gsc500

43 minutes ago, Russiamomm said:

Yup.  I bought two $500 certificates.  Worked like a charm.  Just wish I could have cashed it out earlier.  I thought about taking an advance at the casino, but didn’t want to pay the 3% fee, so I waited.  Luckily I did pretty decent in the casino on that trip and didn’t need the cash.  😃

Sounds like you were NOT ALLOWED to cash them out earlier?  Is the earliest the morning of the last full day before disembarkation?

Thanks for posting your experience!

We were in the Family 2 bedroom Haven suite on the NCL Pearl to Alaska!  It was great to view the glaciers from the private Haven deck.  No crowds whatsoever!

The 2 bedroom Haven suite does have 2 separate sleeping areas and 2 separate bathrooms.  I would book that category for the master bath alone!  The shower and bathtub have windows facing out and have the BEST views. I think that bathroom is bigger than most cabins.  You should look at video tours of the cabin and bathroom on YouTube.

I am not sure that the beds in the "master bedroom" separate as it is literally just an alcove next to the master bath.  So, the most important question would be, will you be able to share a bed with your Mom?

There is plenty of room for 2 young adults in the second bedroom with en suite bath which is about the size of a regular cabin bathroom.

Personally, our family likes to hang out together.  Even when we booked 2 inside cabins (one and done), my girls would come over and squeeze into our cabin to chat, etc.  So, the communal living room in the 2 bedroom was perfect for how our family like to vacation together.

Now if you or your adult children need space apart from each other, 2 separate cabins may be better for family harmony.  I probably would not want to share any of my private space with my in-laws for an extended period of time for example.  Meeting up for meals and excursions would be enough together time with them.

You know your family better. 

But in terms of separate sleeping spaces and 2 bathrooms, the Family 2 Bedroom Haven suite has both but they are not equal at all in size and "luxury."  If I were paying for the trip, I would prefer the Haven 2-bedroom and the master bed and bath would be MINE!

Good luck!

On 1/4/2023 at 3:18 PM, Sstn said:

I last summer I booked MSC Divina 5/15/23 Miami to Barcelona.  Port charges/tax was $340.  No change in itinerary but port charges/tax are now only $154.  MSC says no price adjustment on port charges/tax. Only option is to cancel and rebook (but higher base price now would negate the savings).  I thought for USA booked cruises there are laws concerning port charges/tax that would apply and provide me a refund/credit for the difference (I know some cruise lines do this but not MSC).  Does anyone know if MSC is following US law properly by refusing to adjust the port fees/taxes?

I checked my booking and we now have a $400+ overpayment on each cabin because the taxes and fees went down for the MSC Divina 5/15/23 sailing.

MSC adjusted our final payment due AFTER the final payment date.

Need to see how to get that amount refund now...

Sailed on MSC and various cruise lines in the States and in Europe and my husband did not have his middle name on any travel documents even though it is on his passport...

Has anyone gone already and posted a review after returning?

Back to give an update for others that may want to know - they were able to get on board without their e-tickets. It just took a while longer to process them. Bon Voyage to them!

Friends of mine are boarding a msc ship out of Miami today. Apparently they never got their e-tickets. They only have their booking confirmation.😵

Can they get to the port early and get them at the port of Miami?

1 hour ago, davekathy said:

Forgot to mention. If you check in on your laptop all the info will populate on the app and vice versa. The muster drill will need to be done on your phone using the app or when you board the ship on your cabins TV. 

Does everyone need the app to do the muster drill?  We are traveling with 6 people. My dad doesn't even have a cell phone...

I have it downloaded to my phone. Do I need to make everyone else who has a phone download it?

Does check in have to be done on an APP?  Or can it be done on a laptop?  I have 3 cabins to check in for.

Thanks.

Love your review! Thanks for taking the time to do one!

I realize that this is an older thread, but just wondering if the OP used their credit to purchase tram tickets in Juneau?

 

We are in the same position, but only have $50/port credit (for next May). The tram would be one thing I wouldn't mind using the credit on. All of the other tours we are looking at are much more expensive through the ship even with the credit.

 

We don't dock in Juneau until 2 pm so ideally we would wait and if the weather is OK we would then purchase the tickets on the ship.

Sorry, we actually didn't try to purchase tickets on board for the tram so I am not sure if the credit could be applied towards it.

We rented a car at port and did our own thing and was too tired when we got back to even try to go back out or ask about the the tram tickets on board. The port credit was pretty much money we left on the table and we did not use any of it, at any port.

Enjoying your review.

Have applied mine towards final payment as well (Did not use one towards a deposit)..

 

To answer your other question, my cruise next certs specify that I must sail by the expiration date (not book by).

Thanks for the clarification of the expiration and sail by dates!

I have done it a few times. It is probably technically against the rules, but they have never refused to do it (even for cruises past final payment, although that was probably pushing it). If the phone reps at the regular number can't/won't do it, call the CruiseNext office directly.

