Hotspring

On 1/21/2023 at 1:36 PM, BirdTravels said:

 

Taxes on drinks while in New York

Gift Shops

Casino

Bingo

Lottery

Buying something at an art auction

Canvas by U painting

Dining Upcharges If you pick a specialty dinner that includes an upcharge

Dinner show in the Illusionarium

Pull Tabs (lottery "scratchers")

Deal or No Deal

Room Service

Taking things from the room Minibar

Tips to your drink waiters

Tips to your bartenders

Does the 'Dinner show in the Illusionarium' still exist?   Cannot find anything on this venue or the Cirque on the Getaway.

Great up dates to the list.  Thank you!

Anyone know what FLEXNET is?

Ship - Prima

Deck - 15

Stateroom # - 15314

Stateroom Category – H6

Starboard or Port Side - Port

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Generally yes.   Some chair movement and kids running could

be detected from the Haven concierge area lounge above.   It is across from the crew service door leading to the service room and crew elevator.  Not really noticeable until the last night when it was repeatedly opened and closed during luggage pickup.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - no

Balcony View - Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. –  Great view, spacious.  Louge chairs fold back but must request lounger if needed.

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Normal large size as described.

Was wind a problem? - no

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - NA

Any specific problems with this cabin? - Counter space in Master Bath is limited but there are drawers and shelves.  No towel bar.

Any other comments? -  The 2nd bedroom only has a queen bed.   With the captain bed design put in under the bed with some drawers, we found only one medium luggage bag would fit.   The master king bed did handle two large luggage pieces and closet could possibly handle one more if one gives up shoe shelf space.  Obviously smaller bags could nest inside the larger pieces.   The living room sofa bed was only a double pull out matttress with metal springs box.   No clothing storage area in living room.    

On 2/25/2022 at 8:13 AM, charlie murphy said:

If that is the ONLY reason you booked that cruise then I would recommend a flight and land tour. STP is a very large city and a 2 day stop on a cruise ship is not enough time to digest all there is to see. You have time and options. Seems like your mind is made up and your feet have made a decision, so enjoy saint petersburg I would suggest a week and there is a train tour to Moscow without the limitations of the ship disembarkment I would suggest several days there as well ( with the ship tour it is basically a bus and train tour and a VERY long day ) Not sure what the visa requirements are from Austalia but  may even save some money by not cruising to STP.  NCL is not your only travel option and you have time to make other arrangements. It seems rediculous to spend all that time on the ship for only 2 days in STP.  It is true the whole world is not american, however the whole world is made up of mankind and as peoples of the world there are issues that deserve our compassion , respect ,  and empathy. Enjoy SPT with more time on land you will really have a much better experience. You may even thank NCL in the end.  

LOL, nearly all countries have sanctioned Russian airlines from flying in their air space and Russia in turn has sanctioned no other country's airlines to fly in Russian air space, his only choice was  cruise or now a kayak.

On 2/12/2022 at 12:34 PM, Sea Hag said:

Or possibly full of self-deprecation, if they're one of the "commoners?"

I think the correct term is steerage ---but that seems to rile folks up.

14 hours ago, lixogab said:

Cruising on Epic on 2/27. 
Glad the masks are not enforced because we usually try to avoid elevators and use stairs instead. Plus 10k steps per day minimum. This way we can work out at least part of what we overeat. 
Going upstairs 10 floors (even 5)  masked is impossible. So going maskless is healthy choice for us.

Do  consider getting a better mask.   We have found a good K95 that you can order from Amazon and throw away after a few uses actually is more breathable than our cloth and spandex masks that are not as effective.   If we had only known we were wasting our money on cloth.  I thinking the breathability is enhance because there is more room underneath.

7 minutes ago, Hotspring said:

We are Haven but on Facebook and in following comments it is apparent Haven priority means nothing until post testing.   I would agree with your ME first mentality but when I finally could do our check after midnight 21 days out we had plenty of slots available at 9AM onward,  we could have taken one of those and just arrived later when our NCL arranged flight and shuttle arrived, I just signed up for 11 thinking it would take 1 hour rather than 25 to travel from LAX to the pier.  I am going to go ahead and take the single slot and stack it on top of our paperwork,

8 minutes ago, Hotspring said:

We are Haven but on Facebook and in following comments it is apparent Haven priority means nothing until post testing.   I would agree with your ME first mentality but when I finally could do our check after midnight 21 days out we had plenty of slots available at 9AM onward,  we could have taken one of those and just arrived later when our NCL arranged flight and shuttle arrived, I just signed up for 11 thinking it would take 1 hour rather than 25 to travel from LAX to the pier.  I am going to go ahead and take the single slot and stack it on top of our paperwork,

Wow, I just went to try and take one earlier slot and stack our paper work to try and get in earlier when I found the NCL Gods somehow moved us to the 10:30AM slot we should have signed up originally but by the time we figured that out it was unavailable as were all but one 11AM slot.   Are the Gods the Haven onshore concierge or just common sense from the NCL travel coordinators, who knows.   Now we just to worry about the test itself.

