erdoran

The “free drinks for all” is the way to go for sure - but if for any reason you can’t get that, my approach is to have a heart to heart with all of you, guesstimate how much you would drink each HONESTLY and assign the two biggest drinkers the booze pkgs.  For the next two do the arithmetic - is the $119/day worth it really?  Even if you drink $119 worth of drinks one or two days, will you do that every single day, or drink more than you want just to get the deal?  I think there is also a corks & bottles package that is cheaper, perhaps that would do the trick?

Anyway, after the arithmetic is done, if two couples are sharing, pool the cost of the UBP tips for the first two & drinks for the other two (whether it’s pay for booze plan, corks and bottles, or pay as you go) and split them four ways.  At least that’s fair to all.

I participated in my first one on the Jade last spring.  We had an organizer and volunteer group leaders.  I think we ended up with 50 or so participating, so we broke into groups of 10.  As soon as 10 showed up, one leader would go with her group, then we’d form the next group and so on.  I think we all followed the same route, but we do want to try to allow at least 10 mins/group, so if there were lots of groups forming fast then I think we should alternate forwards and backwards.  

We told the beverage manager I think at the M&G and when we got to each bar, the bartender had a bunch of drinks pre-made, every bar had something different.  There was also someone discreetly following us around, facilitating things at the bars, which we didn’t figure out until the end 😆

6 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

Since when?

6 hours ago, Trimone said:

Concierge is prepaid in DSC

Trimone, you are in the UK, right?  I think we US folks don’t have the concierge prepaid.  

1 hour ago, retiredgram said:

Just joined in reading your review.   I feel like I have watched Sakari grow up on your cruises.  Sorry to hear of your accident.  I looked you up because I saw you on the Insurance thread.   Could you tell me the results of your search for insurance at a late date or if you would rather email me.  lltenney@aol.com Looking for medical insurance and we are only a month before cruise.  Thought we had it, but forgot.  Thanks.

Now I can get back to reading your review.

I’m about to buy GeoBlue Trekker for a Jan 5 cruise—if you are looking for medical and evacuation that covers them, but nothing else.  Call Trip Insurance Store and ask them for what you want, they are known to be very helpful and honest.

5 minutes ago, casofilia said:

PLEASE do NOT stop paying the DSC.   

 

OR do you go into the Galley and tip everyone who has made any part of any meal you have had.   OR do you go into the Laundry and tip everyone who has washed anything of yours.

 

Without those two groups of people your cruise would be a sorry affair.   Without the galley hands the servers would have nothing to do and/or you would be eating off dirty plates.  Without the laundry workers you would soon be complaining about dirty towels and smelly sheets.

Without laundry workers and galley hands NCL couldn’t sail because they’d violate a lot of health codes.  Perhaps NCL should consider paying them a proper wage, given that there are multiple reports of crew saying that they see only a small percentage of DSC?

I wonder if the 18% of the beverage service charge is really 18% tip on the package cost?  NCL takes 20% and that would actually be decent, they take 10% off the top and pass the rest along.  I’d rather see all of it be passed along, but if that’s the correct interpretation then that’s great.

This itinerary has a major spot on my bucket list.  Following eagerly 

I want to do a commercial for - you guessed it - THE FLU VACCINE!  (No, I am not a medical professional and I don’t benefit financially from sales of any pharmaceutical - wish I did!)

Medicare pays for flu vaccine, and most private insurances do as well.  Our Target gives out a $5 gift card for people who get their flu vaccine there, so they PAY you to be vaccinated.

No flu vaccine is 100% effective, but NOT using flu vaccine is guaranteed to be 0% effective.  It’s a really good idea, as well as a courtesy to your fellow cruisers, to get the vaccine—for your own health, so you don’t get sick and spread it to everyone around you who is unvaccinated (aka herd immunity).

Let’s NOT debate the good vs evil of vaccines and anti-Vaxxers.  Just my 2c for this situation.  No idea if it could have been prevented, but I am so glad DH and I had our shots this year.

