Agent999

On 3/28/2024 at 3:35 AM, Exuberant said:

I'm at 74 latitudes points aka probably the most painful number of points. I've got a 14 day cruise coming up and have heard that some people have been lucky in having a higher status honored when they are super close. I'm curious if anyone here has experience with this and can provide a data point or best way to go about trying to get them to honor platinum this time...

If you are at 74 points, then you are currently GOLD. This means you have gone through three status changes: None-Bronze, Bronze-Silver, Silver-Gold.

In any of your prior changes in Latitude levels, did NCL bump your status early, or did you have to wait until it actually posted after a cruise? Wouldn't it make sense that they would handle the transition from Gold-Platinum the same way?

7 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

Looking at the website, there are a number of 2025 cruises listed now.

Are those just 2025 cruises, or are they the 2025 Hawaii to Tahiti cruises that the OP asked about?

@DrSea Thank you for sharing your expertise on the thread, it is really appreciated.

I am hoping you can provide insight into the following:

The OP laid out the premise of "when you catch Covid on their ships" in the thread title. However, the OP provided no information to support that premise.

It is my understanding that Covid can have an incubation period between 2 and 14 days. It would seem that the OP could have been exposed to Covid at home prior to the cruise, on the way to the airport prior to the cruise, in the airport prior to the cruise, on the plane prior to the cruise, on the taxi ride to the cruise terminal prior to the cruise, inside the terminal prior to the cruise, or ashore while on an excurions...IOW, many opportunities for the Covid exposure to be OFF the ship and not ON the ship.

From a medical/scientific standpoint, how could the OP know with any degree of certainty that they caught Covid "on the ship" as they claim?

4 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

The OP has not mentioned they are working with a PCC or TA. Maybe they are. Maybe they're not. But, we can't leap to that conclusion quite yet.

Well, either they are working with a trained professional, or they are knowledgeable enough to book on their own. If it is the latter, then the inability to take care of one's booking indicates that the former would have been a better choice. (You'll note that people who use a knowledgeable professional aren't in situations like this one).

3 hours ago, skittl1321 said:

I am not working with a TA. I always book cruises direct myself. 

Given that a TA/PCC has more training than you or I, and given that they can do things that we simply cannot, and given that their services come at no cost to you, just why would you handle it yourself when you run into issues like this?

3 hours ago, skittl1321 said:

NCL allows consumers to book directly.  I can also modify my booking directly.  I am not using a PCC or a TA.

 

Yes...knowledgeable consumers who don't need help. Consumers can also fix their own cars, but it isn't a recommended action for someone with a limited knowledge base for automobiles. If you really think you can modify a booking, try changing to another room in the same category using the website. Try cancelling or changing a dining reservation on the website.Try repricing your cruise when the price goes down on the website.

To paraphrase a line from Jurassic Park: Just because you can doesn't mean that you should.

Sadly, NCL does not make a habit of informing Cruise Critic of what they are planning. The best way for you to get your question answered is by reaching out to NCL. I'd suggest using https://www.ncl.com/about/contact-us  as a starting point.

48 minutes ago, Girr said:

I'm thinking the OP doesn't want the alcoholic package, and just didn't know where to go for options.

Experience indicates that the trained professional handling your booking (the PCC or TA) would be the best place to start. After all, that is what they are being paid to do. Why not use them?

4 hours ago, rodndonna said:

 

Thanks! ... uughh ....

uughh? Aww, come on, there is no need for uughh. Remember, you are an OWNER of the company. Don't uughh something you don't like, work to CHANGE IT.

1 hour ago, fstuff1 said:

Just got off 8/20 joy.

Bermuda cancel because hurricane. Rerouted to Miami.

 

Heard 8/30 joy (today) rerouted to new England because another hurricane to Bermuda.

Hope they get good compensation 

Wha?

Taking their guests away from a hurricane and keeping them safe is job #1 for the cruise line. I can't see why someone should be compensated for being kept safe.

