PaperSniper4

2 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Yep.  Free money is often worth about what you pay for it.

 

Do you take shore excursions?

Good suggestion, Chief. We stopped taking nearly all shore excursions in the Caribbean about 15 years ago. That's where we sail 80% of the time; been there, done that. However, we will take an excursion or buy something onboard just to burn up that nonrefundable credit! We ain't leaving any money on the table!😎

We have our favorite places to visit, especially in Cozumel. But those are not ship excursions. We take a cab into town to visit our favorite bar/restaurant.

11 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

$175 would be almost enough for your wife to purchase a treatment in the spa. 

 

Or, donate the OBC to me...there should be a way to do this (I wish). 🙂 I'd happily spend it for you. 

Ha, everyone is a comedian!😎

My wife did a spa treatment once on a Princess ship, and was very, very disappointed! She said never again, and I encouraged that feeling!

 Doug

9 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

You can use it for drink package upgrade, as long as you do the upgrade onboard.  You can also use it for specialty dining, excursions, spa treatments, cigars in the cigar lounge, and drinks you pay for individually.  This is not an exhaustive list, just examples I can think of right now 

Thanks. That's for any nonrefundable OBC ....has nothing to do with a CN/CF just to be clear.

Like others have said here, we often find it difficult to spend our nonrefundable OBC since we buy very little on board. I had counted on using the $175 nonrefundable OBC we have on our next NCL cruise's gratuities charge, but now I discover I cannot do that. I won't leave that nonrefundable in my account when I settle my bill; we will force  ourselves to spend it somehow on the ship! My wife will like that idea; me, not so much.😉

Another idea I just had.....since I cannot use the nonrefundable OBC to pay the "required" gratuities, can I use it to pay additional gratuities to certain individuals? For instance, we usually give cash to our favorite staff such as the steward, waiter, etc. I'd rather do that with the nonrefundable OBC if possible....better than blowing it on overpriced items in the ship's stores. That would save me money since the cash to the favorite staff comes out of my pocket during the cruise.

 Doug

9 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

You can use it for drink package upgrade, as long as you do the upgrade onboard.  You can also use it for specialty dining, excursions, spa treatments, cigars in the cigar lounge, and drinks you pay for individually.  This is not an exhaustive list, just examples I can think of right now 

Thanks. Unfortunately, in our case that nonrefundable OBC is nearly worthless to us. We have $175 (my memory sometimes is wrong), and we rarely spend more than $50 or so on the ship. Oh, we can force ourselves to spend it all, but that means buying things, usually at a high price, that we don't really need....or might not be able to fit into our suitcases!😉

Doug

23 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

Once again. Ignore the fact that anyone calls the discount off of the CN vouchers OBC.

 

It is a discount of the cost of the CN voucher. It really is as simple as that.

 

The actual issue that is in PaperSniper4’s example is that you can no longer use non refundable OBC to pay for the part of the CN that is due after taking that discount off. It used to be that people could walk off the ship with CN vouchers without paying anything out at all if they had non refundable OBC, but these days you do need either refundable OBC or cash to pay for that bit.

 

But the discount is still a discount, whatever they call it.

So in my case, I could not use any nonrefundable OBC to pay for a/those CNs. That is clear. But I'm unclear on the rest. Let's say I buy two CNs on the last day of the cruise, a day on which I have no OBC in my account of any type. How much would me credit card/ shipboard account be charged? The cost of one CN, or the cost of two CNs?

Next question; how long would I have to book another cruise? And how is my existing CN<s> applied toward that booking? Can it be used as ONLY nonrefundable OBC on that future cruise, making it nearly worthless in my case. Or would it apply to the total cost of my cruise? Or would it go towards the deposit for my cruise? Or would it be refundable OBC, that if not used by the end of that future cruise, could be refunded to my credit card.....or maybe kept "in the bank" for another future cruise?

Thanks to all who are trying to explain how all this works. It is confusing to those as ignorant as I am!🤔

 Doug

9 hours ago, dcipjr said:

The whole CruiseNext marketing onboard is a bit of a ploy to get you to spend more money right away.

 

As others have mentioned, really, it's a "Spend $250, get $500 in deposits" promo, but they throw all this talk about onboard credit in there ("Buy $1000 of deposits and get $500 to spend onboard right this very minute!") to try to get you to ring up a big bill onboard. 

