions.:)

[snownow]

Answer what i can...

1. yes

2. Not our favorite stop, but not bad. Just make a pool/beach day of it. There is not much to do there without significant travel. But the beach is pretty ok.

3. No idea

4. We always take dining and drink packages.

5. Normally more than carnival (yuk) and normally a little less than Royal.

6. I love Roatan in the western stop, and eastern would be Tortola ( We love Jost Van dyke)

7. No, we use a service named Jiffy Jeff. Not the cheapest, but he has always been on time.

8. Have not bid on upgrades yet,

[islesdave]

1. Yes

 

2. Think a larger version of GSC. It's a pool/beach day, with some shopping opportunities

 

3. If you find a TA that has group space for your sailing, and possibly gratuities can be part of a group amenity. I'm a member of such an association and for my next cruise, my DSC and my UBP gratuities are a group amenity. Very rarely do they add it to the Free at Sea. If you PM me, I'll be glad to check to see if such a possibility exists for your sailing, since I can't mention names here.

 

4. Depends upon your traveling party. The gratuities for the UBP for a 7 day cruise are about $130 PP. If you're not a drinker and can keep your bar tab under, then the UBP is probably not right for you.

 

5. NCL has a whole host of new ships coming down the pipe in the next 10 years plus just announced a series of dry docks for existing ships. That $ has to come from somewhere.

 

6. Totally opinion driven, depends upon what you like. Roatan, Cozumel, Tortola all up there.

 

7. NCL does offer shuttle bus from port to both MIA and FLL after the cruise. If you're coming into FLL the morning of departure, I wouldn't wait for a bus to fill up before leaving. You're 45 minutes from the port of Miami without traffic. Too many potential issues. IMO best way of getting to the port is Uber/Lyft. They're very cheap in Florida.

 

8. Upgrade advantage I believe starts around 120 days before when your final payments are due.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello everyone, I am new to Norwegian. So sorry but I am unfamiliar with the abbreviations so I will spell everything out. The questions I have are as follows:

 

1. Is it normal for final payment to be required 4 months prior to the cruise?

 

2. What are your thoughts on the new Harvest Caye private island?

 

3. How often are free gratuities offered?

 

4. What are the best offers to take as freebies?

 

5. I always thought Norwegian was must less than Royal or Carnival but that doesn't seem to be the case. Have their prices gone up lately?

 

6. What are the best ports to visit?

 

7. Does Norwegian offer shuttles from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami port? If so, do you know the price?

 

8. I booked an aft balcony and would love to bid on a suite. When can I if my cruise is at the end of April, 2019?

 

Thanks for your time in responding to my questions.:)

[BNBR]

 

4. What are the best offers to take as freebies?

 

5. I always thought Norwegian was must less than Royal or Carnival but that doesn't seem to be the case. Have their prices gone up lately?

 

:)

 

The best freebies are the ones that you would want to use. Probably the drink package and dining or internet? Or even the 3rd and 4th free if you have additional cruisers with you.

 

As for pricing, NCL is normally much more expensive than Royal and Carnival, simply because their "freebies" are not free, lol. They jack the rates up and then give you "free" extras. You could look at the Sail Away rate and compare to Royal and Carnival guarantee cabins and the prices will probably be more similar.

 

If you are someone who buys a drink package, then factor the cost of that in with the Royal/Carnival price and see how well NCL compares then. It's usually much closer when factoring in the "free" extras.

[GA Dave]

Hello everyone, I am new to Norwegian. So sorry but I am unfamiliar with the abbreviations so I will spell everything out. The questions I have are as follows:

 

8. I booked an aft balcony and would love to bid on a suite. When can I if my cruise is at the end of April, 2019?

 

Thanks for your time in responding to my questions.:)

 

(80) days before sailing date. There have been times where people did not get the email/MyNCL notification until later, but normally it is exactly (80) days before sail date.

[Cruiser_1977]

1. Is it normal for final payment to be required 4 months prior to the cruise? Yes

 

4. What are the best offers to take as freebies? Best is subjective and depends on you and what you'll utilize.

 

5. I always thought Norwegian was must less than Royal or Carnival but that doesn't seem to be the case. Have their prices gone up lately? Based on my experience - Usually more than carnival and less than Royal

 

6. What are the best ports to visit? Again, this is subjective. I choose my cruises based on where I want to go and try to pick places I haven't been.

7. Does Norwegian offer shuttles from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami port? If so, do you know the price? No I used UBER.

 

8. I booked an aft balcony and would love to bid on a suite. When can I if my cruise is at the end of April, 2019? Bidding is random. Some people get the offer, some don't. If you used a Travel Agent (TA) and they do not participate in the Upgrade Advantage program. You will definitely not get an offer.

[graphicguy]

1. Yes!

 

2. It’s a Beach.....it’s a pretty beach, but it’s still a beach. Best thing to do is to hang out on the beach.

 

3. Whenever NCL feels like it, but no one really knows except them.

 

4. Up to you on the offers. I think most take the Ultimate Beverage Package and the Specialty Dining Package. Depending on the category you book, some offer 250 minutes of internet, $50/cabin/excursion credit, in addition to the free drinks and dining (both of those you will have to pay for the tips associated with them, but still a good deal even with the tips charged).

 

5. As others noted, probably a bit more than Carnival but less than Royal, in my experience (and I’ve sailed them, too). NCL has some good promos going right now. They are also offering some on board credit. So, that makes them an even better deal.