2 hours ago, smplybcause said:

 

I've seen reports of that on other ships. It's not ship specific, it's sailing specific. If it's a time when there's a ton of kids on board there's likely going to be a ton in the Haven. 

Agree 100%. We avoid holiday sailings and try for off season - easier on the wallet - and in our two most recent cruises there were very few kids in the Haven (I think maybe none at all on our April 2019 Jade TA).

The issue is nothing to do with Haven or ship, it’s totally WHEN you sail and who is booked.  You can control WHEN but not WHO.  I’ve read horror stories here about kids in the Haven, and have read about well-behaved kids in Haven.  

It’s beyond upsetting when you have paid top dollar for peace and quiet and access to a pool/hot tub that’s uncrowded and instead you have kids running wild.  Unfortunately, there is no way to guarantee that won’t happen.  Load the odds in your favor by sailing when school is in session is about the best you can do - or like you began with, there’s always Vibe which I guess is kid-free?  

Keep in mind your fellow cruisers are also the luck of the draw.  We’ve been blessed with lovely folks (well, a couple of massive jerks but NOT on our roll call) but every now and then you read a story about adults behaving badly.

The above goes IMHO across all cruise lines and cabin classes!

One cruise that is very well priced for Haven is the 12/5/20 Getaway TA.  I don’t follow prices for other cabins because hubby is ridiculous about only Haven, but that cruise is absolutely worth a look see.

We are sailing Bliss 1/5 out of NYC.  no text so far, but evidently tomorrow’s sailing has gotten the “late boarding” notification.  We have train tickets that get us to NYC about 10, and others have flights, etc which I’d assume get them there early as well.  Given we’re talking NYC in January, dragging luggage, there really don’t seem to be great options.

For the late boardings, can we still drop luggage with the porters early, well before the “new” boarding time, and then at least not have to drag that around if NCL really does kick people out until noon or whenever?  NYC specifically, but also in general.

OP I made the identical mistake—booked online, was rushing thru and assumed I’d just get charged the deposit but bam! Didn’t see it was full payment!  I called NCL and they said they’d refund, it would take a week to ten days, and that’s what it took.  This was early October and no other craziness going on with them.

Unless you have a compelling reason NOT to cancel/rebook, that’s exactly what I’d do at this point, or certainly when you get back if no refund.  And I wouldn’t worry about it messing up your refund either, when you cancel you get it all back assuming you are before final payment.

Hubby is a huge Sirius and Netflix fan.  As we were debating whether or not to get trip wifi, I mentioned that there is wifi that supports streaming, which got his attention....but...I know when I’ve travelled internationally I’ve found various streaming services said they are only for US use.

Anyone know about Sirius, Netflix or other streaming services, whether they do allow streaming in places like Cozumel, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, etc?  And if we pay top dollar for the ship wifi that supports streaming, does it actually work?

tia

Ask the butler for copies of whatever menus you like, and order whatever you please off the menus for room service from him.  I would get the menus by lunchtime or so and leave a note if I didn’t see him with what I wanted for dinner when I had room service.

For breakfast you hang that hang tag on the door knob but write in whatever you want, whether it’s from Haven menu, MDR, or just whatever reasonable (e.g.. scrambled eggs, bacon, croissant).

I always tip at the end.  If I had a lot of room service I tip well, if minimal I tip less well.

That happened to me when hubby and I did our Christmas Epic cruise some years ago...I felt so awful by the time we hit Cozumel that I didn’t get off for my prepaid “swim with manatee”” trip - dumb!  Worst part was if I had gone to the ship doctor my trip insurance would have paid for the visit and reimbursed me for my missed manatee swim.

I agree with carrying the OTC meds.  I had the same thing happen to me at Disneyworld, as well as on a couple of business trips—I’m a slow learner!  So now my travel kit has mucinex, Afrin, Tylenol, Imodium, Dramamine, anti-blister bandaids, neosporin, and excedrin migraine.  Never leave home without it.

OH—and I start Medicare 1/1/20 and I’ve been reading the travel insurance board, so hubby and I are getting GeoBlue Trekker insurance as well, just in case....