The link provided in post #2 is for Miami. The link for Southampton would be via https://www.ncl.com/uk/en/about/contact-us

The real issue here is logistics. Easy to think "just take the table, chair, etc that I don't want from the room", but they also have to find time on turnover day to put the item back. And if that isn't bad enough, what are they to do with unwanted items during the cruise? They have to be securely stored somewhere. It isn't like they have "unwanted furniture" rooms around for storage. Space on a ship is at a premium. If even a small percentage of the nearly 1,200 cabins onboard want something stored elsewhere, it can create a huge need for space that likely isn't available.

The choice of specialty restaurant should be strongly tied to a) your personal tastes/preferences for the type of food offered, and b) the restaurant whose net cost best fits into your personal budget. Nobody knows what is best for you quite the way that you do.

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

There are reasons for mentioning the Haven in a qustion.    

For example suppose I want to know what is served in the haven for breakfast.

I could ask, 'what's for breakfast'.  Might get a bunch of irrelevant answers describing the mdr menu.

Or I could ask, 'what's for breakfast in the haven'.  

Well, sure, when it is relevant it makes sense. However, my comment was on the number of times Haven is mentioned when it isn't relevant. Make sense now?

For example, suppose I want to know if I can have a snack. 

I could ask, "will the butler bring me a snack", but I don't have to say "I'm staying in the Haven in the Haven Owner's Suite. Will the Haven butler bring me a snack?"

2 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Oh WOW!  What a great idea.  I think I'm going to have a t- shirt made that says "I'm in the Haven....ask me how"!

That is funny and I know you are joking, but just know that there are some out there who would do exactly that if they could.

2 hours ago, Sthrngary said:

What I seriously do not like on this and other social media cruise boards are definitive comments on things like the Haven from those that have never experienced it.  How do they have a frame of reference of how the experience feels other they resentment or longing.  

Interesting perspective. First, how would you know if someone had never experienced it? Not everybody shares everything. Second, isn't it a bit myopic to think that someone needs personal experience to comment? I've never had major surgery, but I can still make the comment that recovering from it would be difficult. If experience is necessary, then nobody should ever comment on anything as those without experience shouldn't comment, and those with experience wouldn't need to comment since they already have experience.

2 hours ago, Smitheroo said:

Inside that true in life in general?    Or there could be other factors. Maybe Haven people are more curious so ask questions. They have to mention "Haven" or they may not get their question answered.   I often wonder myself where all the inside cabin travelers are.  Only a few identify as such on here.   I dont care that others care about what others think (that's a mouthful)  Its their waste of energy. 

Sure. Could be lots of other factors. Sure they could be more curious (although I don't know why a person's curiosity level would be tied to their cabin choice), or they could also just braggarts. Who knows? In any case, I've never seen a situation where a question wouldn't get answered due to whether the person was in the Haven or not. I'm not sure why anyone would think mentioning "Haven" would prompt people to answer questions for you. The inside cabin travelers are all over the place. Maybe they just don't feel the need to preface every post with "I'm in an inside cabin". YMMV.

WOW! What a great post. Very well written and thank you for sharing. You should post that on this Cruise Critic board: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/58-first-time-cruisers/  the readers on that forum will get far more benefit from it than will the readers here.

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

Seems like a lot of this discussion centers around worrying what other people think.

Honestly, though...isn't that exactly what it is all about here on Cruise Critic?

When you look at the number of Studio, Inside, Oceanview, Balcony, and Mini-Suite cabins vs the number of Haven Cabins you quickly realize that Haven cruisers are a small percentage of the cruising population.

However, when you read Cruise Critic, the number of Haven related posts far exceeds the percentage. Almost as if people go out of their way to take every opportunity to tell people that a) they are going to sail in the Haven, b) they are currently sailing in the Haven, or c) they have sailed in the Haven. Heck, people don't even ask questions about the butler without calling him/her the "Haven butler" (in case we were confused and thought they were referring to the non-Haven butler).

So yes, when it comes to the Haven, there are a lot of people (not all...some) who very much care what other people think. I think many of them would walk around with lighted Haven signs above their heads if they could.

