Daniel A

I am an extrovert and DW is an introvert. The problem is that when I meet up with others who are a good fit socially, DW shies away and decides she wants to go and hang out on our balcony. I may be able to stay for one more drink with the others, but I now can't stay as long as I would like as I don't want DW feeling ignored and left alone - even though she was the one who decided to leave where we were and return to our cabin. I will never win this one so, I fall back on 'Happy Wife..." 🤷‍♂️

If you're getting $250 OBC, you will be on a longer cruise of 15 days or more. After a few days onboard, check your stateroom folio to see if the Shareholder credits are being used. I'm not sure about how O does it, but most lines will use up non-refundable OBC first before delving into any refundable credit. My TA OBC is always refundable, so my Shareholder credit will go away first.

There is a sales concept referred to as "FOMO" which stands for Fear Of Missing Out. You see it in practice all the time on television ads. "When they're gone their gone... Hurry, while supplies last.. etc.. This is the same thing. Create a sense of urgency to incentivize consumer action.

No, the promo says the second guest sails free.

I've received a few emails saying the second guest sails free promo will be ending soon. I don't really have any more details as I've been deleting them without really reading them. Maybe that's what the TA meant.

So, now I have an answer to my question. On January 17, 2024, I submitted my Shareholder OBC request for my cruise coming up in September (just about nine months before the cruise.) I got the initial email confirming receipt of the request, but I have heard nothing since. I just now went into my booking, and I can see that they have added the OBC to my account. It was weird how they posted it though. Half was showing under my name and the other half was showing under my wife's name. I signed into my account, clicked on the box "Manage Your Account" and under "My Account: Overview" it was showing "My Next Cruise." Just to the right of the Booking # is a blue field "My Total Credits." When I clicked on that blue lettering, it opened up a new page showing my stateroom number, our names and under that is a gold-colored box labeled "My Credits." Directly below that box is a blue field "View Credits." Click those blue words and a new popup screen will present showing your available OBC. The first line for both my wife and me shows "COMPLIMENTARY SHIPBOARD CREDIT - NCLH SHAREHOLDER" and the amount assigned to each of us. I hope this helps you find out if the credits have been applied.

If you come in a couple of days early, try to take the Circle Line Harbor Lights Cruise. It is a sunset cruise which only goes around the Southern Tip of Manhattan, turns around at the UN building and the lights of the financial district start coming on. It is a breathtaking view of the Statue of Liberty and the financial district buildings at night. You can read more here: Harbor Lights | NYC at Night Boat Tour | Circle Line Cruises Here is a 45 second preview. This is really what it will look like:

That's why I take a limited amount of cash ashore. I don't want to have to deal through a third party I know nothing about in order to get a refund on my AMEXcard because of an issue with the merchant.

Although you would be entering the credit card information into the Princess App, when you enter your CC information into the Shoreside Transactions, you are authorizing Princess to share your credit card info with a different company called "Radiqal Gaming, LLC." I have never heard of this company. I choose with whom I share my personal information, not John Padgett, and I don't have any interest in sharing my information with some other company who may share this information with anyone they choose. No thanks.

Will you be staying at a hotel the night before your cruise? If it is a cruise port hotel, they've probably had requests for Medallions to be shipped to the hotel. Call the front desk or concierge and find out if they'll hold your medallion package until you check in. Worst case scenario would be that you would need to go into the blue lane at the terminal if it doesn't show up when you check into the hotel. (It looks like you were planning to do that in the first place anyway) Just a thought.

Glad to help. This is what these boards are for. I also didn't have to purchase a pre-paid card, I had a rebate visa card from a purchase I made. 🙂

How soon can you apply for the Shareholder OBC? I know they want it at least 15 days before sailing, but what is the beginning of the window period? Thanks

Whatever, the Haven guests will board first. When you arrive at the terminal, you may or may not have a dedicated Haven line for security, but after passing security, you will wait in a Haven (VIP) lounge in the terminal. While waiting in the haven lounge, the concierge and asst concierge will check your passports and boarding documents and you should have an opportunity to book specialty dining and shows. There are usually non-alcoholic beverages and snacks available while you wait. Once the ship is cleared for boarding, the concierge or other Haven dedicated waiter will escort you to a dedicated Haven only elevator and whisks you directly into the Haven lounge area while you wait for you stateroom to be cleared. Coordinate your car drop for whatever works best for you to arrive.

