Rob_H

14 minutes ago, julig22 said:

You can buy CFs the next time they have a $250/$500 offer - they have to be bought 4 months in advance of your cruise. If I had to guess, I'd say they are on the opposite cycle to "double up" 

The $500 cruisefirst were offered just before (and maybe during) the US Memorial Day holiday last week.  I brought some. 

17 minutes ago, julig22 said:

CF and CN programs are different entities with different target audiences, more or less for new cruisers vs repeat cruisers. Their programs, their rules.

As a very much repeat cruiser, I'd ignored cruisefirst, as we always have some cruisenext in stock.  But with the $500 deal, it's like a double cruise next all the time (we mostly book b2b+ far in advance, often when a series of cruises is first announced).  

19 minutes ago, cpqq said:

Going to ask if we can apply both of ours towards this cruise, sadly NCL doesn't take panini presses towards final honeymoon payment.

Assuming you each got the coupons, you will need to (and can) apply both - each coupon is 20% off the base fare for one person, not the cabin. 

As @julig22 mentioned, it shows as a change in the base rate.  This makes comparing prices to get a reprice after a price reduction more complicated, so we leave applying the coupon until close to final payment, after we've got our best deal.  But not too close to final payment, as you have to reach a person to get it applied!

We've had many 10% off fcc coupons for cruises that Norwegian has cancelled (fleet redeployments, charters and so on).

I've never been able to apply them online, the value isn't exactly 10% of the base fare so I can't enter how much it's worth.  It's always off by a few dollars.

So, in short, yes, you'll have to call to get the coupon applied.  And yes, it can be used any time before final payment, for existing reservations.  

10 hours ago, drpclarke said:

I've never known of a cruise to sit there a day before sailing away. Is that because of waiting for flights to come in?

Essentially, yes.  Previous Norwegian cruises in the region in 2022 and 2023 have had a lot of trouble getting people to/from Tahiti on charter flights (we know, we were on the ships twice, but transiting Tahiti back-to-back so we didn't have to deal with that). 

The idea is to bring in one batch of people early, then send the early disembarkers back on those planes, repeat the next day.  That's what happened anyway, some people even lost the last night of their cruise to get on the Norwegian-arranged flights, this just makes it planned for.

The Sun seems to be trying out this idea (two embarkation/disembarkation days) for most of the season, such as from Fiji on Aug 6/7, Cairns on 20/21 Aug, among others.  It does mean that back-to-back passengers get a nice overnight stay in each turnaround port!

10 hours ago, TPgal said:

However, since I posted my query I found us an Athens accommodation with washing facilities. 

If that doesn't work out, Athens is full of laundries (launderettes, also with full service wash).  Last October we dropped off a big bag of clothes and picked it up a few hours later washed, dried and folded, for just 7 Euro.

11 hours ago, Huntingdon1701 said:

Likewise didn't find it open on the Jade, but Prima and Star both did. It's very odd - do the other Jewel class ships not offer it either?

All the ships we've sailed on in 2022 and 2023 have had lunch available in an MDR on embarkation day, except the Jade.  Including other Jewel class ships, such as the Jewel, as well as the Sun, Star, Spirit, Bliss, Encore and Joy.   As you say, it was available on the Jade before 2020.

3 hours ago, TORQ said:

Is it only the buffet? Or is there a sitdown restaurant available?

Usually there's one restaurant open (as well as O'sheehans/Local). On Jewel class ships for example it's normally the "nicer" MDR in the aft.  Typically you can enter from 12 to 1.30.  If you ask, you'll almost always get directed to just the buffet, so best to just go look.

Every rule has an exception, there was no MDR open on embarkation day on our two Jade cruises in the eastern Med in September 2023.  First time that happened to us.  Thankfully our Jewel cruises the following month were back to normal.

On 3/5/2024 at 9:25 AM, WillCruiseForMoney said:

 

LATTITUDE	Insider offer or pick of the month 1 extra latitude point per night
LATTITUDES	Insider offer code 1 extra latitude point per night

These should only have two Ts, not 3. 🙂

Also, on Aug 30, 2023 we posted the following addition to this thread but it somehow got missed in the update:

RR0DG    Ambassador Tier Comp Cruise

(Yes, we did both get our "free" cruises last year!)

