JeanKC

This thread makes me want to book a cruise to Alaska!! Our first cruise 10 years ago was to Alaska on the Celebrity Century and it was fantastic.

I'm trying to submit my details on the status match page but it will not allow me input the address details. It recognises that I am in Ireland but nothing appears in the drop-down for county, city or province and it won't just met me type in them either. Has anyone encountered this before? I've tried a few different browsers and devices in case it is an issue with anything like that.

If you have a alcoholic beverage package, you can bring as many bottles of wine as you like and there is no corkage fee. If you do not have a beverage package, you can still bring as many bottles of wine as you like, but is subject to a corkage fee of $15 per 750ml bottle.

On our recent European cruise, Splash Academy was not open during the day when in port. It opened at about 7pm, I think. Plus, you did have to be contactable and available to collect the child should something happen (something happening included the child being tired and wanting to go the bed). I'm not a parent......BUT, if I was, I don't think I would feel comfortable leaving my child on board while I went on an excursion (no matter how far away it was).....Not to mention, if something did happen and you did have to return to the ship.....would you expect the excursion bus to turn around and take you back, inconveniencing everyone else, or would you happily shell out the few hundred quid a taxi back to port would cost you? Or take a chance on public transport? Or have you not actually thought about that? Maybe, leave the kids at home or try to convince someone else to join you on the cruise as a nanny.

It's great that you have not had issues with NCL air but I think the issue that people are taking with Greg's situation is the crazy short connection time between flights which NCL air seem to think is okay to book. So, yes, while things happen and flights can be delayed and customs queues can be long and none of that would the fault of the NCL Air (or any TA booking flights). But what is very much in the control of NCL Air is allowing for a reasonable connection time between flights.....and even without a customs queue or flight delays, they did not leave enough time in this case. And, if it is true what the NCL agent told Greg, that provided they leave at least 30 minutes between flights, they can book it......then whoever is in charge of those policies must never, ever have been in an airport.....ever!! To be honest, I would probably never use NCL air mainly because, unlike with a regular TA or self-booking, you get no say at all in your flights, and so even if you think the connection time is too short (and my husband gets very stressed in airports at the best of times so throw in a tight connection......it wouldn't end well 😀) tough, you have to take it. I would prefer be in control of these things myself and yes, I guess, it might cost a little more, but to me, it's probably worth it for reduced stress.

Not sure why you cancelled in the first place......seemed a bit of a kneejerk reaction.to your new girlfriend not being able to go. Did she tell you that you shouldn't go or something? If so, that's ridiculous. If not, cancelling was ridiculous. Go, enjoy. End of.

I don't think so as the OP who shared the email they got about tax in Spain has their cruise starting in Lisbon too (we got no email before our cruise).

Definitely a real life guard at the main pool on the Viva last week. Looking very bored but I guess that's better than the alternative of having too many drowning people to save.

Our recent cruise started in Lisbon, all ports were in the EU and it included 4 Spanish ports. We had a drinks package and were not charged vat on any drinks in Spanish ports. Someone on another discussion on this topic mentioned that on their cruise(can';t remember which ship) they were charged tax in Spanish ports but they also received a credit of USD46 on their ship account and when they asked guest services, they were told it was to offset the tax........We were not charged any tax, but we did get USD46 credit to both of our accounts......I did not ask guest services what it was for cos I was afraid they'd take it back!! It was great - paid for laundry, karting, and some starbucks!!! Now, maybe, it was because we were on the second voyage of the VIVA and so they decided to let us all off the tax and also reward us with credit for nothing,.......But we were pretty happy!! It was a good outcome for us, but there does seem to be very little consistency on these charges and when they're applied.

Arrived back from our cruise on the Viva from Lisbon to Rome on Saturday. We had 3 ports in Spain. We had a drinks package and were not charged tax on drinks in any ports.

Didn't take a pic but it's a small covered area on the Deck 18 sundeck(forward). It has seats and was never particularly crowded. For us, it made us smoke way less as it was long trek from the 6/7/8 entertainment areas, but I reckon that's probably a good thing! 😁 Also, the elevators only go to Deck 17 so you do need to go up a flight of stairs outside. If you get the aft or midship elevators, you will also have to walk through the buffet . As an aside, we loved the ship overall. Much preferred it to our last NCL experience (the Getaway in 2017).

We're also sailing out of Portugal and leave on Saturday. We haven't received any notification.