@graphicguy - That's not fair!!!! You are just simply whetting my appetite. 😃

Wow! Keep me in mind if you find a deal like that again!! (Our luggage really enjoys their own bedroom.) 😊

I really like the Haven on Epic. I just wondering if the $4,700 was per passenger or was this a huge deal if it was for the cabin? I am also a fan of the 2BR Villas.

I use an online TA company which discounts my cruises with refundable OBC. When I don't spend it, I get my substantial discount. @RocketMan275 - I have AMEX Gold and they keep trying to get me to take the Platinum. We aren't big air travelers, so access to airport lounges isn't a draw for us. What does it do for cruises? I may have been missing out on a perk as I book all of my cruises on the AMEX card.

@benel204 - After my first cruise in the Haven on Epic R/T Barcelona Western Med, when I returned to work, my coworkers asked me how the cruise was. My reply was "I don't deserve to be treated so well." (That was really my reply.) I now realize that I was wrong... I do deserve to be treated that well and I relish every minute of experiencing it and recalling it. Go for it! (Just remember this: If this is your first cruise, and you do it in the Haven, any future cruises not done there will seem less special.)

First off, I just love the Haven and all of its amenities. That being said, I'm not sure I would ever book an aft Haven suite so I would need to walk the entire length of the ship every time I wanted to experience the Haven's amenities. That can get pretty old pretty quickly. I am willing to pay the extra cost so that I can stay in the Haven proper where all of the amenities are right at hand. As far as being "value conscious" one concept to factor in is whether or not the money you would save by just having a regular aft balcony would mean you could add another week to your cruise or would pay for another cruise later on, then you can have a better equation in determining the value of your cabin. JMHO.

Understood. I also understand that consistency across all ships and embarkation terminals is nonexistent, and it has always been that way. What will work on the Regal Princess, won't necessarily work on Caribbean Princess and the same is true for Seattle or Port Everglades. @schooner_Drinker seems to think that the $25 is being spent on the pre-paid Visa card. The $25 on the card is not being spent unless you spend it. If you don't spend it, then you still keep your $25. I don't know what fee would be charged for purchasing it, as the card I used was a rebate from a product I once bought.

Agreed, but until they do fix it some people would prefer the workaround. Trust me, they know something is wrong and they are either ignoring the problem, prioritizing the work or want to keep making you put an authorization in for their shoreside purchases since PCL is now getting a cut of your shoreside purchases made through the medallion. I don't plan to use the medallion off the ship so they're not making any money from me on that. No one is forcing you to follow my suggestion. If you don't plan to do it, then don't. If you're content to rely on free advice to either do the workaround or don't do the workaround, one should do whatever gives them more comfort. After all, isn't that what cruising is all about?

I did. My post started by saying "If you are concerned about only showing 6 of 7 and whether or not it will put you in blue lane at the terminal," The whole purpose of that post was to offer a suggestion if it would give someone peace of mind and not have to rely completely on two posts on Cruise Critic. It is really a small price to pay for the comfort level for some cruisers.

I just checked, and the app is showing both of us are still completely checked in. If you are concerned about only showing 6 of 7 and whether or not it will put you in blue lane at the terminal, you may want to consider going out and purchasing a small dollar amount Visa pre-paid card. If you were to list a $25 pre-paid Visa card for the Shoreside Transactions account, you should end up showing 7 of 7 and all green checkmarks and you are only exposing yourself to $25 which you can either spend onshore or spend it on groceries after your cruise. It worked for me. Keep in mind that free advice is often worth what you paid for it...😄

Instead of standing at the edge of the pool, thinking it would be too cold, I decided to just jump in, so I downloaded the new app. I got exactly what I didn't want to happen. The new app took me out of green lane and was now requiring that I enter a card number for the offshore account. As much as I tried to bypass that scam, I was still showing as being incomplete on my check in, where my wife was all checked in because she didn't have any credit card on file and was listed under mine. I finally got back to all green when I put in the numbers for a $40 gift card I had hanging around.

Were you able to just walk onboard? I liked the PES lounge on previous sailings, especially when I showed up early to Port Everglades.