ragdoll39

12 hours ago, dockman said:

i like to sit on an outside deck chair at sunset time and drink a few glasses of wine...even with the app and drink package it is a pain to get a tiny glass of wine delivered to you quickly ..by the time i get it delivered i need to order another one as it will be gone before he gets back with another glass.....much easier to do as said and fill up a bottle to take with you and pour your own... those tiny little pours of a glass of wine don't last me very long at all til i need another glass...

Exactly! We'll either squirrel some away or we'll just order a bottle. I'm tempted to just make the purchase for research purposes. 😄

1 hour ago, SeaMatesNYC said:

I think confirming with Ships Services is a great idea. And then snapshot a picture of the purchase you choose to make and be sure the bottle size shows and take this with you on the cruise. Ask for a price adjustment if they pull some other trick at product delivery. 

I'll definitely do that, and take a snapshot of the page as well. I'll also come back and let you know what they told me, and then if I decide to purchase the package, I'll come back and let everyone know what the outcome was. I mean, if we do decide to order a bottle and can save money and actually get more products, it's a win for everyone. Thank you!

45 minutes ago, dockman said:

i have done it several times...take a small flask with me order a double and walk away and pour it into flask...maybe go to couple different bars....its not like u are stealing it as you already paid for it with your package..  I agree i prefer to sit on balcony rather than a bar and to enjoy that better to have booze in your room.

That's a hell of an idea! I definitely have a couple of flasks that I can take along or just an empty water bottle would do. Might go that way. Thank you!

45 minutes ago, Cruise Suzy said:

 

I have never had a problem getting 2 alcoholic drinks at a time - whether DH was with me or not, whether from a server or at the bar. DH orders a double gin & tonic plus a double wine at the beginning of all MDR meals - I order just a cocktail and a soft drink then.

I'm not disputing you. I'll definitely give that a shot, and I have had limited success in the past with just taking my husband's cruise card with me, but it has varied by cruise line. It's been a while since I have sailed with HAL. Really though, my interest is in the pricing that they're giving for the in room alcohol. Thank you!

27 minutes ago, dockman said:

Can't you just get a few shots on your package and pour it into a bottle to have in your room?

My personal experience is that they are often really picky about that on cruise ships. They won't sell me two drinks if my husband isn't with me. We both have to be present. They scan your room key so that they can log the number of drinks you have per day. It's really rather ridiculous, but I seriously doubt they would give me a few shots to take back to my room unless I make friends with a bartender which I fully intend to do. I don't want to make us come off like a couple of lushes or anything, but we do enjoy our vacations and our cocktails when we're on vacation. My husband and I don't really care to hang out in bars. We really would prefer to sit on our balcony and enjoy the view while having a cocktail.

22 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

I am sure your favorite bartender would give you a couple of rum shots on you drinks package to take back and keep in your cabin. On one of our cruises last year we ordered a bottle of Gin for our cabin and only ended up drinking less than half the bottle, so shots would have saved us a lot. We couldn't take the unused bottle home as we were flying internationally.

I think you're probably right about that. On a cruise my husband and I took last year, we frequented one bar and bartender, and he was fantastic. He would pour me a big glass of vodka and give me a bunch of olives on the side. I was just toying with the idea of having a bottle in the room and when I saw the disparity of prices I just thought it I would ask if anyone had any experience with it. We haven't really made up her mind yet, but it is good to know I think. If you can get more for less, everyone loves that! 😊

2 minutes ago, highscar said:

If ordering just a shot of liqueur what is the measurement.  Ounce. 

I honestly don't know. My experience is it can vary anywhere from 1 to 2 oz. My husband and I usually try to develop a rapport with a single bartender and always tip better and we usually get very good treatment. Still, we were just looking to possibly have a bottle in the cabin and if we can get more for less money, that would obviously be better!

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

Often the packages are less in cost than buying al a carte. I would order the package and throw away the cokes if not wanted. With the premium drinks package you can always order drinks at any bar and bring them back to your cabin. We prefer that to having a bottle in the cabin.

