julig22

9 minutes ago, Asawi said:

They did last year. Maybe not now? They do have Million Dollar Quartet though that's also supposed to be great. 

Million Dollar Quartet was on the Getaway when I was on in 2021. Can't say for sure but I don't get the feeling that they switch production shows between the ships, due to what's involved with respect to getting the sets onboard, etc. But I suppose anything is possible.

46 minutes ago, Floatyman said:

Honestly I didn't find the lines all that long. Just make a show reservation for Burn the Floor which is terrific. The rest of the entertainment is very good and you likely won't need a reservation for it. 
 

In my opinion the nickel and diming is excessive vs other cruise. Others on this thread appear to like it 

I don't think they offer Burn the floor on the Getaway LOL

6 minutes ago, Sherry84 said:

They did give us muster stickers on the Sky a few weeks ago 😉

I'm guessing there would still be people claiming they never went to a muster drill LOL!

On my last cruise we got stickers a couple of times - I know the 2nd one was because we went through immigration on the ship, don't remember when we got the first one - come to think of it, it might even have been at our muster station LOL.

6 minutes ago, Capitan Obvious said:

 

So very much wrong with this (you obviously are not a systems person). 

 

Just for starters...

You say its not simple to just activate passengers individually...but doen't scanning them during boarding register them as being onboard indivdually, or do you think they wait and process it all in a batch so as not to overload the system? I hope you don't think computers can't handle 2-4K individual processes.

If you think there is no connection between getting your card in the terminal and actually boarding..Does attaching you picture to the card so they verify it is you when you board count as a connection? If there is no connection, how does the ship differentiate between those who are on the manifest but not checked in vs those who checked in but have not boarded vs those who are actually onboard?

As for your "they can search their databse for people who have boarded but not checked in" idea, do you realize that that would require two data sets for comparison (one for boarded and another for checked in)? Much easier and more efficient to simply update one database with a checked in flag.

I said there was no connection between being handed a card at check-in and boarding, in response to your claim that card activation could be done at the muster station. You need an activated card to get on the ship. If the card hasn't been activated, how can it be scanned? I will admit that I don't know the process behind activating the rfid chip but I'm guessing it takes more than a hand-held reader.

Never said computers can't handle 2-4K individual processes - but each process takes time and I assume handling the physical card. From what I've seen, it appears that the cards are already activated when you get to check-in, since they take them from their boxes and bring them directly to the passengers.

Information entered at check-in, like your picture isn't "attached to your card" - it's in the database that's already set up. Your activated card is linked to that database.

How do you think they know who is onboard when they set sail - oh - two data sets. Or a checked-in system - really makes no difference, either would work. That system is already in place. A simple query will give that information in seconds.

No, I was not a systems person.  I was a database administrator for many years.

As you said, much easier to simply update one database....

4 hours ago, Capitan Obvious said:

 

Riiiiiiight. But aren't the current cards set up and maintained by NCL's IT team? I don't recall widespread reports of card issues when boarding. 

 

At this point, your card is activated when you check in at the terminal...simple enough to change the activation event to the muster station scan onboard.

Not really. First of all, they scan your card when you board - there is no connection between getting your card in the terminal and actually boarding.  You can always get your card and not board until later. Or not at all.

And no, it's not simple to just activate passengers individually - and that would most likely overload the system as now you are doing 2-4K individual processes vs what I am assuming is a batch process that can be run prior to passenger boarding. Much easier to deactivate individuals as needed. Once everyone is onboard, they can search their database for people who have boarded but not checked-in - and deactivate just those cards if it comes to it.

Think of it this way - the difference between having a check-off list to start with, vs a piece of paper where you have to add names as people come.

And while I'm not privy to their system, I'm not sure if their hand-held scanners would be capable of activating cards.

1 hour ago, Yesimapirate said:

Not what you experienced 6 months ago.   It's ridiculous how some of you treat people.   And further,  you're flat out wrong on this.   NCL needs to simply put a new info card (or whatever you call it) on all the phones that doesn't show an emergency button. 

Don't think anyone here has said that NCL shouldn't do something about the phones, if they are incorrectly labeled and/or not working correctly. But speaking as a somewhat intelligent person, I'd go to plan B long before I got the same result 6 times.

And I got off NCL cruise #22 just 4 weeks ago, #23 is in less than 3 weeks.  I'll be sure to note the signage on the phone (but I won't be checking to see if the emergency button works, if there is one).

7 minutes ago, Floatyman said:

I know it's hard to believe but despite what NCL is supposed to do, there were people who skipped muster, knowing exactly what muster is, and were never contacted. It appears to be an extraordinary offense, and because it happened, even more reason never to sail again. 