Moderno has gone downhill during 2023. 

The salad bar (with sushi) is still great, but the meat is now of poor quality, poorly cooked, with long gaps where they don't circulate with any meat at all. 

On the smaller ships (we were on the Spirit, Star, Jade and Jewel in 2023) we're not going to go there anymore (unless we feel like having a good salad), we gave it many chances to do better.  We go to Cagneys again instead.

On one of those ships in 2023, the Moderno cook literally didn't know what he was cooking.  He'd send the servers out with "lamb" when it was beef, and so on.  Several times.  It because a joke when we had to keep correcting the names of what they were offering. We finished by asking for the fried "banana" which was delicious as always. 🙂

You'll receive a "back-to-back letter" onboard a day or two before the end of cruise one.  This will explain the process and timings, which can vary depending on the ship and port.

The letter will include some luggage tags, which show your new room number.  You pack up your luggage (other than things you need if you're going ashore on the turnaround day), attach the tags, and leave it in your room (do not put it out in the hall the night before!).

Your room attendant will know you're moving (although it doesn't hurt to remind them) and they will move your luggage to your new room, during the turnaround day.

You need to leave your room at the normal time in the morning (like 8am) and probably won't have access to your new room until everybody else does (like 1pm or later).

When you need to go and get the new key card depends on the ship.  Usually you have to go to guest services on the turnaround morning, some ships allow it earlier.  If you can get your new card earlier, it may only work to let you back on the ship, not into the new room (because the room was occupied on cruise 1).  In that case, you have to go to guest services again to get an updated card, after disembarkation of those other people who were in your new room.

On 3/31/2024 at 12:13 AM, scanr said:

This question I was originally asking is; Does anyone know how long does it usually takes after an announced cancellation before NCL publishes the replacement itinerary?  I would imagine all lines try to disembark the replacement cruise at the original last stop or they start a domino effect for multiple cruises.  Anyone have history with situation? 

Three Norwegian Sky cruises for November 2024 were cancelled around 21 Feb 2024 (Barcelona-Haifa, Haifa-Dubai, Dubai-Mauritius).

The replacement cruises (which we're booked on) appeared on the website around 13 March 2024.  These are Barcelona-Lisbon, Lisbon-Cape Town, Cape Town - Mauritius which avoid not just Israel but the Red Sea as well.  

The Sky gets to Mauritius in time for the existing cruise to Singapore and onwards to the Asia season.  So three cruises had to be replaced to get the ship in position.

So, to answer your question, the replacements were announced about three weeks after the cancellations.

23 minutes ago, MMackey348 said:

As part of a fleet redeployment to accommodate strong demand for cruises through the Panama Canal and to the Bahamas, we have canceled Norwegian Jade's sailings from February 20, 2025 through and including March 24, 2025. We will be redeploying her, and her new enhanced itineraries will be available to book soon beginning in April.

The stated reason for the Jade's redeployment is strong demand for Panama, yet the four cruises cancelled were all going through the canal.  Maybe a megaship will be redeployed there later to replace the Jade.

Oh well, at least we have another 10% voucher to add to our collection!

On 3/21/2024 at 7:56 PM, omahabob said:

Okay, the scheduled bus stop near the port is Garden Island Inn and the route is 70, which goes to Kukui Grove in pretty much a continuous loop. It's about a 1000 foot walk from the harbor.

We've used that number 70 bus several times.  It goes both clockwise and anticlockwise, take whichever comes first. It's a little minibus that is only once an hour in each direction so can be totally swamped by cruise people in the morning. 50c per trip, cash only, no change.

At Kukui Grove (the mall) you can change onto the "trunk" routes (still tiny buses) that go up and down the island.  $2 per trip.  Exact change only.

Use the transit option (image of a train) in Google Maps directions to get a live schedule with connections.  We went to Poipu Beach that way, using the 70, then the 200, then another local bus, all as shown by Google.  Total $3 each (each way) compared to $40ish quote for an Uber. Only do this if you have plenty of time (like an overnight).

