ExArkie

Excellent summary. I spent a couple of years trying to find that "GOOD TA" and was successful only in identifying a few who were reasonably competent, and even fewer who could tell me more about my destination/ship than I was able to find out on my own. Only benefit I found was the offer of additional OBC or a discount. Never seemed to reduce the amount of effort required on my part.

Keep in mind that Luggage Valet and Luggage Forward are two different things. With Luggage Valet, available on certain lines at certain ports, they pick up your luggage at the hotel or airport in the embarkation city and deliver it to the ship. I've never done it in either direction, but I understand it also works in reverse...take luggage from the ship to the airport/hotel in the disembarkation city. Luggage Forward picks up your suitcase at your house a few days or a couple of weeks (your choice) before your cruise and delivers it to the ship. Also available in reverse, where they take your luggage at the terminal post-Customs and deliver it to your house. I believe this is available for any port and a wider number of lines, but maybe not all of them (??). I have done this for a westbound Cunard transatlantic where I had to be in the UK for some time beforehand and we did not want to lug our formal wear with us everywhere. I recommend an Internet search for each of the two terms if you want more details.

Not that I don't believe this is the official explanation, but something seems off. If this is true, why do non-Haven suites (our upcoming one is an aft penthouse on Jade) and those ships without a Haven restaurant still pay the higher amount?

Slight correction

We were on the westbound TA just before the Christmas cruise. The drink package was included in our booking (US booking promo for Grills). On board, I asked whether the limit was $12 or $13 because I had noticed the discrepancy. I was told the limit was $12, which the T&C stated as such at the time of our booking. That was probably applicable only to the booking-included package and not to one purchased separately. Not sure I would have wanted to be required to make that distinction as a bar server, but it wasn't an issue because I'd generally rather have singles of two different whiskeys than a double of one. Okay, technically, I'd rather have doubles of two different whiskeys, but I'm trying to have a positive outlook these days...

Safety training needs to be discomfiting (or possibly discomforting - the definitions are similar, although discomfit is a verb and discomfort is a noun) to an extent, i.e., it needs to make you uneasy about what can go wrong..."if we mess this up, we all die." It most assuredly does not need to be, nor should it be, uncomfortable. The more one is made physically uncomfortable during training, such as standing (or sitting) around for an extended period in a crowded venue, the less attention one pays to the topic.

We did the full Pacific-to-Atlantic transit (mostly, it's southeast-to-northwest direction) of the Canal on NCL's Pearl about seven years ago - October was still stifling hot, by the way - in an aft-facing penthouse suite. This was through the older set of locks. I concur completely with the perspective from the aft balcony. We also went forward for passing under the bridge, then returned to our cabin to watch the process. The aft balcony, with occasional looks at the bow cam, gave us a great picture of the workings of the canal. As both my wife and I have engineering degrees, we remained fascinated the entire day. There are also a couple of History Channel/Modern Marvels programs on construction of the canal that are great to watch before a transit. Should be able to find one or more on YouTube via an Internet search.

Just curious, how many sailings are required to constitute an opinion for the entire line? From my experience, we had a horrible experience on HAL (really poor quality food, service was almost nonexistent, etc.) on our first time with them and I don't even consider HAL as an option when we're looking. Conversely, we had a great experience our first time on Cunard, NCL, and Celebrity and returned to book additional trips with each. Not all aspects always held up to their first time, but sometimes it was even better.

We have had nine Cunard trips, all transatlantic with one each on QV and QE, the rest on QM2. We have received free upgrades on seven of them. Four were P2 (or as noted upthread, a P3) to P1 on QM2, one was Q7 to Q4 on QV, one was given in response to a significant price drop (P1 to Q5 on QM2), but the big one was last December, when we booked a Q5 as a celebration of being back on QM2 and we’re upgraded to Q1, the Balmoral Suite duplex. I found out about the upgrade when I went online to verify we had all the documentation in place a month or so before sailing.

Before castigating Delta for their response, know that some tickets are sold to a third party who assumes all responsibility for them. Under the terms of the airline to reseller contract, the airline is not allowed to make any changes even in the event of a cancelled flight. Don’t know if this applies here, and maybe Delta deserves to have scorn heaped upon its head, but it’s possible the entire blame belongs to NCL.

That is what AmEx says in their site. Others on Cruise Critic have reported that they received AmEx platinum benefits using different travel agents, there being a code for the TA to enter in the reservation to activate the benefit. From what I read, not all TAs have said code. Best bet would be to ask your TA and find out. I am not an expert on this topic, having booked our trips to which the privileges program applied through the AmEx site.

The AmEx Cruise Privileges Program, which is triggered by paying the entire fare with the platinum card - and having the TA input the correct code on the booking (had one that didn’t once) - for NCL sailings includes OBC in varying amounts depending on cabin category and one dinner for two at Le Bistro. This is a standing program and not a part of the periodic card offers. The details are available from the AmEx platinum benefits page, which has a link to the participating partners.

