hallux

24 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Contrary to popular belief, they often DO make announcements regarding changes (and sometimes even why!!) but if nobody can hear them, they aren't overly helpful.

Make a copy of the announcement available in the app.  How often are we in places on board when one of these comes on and NOBODY is considerate enough to pipe down so the announcement can be heard?

2 hours ago, jkbec101 said:

Multiple comedians per cruise

Are they down to one now?  It's been two for a while, and my cruise in January (15 days) had four, two at a time that swapped mid-cruise.

2 minutes ago, MAZ-JMZ said:

BTW - I was referring to Malting's on NCL Breakaway.

As the cigar lounge is right there, is it possible you were just smelling spill-out of smoke from that?  There absolutely shouldn't have been smoking at the bar according to the policy posted on NCL's website.  The Waterfront should be all non-smoking.

1 minute ago, The Traveling Man said:

Smoking is only permitted near the bar.

Near Maltings?  On the Bliss, Joy and Escape I don't believe smoking is allowed in that area outside the cigar lounge.

1 hour ago, Buckeye10640 said:

Now I know we need a long extension cord for my husband's CPAP Are there USB charging ports bedside or we will need wall plugs for those as well at the desk?

There may be in the light fixtures, not sure if that started with Encore or Prima.  If you go look at cabin tours on YouTube you may get the answer.  I never rely on anyone supplying me a plug for my devices and bring my own charging brick and cables.

I'm glad it all worked out.

I still say that somewhere in your email in early to mid July you will have a revised confirmation that shows the removed items.  Any time ANYTHING changes on your booking (including making reservations for on-board) you typically get an email with a new PDF, how could this be different?

3 hours ago, ggTexasGal said:

There's is another source for checking your amenities prior to boarding the ship.

When you complete your online checking (in your account), your amenities should be listed on one of the pages (page 6 in our case). 

I was going to suggest the same, but if you look at the timing of the refund it seems it may have been done AFTER check-in!  Unless... that refund is after whatever BS "refunds take 10 days to process" which would put the actual cancellation possibly before check-in, but in this case since it seems NCL is cancelling it somehow IS there a delay?

I suggest you check your email around July 18.  If there was a change to your reservation there should have been a new confirmation (and since it was after check-in, e-docs) emailed to you.  I would suggest that if you had reviewed your E-docs thoroughly when you did your check-in at 21 days before sailing you could have caught this, but it seems the refund came less than 21 days before the cruise so the e-docs printed at check-in time would NOT have reflected the change.

Had you caught the issue when it happened you could have called and gotten the packages added back and paid the fees and been happy.

Based on there being at least one previous instance of this it seems like a NASTY "glitch"...

You're going to need to be a little more clear as to how you got 'scammed'.  What's the issue?  Did you not receive those items?  Are you saying that NCL, of their own accord, refunded your service charges for the beverage and dining plans and converted you to a non Free At Sea booking?

23 minutes ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

- Replacing laser tag with an outdoor space with a bar, hot tubs, and loungers

A move in the right direction, IMO

21 minutes ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

- What's the point of having both Vibe and H2O?

Vibe carries a cost, Spice is free.

32 minutes ago, shof515 said:

R.I.P observation lounge 😞

No kidding.  I commented with my disappointment on the NCL page, not that it changes anything.  It's not like the OL is under-utilized, especially on Panama Canal and Alaska itineraries as at least the Bliss does.  But, bookings trump amenities I guess.

Here's NCL's announcement - https://www.ncl.com/newsroom/norwegian-cruise-line-announces-enhancements-to-norwegian-encore

8 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

but regular (non diet) soda is also a possibility for diabetics.

but since there are other options for bringing blood sugars back up, ones that NCL provides for free on board, they shouldn't be required to allow regular sodas to be brought on board as they already comply.

2 hours ago, nae418 said:

2. I would like to bring an empty steel insulated water bottle to keep water cold while on excursions, or around the ship. Is this allowed?

100%. I bring multiple, fill them with ice and water at the buffet (using the provided glasses to transfer to the tumblers.  On the Bliss at least (Joy and Encore may be similar) on the port side of the pool deck is a water/ice station right near the door to go to the Garden Cafe.  I could usually be found there prior to going off the ship for excursions, it's a low-traffic water station and there are tables right there as well.

Go look at your confirmation documents you received when you first booked - do you see it listed that you wanted to arrive a day early?  If not - you'd be SOL, you didn't confirm that what you requested was added to your reservation.  Someone that's done it should be able to tell you where it will appear on your confirmation PDF.  When I used the air perk in 2019 it showed as part of the total itinerary, showing me arriving the day before.  It was on the second page of the confirmation.

Did you book through a TA?  This would fall on them.

1 hour ago, dexddd said:

The elevator lobbies are in the middle of the ship so unless maybe we are talking a few inches closer, side doesn't matter for being closest to elevators.