I don't know about megaships, but yes many cruise lines are re-routing via West Africa and South Africa.

For examle the Norwegian Sky was going to be leaving New York on Oct 21, 2024, to Barcelona, then Israel, then the Red Sea to Dubai, then Mauritius, before heading across the Indian Ocean to Singapore for an Asia season. 

The Israel disembarkation/embarkation port got changed to Athens months ago.  Then when it became clear the Red Sea wasn't going to get sorted any time soon, those trips were cancelled, the three cruises from Barcelona to Mauriius.

In the past couple of weeks, new cruises were added to replace them.  After Barcelona the Sky will make it's way slowly to Lisbon via the Canaries, then a 21 day West Africa from Lisbon to Cape Town, then east Africa to Mauritius to arrive as originally scheduled, to continue to Asia.

There are many port stops on the replacement cruises so there shouldn't be any problem with bunkering or supplies. We'll be on these cruises, from New York to Mauritius.

For your cruise, 21 days to get from Dubai to the Mediterranean via South Africa would be tight, it couldn't have many port stops.  It would work better if they took a bit longer and split it into two, probably at Cape Town.

3 hours ago, Birdnutty said:

... but it's impossible to tell which is which, which is refundable, which one gets used first against room charges, etc.  

Any amounts charged to your account are first deducted from non-refundable OBC, if they are eligible, until your non-ref OBC runs out.  After that, charges are deducted from the refundable OBC.  When that runs out, your bill has an amount to pay.

You can get a printout of your account from guest services as any point during the cruise.  At the end, this will show your remaining non-ref OBC, and your ref OBC, so you can keep track of what's left.  The account on the app doesn't show these figures.

BTW, another thing you can use non-ref OBC for (but hopefully don't need to): charges from the onboard medical centre. 

Norwegian has various options in Nov/Dec this year for transatlantic round trips. Fine if you don't mind the cold weather in Europe at that time.  All 2024 unless stated.

From the US to Europe are:

Oct 21-Nov 4, Norwegian Sky, NY to Barcelona

Nov 3-Nov 17, Norwegian Encore, Miami to London

Return from Europe to US after those:

Nov 7-Nov 23, Norwegian Prima, Rome to NY

Nov 26-Dec 10, Norwegian Escape, Barcelona to Miami

Nov 30-Dec 14. Norwegian Pearl, Barcelona to Miami

Dec 3-Dec 15, Norwegian Encore, London to Miami

Also works in the other direction (round trip from Europe), earlier outbounds from Europe are:

Oct 6-Oct 18, Norwegian Getaway, Lisbon to Miami

Oct 17-Oct 30, Norwegian Epic, Rome to Orlando

return on Oct 21 NY, Nov 3 Miami, or: Jan4-Jan 17 (2025) Norwegian Bliss Miami to London

Most of these are very reasonably priced (except the Prima). 

3 hours ago, SpainAlien said:

Final payment is due tomorrow and I can't get hold of my Norwegian cruise consultant. I sent her an email yesterday but she hasn't replied yet. My question is if I just don't make final payment will it automatically cancel and reimburse my deposit?

 

Phone any Norwegian number to cancel the cruise (whichever office is awake).  Don't rely on email. Don't expect the cruise to auto-cancel, there's often a few days grace, so you have to take action.

The call centre person may say you have to go through the PCC, but if it's urgent you should insist they do it (and send you an email confirmation). 

The PCC may be on holiday, or have left the company.  We tried a PCC for a while but the slow response (especially for repricing) is why we fired her.

As Keith says, you may have booked the cruise in a region where deposits are not refunded. 

It can take a week or so after the end of the cruise for it to reach the account. The onboard sales people batch them up and they get processed on shore later. 

Some ships are slower than others, could be over a week.

We mostly go on long cruises, and b2b (and b2b2b and beyond).  So for us the key metric is total cost per cabin per night.  Lower cost means more cruises.