On 2/10/2022 at 12:28 AM, bigrednole said:

I have always been accept what is in your travel documents. This is like saying I have an 8PM flight that gets in at midnight with one stop but there is a flight at noon that is non-stop that gets in at 2PM. So, I will just get on the noon flight because I don't like the 8PM flight.

 

Lets say that the terminal is designed for ease of check-in of 100 people every half hour. Then all of the people with later check-in don't like it and flood the terminal with the earliest check-in times. Is it fair that those with say a 10AM check-in time cannot check-in until 12:00PM just because 2,000 people with check-in times at 12PM or later didn't like it?

 

Everyone is going to have an excuse why they should have an earlier check-in time. My computer failed, NCL's website messed up, the person I called messed it up, the dog threw up and had to go to the vet, and on and on. Just accept what is there, board 30 minutes later, and deal with it. If the 30 minutes is going to ruin your vacation so much, I think there are other things that need to be looked into first. Or, just upgrade to a Haven cabin if it is that important.

 

The other part is you state that what you have is 30-minutes later than your original time, but even that is 1-hour later than you wanted. This tells me you just want to be on earlier than you can anyway. Sounds a lot more like the ME First mentality.

We are Haven but on Facebook and in following comments it is apparent Haven priority means nothing until post testing.   I would agree with your ME first mentality but when I finally could do our check after midnight 21 days out we had plenty of slots available at 9AM onward,  we could have taken one of those and just arrived later when our NCL arranged flight and shuttle arrived, I just signed up for 11 thinking it would take 1 hour rather than 25 to travel from LAX to the pier.  I am going to go ahead and take the single slot and stack it on top of our paperwork,

On 2/10/2022 at 5:37 AM, Hutcha said:

What about this? When checking in, I didn't have my wife's passport to input. I entered my info, and got a 9:30 slot. By the time I got her passport, she got an 11:00 slot. They'll let us go together at 9:30, right?

Really appreciate the idea, if that one slot is still open.  Thank you,

Does any one who has recently cruised had any experience arriving earlier than their scheduled boarding time, particularly with the Bliss?

The notice states we absolutely cannot check in before our boarding time but we have heard maybe that is not the case.

We originally had the time we wanted but a evening NCL person messed up that time when they tried to jiggle an issue in our completing our check in.  He ended up removing us from our original time, though  it only had 1 slot left, and when he was tried to get us back in it only had only one slot left for the 3 of us.  So we are set up for a half hour later, or an hour later than we hoped.

Can anyone confirm how much detail someone can see in to the shower and toilet room from the balcony and beyond when they place the shower and bath right next to the balcony and the bed in the front of the cabin?   We do not want to scare our teenager nor do we want amuse those with binoculars on other ships or on shore while we shower or use the bathroom.  Frankly, I think it is as strange was the Epic to put such intimate rooms right in public view, but am hoping that some can confirm they have one way glass  or mirrors.    Specifically we looking at the Haven Aft the Escape but switch to  a different aft when we discovered this issue,

but now it is rearing up again when we thought we had a great room and floor on the Bliss and it turns out they did the same arrangement.

On 6/5/2020 at 9:03 AM, sr71_1 said:

NCL hovered around $60 for the last 3-4 years.... IMHO it will get back there in another year or so.   With that said, and with the willingness to let this investment ride for the longer term (1-2 years), I rolled the dice and bought several times on the way down (from 14 to 10 ) - missed the absolute bottom but that's ok.   Even if you bought today you're still looking at an easy 100% gain - very likely more  = there is still a ton of room to make money in the longer term.    I will buy more on the next dip.     

  

Good move, but I do not believe they will come close to $60 for years.   Remember to finance this shut down they had to dilute their outstanding shares by at least 20% mostly @ $12/share.  With more shares outstanding the EPS will be lower regardless as to their revenue growth.   In addition they have to payoff of their loans they took to reduce the additional interest expense, so their growth will slow even after the economy recovers.    There best hope is acquisition. 

2 minutes ago, Budget Queen said:

Sorry,  but the cruise is August 2021   It is too early.     Ever speculate that the early requests are held back?    I late book almost exclusively-   rarely more than 2 weeks ahead.   And I have been successful with submissions and getting my credits applied.     Since 1-2019 -  23 cruises.     So a basis of trends.    

Based on what read and the signficant number of folks that were begging for the Email address of the one person that handles the OBC, I think it is too risky to withhold applying for the OBC.   At the very least you can use it to leverage getting the OBC immediately when you have to complain for the delay when it is not received by early August.  At these stock prices, they likely have an increase of 100 share shareholders that are going to swamp that person with requests as well.

 Yes, I agree prior to last year we were getting the OBC within 48 hours after submitting the claim a few weeks before the cruise. Something as changed and with the furloughs and redirection of the staff to the FCC issue, it likely will take longer.   Besides, we run the risk of them discontinuing this voluntary program as other cruiselines are considering.   I thought I read somewhere that it up for renewal every July.   If CCL drops it, then other lines will likely do so as well.   Get it while you can.