 

6. Depends on the things you like to do.

 

7. Yes....lots of choices out there from Uber, to NCL’s shuttle, to several companies that specialize in that run. Just do a Google search for the shuttles between FLL and MIA and you’ll see plenty. A lot like JiffyJet, but I’ve never used them. I use Miami Port Express, and have been quite pleased. They run about $19.00 each way.

 

8. Generally, they start the bidding invites 90 days (give or take) from the time the ship is supposed to sail.

[zqvol]

1. Is it normal for final payment to be required 4 months prior to the cruise?

Payments are due 120 prior to sailing and for some categories and sailings even further out than that.

 

2. What are your thoughts on the new Harvest Caye private island?

It has a nice pool. The beach is man made and the us the sand is full of chunks of shell. Swimming in the ocean right there is not that good.

 

3. How often are free gratuities offered?

Very rare occurrence.

 

4. What are the best offers to take as freebies?

For most people the one that makes the most sense is the beverage package, but if you don't consume adult beverages it is not the right one. You have to work out the math and do what is best for you.

 

5. I always thought Norwegian was must less than Royal or Carnival but that doesn't seem to be the case. Have their prices gone up lately?

Make sure that you are comparing apples to apples. You really can't tell about pricing until you get the final bill as you leave the ship. The one that looks less expensive on the front end may turn out to actually be the most expensive.

 

6. What are the best ports to visit?

Impossible to answer unless you specify an area. For example in AK, I prefer Homer, Sitka, and Seward. In the Caribbean on the east I like St. Thomas, St. Barts, St. Marteen, and Jost van Dyke. On the western side I like Roatan. In the med, I want Santorini, Paros, Istanbul, and Kusadasi.

 

7. Does Norwegian offer shuttles from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami port? If so, do you know the price?

Can't help with this one. Usually Uber or Lyft s the least expensive way to go.

 

8. I booked an aft balcony and would love to bid on a suite. When can I if my cruise is at the end of April, 2019?

80 days prior to sailing or in this case around February 1, 2019.

[anniversaryfun1017]

Thank you to all who took the time to help me. I greatly appreciate it.

[BostonGal35]

1. Is it normal for final payment to be required 4 months prior to the cruise? that is new and is policy now for NCL.

 

2. What are your thoughts on the new Harvest Caye private island? going for first time in 3 weeks, but i plan to stay on ship except to take a quick walk off to explore. we love their other island as food is free and the UBP works there. on HC, you have to pay for everything whihc is dumb to me when its all free on the ship that's docked nearby.

 

3. How often are free gratuities offered? Ive only seen it once.

 

4. What are the best offers to take as freebies? UBP and then we either book internet or the dinners depending upon the itinerary and if we will need to check in with work or not.

 

5. I always thought Norwegian was must less than Royal or Carnival but that doesn't seem to be the case. Have their prices gone up lately? yes, but i think everyone's have.

 

6. What are the best ports to visit? Bermuda!!!!!

 

7. Does Norwegian offer shuttles from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami port? If so, do you know the price? Yes, and they arent cheap. we usually UBER. ive aslo done SAS Shuttle.

 

8. I booked an aft balcony and would love to bid on a suite. When can I if my cruise is at the end of April, 2019? The bid email usually comes at about 80 days prior to sail.

[newmexicoNita]

Hello everyone, I am new to Norwegian. So sorry but I am unfamiliar with the abbreviations so I will spell everything out. The questions I have are as follows:

 

1. Is it normal for final payment to be required 4 months prior to the cruise?

 

2. What are your thoughts on the new Harvest Caye private island?

 

3. How often are free gratuities offered?

 

4. What are the best offers to take as freebies?

 

5. I always thought Norwegian was must less than Royal or Carnival but that doesn't seem to be the case. Have their prices gone up lately?

 

6. What are the best ports to visit?

 

7. Does Norwegian offer shuttles from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami port? If so, do you know the price?

 

8. I booked an aft balcony and would love to bid on a suite. When can I if my cruise is at the end of April, 2019?

 

Thanks for your time in responding to my questions.:)

wow, so many questions:::

1-many lines are or will be changing the final payment to 120 days before sailing. So whether normal now, it will be soon.

2-harvest Caye: We choose, on our last cruise not to do it because of hubby's mobility problems but people we cruised with said it was a blast, though pricey.

3-no one can tell you when the free gratuity promo will be offered. If we all had an answer that is when we would book.

4-best freebies; that is up to what you enjoy and what you use the most. We take the UDP and UBP when we only have 2 choices.

5-where did you get the idea NCL was a lot cheaper than RCI for instance? Cheaper depends on class of ship, ports, and so many other things. No NCL is not cheaper, but depending on perks at the time you book they could be cheaper. NCL has just added new ships to their fleet and are in the process of adding more, but upgrading other ships. someone has to pay for this. Not to put another line down but Carnival keeps their ships for ever and they do not upgrade as often as NCL>

6-no one can tell you the best ports to visit. It depends what you want to experience, how any days you will sail, from where you are embarking etc and we all have favorite ports. The ones I like, you may hate.

7-shuttle service, I do not know the answer.

8-you will not be able to bid for a higher level cabin until a few months before sailing. I think it is about 80 days. Be prepared, the bidding can get out of hand. so set your limit before you even start bidding.