SpacemanSpiff

5 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Kind of surprised NCL went to the old gatherings for the muster drill.  I would have to think it cost more in both time and personnel to go back to the old way of doing it.

I read one article that said they thought they went back to the old muster drill to save on labor.  Otherwise, they had an employee standing around for hours at each station while people rolled by and checked in.  With the physical drill, they were only there for an hour.

Why am I concerned that it's effective April 1?  🤔

4 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

The cruise line may process a transaction that shows up as a pending charge on your credit card multiple times during your cruise.  They sometimes seem to do $300 when you check in.  If you make a significant purchase on board, they may submit a pending charge for $495 for that gold watch you just bought, for example.  They are verifying that your card actually has enough credit on it to pay for these purchases.  If there are not sufficient funds on the card for these purchases, there will be a problem at the time of purchase that you will need to address.

 

However, these charges eventually drop off and never get fully processed by the credit card company.  Instead, NCL will run a final charge on your card for the entire amount of your purchases.  For example, this would be for the $495 watch plus any other purchase you made -- t-shirts, candy, daily service charges (if not pre-paid), dinners outside of your pre-purchased package, etc.  So they may run a final charge for $612.  That is the only charge that will eventually fully post to your credit card. 

 

The other intermediate pending charges will fall off your card -- but this does not always happen right away.  Mine are usually gone by the time I get home from my cruise.  But I've seen a couple times where they lingered for several days.  This will vary based upon the rules of your own card.  NCL doesn't do anything to cancel them.  They just fall off your card because they were not submitted as final charges, they were "test the balance" transactions.

 

And yes, as posted above, you don't choose when to use your OBC or not.  It will just be used as a positive entry into your account balance.  Any purchase that is valid for that type of OBC (refundable or non-refundable) will subtract from it before increasing the amount you will have to pay in cash.

BTW, this why you NEVER want to use a debit card for this purpose.  With the potential for multiple holds on the card, and delays in some of these holds dropping off, you risk being overdrawn on your bank account with all of the chaos it causes.

Yes -- I saw it about nine days after I'd sent in the documentation.  Check your summary page, as jcncamsdad says.

5 hours ago, yanka said:

he is off on the vacation now and then will head to Viva

Oooh, aren't we the lucky ones!  We'll be on the Viva in September!

Here's a blurb about upcoming casting for "Six" -- dates not specific, though.

"Onboard the Norwegian Breakaway & Bliss in 2023 and beyond..."

https://www.pearsoncasting.com/six-the-musical-ncl

9 hours ago, TPgal said:

Is it bad form to bring tape to reinforce the bag?   (jk)

It may be bad form, but I'm doing it anyway.

15 hours ago, mapleleaves said:

You need to find out how many ships are in port with you that day, their arrival & departure times, and # of pax.  (google for the port info )

 

I was there on Sept 28. We were on Tender #4 and had a 2hr wait to go up in the cable cars.   No wait going down tho.

We will be there in mid-September on the Viva (sunset about 7:24).  The other major ship in port that day is the NCL Jade (plus a small ship of about 300 pax).  However, the other two ships are set to depart at 9pm, and we are at 10pm, so I'm not too worried -- going to enjoy a nice dinner on the cliffs and bail out just as the sun gets low.

We've also booked the ship's trip to Oia to avoid the hassle of the cable cars going up.

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

What a great reminder! Thankfully no convictions here...but I always forget about this! 

Not sure how tightly they look at cruisers, but also make sure you don't carry any mace or pepper spray.  (Not sure if the cruise lines let you have it anyway, but....)

YMMV, but normally they only allow a two-day deviation.  They did allow us a three-day deviation because we were staying at one of "their" hotels and paying for it through NCL.

Or you may decide it's cheaper to get your own airfare and hotel -- which is what we ultimately did.

Question about Palomar (before we finalize what restaurants to eat at) -- I remember reading one review that complained that when they were dining, the noise from the racetrack above was disruptive to the meal.  Was that an issue with y'all, or was that just a matter of timing, or was someone just being picky?

4 hours ago, Hogladyrider said:

@Greenpea2and @GirlWriter...speaking of differences between men and women....what about the "selective hearing" that men seem to have!

Huh?  Did you say something?

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

I could see myself getting lost as I have the world's worst sense of direction.

This is what I dread for my wife on our upcoming Viva cruise.  (I have a darn good sense of direction -- once I get a map in my head, I can figure my way around anything.) 

I've given her the most important thing -- directions from our cabin to the Starbucks.  (Go left out of our cabin to the elevator bank - about eight cabins -  go down six floors, go right out of the elevator bank, and voila.  Reverse to get back to the room.)  Of course, she'll likely send me out for the coffee, and I'll likely mess it up, so..... 🤔

3 hours ago, cml4958 said:

We’re in Grand Cayman today. Time for a trip to He!!.

