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I always book through a TA. She always beats NCL price by hundreds and you also get all the promos that NCL offers.

Though I understand that you cruised on NCL so as to provide a cruise experience oriented toward the younger folks in your party, I get the impression from your comments that you, as an adult, enjoyed the cruise as well. Is this a fair assessment? If you had not had young people with you, would you have enjoyed NCL in the adult way you have enjoyed X?

 

I ask because I myself a considering sailing on NCL (though never on such a big ship), and we travel as an adult couple only.

We, as adults always enjoy NCL. We are usually in suites or their Haven so it's a little harder to compare. I don't think X has anything similar to NCL's Haven, which is a ship within a ship. We have our own private pools, restaurant, lounge, concierge etc.Only guests staying in a Haven suite has access by room key to this area.

I am not crazy about the food in the MDR, but the specialty restaurants are quite good. Entertainment wise i find their shows quite good. Besides the fact my granddaughters are joining us for the 2nd half of our trip we also wanted to check out the ship itself. We find the service very good and hardly ever see them without a smile. The itinerary is awful, Tortola, st. Thomas and my favourite, Nassau.

Could I ask about the smoking policy on NCL? Is it allowed in interior spaces such as the casino? Is smoking on balconies allowed? I'd like to branch out, but smoking is my deal-breaker.

I have done 13 NCL cruises and are at the top of their benefit program, Platinum. We will be doing our first Celebrity cruise this November. As for smoking policy, there is smoking in the casino and it can be bad. There is a cigar lounge on one of the decks that you can smoke in. This one is enclosed. There is absolutely no smoking on balconies, there are designated areas outside for smoking. Right after my equinox cruise that returns on December 9 we will be taking the Escape on December 10.

Looking forward to the X cruise. On the Escape we will be joined by our 3 granddaughters and NCL has a very good program for them.

My son just text us that they docked at 8:10

Sailed in The Haven in May out of Miami, but it was a surprise for the family (they didn't know I took the upsell :-) ) so we went through the "normal" line for embarkation to prolong the surprise. I am Bronze, so no status to speak of. It took maybe 15-20 minutes total. I honestly don't think we would have been on board much faster had we used the Haven line.

 

Compared to Royal Caribbean, Norwegian's disembarkation for suite guests is a joke. We just got a "secret" elevator, then were thrown in the line with everyone else.

Did you get off with the concierge. When ever I'm in the Haven or suite, the concierge takes me off and we cut in front of everyone, no waiting at all

We use Allianz Global Assistance‎. For us Quebecers a lot of insurance companies won't insure us. I think it has to do with Quebec laws.

I believe you have to do your check in first, make sure that is done.

I just want to confirm, the Alamo rental is the airport location that you pickup the complimentary shuttle? Do you show the receipt to the front desk? Most of the time, we just drop of the return without checking back in the front desk. Thanks

The shuttle driver will ask to see your receipt, no need to go to the counter, just head to the shuttle.

Interesting...we stayed at the French Quarter, and we asked the guy at the front desk if we could somehow print our E-Docs and luggage tags for the cruise. He said we didn't have access to a computer anywhere, but he was very helpful in allowing us to email those documents to him. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get them without logging in to a computer (our phones were being weird). We were able to get the E-Docs printed after about 30 minutes of struggle...which was a little irritating that no one even looked at it at the pier. Oh well!

 

The guy did mention that if we needed to print boarding passes, or even cruise docs for DCL, they were able to do that easily. Overall, he was very helpful, and we thanked him profusely!

We just stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and they told us the same thing about printing our boarding passes for our flight home.

No it doesn't. Your original booking date and perks are kept.

Last year i booked a cruise over 1 year out. I then rebooked 8 months out and I didn't get credit for the additional points. In my case it did't really matter since i was already platinum

I am an agent, and I have had client's call directly to upsell, and they have had no problems.

 

There have been times, that it is more effective for me to call on their behalf, but I work out potential details prior to calling. I get the approval to accept on the spot for the upgrade to a specific category at no more than a specific price first.

 

Upsell wants an immediate answer and there is no changing your mind or do overs. If I had to wait to check with a client, there is a good chance the opportunity would pass them by.

 

Thanks to forums such as these, the upsell department gets inundated with requests....and if you do not accept on the spot, there is a good likelihood that the offer is no longer available.