Thanks Terrydtx. I know we can bring drinks back, but sometimes my husband and I just like to have a late night cocktail or maybe put a dash of rum in our coffee in the morning, or just have a pre-dinner cocktail and don't want to run down to the bar and bring it back. The prices are stupid high to begin with, but it just seems odd that they would actually give you a deal on something when they nickel and dime you on every single thing aboard these ships. I appreciate your input.

1 hour ago, tony s said:

Ask the size of the bottles.

That's what I'm going to do when I call back, but the website plainly states that all the bottles are one liter. That's where I'm confused. I find it hard to believe that the cruise line would bundle the package like internet companies do, but I'm hoping I'm wrong. Thanks!

Greetings beautiful cruise people! 

I'm sailing on HAL for an Alaskan cruise in August. My husband and I both have the premium beverage package. We were thinking about ordering an additional bottle of booze for our stateroom, but the prices don't add up. I'm hoping to get some help. 

According to the website, I can order a bottle of Bacardi white rum for in room consumption for $106.20. On the same list, I can order a Bacardi white rum and Coke package that includes a bottle of rum and three cans of Coke for $82.60. according to the description, both packages include a 1 litre bottle of booze. As my husband so eloquently put it, this just doesn't pass the smell test. 

Even if I hated Coke, why wouldn't I order this package over the single bottle if the price is cheaper and the amount of alcohol is the same? Does anyone have any experience with this? Is the website wrong? 

I put in a call to customer service and they've told me to call back on Monday and ask them to contact ship services, but thought in the meantime I would ask the community and depending upon the answer, possibly provide an educational service as well. 😉

Thanks in advance!

15 hours ago, Hutcha said:

What did you upgrade from/to?

From an aft facing club balcony, to a forward facing penthouse with large balcony. The minimum upgrade bid was $450. I bid $600. According to the meter, my bid was considered poor.

8 hours ago, JustSomeLady said:

That’s the hardest part: checking the bids constantly when the cruise is still 30

days away, hoping it gets accepted, but knowing deep down they aren’t going to let us know until the week before the cruise. My cruise is further into March, and while I’m in the Haven already, I put in bids for the 2BR and DOS (sold out). Right now, if a bid is accepted, I save a ton over booking rate on the Haven 2BR … and I can’t stop checking!

I know my situation is probably unusual, but I was awarded my upgrade for a sailing on February 28th 39 days in advance.

2 hours ago, wampuscat7 said:

Ahh. I see. I did not realize that you were hoping that the tip would encourage the staff to "free up" some chairs that have been hogged. I haven't heard of that, but there's a first time for everything. And I am certainly no expert.

 

I agree that I wish they would just enforce their own rules and remove all chair hogs' things regardless of tipping, but having worked in customer service, I can understand why crews would be reluctant to do so. 

Thank you for your response. You put it better than I did. That's exactly what I was hoping might happen. I've never tipped for such a thing, but I was just curious if anyone had any experience with it. Like another said, we tip for all kinds of things in order to get a little preferential treatment, why not something like this? I'm not saying I'm going to do it and honestly it may not even be a problem at all since the ships are sailing so empty. And, if there's nothing available, I'll just go find something else to do.

18 hours ago, wampuscat7 said:

If you're asking whether tipping to have someone find you a deck chair is a common practice on cruise ships, the answer is no. I know some resorts function that way, where there are chairs held back but staff will get you one if you tip well, but cruise ships are generally first-come, first-served and there are rules (not usually well enforced) about saving chairs. 

 

It is refreshing to see a chair hog thread instead of a covid one, though. 

Thanks for your input!

15 hours ago, casofilia said:

No please!!!!   Please ask the Mods to delete this thread BEFORE NCL grabs the idea of Booking and Paying for a deck chair.

 

They do not need help to find things they can charge for!!!

Haha! I'm certainly not suggesting that, but that very idea has been floated before on this very forum. I was just curious to get opinions. Thanks for your input.

19 hours ago, Sthrngary said:

A shame we have to discuss this topic.  Your question is can you tip $10.00 to get a pool chair.  The answer is you can tip anyone at any time.  Usually it is for service rendered.  Some times, as in the case of butler, many tip ahead of time.  It is up to you.

 

The issue is, it is not the responsibility of a pool attendant or server to provide you with a pool chair.  If they do, they can only provide you with a chair that is unoccupied.  They can save you a chair.  If the chair is unoccupied, you can get it as well as they can.  To my knowledge and experience; rarely will any member of any cruise brand take the towel off a chair that a pool hog has placed.  They don't want the pushback. 

