Mrbluray

Hi.  

My wife and I will be sailing on the allure next week with our 19mo son.  We bought the 3 specialty dining package.  I think we will do chops and 150 central park.   Which specialty restaurant should we do for the 3rd choice?   Any recommendations?

Hi.  My wife and I will be cruising with our 18 mo son in 2 weeks.  We have been to st maarten before but this will be our son's first time.  We plan on heading to orient beach via taxi and were wondering if the taxis charge fare for babies.

Thanks

Hi

Ive done many cruises but all with NCL. This will be my first cruise with another line. My question is about my time dining.

Is this RCCLs version of NCLs freestyle dining, where you just show up and ask for a table whenever you feel like eating?

Or do you have to make reservations?

And will you be seated at a table with strangers?

Thanks

Im on the Escape on the 8 day cruise from Aug 20-28. The whole lobster and surf and turf filet and lobster tail are still available at the haven restaurant

Kijiji or any other service where you can do face to face cash transaction or EMT.

Don't use ebay or paypal. Too easy to get scammed.

You get the Haven perks

What is better for us Canadians to book through, a Canadian travel agency or to use a cruise consultant with NCL? Any positives/negatives for using either?

Well, if you need flights as well, you can save maybe 100 bucks on flights if you book through Air Canada.

But the Canadian travel websites don't factor in the perks addition cost. I had called the AC TA and they said the cost quoted was the lowest fare not including the promo...add the promo and then cost was a lot higher...

Air canada lists the "canada at par" price. If you want the price with the free at sea promos, visit expedia.ca

I just checked pre-paying for my upcoming (August) Haven booking and got the following:

 

The convenience of pre-paying service charges allows you to plan your budget prior to your cruise giving you additional freedom while on board. A discretionary charge of C20.67 per person per day for all guests 3 years or older will automatically be added to your onboard account. Your service charges will total C434.01 for all guests, for your entire cruise.

 

So you are lucky if you have that $18 flat rate!

Maybe it was because I originally had a balcony and got into the Haven through upsale....

I didn't pre-pay the DSC when I still had the balcony. I only noticed that after I switched to the Haven that the DSC did not change... so I decided to pre-pay it now.

Hi

Is the Haven restaurant on the escape open for breakfast and lunch? I havent been able to find a breakfast and lunch menu for the Haven escape, just the new dinner menu.

So I just noticed something. I recently upgraded from a balcony to a haven suite. Because I booked in CDN dollars, I had the option of prepaying the DSC in CDN, which NCL charged $18 dollars per person per day.

When I upgraded to the Haven, I expected the service charge to go up, but I checked and it was still $18 per day per person.

According to the NCL site, in US dollars for Haven guests are charged $15.50 USD vs 13.50 USD.

I just thought this was interesting cause the Canadian exchange rate is at about 1.32 right now. So if you are booking a non-haven room, it would be cheaper at the current rate to wait till you get on the cruise and pay the DSC in US dollars than to pre-pay $18 dollars Canadian. (Provided you have either a US Credit Card, or a Canadian Credit Card that does not charge a bank fee for currency conversion)

But if you book the Haven, it's MUCH cheaper to pay 18 dollars CDN than 15.50 USD

Cruisenext Certificates are certificates you can buy on the ship (up to four, I believe) for $250 and you get $100 OBC on the cruise you're on. The $250 certificate can then be used as a deposit for most room types up to balcony, I believe, without having to pay the full $500 deposit (rules are different for higher category rooms, but I haven't cruised in those, so I don't know what they are.

 

They also changed it recently where you get more OBC on your current cruise for the more certificates you buy. I've only bought one at a time, so I don't know those amounts, either. Sorry I can only give you some info.

 

So, basically, you're buying the option to put down a deposit of $250 on a future cruise when normally $500 would be required and you get back $100 (or more) on your current cruise. Except when there's a promotion running like there appears to be now, you can only use one certificate per stateroom, and you have to book and use it within four years of purchase (again, I might be off on these timeframes). I'm sure someone can correct any mistakes I've made. Just do it nicely, please.

