RegBarclay

How did this work out for you? In the same boat (no pun intended ;) ) for ten days from now. :(

I'm trying to get someone else to take their place but it seems like they make that nearly impossible - which is silly because it is a simple name switch on the reservation. We haven't done online check in yet or any of that. You would think they would want to keep that third person on our reservation on the ship so they could make more money. Uggghhh.

2nd passenger was able to go after all, so I never cancelled or even called ncl...

You will get all the perks as you are not booking a guaranteed category but a guaranteed cabin in category H7. No perks only applies if the category is listed as guaranteed (inside, oceanview, balcony, or mini suite) - in your example I guess you choose an H7 and "guaranteed" only came up once it was time to choose a cabin #.

Sometimes their system does not seem to know which specific cabin will be available and will list it as guaranteed - I have even seen the garden villas listed this way when doing a mock booking...

What I remember from my January cruise:

Continuous shuffle machines for all tables with less than $25 min bet.

Dealer hits soft 17 on all tables with less than $50 min bet.

Blackjack pays 6:5 on the smaller tables (not sure if only the $6, or also on $15).

SPD is usually per person, but I have seen waiters make exceptions...

It used to be possible to treat guests to Haven restaurant for $25 upcharge pp - there have been conflicting reports on whether this is still allowed, best to ask the concierge onboard.

The Haven public areas are for Haven guests only - you may invite non-Haven guests to your cabin, but not to the pool! They will be asked to leave! I would spare them and yourself the embarrassment.

Sure they'll charge early, if you go to the max bid why wouldn't they? It's a sliding scale with a minimum bid and a maximum bid (for example the spa suite was $300 up to $1,500) so if you just go right to the max then they have no reason wait.

They will wait until posted date.

After all, they might still sell it as a new booking for even higher total than the max bid...

The system they use sounds exactly like the one I know from an airline. You can bid for upgrade and even adjust your bid amount until deadline.

Once deadline passes they will charge the cc of the highest bidder(s) and the cabin is sold - no way to decline the upgrade once deadline passes and cc is charged.

The major difference between these auctions and the old way (upsell dept) is that you will not know deck or cabin number beforehand. Major difference other than max profit from all upsells that is...

I assume OP has booked 4 persons in a room, two of those have free DSC as their promo...

6.75 times 2 equals the 13.50 dsc per person.

I have 3 booked in a room and mine reads 4.50 per person.

Yes, daily service charge (DSC) is $13.50 ($15.50 for full suites) per person per day for all guests 3 yrs or older.

The DSC is often discussed on these boards, with a forum search you will find countless threads about it...

The drink package is for the first 2 persons per cabin - you will be charged 18% gratuities for the package at the time of booking (this only applies to US/CAN bookings - UK/EUR are not charged additional, but will have the cost included in the quoted cruise fare)

We have the same issue. Our flight is 22.20 from Newark. NCL don't offer any post cruise excursions for our cruise. If we didn't have two large suitcases it wouldn't be a problem.

Just walk to a nearby hotel (or take cab to one). Most bellboys love to earn extra tips and will store your luggage even if you are not a guest of that hotel...

This way you get to enjoy a couple of hours in manhattan instead of waiting at the airport. Did this after my last gem cruise 2013 with similar flight time and had no problem.

You do not need to spend $25k, only play it.

Everytime you make a wager, it counts. Say you play 100 spins at $5 each. After those spins, you have most likely lost less than $100 (or even won a decent amount), but still earned 100 points...

What level of table game play does it take to get comped cruises on NCL? I'm taking my first NCL cruise next year, and I've always been a card player. Typically blackjack around $50-150 per hand for 2-3 hours per day. Is this a level that will get me comped?

You should get deals on future cruises - not many comps while onboard.

I play 2 spots with $50-500 bet each (probably $80-100 each on average) and reached 5,000 points on each of my last two cruises.

At 1,500 points they will hand you a free drinks card, which is good for bottled water, coffees, energy drinks while playing. You can also get other house drinks with the card, but most guests have the beverage package for those anyway.

At the end of the cruise they will take $1 for every 100 points off your onboard bill.

For table game players that is it regarding onboard comps, unless you loose big ($7k or more), in that case they are willing to comp 3-5% of your losses.

For future cruises I never received any offers, but just call them with two or three dates in mind to ask what they are willing to offer.

They typically offer a free inside for holiday season or longer sailings and free ov or balc for off season sailings. You are responsible for taxes and an admin fee of $200-350 per person, but still come out ahead $500-1,000 per person compared to regular price.

As a casino guest, you and all other adults in your stateroom will receive a free casino drinks card for this cruise. If you reached Hot level (5,000+ points) on your previous cruise, you will also get $75 food and beverage credit to beu used anywhere on the ship.

They will also let you upgrade your comped cabin and sometimes those deals are even better: for my upcoming 14 day sailing they offered free inside and let me upgrade to H6 for an additional fee. Including taxes and all charges I am paying about 50% of the regular price!

Also, I cannot confirm that win/loss has impact on your offer. I lost 4k on the first cruise and won 8k on the second - offers where the same.

Good luck on your cruise!

