KeithJenner

It gives people the extra day in port, rather than a sea day at the end. We have had similar a couple of times at places like Venice. Not sure how itineraries like this come along, but I’ve always just assumed that it is an accident of timing with the port schedules and NCL have decided to give people the extra time rather than just hanging around outside of port. It does allow for a less rushed reprovisioning I suppose. Every time I’ve had something like this has been at the end of a longer cruise so that may be a factor (although I can’t think why).

Restaurant reservations open at 130 days for the Haven.

This really is a personal decision. All I can advise is to just use the same considerations that you would on land. If you have had a lazy day would you then want to go out for a dinner, or do you prefer to continue a busier day? Does having a nice meal sound like something that would start a holiday or end one? We have no fixed ideas about when we will eat where, but consider what we are likely to be doing each day and then what we are likely to fancy doing in the evening. Nobody on these boards knows our preferences better than us, so we are best placed to make those choices. It really is up to us. I'm not trying to be unhelpful, but this isn't a cruise thing, it's a you thing.

Have you heard anything too suggest that they are? I've not heard anything myself this year. The only recent data point that I have is that we weren't charged any tax anywhere on our Lisbon to Rome itinerary recently. Also, remember that what happened this week doesn't mean that the same will happen next week, or even on a different ship at the same time.

That's a result.

Whatever. I certainly got a few glasses with P+ last week, as do many other people every day in Le Bistro. I will continue to give people the full answer, however much that upsets you.

The question was whether Veuve is available with P+. The correct answer is that it is included at Le Bistro, and generally not elsewhere. I didn’t say you were incorrect, but expanded on your answer. Best to give people all the information.

It is still included in Le Bistro.

Veuve in Le Bistro only on P+ seems to be the standard these days, as reported on this board, and in our experiences for cruises in about the last year. You may find it elsewhere, but that is the exception. I’ve certainly not seen or heard of it in bars lately. They will sell you a bottle with the discount, if you really need some.

You can only use refundable OBC to buy cruise next.

Dining is 120 days, unless you are in a club suite (125 days) or full suite (130 days). It is 90 days for shorter cruises (6 days or less). Shows are 21 days. It may be longer for other rooms (I never book shows). Excursions can be booked when they are listed. That could be 2 years out, or a few weeks.

Swapping to a different cruise is classed as a cancellation, so yes you would lose your deposit. Give them a call to confirm what your options are. Depending on what the actual deposit should have been it may be better to pay the deposit amount and get your cruise next refunded, if they are worth more than the deposit amount. Edit: also look into whether there may be any legal protections that can help if you have only just booked. I’ve never used any of these so don’t know the rules, but believe that companies have to allow you to cancel online orders if done soon after booking (but I could be talking nonsense).

I am planning on writing up some conclusions, but haven’t had chance yet, but will quickly cover Vibe now for you. This was our first time with Vibe passes and I have very mixed feelings about it. We aren’t really sunbathers, and only spent about 20 minutes on one occasion sitting anywhere in Vibe other than the bar or a table whilst eating, so we have very little interest in what is the main attraction for many people. We also never spend time on a pool deck, so the lack of public pool deck space (and it did look tiny) isn’t an issue for us. If you want to be guaranteed somewhere to sit in the sun then it will have value. Similarly, hot tubs aren’t much of an attraction. We had planned to maybe use one but could never be bothered. On the other hand, there was always outdoor space on deck 8. I suspect that isn’t always the case on warmer cruises. The weather was generally good for us, but there was a fairly cold wind for much of the cruise which did drive people inside at times. We did enjoy sitting at the bar, and there were a group of about 8 of us who could often be found there, especially between the time that people start to get back onboard and dinner time. Our routine when getting back onboard became to go to Vibe, maybe grab some food if required to eat at the tables in Vibe and then sit at the bar and see what others had been up to. I really enjoyed that aspect, We do similar on other cruises where we have met people who tend to use the same bar as whatever is our favourite, but we became quite a tight group over the course of the cruise. The closeness to the buffet is often quoted as a real benefit, and it was. The buffet area is small, and we tend not to use it for anything other than snacks, but it was good to be able to grab some breakfast and take it out to Vibe to eat. But it wasn’t always warm enough to sit outside, especially in the morning. On those occasions we just went across to Food Repblic which always had plenty of room (we could always get a window seat), so it isn’t that you can’t find a nice place to sit without Vibe. They also have a sign for outside seating at Palomar, but I didn’t check that area out. I was expecting the bar staff to be excellent, and they were generally good, but I have often met better. We much preferred the guys at the Local, who really looked after us. The Vibe staff learn your names quickly, but we did often find ourselves without drinks (and we had to call them to get refills, whereas we are used to the good bar staff noticing and offering). We also found that the drink selection was more limited than elsewhere. I don’t know whether that was due to rules or the staff. For example, my wife enjoys the champagne if it is available, and we hoped that it would be, but she spent the entire cruise drinking Prosecco in Vibe whilst the staff in the Local always made sure that there was Pommery there and were chilling a glass for her next drink (something that can’t be done in Vive due to the plastic glasses). We had the same with Pelegrino water. In Vibe we always used to have to ask for it whereas in the Local they always asked if we wanted some when we sat down. Overall we found the bar service to be a step down from what we usually find at our main bar on any cruise. So, we enjoyed Vibe and im glad we did it, but it most certainly wasn’t worth the money we paid (which was kind of what I was expecting). We decided very quickly that we wouldn’t even consider it for our next cruise (New England and Canada on the Joy in September) as we have huge balcony and the weather will be cooler. If the weather had been warmer then it would have been less easy to find outdoor space outside Vibe (even bar space), and more kids around the ship would also have an impact, but we tend not to cruise at those times anyway. One thing I did consider is what you have mentioned, which is booking a lower category room and Vibe. We do usually sit on our balcony for a while, but barely used it this time. I would certainly consider an Oceanview plus Vibe as an option rather than booking a balcony, and that is very likely to be cheaper.

You should have no problem. I’ve made part payments quite a few times though the app (including twice on this offer) to get Cashback and never had any problem. £300 off our upcoming cruise is very handy.

At least you got there in the end. I’ve been lucky in that I have always had cruise fare payments that I could make to get the credits, so I’ve never tried doing what you did. It sounds as messy as I had feared.