complawyer

you can buy/ bring back as many as you can carry, but (1) you are correct, they will be confiscated and held for you until the cruise end (2) remember you have to pack and carry them, they have to be in checked baggage at the airport, (3) you are then relying on the baggage handlers to insure that at noo point in your flight do they get broken. we usually bring back 4 bottles (if at all) 2 in my wifes suitcase, 2 in mine, securely wrapped in clothes and towels.

while i personally like to do my own booking, with your particular set of facts, i would either book the air fare myself, or use a travel agent. it seem that an ncl consultant would be bound by the same fight schedules as if you booked the ncl fly free, i dont believe the ncl can offer any more that what's available through ncl air. i whole heartedly agree with icutthe cheese. while i do not diminish the work a travel agent might do, and they may have certain avenues not available to the general public, when it comes to booking flights, i am extremely anal. i believe if you want something done right DO IT YOURSELF!

sorry to disagree with your analysis, but in reality, the only problem i have ever found with ncl shore excursions, was the price. consequently, at most ports we hire a cab on an ncl excursion, you either meet in the stardust theater get a number to designate your bus, or meet on the dock, where someone is holding a sign. you give them your ticket, get on your assigned bus and after it's filled, off you go. it seems to be a simple well organized procedure. what could be wrong with that. as far as the maps go, it seems to me they are only designed to show you where the tourist traps/shopping areas are. besides, from many years visiting the carribbean, i have discovered that all the shopkeepers jack up the prices when cruise ships are in port. take 3 ships in port at the same time, and you have between 5-10,000 people descending at any given port. for me, no thanks! as for the food, while i agree it should be top notch, or very close to it, personally, i dont book a cruise for its culinary delights. i book for an interesting itinerary and a decent price/cabin. by the way, whenever we choose to hire a cab, we show the driver the shore excursion we were interested in,and he stops where we want, as often as we want, and oftentimes, takes us to places we wouldnt have thought about seeing. always better than a bus full of my closest friends stopping for 5 minutes or so (or at a gift shop for an hour, where im absolutely certain the tour guides getting a kick back

if i had any worries at all, it would be over the efficiency of flights booked through ncl air. having read numerous post about the subject, some people swear by them, others swear at them (lol) to be safe and get exactly what i want, i make sure we book our own flights. we've sailed on ncl from to many foreign ports to begin mentioning, and tell hubby, never ONCE had we ever had baggage or flight problems. by the way, when it comes to booking trips, from airfare/hotels/shuttle services etc. im extremely anal. so when i get to the airport, every document i might need is in the order of use. i think your hubby is worrying for nothing. tell him to just chill, if you do all the work, go ahead and do so, and tell him to just have a nice relaxing vacation. i also recommend a cold glass of champagne once you get on board the ship. the 1st one is on me. as for hotels, we usually travel with a close friend, and she gets points through marriott, so if possible we let her book the rooms at a marriott or affiliated hotel. this includes sheraton properties. i would also recommend crowne plaza. finally (and i hope the length of this post hasnt bored you by now) the port for london is usually southampton, which is about an hour+ from london itself. last year we stayed at a hotel called the "dilly" it's a little pricey, which i didnt know prior to booking, but right in the heart of piccadilly square, and within walking distance of a great many sights. by the way, we've been on approximately 25 cruises with ncl. whew! sorry about the length bon voyage!

while we've been on a greek isles cruise a few times, and believe me, the islands and scenery are amazing. you cant beat either santorini or mykonos for the wow factor. same for corfu. that being said, (although they are gaining in popularity) even if it's more expensive, youre getting 4 more days on a cruise, this time out, i would choose the norway/iceland, especially if they also dock in greenland. that part of the world (inho) is usually off the beaten pat, so if given the chance, im going there. besides, seeing the northern lights is on my wife's bucket list. by the way, most of the cruises we've taken in the past have all departed from european ports. tell hubby "no worries" also, if i may suggest, if you take either cruise, (and especially if they leave and end at different ports) go in a few days prior, and stay a few days post, to explore the cities

ok, but we took 1 cruise in jan, and 4 last year, and all of the cabins were ready in that time frame. i just answered to op from personal experience, although 3 last year were from european ports, one was from seattle, and in january from panama. but if you got to your cabin after 3, i would attribute that to a lack of personnel on the part of ncl. (pure speculation of course) less stewards, more time involved. we're leaving from southampton at the end of july. I sincerely hope we dont have to wait that long

the cabins are usually ready for occupancy between 130-230. i think y ou'll be doing yourself a major disservice dragging your luggage around. tell your fiance not to worry if he gives your luggage to the porter at the dock. it'll reach your cabin.

fyi, i think you can still get escargot in le bistro. they're not as tasty as those from my front yard, but all in all, not bad (LOL)

please dont hold your breathe. we're booked on the 2 bedroom in march from capetown to barcelona,all the suites are now booked out, but we snagged one a few months ago. total price for 3 people was $25,000 went up to $28,000 and this was for the dawn. dont even think about the prima. we were trying to book the dawn again for a back to back oct 2024, but even the aft or forward suite was 16,000 t0 18,000. since i really wanted this itinerary, we were able to book the club balcony suite (not a bad cabin, but certainly not a suite) for a reasonable price. $11,000 total for the 20 days

by the way, ncl offers a cruise on the dawn march 2024 sailing from capetown with stops inthe canary islands as well as morocco.

well, we've sailed on ncl 25 times within the past 10 years and only got the upgrade email on maybe 2 -3 sailings. so regardless of how many times in the past you and everyone has gotten the upgrade offer, the fact that as yet you havent received one kind of proves my point. again, if you get an offer to upgrade, good for you, if not, the offer is not something you can expect as owed to you. i wasnt arguing, you should be aware that not everyone on every sailing gets this email.

