Love.NCL

I was able to redeem 2 rewards (100bc - 2 accounts) for one booking last month - booked directly on royal caribbean website.  im currenly waiting for them to to apply 100obc for my mom's booking but don't think it'll since she booked it with travel agent (membership only store where I would buy 20lbs of ketchup for a family of 2 bc it's cheap =P)

Reward Terms and Conditions


Must be redeemed within 30 days of a new cruise reservation. Limited to sail dates within one year of redemption. Reward is applicable to new individual bookings only and is subject to verification. Only valid for new reservations made through Royal Caribbean
Reservations at clubroyale@rccl.com. Not available for reservations made through online travel sites.

Thanks for the review! The Shuttle from port to Pisa for 15 dollar is very helpful!

We're cruising with our 2 year old - Can you tell me about the Kids Splash Pad/Splash Golf?

Thank you.

I booked last week thru Air Transat. I "believe" the exchange rate I got was 1.29%. I can buy OBC and prepaid grat at 1.33 - more than the current bank exchange rate right now.

Hi, We will be sailing the first week of May with our 15 month old on the Getaway. He is still in diapers, so I wanted to know if there is a splash area for babies still in swim diapers on this ship? I know the pools are not allowed.

 

Thanks!

We were on the getaway in January and there were many babies in swim diapers in the splash pad area.

We moved up to Silver during our cruise in January - got nightly chocolate in our room.

This is just a heads up - Sailing in 3 days, have the 1.11CDN exchange rate. I only purchased $1500.00 total for 2 in a cabin. I Just got the dreaded message from NCL to advise me we were over our $1000.00 max per cabin. I called in and spoke to a Supervisor and was unsuccessful in going over the $1000.00. I was told by the Supervisor that it was all "those people" buying excessive amounts that are spoiling it for the rest of us (grin). I have no opinion on that since NCL lured Canadian purchasers with the promise of locking in our exchange rate for pre-cruise purchases. Just wish they had decided to refund me earlier since they've had my money for months. Now my creditcard is tied up until refund is processed by my card company and I still have to buy another 500.00USD outside of NCL.

 

I did plan to spend some on board but also to cash out at least half in Casino for independant shore expenses. I am really annoyed at their timing.

I bought obc a few days before my cruise thru the call centre. Maybe try buying some again the evening before your cruise? you might get lucky. My rate was 1.19 - bought 4500 but lost 3000 in the casino so NCL wins!

Let me edit the above…

 

What is the most common air travel route to get from Toronto to Anchorage?

There are a few options like:

Toronto - Vancouver - Anchorage.

Toronto - Seattle - Anchorage

Those are with Air Canada

We used UberXL (5 passenger + luggages and stroller) on Sunday - POM to FLL at 8:30AM was $70 ( no discount code). Highly recommend it!

[/QUOT

did you use the casino to cash out some of that obc? did you have any problems?

Yes we did for 3% fee. You can get cash from the Casino even if you don't have OBC. Getting cash from the casino is like any other charges on the ship - drink, dinner, shopping, excursions etc. If you have OBC it just gets deducted from it. Of the $4500 we had a credit of 1500 left....lets see how long it'll take to get the cheque.

Just got off on Sunday. All the characters were removed - wasn't replaced with anything. More room to run around!

We just returned from 7 nights on the getaway. I was concerned that our purchased OBC would be returned but it wasn't. $4500 (1.19 rate)

Maybe those that got a really good rate - par/7%/8%/11% are the ones that are limited or having it cancelled?

Call the hotel, when I have used them they had a van. The driver Carlos was very friendly and affordable.

I called the hotel and they said $60 each way.

Thanks!

LOL, I'm still a leafs fan for life. Are you upset we took your coach?

 

I have Rogers, they charge an arm and a leg for extras.

My husband is with Rogers and on our last cruise out of Houston he paid an extra $5/day to use his data plan while in Houston.

This will be the first cruise we take our children, ages 14 and 22 months. We are trying to find a toddler friendly excursion in Belize. Any suggestions? DH has emailed Bottoms Up cave tubing and they said she is allowed there but not so sure have kid friendly it is? Also we dont want to have to carry a carseat around with us so suggestions on that as well. We will be going in April. TIA

We did Goff's Caye Beach with our son who was 14 month at that time. There were other families with babies there as well. i think it was a 30min ride out to the island. You had the option to go snorkeling once you get there (its included in the package) but we didn't.

Hi! I would like to get input from recent cruisers (even within the past year) who have gone to Maya Key in Roatan....did you have to leave after the 4 hours or where you allowed to stay longer? That is actually my make or break for booking this excursion.

 

Thanks!

We did Maya Key back in April. 4 hours seems right. You have the option to return earlier but option to stay longer than 4 hours depend on the last boat back to port.

 

 

We are also starting her on some solids over the next little while. I don't want to introduce her to anything new on the ship so are there any that you guys would suggest trying with her in the next few months that would be easy to get on board?

Will solid be her main food source when she turns 6 months? I introduced "solids" to my little one at 6 months. We started with maybe a tablespoon of the starter cereal (NESTLÉ® GERBER® Cereal Oat, barely etc.), yogurt, mashed banana, avocado, broccoli puree, cauliflower puree, but breastfeeding was still his main food source at 6 months.