I think Bird was referring to longitudinal position and wanting to be close to the forward or aft elevator lobby so they don't need to walk a long hall to get there.

A look at the deck plans, while the size depicted may not be 100% representative does indicate an accessible inside room is larger than a regular.

Here are the two on deck 10 -

1 hour ago, dexddd said:

You beat me to it.  Was on Dawn.  She cried on bed the whole time.

Her husband must be SO happy to be married to a woman so fragile that one hiccup can cause her to isolate and cry for a week...

10 hours ago, Sailor75 said:

for something that's Norwegian's fault.

If they've done all the required maintenance at the required times is it REALLY NCL's fault?  Machines break down, every single day.  Is it unfortunate that this one did at this particular time and disrupted some vacations?  Absolutely.  Such is life...

Think about that statement next time your engine spins a bearing or throws a rod even though you've kept up with maintenance on it.  Yes, spinning a bearing or throwing a rod is a VERY uncommon occurrence in a properly maintained engine, but consider the amount of time these machines (cruise ships and their propulsion) are operating (and expected to operate) often at nearly maximum power without failure.  The MTBF is really astronomical when you think about it...

13 hours ago, redmomof4 said:

My cruise consultant told me no because it would work as a rebooking and I would lose my airfare 

No, but consider that bookings prior to the removal of the BOGO airfare for your sailing have some accounting to cover the BOGO airfare built in, which could account for some of the price drop.  If you take advantage of the BOGO airfare and think of it that way should you REALLY be eligible for the price drop.

16 hours ago, queenhcc said:

I have a cruise booked on the Jade in September

If they don't have the issue fixed before then they have some BIG problems.  That the ship seems to be sailing at typical speed seems to indicate they have the issue resolved.

On 7/20/2024 at 12:40 PM, zqvol said:

At best NCL is a middle of the road mass market line. Celebrity, HAL, Princess, and VV are all well above NCL.

At the very least I consider Celebrity, HAL and Princess to be the more up-market lines within their respective umbrella ownership groups (Royal and Carnival), NCL is the mainstream line in NCLH and in some aspects bests the mainstream lines in the other groups.

2 hours ago, Cruiser8087 said:

did I mention anywhere that they should plan for mechanical failures

Your first sentence that I quoted made it seem like you were unhappy with the amount of notice given.

4 hours ago, Cruiser8087 said:

- Notification Time:Less than 24 hours before check-in. Talk about a last-minute surprise!

Would you like for them to plan future mechanical failures better?

4 hours ago, Cruiser8087 said:

NCL’s compensation

- 20% Future Cruise Credit: Like a rain check on a future party – nice to have, but doesn’t quite make up for the missed celebration.

- Pro-rated Refund for One Day Lost: A decent gesture, but still leaves a lot to be desired.

- $100 credit to stateroom

So they're giving you 20% off the fare of a future cruise, around 20% back on your current cruise (maybe 15%?) and $100 to spend on board?  Seems generous.

32 minutes ago, Yesimapirate said:

It would be generous if it was weather or something beyond their control.   Mechanical issues aew 100% their responsibility and they should reimburse all expenses incured by their delayed departure.

When was the last time you accurately anticipated the breakdown of a 20 year-old vehicle that had otherwise been meticulously maintained?  These things are machines built and maintained by humans, they could do everything right and yet things can still fail.

I watched a CruiseTuber's video earlier - this actually couldn't have happened at a WORSE time.  With the Crowdsrike failure Friday that cause all those cancelled flights, some of the people on board apparently may not get flights home until Wed because of all the re-booked airline passengers cascading.

Boarding begins some amount of time (10-60 minutes?) after the last passenger of the previous cruise has scanned their card to walk off the ship.  Because of many factors there is no hard-defined time for it but it's probably generally around 11 or shortly after if all goes smoothly.

35 minutes ago, Sayuil said:

But the rep did mention, this is just a one time request. Once I go this route, I wont be able to do this for future price drops?

 

Anyone with first hand experience on this? Is it true, is it just one time courtesy.

I believe that is the policy.  There are any number of threads discussing this, there haven't been any specific ones recently.

35 minutes ago, Sayuil said:

Also do they not allow OBC for the price difference. I believe RCL does that.

Different cruise lines, different ways of handling things.  I also believe that NCL's FCC doesn't appear until AFTER the cruise.

4 hours ago, PartyPlannerLady said:

 

Most people pay $0 for the drink package by utilizing FAS.

4 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

No. You need to pay the grats on the package which is what the poster is referring to. 

Yup, I was referring to the beverage service charge most people pay.  Later in the thread I looked up an MSC cruise to compare the price with drinks and WiFi included and that added around $30 pp/pd on a 4 day cruise but apparently the value on-board is lower due to the lower limit on drink cost and the restricted places you can use it.