WeBeCruisers?

Could you tell us how far the hop on hop off bus in Cartagena is from the cruise port and how you get there? Thank you so much.

The map we just found, shows stop number one at the Port near the cruise ship. If you go to City-sightseeing dot com you can drill down and you should see a map of the hop-on-hop-off bus route. Hope this helps.

Can anyone share the EPIC smoking areas? I'm probably going to smoke on the balcony while no one is around and if I get charged 250 I don't really care, but would like to know where the other options are so I can avoid that.

I don't care? That seems to be the attitude of most smokers.

I am a smoker, but I will do what I need to do to comply. As long as I can go sit somewhere in the morning and have my morning drink with my smoke I will be good. My first cruise was on the Carnival Dream in Jan 2015.. The smoking deck was out of the way. Those that didn't smoke weren't forced to pass through the smokers. I hope that the Star is set up the same way. However, if it isn't..I will adapt.

Thank you for complying, it will be very much appreciated.

They do but people still smoke on their balconies. We just got off breakaway in Sunday and our neighbor smoked like a chimney the entire cruise.

People who smoke will continue to be rude thinking they have rights as well.

On the Gem this past Feb it's deck 7 promenade, we stood by the railing and sat in chairs, no one said anything. Deck 13 both sides of the bar, we had quite the gathering every morning! Also the casino, we used this a few times due to high waves and outside venues were closed, also upset a few people.

Of course no one said anything, if you were in an area that was non-smoking then shame on you.

I have a neighbor who just came back from a cruise on the getaway.. He was complaining that in the buffet all of the food had plastic or glass in front of it and you had to lift it up to get to the food. I was on the Getaway in March and don't recall that being an issue. Can anyone verify?

As always the answer to the question is "it depends". On the surface the free gratuities is a better deal, always, unless...

And for someone to say the cruise excursions are far more expensive than private Excursion is IMO again "it depends ". I hear this far more often than I want to on this site that NCL excursions are far more expensive than Private Tours when in fact it's hard to compare. An NCL tour is very seldom comparable to a private tour. So, in my opinion, the final answer is "it depends.".

So, if you're happy with private tours so be it if you feel better with NCL excursions so be it.

My husband has extreme insomnia. I have sleep apnea. We've tried everything, but having two cabins is the simplest solution.

I knew I would regret asking the question.

Okay I'll bite and I'll probably regret asking this but: why two separate rooms? Do you snore?

The US ones also seem quite clear:

 

Wine & Champagne Policy

Guests may bring bottles of wine and champagne on board. When bottles are brought on board and served or consumed in any restaurant, public room area or in their stateroom, a corkage fee will be charged according to bottle sizes noted below.

See my previously reply begging your forgiveness for my not reading the entire sentence. thanks for the clarification.

This is what the UK FAQ's say:

 

Can I still bring wine on board?

 

Yes, guests may bring sealed bottles of wine on board for personal consumption. They will be checked prior to embarkation and a corkage fee applied at that time of $15.00 USD for a 750 ml Bottle or $30.00 USD for a 1,500 ml Magnum bottle. Box wines are not allowed on board. If guests do not wish to pay the corkage fee, the wine will be held onboard and returned to the guests at the end of the cruise.

 

Seems fairly clear.

Disregard, next time I'll read the entire sentence and not stop when I want to... my bad

The corkage fee is paid on embarkation. They have no idea where you will be consuming it at that point.

 

It is payable on all bottles bought onboard, wherever you drink it.

I have always been under that impression as well. However, if you read the current FAQs the fee is for wine consumed in restaurants only. Therefore, slightly confusing. No need to reply.

That limit applies on other lines I believe. To my knowledge it has never been limited on NCL. Certainly not in the past 5 years or so.

In reviewing NCLs current policy it appears there is no limit so therefore you are correct. However the corkage fee only applies to consumption of the wine in restaurant. That leads me to believe that you can bring unlimited bottles if you drink it in your room. Please confirm all that I just stated.

Wine - yes, $15 per 75cl bottle. No limit on the number of bottles, but it is payable wherever you drink it.

 

Water - no, you can't take any water onboard.

