NEW 2 CRUISIN

 

I am personally still going back and forth on whether or not to do the cruise on the Escape in October by ourselves. I really *want* to do it, but I am still filled with guilt at the prospect of skipping out on my parents.

As you SHOULD be!

Put your selfishness aside and spend as much time as you can with your parents while they are still here. You're lucky your folks still want to spend time with you, too! There will always be thousands of opportunities to cruise, but only one week a year to gather with them at the time share!

It might sound harsh, but you asked...and you can't just keep reading until you hear what you want to hear....or you wouldn't be feeling guilty about your plans.

109........

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Any progess completing your bookings?[emoji848]

Yes!

Finally, late afternoon on Friday we were able to book dining and entertainment!

Though there are still some odd quirks on that NCL site, I called and had them send me an invoice and itinerary that reflected the correct selections and purchases......which were not necessarily always what the website showed. [emoji15]

First off, have a wonderful transatlantic cruise. This is on my bucket list to do someday. I never asked for a supervisor, but I am glad someone did! I will worry about the rebate on the last day of the cruise. Until that day, I will enjoy every second of my Baltic cruise!

Thanks so much!

This will be our first Transatlantic, too, so you can imagine our excitement!

In comparison to what we are spending on this cruise, the $100 back on 2 excursions will be “nice”, but not “noticeable”, I’m sure! Haha!

The WiFi and Drink offers did not appeal to us, so we have the ShorEx one, by default, along with the Dinners.

I’m confident NCL will deliver on all fronts, as they always have for us! [emoji2]

We have now called 3x about this $50 "perk" and 3x have been told the same thing: "Since you pre-booked online and paid in advance, when each excursion is completed each cabin (we have 2) will be credited with $50 refundable obc. If you do not use it on the cruise, it will be credited back to the credit card you charged the excursions on." When we booked our Baltic excursions our latitudes discount was immediately taken off the price of each excursion. Just wish NCL would get their act together and train their reps to give out the same info to all who call...

I had a call escalated to a Shore Ex Supervisor for another reason yesterday, and asked about this again. He told me the same thing you were told, so maybe they are finally getting their stories straight!

We booked and paid for excursions for our upcoming cruise online like we always have in the past.

I was happy to see the Latitudes Discount applied immediately at booking.

He told me the $50 FOS Rebate will be issued as you described above, which is fine with us, as our cruise is a 14-day Transatlantic and the tours are very early in the cruise! Pretty sure we'll use that OBC by the time we are half way across the Atlantic! HAHA!

:)

Does anyone know if it's definately an IT issue, or does it depend on when final payment is made?[emoji848]

Well...that’s what the NCL rep told me, so thats all I have to go by!

We’ll probably never know! HAHA!

Here was my experience from the Getaway last month:

 

 

 

1) all excursions were pre-paid

 

2) up to $50 was credited to my stateroom around 6pm each night in a port

 

3) up to $50 was credited per port, one excursion (kayak at Harvest Caye) was $29 and the credit was $29

 

 

 

It was a fairly simply process and they also did give me the Latitudes discount. Good luck and happy sailing!

Thanks for sharing this!

It’s how I was hoping it would work all along! Especially when we’ve always booked tours in advance on line....and one would think NCL would want EVERYONE to book them online, as it is the cheapest way for them!

Oh well!

Fingers crossed mine will work out the same way!

There are already enough other quirks with their website to worry about! HAHA!

Lol yes, is driving me crazy but we have to go with the flow. This is our first time on this ship and we really have to know the ship. :-). so we can book the entertainment and restaurants..Hope you are on the roll call and meet you in the meet and great..

Yes! We’re on the Roll Call and anxiously counting down the days!

I spoke with an NCL rep last night to delete all the dinners I tried to book this week so I could start over when all the dates and times are available.

She could not access anything past the first day either, and said that probably means everyone must still have to wait til 90 days out to book.

I’ll keep checking!

See you in 117 Days!! [emoji2]

I will be going on the Breakaway this coming October 2. I have been checking to see when the pass would be available and it had been telling me it would be available today 6/4/2018. This morning i went in and it says not available to book, did it sell out already? or was it too early to book? just wondering, i always thought it was 90 days out, but now confused.

Hi Spanishguy!

We are on the same cruise and have only been able to book the 2 Main Stage shows and Dinner for the first 2 days. EVERYTHING else shows as "unavailable".

This, after My NCL encouraged me to book everything yesterday morning when I logged in.

I suspect the fact that some folks had a Final Payment Date of 120 days out....while others have a Final Payment Date of 90 days out is screwing with the IT programming of the website.

Folks in the Haven on our cruise were supposed to be able to book everything 130 days out and STILL cannot.....so we will have to wait. :loudcry:

If you have the time, I recommend the full transit on the ship, 14 day cruise. We've done it twice, both ways. And do read A Path Between the Seas first.

GOOD suggestion on the Book!

There are also some great videos to watch about the Canal before a cruise there.

The book and videos helped us appreciate what we were experiencing along the way!

:)

We did a similar excursion on HAL in April and all 4 of us loved it!

I’m not sure if NCL uses the same tour company, but it seemed like there was only one Company running all of the busses and ferries when we were there.

Anything specific you’d like to know? I’d be happy to answer if I can!

