BarnCat1

14 minutes ago, n4w said:

The other half will be found under the other passenger, even if the other is a minor and without an account and you paid for all of it.

After I got done typing this, I checked my emails and there was the FCC for the other account.

Thank you for the information.  Now I can pay off the other cruise I had already booked and hope and pray that we can go on that one and there are no new surprises ahead. 

It's been about 2 weeks and I just got my FCC back in my account today, but only 1/2 of it (there are two passengers). I assume the other 1/2 will be in a few more days.  I had 2 shore excursion and one service fee credited back already to my credit card. They were credited all at different times and in order of lowest to highest amount.  I would think it easier to work one account at a time not one charge at a time, but maybe their doing excursions first, then service fees then FCC.  

Can you book a cruise with a deposit and then apply the FCC when it gets into your account or does it have to be done as a new booking? 
 

12 hours ago, CarolinaMamma said:

Last time this happened (March 2020) someone here on CC gave the GREAT advice to call NCL or your TA and remove all of the “optional” things (prepaid gratuities, extra specialty dining, etc.) because NCL will refund the original form of payment for those within a few days. That way, if you paid cash for your cruise, then cancel and get FCC, you won’t have as much money tied up in FCC. In the event you decide to cruise, you can always add these things back in. 

That's good advice. How long is the FCC good for?  

3 minutes ago, susanf31 said:

Yes, it would suck to be put in quarantine, but the odds are tiny.

 

And with everyone cancelling, the odds of it happening are going wayyy down. So please keep cancelling. I can’t wait to have this ship all to myself.  🙂. (J/k - I hope everyone goes and thoroughly enjoys their vacation).

That is so true, less than 1000 people on a ship that holds 4000+ is amazing.  We still have a week or so to decide.  Our cruise was booked when Omnicron was yet discovered and virus rates were plunging.  Final payment was made a week before the first case was found. 

2 minutes ago, susanf31 said:

We are sailing 1/15 and will NOT be cancelling. In fact, we are more excited now. The thought of a nearly empty ship with few kids sounds wonderful.

We’ve lowered our expectations of what ports we will actually visit and plan the make the best of this adventure.

 

We went to Universal Studios last week. It was packed. We were nose-to-nose with tens of thousands of people. We were fine.  Omicron is a cold. Everyone has had a cold and will get more colds for the rest of their lives and we have never cancelled vacations before because of it. If we constantly tested people for the common cold, there would be billions of cases all of the time, just like Omicron.  The media, in my opinion, is overblowing omicron.

 This is all true and fear of getting it is not the problem, it's the uncertainty of being turned away at the pier, quarantined on the ship for either having caught it somewhere no matter what safety precautions you took or for just sitting near someone who was positive even if you're not,  or not being able to go home as planned because of it. 

21 minutes ago, craig01020 said:

I cancelled a cruise with POM back in September. I asked the agent the same question and was told the FCC would be for the total amount, including excursions. So, I told her to first cancel all my excursions and then issue my FCC.

 

The monies I paid for excursions were refunded back to my credit card and I got a FCC for the remainder.

 Thanks for the quick reply. They'll let me cancel the DSF and other add-ons prior to actually cancelling?  

If you take the FCC now and have paid out extra expenses like upgraded WIFI, shore excursions, DSF, etc., do you get any of that refunded if you cancel?  

On 12/23/2021 at 7:53 AM, jskinsd said:

Back from my upgrade.  Wasn't worth it.  Even for only $140.   A bigger bathroom with large shower.  But for a large couple, maybe worth the extra costs.  Oh well, I had a purple card for a week.✌️

I think the only real difference is with the bathroom.  Bigger shower with spa type jets in three locations and double sinks. Maybe an extra 2 feet in living space, but not a suite. What is a purple card?  I bid $50 per person since I didn't really care if we got it or not. 

