KeithJenner

It sounds like lots of people were just looking for a reason to complain. I live in the UK and I probably drink more Guinness than any other beer. I've never heard of "Guinness Day" and it certainly isn't a big thing here. In a pub in the UK I'd guess that the proportion of people drinking Guinness is usually significantly lower than 5%. For every pint of Guinness that is served they will pour much more lager, wine or spirits. Guinness is certainly more commonly drunk in Ireland, and if the cruise line were promoting Guinness Day then they should have made sure they didn't run out before then, but all those upset people were probably only going to have a Guinness because of the advertising of the specified day.

You get two dinners for two. If you find someone to go with you then you can treat them. Even better, find another platinum who is solo and you get four meals for two between you. What you can't do is split your vouchers to make four meals for one.

And some others, mainly from Alfama: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6MBwfVioUM/?igsh=MWM2ZmExMXpvaGltYQ==

Some Pictures of the Freedom Day events: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6MBX7miBws/?igsh=eThyb3Y4ejh4YnFz Edit: I’ve never really worked out how to use Instagram. I don’t know if that link is any good. Let me know if it isn’t.

So it was a great day in Portugal. Walked to Alfama and worked our way back as planned. There was a flypast in the morning which we saw some of from our hotel and then they were getting ready for a parade at Pravda do Comercio. Alfama was really nice. The sort of place I could walk around for hours. On the way back we hit an event happening near the Elevador de Santa Justa which meant we couldn’t see the views from there and it was difficult getting through the crowds, but it was an experience. Relaxing in the hotel now, as we did cover some miles during the day. Overall I really enjoyed Lisbon. It’s my first time here and I would certainly like to get back soon. We didn’t head out to the Monastery at Belem and I think that’s where we will go next time.

I use the bill breakers in the casino to get smaller bills for tips etc.

There will almost certainly be no customs or immigration to deal with in Rome.

An option is to take the bottle of wine with you unopened. That often works well as we have wine with the meal anyway using free at sea and the platinum bottle can be nice to have a lazy afternoon on the balcony.

It will almost certainly be cheaper to get it at an ATM on shore if you can,

He’s 19 next month. Was out on the town last night with friends from University, where he has just finished his first year.

Happy Freedom Day. Somehow, despite seeing the date mentioned many times, I never spotted that we were here on the 25th of April, which is the anniversary of the “Carnation Revolution” when the fascist dictatorship was overthrown. It is the 50th anniversary this year, and there seem to be quite a few events planned. I’m not sure how this will effect our plans today but we will carry on and be flexible as required. We are staying at the Emerald House hotel, to the west of the centre, with a good view of the bridge (Ponte de 25 Abril - another clue that I missed) and the Santuario Nacional do Christo Rei monument across the river. It is a couple of miles from here to Alfama (the old city) and we plan to head there first thing and then work our way back. Hopefully it should be a good day.

Absolutely, regarding getting to know the servers and getting good service. We do tend to tip per drink, not in order to get better service, but just because I want to give something extra to these people who work so hard for us. However we often get to know others who treat the staff the same way bit don’t tip extra (sometimes they tip at the end, but the staff don’t know that). They get exactly the same treatment that we do, Tipping probably does have an effect on the service, but in my experience, the way you interact with the staff is much more important.

Hi everyone. Another one of my live reports is incoming. As usual I’m not sure how regularly I will be posting but I will try to get on every day if I can. A bit of background for those who don’t know us. I am travelling with my wife (our third cruise by ourselves after a few years of cruising with our son, who would rather stay at home these days. We have been NCL regulars for over 10 years now, most often in the Med, but there are a few new ports for us this time. We haven’t sailed on a Prima class yet (we were booked on the first Prima Amsterdam to Reykjavik cruise that was cancelled), so are interested to see how we get on with these ships. We usually book free at sea plus and have done so again this time. In addition we have booked Vibe passes. I’ve never really considered these before, but it made sense to us due to concerns about finding quiet bars outside. Whether it will be worth the cost is very debatable, but we will give it a go. Having free at sea plus makes some shore excursions very good value, so we have booked 5 in total. Some are full tours but we have also booked the hop on hop off in Majorca (for free) and a transfer to Florence. We have two days where we aren’t planning on going ashore (Ibiza and Marseille) but have plans on most days. Currently we are at Heathrow waiting for our flight to Lisbon, we have a day there tomorrow before boarding on Friday, More to follow from Lisbon,

Disembarkation will actually start at around 6am. It starts with haven guests, higher latitudes levels and people with MCL transfers, before others are called, but that shouldn’t take too long. If you are willing to carry your bags off yourself then you will be able to get off soon after 6. So it depends on how keen you are to get into Rome and how much effort you are willing to put into getting off early. We usually go for somewhere between 8 and 9 to make for a fairly relaxed morning.

Thanks for reporting back.

These offers vary a lot. I didn’t get it on my platinum but did on a different card.

Please report back whether it automatically credits the cashback for you. This issue has come up before, as these charges are regularly split, but I don’t recall whether it causes a problem with the cash back. I usually get an email or notification to say the offer has been used so hopefully you will get that soon.

You can make partial payments on the app. I did it yesterday to pay £750 off of a cruise. It can sometimes be a bit buggy and in the past I’ve had to phone because the app wouldn’t process a payment, but it it certainly possible. On the website there is no option to select a part payment.

I have booked a couple of these. On one I was charged a penny and the other was free.

The same way as they leave from Paris (Le Havre), London (Southampton) and Rome (Civitavecchia) to give a few examples. Venice (Trieste) is a new entry to this with a distance of about 100 miles.

The full list of priority access is: Club Suites 125 days Full Suites/Haven 130 days Platinum/Sapphire/Diamond 125 days Ambassador 130 days

If you want to eat at any of the speciality restaurants then I would advise booking them In advance. Bookings open at 120 days. They do hold spaces back for onboard booking, but I prefer to have things organised. On the newer ships there may be some entertainment that can also be booked in advance. I think this opens at 21 days (not sure as I don’t book entertainment).

NCL have worked out that people are grown up enough to decide for themselves how they want to dress. That means that you can dress up as much as you want without having to make me do the same. It’s great. If you want to dress up do so and enjoy yourself. You won’t be the only one.

I’ve received the cash back in the past when paying by either method.

I have just had £150 back on a £760 spend appear on one of my cards. Time to check your offers. 🙂