alwalaska

What are the requirements for the headshot photo. I'd like to have that ready for both of us ahead of time. Thanks.

We had a back corner balcony on Princess when we went through the canal and could see the side and some of the back of the ship at the same time, which was great. I second what the others said about moving around. If you are doing a full transit (I guess even with the half) you go through 2 sets of locks. For us, we got up super early and found a railing spot at the front of the ship, up high. We watched from there as we moved into the lock and while they started getting everything ready. Once we were closed in, we went to our cabin to sit and enjoy the next part of the process from that view. For the 2nd set of locks, we went to the front again as entering, but on a lower deck, we then spend some time both at the sides and went all the way to the back of the ship to see it from that angle. It was amazing and it was easily my favorite part of any ship time on any cruise. It is in the top 5 of all cruise vacation activities.

Thanks www3traveler. I realize that.

Thank you all. Now to do the math and see where my luck and my bids take me. 😉

I'm new to the upgrade bidding. The price says per person, is that for the entire length of the cruise or per day? I know there is a thread on accepted bids, but any quesses on a good place to start? Should I see how many rooms are left in each category? For example, we're in an interior. Upgrade to ocean view is listed at a min of $50, defaults to $150, and goes up to $250. I can bid on oceanview, balcony, and club balcony. Thanks.

Is there an easy way to know whether or not an OBC can be used towards gratuities? I know it isn't a lot, but I have a $100 OBC for an upcoming cruise and we really don't spend a lot, if anything, onboard. At the top, the code is the ubiquitous GRLOBC. When it first showed up on our Europe from 2021 that never happened, we had just moved our cruise from one TA to another. Our TA unfortunately had passed away unexpectedly, so her company and NCL both helped us change the reservation to another friend who is also a TA, but she has her own company. At first the description at the bottom said, "Free $100 On-Board Credit Certificate Non-Refundable. That cruise was then changed to 2022 and then cancelled again. When I booked my current cruise, the OBC showed back up and now says, "1xUS $100 On-Board Certificate per cabin - Non-Refundable." My prior TA would sometimes gift us with an OBC or something in our cabin as a Thank you. I'm not sure if this was a gift from her that had already been loaded onto our reservation before we switched, or maybe something from NCL to offset some sort of charge or something. I want to book an inexpensive shore excursion, but I'd rather do it on the ship and use that credit if I can't use the credit towards gratuities.

Thanks for the review and all of the wonderful pictures. Can you please let me know what cabin you were in? The layout seemed different from what I was expecting.

Thank you for the great review. I was wondering if Bamboo is only open at dinner time, or if it is an option for lunch at any time? Thanks.

Yup - currently lowly interior. 😏

Thank you for trying. I believe from reading @KeithJenner's posts in his main dining thread that because I only have one FAS meal, I will be charged for the 2nd fixed price meal that I plan on using because NCL does not recognize the Platinum benefit until you are on the ship. Has that changed since I last cruised? It has definitely been a while for me.

Thanks so much for the info. Just a quick check, was that booking online or calling customer service like mattie00 said?

I am platinum, but my reservation, both online and in the app have a note that says I can start booking dining reservations on the date that is 120 days out. Do I need to check with someone, or is that a normal web glitch that just fixes itself at 125 days? Also, my current plan for our upcoming Dawn trip is to book the following in order: Book Teppanyaki first with my one and only FAS offer. Book Cagney's next (I'll use Plat voucher 1) Wait and book Moderno on board (I don't want to have to pay for it since I want 2 fixed price locations) Book La Cucina for the Moderno night in case something goes wrong with booking once on board. Does this sound reasonable? If I book Moderno now and pay for it, does it become a refundable or non-refundable OBC when I cancel, or do I just get my money back?

With the new rules, do we still need to sign in right on time if we want a specific boarding time window, or did they go back to, just show up?

I'm curious as well. Or do they count 1) soup 2) salad 3) Entree 4) Dessert??

