Naomigruis

Book the Japanese restaurant now, the others really don't matter. They hold back about 75% of the slots for booking on board, so you can always do that. You will have no problem getting Cagney's or any of the other specialty restaurants once on board. The problem with the Japanese restaurant is that it only seats about 25, and only has 2 seatings an evening.

would love to book now but its not open on the cruise planner, i will make it the first thing i do when i get on board so that i have a better chance at getting a table :)

The most popular restaurant is teppanyaki. Book it quickly if you want to go. The second restaurant that will sell out quickly is Cagney's steakhouse.

 

If you are going to pay out of pocket, chose one of the fixed priced restaurants to pay out of pocket (teppanyaki or monderno). Use your dining package for the a la carte restaurants.

I can't book the Teppenyaki yet online so that is why i was asking about changing on board, we both love Teppenyaki and really want to do this.

Great advice on which one to pay extra for, will do.

the Dinning options look great, really looking forward to this cruise.

Thanks for the quick reply

i will start booking away, and yes will cancel with plenty of time if we don't go with our rebooked restaurants :)

Hi Everyone,

Im a first time NCL cruiser and going on the Sun in September to Alaska.

I am wanting to book our four specialty restaurants (had this included as one of the bonus options) and am not sure if i want to go to the Japanese or Moderno for our fourth dinner - or maybe both and just pay the extra night.

i understand that the popular time slots book out fast so my question is;

if i book what i can now online, can we change the booking once on board? will we be still be charged if we do?

Thanks for the help, this type of pre booking is very new to us and we do love a good speciality dinning experience :D

sylva

have been on the look out for this for our 24 day cruise but yet nothing, maybe it won't be offered on such a long cruise :(

i love this topic, most season cruise know this is a issue and is usually groups of friend that don't think twice about it cos their on holiday.

My partner is one of those lazy cruises that will get up way before me and go have a big breakfast then head to the pool area and find a great seat near the pool and there he stays for the day.

he will only leave his seat for a food top up and the very odd swim. headphones in listening to his tunes he sits and people watches. i find this great cos i alway have a base around the pool area to leave my things and if a lounger is available ill have a little lay down (about an hour is my sit still factor).

unlike others he is the last to save a seat, in fact I've been know to come back from a swim or a wonder and he has invited someone looking for a chair to take mine, I'm not currently using it!!!

i think he meet more people than me doing this.

My other observation is that there is not area or even lockers to leave your things in to take a swim and i often wonder if that is why some people leave items on chairs? I think a locker area to leave thinks like sea pass, towels, watches, glasses etc would be great, just a thought.

sylva

i cant help with the kid questions as I don't have children but those in my family that do have always loved it.

Gratuities are something that you can prepay if you wish or they are added to your onboard account on board the ship. a side note to this if you want to remove or adjust them onboard you can but not if you prepay, there are many opinions on this but remember the decision is yours, you may not want to pay for the kids (again someone will probably comment on this) or you many wish to pay in cash, or not at all. i am not offering my opinion on tipping just giving you the options.

yes it sucks that everything is in USA dollars as our dollar keeps going down. I would suggest you look at drink packages for this that are drinkers, these can be pre purchased or brought on the cruise both ways are easy, i find its a great way to budget as the drinks are expensive (especially given the Aussie dollar) and as not everyone in the cabin needs to have one a cheaper way of doing it. I know that i drink at least 5-7 alcoholic drinks in a day and several soft drinks so at around 10-15 Aussies dollars and 5 Aussies dollars each it adds up quick. My partner is a beer drinker and when sitting by the pool it adds up really quickly!!!!

the south Pacific is a great trip, we did it with our family (all 22 of us) about five years ago, we had the two of us and my 2 grown step daughter, my regret is not researching the tours available and booked them on the cruise costing about 5 times what local operators are offering. look on here in the south pacific thread there is alway great tips.