2 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

She's actually had managers at Safeway and CVS say "how am I supposed to make any money with all of your coupons"?

Sorry, but given the way that coupons/discounts work in the stores, I highly doubt that managers would have said this. Unless, of course, they were completely joking.

When a customer gives a coupon to the store, the store then sends those coupons back to the manufacturer (usually via a clearinghouse) and then the store is reimbursed for the entire cost.

You could also see where items in a store have a (for example) "Save 50 cents" sticker on them. The way this works is that the sales rep comes into the store to put the stickers on the inventory. If they were to put this sticker on 50 individual items, the rep will write a $25 check to the store on the spot to reimburse the store in advance for the discount.

Either way, the store gets all of their money. Customers using coupons doesn't have a negative affect on the store's profits.

11 hours ago, UKstages said:

opposing views are always welcome.

 

belittling other posters, questioning motives, challenging their education or vocation, demanding “proof” for stated opinions… not so much. 

I agree. Asking (less dramatic word choice than "demanding" don't you think?) for proof for an opinion isn't right. However, I do believe that it is OK to flesh out the substance of an opinion.

For example, someone could post the opinion that "the Encore is the most poorly maintained ship in the fleet". So...what if that opinion came from somebody who had only sailed once with NCL? What if that poster had no background, education, or understanding of maintenance procedures in a marine environment? How would you feel about their opinion then? OTOH, what if the same person had sailed on every ship in the fleet? What if the person had a career in marine maintenance? Would you agree that their opinion is likely more valuable than the first example?

This is exactly why people trust chengkp75's opinion on this board. There is education and experience behind it. Again, nothing wrong with seeking info on what it behind an opinion. One need to know the value of the opinion.

1 hour ago, PATRLR said:

I'm sorry, did I miss the memo that said we need to be "ship design experts" to be critical of the design of ships we cruise on?

The memo? When did somebody say that there was such a memo? IMHO, anyone (even the uneducated) can be critical. However, such criticism isn't really worth much without something behind it. Just because someone has an opinion doesn't automatically assign value to it.

1 hour ago, PATRLR said:

Have you considered the possibility that the people with the knowledge, people with engineering degrees, just may have actually made some mistakes?  I AM an engineer and I can tell you from experience that engineers make mistakes.  Lots of mistakes.  

Sure I have. It works both ways.However, they are likely correct more often than they are incorrect. And the inverse is true when it comes to the non-experts.

1 hour ago, PATRLR said:

Using this logic, they should build the venue with exactly one seat. 

Interesting interpretation. Since I know your ego won't let you admit your mistake, why don't you walk everyone through the logic? Remember, my only point here was that there is no venue on any ship that can hold all the guests. Since you can't control what people will want to do, it is impossible to guarantee that everyone who wants to come will get a seat. I'm just not sure why that is so hard for you to admit.

17 hours ago, Smitheroo said:

I was just reading something that referred to connecting studios also so they exist

Nobody said they don't exist. The poster merely pointed out that there aren't any on the Prima and the Viva.

41 minutes ago, Portia! said:

Studio beds are full size, not twin size beds, so much more comfortable than two twins pushed together in an inside. I've been in Prima, Epic, Bliss, Escape, Getaway, and Breakaway studios. The beds are slightly different sizes, depending on when/where the ship was built, but all were larger than a twin. Studio cabins are slightly smaller than an inside but use space better.

Plus you and your friend will be able to meet up and hang out in the Studio Lounge.

While the Studio cabins are smaller than an inside on a one-to-one basis, I think people miss the fact that you end up with more room in the Studio (without considering the lounge area). For example, on the Encore a Studio is 99sf while an inside is 135sf. However, when you consider that the Studio holds 1 person and the inside holds 2, you see that in an inside each person gets about 70sf...and they have to share the bathroom...in a Studio each person has the full 99sf and a private bathroom of their own.

Where to begin?

47 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

No I dont design ships but I sail them. 