Please let everyone know what happens (which I know you will since you are so good at reviews), but I would plan on using the non-wine voucher at Palomar and you should be fine. Between the weird unclear wording on the web site, and the wording posted on the actual certificates (can't remember the poster), it sounds like the wine cert may have a problem being used there, but not the other one. I'm most disappointed in the can't use at the same place twice. We're picky eaters and sometimes just want something we are already familiar with. I guess that is why I am excited about the new Prima menus that don't change rather than the rotating ones. I don't deal well with unknowns. 😉

Yes, in unopened sealed containers. Also, I believe you only have to declare it if you exceed a specific $$ amount. I couldn't find the amount easily on the web site, but it is crazy high unless you are bringing jewelry or something. Here is a small portion about bringing food it. General Food The following are generally admissible if they are unopened and commercially packed. Many prepared foods that are unopened and commercially labeled are admissible (excluding meats and meat products). You may bring bakery items and most cheeses into the United States. As a general rule, condiments, vinegars, oils, packaged spices, honey, maple syrup, coffee, fish, tea, and baby formula are admissible. Because rice can often harbor insects, it is best to avoid bringing it into the United States, particularly if it is in loose burlap packaging. Foods in packaging that appears unsafe or contaminated may be refused entry.

Find a TA you can trust, it really matters. Plus, you can make a fake booking online (NCL or 3rd party), just to proceed to the final page and pay, find the ship name and cabin number, and come here and ask. Most people are happy to help. There is also a site with ship deck plans (I don't think I can list it here) where if you pay a small membership fee, you can see actual pictures of cabins based on category. Depending on the ship, I have some suite pictures from cabin tours I did with CC groups on prior sailings. They are all older ships, but can give some ideas. My email is annjunk at sbcglobal dot net if you want to see any.

We started with tape, upgraded to the clear luggage tag holders someone gave you the link to. Both worked, but I love the convenience of the holders and not having to take tape with me on vacation. One time we ended up borrowing a stapler from the hotel front desk and were putting them on in the lobby while waiting for our shuttle because I totally spaced off tape when packing. The idea for extra ones is great. Also, no one mentioned this, and I didn't know it on our first cruise, wait until you are headed to the port to put the luggage tags on. Don't fly with them on.

Thank you. I had the same question and that worked for me.

Can you please provide us with the sites you used to see your ship was at Amber Cove? I'm having a hard time finding information on where we will be docking at many of our ports. Thanks!

I'm new to the whole NCL credit card thing. We're currently booked in the cheapest interior (not guarantee) cabin on the Dawn in Feb. An upgrade to Oceanview price wise isn't too much extra. I just didn't like the Oceanview layout enough better to warrant paying for it right at the beginning. I should have 30,000 points in 8 weeks or less. Does anyone know what category of Oceanview I should pay to upgrade to so that I can use a point upgrade to get to a balcony? Is this even possible at this point? How long after the statement credits the points and I ask for them to be turned into an upgrade will it take? Thanks all!

Same to you. 🙂 We're not going until Feb, so if you have any information to share after your cruise, please post it to this thread. Like so many things, I think it is taking Cruise Critic a while to revive with new posts and information.

Thanks. I was looking at Dailies from different ships and itineraries and on several of them, one of the dining rooms started at 5pm. I just didn't know the ships well enough where I was looking to see if it was the more dressy or less dressy main dining room that opened early. When we have early ports the next day, we like to go to the early dinner and then the early show, but 5:30 doesn't usually work for that plan.

Thank you so much for taking the time to upload and post all of these. I have a couple of questions. Were you on a Southern Caribbean itinerary? It looks like there was only one showing in the theater each evening. Was this because the ship wasn't very full? Do you happen to remember what the earliest seating was for dinner in the more casual dining room? Thanks again!

Please come back here after and let us know what you find. I'm looking at the cable car. It looks like there is a really nice park at the top with different trails, a small house showing some historical things and other stuff all at the top. There was a video on YouTube where they showed walking through the park at the top. I used Bing image search on El Parque Nacional Isabel de Torres de la Provincia Puerto Plata and found a map and some information about it there and on Trip Advisor. I'm looking into an all day taxi option since I can't walk that full distance. It doesn't seem like they have what we think of as taxis that pick you up and then drop you somewhere and another taxi brings you back. Have a fun trip.