 

It's a good deal, but you do have to do your homework and know what you're getting into—and the CruiseNext desk is oftentimes not all that helpful in explaining how the process really works.

Thanks for the replies on my question. I'll have to study them and whatever other info I can find on CN/CF.

 Doug

9 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

You $175 OBC can not be used for gratuities because it's non refundable OBC.  so your CC will be charged the full $280.  You don't have to worry about using the OBC from the CN because it's used to offset the cost of the certificate.  So, you'd be charged $250 to your ship account for a CN, but given $125 OBC, so you'll only be charged $125 to your CC.  So, you just need to find something to spend the $175 OBC on, like excursions, spa treatments, or specialty dining, etc.

Huh, my OBC cannot be used for gratuities? Seems like I have done that before, but then we've not sailed on HAL for about 10 years. That will be a real disappointment. OBC then does us very little since we don't use the shops much....assuming OBC can still be used there! Where else can it be used? On one recent Princess cruise we had a lot of non-refundable credit....we went nuts trying to figure out how to get its balance down! We bought some booze and perfume, both of which we overpriced. I even got a really tacky $14 Hawaiian shirt to bring the balance to zero! I still haven't worn that shirt....goes to Good Will on my next trip there.😎

I've read these three pages and am now totally confused! Maybe you can help me get un-confused if I present my actual situation and ask for recommendations. We've never gotten an NCL certificate of any kind.

We usually do a seven day NCL cruise from NOLA in either October or March each year. We never book an OV or interior cabin. For our next booked cruise, March 2024, I have $175 OBC, all of which is not refundable. For my wife and I, we have the "2x unlimited Bar Package", "2x Two meal Specialty Dining Package:, "2x Internet Package <150 minutes", and "1x Shore Excursion Credit". Our packages do NOT include gratuities which I calculate will be about $280. If I don't spend that $175 OBC on board, it will go toward the gratuities. Right? In that case, I will have zero "OBC" in my account upon disembarking. My credit card would be charged at least $280-$175. We do not plan on buying anything on board such as at the casino, spa, shops, etc, etc.

Any non refundable OBC I'd get from buying a CN or CF certificate on board would go unused: making its value zero in my case. So I don't see any value in getting a certificate if it gave me non-refundable OBC.

Since we plan to cruise at least once a year on NCL, IYO which package would be "smarter" in our circumstances? And why?

Thanks for the help. We've never used either the CN or CF programs, but we used to use a similar program with Princess that was much, much less complicated!😎

Does anyone remember the days when you did not need to be an attorney to go cruising?😳

 Doug

15 hours ago, Lee Cruiser said:

Then you probably will want to stick with those.  Carnival cruises out of N.O. probably won't be enjoyable for you.

Thanks for your comments, Lee. There's a very good chance you are right. We've sailed on NCL from NOLA many times and they were fine. The last one in March 2022 was better than fine. But I don't know how NCL compares to Carnival, at least in today's market. The Carnival ship itself is very nice, and the OS cabin we're considering is very nice. That's why we're considering trying a Carnival cruise. Carnival has an edge for us since they sail year round from NOLA where RCI and NCL are "part timers". We'd like to cruise 2-3 times a year, not back to back; and we do not care to fly anymore. Driving is fine, we take two days to do the 400 mile trip down to NOLA and one to return home. It's enjoyable. I'd be ecstatic if Princess put a ship in NOLA! 😎

Doug

17 minutes ago, Lee Cruiser said:

We are also ones that spend a lot of time on our balcony just relaxing.  If you can do something besides N.O., I would recommend going on Mardi Gras, Celebration, or the soon to be out Jubilee.  They have much better shows.  They also have extended balcony cabins mid-ship that are great.  We have three cruises booked right now on these ships.  The extended balcony cabins are cheaper than suites and are great if you spend a lot of time there.  You can stay in the shade and out of the rain at all times on these.  You also get a lounger on them.

No thanks. If we're going from a port other than NOLA it would likely be on one of our more preferred lines like Celebrity, HAL or Princess. I know there is a lot that folks like about Carnival, but it's not in our top five cruise lines.

 Doug

Thanks for the replies. We have not sailed much on Carnival lately. We do enjoy the slightly larger "mini-suite" cabins, and book them on Princess, Celebrity, and NCL. If we book the Liberty this will be our first OS on Carnival. We already have booked a slightly larger "spacious ocean view balcony" cabin on RCI for late 2024. That's only about our 6th cruise on RCI. We've had ocean views and balconies on RCI before. As we age, the cabin becomes more important to us since we tend to spend more time there than experience the "fun stuff" on the rest of the ship.