To clarify, it's not that people, speaking for myself, don't believe that you heard what you say you heard. But I don't believe that people did not check in at their muster station when they first boarded. It is absolutely true that they did not go to a muster drill - because they don't have them. But that in no way proves that they didn't actually check in, not realizing that going to the theater or some random restaurant, based on a code on their card, was the extent of muster. And if they checked in, there would be no reason for anyone to contact them. As previously noted by another poster, failure to communicate.

I would be more concerned about the people who failed to retain the instructions given in the safety video. But if tons of people saying they didn't attend a non-existent muster keeps you from sailing again, that's your choice.

4 minutes ago, thistimeplease said:

It was a different ship and Cruise line.  I do believe the OP and while many were telling him that he wasn't telling the truth I simply stated that I know for a fact, on another Cruise line, where people didn't check into their muster.  Never did I say it was on the Breakaway!

 Sheesh - how would one know that you weren't on the same ship with your statement "I know of people in my own party who didn't go to a muster drill, thankfully on that ship the crew came and found them." In the middle of a NCL discussion about what happened on a NCL ship, specifically that NCL ship, the Breakaway. With no further explanation. Sorry, my crystal ball broke years ago.

14 minutes ago, thistimeplease said:

 I know of people in my own party who didn't go to a muster drill, thankfully on that ship the crew came and found them.

So you are confirming that people who do not check-in at their muster station are contacted by the crew - contrary to what the OP has posted. Thank you.

1 minute ago, graphicguy said:

Nickel and Diming...I hear this about a lot of cruise lines.

While that term is often misused and very much overused, it's one of the features that I LIKE about NCL. I don't want to pay for something that I'm not using just because someone else thinks it should be included.

13 minutes ago, Floatyman said:

2. No one was interrogated. We were waiting in the theatre and someone brought up the muster drill. Another person chimed in that they didn't go. Many others chimed in and said they didn't go either. Someone pointed out they should have been tracked down. The people who said they didn't go confirmed they in fact were not tracked down and everyone else confirmed the same.

Nobody goes to a muster drill - they don't exist anymore. They check-in at their muster STATION. And those are hard to bypass. Just because they weren't tracked down kinda confirms that they did indeed check in at their muster station before heading to the first bar they could find.

Stockholder credit is (usually?) split 50/50 between guests 1&2, regardless of who owns it.

If you are paying for everything, you can put everyone in the same room on the same credit card so it doesn't matter who makes the purchases. You can also choose to use separate cards.

I'm not sure if you can use your NCL cc OBC for another person - I could not use my points to upgrade a cabin that was not booked in my name - points are not transferrable, not sure if that also applies to OBC.

However, I would never use my points for OBC in the first place. You can buy OBC through NCL, then use your statement credit to pay the bill - if it's a gift for someone in another cabin.  You end up getting more points that way. Or just forget OBC, pay the bill with your NCL card, get the points.

6 minutes ago, Asawi said:

Absolutely! I was on Star last summer and we did indeed tender there. It was an easy tender so no big deal. But docking is nicer! And I felt bad for all the Prima passengers that missed the stop completely. So this really is great news!

Yes, was there in 2022 on the Star and it was a tender. Going again next month, also on the Star - docks are almost always a better option.

Interesting that the lifeboats on the Prima can't be used as tenders - sounds like someone really missed the mark on that decision.

8 minutes ago, Capitan Obvious said:

 

Best way to ensure compliance would be to issue everyone an "inactive" card (wouldn't work for ordering a drink or any other type of "spending") and program the system to activate the card once it has been scanned at the muster station.

I don't think the issue is that people aren't checking in, so having to activate cards on an individual basis would be overkill IMHO. Plus it wouldn't address the issue of people saying they never went to their muster station - even if they did. The point was that people aren't connecting the check-in at their muster station with checking-in at their muster station.

47 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Yep.  I believe that many new cruisers don't even know what a muster drill/station is.  They get on the ship.  Somebody tells them to go to the location on their room key.  They go there and it gets scanned.  Then, it's off to the bar/restaurant/etc.  Do they know that they just fulfilled a critical muster drill requirement? I don't think so.🤣

Maybe they could start putting stickers on the ship cards that say "I've been mustered"

3 hours ago, Panhandle Couple said:

Or you could move to a common area that has AC.  They have very few people at that hour.

I assume you weren't in a balcony, and could just sit outside.

 

You expect the AC repairman to be awake and functional at 3 AM?

Or they were in a balcony and opened the balcony door which shuts off the AC... Goes back to reading the signs.

Plus I'd expect a room with "80+ women with asthma" to be super warm, AC or not.