 

We can't solve the issue here  on this thread, we all know what the issue is.  I personally would not tip to get the chair for the reason that it (in my humble opinion) could cause issue for the crew member.  Just my two cents. 

 

Cruise well.

Thanks for your input. I'm certainly talking about chairs that are unoccupied and have been reserved for hours, unoccupied. My experience differs from yours. I have on multiple occasions seen pool attendants remove items from unoccupied chairs. They then take them to the towel hut or wherever for safekeeping. Cruise lines and resorts all have rules against these things as we all know, but it is difficult to enforce. I also believe that it is the pool attendants' responsibility to enforce the rules. Thanks again!

19 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

Chair Hogs are usually full in force in the mornings - as early as dawn, but as the day progresses the chairs get emptied/vacated and it becomes easy to find vacant chairs/loungers mid-afternoon.

 

We often are busy in the mornings but find time mid-afternoon to lounge by pool (and have swim) until it's time to return to cabin to shower/dress for dinner.

 

 

Thank you!

36 minutes ago, WYB! said:

If you slip me $10 I'll find you a chair.

That being said, ships are sailing pretty empty and currently there are no chair hogs or lines for almost everything.

 

Safe travels,

 

- WYB

Thanks a bunch! I'm hoping that's going to be the case, and it's a shame that we even have to discuss this, but I was just curious to get others' opinions.

I really don't want to start another whole deck chair hog thread, but I guess I'm doing it anyway. I just wonder if anyone has had any experience tipping a deck crew member to find a couple of chairs. Let me preface this by saying that I spend very little time at the pool on cruise ships, but on an upcoming 10-day cruise, I may want to spend an afternoon or two by the pool. I don't want to arrive to a bunch of empty chairs taken by chair hogs and sit hawkishly nearby and observe the time that they've been vacant in order to report it to a deck crew member. So, I'm wondering if I simply show up, grab a drink and slip the pool attendant say a $10 and ask if they can find us a couple of chairs, would that help expedite the matter? I know I shouldn't have to do this, but for the small amount of time and couple of visits I would be there, it would be worth it to me. Any thoughts?

12 minutes ago, jeffw67 said:

Congratulations! I think that's the farthest out I've heard of a upgrade offer being accepted

I was very surprised also! I don't have any idea why it happened so soon. I just went to the site today and noticed that my upgrade offer was missing and then checked my email and saw a new confirmation from Norwegian. I checked the confirmation email and checked back on the app and it shows me in suite 9000. I checked my credit card and it shows a $1,200 charge pending. So, I guess I got it! Maybe it's because the ship is smaller? I honestly have no experience with this as this is the first time I've put in for an upgrade, but based on the other posts here I agree that it seems to be very far out. I'm thrilled regardless! I guess my $600 bid was enough to get it for me. I did notice when I did a mock booking that suite 9000 was vacant, so it wasn't like they displaced anyone. I'm sure they'll move someone into that beautiful aft club balcony suite that I vacated. This is such a win-win for the cruise line. Very smart business!

Just received an upgrade on the February 29th sailing of the Norwegian Gem from an aft facing club balcony suite to a forward-facing penthouse! Minimum upgrade bid was 450, bid 600. 39 days out. I'm so excited! 😃

I'm sailing on the Norwegian Gem Eastern Caribbean 10 night February 28th.

I just received an upgrade offer yesterday. We are currently booked in an aft facing club balcony suite and I'm perfectly content with my cabin. However, I went ahead and put in some minimal bids for upgrades to a penthouse. The ship is small and they currently only show about 7 penthouses available, but oddly, there are quite a few two bedroom family suites and most of the Haven suites available. 

I'm hoping that maybe the penthouse folks will upgrade to the Haven suites and open up some of the penthouses. Who knows? I seriously doubt we'll get one, and the suite is not really that much larger, but the butler and concierge service and the other perks that go along with it make it worth it if we could get it.

The opening bids are actually pretty high in my opinion. 450 minimum for a penthouse upgrade, 650 minimum for a two bedroom family, and The Haven suites start at 1200 and go up from there.