 Doug

3 hours ago, Tiger0613 said:

Post #314 on this page.

Thanks....if only I started with the last page here I'd have found it in 2 minutes.😎

 Doug

Is there an electronic / spreadsheet searchable document containing these data? I'm too lazy to go through 13 pages of posts,😊

 Doug

13 hours ago, Drazil65 said:

We are partial to OS and have been on Liberty a few times (not since restart though), mid ship deck 7 OS has always been great for us.  DH has a tendency towards motion sickness and that location helped immensely for him.  I believe you should be pretty good in that location and far enough away from the atrium to avoid any stray noises.  I would say to stay more midship and and enjoy!

Thanks, Drazil65.

 Doug

We're considering booking an Ocean Suite category cabin on the Carnival Liberty. Looking at those, all of which are located on deck 7, I see most are located toward the bow, but there are eight of them just forward of the midship elevators. I see that several Grand Suite cabins are between the forward OS cabins and these eight midship OS cabins.

Can anyone tell me if there is any significant difference in the forward or midship OS cabins? If we book, we will book as far away from "The Garden" atrium to minimize noise from that area, and as far as possible away from the forward and midship elevators to avoid that congestion and noise. Also, there is generally much less "pitching" toward the midship if the ship encounters heavy weather.

Thoughts?

 Doug

4 hours ago, modernscarlett said:

We called the night before and ordered breakfast room service with a planned time. It was really simple and well executed.

As long as it was on time that would be okay with us I suppose, but we'd miss the process of hanging out that card. Weird how some things remind us of cruising!

 Doug

9 minutes ago, mz-s said:

Yes the breakfast hangers are gone, you have to call in your order each morning. the continental breakfast delivery is still free, at least as of today.

Thanks. The breakfast hangers would be missed a lot by us. We are very regular in our wake up time, and we arise early, so on other cruise lines we always mark down the earliest time on the hangers; often writing in a time 10 minutes earlier. We rarely have to wait more than 5 minutes, which is nice. So on Carnival we'd need to call for coffee; and probably wait a long time....that's a big negative for us, although we are probably the exception. My sister never uses the hangers, but calls cabin service instead.

 Doug

Our last was not too pleasant (Carnival Dream five years ago) because there seems to be a really rowdy and rude gang everywhere we went.....very disruptive to other passengers. However, Carnival sails from NOLA which is our preferred departure port because we can drive there. So we'll maybe give the Carnival Liberty a try next May <2024>.

Couple of questions for those who have sailed on her lately....or maybe on any Carnival ship:

1. I thought I read somewhere here that the "cabin service" menus that we hang on the door at night are not longer available? Surely that's incorrect? We use them for coffee and croissants only, not for anything heavier.

2. We're considering a Ocean Suite for this cruise. Any comments pro or con other than it costs more? We've had only Aft View or Deluxe Balcony cabins on Carnival in the last 10 years or so, but we generally get a Concierge Cabin on Celebrity, a Spa Balcony Cabin on NCL, or Spacious Balcony Cabin on RCI. The OS on the Liberty looks very nice, although perhaps a bit dated. It's also LARGE!

3. We're old folks, so most of the "fun stuff" on ships doesn't interest us very much. We enjoy reading in our cabin and on the balcony drinking coffee in the morning and something stronger in the evening. I recall the "shows" on Carnival were pretty good on our last cruise, and we generally go to them. We cruise 90% of the time for the cabin, balcony, no cooking/cleaning, and watching the water go by. On  the typical itinerary from NOLA we often don't get off the ship; been to those ports many, many times. Can anyone make any recommendations for folks our age as how this ship compares to the RCI and NCL cruises in my signature?

 Doug

On 4/6/2023 at 10:14 PM, tcrny said:

Hello, going on our first Carnival 3 day cruise to Bahamas. This is first cruise we didn't have drink package included for free. Wondering what the average cost of drinks are vs buying a package for 59.95 pp per day plus 18% gratuity.  The package seems a bit expensive.  Thanks!