Things to bring are, medicine, a good first aid kit with things like, pain killers, sea sick tablets, stop gastro, band aids, these are really expensive on the ships and you will be glad to have brought them they are needed (out of 5 cruise used items at least 3 times). A highlighter to mark things on the daily info sheets that way you won't miss anything. sticky notes, great for leaving each other messages and your cabin attendant. i also bring large bull dog clips to attach to the shower curtain to stop it sticking when showering. Go to Katmandu and get a clothes line, great for wet bathers, i find the one in the shower never big enough. Last but definitely not least is a power point adaptor if not Aussie power point is available, most cruise ships run on UK and USA power points.

My last bit of advice is that if you want to do a nice dinner, book the first night, often offer great deals and savings and a nice way to start the cruise.

Ok that was a lot, hope a little of it is helpful

Hi everyone,

Thank you for the time and effort in helping me with this question.

In the end i have chosen not to do the floatplane tour and instead are doing a Misty fjord flight instead.

It cost the same for two of us instead of one and we know what we are going to get.

sylva

Thanks for the info.

Alas we aren't stopping in Danli National park just doing the train stright through due to time restraints but my sisters in laws are so will pass on the advice to them.

The tour we are looking at is booked through NCL, two leave out of Ketchikan and one our of Juneau. Would one have more chance than to other? Or is it time to give up and book a Different amazing tour.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Hi everyone,

My partner and I are traveling to the USA and Canada this September. I have added a Alaskan Cruise with NCL on the Sun from Vancouver to Anchorage leaving on the 5th of September then doing the Dome train to Fairbanks then flying back to Seattle for 3 weeks.

I know this is late in the Alaskan Cruise Season but was the only time we could do it. It really will be a once in a lifetime cruise as i cant see us getting another change to cruise Alaska again.

Now for the Bear Question, i really want to do the float plan tour out of Ketchikan, the cost is $399 US which works out to be $550 in Aussie dollars, now this is nearly the cost of the whole cruise for one of us (we got a great deal) and the most i have ever spent on a 3 hour tour. But being so late in the year will the bears be there? if they are not do we get some sort of refund? would you pay that amount of money if the change is more likely they are not going to be there?

Added not to this my two sister-in-laws are doing the same cruise with Holland America about 10 days later and are wanting to do a bear sightseeing tour as well so same questions for mid September.

So will there be Bears In the Woods?

following, will be sailing in September

You will labeled a "chair hog" and will need the alcohol to dull the pain of the beating that you will receive from the chair police. :mad: (j/k)

Best answer ever :D:D:D:D

I am following closely too. I booked almost 600 days out to get an aft mini, and we sail in less than 2 weeks.

 

I will not be happy if there is a problem, and I will be working my way up the chain if there is.

can you come back after your cruise and let us know how you got on?

I am starting to really worry about the cruise we have booked for 5 September.

We have a really good deal on the cruise that included the drinks and meal package and as such we would be looking at over $3000 to change cabins.

Our cabin is behind the aft elevators (lifts) on deck 10, i was prepared for some noise as a result but not sure i can handle a poo smell as well.

Its really to late to change the cruise as all our other holiday plans are built around this sailing and another out of Seattle back to Australia.

Needless to say i will be following this closely.

Sylva

Used TJ Travel last year

They where amazing. Small group of 10, driver and guide Alexander and Nina where fantastic.

Paid second day of two day tour, meet us at the port, on time each day and had us back on time.

Bus was new with free wifi which was good given we where a week without at this point.

Great excursion and tours.

Another person used them on a private tour with their two young kids, the tour was in a black Town car, cost about double per adult but kids where free and they had car seat ect and they customised the tour taking into account their kids, they loved them as well.

Sylva

Hi everyone

We are traveling on the sun in September and have booked a great deal on deck 10 in room 0326.

We know this is behind the lifts and I was prepared for a little noise but now we are reading reviews about a bad smell in the stairway area and souronding rooms.

Has anyone stayed in this room before ? It the noise and or small ok?

