Maniacal Cruiser

The more I read here, the more i'm tempted to "adjust" my DSC.

Based on rumors and opinions posted on CC? Hmmmm.

Always love these threads

 

If people will pay the price then NCL as with any company will continue to charge. They are expensive but it is market forces.

 

They are sold out week in week out and this is the first negative comments on Bliss I have seen.

 

The chair hog issue though is easy to deal with charge for the chairs :)

Or just get up before noon. ;p

Whether the OBC can be used for the DSC depends on where it came from. If it was actually paid for by someone, it can be used for anything you want, including the DSC. It is unlikely that your TA actually paid for that amount of OBC, so you probably can't use it for the DSC. As far as the mechanics, they simply add all your charges up, deduct the amount of the DSC, and then use the OBC to pay any balance, until the OBC is gone.

ALMOST. They add up all the charges. Then they offset charges that non-refundable OBC can be use for with non-refundable OBC. If all of the non-refundable OBC is not applied, the unused amount is lost. Then they offset remaining charges with any refundable OBC and the net amount is due from or to you as the case might be.

We have taken a few cruises in the past, mainly with RCCL. We will be cruising in 2 weeks on POA. Our TA gave us $450.00 in OBC. In past cruises, when we would view our account info from our stateroom TV, we would see the daily service charge plus all our other purchases. On the last day I would go to Guest Services and payoff the bill in cash. Being that we have such a large amount of OBC, I wanted to use the OBC toward our daily service charge, but thought I read that OBC can't be used for DSC. If not, how would guest services separate the DSC from all other purchases considering at the end they just add up all the monies that are due, deduct the OBC, and then balance you would pay?

Your consideration is flawed.

Oh no! When will they start charging to use the the elevator?? The loungers? The pool chairs? The beach towels? How much will an answer at guest services cost? This "not nickle and diming" is not going well . . .

argumentum ad absurdum

In the world of experienced cruisers it's called nickel and diming. NCL continues to do a great job of it.

By experienced cruisers you mean to say cheap folks right? I much prefer to pay for what I actually used than pay a higher price up front to subsidize other passengers.

cabins is usually ready by 1:30-2

They is? :D

When they are ready.

I like the drone of a fan while sleeping and am wondering if I need to pack my own or if I am able to request one. The white noise apps on my phone just don't cut it.

Make a WAV or MP3 of your fan and put it on endless loop. Easy to do.

Don't forget to pack lots of extra nickels and dimes.

 

For your convenience of course......

Paying for what you actually use is not nickel and diming. It is called paying for what you use and not counting on others to subsidize your cruise expense.

Hello fellow CCer's.

 

Laser tag just went up from $5 to $9.95 on NCL site.

 

By the time we cruise in December it may be $20pp for laser/karts.

 

Can't wait. :cool:

So let's Say the Breakaway sailing one trip (7days) at full capacity. 3963 passengers.

 

We know some rooms pay higher gratuities but let's Say everyone pays $14.50.

 

We also know not all workers are part of the gratuities buts let's just say all 1657 workers are part of it.

 

3963 x 14.50 x 7 =$402,244.5

 

402,244.5 divided by 1657 =$242.75

 

So do u believe in a 7 day trip every worker gets a $242 tip??

 

Now not all workers are part of the dsc so that$242.75 can be much higher when you calculate the amount of workers that are apart of it plus all the rooms that pay $17.50 and not $14.50

 

I seriously doubt all that money goes to the workers but that's just me.

First off I do not know anyone named "u" so I cannot answer as to what that person thinks. Your entire argument is based on multiple false premises. 1) that every sailing is full. 2) That no one ever reduces the DSC. 3) That the DSC is paid directly to the crew as cash. 4) It is anyone else's business but NCLs and the crew's how the DSC is distributed. No one ever said that the entire DSC is handed directly to the crew as a cash tip. That may or may not happen. However the DSC going to the crew includes (as NCL puts it) " Staff members including complimentary restaurant staff, stateroom stewards and behind-the-scenes support staff are compensated by a combination of salary and incentive programs that your service charge supports." Notice it does not say "The DSC is paid directly to the crew in cash", it says it is used to fund incentive programs. In the end I really do not care one iota how NCL distributes the DSC as incentive to the crew and it is none of my business. It is a huge non issue.

Does anyone believe that 100% of the DSC goes to the crew?

 

Yes/no will suffice.

Yes, there is no reason to believe otherwise.

