Sailing12Away

What food situation?

No phone for my dad, who will be traveling independently from my mom some days. So I'll have to just make sure everyone has their own printed copy of a QR code and hope for the best.

Yes, some do fill up. If it's a very popular one (Tracy Arms out of Juneau in Alaska) it will fill up and it's a one and done - no more boats will be added. Sometimes it depends on the cabin you're booked in and the type of excursion too. On that same Alaska trip we wanted to do the private Hummer tour where they give you a driver and you can fit 4 people in the car with you. It was sold out. We were in a Haven room... I contacted the pre-cruise concierge, and viola... they were able to add in an extra car so we could book that excursion. So it all depends on the tour, but there's no harm in booking something and then cancelling it if you change your mind. Just don't wait until the last minute to cancel.

You mean beyond the huge observation lounge on deck 15 that is open to everyone?

The million dollar question though is when? How soon before boarding the cruise do you need to be tested? Is it 48 hrs before or 72 hrs before? I'll be filling out the ArriveCan for myself and my parents, but we're taking separate excursions - so hopefully I can figure out how to print out a copy for them to have separately as there will be no way for them to use their phone out of the US to pull this info up on their own.

I would personally opt for 1st week in May on Prima. It's the newest ship and you avoid the Memorial Day holiday crowds that you'll get with a sailing in the last week. Club balcony perks on the Joy are nothing to write home about to make it a truly 'better' room.

Thanks for the reminder. We're sailing from NY to Canada next month in about 30 days. I'm more concerned about having to help my folks get everything set up. No flights for us, but we still need to do all the documents.

Yeah... on the NCL website not all of the decks have been updated. Look at 12 (the deck we're booked in) vs deck 11 below. My deck has no slides and doesn't indicate the aft Haven rooms have a hot tub. But deck 11 does.... I saw the hot tub with my own eyes in the videos so I know it's there... not all of the decks are updated on the NCL site which is going to cause a lot of confusion I image for folks who don't realize that. A bonus hot tub you didn't expect is one thing, but a 'surprise' of a slide blocking your view of your balcony is not a pleasant surprise.

As for the perceived lack of inside cabins... couldn't that possibly be crew member cabins? They're only going to list the public areas on deck plans. Maybe they're being nice to their crew for a change and making more space for them so they don't have to quadruple up in a room?

Yup, anytime we use the NCL air promo, I still check flight prices on my own anyway from time to time. When you get close to that final payment date, if you find a better deal on your own then ask NCL to remove the air before you pay off the cruise. If NCL is still better, stick with them and stop checking or you'll drive yourself nutty.

You forgot about the joy of just being able to get out of LGA at all in the first place. With all the construction that alone may take 30+ mins to get onto the highway. JFK all the way baby! (I'm biased... it's a 15min ride there for me if I hit the Belt at the right time of day)

Or make friends with someone on the other side and flip flop between rooms. We're sailing in February and our room is starboard, friends room is across the hall 2 doors down. So depending on what there is to see... we'll be flip flopping.

Not sure where you're looking, but they're visible to me:

Wow... @HBCcruiser I didn't know you had a new job as an IT expert 😆 For @ProfessorThiccems - try here and let her plan her next cruise. This one is over. https://www.ncl.com/about/staying-connected-sea-internet-access https://www.ncl.com/about/contact-us

Each bartender has made it a bit differently... usually some combination of espresso, Kahlua, amaretto, creme de cocoa and ice cream mix.

I don't think so, spa balcony is usually a separate category unto itself. The jump is usually from the lowest letter (ignoring X - those are sail away) to the highest letter A. The number ones are 'special' and don't usually count AFAI. This is on the Epic... M9 is the spa so ignoring that you would pay the MC price and move up to the MA room for club balcony. Same thing with balcony... we paid for a BF but were moved into a BA. Inside, you pay for an IF but get moved to the IA:

Adult milkshakes are free with the regular drink package. I get frozen grasshoppers, mudslides, tiramisu's all the time with no charge. Just need to find a bar that has the ingredients you need.

Nope, as the person above explained it's within the same category. In the old website you could easily see the difference between rooms within a category. Now, not so much. For a balcony, you would pay the rate for the BF, which is on a lower deck, more forward/aft, maybe next to a public deck, etc. But you would be moved for free into a BA room, which is on a higher deck, more mid-ship, and "better". Ballpark about $100-200 or so in savings. It's not a lot, but we'll take what we can get.

Yes. We did it once and booked a total of 3 cabins for us, my parents, and my sister and kids. We were the only ones on board. Yes For anyone considering doing this, I strongly advise that you do some research first to know what the price "should" be before any bonus discounts. Our last trip we spoke to the CN desk about whether we could add on certificates to existing reservations (they were before final payment date). He said yes, but tried to do it through a fresh booking, which meant we would lose existing perks. He kept telling me 'it didn't matter because the price is so much lower....". The price he was telling me was $300+ higher than what my remaining balance was and his price included 2 CN certificates. That was a long drawn out conversation that left me quite salty. If I had decent internet connection I would have pulled up my reservation confirmation to show him that I'm not an idiot and know that my original 14,700 is less than the new price of 15,100 with his 'bonus discounts' already applied. They're sales people. Just don't get suckered.

In my 6+ cruises with NCL, the only time we've made reservations for the MDR was when we had a slightly large group of 4, and that was only because we were in the garden villa and the concierge was eager to help us 'book it' so we let him. All other times we've walked up (party of 2) and had no issues getting a table within a few minutes. Longest wait was on the Epic for O'Sheehans one night when we went at 7pm. No issue... mozied over to the bar and they grabbed us 5 mins later. I didn't even know you could pre-book dining times for the MDR.

I like it. With all the muted grays and neutrals, you need a pop of color in there or I'll fall asleep. Especially if the quality of the service at Cagneys doesn't change and it takes 2+ hours for your meal.

I can book even numbers up to 8 people for specialty restaurants on my upcoming trip. No cabin numbers needed for who is joining you. If it's for a specialty restaurant, they'll sort out the credits and freebie coupons when you show up.

I was referring more to if they did NOT win their bid. If you win, as bird explained you are automatically charged and moved to a room of their choice in the category you won. If you lose though, you're not out any money at all and stay where you were. It's usually 2 categories higher than where you are. But once you're in any Haven room, you can generally bid on any other Haven rooms 'higher' than yours. I'm not sure I agree with all this. Someone winning an upgrade from an balcony to a club balcony helps them more even if the oceanview to club balcony bid slightly higher, because it means they can turn around and move someone else into that now vacant balcony which is going to earn higher bids than someone vying for an oceanview. I really think it's a complicated domino effect. If it was just who bids highest, the person who puts in the max bid would always win.... and how would they handle ties?

I don't understand the point of cancelling his bid just because he thinks he won't win. You have to be in it to win it, and there's no penalty or financial cost to trying. So still not understanding the cancellation unless it was a pride thing and they just didn't want to pay if they won any longer?

100% agree that you need to speak up while on board. To complain after the fact just says you have buyers remorse. Speaking to someone while you're on board means you just want it to work and are disappointed in what you got vs what you paid for. They can fix that. Afterwards, not so much. Even if the specific 'internet complaint desk' isn't manned, guest services is nearly 100% of the time. They know how to get in touch with people, and at a minimum could have flagged your account to register the issue.