TrumpyNor

We did a beach excursion in St. Maarten many years ago (2013), and back then "all cruise lines" (incl NCL) had their beach excursions to Orient Beach. 

2 hours ago, CruisnDeb said:

FYI I shared a similar room with my son on the Pearl. We had the beds separated and I still managed to bang my head on wall bed a few times. 

Thank you for the warning. 🙂

Thank you both for your replies. 😊 Good idea about having the beds seoarated. Will probably ask for that to be done. Actually didn't think about that possibility in the past... 🤔

It has been a pleasure meeting you both when cruising, thank you for sharing all your NCL cruising knowledge here on CruiseCritic!

Wouldn't the easiest be to just convert it to pdf yourself if that is the format you need....?

About reservations at the MDR done before the cruise:

We have a cruise booked for beginning of August 2024 (120 days from today), and I can absolutely prebook a table at the MDR already  - BUT only for a group of 6 persons or a group of 8 persons, and ONLY two times to choose from: 5.30 PM or 8.30 PM. So definitely outside of the "peak hours". 

My experience is that it is no problem to prebook a table for a certain time in the MDR when being on the ship - and if you prefer to have your dinner at the most popular times in the evening, then I absolutely advice you to prebook a table (usually no problem to do that in the afternoon for the dinner the same evening). If not - be prepared to stand in line, then get the "beeper" and wait 15-30 minutes for your table....

Edit: Forgot to say that on the explore and plan-ist of dining options the MDR is listed with a note of "Not available to book" - when I "click" on it to try to book it anyway, then I get the option of groups of 6 or 8 persons and can choose the times 05.30 PM or 08.30 PM....

We did an 11 days cruise on the Star in August 2023, and did not have any technical incidents at all. 😊

Regarding the originally 1 year requirement to use the free Diamond upgrade: 

My husband and I obtained the Latitude Diamond status when NCL added the new tiers (beginning of 2022?). We had 2 cruises booked for the summer of 2022, and asked for the free upgrade on both these cruises. We were however not happy with one of the upgrades and asked to get our original cabin instead. According to the rules at the time, my understanding was that we then "lost" that second free upgrade.

A few months later I saw here on CC someone posting about the 1 year requirement being "removed". I then asked my PCC at NCL to apply for a free diamond upgrade on the cruise we had booked for August 2023 instead, and within a couple of days we received the email from the Latitude upgrade department with our new cabin number (upgrade from ocean view to balcony). 

12 hours ago, drumming cruisers said:

After last cruise we are now Diamond Latitude. Says we can get a free cabin upgrade. Can we go from a Club Balcony suite to a Haven suite? If not what can we upgrade to from a Club Balcony?

 

TIA

Since you are saying "we" I am guessing that you are probably a couple? If that is the case, you can have the free cabin upgrade for two TWICE. Personally my husband and I did receive the Diamond upgrade on two cruises in 2022 and 2023 - both times from "obstructed ocean view" to "balcony" - and very happy with that! Especially when I saw (by doing "mock" bookings) what many of my fellow cruisers had to pay for their "regular balcony cabin price" compared to what we paid for an originally obstructed ocean view cabin.

16 hours ago, mskaufman said:

Once embarking in Trieste (for an 8 pm departure) is it possible to go have lunch and then go back off the ship and do some sightseeing?

Absolutely!

On the Gem 18 months ago - Club Balcony Suite with bathtub:

On the Escape 17 months ago - club balcony suite with walk-in-shower:

Also something to take in to consideration when arriving from abroad on the same say as the cruise starts:

Bus from Venice Marco Polo airport to Trieste takes min. 90 minutes, could be longer depending on traffic. 

3 hours ago, seemoreroyals said:

 

You could have accomplished the same thing without the $20.  We do the same thing without forking over the $20 and still maintain friendly interactions with cabin stewards when we see them. 

Of course I know that - after all, with more than 30 cruises with NCL I am not a "newbie". But to me it was a "no-brainer" to pay an additional $2 per day - we got lots of "extra service" as well, that I didn't mention as that was not my point.... And the extra $20 was highly appreciated - even though I "didn't have to pay that".... 

