First timer with free at sea questions for Norwegian Bliss

[marklyn]

We sailed on Norwegian in 2000 and haven't since but have done other cruises with other lines.  Now that we decided to book with Norwegian Bliss for the November 2019 LA-Panama Canal-NY cruise we have some questions that we couldn't find clear answers on their website. We found some partial questions with confusing answers here so we're hoping that someone experienced with the 'free at sea' program usage can help us out with some details.  If it helps we booked in a mini suite (yet to be assigned).

We purchased the cruise with the 'free at sea' promotion and have some questions...

Free dining:  We know we will choose 4 specialty restaurants, which we already have them in mind and will reserve them once we are able to.  Questions: How will the restaurant know that we "don't pay" and our meal is included on the free at sea program?  Do we have some type of free at sea card that we present? Also, do any of the specialty restaurants still have a surcharge for dining there even with the free at sea program? I ask because I saw a post where Ocean Blue still charged $10 pp above and beyond, thus I'm confused about what "free at sea" means in this respect.  We also paid for the gratuity on this perk when we booked.

Internet: We understand we get 250 free minutes @ sea.  Just curious if this is the lowest/slowest rung of the ship's internet service, meaning, if one were to buy a "premium" package would you get better/faster connection or is the connection the same.

Open Bar: We understand this to pretty much mean that any drinks under $15 are free.  Does that mean that if I drink 3 craft beers at the bar and later have a glass of wine at lunch and a couple of margaritas later that afternoon they are really all 'free'? (aside from the gratuity we already paid when we booked)  How does the bartender or waiter know your drinks are 'free', is there a card? Are they billed to your room anyway and later removed?  Would like to know these details.

Shore excursions:  We understand that each cabin gets $50 credit for 1 excursion per port.  Does this mean that if we want to do a shore excursion that cost the two of us $79 each that the total price will be $79 x 2 minus the $50 credit?  Again, is this done 'after the fact' of taking the excursion or at the time the excursion is charged/billed?

Room Service:  We read that NCL discontinued 'free' room service in 2015 and now charges a $7.95 convenience fee. However we also read that if you order coffee and continental breakfast items before 10am that there is no charge at all (food or service charge).  Can anyone confirm this?  (We LOVE waking up to our coffee and prefer real made coffee over the k-cups style coffee makers in the room).

 

Sorry for the newbie questions but the answers we tried to find for these were often vague or sometimes conflicting and some direct experiences in this area would be helpful.

[JamieLogical]

I will answer all that I can.

 

The main answer to several of your questions has to do with your onboard account, which is associated with your room key card. Whenever you check in at a restaurant or order a drink, they swipe your key card. They can see what packages/discounts you have associated with your room/account. So at a specialty restaurant, when checking in, they can see that you have specialty dining credits on your account and will ask you if you want to use those or pay a la carte. Similarly, when getting drinks from any bar onboard, they will swipe your card and see which drink package (if any) you have. For the basic "Free at Sea" package, any drink under $15 is free. You can have as many as you like throughout the course of the day and you can get two at a time. If you order a drink that costs over $15, you will have to pay the difference as well as a 20% gratuity on the difference. So a $16 drink will cost you $1.20, which will be charged to your room account, not paid in cash.

 

There are some specialty restaurants that have a "cover charge" over the specialty dining credit. On Bliss, the one of these you will encounter is Ocean Blue. Which, as you stated, is a $10 up-charge, plus a 20% gratuity on the up-charge, so a total of $12 more per person. The other specialty restaurants covered by the specialty dining package don't have this cover charge, but there is at least one item on the Cagney's menu that is an additional charge over the specialty dining credit as well. These types of items will be noted on the menu. In the case of Cagney's, I believe it's the shrimp cocktail appetizer.

 

I can't help with your internet package question, as I never use internet on board.

 

For shore excursions, you have it right. It's $50 off the total cost of the excursion for your room, not per person.

 

Continental breakfast room service is free. The way it works is that you will have door hanger cards available in your room. You fill them out the night prior with the time you want your delivery (30 minute windows), your room number, and how many of which items you want, then hang it on your room door. Here's a photo of one:

 

 

You can see that only the "hot food" items at the bottom of the card incur the $7.95 room service charge.

Edited June 12, 2019 by JamieLogical

[marklyn]

Wow, you answered everything perfectly and I really understand now! Thanks so much!

[kfnesq]

With regard to the internet question, you also pretty much have it right.  You do have the option to upgrade your package and pay the difference, to an unlimited package, among other things, once you are on board, which is what I always do as I use the internet quite a bit on vacation.  I have found that the 250-minute package is cumbersome to use as you HAVE to remember to logout every time you are done, or your minutes will disappear very quickly.  And sometimes it's not easy to determine whether or not you are logged out.

 

If internet is important to you, consider upgrading once on board (it will be an option in the Norwegian app, you don't have to go to the internet cafe or anything).  If internet is not important to you...don't worry about it.  Have a great time on the Bliss!

[marklyn]

1 hour ago, kfnesq said:

With regard to the internet question, you also pretty much have it right.  You do have the option to upgrade your package and pay the difference, to an unlimited package, among other things, once you are on board, which is what I always do as I use the internet quite a bit on vacation.  I have found that the 250-minute package is cumbersome to use as you HAVE to remember to logout every time you are done, or your minutes will disappear very quickly.  And sometimes it's not easy to determine whether or not you are logged out.

 

If internet is important to you, consider upgrading once on board (it will be an option in the Norwegian app, you don't have to go to the internet cafe or anything).  If internet is not important to you...don't worry about it.  Have a great time on the Bliss!