It’s a long day, but this whole cruise (for us) was planned around the Canal Experience, and we enjoyed waking up in the Atlantic and finishing the day in the Pacific!

Our boat had a fantastic historian who narrates along the entire tour, and it was great to experience the size and scale of the locks ... especially with a MUCH larger cargo ship following us through!

Lunch, soda, and bottled water was served all day, and there were plenty of photo ops along the way. Be sure to get pics of your party touching the slimy Canal walls! HAHA! Even Mom and Dad got on on that action! [emoji4]

We would do that cruise again in a heartbeat, but probably no need to do the tour more than once, as we always like to try something new when we cruise.

Bring back the Blue Lagoon!!

Oh my.....YES!!

We thought we were the only ones who missed it!!!

YES!!! They stole the “FOUNTAINS” act from NCL!! Haha!!

1. Yes.

2. No.

Thanks to all for offering some great info here....instead of referring everyone to that other thread with 4,600+ posts about upgrading!!!

That's nearly impossible to wade through for info at this point!

Appreciate the original question, and all the replies!! :)

I guess the most things were technically inspections and paintings, new carpets and kind like that.

No big changes.

if you like to see many many pictures after the refurb look for oceanliner pictures from last week while the Breakaway docked the first time in Warnemünde Germany

I dont know if it is allowed to set the link directly to the breakaway pictures, but I'm sure you will find them

http://oceanliner-pictures.com/different-pics/norwegian-breakaway.html

Has there ever been a dry dock with less fanfare? I mean almost zero in terms of upgrades/refurb/enhancement ha...

 

 

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I agree!

These are the first pics we’ve seen....and switching the names of a bar doesn’t really require a dry dock visit! HAHA!

I’m sure they had damage to fix and carpets to replace from the storm flooding they took earlier this year.

Hoping those on the first Baltic cruise right now will be able to report something exciting when they get back!

They most definitely do exist.

 

https://www.ncl.com/giftcard

Thanks for that link!

I never saw that info before!

More exciting to Gift Wrap than OBC! :D

Did any recent BA cruiser hear any details of dry dock plans? Sometimes the officers like to chat at those Meet and Greets!

 

We are so looking forward to the Breakaway out of New Orleans this fall. We haven't been on her since her Inaugural Season.

We've been asking all over and it appears the Breakaway dry-dock improvements are one of the best kept secrets out there! HAHA!

We should hear something soon, though, as the Baltic Summer cruises start right after the updates!

We're looking forward to bringing her back to NYC on the Transatlantic this October - our first time on the ship! :D

I know this is subjective and probably discussed before. At any rate, I'm looking at a 10 cruise on the Epic in January. The price difference from a balcony to a suite/haven is $4400.00

 

 

 

What does a suite offer to make it worth so much more.......

For us, that $4,400 is equal to 2 more cruises, so I’ll never be convinced that the suite could be “worth it” to us.

No matter what it includes - which is for SOME people, and that’s OK - we’d rather take the two additional cruises!!

...I think it probably makes sense to avoid Tivoli restaurants as well as hotel restaurants as they'd surely be more expensive.

Also....regarding Tivoli.....it’s not open all year, so be sure to check their website for scheduled hours.

That could help rule that out or in for you!

So far, our Copenhagen visits have been in the Fall, just between seasons, and we have yet to see it open!

[emoji22]

After reading the original post, I was curious enough to look up "Royal Ocean Events" online to see what this was all about.

For those interested, here is a sample package they offer on NCL. I assume anything not listed here must be arranged separately.....

Weddings at Sea Package – LEGAL – $2995.00

• Onboard Group Service Coordinator
  
• Ceremony Conducted by the ship’s captain
  
• Traditional bridal bouquet made up of 12 roses tied with silk ribbon
  
• Matching groom’s boutonniere
  
• Pre-recorded ceremony music
  
• Ceremony vows provided
  
• 6” wedding cake for the bridal couple
  
• Dinner for two in Le Bistro
  
• One bottle of sparkling wine from Norwegian’s Private Selection
  
• One bottle of house red or white wine
  
• One bottle of Prosecco
  
• Champagne toast for bridal couple
  
• One Hour Basic Photography Services*
  
• Canapes delivered to stateroom
  
• Chocolate covered strawberries delivered to stateroom
  
• Priority Tendering
  
• Priority Debarkation
  

*Photography packages are available for purchase.

Weddings At Sea Package available on select itineraries only and must be booked 75 days in advance.

Available on the Norwegian Breakaway, Norwegian Epic, Norwegian Escape and Norwegian Getaway.

Additional exceptions and licensing fees apply.

What about ice cream?

We’ve found it’s best served cold....and VERY often!

HAHA! [emoji2]

The Scandic Front has a stop 200m away from it, its right outside the Admiral Hotel.

 

 

 

Both very good hotels in a great location.

Great to hear!

Since the Hilton is no longer at the airport, we decided to mix it up a bit and selected the ADMIRAL before our Fall transatlantic!

Looking forward to spending more time in the city and less time taking the train back and forth!

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With the ship arriving in Cobh (Ireland) this morning, the dry dock days are quickly approaching!

Will be great to hear from those on the Baltic cruise in a couple weeks as to which changes/updates/additions were made!

We’re following closely, as we’ll be bringing ‘er back to NYC in the Fall!!

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