Last year I was on my first cruise after NCL changed the cabin cleaning to once per day per cabin, and after reading here on CruiseCritic that several complained about getting their cabin cleaned late afternoon, I did the following:

I wrote a friendly card to the cabin steward, introducing us (my husband and myself) and stating that I knew that he had to clean a large number of cabins, and if it would be possible to clean our cabin amongst the first one in the day. I then enclosed a $20 dollar note to it.

Result: On a 11 day cruise, our cabin was cleaned before 10.00 AM every day. To me that was totally worth the extra tipping above the standard daily service charge fee. 😊

We plan on cruising for many, many years to come. But this just shows how volnurable the rest of the passengers are if ONE person shows up wit a "hidden desease"..... 🤔

But to blame the cruise line as some seem to be doing, is to take it a bit far in my opinion. 

But great that NCL is offering some sort of compencation for the passengers on board that particular cruise.

1 hour ago, SoloAlaska said:

Ok so when you’re on a week long cruise in the Caribbean the bag may seem large but on a 16 day TA it doesn’t. I did the plastic bag trick which was essential since I had a bulky fleece I wanted washed along with 20 or so items in total. My bag was slightly smaller than the paper one so I rolled everything I could and put it inside and then filled the gap between the plastic and paper bag with small items like socks and underwear. 

My experience is that on longer cruises they offer the laundry special at least twice, sometimes even 3 times.....

2 hours ago, Anoynmous Phoenix said:

 

Sorry, duplicate of previous post. 

2 hours ago, Anoynmous Phoenix said:

I think that you are using a couple of different terms; "credit cards" and "gift cards".

 

I am dubious that NCL will allow you to put more than one credit card on your "folio".

 

In the past - on a couple of different occasions, my DH or I have had some expensive medical threathment on board (been reimbursed by travel insurance later), where I have used different cards than the one registered "on the folio" to pay off the extra expenses as soon as they appeared on our onboard account. I have done the same when I have purchased CruiseNext certificates and didn't want this to be charged to the card on the folio. In my experience it has just worked the same way as when I eg. after a small "win" in the casino then  mid-cruise have gone to guest services and said that I would like to pay "off" eg. $300 (or any amount at my choice) on my on board bill with cash (allthough I always have a credit card registered on the folio). In my experience paying in some money towards the "cruise account bill" at any time during the cruise, has been threated exactly the same wether I have chosen to do so with one or multiple credit cards or with cash.

I have never done this by trying to use any kind of gift card though....

I have used several credit cards to pay off my ship bill when cruising - simply by going to the front desk and pay off the current "owed amount" (or any other amount if needed) with whatever credit card I want to use as often as I prefer during the cruise - this can be with other credit cards than the one you gave when checking in for the cruise. Then the originally registered credit card will only be used to pay the remaining balance if needed.

Both my husband and I have some serious "back problems" and need good mattresses to avoid severe pain during the day. We cruise with NCL 1-2 per year, and for us, their beds/mattresses are "the best" - we both sleep "like babies" when cruising. When it comes to the cabin temperature, we find it very easy to change the temp. to our preference when needed, through the aircondition panel in the cabin.

When on board, just "loose" in my pocket. When ashore, in a small credit card holder together with a credit card and photo ID, and that also goes in to my pocket.

If you "click" on the "1reply box" above, there are a couple of photos from the Escape last year.

On the Escape last year:

4 hours ago, TrumpyNor said:

This is a photo of a regular obstructed view cabin on the Jade. Plenty of light from the two windows. 

Here are a couple of photos that shows the view out of the narrow window. 

They are called "obstructed oceanview cabins" for a reason - and usually therefore also cheaper than a regular oceanview cabin. Personally I found the view to be better than I expected it to be - we mainly booked the obstructed oceanview cabins for the light (our alternative at the time would have been an inside cabin).

This is a photo of a regular obstructed view cabin on the Jade. Plenty of light from the two windows.