Used to be a 2 bottle limit on wine, has that changed?

I agree completely, We don't spend extra unless we want to. Our extras may be an excursion here or there, we never take the drink package we are ok with the water we get on board and unsweetened ice tea, we don't drink a whole lot of alcohol except maybe a cocktail or two here and there, We don't take the dining package because we like the MDR. Every now and then we may go to a specialty restaurant but as Platinum we use our certificate. We never feel we are nickel and dimed is all about CHOICE. We pay for our cruise and i think NCL probably gets annoyed with us for not spending a whole lot LOL.....They only big expenditure is the spa pass and that is about it. :D...

Also, an excellent response.

It is all about choices. You will only be nickeled and dimed if you take that money out of your wallet, as everything you mentioned would be a choice if you want to spend money on those items or not. You could go on a cruise and not spend one dollar, if that is what you choose to do or you could spend $1,000, but it is your choice as no one is forcing you to spend anything on something you don't want to spend money on. Hope you have a wonderful cruise.

Excellent response.

What is it you are getting from a concierge service in booking your meal reservations? Do you really value that as a perk being Platinum?

What we have done traditionally is rotate each night. So night 1 the great grand children eat with great grandparents, then the sons one night, the daughters another night, the grand girls another and the grand boys another. But we're all in the same vicinity so grandparents can see their whole family together- it's the whole point of the cruise for us. During the day free time on your own, dinner is together, even if not at the same table. We have traditionally had 4-5 tables right next to each other. We can take table photos every night, can share in the experience.

Sounds like a plan.

What's the value of eating at their same time with 30 or 40 people? you certainly can't talk to them all

Hello all!

Quick ? regarding latitude rewards...

I recieved the below pictured email for the August Latitude special offer stating that booking a participating cruise in August resulted in 2x's Latitude points.

I called NCL and asked the rep on the phone if the double points offer was only applicable with bookings through NCL or if they applied to booking with anyone. She was not sure.

I went ahead and asked the rep to hold my rezzie because other online TA's were offering OBC and I wanted to check w/my GF what was better: getting double Latitude points, assuredly(and jumping up a level), or receiving OBC by booking with an online TA, not NCL.

We decided on the online TA because the OBC was more than we had received on any other cruise we had been on.

While talking to the rep from the online TA I asked if he was aware of the Latitude's offer and after he looked it up he read the same disclaimer I saw in the email I had recieved.

So...tldr, I ask you awesome CC board users:

1) Do latitude offers only apply with bookings through NCL or all bookings?

2) If they apply with all bookings, with this cruise I will jump to the next level of Latitude rewards; will I have the new level benefits on this cruise or starting on my next cruise?

The NCL website hasn't applied the points i receive from this booked cruise yet.

When I check in I'll know for sure, 'til then, what do y'all know from past experience?

Disregard.

Hey do you have any pictures of the Freestyle with entertainment information. My daughter and I are taking this cruise and would love to know what to expect.

Thank you!

 

 

Have a great day[emoji924][emoji4][emoji106]

No freestyles but if you hit the Stardust Theater, Magnum's and the Crystal Atrium you will be content...most of the times...unless your is under 10.

I'm going to make reservation to a specialty restaurant for a table for 4, what happens if 2 people can't go? Has this happened to any of you and what was the result. Thank you

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Then it ends up being a reservation for 2. They won't be throwing you off the ship.

Just off The Pearl...entertainment was pretty good.

And this is exactly why a free dsc promo is genius for Ncl

 

Pax get dsc for free

Pax can't remove dsc

Ncl pays the same out regardless

 

If pax can remove dsc it's just less $$$ for Ncl but they are still paying the same to employees

 

 

So while Ncl isn't getting dsc but might surely get extra $$$ by upping cruise costs to pax...Ncl also has no fear of pax removing dsc...because the pax got dsc for free lol

 

It's marketing psychology lol

Nothing is free. If you think you are getting something for free, then NCL has gained a victory.

Both of my spring Cruises have increased in price from last December's booking. The current price has been the current price for about 5 months. So it really depends on when you are checking prices.

However, the bottom line, is if you're happy with the price and the promos you are a happy Cruiser.