Thanks for the first hand experience. Appreciate you answering my question. I'll probably get 2 this August and give it a try. If it doesn't work, I'll just have to use it for a future new booking.

I know you have 4 years to use it. I assume 4 years to use it as a deposit? So, if it "expires" 8/2020, I can use it to book a cruise during, lets say 2021, as long as I make the booking before 8/2020 and apply the CN certificate before the expiration date?

I bought one last week. My TA just needed my Lattitudes number to use it

Did you make a new booking or have your TA apply it to a previous booking?

Question about the CN Deposit:

We will be cruising this August and already have 2 NCL cruises booked for 2017. No plans for another cruise after that for a while.

Has anyone tried and been successful or unsuccessful in applying the CN certificate to an already booked cruise?

If I knew it was possible, I would purchase some this August and try to apply it to my already booked cruise. If it was a known impossibility, I would wait until next year and consider getting some on one of my cruises then instead.

Thanks for giving any insight or personal experiences.

My feeling is (and it is only an opinion and I could be totally wrong) is that NCL is pricing Haven higher on purpose even if it leaves them lots and lots of empty Haven cabins that they have to upsell.

There are some people (probably not likely to be on CC) that will pay whatever the asking price is for the Haven. Maybe if even 10-20% of the Haven is sold at asking price, it would be enough to cover the rest of the Haven.

NCL can then upsell the rest of the Haven close to sailing and it will still get them more money than what they got for the balcony cabin.

This way, NCL doesn't "devalue" their product trying to "move" cabins.

People who are willing to pay a premium asking price for the Haven may book far in advance or even last minute. By maintaining an inflated price for the Haven, NCL can get those last minute bookings at full price. Upsell to fill the rest and then only have to sell the more economical cabins to the mass market.

The "sale prices" to upsell are never advertised or available to the general public and thus, their premium "product" is never devalued. If they price the Haven more reasonably, it may "sell out" earlier and lock out those that would have paid ANY price.

Those lucky enough to get an upsell think they have won the lottery. Those (few) that are use to opening their wallets for a premium product regardless of price will be none the wiser. Unless they are members of CC, they may not even realize that upsells can be a regular occurrence on larger ships during non-peak periods.

When the Haven was a newer concept, NCL had more attractive pricing to "lure" people to try it. Even people where price was no object, needed to wooed from more premium cruise lines.

Now it seems like every other review is tooting the Haven. NCL feels like it is now a "known" product and they can now charge more and lock in those cruisers that will pay regardless and then fill the rest later through upsells.

My gut tells me, NCL is weeding out the majority of cruisers on purpose through pricing and saving the Haven for those that are able and willing to pay for it. And then if the regular people are lucky, doing us a favor and letting us in when there is room at a "bargain."

Again, I could be totally wrong which wouldn't be the first or last time! Lol. :D

In some cases, it may be cheaper or not too much more to get 2 inside cabins than to have 4 in an inside. Always price it out and see.

If we buy a bottle, is there a 20% off the listed price? And I assume we can share the bottle with our table mates?

So, so sorry for your loss. I can't even imagine.

My Platinum card worked OK.

Did you add the offer to your card a while ago or within the last 2 days?

Just trying to see if AMEX pulled the offer or if it is still being offered to select card holders.

Thanks.

Enjoying your review!

Thanks!

Well, gave it a try.

Between my husband, myself and my parents, we have 6 separate AMEX cards ranging from the EveryDay, Optima Platinum, to the Gold AMEX. No joy on any of the accounts.

Either we are not the targeted demographics or the offer has since been pulled.

I guess I will be checking more frequently now as we have 2 cruises in 2017.

Just saw this post today. Will have to dig through my drawer tomorrow looking for the Amex cards we don't use and figure out the log ins. The Amexs we do use don't have the offers.

Anyone seeing seeing the offer available or have they pulled it?

Thanks.

Only reason we would want to buy tram tickets onboard is to use "use it or lose it" shore excursion credit.

I guess I'll find out on board. We already have non cruise ship excursions planned and are renting a vehicle to go to Mendenhall.

Not the end of the world to let the shore excursion credit go unused. We only get $75 per port, per cabin. I'm also hoping they can be used to buy shuttle tickets in Victoria. If not, we will walk.

Thanks for the responses.

We are struggling to use a $75 shore excursion credit per port on a NCL Alaskan cruise.

It looks like the NCL website no longer shows the Mount Robert Tram tickets in Juneau as a shore excursion option.

Was it ever an online option? Maybe it is only available on the ship? We are doing excursions on our own and will most likely let the credit go unused.

We were hoping to use the credit for something inexpensive like the tram tickets. And NCL would have gotten more money from us since the tickets are $33each and we will need to buy 6 tickets ($198), just to use a $75 credit. Lol.