marklyn

There are a bunch of android ship tracking apps but I'm having difficulty finding one that isn't full of constant annoying ads.

I'd be willing to pay $2-$3 for a decent cruise ship tracking app with no ads but there are so many of them to go through.

Would appreciate any input from anyone who has what you consider a good ship tracking app, good features, pay for ad removal ok too.

3 hours ago, insidecabin said:

What I do on my android is turn off auto networks selection.

 

once you get a roaming connection on land.

 

setting->network->mobile network->carrier  (turn of auto and select the network)

 

it won't then connect to the ship when that signal is better than the land one.

 

Depending on region itinerary and networks you may need to change it as you get near the next port.

 

 

This sounds like the best solution this far. Thanks!

That's very interesting dcipjr... I contacted Tmobile about this and they gave me some basic things to do (which I already knew) but they didn't mention this!!! I"ll have to contact them again specifically to ask about this and see what they say. Thanks

Htnut, I already mentioned airplane mode in my original post. I'm not talking about wifi, I'm talking about cellular network only.

No problem Paul.  The issue is that on past cruises we've been as far as 18 miles from land and was still getting a pretty decent signal.  In this situation the phone would likely try to automatically connect to the ship cellular service when that is the last thing I'd want it to do (regarding a phone reboot or off/on situation of phone).  I've asked this question in the tech area maybe someone knows of an app that would disallow the ship cellular network. Thanks

Good idea turtles06, will do that now.

I'm not speaking of wifi and I know what you're  talking about.  I don't want my phone to connect to the ships (phone) cellular network.  It would be neat if you could do the same 'ignore' for cellular networks as you could do for wifi though.

I know you can turn on airplane mode and from what I understand the ship turns off the cell service in port.

However, with our Tmobile plan and data pass we want to be able to use land based cell networks when we're close enough to do so, plus we're going through the panama canal, and want to be sure we're using land based cell networks there.

Does this mean anytime I want to use my cell phone for data/calls I need to always check the cell network first?

Does anyone know of an app that prevents you from using ship cell service?

Tips for this situation?

It it helps, we have android S9 and S10 phones with Tmobile.

Thanks

New to the Upgrade Advantage bid question and tried searching for questions below but didn't find clear answers so I will ask.  Please don't beat me if I missed a search term and the answer was obvious to you. 🙂

We received the invite to bid for a Haven room 2 days ago (roughly 80 days out from our cruise now). We are currently in a mid-ship mini suite (deck 10) room now but we went ahead and bid on a Haven Balcony (H9) suite and Haven Courtyard (H5) suite. The Haven Balcony bid was the one we wanted most if we wanted to do this so we bid at the very beginning of the fair range, the Courtyard we bid in the poor range.

I have no expectations that we will get either but I'm curious about something.  Has anyone figured out if bids for the Haven or higher suites are accepted/declined earlier in the process?  The logic being that our mid ship mini suite will then be available and affordable for last minute cruise shoppers. Or is there no real logic or pattern to when a bid is accepted?

If your bid is rejected, do you get a chance to bid again?  (I did see that you can change/withdraw your bid until it's accepted)

We understand that there is now a Butler and Concierge in the gratuities mix that isn't in our current mini suite stateroom, but, will the gratuities increase for the regular room steward (over the pre-paid gratuities we've already paid that included the room steward)?

Last question.  We *really* can't imagine using the Concierge very much (if at all)... if we really don't use that service or very very little, what would be a good suggestion for an appropriate tip amount?

Thanks in advance for answers to any/all of these questions.

I'm curious about the NCL Vacation plan and connect app on the android store.  Would appreciate any insight on the "connect" part of the app.

The description is vague so I'd like to know if you can text your other shipmates with the same app in real time?

Also, can you use the app to talk/call real time to other shipmates?

Any details on this part of the app would be appreciated, particularly any costs or limitations on time involved!

What style of European plugs are in the cabins of the Bliss? Are they the same on all NCL ships?

OK, thanks, followup question, does it show you additional info too, speed, camera view, etc.?  Just curious how much info they show these days.

Does anyone know if there is a channel on the TV that shows the current/live position of the ship at all times?

I have a handheld GPS device but would prefer to leave it if there is a channel for this.

1 hour ago, bearette said:

So no, basically a worthless perk that attempts to get you to book their excursions.  Can't blame them for trying.

I did notice a couple of excursions that were around $49 - $79 so $50 would be a decent amount off for two people.

54 minutes ago, ImADaneFan said:

 

Have you joined our roll call?  We have quite a few things in the works for this trip.

If you haven't please join us at the link below.

Linda

 

 

Thanks, will look into roll call.

I don't recall if it was the promotion for the cruise or why but they assign the mini suite.  We expected to be the ones to do it but the guy assured us that it would be a mid ship cabin since apparently that is where the mini suites (category MC) are located. On the emailed confirmation it says at the top CATEGORY / STATEROOM: MC / GTY

Not sure what the GTY is...

Just thought of one more question... we are also supposed to receive 2 on board $50 credit certificates.  Can those be used for mundane things like laundry service?  Does anyone know how much laundry service is anyway?  We think we'd need it at least once or twice for a 21 day cruise.

1 hour ago, kfnesq said:

With regard to the internet question, you also pretty much have it right.  You do have the option to upgrade your package and pay the difference, to an unlimited package, among other things, once you are on board, which is what I always do as I use the internet quite a bit on vacation.  I have found that the 250-minute package is cumbersome to use as you HAVE to remember to logout every time you are done, or your minutes will disappear very quickly.  And sometimes it's not easy to determine whether or not you are logged out.

 

If internet is important to you, consider upgrading once on board (it will be an option in the Norwegian app, you don't have to go to the internet cafe or anything).  If internet is not important to you...don't worry about it.  Have a great time on the Bliss!

I think 250 minutes will be "ok" for us, but if the free @ sea internet package is a lower speed connection then I can see us wasting a lot of minutes just trying to do slow searches, check mail, etc.  If there is an option for a faster connection and the price is reasonable, then we may consider that.  I'm just not sure if the minutes we're getting are speed throttled like the free minutes in hotels.  Anyone know this for sure?

Wow, you answered everything perfectly and I really understand now! Thanks so much!

We sailed on Norwegian in 2000 and haven't since but have done other cruises with other lines.  Now that we decided to book with Norwegian Bliss for the November 2019 LA-Panama Canal-NY cruise we have some questions that we couldn't find clear answers on their website. We found some partial questions with confusing answers here so we're hoping that someone experienced with the 'free at sea' program usage can help us out with some details.  If it helps we booked in a mini suite (yet to be assigned).

We purchased the cruise with the 'free at sea' promotion and have some questions...

Free dining:  We know we will choose 4 specialty restaurants, which we already have them in mind and will reserve them once we are able to.  Questions: How will the restaurant know that we "don't pay" and our meal is included on the free at sea program?  Do we have some type of free at sea card that we present? Also, do any of the specialty restaurants still have a surcharge for dining there even with the free at sea program? I ask because I saw a post where Ocean Blue still charged $10 pp above and beyond, thus I'm confused about what "free at sea" means in this respect.  We also paid for the gratuity on this perk when we booked.

Internet: We understand we get 250 free minutes @ sea.  Just curious if this is the lowest/slowest rung of the ship's internet service, meaning, if one were to buy a "premium" package would you get better/faster connection or is the connection the same.

Open Bar: We understand this to pretty much mean that any drinks under $15 are free.  Does that mean that if I drink 3 craft beers at the bar and later have a glass of wine at lunch and a couple of margaritas later that afternoon they are really all 'free'? (aside from the gratuity we already paid when we booked)  How does the bartender or waiter know your drinks are 'free', is there a card? Are they billed to your room anyway and later removed?  Would like to know these details.

Shore excursions:  We understand that each cabin gets $50 credit for 1 excursion per port.  Does this mean that if we want to do a shore excursion that cost the two of us $79 each that the total price will be $79 x 2 minus the $50 credit?  Again, is this done 'after the fact' of taking the excursion or at the time the excursion is charged/billed?

Room Service:  We read that NCL discontinued 'free' room service in 2015 and now charges a $7.95 convenience fee. However we also read that if you order coffee and continental breakfast items before 10am that there is no charge at all (food or service charge).  Can anyone confirm this?  (We LOVE waking up to our coffee and prefer real made coffee over the k-cups style coffee makers in the room).

Sorry for the newbie questions but the answers we tried to find for these were often vague or sometimes conflicting and some direct experiences in this area would be helpful.

Hmmm. So it sounds like that could definitely be an enhancement of the app... to always show the position of the ship.

Oh, if you can see position on the TV in the cabin, then that's great!

well, the HUB app is not the internet, so no on the HUB app, but yes on your iPhone or any smartphone with a GPS app.

coevan, I know the HUB app isn't the internet but it uses the ship's internet to perform other HUB app functions (chat, menus, activities, etc.). I was wondering if there was a HUB app screen that shows the ship position. If you're an inside cabin it would be nice to be able to see your location (without a GPS signal).

Was wondering if the app shows you the current ship location at any given time on your connected wifi device (phone).

My partner and I are both mid 50's and we've taken 3 Atlantis cruises but we won't take anymore. It's such a hassle getting in touch with them to book a cruise, you can leave messages and they just don't call back. We're at the old fart age that doesn't put up with as much as we did when were were younger. We tried to book a recent Sydney cruise and after repeated calls and voice mails left we just gave up (even though they state they will call you back we never got a single call back). The trip before that was similar but we persisted and finally got a live person and was able to book, but I recall it being a PITA.

We did like the Atlantis cruises, they were fun, but definitely geared to the 30's (or younger) crowd or those older gents that are interested in the 30's crowd. RSVP sounded a bit more like our speed but since I read they're part of Atlantis, then, oh well, we'll just go on straight cruises and know they they're ready to take our money when we're ready to go!

If you haven't been on one and you're more patient than us, then try it out, I can't see that anyone wouldn't like it but if you're a bit older, then while you're getting breakfast the next morning don't be surprised to see the party go'ers coming in for breakfast after all night dancing :)