Anoynmous Phoenix

It is most annoying as when we did the Pride MANY years ago we were halfway to the Nā Pali coast we came across a yacht floating, upside down, just below the surface.   They put down an RIB and checked for life and then attached a Radio Sonde Beacon.   We waited round till the captain had received information that the US Coastguard had found the signal and then he informed us of the fact and explained that we would have to turn round and miss the Nā Pali .

We are doing the Pride trip twice in May and were looking forward to seeing what we had missed.   Not a happy couple!!

@Bchfanatic1

I presume that you have some "free meals" through your Free at Sea offer on your booking.

Firstly I suggest that you book the date(s) and time(s) at the restaurant(s) you want asap as the bookings available on line get taken quite quickly.   You can do it when you board and again I suggest you do it as soon as possible; there will be a special area to do that on Embarkation Day.

When you go to the restaurant they will ask for your room card and will see that you have Free at Sea "free" meals and will ask if you want to use it that evening.

If you do then, when seated, they will tell you clearly exactly what you are entitled to from their menu and which items on the menu have an upcharge.   If you want a variation from what they tell you you are entitled to then ask for a variation.   To may care to ask what sides are included with your mains.   We may often ask not to have a dessert but to have both a soup/salad and a starter.

At the end of the meal they will bring you a bill for you to sign.   It generally will have a zero balance UNLESS you have had a menu item with an upcharge or a drink.

HTH

A P

NO chance.  International flight at 10.20am when you have to be at the airport 3 hour prior.   

Even if it were only 2 hours prior it would mean you would have 1hr 20min to get off the ship; to get through Customs & Immigration as a US citizen and then get to the hired car/taxi for an, at least, 40 minute ride.   Still virtually NO chnace.

I have seen in on some ships but not all.   When you have scanned in ask where the "Drop-Off" room is.

As above it is meant for carry-on luggage that is able to pass through the scanners.

@tcdarby1

Ask your PCC to check for you.   Otherwise do what @Distinctive-Destinations suggests.

@Cmikel

We have cruised a great deal but have never used NCL as we are not certain if we could as we live in New Zealand.   BUT we have read so many negative comments/threads and talked to so many negative people on cruises who have that we wouldn't even consider it.

@slavigne5577

If you have the drink package then you can take on board as much wine as you can carry.  If not, it will cost $15 a bottle "corkage".

The funny thing is that there is a shop in the Barcelona cruise port AFTER the bags are checked.   When we boarded there almost everyone was buying spirits to take on board.   I wonder how many embarkation ports have the same situation.

I don't know where you are embarking but if there is such a shop there you might be lucky.

Also remember that the security bag check is not normally done by NCL staff but by a shore based company.

Also interested in the officers.   Especially the GM.

@cliffy97

Keep looking but the shore excursions at debarking ports often do not appear till 50 days before the day.   This is probably even more true at a new debarkation port.

@Oceansaway17

As a general rule; NO CHANCE.

But they will have a waitlist so get to the shore excursion desk asap when you board and get your name on the list.

@Victoria Darcy

You will have laundry bags and lists in your cabin; fill in list put all in bag, label outside and leave for the steward to take away, back on  the second day normally.

In the middle of the cruise you will get an offer of all you can get in the bag for a fixed price

HTH

A P

Personally I would not bother to going there again but some people swear by it.

@Fischmom

Does the system go by the first name on the reservation? 

Yes.   But if you want to change it get in touch with your PCC.   I did that when, somehow, NCL had my wife's name first on the booking.

A warning to everyone.   There are countries where laws about importing foodstuffs are very strict.   That is especially so in Australia and New Zealand.   If you are flying anywhere check what is allowed to be taken into the country.   If you are cruising be prepared to be told that NO FOOD of any kind can be taken off the ship NOR taken back on.

@julig22

I do as much as I need/want to and then leave.   I do it about 3 times a day so can usually do all I am interested in doing.   That said I carefully choose my time to do it.

@DCGuy64

I'm just curious: If NCL sent you a letter or did a massive mailing saying that they were only changing itineraries to save money, would that satisfy you?

Yes of course; then I would know they were being honest and could make an informed decision as whether I wanted to continue to cruise with them.

I object when they say they are changing an itinerary for one reason and the port authority say it is for a totally different reason.

While on board I find the easiest way to access Cruise Critic is to log in using a minute of time I have paid for and then access through the free tab before logging off.   Then you can use CC free.

@JamieLogical

Simple, if you want to quit NCL STOP reading their material!!   We did that with Princess a few years ago; we still get paper advertising from them and it goes into "File 13" unopened.

My biggest bugbear with NCL is twofold; their failure to proof read material they produce both online and on their ships AND their lack of the real reason when Itineraries are changed, as is said above "changing the itinerary to save fuel is NOT done for the environment. It’s to SAVE MONEY."

@Monstica

I received 2 cartons of water each every day. 

We are Ambassadors and received 2 each on day 1 and that was it.   For Gold you get 1 each on day 1 and that is it.

As far as I can remember it has always been like that.

The only possibility was that you were in the Haven when it might have been different

To flesh out my earlier post.

Admittedly it was NZ or Australia but the Freestyle Daily, every day, had the following

While both countries are paranoid about importing pests and diseases I should imagine most countries have a watered down version of those statements.   At some ports there were "food sniffing dogs" working.

I have seen similar in other parts of the world too.

Unless you can get an OK from NCL and the port authorities to take those foods on board i would not bother; there is plenty of good food on board.

@YYCJim

While we were not in the Haven we were Ambassadors when we boarded the Prima in Reykjavik last summer.   When you have dropped of your luggage and you enter the tent make sure that they know that you are in the Haven and they will take care of you, we had to push a little as those doing the "introduction" were not Cruise Line people.

We did and were treated royally and were on very early, at the front of the queue; but we had arrived even before the supposed first time on offer at the online check-in.

An aside; the taxi fare from our hotel near Hlemmur was about USD20 and took about 15 minutes.

Our Ambassador pins arrived early in February in time for the cruises we have in March & April; they look very nice.

We had been promised the gift to arrive before March 8th and so we were hoping as we leave on March 15 for 4 cruises on the Jewel.

It arrived today; fabulous.   Here is the card that came with it.

We laid it out for a photo

It all came nicely packed in the bag top right.   Perfect for holding dirty washing in the bathroom.

As someone who was on the ill-fated NCL Spirit cruise from Dubai to Cape Town, in March 2020, when we spent about 15 days at sea with no port willing to accept us I feel that the passengers on this cruise have suffered as much as we did but in a very different way.

To read that:-

I am totally disgusted if that is all NCL is willing to do in real terms, above the possible " normal" USD300 pp for changing flights, to make up for the "inconvenience".

We were treated very well by NCL after that shambles on the Spirit and I would hope that NCL re-examines that offer to match what was offered those of us on the Spirit.

One further point; although our Spirit cruise was affected by the onset of Covid NO ONE on the ship actually caught Covid while there those of you on this cruise were either affected by or in the presence of some serious gastrointestinal problems no matter what it actually was.   That surely requires that a REAL offer should be made.   Offering 15% off the FARE of a future cruise is FORCING you to take another cruise and pay 85% of the FARE; the 15% will not be taken off any other item which will remain at full cost.