hallux

and that's what has me wondering why all the teeth-gnashing over the menu cuts. Sure it's a drop in options, but how often did any of the people complaining about fewer choices actually order the items removed? Of more interest to me, based on the wording of what you were previously allowed on an SDP credit - were the apps, salads and soups previously combined like this? Looking at a menu posted to another website - NO. This may signal a change in THAT offering - one item from appetizers, one entree, one dessert rather than getting one soup/salad, one app, one entree, one dessert.

@julig22 I think I see a LITTLE of @RocketMan275's logic. Some of it really depends on the cruise and what the fares are. In my case - I'd book an OV and upgrade to a BA. That upgrade is 30,000 points. 30,000 points redeemed in another way such as a statement credit is worth $300, but on some cruises the difference in cost from OV to BA is not even $300 (speaking strictly of guarantee cabins, lowest price for the category), extrapolated because there is no 30,000 point redemption except for the stateroom upgrade unless you do the statement credit. There are other things to consider in that example though, I think...

Available Ubers are roaming near the port. I ordered one at 11 AM on a Bliss disembarkation day and got a driver within minutes and if it wasn't for a traffic snarl because of a family trying to fit 10lbs of stuff in a 5lb bag (the guy had to call in a buddy to get the overflow, security/traffic control were NOT happy) I would have been in the car within 10 minutes or so. Getting off the ship was a whole other story, but I was also on a bigger ship.

In fact - some say it's detrimental to you to close or cancel the account rather than leave it dormant and let the issuer close it after a period of inactivity.

Quite valid considerations. I'm not sure but I may find out soon enough as I found a trip quite interesting to me and I can book an OV cabin to then upgrade to a balcony. I spend no more than I would normally, I just put as much of what I do spend on THAT card. It's my default for tap-to-pay on my phone.

Unless you plan on sailing NCL again, that would be fine. If you ever plan to sail NCL again, you're leaving points on the table by redeeming the bonus strictly for OBC. Plus - the OBC is in, I think, $50 increments, you won't redeem the full 21,000 points for OBC, you'd need 25,000 for $250 of OBC. Before you ask - that OBC can NOT be used for CruiseNext purchase.

Looking at the deck plans, the Illusionarium is in the same location Q is on the ships that have Q. On the bright side, for those that liked the Broadway event in that venue, I've seen similar in Q on another ship so it may come there as well. Q on the ships that have had it as a full specialty restaurant also have a stage in there.

You're right, there is no incentive to use it as OBC. Actually, there is if your sole purpose is to get the credit for a single cruise. The sign up bonus is your incentive - get the card, spend the required amount to get the bonus, request that your points be applied to OBC for your cruise. Your $1,000 spend to get the bonus gets you points worth $20,000 of spending on non-NCL purchases.

If they told you something that counters this section of the guest conduct policy they may want to review it - The minimum drinking age for all alcoholic beverages on Norwegian Cruise Line ships is 21. Guests who are 18 - 20 years of age can purchase and consume beer or wine when the ship is in international waters (3 miles out of US territorial waters). The age modification does not apply for Alaska and Hawaii sailings. The parent or legal guardian must be onboard the sailing with the young adult and present themselves at the Front Desk so they can sign the form allowing the consumption of beer and wine only. A notarized Parent Consent Form or any other document allowing for temporary guardianship for the purposes of the sailing only will not be accepted. It even says how to go about getting it set up (I bolded that). Best suggestion - give that a try on board, the worst they can say is no... https://www.ncl.com/faq/guest-conduct-policy

I don't cruise enough in expensive enough cabins to benefit from this use case. I charge almost everything to the card and have amassed almost 20k points in a year in addition to the sign up bonus.

I'm so glad someone is cataloging what cruises other CC members are on... 🤪

iMessage is independent of the carrier, it runs strictly over the data network as long as both parties have iPhones have their devices defaulting to the Messages protocol for messaging other iPhone users.

What things, exactly? A tip - at the top of the thread list in the NCL forum is a drop-down, that is a list of ships in the NCL fleet, you can select the ship name and it's a pre-filled search for threads about that ship. Start there... Free At Sea questions? Browse the thread list - several questions about it have been asked in the last week or two and it's THOROUGHLY explained in those threads and the many others that came before them.

Yes, Teppanyaki and Moderno are included as well. If you get any extra meals beyond your included Free At Sea meals, be sure to book Teppanyaki or Moderno FIRST.

Both times I sailed from LA I flew in the day before and used the NCL transfer. Both times I used the hotel shuttle and returned to one of the baggage claim areas as directed by the TA I used for each trip. I believe there's an NCL rep at each baggage claim to meet arriving airline passengers.

I'll agree with you there. I most certainly DO look at those things when booking flights. I've even had to make the case to my employer to allow a slightly more expensive non-stop flight because it meant that I would spend less time traveling and result in less hourly wage paid for that travel time (yup - paid hourly, including for travel). I consider it for personal travel as well, and I'm absolutely FINE with layovers as long as I'm not scheduling to spend 3+ hours at BWI or MDW (I primarily fly Southwest domestically)

I agree. Once you get to the day of travel it falls on the airline to get you where you need/want to go. Could NCL have helped by trying to find an alternate carrier? Maybe, but if they did this for everyone that had air carrier issues on travel day they would need to add staff to handle the call volume (and possibly drop the BOGO offer as it would no longer be sustainable when they need to start buying new tickets half the time).

This sentence structure is a little odd, but it seems like that's what you're saying, referencing this: As for this: It IS more than a refund, per the first post the person is getting full refund AND 100% FCC. That tells me that 200% of their fare was given to them in some manner. That's more than a refund in my opinion.

I can't argue that it doesn't cover expenses incurred to get to/from the port for a cruise they didn't get to take, but it's more than JUST a refund as your post that I quoted made it seem.

They didn't get JUST a full refund, they also got a 100% FCC

That person posted the same here...

Actually, I believe the laser tag on Encore is where Spice is on other BA+ ships, so removal of that would make room for Spice...

I have one on my account - 10% off discount Future Cruise Credit. I have to book by June 30 this year and sail by June 30 next year. Not sure where it came from, and I don't think it was there until recently. My last cruise ended almost 4 months ago.

When I was on the Joy in 2022 they also had karaoke in there. I don't recall other bands playing there but they may have (they do on the Bliss).

From a standpoint of earning more points, yes.