CT-Scott

We went through a travel agent, but my wife doesn't want to "bother her" to inquire about a room change. Do you know if I can contact NCL directly or would I need to work through our travel agent?

So I've got some bids on the NCL Joy NY to Bermuda (11/5). Current room is an aft-facing balcony non-Haven and bids are on Haven rooms. No aft-facing Haven rooms seem to be available, but I left my bids in place for those. Those bids are higher than the bids I have for other Haven room categories that *do* have availability, so that has me wondering/worried if NCL's algorithms might work such that I won't get accepted on bids for rooms that are available just in case another room might become available later (due to cancellation or room switch/upgrade) where they'd stand to make more money off of me. Basically, I'm wondering if removing all higher-valued bids for rooms that aren't available as of today would improve my chances of getting accepted for a lower-valued bid on a room that *is* available.

Nevermind, I confirmed my hunch elsewhere.

In regard to bidding on room upgrades, there are several room types which, according to another website's booking process, aren't available. Does it make any sense to bid on these room types? I guess there's still a chance that someone in one of those rooms cancels or changes rooms, so maybe it's not a complete waste of time?

For anyone who cares (I'm sure that most of you don't), here's the full text of the email that was sent (JUST 3 DAYS AGO!): Bermuda Government Travel Authorisation Application Your Application #: XXXXXX Saturday, 05 November 2022 Bermuda Travel Authorisation (By Sea) (Cruise Passenger) xxxxx xxxxxxx Upload and view your documents: If you have test results to upload, please use this link. TotalCost: $40.00 Connect With Us: Phone: COVID hotline +1 (441) 444-2498 (open 9am to 8pm) Email: TAapprovals@gov.bm Bermuda Travel Authorisation (By Sea) (Cruise Passenger) Notes: Dear Traveller, You have successfully submitted your travel authorisation application. Your application will be reviewed between 9am and 8pm to ensure that the vaccine certificate you have uploaded meets Bermuda's Vaccination requirement. As of May 21, 2022 you may NOT have to upload your Pre-Test, but you MUST have a Pre-test available to show to board the ship. Follow the instructions on the next email you receive. Once your application is approved, you will receive an email with a link to your Travel Authorisation document. Please download or print this document to have in hand for presentation at Check In. If your application is rejected, you will be notified as to why it was denied. You ARE required to have a valid Pre-test in hand to board the ship - requirements as outlined here. IMPORTANT: All Visitors must apply for and complete a Bermuda COVID-19 Travel Authorisation prior to embarkation to Bermuda in order to travel to the island. If you intend to travel in the next 24 hours and need an emergency Travel Authorisation issued, please contact Bermuda's COVID hotline on +1-441-444-2498 or on Toll Free Number (1-833-570-2594) between 9am and 8pm Atlantic Time. ****************************************************************** The Travel Authorisation fee is non-refundable and will show on your bank statement as BDA TRAVEL AUTHORIZATIONS Please keep this email as your receipt of purchase. ****************************************************************** Bermuda Travel Authorisation (By Sea) (Cruise Passenger) Cancellation Policy: Your credit card will be charged by The Government of Bermuda. Please keep this as your receipt. The Travel Authorisation fee is non-refundable and will show on your bank statement as BDA TRAVEL AUTHORIZATIONS Please read the site's Terms and Conditions.

So in my (and my wife's) defense, my wife just pointed me to the email she received from the Bermuda government 3 days ago (!!!) (October 15th) which states that we do need a pre-test and provides a link to this page: https://www.gov.bm/covid-19-tests-accepted-bermuda ...which doesn't appear to have that "updated" info. I'm not at all surprised that a government website might be providing confusing/outdated info.

It's funny that I was posting my reply with the exact same link you provided at the same time and I obviously had not read the entire page (and most embarrassingly, the first couple of sentences at the top) and only just scanned down and saw that they were still showing the restrictions that won't apply to us. Thanks much!

Concerning to me that the actual Bermuda government website seems to indicate that we still need to be tested: https://www.gov.bm/cruise-travel-authorisation

Wow, this is very interesting and awesome news, if correct. It's on NCL's own website, so I would think it would be correct, but will obviously want to double-check it. My wife went into panic mode based on an email our travel agent sent her on October 5th, so I'm also curious if this is a really recent policy change, or if our travel agent was sending us old guidance.

So my wife is panicking today because Bermuda still requires COVID testing, and specifically a negative Rapid PCR test (shortly before embarking) and the online sites for trying to schedule such a thing are awful (e.g., CVS site for COVID testing doesn't easily let you specify that you need a Rapid PCR test and doesn't provide accurate info as to stores near you that offer it). I will try to search the forums myself, but figured I'd make a quick post here since some of "the regulars" might be able to quickly point me to a thread with some good info on this topic.

Thanks for your input. What level were you on?

Sorry, that was a typo in that post. I had it correct in an earlier post - our current room is a B1, 9th-floor aft-facing non-Haven room.

So just to clarify...being in the Haven, you don't get the Premium Plus beverage package included...you still have to pay extra for that, correct?

Thanks for all of the useful info you shared, but wanted to pick this particular part out to ask whether being over the walkway on deck 8 was a positive or negative.

Thanks for the quick and thoughtful reply. Sorry for the confusion...our promo code is ALL4CHO which is "Free at Sea" but we are wanting to upgrade to "Free at Sea Plus" which adds another 2 Specialty Dining meals, upgrades the beverage plan from Premium to Premium Plus, improves internet access from 150 mins/person to unlimited w/streaming, and adds another $50 shore excursion discount. That's $343/person. Regarding the rooms...you recommended against an aft cabin for Haven, but if we didn't win a bid to upgrade, what are your thoughts about us being in the H1 (State Room) aft-cabin w/balcony? Obviously, it will be a lot of walking to get to things, so I guess I'm mainly asking your opinion about having an aft-facing balcony specifically. One last note about the Haven...when we originally booked about a month back, our agent didn't think the cost of upgrading to a Haven was worth it, especially at the time of year we'd be going, since the boat likely wouldn't be at capacity, or have a lot of kids, so the common areas wouldn't be as bustling. But, obviously, if I can pay just a little more via the bidding process, I'm thinking it may still be worth trying (and, yes, I'm now thinking about possibly avoiding bidding on a Haven w/aft-balcony).