Maybe the NCL online POS systems can't cope with a dual system for charging drinks and so to ensure that anyone purchasing a beverage without a package is charged VAT, they have to set the system to charge VAT for everyone regardless of package or no package. Then they add a credit for those with a package to off-set. Seems a bit crazy, but why else would they be adding credit to people's accounts. That's almost an admission that they shouldn't be charging it to people with packages.

Hi - Can you confirm what live entertainment options are available. I know Beetlejuice is not ready yet but are all the other advertised ones taking place everything else (Icons, Ocean Music Fest, Press your luck, Syd Norman's, Improv at sea)? Thanks

According to one of the entertainers on Viva today(saw a post on another website), Syd's is listed on the Freestyle daily for tonight.

Above that on the app, it says "Please book on board. Pre-bookings not accepted". The date is new and I see it too, but they hardly have no entertainment onboard!! I'm just trusting what they said in the email about Icons (not that I want to see it) and Syds (which I do as I like a live band). But we'll know more tomorrow when the first passengers board. They're hardly keeping all entertainment venues closed........

I think those dates may be indicative of when pre-booking will be allowed rather than when the entertainment is starting from. I'm on the Aug 26th sailing and nothing can be pre-booked - Someone contacted NCL and they said, because it is brand new ship, pre-booking options may not be available for 6 months. It is all "Please book onboard." for us currently. We were told last week that Beetlejuice is not ready so would not be on shown on our sailing, but the email advising us of this, specifically mentioned Icons and Syd Normans as entertainment options which would be available. "there will be plenty of programming and entertainment options on board, including show-stopping performances in Syd Norman's Pour House; 'ICONS,' a concert experience featuring songs from musical legends from Dolly Parton to Lady Gaga; as well as a number of other musical talent and comedians to fill your days at sea." The first passengers board tomorrow, so we'll have on-the-ground information then.

I'd imagine because the OP is in the US and so has not considered that she may also be put on european airlines, of if she is, it is likely that they would be code-share with US airlines.

I'm on the Viva the cruise before you (Aug 19th) and did not have this issue when I checked in last week. The earliest time-slot was 10.30 -11.......not sure if there would have been earlier options if I had checked in sooner (I did check in on the day it opened but it was a probably a few hours after the opening time). If you couldn't pick a time though, I guess you can just arrive whenever you want.

Your experience on that ship is a nightmare! At least the stops have been amazing....Imagine the poor souls who are on their first cruise or first NCL cruise! At least, I guess, you have good experiences on other ships to offset this disaster but even with that, it's really just not good enough. And while many "important" people like the restaurant manager etc, meeting with you and saying the right things, it's not really translating into much action. It has definitely put me off the Star.....which is a shame as I like some of the itineraries, and I do like ships on the smaller side. Hopefully it gets better for you but I think everyone reading this live review has been hoping that for you since you boarded day 1 and our hopes have been in vain. ☹️

Given that one of the "plenty of programming and entertainment options on board" listed by NCL for our upcoming European Viva cruise in which Beetlejuice is no longer featuring, includes "a number of musical talents and comedians to fill your days at sea", I hope that your Prima CD was talking out of her .... Based on what she said, no comedy would ever be successful outside of the country it came from - I think many touring comedians and TV/film producers would disagree. 😕

I'd imagine that's why they are not allowing reservations for any of the entertainment in advance - we have to wait until on board.

And just as I posted that, I got the email 😂😂. I guess it's one less thing to have to queue to get reservations for!!

That's disappointing - we're on that sailing too but I haven't got an email yet. I see that the Icons show you mention is now listed under entertainment on the app and I don't think it was there before. Of course Beetlejuice is also still listed!! Wouldn't you think it would be easier for them to send one mass email to all registered passengers rather than send them in batches!

It says discretionary in the FAQs. On my invoice and boarding docs, it calls them "Onboard service charges" but also states that these are discretionary charges: ONBOARD SERVICE CHARGES. These discretionary charges are additional. If you have not pre-paid your service charges or are booked under Premium All Inclusive, a daily per person service charge will be added to your onboard account for all guests 3 years and older. Please see www.ncl.com for details. It also refers to them as Discretionary when you are booking and it gives you the option to prepay (on the European site anyway - can't speak for elsewhere). To be honest, I can't actually see the acronym DSC anywhere anymore: Just onboard charges and then discretionary mentioned in small print or in the further info area.