farjar

1 hour ago, LHARTWICK said:

Same here, but I just want the mushrooms. Oh, this REALLY does not set well with me.  😡  I love those mushrooms - so does my DH.  We cruise again in October - they had better be back on that toppings bar.......but I'm not hopeful.  As someone else here said, it's death by a thousand cuts. 

I wish they served a portabella mushroom burger with crispy onions like they do at the Dive-In on HAL. I could eat one every day!  

At least you got 11 months notice.  Our Getaway cruise in January 2022 was cancelled 8 days before departure. I will say NCL was very good about refunding everything we had payed plus giving us FCC.  It was just a nightmare dealing with the airlines and the insurance.

5 hours ago, v3cruiser said:

So im a little over 180 days out and was wondering if anyone knows, on average when NCL cancels cruises? I was going to look at alternatives just in case. 

NCL cancelled the entire Jan. 19, 2022 Getaway cruise on Jan. 11, 2022 just 8 days before we were to sail.  There were other cruises besides ours cancelled due to high Covid rates among the crew.   Currently there is another CC thread discussing how NCL is cancelling individual travelers on the POA in Hawaii due to under staffing.  It's hard to say what things will be like in 180 days.

My question is do you have any shore excursions planned?  Depending on your budget I would keep the inside cabin and put the $300 toward seeing Alaska on land.  Yes you can sit on your balcony and watch the scenery go by but there are lots of wonderful places on the ship to do that.  The weather can also be unpredictable so you may or may not get much use of the balcony.  Ge off the ship and explore Alaska.  It's a beautiful place.

15 hours ago, wemjam said:

Yep, me too.  So happy just made it by 5 days for our family Sept 11th cru

The following additional destination requirements remain in place:   Voyages 16 nights and longer will continue to have vaccination and testing requirements that are specific to the itinerary, and Carnival will continue to communicate with those guests in a timely manner.     Unfortunately we fall into this category.  Hopefully these requirements will change for us in the next few weeks.  We're glad for all of you that no longer have to be tested.  It's one less stressful thing to worry about.

On 8/8/2022 at 1:54 PM, kwokpot said:

I was on the Pride for 31 days with this menu. One issue I had is the Day 6 Elegant Night Menu, the appetiser called Stuffed Mushrooms. What actually came out was about two teaspoons of finely minced mushrooms with some the other listed ingredients sprinkled around it. It was finished in one swallow and frankly an embarrassment.  Proper stuffed Mushrooms can be had at the steakhouse and they are yummy there.

We have a 16 day cruise coming up.  Did the 7 day menu just continually repeat itself or were additional menus offered for days 8 and beyond?  Thanks.

1 hour ago, Sundiego said:

Did you actually put the excursion in the cart and review the checkout $ amounts? We are also platinum and I am able to see the 10% discount plus the $50 off the first name on the booking. 

 

Denise

I tried your suggestion and it worked.  What I found interesting was it would allow the first person to book another excursion in the same port and get the same discount on the second excursion again if time allowed.  Thank you.

14 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

If you cancel it prior to cruise, you will get a refund to your credit card.

 

You can cancel onboard up to 48 hours prior to the port call. You will get a refundable OBC which would turn into a refund, if not used, at the end of the cruise. 

 

A very limited number of tours have to be cancelled before cruise departure. Those include helicopter, airplane, and a few other limited availability tours.

 

You can not cancel tours yourself. You need to call NCL. 

 

At this moment in time, tour providers worldwide are suffering from staffing and other shortages. On many cruises, ship shore excursions will sell out before departure. Popular shore excursions well before departure. We were on a cruise in May where about 90% of the tours were sold out by departure leaving rock climbing and whitewater kayaking. 

We are platinum and are entitled to a 10% price reduction.  It doesn't show up when I try to book online.  Do I need to call the shore excursion number and book through them in order to receive the discount?  I don't recall if I did that previously or had to go to the shore excursion desk once on the ship and get the discount there.  Thanks.

41 minutes ago, agrimm01 said:

We used the BOGO promo and maybe that is why they will not even try to get us another flight.  I spent probably 4 hours on the phone with them.

