Booking for a family

[TominNC]

My wife and I are already booked on the Dec 18 Encore cruise.  The topic just came up about maybe taking our immediate family with us for our holiday gift.

All out kids are adults,

 

So we'd be adding:

Daughter +1

Son +1

Daughter, Husband, 1 1/2 year old

 

We'd probably get Ocean View or Inside rooms.  (I'm not rich!).  Can this all be done on one booking?  Best to just dump it on the TA who did ours?

 

Anything I should know or be concerned with?

[ChiefMateJRK]

12 minutes ago, TominNC said:

Anything I should know or be concerned with?

Assuming that they are all informed and really want to join you, I can't think of anything else other then getting everybody to/from the port.  Are they all anxious to do this?

[TominNC]

Oh this is still my wife and myself speculating.  I'm trying to figure our pricing before I ask.

 

Is there no way when going to the website to start with "I need 3 rooms"?  It asks about passengers and won't let me add 6, because their are no rooms left to handle 6.

[Treasure Hunter]

It’s a wonderful idea. You know Judge Judy said give with a warm hand. We took our family Thanksgiving and it was wonderful. We are going February winter break with our daughter. Either use your TA for research or call. You can find out the cost without booking specific rooms. I assume you are looking at adding two rooms.  I looked at a sail away inside today and although it showed slashed prices for two people  when you add port charges etc. it came to $1900 total with almost no perks. The baby is free. A way to save  is to find a port that you can drive to rather than flying.

[TominNC]

Unfortunately from NC its a decent drive anywhere.  They're all young, long drives arent't so bad.  

 

We're already booked so Miami it is.  Unless this is too expensive and we put off the idea for another year when I can plan for everyone from the beginning.

[TominNC]

24 minutes ago, Treasure Hunter said:

It’s a wonderful idea. You know Judge Judy said give with a warm hand. We took our family Thanksgiving and it was wonderful. We are going February winter break with our daughter. Either use your TA for research or call. You can find out the cost without booking specific rooms. I assume you are looking at adding two rooms.  I looked at a sail away inside today and although it showed slashed prices for two people  when you add port charges etc. it came to $1900 total with almost no perks. The baby is free. A way to save  is to find a port that you can drive to rather than flying.

My TA said there's no discount for the baby.  I guess he just falls into a 3rd and 4th passenger are "Free" as a Free at Sea perk

[Treasure Hunter]

1 hour ago, TominNC said:

My TA said there's no discount for the baby.  I guess he just falls into a 3rd and 4th passenger are "Free" as a Free at Sea perk

It’s a wonderful idea. You know Judge Judy said give with a warm hand. We took our family Thanksgiving and it was wonderful. We are going February winter break with our daughter. Either use your TA for research or call. You can find out the cost without booking specific rooms. I assume you are looking at adding two rooms.  I looked at a sail away inside today and although it showed slashed prices for two people  when you add port charges etc. it came to $1900 total with almost no perks. The baby is free. A way to save  is to find a port that you can drive to rather than flying.

[Treasure Hunter]

Yes, that’s what I meant. Third and fourth in a room are free with the current free at sea. My grandchildren are free. We have a two bedroom in the Haven. My daughter is the discounted rate. And will sleep on the pull out in the living room.  This way we are together with two bathrooms. Don’t put it off if you can possibly do it. Stuff happens. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. They will be thrilled, many people are happy with an inside cabin as they are rarely in the room.

[complawyer]

try and call ncl and speak with a cruise consultant or casinos at sea. most of the people at cas are extremely knowledgeable , and while treasure hunter has the right idea, 3rd and 4th are free in only certain cabins and sailings, and where they are free, ncl merely distributes the cruise fare between the original 2 travelers

 

[TominNC]

19 hours ago, Treasure Hunter said:

Yes, that’s what I meant. Third and fourth in a room are free with the current free at sea. My grandchildren are free. We have a two bedroom in the Haven. My daughter is the discounted rate. And will sleep on the pull out in the living room.  This way we are together with two bathrooms. Don’t put it off if you can possibly do it. Stuff happens. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. They will be thrilled, many people are happy with an inside cabin as they are rarely in the room.

