hallux

They probably did a mock booking in your name to see if the coupon could be applied.  That's what you saw.  They had to do it in your name as the coupon was in your account.

By the way - that's the Latitudes cruise this year.  Yes, that coupon is listed as only valid for that sail date so it couldn't have been used elsewhere.  I'm not sure why someone would think a coupon named as pictured would be applicable to some other cruise, the sailing date is right there.

7 hours ago, NW Pacific said:

but I think this kind of "marketing" or whatever is very wrong

I don't see this as 'marketing', it was simply something the agent needed to do in order to satisfy your (unnecessary, IMO) inquiry.

Rumor is that they were installing the hardware during my cruise Jan 27-Feb. 11.

2 hours ago, waterlogged1 said:

Heading out on the Bliss next week and have a few zoom meetings to attend if possible.

Just because the ship has Starlink doesn't mean they won't still throttle it as it passes through the on-board proxy servers.

There's usually a 'fill the bag' laundry special halfway through the trip, $35 for the bag (up from $30).  Alternately, there are per-item prices listed on the sheet you fill out when you send it out.

Gold level Latitudes members get that fill the bag special for half price, Platinum and above get it free.

1 hour ago, SelectSys said:

I personally have some super fond memories from some of those short cruise stops.  Were those short port visits meaningful? I think so, as these visits created memories that I have held on to for a long time.  

Agreed - I got to spend 8 hours in Acapulco this year.  Seems short, right?  However, it was only the second cruise ship visit since their hurricane in October, there was still a LOT of destruction evident, so getting to see that while contributing to their economy was VERY meaningful, and many of the hotels were damaged so tourism was nonexistent except for cruises stopping there.  Oh, I also got to release a baby sea turtle to the ocean.  VERY memorable port stop!

Just be aware that the excursion refund is handled in an odd fashion if you pre-paid - they will refund the FULL cost of the excursion then the next day they will 'claw back' the $50 excursion credit that you got when you pre-booked the excursion.

16 hours ago, 2flacruisers said:

My question is this:  is cigarette smoking permitted in the Cigar lounge on either of the ships I have mentioned?

NCL has this FAQ posted on their website regarding smoking - 

https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/cruise-faq/smoking

Financially - it makes sense to me. 

I spent 10 days in Colorado, just outside Denver, for work.  My expense report for those 10 days was over $3,000 and that was flights, hotel, meals and car rental.  NO entertainment or activities. 

I did a 15-night Panama Canal cruise for about the same cost, including a night pre-cruise and a night post-cruise in hotels.  The cruise was all meals, entertainment, activities, etc.  Plus I got to see one of the great engineering marvels of the 20th century AND contribute to the tourism restart in Acapulco after the powerful hurricane they experienced in October (only the second cruise call there since then).

I also like that I can unpack once and see several different places.

@ziggyuk interesting that it worked out that way.  I called just before final payment for my cruise in 2023 as I could save a little with a price drop.  As it turns out there was a slight change in promotions, adding triple points, that got added to my reservation, giving me 21 points for sailing in a Studio.  I wonder if those policies vary from the US to the UK.

56 minutes ago, ddlb said:

In addition, the package includes two specialty dining dinners. Do I have to use both of them only for myself or could I use one for me and one for a person dining with me?

Discussed in more depth in a recent topic - 

The deck plans (easily found on the website) still show The Humidor and nobody has commented here about it being removed...

4 hours ago, CruiseMH said:

They only have the breakaway+ class ships as the biggest,so when they tell you the pier can handle them then its the same as if you are a group of 25 people and someone tells you  "the elevator can handle the whole group at once". it does not say that the elevator can`t handle more.But it simply is not necessary cause your group is only 25 people.

 

It's kind of like a device that accepts an SD card that says it accepts up to a 256 GB card even though there are 512 GB and 1 TB cards available.  At the time the device was released and tested, the 256 was the biggest available but that doesn't mean a bigger one won't work as well.

12 hours ago, Grandmafreddie said:

If you book a balcony you get 2 dinning vouchers which allows you to share. The dinners you get with latitudes you don't. Found this on my last cruise.

ummmm

9 hours ago, itsnotjustme said:

I don't think this is correct.

It's not.  Grandmafreddie has them swapped.

7 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

It is actually the other way round. If someone allowed you to share the free at sea dining credits then you were lucky

Yup, 100%

13 hours ago, Guindalf said:

BirdTravels is wrong. MOST TA OBC is refundable.

