boatdc

I have been in SPA rooms on five of NCL ships.  Love the thermal suite.  In order of preference:

Epic

Getaway

Encore

Bliss

Prima 

Epic had a great spa and loved the outside area.   Sometime you don’t feel the connection to the water inside the sealed Glass thermal suite.  The outside balcony was one of the most popular areas. 
 

Bliss on my Alaska cruise in September.   Nice and comparable to the other Thermal suites, but the staff was rude.  Walking around telling people they are not permitted to talk in the thermal pools and hot tubs.  A little stupid.  No one was loud and it became obnoxious.   Plenty of areas away from the pools and the water noise was the loudest in the room.  
 

Prima.  Looked great, but that’s it.  As others have said, the thermal rooms in a dark hallway off to side.  Some design genius put slippery tiles down the hall so the staff would line the hallway with wet towels to prevent the multiple slips and falls.  The worst part was the thermal pools.  Basically just a warm pool of water.   I was told on the Bliss, by one of the spa staff who worked on Prima for 9 months, the lack of jets was an oversight in construction. They never worked and won’t work until the ship goes in for overhaul.  The “waterfall” is water rolling down a stained plastic rippled wall - you don’t interact with it.  If you have your valuables (cloths, phone, etc) in the relaxation area, there is no chance of seeing them - area is completely separated from thermal pools.  There are a handful of chairs in the pool area, so you have to walk back to the lounge area.   Form over function in my opinion.  I hope they fix the design issues in the Viva and Aqua.   I don’t know if I would do the thermal suite on Prima again.  Experience is difference.   Just my opinion.  And yes, I liked the Prima ship design overall, just not the thermal suite.  
 

I have been on Celebrity, Royal and Princess - none come close to the thermal suite experience on NCL.   You can’t go wrong with the “away” class ships (except joy which has not thermal suite).

enjoy

I can offer some help one this one.  I also submitted about 23 days ago, sent three separate requests.   I finally called the NCL investor phone number and they took care of it in 5 min (20 minute hold).  The number is 305-468-2339.  I think option 3 on phone tree says stockholder cruise benefit.   Give them the oldest case number.   I had the amenity confirmation before we ended the call.   The agent did tell me they are buried and running behind.  Call did the trick.    Final note since there is another discussion on the use of the benefit with other promos.  I had the 5 free promo, plus the Amex platinum OBC/French dinner benefits.   No problem stacking it on.    Hope this helps. 

New to Celebrity but finally figured this out.   The Spa Concierge does exist!   I was able to pre-book and confirm sea day spa appointments for a cruise just over 30 days out using the contact below.  It is on the promotional pages, but not in any confirmation or part of the cruise planner.   I received a response 12 hours later with confirmation (including stating they confirmed the appointment with the ship since if you prebook via cruise planner it gives you a generic message about possibly changing the times based on different circumstance).     The agent also noted the appointment for no product sales pitches (which I also dislike).  

Contact your concierge to discuss your wellness Journey:

844-860-4662 or spaconcierge@canyonranch.com

Hi. I booked a large cabana with the $50 excursion credit. You must call the excursions line to book and use credit (can’t book online). One interesting point is the credit is applied on ship so there is no prepayment for excursions when using the credit and calling...or at least that’s how it worked for all of my ports. Nice flexibility and delayed payment As for availability, I heard the same but large are still an option on our escape cruise 6 weeks out. Never saw the small cabanas offered on line.

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I called NCL and the easy way to remove any doubt was to cancel the old and purchase the new. Took me five minutes. Removed any doubt over what I would get delivered or how they would deal with credit.

Phillyguy31 - I did call upsell in early December and was told the Getaway was under the new upgrade advantage system and there was nothing they could do. Not for lack of trying or calling the same places noted in these forums. Besides myself, there are plenty of other posts and threads stating the same experiences. There are others thrilled with the experience. I think my point was that there are many inconsistencies and lack of official information from NCL. I'm sincerely happy it worked out for you and you had a different experience.

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Hey Bakerman. I feel your pain. I'm on the same cruise with you. I booked through a TA (Big Three Credit Card Co that begins with an A). I checked with them and they said they have not opted out of the program and do get upgrade advantage emails for NCL for some of their customers but also noted it is more the exception vs the rule. I called NCL and they tried to play it off on the TA. Oddly, they could not tell me if my TA was opted in or out nor could they transfer me to a department that could. Big red flag that NCL customer service really doesn't know what is going on. Called second time, and got a whole different story about it being more randomly selected. But at least the friendly customer service agent admitted it is new to them as well and they are now sure either.

I do know is NCL outsources the whole thing and the NCL customer service seems as lost as we are on the process. There is no customer service for the outsource company or the upgrade program (upsell # does not handle). I tried to post a similar question on here specifically to see if anyone had sucess with my TA and of course someone just sent me the T&Cs and did not answer the question posted.

