mpcaruth

I read another's post that stated NCL only books 30% reservation capacity pre-cruise, and the remainder spots are to be booked on board. Can anyone confirm this? I would prefer to schedule my entertainment first and then make dinner reservations around show preferences and port days. Anyone have success getting their preferred dinner and show reservations once they board the ship? Also, can you use the App once you board the ship to make reservations? Or must you use the board/kiosk? I haven't sailed NCL in 4-5 years and am not used to the process. Thanks in advanced!

I have a hyphenated last name and my Carnival reduced-size last name is very different than my passport name. In 12 Carnival cruises, I have never had an issue even through their website and emails always stress the names have to match exactly. It's Carnival's computer system that will not take a hyphenated name correctly and they know it.

Yes, stomach space for food! Plus, I get sleepy when I drink and end up going to bed early and I feel like I am missing out. At home, I drink a glass of wine to relax myself if I have had a stressful day at work. I am already relaxed on a cruise. We are all different in our preferences and priorities. Can you imagine how boring the world would be if we were all the same?

I should have clarified it better: 2 people equals 4 a day

Unpopular opinions: Sea days are my least favorite, and as such, I choose port intensive itineraries. I love walking the ship and outside decks early in the morning before it gets crowded. I dislike hanging out by the cramped and crowded pool decks during the day. Chairs hogs do not bother me. I turned down the Free at Sea drink package! 1) keeps us from drinking too much just to get our money's worth, and 2) I don't think my husband and I would drink 28+ drinks on a 7 day cruise to equal the price of the gratuity. I always wonder if the Haven guests really have that much better time than us bargain hunters. NCL cruising appears to be the furthest from "freestyle". I always end up over planning, making reservations before cruise, during cruise, stressing because reservations are not available, and during the cruise always checking my watch to make sure we are not late for reservations. Perhaps, that's just a reflection of mega-ship sailing logistics. And sailing a family of four in a single cabin is not so bad. We've done it 14 times. I call it family bonding and learning life skills of compromise and being considerate. 🙂 The kids think it is better than being left back at home.

There are still some good deals on NCL. 3rd & 4th guest sailing free (non prime dates), make a quad cabin very economical. We are booked in a quad balcony cabin on the Escape in January for less than $2450. However, my husband and I sailed Carnival to Bermuda in an oceanview earlier this year for less than $700.

We had a quad balcony cabin on the Getaway a few years ago and there was no overhead bunk. The couch pulled out to a double bed. We currently have a quad Balcony GTY booked for January and would love to get a cabin with a pull down bunk. Anyone have information on quad room setups on the Escape, and if there are cabins with the double bed couch? Hoping we can get a cabin with a bunk to allow more floor space and more comfort the kids.

I just booked a cruise and declined the drink package. My husband and I do drink, but not during the day. We may have a couple of drinks at the comedy club a few nights. Never more than 10 drinks in the week. We had the drink package once, and two of the days (busy port days) we did not even get a single drink. Drinking relaxes me, and I am already on a relaxing cruise, so drinking just makes me sleepy. I don't want to sleep my cruise away just to get my money's worth.

Being that there is much confusion on the process, I thought I'd share the timeline for our Bermuda travel authorization. We will embark for our cruise on May 26 with first stop in Bermuda on May 28. I received an email from Carnival May 5, notifying that a Bermuda Travel Authorization was required. I had intended on holding off applying until after I had my negative test results. (Did not want to spend $40 on each of us, if we could not sail). After reading on this forum of the new changes for Authorization beginning on May 21, I read on the Bermuda website that applications for authorization should be submitted two weeks prior to sailing. So... I applied for Bermuda Travel Authorization on May 21 and received an email stating "Application pending review" with a link to "Upload and view your documents". On May 23, I received an email "Once your pre-departure test and vaccination documents are uploaded, your application will be reviewed and your Traveller Authorization will be emailed." What? The website specifically states you do not need to upload test results after May 21. So, I ignored the email assuming they just had not updated the automatic email push. On May 24, I received an email stating, "APPROVED BERMUDA TRAVEL AUTHORISATION " . The email contained a link to the website and form. I had to type in my initials in the waiver box and hit continue to get the completed form. The completed form (which includes a bar code) is downloadable to a pdf and ready for printing. Below is a screen shot of the instruction and waiver portion of the Travel Authorization. I tested negative for COVID this evening. Woo hoo! I am ready to cruise.

Thanks for sharing. Looks like uploading of the COVID test results will no longer be required (after May 24). It must have been a processing bottleneck for them,.