AussieCruiser2332

No, everyone does not have to get the soda package.. I drink water(even the water they provide in a glass :)) and I got my DH, DD and DS the soda package and nothing for me. My DH doesn't really drink and didn't want the UBP/UDP and figured if he wanted a beer we would just pay for it.. It worked out though because when we got on the ship, waiting in our room with our casino cards( I'm Pearl) we had drink cards attached.. This was only my 2nd cruise with NCL so I wasn't expecting the drink card for the casino

Thanks

Unless there’s been a recent change, no, just the kids.

 

 

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Thanks

Does everyone in the stateroom need to purchase the soda package or can we just purchase for the kids? Thanks.

Thank you everyone for your replies.

Hi,

We are booked on POA in October 2018. There is a particular shore excursion that we are interested in that we want to book through NCL. We have previously sailed RC and at time they have sales on shore excursions and drink packages - does NCL offer the same?

I know the shore excursions are more expensive than booking direct but we want to book through NCL for Kona as it is a tender port and don't want the hassle of lining up early for tender tickets.

Thank you.

We have sailed on RCI in the past and have been happy with their non-alcoholic drink packages - there are two options. First option is just the soda from the tap, and the second option is all non-alcoholic drinks (exlcuding cans). The second option does include bottled water and coffees/hot chocolates. The second package is about $20 a day and a great way to break even.

Thank you for taking the time to post these. We are planning to cruise in October 2018.

What an awesome review - thanks. We did this cruise in 2012 and plan to do it again next year with the kids so this was very informative.

I agree with suggestion of slim life jacket and snorkel gear if you plan to do these on any excursions. If you pack your own you know they will fit and this makes for a much more pleasant excursion.

Also agree with two swim suits so one is always dry. Also think about shoes - we only packed one pair each of thongs, sneakers and beach shoes for our son and got caught out when the sneaker got very wet one day.

Enjoy!

Thank you everyone for your responses and recommendations. We will look into the tours when we arrive and book on the day - all options sound great!

Hi all. We are due to leave on Explorer of the Seas on 19th March. We had booked the Amadee Island excursion via RCI due all the excellent reviews. On Monday we received an email from RCI informing us the excursion had been been cancelled and the money refunded. Does anyone know why this excursion was cancelled? Would it be possible to book it once we get to port direct with the company? If not does anyone have any recommendations of snorkelling options in Noumea.

Thanks.

HI. I would agree with the comments about the water park. If you haven't bought tickets for the adults then I recommend doing so - it is too hard for kids on their own to get up on the equipment. If you have all bought tickets you will have a great time - yes your arms will be sore by the end but it is a great hour.

We were a family of 4 in a balcony cabin on Radiance. At the time our kids were 4 and 7 - we had a pull out couch and a pullman bed over our bed so each child had their own bed. Each morning while we were at breakfast our cabin attendant would fold up the couch and pullman and then set it up each evening while we were at dinner. We found there was plenty of space for the 4 of us to move around - if it was me I would save the money and spend it in New York pre/post cruise!

We were placed on the waitlist for Early Dining on Liberty - we booked 12 months prior to sailing and was given our preferred dining time about 6 months out. I reckon you will be ok.

I would keep looking every day if you know what cruise you want to take - sometimes you get lucky. We have booked Family rooms twice (one inside and one ocean view) about 10 months prior to the sailing. Both times we have put a 24 hour hold on them and then rang Royal to confirm the deposit payment - both times the agent said it was unusual to be able to book these rooms with only 4 but they have honoured the booking.

Alternatively you could look for a balcony room that has a couch and a pullman bed - we had one of these on Radiance and it was great cause each child had their own bed.

We went with our kids in 2015 - aged 7 + 9. We walked to the fort and spent the morning looking around there - beautiful. We were only in the port for the morning so there wasn't much time for anything else. We walked back past the ice cream shop and Del Sol for shopping and then looked through the market stalls set up along the area you board. Was a beautiful spot - great place to get up early and watch entering and docking.

Thank you for the information!

 

My existing booking has an onboard credit that was part of the deal. Are you saying that you lost that, or did they manage to keep it for you when they made the switch?

 

If there's any change in price or a loss of the credit I won't make the change.

 

Thanks again fellow Aussie.

 

It's irritating that I can't call until tomorrow.

 

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HI. I was really lucky and got to keep the OBC for the original booking, and the new room was booked at the special pricing of the original booking (An amzing deal!). The impression I got was this only happened because I had orginally booked using a previous cruise booking credit that couldn't be transferred. When I first rang the rep was talking about cancelling the old booking and accepting the 'hold' as a new booking - hence loosing the OBC and being charged current pricing. We were changing categories when we did it so this may have impacted - if you want to change rooms within the same category it may be different and a simple room number swap.

Hi,

I too am from the land of Oz! Earlier this year we had a cabin booked when another better cabin became available. I did what you have down - put a hold on the cabin and then called during office hours to switch it over. It was done without any hassle - but be aware as a 'new booking' they may try to take away any bonuses booked with the old cabin, and reprice the room to current pricing. When I first rang this is what they said would happen however I had booked the original cabin with a previously bought 'onboard bonus booking' which wasn't transferable so they just made the switch for me.

Good luck!

Thank you

Hi,

Can someone please tell me who the best person is/contact details regarding a past cruise out of Sydney. I always see people recommend the CEO who is based in US and wondered if there was someone in Australia that we should direct our comments/issues to to avoid any timezone communication issues.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Thanks Matt, we booked an Interior on Oasis (11147) a few days ago. Yes, that is very odd to have to have our youngest (currently a baby) on a separate reservation. I have no idea why they have never fixed this issue. Do you know if these rooms have the curtain to "separate" the bunk bed area from the rest of the room? Thanks!

Hi, We bookd the interior family room on the Liberty last year. The bunk bed are kind of in thier own insert room with a curtain that closes them off from the rest of the room. The double bed also had a curtain around it so it could be closed off from the living area/couch.

We had friends who booked two interior cabins as a GTY not understanding what this means - they were placed on different floors with no ability to move.

I agree with others - if you want to be adjourning, or even close by, I would not choose the GTY option.

We were on the Liberty last year and bought the photo package for prints and digital. At the time our kids were 6 and 9. We thought it was worth the money. We had the embarkment photo, photos at every port when we got off, formal photos and lots of fun photos with different screens. The photographers were around the ship so we also got photos at the pool, basketball court and climbing wall. There were also photos from night the kids club had special events ie pirate scavenger hunt. I liked it becuase it meant I didn't have to have my camera/phone on me at all times to take pictures, and we also got photos of times we weren't with the kids (kids club).

The previous year on the Radiance the photographers were also on the islands on port days so we also got lots of photos of us at the beach and in the water snorkelling. For these photos we had to check the photo room each night to make sure the photos were added to our folio.

Enjoy your cruise. :)

HI, We did the water park last year and used the lockers by the enterance for our valuables. We left towels and non-valuables on our deck chair. I would certainly recommend getting in with the kids - some of the equipment is hard to climb on and your kids will have more fun if you are there to help.

We also did the roller coaster and loved it. We originally bought a one pass ticket and then upgraded to the unlimited pass cause the kids loved it so much. We again left all non-valuables on our deck chair.

Just a word of advice - if you have a chair by the waterpark dont leave your stuff late in the afternoon without moving it to higher ground - at the end of afternoon on the roller coaster we returned and the water had come right up and our thongs (flip flops) had floated away! :)

Loving this review! So entertaining and well written.:):)