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No worries, going by the responses it seems ya'll run into people who are not happy when they don't win bids. Which to me is silly, if you want an actual room just book it. Especially since these minimum bids aren't even that much different than the actual difference in rack rate of the cabins (though this seems to vary based on the sailing).

I don't know, do you have statistics on the data? Viva has ~400 inside cabins and ~1k balconies. If the probability is 1% and it's actually worth the money why not have some fun a throw in a bid.

Yeah $600 total. The bid is technically "300" but it's per person. I'm completely cool with the bid not winning the upgrade, I obviously booked the inside to begin with 🙂

I have an interior stateroom on a 10 night mediterranean Viva cruise, no sea days. Minimum bid to upgrade to a balcony is $600 total. Think it's worth it? Forgetting about the actual utility of the balcony- which is probably debatable on an all-port day cruise, the actual room does look really nice in pictures, and bigger/more elaborate than the interior. We've had a cruise balcony before and didn't use it too much but did like the ambiance it provided. Thoughts on if it's worth the bid for $60 per a night?

Yep. An airline cancelled my flight once and I spent 5 hours on the phone trying to get Expedia to change the flight. Their call center can't do anything, they just stall until you give up. "Call back tomorrow", "We'll look into this and I'll call you back in 1 day...3 days.....7 days". The airline told me they could rebook for free, they just need Expedia to call them to do so. Eventually I only got the flight rebooked by begging the airline to do the change without Expedia.

NCL actually publishes the airlines they use here: Frequently Asked Questions (ncl.com) I've read pretty much every forum post on NCL flights, and you will hear pretty much every experience possible. There are people who get great direct connection flights where it seems NCL didn't just choose the cheapest possible option. There are also people who are annoyed with the flight times (extra connections, early/late flights). Being in NYC also be aware that they can technically book you on any NYC airport like Newark. Also include that it seems on average people reporting having a checked bag included on their NCL international flights (though by no means guaranteed). These days most base fare US>Europe flights you book yourself do not include any checked bags. International bag fees are pricey (often $160-$200 RT a bag). A lot of negative feedback you will read about NCL air is that they don't guarantee or care you make the ship. It's similar to if you booked the flight yourself and missed your ship. So make sure you request to fly in 1-2 days prior which is the same you would do if you booked it yourself.

Awesome thanks! Looking forward to the short walk to the stairs/elevator. I was tempted to put in an upgrade bid for a balcony at $300 pp, but probably not worth it then for a no sea day cruise.

I've seen this criticism of the restaurant hours a few times. Can you elaborate on how they are bad? Like do the restaurants close at 9, or not open until 7:30?

I booked an inside guarantee, and it seems I was given an interesting cabin (14187) that flanks the elevators, and presumably the bed faces forwards. Anyone know what to expect? Are the elevators going on the other side of the wall going to be loud? will the room have an unusual layout? Not sure how accurate the deck plan dimensions are but it seems like it is slightly smaller than a normal inside cabin. Thanks!

So my TA put my reservation on hold yesterday, and said I have until Monday to put down a deposit. That would mean it's a 3-day hold. Everything I've read online says the hold limit is 24 hours. Online it says "Your cruise is on hold, but time is running out" Can anyone confirm? Obviously if the agent is incorrect, it's not like they can force NCL to do anything if prices change.

The funny thing is people say Norway is expensive, but honestly it seems about the same as the U.S. post covid. A burger with fries in a restaurant near me is $17. With tax/tip that's $21. Just spot checking restaurants in Norway, it seems the going rate is also the equivalent of about $20-$22. I have been to Norway a decade ago and remember it being super expensive, maybe the massive inflation seen in the U.S. didn't hit Europe as hard? Dollar is also stronger now than back then as well. Hotels seem very reasonable in summer in northern Norway. Just checking Hammerfest hotels are $100-$200. Very hard to compare to U.S. as it's so situational, but when I travel in summer, most hotels are closer to $150-$250. Car rentals are expensive though, seems to be about double the cost as U.S., and I'm sure gas is more than double as well. Still these excursions are crazy. A bus trip to the north cape is $190 a person. Even with one week car rental averaging $100 a day, it seems easy to do Norway/Iceland cheaper by land. If you wanted to equally eat a king on land (3 multi course meals a day), then the two would become more cost comparable. The two would also become cost comparable if you were stingy on excursions, but I think most of these ports are too quiet to do that.

Thanks for the feedback! I had booked the cruise with Leknes but after researching the ports have decided to cancel. Leknes and Longyearbyen looked to be super cool ports, but the rest seemed relatively tame small town/villages with points of interest further out. The excursions were incredibly expensive even for cruise line standards, with limited 3rd party options. And then even cars are iffy to get in a lot of these ports. If you can find them , they are $150-$200. I think I'll switch it out with a full ring land trip to Iceland and Longyearbyen separately one day.

You all are lucky, every NCL Bogo promo I've priced has the first ticket priced almost double what it would normally cost. E.g. DC to Iceland, returning from Norway is priced $1440 for first ticket. It's possible to get tickets as low as $600-$700 though the final fare will probably be closer to $800-$900.

What did you end up doing? Considering a trip with that stops in Djupivogur and NCL doesn't even sell excursions for the port yet. No car rentals either. It seems the biggest thing in the general area is a glacier that's 2 hours away. Though for an 8-hour tender stop that's not much time. If NCL releases a tour, I'm sure it will be eyewatering expensive as well.

NCL sells two similar Reykjavík -> Tromso itineraries, though in opposite directions. The main difference is the one that embarks in Reykjavik stops in Djupivogur and circles more around iceland, and the one that embarks in Tromso stops in Lenkes instead. I am thinking the Tromso> Reykjavík is better for a few reasons. 1. The Reykjavik> Tromso option looks like on the map you will see much more of iceland, though I suspect the ship actually won't be close to the coast while sailing so we won't miss out on much., 2. There doesn't seem to be much in Djupivogur, and it's also only a 8 hour tender stop. 3. Lenkes seems to be a bigger tourist destination, and looks like it might be more scenic while cruising during that leg? Thoughts?