This was back in 2019 on a one way northbound on the Jewel. We flew from Southern California to Vancouver, then home from Seward to Southern California. The confirmation shows we paid $99 each total with an AIRPROM2 code.  I believe it was a BOGO even though the cost was divided between both of us. There wasn't any way we could have booked those flights on our own at such an incredibly low fare. Too bad they won't accommodate you.  The current airline situation probably won't allow for it.  Enjoy Alaska.

6 hours ago, agrimm01 said:

I wouldn't worry about the flight missing embarkation.  After our cruise to Greece last October I would have said that it was great taking advantage of NCL's air program.  But, after getting our itinerary for this Septembers Alaskan cruise I would take it back.  We have a 6:30am flight out of Jacksonville, Fl to get to Seattle the day before the cruise.  Coming back we leave Seattle at 11pm.  So the flight out is about 14 hours after disembarkation.  We get to Jacksonville about noon the next day.  Terrible flights.  Our friends traveling with us got great flights (they leave Jax at 9am and leave SEA at 11:30am).

Bottom line is that it's like a box of chocolates.

We used NCL's air program for our pre-pandemic Alaska cruise.  The original flights they booked us on were terrible.  I went to website of the airline they were offering and found several options that worked better for us including a nonstop flight.  I then called NCL's air travel department and asked about the flights I had found.  We were able to get our first choices.  It definitely was worth the research and the phone call.  

I have a very good thermal cup that keeps beverages hot for 12+ hours.  I fill it up just before bed so I can have some coffee the next morning along with a few pastries I put in the refrigerator.  It tides me over until I get dressed and go eat.

22 hours ago, SusieV said:

That's so, but it isn't specific enough. I know how many of each type of garment was sent out, but not which specific ones. If I send out four sundresses and only get three back, I might struggle to remember which one is missing.

I lay out on the bed any large pieces I would hate to go missing.  I then take a picture of all the items at once as a reference.  Carnival also has self-service laundries on their ships.  

We have family on this same cruise.  They flew out from the west coast yesterday morning then spent an hour circling DFW because of thunderstorms.  After landing they found out their connecting flight to FLL was cancelled.  Fortunately they got on a plane to MIA that got them there at 12:30 this morning, minus their checked bag.  They got a hotel room in Miami then were notified this morning their bag was at the FLL airport.  After taking an Uber from Miami to FLL to retrieve the bag, then going to the cruise terminal they are FINALLY on board!  It was a travel nightmare but at least they made it and can now relax for a week!

4 hours ago, ManyMore said:

This will be cruise number 22 and they first time I was offered an upgrade. They offered to upgrade to a balcony for $170 more for the cruise for both of us. Seeing as we paid $80 a person for an inside to begin with. Yes, I will take the balcony!

How many days is your cruise?  We just paid $420 to go from a guarantee inside to an extended balcony on a 16 days cruise.  If yours is a 7 day we are both paying about $25 a day more.  Hate to find out we are on the same ship.

2 hours ago, jebhoward3 said:

Or you could try checking other travel agencies website's that show what cabins are available to see if showing the same as NCL's website.

I hate the NCL website.  It is extremely difficult to use for cabin selection.  Instead I go to the big "C"' box store's travel site to do my research.  You don't have to be a member to use it.  When you click on "Choose a different stateroom" it shows you all the cabins available on each deck in the category you are interested in.  It is so simple compared to NCL.  Once you have an idea of what you want you can then contact whomever you wish to book through. 

There are many free activities for kids  The waterpark has two large slides, a drench bucket and splash toys plus a rope course.  The kids can also play miniature golf, ping pong, corn hole, billiards, basketball and soccer.  Movies are also shown on an outdoor poolside movie screen.  Adults can ride the sky ride.

5 hours ago, pe4all said:

Have 200 shares.  Was approved for July 2022 cruise, denied by same person for January 2023 cruise- both submitted same time with correct paperwork and with same casino rate.  No rhyme or reason.  Will re-apply for January cruise around November just to see what happens.

We have 100 shares.  Applied in May for 2 upcoming cruises at the same time, one for 16 days in Sept. 2022 and one for 8 days in Dec. 2022. We were approved for both, $250 for the 16 day and $100 for the 8 day.  We were surprised they approved the second cruise so far out but I would definitely resubmit closer to your sail date.  Perhaps it was too early for a cruise in 2023.

