wtang

What complimentary beverages are available in the MDR?  Is it just water, unsweetened iced tea, and coffee?  I don't drink any alcohol and only occasionally have a Coke.  Just wondering what my MDR beverage options would be if I don't purchase a non-alcoholic drink package.

OK I called back, twice.

First time, I called the Captains Club number (844-418-6824) and the rep said the 5% pre-sailing discount shown on the website/app right now is my CC 5% discount.  She said since I'm logged in, the website/app knows my CC status.  I told her no, that 5% pre-sailing discount is for everyone, whether CC or not.  I said I should get an additional 5% CC discount off that published price.  She disagreed and said the price shown is the only price she can offer me today.  She said I can wait until I board to book the Hot Glass and speak to the CC Loyalty Desk onboard about the 5% discount.  I said if I wait until I board, then I won't get the 5% pre-sailing discount... even if the onboard Loyalty Desk grants me the CC discount then I'm just back to square one with 5% off the full price.

Second time, I call the main reservations number (888-751-7804) and the rep said CC only provides discounts on upgrades, drink packages, photos, etc. and doesn't offer discounts on excursions.  I explained that Hot Glass isn't an excursion, it's on onboard activity.  He insisted that CC doesn't offer a discount for Hot Glass.  I said the Captains Club Benefits PDF file I downloaded from the Celebrity website clearly shows a 5% discount for HHG (Hollywood Hot Glass).  He couldn't explain the contradiction but insisted there is no discount and the current price I see in the website/app is the only price available.

So in summary, I called Celebrity 3 times and got 3 different answers.  The common denominator is "we can't offer you a 5% CC discount off the current listed price today".

BTW here's a link to the Captains Club Benefits PDF file on the Celebrity website. 
https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/pdf/captains-club-tiers-and-benefits-chart.pdf 

Your mileage may vary. 

Someone here mentioned that CC members can get a 5% discount on the glass blowing by calling in instead of ordering online/in app. I just called and the rep said I have to pay the regular pre-sailing price now, and the 5% will refunded to my onboard account after I board the ship. Does that sound right? 

Thanks @RichYak I see that itinerary now when I searched again. It must have been a temporary glitch when I searched this morning.

I was just looking at this cruise a few weeks ago. A 6 day to Bermuda from NYC on the Meraviglia departing 4/28/24. But now it has disappeared from the MSC website. Did MSC just cancel this itinerary? Or is it fully sold out?

I'm browsing itineraries and fares on the Royal Caribbean website and I found an odd case of price inversion. For one sailing, the price of interior cabins is higher than the price of oceanview cabins.  In fact, the interior cabins are just slightly lower than a balcony cabin.  What gives? 

On 3/2/2023 at 9:19 PM, AwesomO said:

On our sailing of the Gem, I think they had just switched to once a day. On embarkation day, when we first entered our room, we only had two towels in the bathroom (we're a family of 4). We saw our steward in the hall. He was coming in and out still helping to deliver bags. He never introduced himself by name, but made himself known and was very friendly. He asked if we wanted a mattress topper too. When we came back from the muster drill and registering at splash academy, the topper was on the bed, we had extra towels, and the child sized life jackets were delivered.

 

We also needed the couch turned into a bed. He had also asked us about our preferences for that. While we were gone to dinner, we came back to our room with the couch made into a bed. We indicated that we preferred him to return it into a couch during the day, and he was doing that, coming back to turn into a bed later in the evening. But that was all he did, set up the bed. He didn't re-make the bed if we had napped in it during the day, and he didn't empty trash, take plates, etc. When we came back from our first port day, we noticed the bed was left out instead of converted back into a couch. I figured it's because it was a port day and he correctly assumed we'd be out most of the day anyway, not really using our room. But when the final sea days on our return half of the trip came around, he never went back to making it into a couch each morning. There were definitely times I wished it were a couch so I could have some place to sit while my kids napped (balcony was getting too cold), but it is what it is. I'm sure our steward had a good reason for it- either that's what he was instructed to do, or the new work load was more than he anticipated. Who knows. I didn't hold it against him. 

Since you are a family of 4, did you use both the couch and the overhead pullman bed?  We are family of 3 and I was wondering which one we should use for our third person.  I'm not sure if the couch or the pullman bed is more comfortable.

Thanks to everyone for your replies to my question.  Just for closure I want to let everyone know the shore excursion refund just showed up as a pending credit on my credit card today.  Excursion cancelled last Thursday and refund shows as pending Monday... not bad.

I called NCL on Thursday Feb. 23 because I wanted to change the time slot for my shore excursion.  The customer service rep said she couldn't change the existing booking, but she could cancel it and rebook the new time slot.  She said she would charge my credit card again for the new booking and the refund for cancelled boking would go back to my card.  Does anyone know how long it will take the refund to hit my card as a credit?  Right now I see both payments in my credit card transactions list.  There is no credit in the pending transactions yet.

Just to update this topic and have closure.  I just spoke with my TA and she said I can do a name change up to 2 weeks before the sail date.  She said there is no fee charged by NCL for a name change.  I am in the US and I booked through a big online TA company that specializes in cruises.

I'm 60 days out and our cruise is fully paid off.  We have a cabin for 4 people.  There's a chance my son won't be able to come on the cruise.  If so, is there a way to swap his spot for another person?  Or will we just have to pay for 4 passengers but only sail with 3?

19 minutes ago, MNcruisingcouple said:

You may be able to resolve the issue by calling or using the chat feature.