Unfortunately the 3rd and 4th are not free on our cruise.  They're doing 40% off everyone.  It's looking pretty expensive.  I may wait for next year when I can pick a week, destination and length that will be more cost effective.

[Treasure Hunter]

Ok. But keep looking . My cruise was originally just a discount on extra passengers then they briefly changed it. They told me that Winter break never has “kids go free”and  that might apply to the Christmas holidays for the same reason. So my cruise isn’t a “kids go free” just third and fourth go free. We have 5. Good luck and I wish you well.

[TominNC]

Another question.  Does the Encore provide any child care?  My grandson will be 21 months in December.

 

Not looking to dump him off the whole cruise but to allow Mom and Dad a break here or there.

 

 

[ggTexasGal]

42 minutes ago, TominNC said:

Another question.  Does the Encore provide any child care?  My grandson will be 21 months in December.

Guppies Nursery

Just had a baby but would like to take a cruise? Norwegian Escape has the first nursery on the Norwegian fleet for babies of 6 months up to toddlers of 3 years. This is a fantastic option for exhausted new parents to enjoy a little alone time. You'll find the experience relaxing, even if all you do is catch up on your sleep!

 

Unfortunately, the most recent info that I have been able to find, states that there has only been drop-off for ages 5+.  Which MIGHT change over the coming months.

 

Also, are you sure you want to surprise your family with this kind of commitment?

Our experience has been a emphatic "Thanks, but NO thanks!" from our 4 sons and DILs (for assorted reasons).

We appreciated their honesty (and gifted them otherwise)!

[latebloomer56]

We had our TA handle everything. She got our cabins all in a row, we had balconies ( got a great AMEX deal). Our plus was we could all drive to the port, no airline tickets. Best Christmas gift ever, but it wasn't a surprise for adult sons who needed to get vacation time etc.

Good luck, get different pricing from your TA and she or he can use your card for all fare payments and you can have each cabin use their own for extras.

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, ggTexasGal said:

Also, are you sure you want to surprise your family with this kind of commitment?

Our experience has been a emphatic "Thanks, but NO thanks!" from our 4 sons and DILs (for assorted reasons).

That is exactly why I posted:

On 9/2/2022 at 4:05 PM, ChiefMateJRK said:

Assuming that they are all informed and really want to join you,

 Are they all anxious to do this?

Many of us have been "victims" of other family members making grand plans/expectations without either asking/accepting input or being accepting of polite "no thankyous."  I'm sure the OPs intentions are pure, and nobody here is going to question the choice of a cruise vacation, but everybody is living different lives.

[Sailing12Away]

If you're booking 4 rooms... look into bringing grandma or auntie along too. If you book 5 you start to get group discounts which help offset some of the costs anyway for that extra cabin.

[TominNC]

On 9/3/2022 at 5:37 PM, ggTexasGal said:

Guppies Nursery

Just had a baby but would like to take a cruise? Norwegian Escape has the first nursery on the Norwegian fleet for babies of 6 months up to toddlers of 3 years. This is a fantastic option for exhausted new parents to enjoy a little alone time. You'll find the experience relaxing, even if all you do is catch up on your sleep!

 

Unfortunately, the most recent info that I have been able to find, states that there has only been drop-off for ages 5+.  Which MIGHT change over the coming months.

 

Also, are you sure you want to surprise your family with this kind of commitment?

Our experience has been a emphatic "Thanks, but NO thanks!" from our 4 sons and DILs (for assorted reasons).

We appreciated their honesty (and gifted them otherwise)!

Oh, I would NEVER surprise them.  Once we were at a comfortable price point we'd suggest that we'd like to do this.  They can say no.

[DwayneG]

Maybe book the rooms you want now and IMMEDIATELY surprise them, while you're still able to cancel for free and get your money back just in case.  You never know, maybe someone is deathly afraid of seasickness or can't possibly get off work.

[DwayneG]

My bad...you're already within the cancellation penalty period.  I was thinking of the 90 day or even 60 day cancellations during Covid recovery but looks like they're at 120 days out now.