For myself, I’ve found the tour vendors who ask for pre-payment have various refund policies clearly stated on their websites.  I’ve prepaid very few and the ones I have allow advance cancellation with full refund; others say “if the ship doesn’t dock you don’t pay”.  I would think any vendor serving the cruise industry is only too aware of the potential for itinerary changes and would allow for that.  it’s hard enough to compete with the cruise line excursions; this is one area that they can easily address.

Also, I’m looking into booking my pre-cruise hotel in Southampton for next June - the refundable rates are $10-$20/night more than non-refundable, which is a small price to pay for the option to cancel....and yes, it’s a Star cruise!  June 14-29, hopefully the problems will be fixed by then.

So prepaid excursions - please check out your vendor’s website and/or email vendor.  This is LOTS of notice, I would think cancellation wouldn’t be a problem.  If they don’t allow cancellation, do let us on CC know who the vendor is so people are aware of this before choosing to book with those vendors.

I really hope this Star problem works out.  I feel badly for all who are affected.  I’m sure that the folks who are switched to the Dawn will get back any OBC or other perks/incentives they had on Star, NCL probably needs a few days to sort that out.  

15 minutes ago, podgeandrodge said:

This. It's simply impossible for me to hold a view that NCL will hand over cash on our free meals to staff as gratuities. They've "included " them insofar as they're not charging them.

My common sense take - it’s in NCL’s interest for us to tip the servers, therefore if service charge/tip was not included, they would say so, the way they do for the non-DSC staff.

Is this compensation for the TA date change or for the switch to the dawn?  
 

if ta date change are they offering full refund? I’m sure there are many who can’t do the date change for lots of reasons and they shouldn’t be penalized.   I would think that would justify a credit card charge dispute.   Itinerary changes are one thing but date changes are a much bigger deal. 

Nope it’s still 10%.   Think of it this way - $100 for one person, 10% discount, $90 final bill.  Two people = $200, $90 each with 10% each, final bill $180 - 10% of $200 = $20 discount.  If it was a 20% discount, the final total would be $160.  So by no stretch of the imagination is 10% per pax a 20% discount.

FWiW I checked my bookings that were made with legit 20% discount and their prices haven’t changed.

Not all cruises are eligible for the 20%.  Are you sure this one is?

Thanks guys!

We are going to be on a cruise during our anniversary this summer.  I know that sometimes NCL acknowledges special events—is that something we can add to our reservation?  I had booked direct then transferred to TA.  Or is that not notated anywhere?  TIA

Doing 14 day cruise that’s fairly port-intensive, but also do have a few sea days, most notably the last three....we are debating whether to go with the 250 mins perk plus 50 min platinum free wifi and do the more intensive online stuff in port vs upgrading to unlimited - although I will most likely have to keep in touch with work and who knows what family disasters will happen while we are away....

Having said that, do you know if we have the option to upgrade at any point during the trip - even during the second week - and if we have used up our free time before upgrading, do we still get credit?  

I seem to remember last spring on Jade which was also a 14 day cruise the unlimited wifi was only available the first two days but not sure.  Anyone know?  If it matters, this is Bliss 1/5/20 2-wk W. Caribbean.

TIA

Not NCL specific but - I ran across an article about dumbest complaints ever....

Beach had too much sand

Sand on the beach was white, not yellow like the brochure

(trip to Spain) Street signs weren’t in English, how are you supposed to get around or know where to go?

Med. cruise - sea was too noisy

Romania (I think) - store didn’t have my favorite British biscuits

I’m sure lots more....

I looked Siglo up on YouTube and watched some of their version of “the wall”.  I wasn’t super impressed but maybe it’s just me.

Hubs and I were super turned off to the “general” ship band on Jade - I don’t remember the band name but they had a strong Eastern European accent.  They tried to do a Beatles cover one night and the accent made it really hard to take seriously.  

We are hoping Siglo will be a step up from that.  Maybe seeing them live will be better.

$75 off, so $324 for two of us for one year.  It was a one-day sale.