When we cruise back in April our little one was 14 months. I brought starter cereal as well as PC Organics Strained Baby Food Pouches. These don't take up much room and I'm assuming she won't be eating lots at this stage so you wont have to take a lot with you.

I presume you noticed the additional resort fee of $20 per person per night http://www.newportbeachsideresort.com/hotel-faqs.shtml - those fees are very common in Fort Lauderdale and Miami.

 

Just make sure you add the cost of parking ($20/night for self; $25 for valet) if you rent a car. You'll also need a car seat in the rental car according to Florida law for the 2 year old.

I booked it thru a Canadian travel agency and the resort fee and tax is included in that price. I checked all the transportation services and it'll cost about $60 from FLL to hotel and 60$ from hotel to POM. We'll use airmiles to rent car so i think it'll still be cheaper unless you can recommend something?

Thank you.

So I booked my Escape Dec cruise and the exchange rate was $1 to $1.11.

 

Today I booked my March 2016 BA cruise and it was $1 to $1.08.

 

The weird thing was the price changed within a hour. It went from $4000 CDN to $4600 CDN and then when I rebooked in (AC vacations) via incognito mode, the price went back down to $4000.

Hi,

Are you able to buy OBC at 1.08 as well?

Thank you

I LOVE this hotel! I haven't stayed there in years but I love the beach area. It's kind of between Sunny Isles and Aventura which means you are very close to the Aventura Mall. It's like the third largest mall in the US.

 

The beach is great up there and tons of options for shopping and dining (see above).

 

The downside is traffic.

 

It isn't convenient at all to the Port of Miami or Port Everglades. Depending on time of day, it can take 40 minutes to get to Port Everglades and an hour to Port of Miami.

Thank you very much!

I booked for one night (Jan 16) for $135 including breakfast. Our cruise leave on Jan 17 from POM. We're thinking of renting a car instead of getting a taxi/shuttle. Pick up at FLL and drop off at MIA and taking the free shuttle to POM. They'll be 4 adults and a 2 year old.

Thanks for the info!!

You need to up your budget to about $150. That budget for December is unrealistic.

 

Look at the Holiday Inn Express on 17th Street, Comfort Suites on Federal, and all the hotels in the Sterling Road area.

Hi BlueHerons,

Whats your thought on Newport Beachside Resort? I saw that you recommend this hotel in other threads but i can't find current threads.

Thank you.

 

Yes, I cruise in December.

When you log into your account on NCL next to your ** Days to go it should say "all price shown in ***"

34% seems very high!

Does anyone know what the current exchange rate is? I'd like to book again, but the real exchange rate from the bank is just too prohibitive.

 

Thanks!

I called a couple weeks ago and was told they have updated the system and it is now 1.25%

Just wanted to let everyone know that NCL just updated the exchange rate. It's 1.25 for new bookings now. I just called to price out a last minute cruise (leaving this weekend) thinking it was 1.11. The agents all got an email this morning saying that effective immediately the CND exchange rate will be 1.25.

Do I just keep it in my Carry-on bag when entering the security area, or should I hand carry it on?

It really doesn't make a difference. We had 3 bottles in our carry-on last cruise. It was enough for us however, we also had a drink card from the casino.

I am %100 sure that it's not Gratuity. Because my cost was $29.95 per person, then they added 18% on top of that. Total cost per person for Teppanyaki is $35.34. So which my calculation is correct in terms of my rate is %1.19

 

 

 

I just called NCL again and asked to confirm. So it's funny how all have a different answer, but I like this one the most. She explained to me that I would get $25 dollar on board, as it doesn't exchange on board. Everything we paid, has already been exchanged to the local currency. I even explained that it didn't make sense that I'm only paying $100 for the OBC when my CC showed only $100. She didn't quite get why, and just said that your CC company probably had a different way of charging... so without getting her to be too suspicious, I've just said ok and leave it as is as this is the SECOND person that told me that I' would get my full $100 USD on board. But one thing she did say is, the OBC is the ONLY portion on the website that it doesn't convert to what ever the currency that you paid your cruise in. (so for her saying that it means the OBC charge should be in USD at checkout) But again. for me and some others here .... IT"S IN CAD !!!!!!!

 

AND !! I saw this little disclaimer at the check out.

 

"Total checkout price shown above is inclusive of all applicable taxes and fees.

All prices have been converted from USD into local currency based on the current exchange rate.

 

Please note for European residents we can only accept payment via the following credit cards: MasterCard, Visa and American Express."

 

So pretty much I can say that we got lucky if we are being charged in CAD.... or we could be pretty screw when we sail....

 

My cruise is still 52 days away... waiting to be within 30 days and I'll get massive OBC... try to do it within the CC cycle. Fingers cross that this will work out the way I have imagine and it's still going to be at par. Then this cruise would be AWESOME and save a bundle !!

I bought some OBC for my mom few weeks back. I paid 595CND for 500US.

Ask them to email you the Amenity Confirmation. My confirmation says $500 On Board Credit Certificate. Price 595.24 CAD.