ElaineKeagy

PLEASE, for your sanity sake, drive down to PC the FULL day before the cruise!! Leave home on Friday morning (as early as possible) and drive down - find a hotel/motel within your price range as close as to PC as possible (make sure the breakfast is included!!).

I don’t have time to finish reading this thread tonite, so forgive me if someone has suggested this already. Find a motel or hotel in Port Canaveral where you can sleep and then leave your car in the parking lot for the entire week. I did this two years ago but can’t remember the name. We paid for one nights lodging, the next morning had their breakfast and caught the included shuttle to the port terminal. There must have been 40-50 families doing the same thing. We all left our cars in the two rows at the front of the hotel. You keep the keys. The following Saturday a shuttle picked us and our luggage, back to the same motel where loaded our car and drove off. It didn’t even cost $100. Your cheapskate, uh, frugal husband should love that.

Google: sleep park cruise Port Canaveral and you should find a dozen or so.

One more thing, I’m confused on your dates but I think you’re going Easter week? Did that in 2016. Drove on Good Friday. My 7 hour drive from Columbia took about 12-13 hours. 95 was a parking lot most of the way from the sheer volume of the entire population of the northeast going to Florida for the week. Stop and go then stop and crunch. Several seemingly little fender benders just made it worse. If I’d waited to leave until 4am Sat AM like I’d planned, we might have missed the ship.

Traffic was just as horrible a week later on the NB return trip.

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15 days out of Santiago, Chile. Nothing on the email about being limited to Port Canaveral.

 

 

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No there wasn’t which is WHY I called them. After the CSR confirmed, I told him it was a very poorly crafted letter.

The key In my letter was where it said the SUN and SKY were all-inclusive cruises. Your cruise and my cruise don’t meet the legal standard for all-inclusive.

Take 15 minutes and call NCL. You’ll feel better.

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The Sun has no Haven. Only 20 individual suites. Most have great balconies. The Sun is one of the older ships it's not going to have the things the Epic has so don't get your hopes up for that.

 

That being said I've been on Epic once (DOS) and the Sun twice (aft PH) and the Sun is still my favorite ship.

 

 

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Well Duh. Guess that’s why I didn’t get an offer to upgrade to a Haven!!!

Happy to hear that SUN is your fave.

Awesome, can't wait to hear what you find out! We would be at our final payment on 5/22, so we'd be pretty much "stuck" but then, but I'm anxious to hear about it :)

 

 

 

Also, the group we're booking with actually has gratuities included as one of their perks, so the increase doesn't even hit me! Score!! Still feel like that's a good deal, regardless.

 

 

 

I would *hope* most people wouldn't take their kids for the "booze cruise" reason, but you never know! Some people looking for a quick getaway with the kiddos might not think that thru...

One would hope there aren’t that many stupid parents. Oh wait ..... whatever was I thinking? There are.

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While I have always thought that the lines should just increase fares to cover these fees, I'm not sure why folks are so upset. Is it the principle? This is a $36 increase for our party of 10 to AK that is costing us well over $25k. It's insignificant. If there was a $50 increase to port fees we'd all just gladly pay it. I don't get what the big deal is.

Agree. All cruises are going up in cost every year. Bury in DSC in the fare, discontinue the DSC, and everyone will be happy because they’ll think they’re getting something over on the cruise line.

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I just got the email saying my sailing on the Sun in Dec is affected. It is out of Santiago and says $19.99 a day for an inside! Why is it so high on this basic ship?

 

 

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Call customer service. Your cruise should be 14.50 not 19.99 because you are 1) not sailing from Canaveral 2) longer than 3-4 nights and no Open Bar.

Talk to a supervisor if you need to.

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We have a booking on the Sun in Dec and had to pay gratuities on the drinks package?

 

 

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Booking from which port and how long is the cruise???

The higher 19.99 DSC is for open bar cruises out of Canaveral only 3/4 days.

Open Bar is different from the drinks package where you will pay separately for bartender gratuity.

Who can keep all these things straight???

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Google: park cruise Miami. and you’ll get a list.

I did this in Charleston and Canaveral but not of Miami so I can’t recommend one in particular.

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On the other ships, such as the 'Away's' for example, these inclusions for beverage for example are Perks, and an 18% service charge is added to our cruise fare for Beverage packages, or even an 18% per drink gratuity charge if without a package, and Specialty dining too at 18% of costs, and then PLUS the DSC.

 

I'm guessing that the increase for these two ships is to compensate for what was potentially being absorbed by the cruise fare, by the cruise line.

After calling the NCL helpless desk, I was able to confirm the new 19.99 & 22.99 DSC are only on Sun and Sky cruises sailing out of Canaveral. Those cruises are all 3 or 4 day cruises with Open Bar standard. Different port, longer cruise, it’ll be 14.50.

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Yes here we go again - on top of the 18 -> 20% gratuity increase.

 

 

 

Hopefully there is a point where they realise the market won't withstand much more.

I said that years ago about DisneyWorld. They never realized it, the increases kept coming, and guess what, the hordes keep trekking to WDW.

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Everything increases annually. Hopefully you are not earning what you were 30 years ago.

 

 

 

An annual increase in DSC is expected and acceptable.

I expect an annual pay increase. I bet y’all do too.

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Free? Like the proverbial free lunch. Ha!!

