hallux

In the US the free-at-sea is tied to getting to pick your room at the time of booking. Some have had luck getting their "sail-away" room changed after it's been assigned and they didn't like it but I wouldn't count on being able to make the change if room selection is important.

When I did my Mexican Riviera cruise in 2019 we booked a tour in Cabo through a different 'aggregator' site (I think they were anyway). A portion of the fee was due at the time of booking, the remainder was due to the guide at the time of the tour. I also inquired about a different tour (maybe on the same site, maybe a different one) that looked good but the times didn't match with the ship times and they were aware of that and told me they could not accommodate us on the tour as a result.

There are several threads on this topic where folks are reporting that flights are coming as late as 30 days before embarkation...

Technically you don't need either just to do the excursion. I went ashore in Victoria just carrying my DL, and even that wasn't asked for.

Did you simply book airfare through NCL using the Premium Air service or did you do this as the BOGO free-at-sea offer? If it was the Premium Air option - have the flights already been ticketed? The BOGO tickets surely haven't been (that's not until 30-45 days out from the cruise). Since you're not at final payment, if the flights haven't been ticketed the funds associated with them should be refundable just as the rest of the cruise fare if the regional cancellation policy allows for such.

Yup. And in my case - I'm the 'emergency traveler' for my aging parents, if they're on a trip and end up with some medical emergency that requires 'rescuing' I need a book anyway. They have a Mediterranean cruise booked later this year, my passport was due to expire this time next year so I felt it was best to send it out NOW so I have the fresh document in time for their trip just in case. I'm in one of the lucky states bordering Canada that does the enhanced DL, which is nearly identical to a passport card in terms of what it allows you to do, and I could do a closed-loop cruise from the US with just that document if I wanted to.

It's advised, but not required. I mailed my renewal in this week, the person at the post office suggested it could take 4 MONTHS. Maybe I mis-heard and she said 4 weeks.

There are a couple threads on this (I think if you search WiFi you'll find some). The BEST deal would be to wait until the second day and they allow you to "trade" your unused free-at-sea minutes (do NOT use the internet on day 1) as a credit toward purchase of the unlimited.

I've been on both ships (though not in The Haven so talking more general here). The ships are more similar than different. While in different places, both ships have most of the same venues. If a thermal spa is desired, sail on the Bliss as the Joy doesn't have one. The Joy had Footloose and Elements as the theater shows in March, both were good. Bliss still has Jersey Boys and I hear SIX eventually returns (also good shows).

Didn't even need to call or Google search it - it's right on NCL's Accessible Cruising page (linked at the bottom of the website). Yes, you need to scroll down, but it's there... https://www.ncl.com/about/accessible-cruising

I had that at The Local (same venue) on the Joy a few months ago - GREAT burger! I pay $20+ (tax and tip included) for one like that at home.

Your question is somewhat answered in this thread..

I suggest using that box with the magnifying glass near the top of the page, there are MANY MANY threads discussing this very topic (maybe a host can pin a thread on it eventually?), it's been discussed at length. My replies are scattered among those threads. Here's a search to get you started - https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?&q=airfare&type=forums_topic&quick=1&nodes=64&search_and_or=or&sortby=relevancy

That depends on how much of the ship is designated for quarantine. If they have enough people to quarantine eventually they will need to use inside cabins in that hall..

Let us know when you can forecast your staffing levels more than a week or 2 out. It's a darned if you do, darned if you don't situation. If they don't cancel any reservations and provide a cruise with poor service quality as a result of an understaffing situation you get complaints (I read a thread on the RCI forum about a horrible Explorer of the Seas cruise because of staffing levels). If you cancel people to provide a quality experience for those that travel you get complaints because of the cancellation. Which do you prefer? While we'd all like to take our trips, especially after a ton of planning, but do you want a trip with a sub-par experience? Flight arrangements would have been made, yes. However - since they were tied to (and "paid for") through the cruise reservation that's being cancelled the flight is now cancelled as well.

That's not Hawaii's terms, that's the regulations from the US government for a US-flagged ship...

But, sadly, one which is being experienced on several lines. Some lines are cancelling bookings to lower guest count to compensate for lower crew counts while others are keeping the bookings but reducing services or reducing the quality of service.

Did you try calling and asking? If you don't get a 'yes' but the agent seems to be unsure, ask for a supervisor, or hang up and call again. You are correct in that the T&C's are not totally clear on the topic, but it also indicates that reservations can be made 60 days or more prior to embarkation and still qualify for the promo so you may be able to get it added.

You can sit down, get waited on, and get arguably the same burger at The Local. I say 'arguably' because a couple folks I chatted with on my March cruise actually complained to the GM about the burgers that were buffet-quality. My burger at The Local was on par with a local bar, quite good and FREE!

As of right now - I would say it'll be on the same ships it's currently on. I believe that would be the Breakaway and rumored to be returning to the Bliss this summer.

See this thread...

NCL does not guarantee sitting together on the flight, just that those in the "Travel With Guarantee" group are on the same flight. Paying to pick seats is an airline policy, not an NCL policy. Neither Delta or AA charged myself or my sister to pick seats when we cruised on separate reservations using this process in 2019. Directly from T&C's - The Travel With Guarantee program ensures that eligible guests on different reservations are booked on the same flight You can review that here - https://www.ncl.com/termsandconditions/promotions

If you haven't yet tried to use it and had the cruise cancelled - if they extend it for you for 3 months what becomes the extension limit? How far out is NCL expected to extend them for people that didn't plan sooner?

Right in the promo terms - Guests may request a one-way air itinerary; in which case they will be charged 50% of the applicable promotional air pricing for the selected gateway. https://www.ncl.com/termsandconditions/promotions

In the numerous other threads asking this very question, the consensus is that the information is available between 45 and 30 days before the trip. Out of Albany (an airport with which I'm VERY familiar), it looks like they could put you on a flight through EWR, IAD, PHL, or ATL and have only one layover. You can just act as though you're researching flights on Google to get an idea as to what the layovers might be. If you look at the T&C's of the promotion, or the flight booking service NCL provides if you did that rather than the promotion, I believe they try to keep connections to a minimum.