Or do I need to look at moVin staterooms (which I'm sure will cost us more)

Thanks

Sylva

A side note to these is that if you put them near your phone you will deactivate the card which means you can't get into your room and you will need to go get it replace,

On a 13 day cruise I did this no less than 5 time :eek:

Hi no one else answered so I will see what I can remember.

We hired a care from Lax about 4 years ago through drive away . Com a Australian booking agent, I can't remember who it was now but it was a big international like Avis Or budget.

Was easy to find and we returned it at the port in long beach for a small one way fee. I would look into the cost of this as it maybe a good option rather then a taxi.

On a side note we dropped the car of the night before and stayed on the Queen Mary which is now a hotel in the port in longbeach. It was not expensive and great fun. The rooms where very comfortable and after a nice breakfast we could walk to the cruise terminal not 100 meters away.

Sylva

That's a quote from the same "rule" you quoted from, so yes, that is what it says. You can try as hard as you want, but you're not going to win this, because trying to pretend that every "rule" is equal to every other rule is simply wrong. I get that you're trying to paint people as hypocrites, if they criticize the breaking of one rule and don't care about others, but it's an extremely weak argument.

 

Maybe you should practice what your Mum told you.

Mum also told me some people just can't see that you need to play by all the rules or you get kicked outa the game. But hey that's just my mum right, I mean I'm a grown person I can make up my mind on the really big ruled that I can't break and the little itty bitty ones I can.

We I'm going to go have me some of my mums pie now so you all have a good night. :D

I agree, it seems more clear if you only post part of it and ignore the part that says:

 

"Security may inspect containers (water bottles, soda bottles, mouthwash, luggage etc.) and will dispose of containers holding alcohol." To me, that makes it clear that alcohol is what they really are trying to control.

And yet that's not what the 'rule' says. It say you cannot bring water or soda on board for any reason, so yes they will throw away all containers with alcohol but maybe store others until end of cruise for you to collect like they do hairdryer and irons? Who really know? We can all just assume what we like to get around the rules.

For what it's worth, I don't try to bring on alcohol (except the allowed wine) or water or soda. But if you read the "rules," it's not even that clear that you can't bring on soda and water. It says that in one sentence, then another sentence says that, if you do bring water or soda, it may be subject to inspection to make sure it doesn't contain alcohol. So, really, it sounds like they mainly don't want people using water/soda bottles to sneak alcohol on.

 

Sorry, but even though I don't think I break or bend any of their rules, you won't convince me that all rules are equal.

 

(PS - There are no rules against wearing jeans to the MDR or dropping your autotips. There is a rule against reserving chairs, though. Sometimes they are pretty good at enforcing that rule, too, but many times not.)

From the website

Q: Can I bring alcohol or non-alcoholic beverages (from home or from a port) on board?

A: Guests are not allowed to bring beer, hard liquor or non-alcoholic beverages onboard for consumption or any other use. Guests wishing to bring personal wine and champagne onboard may do so only on boarding day, limited to two (2) 750 ml bottles per stateroom. Additional bottles of wine beyond two (2) bottles that are brought onboard or any alcoholic beverages purchased in ports-of-call or from Shops On Board will be stored by the ship and delivered to your stateroom on the last day of the sailing. Alcoholic beverages seized on embarkation day will not be returned.

Seems clear to me.

You forgot about appropriate manner to dress which used to be limited to the MDR but has expanded to around the pool, walking around the ship, in transit from your cabin to the pool.....

Ohh I so did

4. What to wear and not to in the MDI, pool, to breakfast oh hell just about everywhere. ;)

I think that's because there is a distinct difference between being allowed to do something that is buried in the "rules" somewhere, versus having to be sneaky to get away with something.

 

If you could openly bring on bottles of booze with nobody batting an eye, then it would be the same as water or soda. :cool:

So by this I can hog chairs, wear jeans to the MDR and drop my auto tips cos all those things are done in the open. :eek:

Rules are rules you can't condone breaking some and condem breaking others. :cool: