richmke

Try calling to book. I was chatting with the excursion person, and they offered to book the spa.

Farther you go out, the higher the yield. 4 week rolls works to minimize watching it.

I used Schwab. They have many physical locations, which is a plus for me, just in case. Many money market funds you can buy with high rates. Or, easy to buy treasury bills (few days to 1 year) to get +5.40%, but more work to keep invested.

I am on the Epic (Nov 8, 2923 sailing). Ship seems nice (first time on NCL, but have sailed Princess an Carnival). Only one main stage production for the 12 days, Burn The floor (?). They have a number of smaller shows, singers, magician, beetles tribute band, etc. CCL had 2 mainstage productions for 7 day cruises. Hopefully I haven't missed any comedians. Shanghai restaurant was disappointing. I'm Chinese, and it was the equivalent of fast food Chinese. Cagneys was good. Breakfast buffet is good. Haven't had MDR yet.

I bid the minimum for upgrade to Haven. Later, when I was discussing something else with my PCC, I asked the cost to upgrade to Haven. It was less than the minimum bid, so I took it.

Anyone ever seen Biscuits and Gravy?

I took the price drop as an opportunity to upgrade to Haven for less than the cost of bidding, and selected the cabin, etc.

New day (went from day 5 to day 12), so the pre-booked times are not applicable. Too late to figure out if they took the Day 12 from another ship that was scheduled to dock. But, I have 11 days on board to discuss the options with the excursion desk.

I talked with them yesterday when I changed a different excursion. Rep said to check onboard.

On the Epic departing November 8. It is one of the itineraries affected by the conditions in Israel. Originally, the ship docked in Santorini at Noon, and departed at 9:00, and I purchased the Greek Style Celebration that departed at 12:45 and returned at 6:15. The revised itinerary has the ship tendering at 8:00 am and leaving at 6:00. The shore excursion shows the same time, ending at 6:15. Santorini is a tender port, as well as a Cable Car from the end of the tour, Fira, to the tender port, which can have a line as long as 1.5 hours. Any guess what NCL will do? Moving the start time to 9am, would put the meal part of the excursion around Noon, which is reasonable. Then we would have time to visit Fira and wait in a cable car line.

I compared price before airfare, and they charged the difference. Airfare stayed the same.

They are happy to take your money anytime. I upgraded 2 weeks prior to embarkation. If there is a faredrop after final payment, that is one way to take advantage of it. Had to call PCC to do it.

If you find a deal at another website (typically OBC - sharing some if the commission), the PCC may be able to get close.

Sigh. Artificial Grasshopper.

Can't. the Cruise is one of the Israel cruises that has been taken down.