Best part of going there is going to the post office (it's a tourist trap, but go with the flow!) and sending a bunch of snarky postcards along the lines of "I've been to Hell" and the like.

And, like ontheweb, we enjoyed the turtle farm, and also Stingray City (Mrs Spiff has the spirit of Elly Mae Clampett and loves her critters).

On 1/8/2023 at 8:55 PM, okpaddy said:

I usually bring a bar of soap with me when I cruise. I just prefer it to the body wash. 

Mrs Spiff is one who prefers the bar soap (I can go with the flow, but would prefer bar soap in the shower).  This is why I have about six small bars of soap in my Dopp kit that I've pilfered from hotel rooms I've stayed in.  They're small, and it makes the Mrs happy.

Additional to above -- interesting info from the original call notice from Pearson Casting.  I wonder if they have to pay room and board out of the $1100 per week.

Rehearsals begin on or about May 14, 2023

Board the Norwegian VIVA on or about August 4, 2023

End of contract TBD up to 6 months onboard

Itinerary: Mediterranean and Caribbean

ENSEMBLE: Starting at $1,100/week

Certain cast members will also participate in other entertainment onboard including, but not limited to, an additional cabaret performance, live event, and/or a nightclub experience for an additional salary incentive.

2 hours ago, Steff79 said:

biggest question is if the third ship will be a plus ship or the same then 1 and 2.

sadly no news for viva, no official for beetljuice.

but for sure the longest race track ever 😀

Looks like they are progressing on casting, now looking for male ensemble dancers.

https://www.backstage.com/forums/callback-corner/beetlejuice-norwegian-cruise-15181

Thar she blows!!!!

Thanks, y'all.  I figure I can deal with it ok, but just wanted to make sure.

1 hour ago, jb12 said:

Some tix are available on Vatican Museum site.  I got mine for all the way in August.

I got one (the "Prime Experience" one) last weekend for late September.  Only snag I had was my credit card was initially declined (the card company immediately sent me a fraud alert), and I quickly took care of that and resubmitted the card info successfully.

We're starting to book some tours, specifically in Rome, where I see a lot of "not suitable for those with mobility issues" warnings.

I do use a cane when traveling but, believe it or not, it's less for walking (though I have been known to use them for stairs) and more for when I stand.  I am prone to back spasms, and this gives me something to lean on until I start to walk again, at which point the back feels better.

I don't consider myself "mobility impaired"  but am a bit leery of some tours - the Colosseum is one. 

Your thought, folks?

O fellow Bama fan, here's where I get on the marketing soapbox and strongly recommend that you open an account with Schwab Bank. There's a few steps to jump through, but you end up with a debit card that doesn't mark up the currency translation when you make a withdrawal (unlike my regular bank, which charges 3%), refunds any ATM fees that the other guy might charge, and doesn't charge add on translation fees if you use it for debit/credit card transactions.

We got such an account about a decade ago, and it has been wonderful for traveling. 

This way you can stop at a reputable ATM and get cash very easily.  I usually pick mine up at the arriving airport before leaving. 

I am sure if you do some digging, you'll find more than a few people on these boards have good things to say about it.

Thanks for the comments to all.  We've already booked a private driver, primarily because we want to see Positano -- it's the other areas we aren't sure about seeing (suggestions are welcome).

And this is directed at the OP -- Bama fan?  Your name reminds me of the score of a certain NC game.

On 2/2/2023 at 9:35 AM, sunkey1 said:

Not sure if NCL has stopped using straws or not but would add silicone or metal straws to the list if it was me. We have those on our packing list now. You can also get collapsible metal ones with cases that are really nice as you can keep them in the case after they've been used until you have a chance to rinse them out.

And don't be like Mrs. Spiff.  We went to an all-inclusive last spring that would put the drinks in your own insulated mug.  And, unlike their reputation of watering down drinks, they were quite heavy-handed with the rum punch, a favorite of both of ours.  Mrs. Spiff brought five silicone straws with her and only came back with three...  (Me, I just drank it out of the mug without a straw.  Otherwise I would have lost the others!)

EDIT:  That brings up a point --  what is the protocol of using your own mug vs. the cups that NCL provides?   I'm specifically thinking of soda and such, not the bar drinks.

4 hours ago, Monica887 said:

You had more than 16 drinks a day?! I can't even drink that much water....I don't understand the logistics of that. 

Don't laugh.  We had a senior engineer who retired from my office in 1997 and went on a one-week cruise.  And he was known to be a heavy drinker (in the proper occasions -- never on the job).

I heard he came back with a $3000 bar tab.  And that was 25 years ago.  🤨