NCL T&Cs which basically say you must get an invite and they will send it to whoever they chose. What is not clear is how they determine who gets the right to bid.

I have a few guesses on what is going on:

1) It might be for those who book directly with them vs TA. Like the airlines, this may be a way to get people to book directly with them and reduce commissions paid to the TA. More $$ for their bottom line. They seem to like to play the TA against the customer. Why the TA is even involved in this post sale opportunity is beyond me. The rest of their precruise sales is TA free (excursions, food, drink, internet, etc) As the actual customer, NCL has not realized they are doing harm to their relationship with the customer. It is possible that this is part of their agreement with the TA but none of us are privy to that relationship. (Side note - I dont think the previous upsell # was based on TA participation).

2) It might be if you are latitude (post first cruise) you get preference to bid for upgrades. However, this is not listed as a Latitude benefit but does make some sense from a business perspective (incentive for return cruisers).

3) It might be based on available inventory and those who "could" upgrade into the available inventory. This may also be based on what inventory that might be freed up and and is easier to sell closer to sail date. In other words, I did not get an invite because the class I could upgrade to is not available the class I'm in would not sell quickly. For me this does not appear to be the case - my class has one room left and there are 12 rooms available for the class above me.

4) Pragmatic view - This is new to NCL and they are simply learning along the way. They are using a new vendor, changing staff roles (upsell dept) and there is a lot of disinformation out there. Certainly the T&Cs clearly show that they are committing to nothing so the NCL agents cant use it to help answer questions.

Thoughts for NCL:

1) Stop blaming this on the TAs. Last time I checked, my credit card was charged by NCL for the cruise and I'm agreeing to the NCL "Guest Ticket Contract". This contract states the choice to use a TA is mine but I'm bound to NCL contract, terms and for payment. No where does it state I must continue future transactions with a TA that made the original booking. The idea that they are protection commission for the TA makes no sense as all the other things I have purchased from NCL pre cruise is commission free. If the TA made more $$ fine, but I'm ok if the upgrade was commission free too if I did the bidding.

2) Br transparent. I don't think ANYONE on this board has been able to provide concrete information on "how" NCL determines who is eligible to bid and how the process is executed. (please please please don't refer me to the T&Cs again). NCL should look to the airlines. They provide a really clear understanding of who is eligible, when you can upgrade, the pecking order, how many are in front of you in the upgrade list (to get upgrade) and even options to boost your chances (by following the clear information provided). They provide clear numbers or seats available etc.

3) Communicate clearly. They should add this feature to MyNCL. They should add ALL communications to the MyNCL. I would love to know if I'm eligible to upgrade or my status. Many people have reported that these emails end up in spam. I have also realized the lack of communications from NCL on my upcoming cruise (19 days out). The one or two emails I did get are not in my message center in the portal.

In the end, we are all seeking information and advice on this board. On this one I decided it was not worth my time to place another call. Did it make me have a little bit of a negative impression of NCL - sure a little. Decided to not let it bother me or ruin my vacation. I'm keeping the money in my pocket and will spend it other ways on the vacation (maybe with NCL maybe not). I'm just happy that I have a vacation starting in a few weeks! This will be my first NCL cruise. Hopeful NCL will win me over and keep me coming back to their line vs others.

See you in a few weeks Bakerman. 19 days from now you will have something cold and frosty in your hand and the warmth of the Florida and Caribbean sun - all will be forgotten. :-)

Answering my own question to a certain degree. Just heard back from my amex travel agent. Here is what she provided:

"The information that I have received on this "Upgrade Advantage", is that NCL will reach out to clients that are booked on the Getaway and the Escape ships. Guests are randomly selected to receive these emails, there is no way to determine who will receive them, nor when. The determination is made through NCL's Upsell Dept., once received by the guest you will then bid on the higher end cabins, such as the Havens.

I occasionally receive these emails from the cruise lines, and forward them to my booked guests. Should I receive one for you, I will immediately forward this over to you, then you can determine whether you accept the upgrade costs or not.

This is a pilot program that started in September and only for two of the NCL vessels."

Good morning all. I have looked through all the posts and Upgrade Advantage, and I see several comments that the Upgrade Advantage program seems to be dependent on whether the travel agency (TA) opted into the program. So, the question is if anyone who used American Express Travel has received the Upgrade Advantage emails? Thanks.

Hi. I have the specialty dining package for every night of the cruise. The up charge for Ocean Blue, with the package, was $15/pp plus 18%. So for a party of two, I was charge $30 plus $5.40 for a total of $35.40. My cruise is not until Feb. When I made my reservation for all the dinners, I was charged at check out for this up charge amount. My understanding is that unlike some of the other specialty restaurants, the menu is more fixed and you get to pick on item from each part of the menu (one app, one entree, one desert).