 

NOTE: All these amounts are in USD. It sounds like CAD amounts are different, but commensurate.

 

--Michael

The CDN rules are a bit complicated..

If you buy the cruise certificate in USD, you have the option of applying your cruise certificate when you book your next cruise in USD ($250), or if you book your cruise in CDN dollars, you can apply your cruise certificate in CDN dollars at whatever the exchange rate is at the time.

If you buy the cruise certificate in CDN, (I believe last I checked, they charged $275 CDN), your cruise certificate will be worth $275 CDN if you apply it in CDN dollars on your next cruise.

I will be going on my first NCL cruise next year. What are Cruisenext Certificates that you mentioned? How did you get them? It seems like a odd amount $305? If you're from Canada, does it get issued in Canadian funds? Thanks for any help.

If you book in cdn, you can purchase the cruise rewards in cdn on the ship... Te cdn dollar sucks right now so they gave 305 credit for it

Congratulations, but I'm confused by one thing. How were you able to use two CruiseNext certificates for one cabin? I thought they were one per cabin, not one per person. Am I wrong?

 

--Michael

There's a promo right now where you can use 2 certificates for a single booking if you book by July 31, 2016 and sail by August 31 2016

So my wife and I are booked on the NCL Escape 8 day sailing on Aug 20-28. We initially paid $1033 CDN for a Balcony cabin each. We had two Cruisenext certificates vaued at 305 dollars each and were able to apply both of them to our cruise... (so minus $610)

We called the upsell department today and they offered us a Haven spa suite for an additional $1500 CDN ($750 each)

Considering that buying the Spa pass would cost us $292 CDN each anyway, we decided to take the deal.

So we ended up paying $1783 CDN each for a Haven Spa Suite. Regular price right now according to Vacations Air Canada and expedia for a Haven Spa Balcony is $3799 CDN each.

The easiest thing to do is just check out expedia.ca or vacations air canada. They list NCL cruises at the same CDN price as NCL would quote you if you asked for the price in Canadian.

If a cruise sails on a Saturday, what's the last day you can buy onboard credit and pre-pay the DSC?

Is anyone else getting alot of those "uh oh, our site is taking a vacation" error webpages on the NCL website? Particularily with editing your profile, viewing latitude rewards, etc....

I can't seem to access those sites.

Hi

I noticed that the mdr menus now have an a la carte cold water lobster for 19.99. Cagneys has the exact same dish description but it is 24.99. Whats the difference other than price between the two?

Hi. My wife and i decided to do a last second cruise on the escapenon aug 20. We noticed that we couldnt prebook dinner at cagneys or le bistro. Is that no longer an option or is it fully booked for the cruise?

We just got off the Getaway yesterday. We stayed at the San Juan hotel. Right next to the Lincoln Road Mall and very close to the beach. It was about 180 canadian per night.

Hi. I'm sailing on the Getaway in 2 weeks and I've bought four 100 dollar onboard credit certificates for myself. Do I have to use all that money before the end of the cruise or lose it? What happens to unused onboard credit?

Thanks

Was wondering, can you order Sheridan's on some rocks at the Getaway bars? I'm lucky that I live in Canada and can get Sheridan's at my LCBO, and I know they sell Sheridan's at Tradewinds on the ship in bottles, but can you order it at one of the bars?

Hello!

I'm getting married this summer and have booked the Breakaway to Bermuda for our wedding. This is the first time we've booked the Haven. As I understand, the haven comes with a butler and concierge which don't get tipped as part of the mandatory service charge fee.

How much do people usually tip the butler and concierge?

More info would be greatly appreciated. Who did you talk to on the ship and what kind of note was necessary?

 

Thanks for any info you can provide.

I talked to my PCC first, then when I bought the UBP, I talked to the bartenders at the atrium who sold me the UBP. A note from a medical doctor is necessary.