Middleager

That's why I suggester water_baby to check again, because s/he apparently didn't know of the charge. And yes Amex is awful, to charge more if it's different foreign currency than USD. And again that's hidden into the rate they use.

You better check again. Every other Cobalt cards, including my wife's and my supplementary card, got charged the extra 2.5% if spending in USD, or if in other currencies it'll be 2.5% extra to USD then another 2.5% to Cad. Check the rates you got charged, vs the mid market rate.

This is really rough. Just curious how many days till the flight were the changes made? We don't know the reasons and which airlines. We've bought air through NCL in the past when the savings were substantial. We are commoners, so we fly economy, and sometimes we'd pay for seat selections, and sometimes take a chance especially for short flight segments. For luggages, if we need to pay, we'd try to wait till just before getting on to buy ahead if there's discount, or wait till airport check-in. There's pros and cons for buying air through NCL, but this is a bad negative to consider for the future. -- For changing from Canadian dollars, there are lots of money exchange places that give better rates than the banks, even bank's Private Banking rates. There was a time I went across the street to buy US$ from a money exchange place, then back to a bank to buy money order (about $1800), saving about $45. Some people wouldn't bother and just buy from bank. For me, that extra half hour, saved me $45.

Do you know of any cruise ship that doesn't need maintenance? You've never seen many drunken elderly people on a cruise, where have you sailed? Maybe your son will be hooked on cruising. We've been on several cruises. Ship happens, with all ships. Cancelled or changed itineraries. Shortened port of calls. Services/shows cancelled. We may or may not like the compensations, sometimes zero compensation. But we always get pampered on cruises, I get to be on vacation with my wife. Life is short, we make the best of it and enjoy it.

Ok, that's a special one, of Scotiabank/Amex partnership. You apply for that card through Scotiabank, not Amex. Amex doesn't list that as a card you can apply through them, or show that card in Amex websites. I don't know of Amex Amex card with no FX fee.

For the immigration/border agents, those IDs may suffice. But the cruiseline may still require you to show passport.

Which Amex card? Most of the Amex cards we know of, charge foreign exchange fees. If paying USD, it's 2.5%. If other countries, they charge 2.5% to convert to USD, then another 2.5% converting to Cad.

It had happened to us before. After booking, NCL came up with an offer of double points, but went up in price a bit. For you, if the price went up, you'd have to evaluate whether the double points is important to you that you'd like to rebook at the slightly higher price. If the price is the same or lower, then it's a no brainer to rebook.

We had bought NCL fare. For long haul (transatlantic, transpacific, or transcontinental) flights, they often do include a checked bag. For short haul or US/Canadian domestic flights, no there is no free checked bags. You can believe as much as you wish that you'll get free checked bag, but there is reality especially proven experience.

If you were NCL, will you book the lowest cost airfare, or will you try to pay higher fare out of the goodness of their heart so passengers will get more benefits?

In the last two cruises we were on, they both offered double up, if you book on cruise. They also both offered to upgrade you to the highest cabin, in the same category.

It's likely the transfer was made by the NCL rep, then the booking. That's because when doing bookings, the CF or CN certs or discounts, to be applied, they need to show up for the person applying. My BIL and my wife were just involved in doing a transfer and booking. The NCL rep was able to do the transfer (no forms or signatures needed, just transferred), then can do the booking.

That's right. No myth. Lattitude members who get priority tender, don't need to get tender tickets. I usually ask the Cruise Next desk. On different ship, sailing, things can be done differently. Sometimes they tell you just to show up (probably because they know from experience there is not line up, especially if tender starts really early), and sometimes they tell you to go to a certain room and wait there. NCL staff will then escort those, to the front of the line. If you have a small group going on a non-NCL excursion, as long as one of them has lattitude for priority tendering, NCL had allowed all to go together.

Didn't many people say NCL was going bankrupt, no way to climb out of the huge debt.

There is a lot to see in Oahu. Driving is easy, other than the traffic jams around Waikiki. Robert's Tours are good, but they start and end in Waikiki. If you like to see Pearl Harbor, it's best to book your time for Arizona Memorial. https://www.recreation.gov/ticket/233338/ticket/16 Other places to see, not too far from airport or Aloha Tower (for ship), include Punchbowl Cemetery, Pali Lookout, Ionali Palace. Even Aloha Stadium Swap meet. No time to go to Polynesia Cultural Center to enjoy it fully. But you can stop at Waikiki for a bit of time. If you still don't want to drive, it can be expensive to hire a private driver, but that gives you flexibility.