5 minutes ago, Budget Queen said:

Yes way too early.   I wouldn't apply prior to 3 months in advance or later.   

I respectively disagree.   Once you have your brokerage statement, go ahead and email in the claim form.   Last summer I submitted the form in early June for an end of August cruise.   Barely got the credit in time for that cruise in mid-August.  Now with their reduced staff it may take even longer.   Get the peace of mind you deserve and submit it now.  It will be an extreme hassle to try and get the OBC after the cruise since they nonrefundable OBC.   I believe if your search FB or this site you will hear similar horror stories on how long it took to get the shareholder credit.

13 hours ago, gizfish said:

Technically anyone can order from the kids menu and eat free if it is one of the ala carte restaurants. 

Perhaps it depends on the ship.  Are 13 YO was denied the kid menu after we were seated in a couple of specialty restaurants but we ended having to order and pay for a side at least---and then share our food, as we intended to do anyway.   

Hey maybe if you are 70 and say that you are twelve you can get away with using the kid menu but we do not want to teach our daughter to lie.   Remember the kid is taking up a seat in the restaurant that could in theory be used by someone that is not getting a freebie.

On 1/20/2020 at 7:13 AM, Newleno said:

I am sorry too, gonna cost me a lot of money and as stated before in my case more waste to boot!!!

The cartons are biodegradable for the most part and will be naturally recycled in a few years.    Plastics last forever, we have not developed micros to eat them up, they will also be threats to the animals that must move through them or confuse them for food and clog their systems up.  It is not just about us.

Remember, we can get bar service in our cabins for a bottle or two of the good stuff with any applicable mixers and reserve our free at sea perk for the cheap stuff.   This pricey service would still be cheaper than the the premium plus upgrade.

6 hours ago, ziggyuk said:

 

Agreed but at least the family can dine together..... assuming they are under 12.

Actually the kid menu is go for kids under 13, 12  YO are eligible.

Just book and pay for your excursions online so that you can ascertain that you got your discount before you even board and then waste away your life time calling a NCL human should the discount not be there.   

Never not seen the discount applied, and we books some excursions knowing we will cancel them once on board so that we can building up more the allowed $1,000 in OBC you can purchase.

Also, on the disembarkation excursions, we have had to submit tickets to get the $50 excursion credit, we generally request that it be included as an OBC on our next cruise.   Do not know why  it being applied or not automatically is so inconsistent.

The only exception is purchasing soda (ie Coke) and water from the vending machines your embarkation port after you have passed through security.

You will see, they are actually at least 2.5 feet by nearly 4 feet tall.  Maybe you thought they were just advertising signs.

Funny, when we were on the Bliss in 2018 we saw at least two dozen reservation screens spread throughout the ship, generally on nearly all floors on the front or back of hall way dissecting past the elevator halls.  That is similar to our experience on other ships as well, so I doubt the Joy would have fewer.   Your stateroom TV is on option---once you can get in, but the NCL App likely will put your mind at ease since you might even be able make the reservations prior to boarding if you stand were the ship's wifi is strong enough.

On 12/11/2019 at 12:23 AM, Hotspring said:

Hope you enjoyed your cruise.   We in in 14900 in 2021 but are thinking that maybe we should switch get to configuration A.

The concern is bathroom privacy.   Were there curtains to screens to be bought down so that when the ship is in port we are not showing off our birthday suits?  Do we need to make the kid come in from the balcony when we want to shower?

We have been Aft on the Epic that has the shower room with a clear glass door across from the toilet room and sink, we learned to deal with the lack of privacy but then the kid was an toddler then.

 

Still wondering how much bathroom privacy is afforded in configuration B.   Can one be on the balcony and not see folks showering or bathing if they look through the window with the screens pulled down?

20 minutes ago, smplybcause said:

 

Holy rule of thumb! 😳 Until I started doing cruise next my on board spending was drink tax the first day + the DSC. Even with cruise next I'm still always well short of what I paid for my cabin. 

Sure wish my spouse was like you.  She does not want to miss out on all the spa services offered each day,  gambling, game cards in the atrium, shopping, and other special events.   

27 minutes ago, NancyW12 said:

Serious question- why would you want to buy OBC? why not just charge to your room what you need and pay at the end? I get spending OBC that you earn for a door prize or as part of a promo, but to me, buying OBC forces you to spend that amount on the ship rather than see if you actually need that much.

Among the other reasons presented, the worst thing about a vacation is having to pay for it after the fact.   Pay as much of it  up front before the vacation and one will find that the benefits of the vacation are far more long lasting.  We even get around the $1,000 OBC limit by purchasing Shore Excursions we know we are going to cancel the moment we embark.   I think the rule of thumb is you should expect to pay as much on the excursions you take and other incidentals such as spa services as you spent on your cabin.   If you stay in a balcony or Haven it can be harder to do that.