If you always gave your card (room key or casino card works - no need to register for casino card in advance) to the dealer they will have a record of your play! Just call them (phone number in link from previous post) and ask what you can get for a future cruise. Be prepared to give them your latitudes number and a couple of cruises/dates you are interested in.

Be aware that table play does not generate as many points as slot play. Chances are you did not reach 1,500 points each, or they would have approached you midcruise to hand you a drinks card...

Since you both play, register with casino services next time and ask them to combine your points - only one of you needs to be eligible for a free cruise anyway.

Hi guys,

Quick check on how to proceed. It seems the 2nd passenger will not be able to make it. Cruise is in 3 weeks.

3 persons are booked - if I cancel 2nd, will 3rd automatically become the new 2nd passenger? Or would we loose cruise fare from 2nd and 3rd would have to pay balance to become new 2nd?

I guess what I am asking is: cancel or no-show?

Thanks!

Some thoughts:

Aft PH on Epic is not much bigger than regular balcony room (only 80 sq ft more). Also the balcony will not be huge like on the other ncl ships.

According to some on this board, if you book the kids in connecting balcony and 3 adults in PH, all will get Haven access.

I would go with the 2 br as it is located in Haven, about the same size as PH and balcony room together. You still get 2 baths, but gain a living room.

Penthouse suites will get full perks.

I can confirm change only applies to Haven upgrades. I upgraded comp inside to balcony and only 1 perk. Price quoted for Haven upgrade with full 4 perks was not very competitive IMO... Seems prior CAS discounts no longer apply for Haven and final price would have been almost as high as regular price on ncl.com

Was in this cabin in February. No pullman, they share sofa.

Adequate size for kids/teens, but rather cramped for adults.

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Why not cancel and book with US TA?

You will loose the deposit but as stated you will make this up with OBC offered by US TA...

I live in Austria and have booked all my cruises this way, never had a problem.

Hi all,

Apologies for posting the same question twice, but my last post did not receive any replies...

We will cruise Getaway in January and I was wondering if some staff members in the Kids Club will speak German, or are the games and activities designed in a way that children who do not understand English will have fun anyway?

Our sons are 4 and 8, so they will also get separated and I am worried that the language barrier could be a problem for them.

I know that playing with kids whose language they do not understand is never a problem on a playground... but it might be different in a Kids Club where the activities/games are structured as I understand and there might be some explaining involved...

This will be their first cruise, so I guess they will not spend a lot of time there and it would probably be no problem for them to just not go at all. On the other hand I read all the posts here how much the kids love spending time in the club and it would be nice for us to have some kidfree time as well ;)

Any input is appreciated!

Regards,

RegBarclay

Hi all,

we will cruise Getaway in January and I was wondering if some staff members in the Kids Club will speak languages other than English (specifically German), or are the games and activities designed in a way that children who do not understand English will have fun anyway?

Our sons are 4 and 8, so they will also get separated and I am worried that this might be a problem for them.

I know that playing with kids whose language they do not understand is never a problem on a playground... but it might be different in a Kids Club where the activities/games are structured as I understand and there might be some explaining involved...

This will be their first cruise, so I guess they will not spend a lot of time there and it would probably be no problem for them to just not go at all. On the other hand I read all the posts here how much the kids love spending time in the club and it would probably be nice for us to have some kidfree time as well ;)

Any input is appreciated!

Regards,

RegBarclay

Thanks guys,

I already feared that was the case - additional TA obc would have been to good to be true...

Still, CAS price is 500 cheaper than any TA offer including the obc!

Hi all,

I just booked with CAS (casinos at sea) for my next NCL cruise as they gave me the best rate based on past play.

Can I still transfer this booking to my TA to get additional perks and OBC?

I know this is possible when booking directly with NCL...

Thanks for all replies,

RegBarclay

Thanks VideoTech,

Afaik they do not give the points for losses, but for money wagered...

If they give 1 point for $5 on slots, it seems like 1 point for $75 on Blackjack by my calculation - that is a very bad ratio...

Thanks for the phone number, I will call them tomorrow.

I know the casino manager appreciated my play and did take care of some of my online account as described. It's just that he specifically asked for my contact details and promised a higher rating for the next cruise...

Good luck on your cruise!

Regards,

RegBarclay

Hi guys,

On my first ncl cruise last May (ncl gem rt nyc) I played for about 2 hours each night on the blackjack tables (on average two spots per hand with usd 50 bet). The casino host was kind enough to offer spa services and dinner valued at around usd 600 as I had lost close to 6k during the cruise. He also took down my email and phone number promising that I would qualify for higher reward level and additional benefits in future.

I never got any calls or email offers and actually forgot about the whole episode until this week when I booked my next ncl cruise. I wrote an email to casinoinquiries at ncl dot com asking about my reward status and first got a generic reply stating I have lucky level... I asked them to clarify and got a rather rude second reply stating I only have a little over 1.500 points and am at the lowest rewards level.

Is this standard? I remember cruising with Princess a couple of years ago and they offered usd 800 free play and additional benefits for my second cruise with similar play/losses on the first cruise!

Is there a different email or phone number I should try?

Anyway, thanks for reading and I appreciate all suggestions.

Regards,

RegBarclay