thedarklord

Sailing from Southampton tomorrow, first time on P&O, so not 100% sure their policies are. When we said with NCL, we can normally just turn up at the port, ignore the suggested time on the boarding pass, and go check-in. From what I've read, it seems that P&O are a bit stricter about this sort of thing? We're driving a few hours to get there, traffic time hard to predict, so if we get their early are they going to send us away and tell us to come back later? Second question - if they are strict about this sort of thing and are likely to send us away, can we leave our luggage with them at the port, or would we need to take it with us until our return? If we can leave it, what's the earliest drop-off time they're likely to allow do you think?

Thanks for that, much appreciated. On the app now, and can see the partial payment option. However, I notice it's in $, not £. I'm probably just being paranoid and it's just the app being rubbish with the wrong label, but do I need to convert the £750 into USD before entering the figure? (Yes, I tend to overthink things sometimes!)

Did you make the payment online or over the phone? I'm keen to take advantage of this if it works, but I only have the option to make full payment online, and I don't want to phone up and make a payment, only to find it's online only or something!

Itinerary change rather than cancellation for the May 7 -> 18 cruise came in yesterday - as expected, ditching the Israel ports. They've also dropped Port Said, but we now overnight in Alexandria (and they've also added Mykonos and Santorini), so I'm thinking about getting the train to Cairo and spending the night there - so rare to get an overnight in a port, so keen to take advantage of that.

No, I don't think there's any admission of guilt by NCL with that. NCL told them to get to Gambia at their own cost to rejoin the ship there which they did. When it turned out the ship couldn't dock at Gambia due to weather, NCL has covered the cost from Gambia to the next port - that feels reasonable, as that isn't down to the individuals being late, that's down to a decision by NCL, the passengers have done their part.

Various people on here saying some of the cancellations are due to the stops in Israel - we're booked on the Viva from Rome -> Istanbul 7th May '25 -> 18th May '25, and that one's still running at the moment, still listed on NCL's site as stopping in Haifa and Ashdod. If they were cancelling because of Israel, I'd have thought this cruise would be on the list as well. I notice the next sailing from Istanbul on the 18th May has been cancelled though, so perhaps our cancellation email is coming soon!

Not many exclusions. I think flights (so just order a full drink of each, because those are included), 'experiences' like Remy Martin XIII, and some tasting are excluded. Can't think of anything else (but every chance I'm missing a couple of things, but not 'many').

Picking two restaurants out of the three you listed, I'd choose Cagneys twice. I know people say it can be hit and miss, but for me it's always been a hit. Personally, I struggle to choose between the prime rib and the ribeye, so going twice lets me have both!

Unfortunately, that's not true for people booking from the UK (and other European countries maybe? Not sure). The other issue that causes is that if there's a price drop, it means the cancel and rebook you can do in the US comes at the cost of the deposit in the UK.

I got the email from Amex saying I'd used the offer the day after I made the payment. Ended up in my spam folder though, so might be worth checking in there.

Thanks for that, good to have that confirmed. I've put a payment through, hopefully it'll appear on my wifes supplementary card later. Hoping for a few more of these before our final payment date sometime in 2025!

Thanks for sharing this, it's appreciated. Trying to make a partial payment on the app right now. Whilst it shows the Pay in full amount as being £xxxx, the 'Pay Other Amount' box has a $ sign rather than a £ - is that just a just the app being stupid and not translating the character, or does it (hopefully not!) mean that I need to convert £750 into USD, and enter that value?

What would be interesting would be to hear from someone in the SOCA group who booked this cruise - did they get what they expected? It sounds like they were being promised things that could never really have been provided, would be good to know what they thought about what they ended up with.

We just got off a 2 week transatlantic on the Star. We found the ship and the staff to be really good, other than a loud creaking from the balcony area, but that can happen on any ship really. The only complaints we had were to do with supplies, so not necessarily an issue with the ship itself. understand NCL had lots of issues with getting some supplies in South America. One guest I spoke to said that they'd had three separate deliveries to the ship stolen en-route. Someone else said when they'd docked in Argentina, Argentina didn't allow them to restock, because they'd had a stop in the Falkland Islands/Las Malvinas. The only reliable source talking about the supplies was during the captains Q&A - I think it was the Staff Captain, who said that they only had one supplier they could use in South America, and if their quality was poor, all they could do was reject it - no way of seeking supplies from an alternative supplier. It was my impression he was annoyed by the situation, he said he was writing a long letter to headquarters about the situation.

Apparently no Veuve on the Star for our transatlantic, and I don't believe Moet was listed as by the glass, so technically not covered by the plus package. I say technically, as the wine waitor let us have it instead of Moet, but nowhere near as good! Whether they'll continue to allow today substitute, we'll just have to wait and see.

Jumping onto this thread, does anyone know if the Star has moved over yet?

I'd suggest contacting the NCL Access Desk - https://www.ncl.com/uk/en/about/accessible-cruising (the URL will vary for you based on your country) - they'll hopefully be able to help you prior to the cruise, rather than you hoping you can work something out once you're onboard. They've certainly been helpful and responsive with me when I've contacted them in the past (not with an alcohol issue though).

I did a TA solo a few years back from Southampton to New York, no stops, just 7 sea days. Absolutely loved it, was so nice to be able to just relax, and not have to think about anything at all really, didn't have to even think about what I was going to do on the next port of call. There was sufficient to do that I someone still ran out of time to do everything onboard that I wanted to! Got another TA booked from Rio -> Barcelona in a few weeks, this time with my wife. This one has 7 port days, and 7 sea days, a nice combination.

Ah, you may be the person who can answer a silly question I have! Whilst I'm not allergic to peppers so it's not essential for me to avoid them unlike yourself, I do absolutely detest them and find they ruin the flavour of anything they touch. So, breakfast potatoes. Always served with peppers, totally inedible! I've always assumed that customising anything during the mad breakfast rush would be impossible, but I wonder - can they perhaps serve the potatoes without peppers?

Exactly what I also thought when I read that - I went through the same thing myself about 6 months ago. Switched medications, and saw an instant improvement.

I bought 100 NCLH in June and sent the info over then for our cruise in March '23, so 9 months ahead. Got a new amenity invoice within 3 days showing the credit ($250 as it's a 15 day cruise - treating it as a $250 dividend against a $1600 share purchase feels like a pretty good deal!)

I'd be interested to find out what happens at the crossing the equator ceremony - we're doing a TA from Rio -> Barcelona in March, so crossing the equator then. I'd been wondering if they'd do anything special for it.

I just logged on to post the same thing, this has also just appeared in my account. The expires and sail by dates match the embark date of a cruise I'm already booked on (Star from Rio), which added to my confusion!

I hit a $1200(?) jackpot on a slot pull once, transatlantic on the Breakaway I think (inaugural?). No tax issues, as not a US resident which helped everyone walk away with a few $$'s

I'm a T1D as well, been on many cruises. I'd also suggest contacting the access desk, they'll hopefully give you contact details for someone on the ship who can be a useful point of call if you need anything on the ship. Cabins normally already have containers for ships in them (but if yours doesn't, just ask your steward). Don't put insulin into the fridge, they can get very cold and freeze which I'm sure you are aware makes it unusable. I'd suggest something like a Frio wallet to keep it cool instead. Make sure you've got sufficient spare supplies with you (preferably in hand luggage if travelling by air). And I'd include a spare glucometer in that as well. Any concerns in particular? I've been doing this for many years, so feel free to reach out with questions, I remember how daunting this all was when I was initially diagnosed (though that was, ahem, quite a few years ago!)