I usually trust what BirdTravels says.  And you both may be correct.  It likely depends on how the OBC is 'bought' by the TA..

22 minutes ago, Grandmafreddie said:

  Each voucher is for 2

You're thinking of the Platinum vouchers, not the Free At Sea meals..

I can't compare the Joy specifically as I sailed her during the restart when passengers were somewhat limited.  However, I have sailed on the Escape and Bliss which are very similar, including the Bliss on a Panama Canal cruise this year.  One benefit to doing that itinerary is that you won't have a ton of kids on the ship so it will be at double-occupancy rather than double+.  Wait times for MDR seating were minimal.  The only day I really had trouble finding a seat in the buffet for breakfast was transit day, and that's because the buffet has a view out the front of the ship.

I've sailed on Explorer of the Seas, that ship felt cramped compared to NCL's Breakaway+ ships (the 3 I've been on are this class).  I've also been on one of Royal's Quantum class ships, the Joy feels like that size of ship as @BirdTravels mentions.  Otherwise, the info given by BirdTravels is spot-on...

57 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

I guess my point is that a perfect cruise line (to me) would be one that has separate types of ships to cater to the different preferences of their guests

This is why the 'umbrella' ownership groups of the cruise lines have other lines that DO cater to those needs.  NCLH doesn't happen to have one of those lines with as small of a ship as you want, but the Royal and Carnival corporations do.

11 hours ago, First traveler said:

automatic upgrade

You had to call and ask, right? It wasn't an automatic upgrade.

11 hours ago, First traveler said:

There was a category that was like $50 more which allowed you to pick a deck and cabin which the cancellation fee is waived

I'm confused about this - NCL has refundable deposits right up to final payment, unlike another line that charges you extra if you want that option, I'm not sure what this is about waiving the cancellation fee?

I agree with @debenson0723 typically if you're getting a cabin upgrade because of a price drop AFTER FINAL PAYMENT the new cabin has to be at least $1 more than you paid for your original cabin.  At least that's been the policy...

14 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

Our port stop prior to the transit is Colón

I did it from the other side, my port stop was Panama City after the transit.

1 hour ago, dmwnc1959 said:

just to hit the historic locks and see them (and the old lock gates) from the promenade deck at eye level while we are wedged into a 110-year old lock chamber

I did an excursion that went in the old locks in a much smaller boat...

19 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Watch out for surge pricing with Uber & Lyft, they've been known to jack up rates by $20 to $25 or more for trips to the airports when we disembarked

I experienced that in FLL - I flew in to FLL for a cruise from Miami, originally had an Uber booked to get me to Miami but then decided I'd try Brightline, after missing the train I pulled up the Uber app and found the fare from the Brightline station to be $20 less than from the airport but a net savings of only $10 as the shuttle to the train station from the airport was $10.  I was SUPER surprised to be able to easily get a FLL-Miami Uber in less than 5 minutes.

32 minutes ago, Baron Barracuda said:

Brooklyn not too bad.

I'll be dropping some people there in July - they're doing a TA on Princess and can't get one-way transportation from Albany unless we rent a van (there are 4 of them, plus me as driver, we don't have a vehicle for that capacity with luggage).  I've taken people there before, it's unusual, not HORRIBLE.

There's a bulk carrier, Vitality Diva, that is ahead of the Encore, she passed through the old locks, so it's probably a scheduling thing, alternating vessels that can go through the old and new locks.

@dmwnc1959 I'll be honest - the pics I got exiting the lock in the dark are kinda cool.

3 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

At the rate she's going now, they won't exit the Cocoli Locks until dark

Which is exactly what happened to my cruise.  I have pictures and a short video clip from The Waterfront as we sailed out of the last lock between 7:15 and 7:30 PM.  It was dark because it was Jan 31.  I was eating dinner as we were descending in the locks.

10 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

Don't think I've ever seen this on a cruise ship doing a full transit. 

My Bliss transit earlier this year did something similar.  Something about timing of ship transits, it ended up making us 'late' for exiting the canal and we had to tie up at the exit of the last lock on the Pacific side to wait for low tide to pass under the bridge.

13 minutes ago, Beezo said:

It looks like the pier is right by the tender docks current location

I believe you're right.  That lagoon with the waterfall looks to be the current tender dock location.