I think 250 minutes will be "ok" for us, but if the free @ sea internet package is a lower speed connection then I can see us wasting a lot of minutes just trying to do slow searches, check mail, etc.  If there is an option for a faster connection and the price is reasonable, then we may consider that.  I'm just not sure if the minutes we're getting are speed throttled like the free minutes in hotels.  Anyone know this for sure?

[phissy]

There may be some confusion on Shore Excursion Credit. yes, one per cabin per port.

the $50 credit posts to your onboard account after the excursion is completed. You need to book them ahead by calling the number on the promo or book once on board. If you book before on website, you will need to have someone at excursion desk try to get you the credit.

so, no discount on price of excursion just credit to your onboard account. It does all come out in the wash. Just don’t expect to see it on your excursion invoice.

[marklyn]

Just thought of one more question... we are also supposed to receive 2 on board $50 credit certificates.  Can those be used for mundane things like laundry service?  Does anyone know how much laundry service is anyway?  We think we'd need it at least once or twice for a 21 day cruise.

[FLAHAM]

I don't understand that your minisuite is "yet to be assigned."  Did you not select a specific cabin number upon purchasing the cruise (it makes a difference with regard to perks).

[marklyn]

I don't recall if it was the promotion for the cruise or why but they assign the mini suite.  We expected to be the ones to do it but the guy assured us that it would be a mid ship cabin since apparently that is where the mini suites (category MC) are located. On the emailed confirmation it says at the top CATEGORY / STATEROOM: MC / GTY

Not sure what the GTY is...

[JamieLogical]

15 minutes ago, marklyn said:

I don't recall if it was the promotion for the cruise or why but they assign the mini suite.  We expected to be the ones to do it but the guy assured us that it would be a mid ship cabin since apparently that is where the mini suites (category MC) are located. On the emailed confirmation it says at the top CATEGORY / STATEROOM: MC / GTY

Not sure what the GTY is...

 

GTY means "guarantee". When you book a room that is GTY, you are guaranteed to get that cabin category or above. So, in your case, you could be assigned an MC or an MA. Categories usually become GTY when they are sold out or nearly sold out, so there is a decent chance you will be assigned an MA, which is a bit of an upgrade location-wise. My parents just sailed with us on the Escape last week and booked last minute, so they paid for a BF that was GTY and ended up getting assigned a BB.

[JamieLogical]

49 minutes ago, marklyn said:

Just thought of one more question... we are also supposed to receive 2 on board $50 credit certificates.  Can those be used for mundane things like laundry service?  Does anyone know how much laundry service is anyway?  We think we'd need it at least once or twice for a 21 day cruise.

 

The OBC will be applied to your on board account generally and their value will just be subtracted from what you owe at the end of the sailing. So, if you rack up $150 in on board spending, your credit card will only be charged $50 at the end of the cruise. They don't charge your credit card for every individual purchase on board, just one big lump sum of what is owed on the last day.

 

Edit: You can track your on board account through the TV in your room or the Cruise Norwegian app on your phone. You will receive a print out of all of the individual charges in the late night/early morning hours of the last day of your sailing.

Edited June 12, 2019 by JamieLogical

[ImADaneFan]

4 hours ago, marklyn said:

We sailed on Norwegian in 2000 and haven't since but have done other cruises with other lines.  Now that we decided to book with Norwegian Bliss for the November 2019 LA-Panama Canal-NY

 

Have you joined our roll call?  We have quite a few things in the works for this trip.

If you haven't please join us at the link below.

Linda

 

 

[marklyn]

54 minutes ago, ImADaneFan said:

 

Have you joined our roll call?  We have quite a few things in the works for this trip.

If you haven't please join us at the link below.

Linda

 

 

Thanks, will look into roll call.

[LdyMags]

You can upgrade your internet to premium internet - you basically get a $125.00 credit from the 250 minutes. We did that last year and found that it worked pretty decently in Alaska. 

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, LdyMags said:

You can upgrade your internet to premium internet - you basically get a $125.00 credit from the 250 minutes. We did that last year and found that it worked pretty decently in Alaska. 

This is post is technically correct. But the OP is on a 21-day cruise and the cost of the premium internet is $735 if purchased onboard to use the credit. It is almost the same price as buying online in advance and getting the 15% online booking discount. 

[bearette]

I am confused on the shore Excursion perk -if I do an excision with myself and two kids for one port, say it costs $175 for all of us, then I only get $50 off? So My cost would be $125. (My cruise has 3 ports, Mexican riviera). Not a total credit of $150 on one excursion.  

 

Anyone know if it can used to purchase the unlimited activities on board? (The Joy)

Edited June 14, 2019 by bearette

[smplybcause]

Correct. It's per cabin per port. 

[BirdTravels]

23 minutes ago, bearette said:

I am confused on the shore Excursion perk -if I do an excision with myself and two kids for one port, say it costs $175 for all of us, then I only get $50 off? So My cost would be $125. (My cruise has 3 ports, Mexican riviera). Not a total credit of $150 on one excursion.  

 

Anyone know if it can used to purchase the unlimited activities on board? (The Joy)

You get a $50 credit to your room bill after you complete a shore ex in each port. 

[bearette]

So no, basically a worthless perk that attempts to get you to book their excursions.  Can't blame them for trying.

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, bearette said:

So no, basically a worthless perk that attempts to get you to book their excursions.  Can't blame them for trying.

We sail NCL multiple times a year and take advantage of it on every cruise!

[marklyn]

1 hour ago, bearette said:

So no, basically a worthless perk that attempts to get you to book their excursions.  Can't blame them for trying.

I did notice a couple of excursions that were around $49 - $79 so $50 would be a decent amount off for two people.