These are cheaper and were posted somewhere on another thread and are the proctored tests.

https://store.optum.com/shop/products/abbott-binaxNOW-COVID-19-ag-at-home-test-kit-2-pack/

6 minutes ago, roger001 said:

And the Covid world is apparently rapidly changing again.  Who knows in a few weeks...or so.  

Yes it is, now the question might be will there be a cruise to have the option to wear the mask on.....seems like this virus will never be gone.  

I understand that all passengers are supposed to be vaccinated, show proof of their vaccine card, get tested pre-cruise, etc. but somehow there are still some passengers still getting covid from somewhere while cruising . 

Are any passengers wearing masks on board or in ports, especially in crowded indoor spaces,  to rule on the side of caution even though everyone is is supposed to be vaxxed?  Seems like that's an easier option than the alternative of being quarantined while on vacation. 

I appreciate all the replies and will purchase 2 separate packs to be on the safe side. We've done the regular BinaxNow tests before, just never "live" in front of a proctor.  I think that concerns me the most. 

I know the answers are probably somewhere on the numerous posts about this topic, however, I apologize for asking again.

We are coming in 2 days prior to our cruise and would only have a small window of maybe 2 hours in the AM before boarding our plane to get to a pharmacy to test in hopes that the results would be emailed by the time we board the ship.  Not impossible, but not how I prefer to start a vacation either.

I am thinking about doing these tests at home instead.  

These test boxes each come in a 2pk of tests kits.  Does each traveler have to purchase their own test box (2pk) or can one person use the 2pk for 2 people and do the live consult at the same time or even back to back for both?  

Can the live consult be done on a phone (either Android or iPhone, we have both) or should we use iPad or PC?

Is the test itself the same as the regular BinaxNow test that isn't proctored? We have done those before and they are very easy.

I just read this today.  Also due in port the end of January. I wonder when they'll let us know? 

https://www.caymancompass.com/2021/11/12/tourism-minister-cruise-lines-could-return-by-march-next-year/

On 10/12/2021 at 10:53 AM, kenb said:

Be careful with the Holiday Inn. They are up for sale and redevelopement. The latest pictures and reviews do not look good. I had a reservation setup but after doing research changed to the Hampton. I tried to get into the same days as you and they would not do Reward Night reservation.

Which Hampton are you referring to?  I was also looking at the Holiday Inn.  I remember seeing that after my last cruise and thought it would be convenient due to it's location.  Thanks for the heads up. 

If we do an antigen test at home 96 hours prior to sailing what proof of a negative test result would we show? Is the photo on our phone with the date stamp good enough? We plan to do one at home and one at the pre cruise hotel as well.  We are all vaccinated with boosters as well.

My final payment is due Tuesday.  With the new Delta variant being "as contagious" as chicken pox or the common cold, even being fully vaccinated isn't making me feel good about going.  Plus, I was going to Alaska, one of my favorite places, just to finally get back on a cruise. But this is in the very off season, as opposed to going when it's much warmer with more daylight.  Their ports are getting higher cases now and might even shut completely by then to additional tourists.  There are just too many "what ifs"  and I think I will be cancelling again.  This deeply saddens me,  but I don't feel it's a good decision to go with the new variant in the picture. i have a few more days to ponder this, but I think my mind is made up. 

4 minutes ago, RumRunner2021 said:

Why would it matter?

If it's a storage or mechanical/maintenance room, their might be a lot of staff in and out at all hours.  It would matter if those noises could be heard in my cabin.    

I am booked in this forwarding facing ocean view cabin for an upcoming cruise.  I noticed on Decks 10 - 13 there is a space between cabins 100-107 (insert the  deck numbers 10 thru 13 in the front 100 and 107).  I asked NCL what was there and they said nothing.  I am hoping it isn't a storage closet or mechanical room. 

I remember there used to be website (maybe it was here) that you could put in a cabin number and you would get reviews on it, but I can't find that anymore. 

I know Encore didn't sail too long before the shutdown, so it doesn't have as many reviews as it should have at this point. 

Does anyone have any reviews on this cabin or any of the others 10100, 12100 and 13100 (I assume they're all the same) next to the empty space?