I’ve known since I was a young child that you tip workers in the service industry. I don’t believe there are any honeymooners, college kids etc. that don’t know we live in a culture that tips. And if traveling to another area of the world, you research what the customs are there. Including tipping.

I don’t think the cruise lines are exactly hiding the service charges. I know exactly how much my service charge will be before I book.

But I do my due diligence.

 

 

 

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You left "if they earn a tip" off of the end of the first sentence.

Yes, but only the server would have gotten that tip where as the daily service charge is divided among more than just one person.

You do not know that. WHEREAS many places now pool tips and divide them among all servers and back end help, you are wrong.

I have never seen either MD or DMD on any NCL ship. Also I have never seen vending machines. Maybe I just never looked hard enough.

I have had Mt Dew on every one of the nine NCL cruises I have

Spirit

Jewel

Getaway

Sun

Getaway

Dawn

Gem

Escape

Epic

Coming up

Jade

Gem

Thanks for the menu. I thought I saw the 3+ dollar price somewhere else too. I wasn't too happy the one time in a bar when I decided to splurge on a soda when I didn't get the package and I got a small watered down fountain version for that price. Not even a can.

 

Does anyone happen to know if the diet lemon-lime soda is available on the package, or is it only available in the can?

 

Plus - I didn't see Mt Dew and Diet Mt Dew on the menu. Are either of those still available? It has been a couple of years since the last time I sailed NCL. Bad enough I can't bring my Coke Zero, now I might have to go without DMD as well. :eek: Good thing we are in port every day. ;p Just kidding, I'm not quite that bad.

 

I would like to know though before we decide whether or not we are buying the soda cards.

NCL carries Mt Dew

When chosen as a promo, first two must take the same promos with no purchase required for the other guests. When purchased outright, all passengers in cabin must purchase a package (Beverage or soda).

FALSE: The soda card (as I call it) can be purchased by any number (even one) person per cabin. I do it every cruise.

Hi, Is there places for dancing on The Bliss?

Depends on how one defines dancing!

a)

b)

c)

In the last three days I have received two different proforma emails from NCL with the Introductory Page quite clearly stating:-

FREE SHORE EXCURSIONS.

 

It does not state that there are Shore Excursion Credits but that there are Free Shore Excursions.

 

The date of the Cuba cruise we are on is included in the later information.

 

Is anyone able to help me with details of who I should approach to get these FREE SHORE EXCURSIONS.

 

In New Zealand repeated advertising of that form would be taken as misleading advertising and be subject to a legal challenge and, almost certainly, a hefty fine.

Uh maybe NCL?

never mind

Nothing is FREE on NCI

Nothing is free anywhere

Was wondering if anyone has cruised on the Dawn the last few weeks this summer? I haven't seen many posts about people's experiences on the ship and was hoping to hear everyone's thoughts. We are cruising on her in a couple of weeks and hope it is as great for us this time as it has been in the past. Thanks.

 

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No, no one has ever done that. She has always sailed empty those cruises. ;p

Does anyone have any recent experience getting Vibe passes on the Getaway? Just wondering how the competition is.

We have sailed the Getaway multiple times. The first time we got a Vibe Cabana. Since then we do not even bother with it. The Vibe is nice but it is WAAAAAAY over hyped. Save your money and the frustration, use that money better someplace else.

I have only sailed on Carnival, and been loyal to them for over 13 years. Maybe its me getting older, but it seems that the unsupervised children running around and doing really disruptive and even dangerous stuff is just gotten completely out of control. The staff absolutely refuses to do anything about it. So I am thinking of changing lines and have been looking at NCL.

 

Can anyone that has sailed on both Carnival and NCL give me a comparison between the two when it comes to people keeping their kids under control? I'm not talking about kids just acting like kids and being loud or a little rammy I'm talking about completely unsupervised "packs" of young teens knocking elderly people down, throwing condiment bottles down ten decks in the atrium, invading the adults only area and refusing to leave. Are the kids allowed to run wild like this on NLC as well? Are there as MANY kids on NCL? Does the staff hold the adults accountable for the actions of the kids? Is there a curfew? Is there an adults only area like the serenity area on Carnival?

 

I don't really want to switch to new line just to come up against the same situation I see on Carnival now. Thanks.

We made the mistake of sailing Carnival one time. I have heard others say that they are the WalMart of the cruise industry. IMHO they would have to become better by a factor of 10-20 to reach that level. They left a voucher for a free cruise in our cabin on the last day of the cruise. We left it on the bed when we debarked. You will love NCL.