ontheweb

NCL is not allowing that particular TA to let passengers opt out of those extra charges. That does not mean all TAs are part of the same deal. I know we sailed on the Prima last summer having booked through a TA and were able to opt out of what we wished to opt out of.

In Bergen last summer, my DW wanted us to go to one last attraction, the Funicular. I thought we would be cutting it close, but could not say not to her. Luckily, the Hop on Hop off bus came almost immediately, after we left there. We got back on board maybe 15 minutes or so before the all aboard time. I commented to her that we cut it close. Her answer was that there were a lot of passengers in the boarding line behind us. I am assuming that they will not raise the gangplank while people are still in line, so that is my contribution to this thread.

Personally, if the TA was forcing us to pay for something that was an extra that we did not need or want, I would be looking for another TA. JMHO

I hope you realize those are 2 different laws. One applies to passengers while the other applies to cargo. Except for the small window just post- Covid when Canada was not allowing ships and cruise lines still wanted to sail to Alaska, why do you suppose the cruise lines have not been lobbying for the repeal of the PVSA? And even then, they only wanted the one small exception.

What if the price dropped?

"Price protection if the fare goes up"---doesn't everyone who books whether direct or a TA or a TA group booking get this once they put down their deposit?

Some might, some might not, and others very well might not have an idea of what you were talking about.

No also built in the USA. https://www.google.com/search?q=does+a+ship+have+to+be+built+in+the+usa+for+the+PVSA+to+apply&sca_esv=dcc1d935a3011144&sca_upv=1&source=hp&ei=IHgyZrO1Gvmk2roP67mUoA0&iflsig=ANes7DEAAAAAZjKGMMjsdQQy3oxbdSOfF5iAGvjrrbxg&ved=0ahUKEwizxfPL-eyFAxV5klYBHescBdQQ4dUDCBQ&oq=does+a+ship+have+to+be+built+in+the+usa+for+the+PVSA+to+apply&gs_lp=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&sclient=gws-wiz

But there are others who definitely use it as pejorative term.

I don't believe the gratuities on either the drink package or specialty restaurant package count toward the portion of the booking that a TA is paid commission on.

They cannot do that. The Prima was not built in the USA. Actually, they POA was only partially built in the USA, but was granted an exception to the PVSA allowing it to sail between US ports without a foreign port. IIRC, one of the Senators from Hawaii was instrumental in getting them this waiver.

Just to add what has been said (including earlier by me), Gate 1 is great at efficiently following details. Plus, you really get the sense that their employees and local guides really give the impression that they love what they are doing. They also rotate seats on buses. Everyone gets headphones so as to make sure they can hear the guides. As for your cruise from Southampton, we did the same cruise last summer. And even though we missed Isafjordur (like everyone else) and Brugge (low tides) we had a great time. You will read both positives and negative review of the ship, especially because it is different than earlier NCL ships. Go with the attitude that you will have a wonderful cruise as opposed to looking what could go wrong, and you should have a wonderful time.

It does seem that they at least listened to the passengers and did at least something to mitigate the situation. IMHO, a better business practice than if they had just stayed with the original plan of closing the Crow's Nest for Park West every night of the cruise.

There are definitely people including some who post on these boards who use the term Wa;mart in a pejorative sense. Now if there are 3 stores in town that all sell avocados, actually the same brand and 2 of them charge over a dollar each while Walmart sells them for 74 cents each, I wonder what could possibly be wrong with buying them at Walmart that would merit that criticism.

Agree with you that Gate1 though not a luxury company does an outstanding job. Their motto is more of the world for less, and they do live up to that.

We booked through a TA, and we were able to turn down offers. Since I barely drink and DW cannot due to alcohol being contraindicated with a med she takes, the drink package made no sense. Also, not being foodies, we were happy with MDR and buffet. In fact, DW does not even really like people serving her and would much rather "have control" by going to the buffet.

I do not remember if there were cookies on our August Prima cruise, but I think not. But on our recently completed river cruise on the Gate ! Monarch Express, there were always cookies available! 😊

That sounded like a PVSA violation until you wrote the word hurricane. That will get the violation nullified.

Same here, a few small OBCs added, never an extra charge. I remember after the first one calling our TA after the cruise and asking about it out of curiosity. I basically got the same explanation that was given earlier in the thread.

Also glad you do not need surgery. Did the doctor recommend seeing a physical therapist to help with walking?

It was last August, but thanks anyway. We actually embarked on our first cruise on our 25th anniversary. and also cruised on our 30th and 35th. (We did a land trip for our 40th.) This one was for our 46th, but sort of pretend 45th. We found the cruise in a brochure NCL sent us in 2021 and fell in love with the itinerary. And said that would be perfect for our 45th anniversary, but then noticed the ship was not yet built, and we would have to do the cruise in 2023, not 2022.

Another thing you can do is check the roll call for your cruise and see what others might be doing and see if they are looking for other cruisers to join them.

I had previously posted as to how fascinated we were by the Canadian Immigration Museum when we were in Halifax. Just wondering if any of you checked it out. And if you did, did you find it just as fascinating?

As for reservations, we asked at Hudons is we could make a reservation for a table by a window for the sea day between Norway and Iceland as it was our wedding anniversary. We were told no reservations it was first come first served. And our best bet was to show up at 5:30 when they opened. I don't remember exactly when we showed up on that day, probably between 6 and 6:30, but when I gave them the card that it was our wedding anniversary, maybe they remembered us as they gave us a table right by one of the windows. (And after dessert, they gave us a cake, sang to us, and tied our hands together.)

I hope someone from NCL reads these boards and realizes that there are people who will cancel or even not consider NCL because of these issues. And from another senior couple, wishing you good continuing health in your senior years.