SpainAlien

I was just checking availability and it looks like we don't have a ship going from Barcelona in 2023 and only for 2 sailings in 2024, that can't be right?

I bought edible straws  10 different flavours depending on the drink I'm having. I particularly like the lime ones with a long island iced tea

It depends how the travel agent buys it. I had $175 on my last cruise booked with a TA, $100 was showing in the booking on MYNCL, another $50 was on my account on boarding, the other $25 never turned up

20 minutes ago, Ajkcruiser said:

Hello … hope everyone is keeping safe,

 

if a book a sail away room does not come with drink package or specialty dinning.

 

wod I be able to buy a drink package for me and kids drink package for my daughter once on board? 
 

Thanks

 

 

Aj

You would be able to buy it but it is very expensive, approx $100 per day per person plus gratuities. I believe everyone over 21 years in the cabin has to buy it, you cannot only buy it for one of the adults

I agree with what you are saying about NCL making you aware of the requirements, certainly on their website they have given information for some destinations so it would be reasonable to assume that special conditions do not apply to other countries that are not listed.  On the other hand their T&Cs do state that it is up to the guest to check that they comply with the requirements for each destination 

7 minutes ago, eileeshb said:

That sounds odd.. I’m subject to EU terms and I’ve been able to move a booking to another sailing previously. It might be worth checking up the management chain. 

Really? I'll call and ask again, you never know just speaking to someone else at NCL may yield a different answer  🙂

1 hour ago, Travelicious said:

Maybe the grandparents can still cruise, and the rest of the family can join next time?

I think that would be frowned upon lol

We have to cancel a family trip in October because my daughter in law is pregnant and due in early October. NCL won't let us sail with a baby under 6 months and to cancel we will lose our deposit. They won't even let us move the deposit to a new booking when baby is 6 months old 😞

No flexibility from NCL and holiday insurance won't cover this.

On EU/UK bookings we have never had the opportunity to have the price adjusted after final payment, not even after initial booking, it would have to be a cancel and rebook with cancellation fees being applied.

15 minutes ago, mafig said:

 

Does the "etc." include Teppanaki?

Yes it does 🙂

It means you can eat in two speciality dining restaurants for free, I.e Cagneys, LeBistro, La Cucina, etc. You can have multiple starters, one main course and multiple desserts but some waiters will try to restrict you to one choice from each section

4 hours ago, mafig said:

 

I thought I was leaning toward the Haven Penthouse Suite but I saw a view of your suite and I really like it.  However, that's a pretty small balcony.  Did you find it so or was there so much more to do on the ship that it didn't bother you. 

I find I think I want a large balcony, but after the cruise is over, I realize  that I really didn't use it as much as I thought I would.

 

 

It is quite a small balcony but sufficient and we found that we were either in the lounge or bedroom when we were in the cabin.  Mostly we were out on deck or in a bar/restaurant .  Don't forget to grab a lounger and a beach towel (as a blanket):at night to watch the films on the big screen on the deck

By the way as a Haven guest on boarding day you can eat for free at the American Diner if you like that sort of thing. It is typically quiet but you have to pay for milkshakes.

Hi, we had the HG, forward facing Haven suite (12108) and it was lovely.  It comprised of a lounge with a balcony and bedroom with a forward facing window.  There was a nice big bathroom with two sinks, a huge shower and a tub.  The suite is not located in the Haven but our card opened the door into the Haven so we had full access to the Haven area as required.  

Malta is lovely. You dock at the walled city of Valetta. You can get the lift up to the ramparts from just in front of the port for a couple of Euros. Once in Valetta you can walk around the city which is very hilly and visit museums: the armoury is good as are the war tunnels from the 2nd World War. Alternatively you can get the ferry across to Sliema which is more like a modern Mediterranean holiday resort. The scuba diving around Malta is very good. There are excursions to some interesting places where Gladiator was filmed for example.

To be honest I do prefer Dubrovnik but Malta does definitely have it's attractions and is worth a visit

8 minutes ago, Hutcha said:

  

 

 

A recent conversation between Brits. I saw this post 20 mins after my above post....

  

 

I'm half British. Half of my family is there, and I've spent an extensive amount of time over there. Most, like yourself, will tip well when made aware of the fact that it's expected. It does not come naturally however

I'm a Brit living in Spain and every week I am stunned that a table of four people having a menu at 15€ per person will leave 1-2€ tip between them (at the most). Now tipping in Spain is not like it is in US but even so 10% should be the ball park figure although a tip is not expected if you are just buying a coffee or a beer.

Years ago we went to Las Vegas, booked a table at Olives in the Bellagio. When we arrived it was noticed that we were British, we were greeted and seated at an out of the way table, we served courteously but not fauned over. At the end of the meal our bill arrived and we tipped 30% our waitress was visibly shocked, this same experience followed us for our entire trip.

We have only once refused to tip and that was in Florida where we had rude wait staff, we were made to sit in a draft by the door, we had to wait 30 minutes even for a menu to be thrown at us, after 3 hours we had received two courses and gave up on the idea of dessert and asked for the bill: it was presented to us with an automatic 40% gratuity. We paid the flat rate and left. I often wonder if we had not been British would we have been treated so poorly.

Please remember that if you reprice your booking at anytime the perks will be adjusted to whatever the current promo is, I.e. less meals

Two years ago Free at sea for inside cabins just gave you one option, you had to choose drinks, dining or wifi. Oceanview and balcony gave you two options and Haven cabins got all of them.  Even with the current changes with an inside cabin you still get to choose 2 (or all if the offer applies) so you are actually getting one more meal than you would have in 2019 in your inside cabin

So, I know this will be controversial but we stayed in our first Haven cabin on the Joy last year. This week were given the option to upgrade our club suite on the Epic and we sat down and talked about it. We decided that we didn't want to go up to the Haven even though it would be relatively cheap at the moment, our reasoning was this:

We didn't like the attention of the butler and concierge

We didn't use the butler's or concierge's services being quite independent

We didn't use the coffee machine because we don't like Nespresso 

We didn't like the repetitiveness of the Haven restaurant 

The daily snacks went uneaten because there is so much food on board

We did like the ship

We loved the cabin but didn't need all that space (forward facing Haven suite)

We did like the common areas and couldn't see the advantage of the Haven areas.

We like Spice H20, particularly on Epic and can't imagine spending much time in the Haven pool area because of the noise from the vents (we didn't notice this noise on Joy)

Maybe I am missing something but in our case the "once you go Haven you will never go back to a standard cabin" just doesn't apply. In fact we have booked a forward facing oceanview on Escape for Dec 2023

If you need disabled access I think you would need Villa E but Villa A is the closest to the ship wreck bar

This option is not offered at all on EU bookings unfortunately 

That's not the case for Spain but yes it is for Italy

8 hours ago, lilaw88 said:

gratuities

 

You can't use non-refundable obc for the dsc but you can use it for additional tips

6 hours ago, blueslily said:

 

Thanks. How will I know if it is refundable or nonrefundable OBC?

No refundable obc is normally provided by NCL whereas refundable obc is purchased by the client or TA

12108 forward facing Haven suite on the Joy suited us perfectly. It is very similar to the two bedroom suite but without the second bedroom. If there are only two of you the second bedroom is pointless anyway

I am sorry to appear unsympathetic but when you accepted the FCC and bonus you also accepted the use by and sail by dates. It is not NCL who have moved the goalposts but you.