The Traveling Man

That is true for cruises booked through the US offices of NCL. For UK passengers, however, the rules are different. The OP likely will lose the deposit for rebooking to get the current lower fare.

If you purchase two Cruise Next Deposits at $250 each, you get a $500 value and receive $250 in OBC. If you only buy one CND, you get a $250 value, but only $100 in OBC. Many people have commented on CC that it seems that NCL intentionally obfuscates the terms and conditions.

Exactamundo.

What port can you drive to from Dallas? Galveston? New Orleans?

The World Points upgrade options are only for Inside to Ocean View or Ocean View to Balcony, as you stated. They cannot be used for Club Balcony, Spa, Suite, or Haven staterooms. The Diamond Latitudes Upgrade, however, can be used to upgrade from a Balcony to a Club Balcony. I used mine to do that just a week or so after the Diamond Latitudes level was created. My question was whether one could pay for an OV, use 30,000 World Points to upgrade to a Balcony, and then use their Diamond Upgrade to move into a Club Balcony. I expect that it is not allowed, but I just wanted to check if anyone had been successful with such a request. My wife has not yet redeemed her Diamond Upgrade and I wanted to explore the options.

Has anyone ever had success in using Master Card World Points to upgrade to a Balcony, then using the Latitudes Diamond Upgrade for a further upgrade to a Club Balcony?

Has anyone ever used World Points to upgrade to a Balcony, then applied the Diamond Latitudes benefit to upgrade to a Club Balcony?

I only have experienced line-cutting once. On the Pr1ma last September debarking at Southampton, there was a major delay as British customs agents came onboard to inspect passports prior to allowing passengers to debark. We got in line at what we thought would be a fairly early point in the process. Nonetheless, it took us almost 90 minutes from the time we joined the line in the atrium until we got to the gangway. At one point it looked like there were about 1000 people in front of us in line, and also about 1000 already lined up behind us. A man from Sweden cut into the line near us. When it was pointed out to him that he had jumped ahead of about 1000 other people, he became quite incensed. He said that it was NCL's fault for delaying the debarkation process and that he deserved to be able to exit the ship in a reasonable time. He refused to see that, quite literally, we were all in the same boat when it came to delayed departure. I did not press the issue with him. At that point I thought that it really made no difference if there were 1000 people ahead of me in line or 1001.

There is one difference which can become significant. If the area available in the terminal for baggage claim is not large enough to accommodate everyone's luggage, the bags will be brought out in sequence. Those who have debarkation tags with the earlier assigned times will have their bags set out first, while those with later times may not be able to retrieve their bags until after other passengers have reclaimed theirs. Leaving the ship early would accomplish very little, as you would still have to wait in the terminal until your bags become available.

As noted in the debarkation schedule you posted, there actually is an overlap of an hour or so between the self assist passengers and the first several groups of passengers who let the crew handle their bags. This sometimes produces delays as the line grows longer.

There is still a line to exit. With self assist you may join the line at any time you choose.

If you choose self assist, you are not assigned a specific departure time. You may join the debarkation line at any time you choose, including as soon as they open the gangway.

It means you carry your own luggage when you exit the ship, rather than have the ship's crew take it for you. Think of carry on luggage vs. checked luggage on an airplane. Depending upon the number of passengers and the space available for luggage claim in the terminal, there may not be enough room to set out everyone's luggage at the same time. In such as case, as some passengers reclaim their bags, other bags are set out in their place. It sometimes can take a couple of hours for all the bags to be set out in the claim area. The time required to pass through the terminal can vary widely from one port to another, or even from one cruise to another at the same port.

You don't have to pack your bags the night before. You don't have to wait for your bags to be placed in the baggage claim area. We always self assist for debarkation.

Sorry, no, you do not get to skip the line. It just means that you don't have to pack your bags and leave them in the hallway the night before departure and you don't have to wait for your bags to be lined up in the baggage claim area of the terminal. You still join the exit line, but you have to be able to handle all of your own luggage. Once you enter the terminal, you still have to go through whatever customs check that all the other passengers do.

I have read about others like you who were able to book the same restaurant twice on the same cruise when booking online in advance. I have never been successful in doing it, however, and I've tried on at least 20 of our 30+ cruises with NCL. YMMV.

They might give you a "stink eye" but otherwise there really aren't any negative consequences. As a party of two, you might be seated at a two-top table, but there also is the very real possibility that they will seat you at a four-top, anyway. There's only a relatively few two-tops available in the restaurants, and many passengers prefer to dine as a couple. A few times when all the two-tops and four-tops were occupied, my wife and I have been seated at a large round table with six or seven place settings. No one else was seated with us.

It seems to vary from one ship to another, and perhaps from one cruise to another. I have seen men dining in Le Bistro while wearing a T-shirt, shorts, and sandals.

Yes, almost always. Some passengers either aren't aware of the specialty restaurants, or don't realize that they can make reservations in advance, or see others dining there early in the cruise and decide to try it themselves. As a result, specialty restaurants tend to be busier toward the end of each cruise than they are at the beginning.

It has been a couple of years, but I don't recall a park entrance gate prior to reaching the parking lot. If my memory is correct, those with a National Parks pass should be able to take a taxi to the parking lot which is next to the park office, then enter the park without paying any additional fee. If that is correct, then the taxi driver would not be assessed any park entry fee, either.

I haven't sailed with Brian, but I have had some really outstanding dinners with other officers. Usually there are half a dozen or more passengers with one or two officers. On a couple of occasions, though, it has been just my wife and me with an officer or two in either Le Bistro or Cagney's. Those were truly memorable. Our very first dinner with an officer also was in Le Bistro.. We were at a table for six with one other couple plus Captain Mattias and Hotel Director (now called General Manager) Manny.

It depends on which officers are available and willing to participate in the program. I have had dinner with 5 different General Managers, 3 Cruise Next Managers, 2 Captains, 2 Chief Engineers, 2 Chief Medical Officers, once each with half a dozen other three-stripe officers, and 8 times with a junior officer (one or two stripe). There really is no way to predict who will join you for dinner, although once you reach Diamond or Ambassador the odds of dining with a senior officer do increase.

Is it a US National Park? If it is, then anyone with a lifetime park pass should be able to enter without any additional fee.

They usually hand out cards listing the names and phone numbers of most all the senior officers at the Cruise Critic Meet & Greet (aka Meet & Mingle). Did they have a M&G on your cruise?

Wow, just WOW!!!