When we do not have a drinks package, I generally try to buy a bottle of scotch for cabin delivery. That's not possible on all ships, and of course the choices are very limited. These are expensive at about $130 on Carnival ships, but would be less expensive than drinks at the bar if that's all you drank. However, that holds true only if you can take the remains of the bottle back home with you. My wife drinks the two bottles of wine we bring on the ship when we board. We don't drink much, so there is always some left at the end of the cruise. I bring a Rum Runner<s> for that.

 Doug

11 hours ago, beach spring said:

FWIW, when we booked this cruise, the next day we applied for my husband's military credit, which was approved.  Within two weeks the OBC was showing on our invoice.  OTOH, I am a retired teacher, and HAL also offers OBC for that, but my TA was told only one "appreciation" could be applied to our booking.  Not sure how I feel about that.  Seems unfair.  We have been so busy lately, I have not even had time to think about calling and requesting again.  Do you think that would seem greedy?  Please give me your thoughts, as i just may call before we depart in a few days.  Ten Days!!!  But who's counting?

You are not greedy at all to think that, but sorry, only one of those "appreciation" OBCs per booking. Thanks for your service BTW, being a teacher today can be like being in a war zone. I know. My daughter was and my SIL still is and a public school teacher; a tough and important job.

 Doug

11 hours ago, canadianbear said:

From what I’ve read only one or the other-so military or teacher.  It’s like the CCL stocks, only one per cabin.  

That is also my understanding. However, I certainly would not fault anyone's checking to see if they might receive two of those "appreciation" credits. When CCL stock was so low (I bought our first 100 shares at the all time high in the 60s.....and I don't mean the 1960s!), but then I remembered only one credit per 100 shares.

 Doug

3 hours ago, debbiejohncruise said:

A lot of us have never heard that HAL offers this before. We are not browbeating anyone.

I don't know, but I think HAL's military appreciation OBC, which I for one also appreciate, is something new....and perhaps temporary. Since most ships are sailing full lately, it's really "nice" to have a cruise line extend that courtesy.

 Doug

4 hours ago, debbiejohncruise said:

Thank you so much Doug! I will check with our TA and also will apply online with the i fo you gave us. Thank you for your service (2 Air Force Vets).

Glad to help. Thanks for YOUR service also! I wonder if you can get two of those military appreciation OBCs, but I expect not until you each book a different cabin.

 Doug

On 5/8/2023 at 1:51 PM, DCGuy64 said:

Your senses are off there, pardner. 😉 I've seen a steady decline in the tastefulness of attire over the years, especially in the travel sector. It's particularly bad on airplanes. At the same time, I've seen a decline in the ability of some people to behave properly in public, again, especially on airplanes. I might be old-fashioned, but I happen to believe that a lowering of standards in what one wears leads to a commensurate decline in good behavior. Furthermore, I have seen how the rise of social media has led people increasingly to focus on shocking others in order to get "likes," leading to a "look at me, look at me" mentality. Occasionally, there are even people on Cruise Critic who seem to be more concerned with offending others by what they're allowed to get away with, rather than simply being comfortable. Of course, since vacation is supposed to be relaxing and fun, it shouldn't be about trying to outdo others in terms of how expensive or fancy our clothes are. But it also shouldn't be about seeing how "low" you can go before the cruise line cracks down on its already generous dress code.

You hit several nails squarely on the head, Sir.

 Doug

9 hours ago, complawyer said:

actually, i consider dress up for a man, jacket and tie, that's why i love ncl freestyle. my days of jacket and tie are long gone and definitely forgotten.On our 1st cruise over 40 years ago (when i didnt know any better) i brought a different suit, shirt and tie for each dinner night, as well as a tux for formal night.

Me too. Even before I retired in 2006 our company had gone to what some used to call "casual Friday". But I had not worn a tie in about five years, or a jacket in about three. I was in IT and and did not "meet the public". When we started cruising around 1980, bringing along a tux was routine, and I did that for many years. But it got to be a hassle, although my wife and I did like "dressing up" for those one or two "formal" nights on the ships. No more though! Now the room formerly needed for formal attire in our suitcases has been taken over by medications and other age-related doo-dads. At age 77 I wear and nice pair or slacks and collared shirt to the MDR and other eateries, plus shoes and socks, but a tie? Never! Thanks God!😎 The Lido deck of course is different: Shorts, sandals and a Hawaiian shirt or T-shirt for me! And sometimes I feel overdressed there!😉

 Doug