SouthLyonCruiser

What you are looking for seems to sound like a cruise line gift certificate. I know that Norwegian has them and some of the other lines may also offer them. I hope this helps.

The best way to decide on which ship is the best for you is to go on the "Ship Reviews" section of the CC web site and put in the ship you are considering and read the reviews of those who have sailed. You will get gripes and greats from a variety of reviewers and just look for consistency in the gripes and praises to get a good idea of what the ship is really like.

I thought I read here on CC that you can only bid up 2 levels, in that case it would only be balcony or mini suite. Please correct me if I understood this wrong.

We have booked a balcony and were able to bid on an H4 and all the way up to the Garden Villa so, I believe that if you are offered a chance to bid on an upgrade, the sky is the limit.

We have been on three Alaskan cruises.

1. A balcony is a must as you are in sight of shore almost all of the time and you don't want to find yourself crowding the rail with everyone else. And, the ship faces on side to the glacier when they stop and after about a half an hour they turn 180 degrees so that those with balconies on the other side get their half hour also.

2. A helicopter ride is a must even if you are apprehensive of getting on a helicopter. We have done two of these; one was the cheaper excursion which had three helicopters shuttling people on and off the glacier, dropping off five and picking up five for the return. Not very personal.

The pilots choice which involves five people and the pilot goes to two different spots chosen by the pilot depending on conditions. We went onto a glacier where there were no other helicopters or people around and when the engine finally wound down it was dead silent. Very nice. The next stop we were taken to a mountain top, landed and were allowed to walk around a little. We could look down from where we were and see a couple of glaciers that came together and formed one.

Sorry about not being cruise line specific but this upcoming cruise is on the Norwegian Jade.

Thanks to all for their replies.

I am getting conflicting answers about whether or not your steward is allowed to keep any additional tip that you personally give him or her.

I would really like a factual answer, not something that was "heard" from someone else.

I would recommend posting this question on the NCL Cruise Line board at:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=107

 

Keith

I have but got no satisfactory answer. The NCL site is useless when it comes to getting information on this matter.

NCLs website is terrible and impossible to get information about the new bidding system. Where can such information be obtained?

My son bid the minimum of $2000 to upgrade from a standard mini suite to a 2 bedroom Haven suite when he booked his cruise. The Monday before the Sunday sailing of his cruise he was emailed that his bid was accepted and his cabin assignment was given to him at that time. It was about a $5000 savings over booking the suite originally.

You must remember that when you put in your bid it is not optional when it is awarded to you, the amount will be billed to your credit card as soon as the bid is accepted.

Many people give bad reviews to AIG Travel guard but we have been using it for some time and had one claim.

We called them and followed all of the instructions implicitly and got a check within a couple of weeks.

Be careful of what you buy. The policies may seem reasonably priced but most of the cheaper policies are secondary and require that you file claims with your credit card company and homeowners insurance before they will pay. This includes the insurance that the cruise line company offers.

I read an article about a woman who has been living on the same cruise ship for several years.

She is considered as part of the crew by many of the members of the real crew.

You need to be in good health but other than that it seemed to be a great thing for her.

Norwegian notified us that they were changing our itinerary for next years Panama Canal cruise aboard the Jade. They eliminated Costa Maya and added Key West. This is a big disappointment for me as it also reduced our stop at Harvest Cay by one hour.

If I had not already booked my air and paid for my travel insurance, I would cancel this cruise and book with Princess.

Any thoughts?

I stopped buying travel insurance through the cruise line years ago when I discovered that it is a secondary insurance and that they required you to file a claim with your homeowners insurance company and your credit card company, if you charged the trip before they would pay. That may not be true any longer but I don't take the chance.

This is one of the many reasons we skip cruises that are during spring break or when school are our for summer unless they are longer cruises when younger people are less likely to go.

I would have contacted the room steward personally first without cleaning the room myself. It may be an honest mistake as the stewards have a ton of work to do in a short period of time. To have the steward be demoted or lose his job over an honest error.

As a previous answer indicated; it depends where you are from. We were in Anchorage prior to a cruisetour and the outside temp was about 60 to 65. I was in the elevator with my shorts and short sleeve shirt (I am from Michigan) when a couple stepped in dressed in foul weather gear. I asked them where they were from and they said "Florida". 'nuff said.

I watched a special on modern cruise ships and the water out of the tap in your cabin is cleaner than most city water. I just drink that and fill my water bottle from there and put it in the cabin fridge.

Good to know that it has a service fee attached. I will be sure to let anyone who may be tempted to get us one to forget it, cash never expires or has service fees attached.

My sister in law always gives a credit card. She is a little OCD and goes every day to check her balance and pays cash each day or every other day so that she knows where she stands and to keep within a budget.

We have a free dinner package for an upcoming cruise and 2 dinners as Platinum members. When we make reservations prior to the cruise what will be charged at the time of booking?

We recently booked a cruise on Nowegian and selected the dinner package as one of our "freebies". Seeing as they want you to book in advance does that mean that when you make your reservation on line that they will charge you the full rate and then you later get reimbursed?