 

As an agent , we have no advance info on when a particular sailing will become available for upselling.

How far out can you ask for an upsell.

We used them in France and they were wonderful. We were late and the driver waited for an hour. We were very impressed also drove a new Mercedes C300

Generally speaking neither Celebrity nor a TA will monitor your price and alert you to a reduction. That's your responsibility. Regarding the price of cruises, if you're looking at a very popular itinerary, the sooner you book, the better the price because those only increase as cabins sell out. Earlier is better if it matters whether you want a specific cabin.

 

Itineraries that have a lot of capacity and competition are the ones which usually have price reductions. A good time to check for price reductions is when pre-booked TA cabin blocks are released back to the cruise line as being unsold.

 

The cabin price will be the same whether you purchase directly or through a TA. You will receive the Celebrity promotional perks whether you book directly or through a TA. Where the difference is, the large online TA that offers additional perks and OBC. Not all TAs are created equal so shop several.

 

It's been my observation that Celebrity isn't doing many price reductions lately. But since I'm in the U.S., YMMV in Ireland.

can you explain what YMMV is, thanks

You can also check goseek, they also have some very favourable rates

Shore excursions may be reserved online beginning 180 days before the date of your cruise, at Midnight Eastern US Time; or 240 days out for those in a Concierge Suite, or above, and for Silver Seven Seas Society Members. If you have trouble booking your chosen excursions on-line then speak to your TA and/or the Regent office

 

 

Regent use the phrase 'FUSE' (Free Unlimited Shore Excursions)

As discussed on this Board the term 'Free' means 'included in your cruise fare'. Also it is worth noting that 'Unlimited' means that you can book as many excursions as you feel you can pack into your cruise (as long as there is not a time clash); it does not mean that there are an unlimited number of spaces on each excursion

 

As it is your first Regent cruise, suggest you leave enough time to enjoy the ship facilities, especially if your cruise is port intensive; wall-to-wall excursions may seem like good value but can be very tiring. Also read the excursion descriptions carefully and check the tour duration, travel time etc so that you are not disappointed by your choices

 

Enjoy planning your excursions and hope you enjoy your first Regent experience

Thank you very much.

When is it?

Long time out. Voyager sailing HKG April 8, 2018.

I booked my first Regent cruise and was wondering how far out can we start booking our excursions.

Thanks for this recommendation. I've read about Julio Tours elsewhere, but it's good to have something so recent.

 

Did you have any concerns or issues about getting back to the ship on time? (I don't know what it is, but I feel a bit more apprehensive about that in these ports than I would on a private shore excursion in Europe. But I do prefer private excursions.)

we also did Julio Tours and it was excellent, Very nice lunch was included. I would highly recommend Julio.

Lots of car rental companies at MIA - these are the ones I know offer free shuttles between POM and MIA; show the driver your rental paperwork before you board.

 

Reports are mixed about shuttles from the downtown locations - call them or be prepared to pay the whopping $12 cab fare (under $10 if you use Uber ;))

I know the above mention rental companies, Alamo, National, Dollar, Thrifty offer return shuttle service. The key is do have your rental agreements with you. MIa to POM, you need your receipt. From POM to MIA you need your reservation.

thank you

New to Celebrity and i was wondering if it's possible to buy the dining packages on board, thanks

Look at hotels in the blue Lagoon area near the MIA airport; much nicer than most of the airport area with a local strip mall within walking distance to many of the hotels (Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites, etc.). Call the hotel for suggestions about local options for Cuban pastries.

I've stayed at The Intercontinental many times, it's a beautiful hotel with great service. Their parking when i said there last was $39/night. I decided to gamble and park by the meters on the street. I got ticketed and it was $18/night so for 2 nights I saved $43.00 plus tips and didn't have to wait for the valets.

It's a nice hotel, a little dated but it will have everything you need. You will be fine for one night. enjoy!! just a 10 mile drive to the port.

Thanks everyone.

On sea days only - at least that's what it has been

That's great, thanks.

Sorry if this has been answered previously, new to Celebrity and I was wondering if the MDR is open daily for lunch. I know it's open on embarkation day, we are booked in concierge class, but i was wondering about the other days. Thanks