22 hours ago, FlGoodShips said:

You don't have to book sailaway cabin . We always book balcony and decline beverage package which saves approx. $300. 

18 hours ago, complawyer said:

same  as the others, you can decline the drink package with no penalties, and you DONT have to book either the guarantee or sailaway cabins.

The $300 you are "saving" is the gratuities charge.  On our upcoming cruise for example a sail away interior cabin is $1802 where the least expensive "pick your cabin" interior cabin is $2222 with dining & drinks declined.  For a balcony it is $3962 for a sail away and $4842 for the least expensive "pick your own balcony cabin" with the dining & drink declined.  Try it, I think you'll be surprised.

21 hours ago, phillygwm said:

Really odd.  The only thing I can think of is that it's a sort of "soft opening."  I heard about it in this thread and immediately called to sign up.  For me, since I always get Premium Plus, Internet, and Specialty Dining anyway, it makes a lot of sense.  

NCL recently changed several benefits to their Latitudes program.  They are no longer giving free internet.  Instead Platinum members gets a 15% discount, Sapphire 20% and Diamond 25%.  😡

NCL was always out "go-to" cruise line until they began offering their "Free at Sea" package.  We are non-drinkers and get 2 free specialty meals because of our platinum status.  You are lead to believe if you decline the dining & drinks you are somehow "saving money" due to not having to pay the gratuities. You're not.  We now have to book a "sail away/guarantee" cabin to avoid the hidden increase.  Since the restart we have sailed Carnival twice and Holland once plus have two upcoming Carnival cruises.  In all cases we were able to pick our cabin without having to buy a drink package.  We do have an upcoming NCL cruise but only to use up a FCC due to our last January Getaway trip getting cancelled. We also just learned NCL is no longer giving latitude members free internet only a discount. 😡

Too bad, we really liked them.  Our situation is a bit unique so I would still recommend them to others. 

Our final cruise payment is coming up.  We can buy travel insurance at that point or wait until up to 10 days before we sail.  Is there an advantage to buying it early?  I know there is a sliding scale for reimbursement from CCL if we cancel but does travel insurance cover anything prior to the "vacation dates" that are entered when you take the policy out?  Is the policy in effect as soon as you buy it or only when your actual travel begins?  If we buy the insurance now and then cancel the cruise prior to sailing is the insurance cost refundable?  Thanks.  

3 hours ago, greenie082756 said:

We will check our large suitcase with the porter. 

We each take a carry-on suitcase.

Hubby has camera and electric gear and I take medicines and

extra clothing incase our large suitcase goes missing.

 

I think that people should do whatever makes them feel comfortable.

 

We do the same.  Carry-ons with essentials and a couple changes of clothes along with one large suitcase with everything else. We check the big bag at the airport then give it to the porter at the port.  At least if the airline or ship loses the big bag we could survive with our carry-ons and still enjoy the cruise without having to wear a ship's robe to dinner.  

Slightly off the subject but just a reminder that you can again order another 8 FREE Covid home test kits from the US Postal Service.  Go to USPS.com and type Covid tests on the search line or just do a web search.  They are not a substitute for verifiable pre-cruise testing but can be taken with you to self-test on a cruise or when your return.  Stay safe.

On 6/30/2022 at 6:03 PM, KyloRen said:

I found the 6 pack of emed tests a great deal. Sucks that yall can’t get it covered from here on out but at least they aren’t super expensive though emed

Free Covid testing is still available through the County of San Diego.  Just search for County of San Diego free Covid testing and click on the schedule link.  They do both types of tests.  Some locations do walkups while others you can schedule an appointment.  No problem with the results being accepted on our last cruise.  Kaiser only does PCR tests but if you get a rapid test elsewhere they have a reimbursement form.  We received payment in about two weeks for a different cruise.

Reminder 8 home test kits are still available through the postal service at USPS.COM.  They can't be used for precruise testing but they can be used when you return for peace of mind or if you are exhibiting symptoms.  Travel safely!

I know Platinum and above members receive a voucher for one appetizer, one entree and one dessert as part of their specialty dining reward.  What is the current price limit for an entree in Cagney's or Le Bistro?  It has been several years and I noticed the prices have gone up considerably.  Thanks.