We all sail them, but sailing them doesn't qualify any of us as ship design experts.

47 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

My last cruise on Encore we could not see the Beatles because could not get in.  Thats fine there are other things to see and do.  I dont need to have an engineering degree to know 50 seats in a cruise ship comedy club is not smart.

But you do need an engineering degree to know how many seats it would take for it to be smart. Have you considered the POSSIBILITY that people with the knowledge, people with engineering degrees, just may have actually determined that 50 seats IS the correct number?

47 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

Maybe I am old school but when you sail a ship its nice to know you can get a seat at a venue.

And how would that work? As I've pointed out, you can't have a venue where everyone know that they can get a seat. Even if the comedy club had 1,000 seats, guest #1,001 would be complaining that the design is not smart because THEY couldn't get a seat.

48 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

So clearly I am not alone but its obvious NCL does not care that much because they keep building venues as if they have the capacity of Jewel size ships.

Or maybe they do care, and there is a reason and a purpose for the size and capacity of each and every venue. Reasons that you and I might no be privilege to, but that might exist anyway. Just because they don't do what you, I, or someone else thinks they should does not mean that they don't care.

48 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

You are not very logical or care to be because I never said nor did anyone say a restaurant or venue should fit all of the guests on board.

You certainly did. Even the CC member with only 4 posts (see post #550 in this thread) saw that you did just that.

49 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

You say I keep alluding to small venues? 

Yes. You mentioned it more than one time in your one post. Hence, why I said "keep alluding". I never said you made multiple posts, just the one post with multiple references.

Before you call, do an item by item comparison to ensure that there is really a price drop for the ENTIRE OFFER THAT YOU BOOKED, and not a change in price because one or more amenities are not currently available.

Some people book under price X which includes the BOGO airfare offer. Once you hit the 110 day mark (shortly after final payment) the airfare is no longer available, and as a result, the price goes down. However, this is NOT a price drop since one price includes the airfare and the other does not.

5 hours ago, david_sobe said:

50 seats in a comedy club is a joke on a ship that sails 3500.  Why does NCL keep making these mega ships with tiny venues.

5 hours ago, david_sobe said:

Indulge Food Hall cant even fit all the guests.

You keep alluding to the size of venues vs the ship capacity. I'm assuming that you have a background in marine architecture and design.

Can you please point out examples of ships where the "seats in a venue vs the ship capacity" is what it should be? Can you please point out examples of restaurants on ships that can "fit all the guests"?

Sometimes it seems like people want more and more in the ways of activities and venues without realizing that the more you slice a pie, the smaller the pieces are.

The biggest benefit to the studio cabins is that, by default, the complex is an adult-only area. No kids next door, no kids running around the halls, no kids in the lounge. It is really (along with the Vibe Beach Club) one of the few kids-free areas on the ship.

2 hours ago, craig01020 said:

You know everybody here?  Impressive!  🤪

Not at all, nor did I say I did know everybody here. What I said was that nobody here knows the "why" behind NCL's decisions. You have verifiable fact to prove otherwise?

5 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

Snarky much?  Using your logic, many or most questions here probably shouldn't be asked.

 

How so? I never said that questions shouldn't be asked. I said that nobody here can explain the "why" behind NCL's decisions. We're well over a dozen replies to the "why" asked in this thread with no answer...only guesses. That is, up until you decided to try posting cute retorts to posts from 2 months ago. We must be really bored to dig up 2 month old threads to troll.

4 hours ago, susiesan said:

Absolutely there are pax on the next few cruises who are oblivious to current events. These are the clueless cruisers who will raise hell at reception when they find out their cruise won't be stopping at Maui. 

What official notice have you seen that says the cruise won't be stopping at Maui? And why not?

The fire happened in Lahania, on the west coast of the island. The ship docks at Kahului, on the north-central coast of the island and over 20 miles from the fire. Why do you think they would close the entire island?

There are ongoing wildfires in Canada that are so bad that the smoke is blanketing US cities. I haven't seen any announcements about closing Canada to cruise visits.