no haven, but the suites (not the club balcony suites) are all comparable to those in an actual haven complex while i agree with cruisent4life about the garden villas, unfortunately for me its cost prohibitive. we have sailed in the 2 bedroom suite and that was perfect!!!

its only a few steps down from the dock to the tender, there are always tender crewmen to help you get down and up the steps. dont worry, dont fret, and enjoy the port to the fullest. we're 74 and 75 respectively, my wife has had both knee replacements, and although she's a little shakey going down the few steps, there is always someone there to help her out it should not be a problem

be aware, not everyone gets an offer to bid on an upgrade, so if you get one great, if not you havent lost or been cheated out of anything. my best advice (always) is: book the cabin you want with your initial booking:

not everyone on every sailing gets an upgrade notification. it's not a reasonable expectation to assume you will get one. if you ultimately do, good for you, if not what have you lost? it's on you, if you booked a cheaper category cabin with the expectation of bidding on something else

reasonable expectations for you,your party, and the other 3000 of your closest friends getting on board i have a personal motto i try and live by " never expect ANYTHING from any body, this way you wont be disappointed if you dont get it, and reasonably pleased if you do. this only point you have made that i totally agree with, is calling ncl and having the expectation that the person i'm speaking with knows what they're talking about. my history with ncl has proven time and again, that this is a wholly unrealistic expectation. ive posted before (yes you are 100% correct that you're spending you hard earned vacation dollars) that should try and put up with the small stuff, and just enjoy and acknowledge your ability to be on a cruise ship with an abundance of food, drinks, exotic ports etc. think of the 1000's of people that cannot afford to do so. with at least 10-18 decks, and 1000's of pieces of luggage, it's a miracle they can get to your cabin at all. so be grateful for all the hard work the crew does. as for getting off the ship, and depending on where the final destination is, i either plan to stay in that port city for at least an extra day, or book a flight after 12:00 p.m. you will find that this will also relieve a great deal of stress. we've stayed a few extra days in a multitude of cities ,throughout the world, givse you a great chance to see and explore other cities/countries. also, please consider that for the 2 years covid shut down the industry, cruise lines lost billions of dollars in revenue. while in reality, it's not our problem, if they need to recoup some of that money, by cutting costs, of course that will fall on the backs of consumers. that's just life in the big city me, im just happy to be able to cruise again. im happy with a cold heineken, a margarita, my kindle and the ability to sit on my balcony and watch the world go by. by the way, i dont think anything you have mentioned will be improved upon if you sail with another line, unless its a luxury line with limited amount of passengers. of course, in the alternative, you will be paying for this privilege

thank you mr thorton. ok, we can go bac kon topic now!

, definitely not don henley, i may have been mistaken and it could have been steve miler band. ok oldies experts chime in please. regardless, redmomof 4 the concept is the same. if you get a choice, take the money and run!!!!!

jeepers13. some ships have both haven suites and just suites. cabins are nearly identical, you get the perks of a haven, minus the specially designated haven area. some ncl ships only have "suites" although the cabin descriptions are also identical. as are the perks. if you are offered an opportunity to bid for an upgrade, you can place your bid, on any type of cabin they show you and that your budget can afford. just remember whatever $ amount you bid, is multiplied x2 i was going to bid from a 2 bedroom suite to the 3 bedroom garden suite, but my wife was very happy in our 2 bedroom cabin. since we travel with a very close friend, the 2 bedroom fits our needs perfectly.

jeepers13. imho. it's absolutely worth it. ive posted before that just the ability of the concierge to get you off the ship before the 1000's of your closest friends is worth the price of admission!. quillwercruisers btw, most (if if not all ncl ships have "club balcony mini suites" they are just renamed and slightly refurbished cabins that were previously called mid-ship mini suites.

hey, julig22. while you may need to go to cruise next desk to book, i think you need to check with the guest services people to see if it's even possible, and if there are even cabins available.

chiefmatejrk. as in most instances, i agree with you on this one. if you have noticed, sometimes i like to quote song lyrics in my posts. so once again to quote john mellencamp "TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN"

having sailed on many ncl ships, both in the haven and suites when there is no haven, i am not aware of any special suite menus per se. the specialty menus for haven and suites are breakfast and lunch in modernos and cagneys , respectively also if you notify your butler ahead of time, he can bring dinner to your cabin from any restaurant on the ship and serve it in your cabin. so if you want steak and lobster and its available, you can in fact dine on it in your cabin. caveat! i dont believe its free though. you will get 3 free bottles of liquor (you choice)

you still get the 24 hr on call butler service, concierge if you need him/her breakfast in moderno, lunch in cagneys. you get all the perks you would get in the haven, less the designated pool are bar and restaurant. some ships have both haven and suites. the rooms are essentially the same, the services are the same, but you cant get into the "haven bar or restaurant" but the price is 1000's of dollars cheaper. priority boarding and disembarkation

knowing ncl, they will not discount your cabin regardless of your desire to stay for the next sailing. you also have to consider the availability of cabins. if you try this, it's better to go to guest services on the 1st day of your actual cruise, and see if this is even possible. you may be cheap, but the cliche "pennywise/dollar foolish" definitely applies here. we do b2b a great number of times, and ALWAYS book the cabin prior to sailing. I make sure we get the same cabin for both legs of the cruise, this way it avoids the hassle/ pain in the a** of packing up and changing cabins. on the 2nd leg of the cruise, again go to guest services, about 11:00 a.m. or so, and get them to redo your room keys.