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My friends and I are considering the 3 night Bahamas cruise from Port Canaveral in August on the Sun. It would be for one of the girls' bachelorette parties, and we're really just looking forward to the 'free' drinks and being lazy for a weekend.

 

Just a couple questions:

• Is there an adult's only area? I'm on the Epic in a year and they have the H20 area, but I haven't seen anything similar mentioned for the Sun.
  

• What's the situation for 3 to an inside cabin? I know we'll be cramped, but it would be worth it for us, I believe, as we will only be sleeping/getting ready in the room.
  

• Any info on what will be changing during the April dry dock? I keep reading about the Norwegian Edge program, but I haven't seen any specifics on what will be changing.
  

Thanks in advance for your help, everyone!

I can tell you you’ll be paying 19.99 pppd under the new DSC. The extra 5.50 covers gratuities for your drinks. That,s a great deal IMO.

I haven’t seen any indication of an adult area. Closest thing would be Haven Suites. I may be way off base but this is just your basic booze cruise and I can’t see many parenting taking their young kids on this itinerary.

Maybe someone else knows about the upgrades. All I’ve heard is all new bedding. I’m sure there’s more to it. I’m on the first cruise after dry dock. Check back with me after 5/10.

The situation is you will be cramped.

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My email from NCL shows higher charges for Sky and Sun than discussed here 19.99 pppd for non-suites 22.99 pppd suites. It is pretty absurd to call it discretionary and certainly not "all-inclusive"

Sammy the 19.99/22.99 pppd will ONLY be charged to Sun and Sky guests on 3 and 5 day cruises out of Port Canaveral. These are the ONLY free open bar cruises.

I’m on an 18 day departing from Seattle so we’ll only see the 51 cent a day increase.

And I’m prepaying this weekend, so not to see any increase at all.

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Nicely played.

Thank you!!!

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I’m a slow typist OK?? And I’m specifically asking about the supposed all-inclusive cruising on the Sun and the Sky. Always a good idea to read the entire comment before posting.

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Always a good idea to at least read the first page before posting.

Sorry. What are you referring to??

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Doing the math its the same $.51/pp for mini suites and under....

It’s 6.00 pppd on the Sun and the Sky in a balcony or lower room.

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Please read what is says about the Sun and the Sky being all-inclusive:

Norwegian Cruise Line is making a nominal adjustment to its daily service charges, effective April 1, 2018. Norwegian's discretionary daily service charges make it easy for guests to provide gratuities to the onboard staff dedicated to delivering superior guest service throughout the cruise.

To better address the demands of the enormously successful and the industry's only all-inclusive cruise experience offered on Norwegian Sky and Norwegian Sun, those ships' daily service charges will be:

· $19.99 per person per day for inside, oceanview and balcony staterooms

· $22.99 per person per day for suites

Any guest that has made a booking by March 31, 2018 will have the option of prepaying their service charges at the current rate if done prior to sail date. Guests with existing cruise reservations who have already pre-paid their service charges at the current rate are not affected.

SAY WHAT???!!!

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I just received this email from NCL about my 4/19 sailing on the Sun:

“Norwegian Cruise Line is making a nominal adjustment to its daily service charges, effective April 1, 2018. Norwegian's discretionary daily service charges make it easy for guests to provide gratuities to the onboard staff dedicated to delivering superior guest service throughout the cruise.

To better address the demands of the enormously successful and the industry's only all-inclusive cruise experience offered on Norwegian Sky and Norwegian Sun, those ships' daily service charges will be:

· $19.99 per person per day for inside, oceanview and balcony staterooms

· $22.99 per person per day for suites

Any guest that has made a booking by March 31, 2018 will have the option of prepaying their service charges at the current rate if done prior to sail date. Guests with existing cruise reservations who have already pre-paid their service charges at the current rate are not affected.”

I’m not really bothered by this increase because I will prepay my services charges at the old rate. What I don’t get is what is meant by:

“the industry's only all-inclusive cruise experience offered on Norwegian Sky and Norwegian Sun”.

On the Sun, I’ll be paying extra for my water, alcohol, wine, Internet, shore excursions etc. IMO these are the included items that makes a cruise all-inclusive. Viking Cruises are all-inclusive. NCL ..........uh NO.

What on earth do they mean by this statement??

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Well 5% can be a good chunk of money. I’m looking at a world cruise for 2022 and as a solo traveller, it’s overwhelming. I’m think about using a TA since I’ve heard the cruise specialist TAs can get additional breaks and add perks.

I really like the layout of the single cabin on the QM2. Looks like more storage and desk space than in a double occupancy cabin.

Enjoy your Nordic cruise!!

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I've just booked the Norway Northern Lights cruise for November 2019 on the QV. Got a good price for a single cabin. I've always wanted to see the Northern Lights so fingers crossed they will appear when I'm there.

 

Daisy

When you say a “good” price, does that mean you got it for less than the posted price online?

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Some people just aren’t a good fit for some cruise lines. OP does not fit the Cunard demographic and she needs to move on. I know I’m not a good fit for the demographics of Carnival and some of the mega ships, so I don’t book with them. You have to recognize your shortcomings and limitations.

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Anyone who thinks HAL pulled out of Bermuda as a stance against supposed homophobia, just isn’t thinking straight. Some people just have to apply a political agenda to everything.

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Is there a charge for iConcierge? Does it use minutes from your internet package?

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