Not that I recognized the island in the photo, but I know that Vitus Bering was a Danish explorer working for the Russian Empire. I'll go with the Bering Strait. You didn't ask about the island itself, but in an attempt to get a little extra credit and based on my idea that it is the Bering Strait...it seems to be a reasonable facsimile of Big Diomede. It's a bit hard to discern the exact outline of the island with the cloud cover, but from what I saw, all photos of it appear to be shrouded in clouds.

I realize that I am an exception, but I actually read the contract before making a reservation. Okay, “paranoid” may be more accurate than “exception.” While it does state they can move you for an upgrade at their discretion, it doesn’t actually say they cannot move you for any other reason. It does also state that the fare paid is for transportation on the named vessel and does not imply that one has a right to a specific cabin one had selected, other than they have to right to collect the applicable fare for your chosen cabin. Doesn’t say they have to give you that specific cabin, though. The wording is such that a challenge to being moved (other than an upgrade) would have to involve legal proceedings of some sort to iron out exactly what is authorized. I can make a valid argument for either side as to what the cruise line may be legally entitled to do in this situation. I still think they should call you and tell you about it, regardless of contract language.

I saw the first photograph and thought, "That looks familiar." Did not have a chance to follow up for a couple of days, at which time the second photograph had been posted and the port identified. The reason it looked familiar? I was on QM2 at Le Havre on 14 December 2022, when the Web cam image was captured. I did recognize the port from the second photograph.

Good points. It is pretty useless speculating why the change happened absent any explanation from NCL, who presumably knows. Perhaps the plumbing fell apart such that one cannot use the toilet? Too many possibilities, not all of which mean someone more important or who offered more money was given preference. However, the most important point is the NCL definitely should have informed the customer, regardless of the reason. Very poor customer service not to have done so.

To me that's the wrong perspective. I can't agree with evaluations based on what the assumed conditions are to establish a given price, just whether the final price is justified for the service/product I receive. If a state bases their gasoline tax on the assumption that one drives 15,000 miles a year in a vehicle that gets 20 miles per gallon, should I be entitled to a refund of the gas tax I pay because I drive fewer miles in a more fuel efficient vehicle? With Free-at-Sea, I'm paying roughly $20 for a drinks package (ignoring the possibly - probably - higher base fare with FAS than without). Without a package, that would get me two drinks at $8.33 each plus their 20% gratuity. Anything that I consume that is more than that is over and above what I'm paying. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

The term “USian” has been used, mostly online, for a couple of decades. Never caught on in general parlance. Merriam-Webster-Webster defines “statesider” as an inhabitant of the continental US, which excludes Hawaii, Alaska, and all territories. Doesn’t seem to be a good term that refers only to United States residents and includes everyone.

MLB also has very limited service (my wife’s parents lived nearby). Last time I looked, it was Allegiant, American, and Delta with flights to/from five airports total. And not many flights a day. MCO definitely has more options, is generally less expensive, and - as you noted - essentially the same travel time to the port.

Definitely agree…on both the wine (There are several reasonable sparkling wines available at low prices. Spanish cavas tend to be the best quality per unit price, in my opinion) and being happy to be just going.

Should it be of interest, there are tools online for removing background from a photo. I used one to remove the back yard from our photos to upload during online check-in for a different cruise line last year and it seemed to work acceptably for the purpose. Just Google "remove background from photo" and pick the service that works for you.

Could be even worse - the westbound December 2022 crossing had an issue with the tides coming into New York, according to the captain. He said our estimated time under the Verrazano bridge was 3:30 AM, with the Statue of Liberty coming up shortly thereafter. Decided not to get up for this particular experience (our sixth crossing on QM2). I was awakened around 3:30 AM, most likely by the change in noises coming from the ship, glanced out the window to see where we were in relation to the bridge and noted that we were pulling up to the Brooklyn dock. Probably would have had to be out at around 2 AM or so for the bridge.

The key word being "almost." The new sparkling wine, in my opinion, isn't better than Pol Aker. (Actually, I didn't have a great problem with PA - inoffensive and somewhat bland, but not horrid.) The new stuff, which was in our PG cabin in December, has slightly less depth of character, but again not offensively horrible.

The notice posted on the mail box said to use US stamps, or it did when we were on a westbound crossing last month. Perhaps the notice is different when traveling eastbound?

To confirm: I have a copy of the instructions for claiming shareholder OBC from our last two crossings in 2022 (instructions downloaded in July of that year) and 2018 (instructions downloaded in February of that year). The part about blacking out one’s address is in the 2022 version, not in the 2018 version. Interesting, since one’s address would be attached to the same reservation for which one is applying for shareholder credit.