During 2018 and 2019, our budget was a total cost (including port fees and service charges) of US$200 per cabin per night ($100 per person), inside.  Sometimes the service charges or a special cruise that worked just right would push it a little over, but most of the time we could keep to that.

In 2022 and 2023 we've had 25 cruises on Norwegian.  A few have been within our pre-Covid budget, but most have not.  We've had to increase our budget to $300 total price per cabin per night ($150 per person).  With this budget we've been able to get some fantastic cruises to exotic places, so it's still well worth it and a great deal.  But, yes, the prices are now higher.

The price of shore excursions on NCL is another issue, we've been fully priced out of that market, just not worth it.  And honestly we've had much more fun doing things more independently, so don't miss them.

1 hour ago, Seemeonthesea said:

Thanks for all your info about your trip. We are supposedly stopping at Salomague in February and was wondering about transport there but I see you ended up further north. Did you do your own thing there?

Thanks, Vicki

At Currimao we took a shared van to Vigan city, a heritage city further south.  Our ship was late arriving, and Currimao was further away than Salomague, so we had quite a short time there.  You'd be able to be there longer, hopefully.  It's quite a run down city with old colonial buildings.

There's currently still a gap in the Sky schedules from Mar 13, 2025 (Seoul) to Apr 12 (Doha).

That does leave open the possibility of a connection from the Sun arriving Singapore on Mar 25 to catch the Sky towards Europe, if the two missing cruises have the right date in Singapore!

2 hours ago, RedRover96 said:

I've looked and can't find any specific info on Jades bedside USB charger. Is the port a type A or type C? Above the bed or on bedside table? 

It's a USB A socket, and quite a slow charge.  Above the bed.  We use a longer than normal cable (3m/10ft) so that there's plenty of slack when the phone is on the bedside table or being read in bed, a standard length cable is a bit of a stretch.

We also have our own fast charger which we plug in elsewhere in the room for a quick boost.

5 hours ago, craig01020 said:

In addition, we have issued a 10% discount in the form of an FCC to be used towards any of our published sailings from November 20, 2023 through December 31, 2025. The FCC will be available for use on December 11, 2023.

I received four similar emails for the four cruises I had cancelled.

Despite what it says, there's no need to wait until Dec 11 to use the fcc, if it's in the account it can be used. I've already applied one, to an existing booking. As usual, 10% off the base fare only, not port fees or taxes or extras.

We have Auckland to Istanbul booked, and they still appear in the account,

Today we had four 10% off vouchers added to each of our accounts, without any explanation.  These are normally added after a cancellation.  There are four cruises between Singapore and Istanbul.

So it looks very likely we'll get a notice soon that the cruises after Singapore are officially cancelled.

15 hours ago, Anoynmous Phoenix said:

Below is a table of the 8 cruises showing the ship; date of the cruise; posts on the Roll Call and the numbers of followers of the Roll Call. ...

 

Ship		Date		Posts		Followers		Spread		M&G
Spirit		4-Jan		60		7
		16-Jan		62		5
Jewel		21-Mar		71		12		7		5
		31-Mar		222		15		14		20
		10-Apr		252		29		21		37
		22-Apr		65		11		11		13
Pride		18-May		12		4
		25-May		4		2

 

As your table shows, it's the more unique (and especially longer) cruises that still attract some interest and activity.  If it's a routine 12 day Au/NZ or PoA Hawaii or a Caribbean, it has a different market that has an (even) lower proportion of Cruise Critic members.  It also helps if the solo supplement has been low for a while. 

Several things have caused the decline in the Cruise Critic message boards.  A large one is that the owners (Tripadvisor) are not putting any effort into promoting that such a thing exists.  I've pointed many people to cruise critic and all they see is another cruise sales site, the word "boards" tucked away on the corner means nothing to a generation not raised on BBSes and AOL.  I presume it's because the boards are seen as a cost, everything else is the stuff that brings in the money.  Few new people will find the boards by going to the home page, that's probably intentional (channel them to the sales instead).

The other thing, as many have said, is the closure of direct messages.  If you have to send people to another place for private messages, all the communication will move there.  Don't drive your users directly to the competition by removing essential features.