There are 2 excursions listed for whale watching @ ISP during my mid-October cruise, both with 100% guarantee on seeing whales.  One is a Whale & Marine Mammal excursion and the other is the same and includes a bear watch along a short boardwalk near the Spasski River. There is no guarantee on bear sightings.  I'm hoping they will still be out and about foraging for food before real winter sets in. The excursions can only be booked by the cruise line. I was wondering if they are both done by the same company? They are both over 5-1/2 hours long and it will be dark by the time the excursions are over, or even while still being on them. Definitely dark by the time we all  get back to the ship. Whale watch starts at 4:15pm and whale/bear watch at 1:30pm. The sun sets roughly around 6:15pm that time of year. 

I have already done a few whale watches and they were wonderful, but never this late in the season. 

Has anyone ever done the Whale & Wildlife Bear Search?  Is it worth the extra money, especially in October? 

I am curious about all this as well. Would you get a refund back if the cruise price drops before you sail? I also notice some of the vendors are closed end of September until May 2022, yet NCL is offering the excursion.  Would they stay open just for one ship? 

Our final payment in due beginning of August.  I am seriously thinking of booking a cruise out of another port or just another vacation completely.  I don't want to get caught up in all this legal mess then have it possibly cancelled at the last minute and have to scramble to find somewhere else to go.  Prices are really high for everything right now and last minute changes can be costly. Then there's the Delta variant and a new Lambda variant their watching.  That could change the no mask rules for sure, even if you're vaccinated. I was going to do the wait and see approach, but I'm not sure anymore. 

1 minute ago, hallux said:

The absolute BEST way to ensure you don't connect to the ship's cellular tower and ring up unwanted charges is to put the phone into airplane mode then turn WiFi back on.  You need to be sure your carrier/plan support WiFi calling and messaging and is set up prior to departure from home.

 

Connecting to the ship's WiFi is one thing, and is fine, the cellular tower is another animal and can get costly.

 I did mean that I had Airplane Mode On not off and yes WIFI is on. 

 If you get the ships free 250 minute promotion, do you do anything different. 

On 7/7/2021 at 2:13 AM, mking8288 said:

Good point - as a matter of fact, Google Fi gets absolutely no service whatsoever as it is considered a hybrid MNVO (think "prepaid plans" at sea) whereas I used to get "free" SMS/text messaging at sea while on T-Mo, even when roaming/data is turned off - including "headers" for CC posts/forums that I follow (i.e. roll calls).  - no voice call or data access via ship's towers, whether at sea, near a port/shore or while docked.  As a matter of fact, NCL leave their WiFi signals on at all times these days - while anchoring at GSC - it seemed they beamed the signals via microwave relays (medical center where I used to work set them up over 15 years ago with various off-site facilities nearby (line-of-sight).  

 

Whether one is on ship's paid/not free/unlimited Wifi or actually using relayed cellular signals via satellite, must be careful about and knowing how to set up our own preferred smartphones, iPhones and iPads with cellular access - otherwise, NCL will get their chances to "ding" our wallets and/or onboard account for more charges.  A friend of ours was happy to get their 250 free minutes on one of the NCL sailings not too long ago and forgot to stop the "meter" counters by logging off, and was out of data by mid evening on Day 1 ... ending up spending $$ to buy more data.  

 

My workaround has been with a dual-sim global smartphone and Google Voice so that calls are forwarded and I can check transcribed VM as needed - nowadays, I am having fun configuring our newer Samsung, Pixel and iPhone (SE 2020 - it's a cute one) using eSim, turning them into dual sim devices, mixing up on how to be frugal & smart on what & how we spend our cruise dollars - should/will to try them out soon on NCL (nothing booked yet ... watching the trends & return to sailings around the world.)  

Could you explain what the correct way to set up a smartphone to avoid this from happening is? 

I usually have my roaming off and cellular data off. Airplane mode is off too and I have still connected to the ships Wi-Fi doing this and sent and received messages.