 

Thanks for the tip. I was able to use the chat feature on the NCL website and the rep assisting me managed to book the reservations for me.

40 minutes ago, hallux said:

You really don't need reservations for the MDR.  Just show up when you want to eat.

Good point. I guess I'm just one of those people who like reservations because it helps me feel organized and know how to plan the day.

I'm trying to book reservations in the main dining room for our March cruise.  I was able to book for 3 day of the cruise but then it stopped working.  I would add the date and time of the reservation to my cart, then click my cart to check out, but my cart would be empty and say "O items".  Then I tried adding to my cart and go directly to "Go to Payment" instead of clicking on "View Cart", but it's the same problem.  My cart is empty.  I tried logging out of NCL and logging back in.  Same problem.  I tried using a different web browser, Edge instead of Chrome.  Same problem, empty cart.  Has anybody ever encountered this issue?

On 9/15/2022 at 5:01 PM, HuliHuli said:

Another thing you might want to do @wtang (or have your TA do) is call NCL and ask them to send you an "AMENITY CONFIRMATION".  This will give you a .PDF of the confirmed 'perks' on your cruise, by passenger.  Print and take this on your cruise.  In the event you are denied any 'perk' onboard, you can pull this out and show it to NCL staff to resolve the issue.  The Amenity Confirmation also ensures that those 'perks' that your TA funded have been correctly transmitted to the cruise line.  On my last cruise we had 21 'perks' and this document was helpful in collecting what we were due.

Thanks for that tip. After my TA called NCL and got them to fix my booking and add the missing shore excursion credit and the missing 150 free internet minutes, I did receive an email with the Amenity Confirmation. Thanks for letting me know I should print and bring that with me on the cruise.

On 9/12/2022 at 5:22 PM, Travelicious said:

Weird that it is not showing up.

On 9/12/2022 at 2:27 PM, ziggyuk said:

 

After you expand that section there is another section inside to expand called "Vacation Add-ons" all the free at sea are in there if you have them.

Thanks @Travelicious and @ziggyuk for your help. I contacted my travel agent and she agreed that the Free At Sea perks should show up when I log into NCL. She called NCL (and she waited over an hour on hold) to ask them to fix it. I just logged into the Norwegian website again to check it, and now I see the free perks on my booking. Thanks again to everyone who replied to my question here.

1 hour ago, ziggyuk said:

 

After you expand that section there is another section inside to expand called "Vacation Add-ons" all the free at sea are in there if you have them.

Thanks for that additional information.  Unfortunately, when I expand that section I don't see a "Vacation Add-ons" section.  All I see is the cruise itinerary.  I guess I have to reach out to my travel agent.  Thanks again.

15 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

You need to expand that "Itinerary, Onboard Packages, Gifts and More Items" thing (i.e. hit the "+" sign)

 

Thanks, you guys are awesome! I expanded that section and there's no "Included Items" listing. I guess I need to go back to my travel agent and ask about the Free At Sea perks she said would be included but aren't there.

6 minutes ago, Travelicious said:

You should be able to.  When you are in your account, click on that cruise, then click "summary" near the top left corner.  Scroll down.  It should all be there under "Included items."

Thanks for replying. Do you see this in on the NCL website or phone app (or both)? When I log into the NCL website and click on the summary for my cruise, I don't see an "Included Items" section. These are the only sections I see when I scroll down. See attached screenshot.

Thanks, good to know. When you say "upgrading WiFi" do you mean were able to upgrade the free WiFi from the Free At Sea perk to Unlimited Premium WiFi by logging in and paying extra on NCL.com?

Greetings fellow cruisers! I just booked an NCL sailing for March 2023. According to my travel agent, my booking includes some Free At Sea perks ($50 excursion credit and 150 minutes Internet). Is there a way to see these perks on my reservation by logging into the NCL website? When I log into NCL.com I can see my reservation but I don't see any indication of these free perks on my booking. Thanks in advance.

Thanks to everyone who answered my question about reservations for the ice skating show.  The answer: no reservations, first come first served.  Now I have a question about Flowrider if y'all don't mind.  If my kids are not purchasing a lesson, do I make reservations for them to try Flowrider during the open times?  Or is Flowrider first come first served?  Thanks for any tips and help. 

We're sailing on Adventure of the Seas in a couple weeks.  I'm wondering if the ice skating show is first-come-first-served or whether we can make reservations.  I've been told the shows in the main theater are first-come-first-served, but I'm not sure about the ice skating show.  If reservations are needed, I assume I'll be able to book through the RCI app once I'm on board? 

And a similar question: if we want to try ice skating ourselves, do we have to book reservations? Or do we just show up and stand in line to rent ice skates? Thanks for any help and pointers. 

On 7/25/2019 at 7:29 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

Personally I would book the entertainment ahead of time through the cruise planner.  There may not be a lot of availability if you leave it until on board 

I'm sailing on Adventure of the Seas in just a few weeks and the RC app on my phone says I can only book entertainment and activities once I am on board the ship. I also tried logging onto the RC website and there are no entertainment and activities to book.  On the Cruise Planner I only see excursions, dining, internet, spa, etc.  Maybe the AOTS ship doesn't allow pre-booking these things?  Are the nightly shows, Flowrider, ice skating, etc. only first come first serve on this ship?

Thanks @Host Clarea and @fdthird!  Let me get this straight.  I don't have to purchase the VOOM internet package.  If I just connect my phone to the ship's WiFi, the RC app will work and I can book activities, dining, entertainment, etc. once I am on board.  Cool!