I'm assuming that really means an 80 year old woman, not 80 women - but with some of the other blanket statements made regarding other passengers, who knows. Tons of people who didn't check in to their muster station - didn't happen. They either lied to the OP or lied to the people stationed at every staircase/elevator when they asked if they'd checked in. The fact that nobody followed up kinda suggests that they did check in.

29 minutes ago, JohnInPS said:

Topdog 52,  My partner are on this same exact cruise on the NCL Joy on 9/10/24.  We currently have the NCL package using a two day deviation to have time in QC prior the cruise.  The only information that I've been able to get out of NCL at this point regarding our airfare is that we will depart on the 8th.  My concern is that if they, do indeed, fly us into Montreal airport, our entire first day is going to be spent flying and then either taking a bus or train to QC.  NCL air deviation only allows up to two days prior the cruise.   At this point I'm beginning to wonder if we should just book our own airfare.   Have you made a decision yet what you are doing regarding airfare for this cruise?

I would take any information regarding when you will fly with a grain of salt. They could also book you on an overnight flight, arriving in the morning.

If it's important that you fly to QC, you should probably book your own. And know that flight schedules to QC aren't overly plentiful, so getting there on the date you want, at the time you want isn't always possible - which is why NCL uses Montreal.

10 hours ago, astera said:

 

Thanks. Not a bad deal as you could essentially chalk it down to a $6 delivery charge per breakfast. I would still be tempted to give a small tip to the delivery guy...

 

The onboard service charge covers the general service you get but I still like to keep some things personal, plus handing out fivers will not affect me financially but will be appreciated by the staff.

Between the onboard service charge, plus the automatic 20% gratuity on the delivery charge, I kinda feel like no tip is needed. That said, I still usually give the delivery person a buck or 2.

As long as it's packaged, you should be good.  They really don't check bags that carefully at the port stops. The bigger issue would be if it's OK to bring it into Canada.

Packing tip - I fill up a reusable water bottle filled with ice from the buffet and put it in with anything perishable. I usually have an insulated bag anyway, since I often bring food to eat on a layover  or at my hotel. And put everything in plastic bags, just in case something leaks.

3 minutes ago, 24imnana said:

We recently booked our cruise and air using NCL and had a great experience; haven't flown yet. Asked for a deviation as we are flying into Athens a day early. Was asked about number of layovers, turn around/ layover time, and any airline preferences. Pretty much like looking on Expedia or the airline site -- we picked and they booked with a much better rate than going on our own. Just my. experience.

Sounds like you used the Premium service - which is a lot different than the BOGO airfare offer, where you don't get to select your flights.

1 hour ago, Web.Papyrus said:

Hi all.  Wondering the same thing.  I noticed international flight can be up to 2 stop overs... does anyone know if Canada to US (or vice versa) is treated as "international"?  2 Stop overs to cross the continent would be very painful.  And is price the determinant? (The cheapest option on Kayak right now is a ~19 hour, 2 stop flight...  ouch...)

Technically, Canada to US would be international although I only had 1 stop returning from Canada last fall.

Contrary to popular belief, price is not always the determinant. First of all, they buy tickets in bulk so they may be able to get a better discount on a more expensive flight. And there are limitations on which flights they will take - they don't do overnight layovers and, as much as possible, they will choose flights where layovers are less than 5-6 hours.

Note - I don't find Kayak to be that great when looking for flights.  Their pricing works but they tend to leave out a lot of options.

51 minutes ago, DMP609 said:

How do I get cash in the casino? Do I go to the cashier and ask them to charge my room and they give me cash? 

Go to one of the slots, tap your card and request cash on your account. Then move the cash you want to the machine. From there, you can play the machine or just cash out and take the slip to the cashier. I don't think you can just ask the cashier for cash, but I've never tried.

12 minutes ago, dpavid96789 said:

Got it. So we cannot leave once we enter the queue to check in and enter the terminal. Thank you! 

There is no reason you can't leave after you've checked in - but you will have to wait in line to go through security again. 

Just drop your bags, check in when you are ready to board. Avoid the 9:30 check-in rush. No guarantees that there won't be crowds later but I don't see any advantage whatsoever in checking in if you aren't ready to board. Just because you chose a 9:30 check-in time doesn't mean you can't come later, at your convenience.

Note - there isn't a place to drop any carry-on bags, you'll have to either check them or keep them with you until you board.

9 minutes ago, wolfie11 said:

I would not trust NCL on this.  Bait and switch seems to be their modus operandi.  I will book Sapphire Princess, which I know has a great naturalist on board who does Alaska in the summers, and which also has scientists get on and lecture.  

A little off topic but the NCL Antarctica cruises have traditionally had 2-3 naturalists onboard for the entire cruise. Lots of lectures and commentary along the way.