hallux

4 minutes ago, Le Pappy said:

but we are completely unfamiliar with how things work on NCL, and POA specifically.

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.

1 hour ago, Sayuil said:

Thanks for sharing this. Yes my son is 5 yr old. My TA Confirmed exactly what you shared but they were not sure about Upcharge dinning like Brazilian steakhouse or Teppenyanki. Any idea ?

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.

1 hour ago, schmoopie17 said:

This is going to be our plan from LAX to the port, since we arrive a day early, staying at an airport hotel. My question is, how do you know the time and the location for the transfer if we decide to do this? I'm sure we'll end up scheduling the transfer ahead of time, just wondering about the logistics. If it's too much of a hassle, we might look into alternate arrangements.

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.

6 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Let's make a distinction here.  A large portion of the population are very infrequent travelers.  They generally aren't the folks posting on a travel forum.  I believe that a large portion of frequent travelers are very focused on routing and connection times.  I certainly am, and I doubt that I'm alone here.

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)

35 minutes ago, Asawi said:

It seems to me that most/all of the problems here were airline-related and not really NCL-related. HAving said that, maybe they could have been more supportive, but it seems like United/Lufthansa are the ones that messed up really bad.

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).

13 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

For NCL is just think a full refund is enough is ridiculous

This sentence structure is a little odd, but it seems like that's what you're saying, referencing this:

1 hour ago, dbrown84 said:

And I challenge you to find where I said it was JUST a refund 

As for this:

1 hour ago, dbrown84 said:

Actually, it's not.  Move on 

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.

10 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

right, which ain't ish

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.

1 hour ago, dbrown84 said:

For NCL is just think a full refund is enough is ridiculous.

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

17 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

The thread below did mention A/C and bathroom issues on Breakaway....

 

 

That person posted the same here...

2 hours ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

I think that Galaxy Pavilion on Encore will be reduced in size or removed and Spice H2O will be placed there. 

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.

7 minutes ago, grouchomarx said:

Great, thanks for the info!  Do other bands besides the Beatles band play in the Cavern Club?  I thought I read that somewhere.  

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).

1 hour ago, newNCLcruiser2010 said:

Okay so I just just charge all the onboard expense to my credit card and then when I return and everything is posted use the points to request a statement credit?

From a standpoint of earning more points, yes.

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

Do they? That's interesting and I don't doubt it'll happen. In my experience, I had to generate a confirmation through NCL's system, then email it directly to those I was working with. Granted, the last time I booked a NCL cruise was March, 2023 so the system also may have updated since then. 

Maybe it works different when booked through a TA?  On direct bookings I get a new confirmation PDF any time a change is made (dining, excursion, etc.)

I agree with the other two.  You get WAY more benefit by charging all your onboard expenses to the card (those on-board spend $$ are worth 3x points) compared to cashing in for OBC.  I may have even seen a CruiseNext manager telling people this exact same thing!

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

Be sure your travel agent send you a new confirmation every time you change something on your cruise.

Unless it's something separate from the cruise (air, hotel, etc) that the TA is booking then NCL should be sending that to the email on file.  Though it might be helpful to get in writing from the TA that you requested a change.

I was in 14252 on the Joy, it was a relatively normal balcony but is listed as "privasea".  It was right where one of the angles on the side of the ship is

My experience in the Manhattan Room on the Joy was pretty good, but I also dined with someone with a food allergy so our table probably got a little extra attention.  I've honestly rarely been disappointed with the MDR dinner food on NCL.

5 hours ago, Damascus43 said:

Do you use minutes if you're not online?

Log in, do what you need to, log out.  This is done through websites (login.com and logout.com, the DNS on the ship resolves them properly but you can't see the same sites at home. though some say the NCL app can do this as well while on board).  If everyone has iPhones, Apple's built-in messages app SHOULD work as long as you're not sending images, without being logged into the internet.

5 hours ago, Damascus43 said:

If you put your phone on airplane mode, what can you and can't you do?

Airplane mode on, WiFi on, connect to the ship's WiFi.  Once connected, you can use the NCL app to get a PDF of the Freestyle Daily (the daily listing of events), make show and dining reservations, book excursions, look at your on-board account.  As noted above - if you all have iPhones you should be able to continue messaging each other, the NCL app's messaging protocol requires a port on the ship's firewall to be open that allows Apple's app to function to a degree without logging in and using minutes.

The NCL app changes to 'on board mode' and looks different once you connect to the ship's WiFi, you won't be able to see it and play around with it until you board and connect.  However, be sure to have it installed before.

One more thing - NCL offers messaging within the app for $10 per device.  It's hit-and-miss as to how well it works.

2 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

The one cruise we did with Royal, their beverage package was VERY expensive (even when we had a 30% discount). NCL's offer is one of the best bargains out there.

2 hours ago, Liljo22 said:

The Harmony OTS cruise I mentioned above currently is $87.99pppd plus 18% for the drink package.  That's almost $1,500 per couple added to the cruise.  The base fare is also $200pp more than the Prima on the same itinerary(Prima adds HC) with an Oceanview Balcony on both.  

 

How DARE we counter those saying NCL's free at sea isn't worth it by posting actual facts?  haha  I'm not a drinker and haven't sailed Royal since 2018, but I peek at the board periodically and see comments about them from YouTubers - their drink packages and dynamic pricing at Coco Cay put NCL's "nickel and diming" to SHAME...

2 hours ago, Liljo22 said:

Sure but just about all mass market cruise lines have these rates that are discounted because you are giving the line the ability to stick you where ever they have space.  On a cruise I am tracking with RCCL, they give you a $257 per person discount for this pleasure.  

 

Yup, that's one of the things you give up with NCL when you go from a FAS rate to a sail-away.  The difference is that with the FAS rate on NCL you get much more than just the ability to pick your room (on sailings where it's possible), you're also getting the excursion credit, beverage package (for $21.80 per day, try THAT on Royal!), some internet minutes and specialty dining for around $10 per meal.

2 hours ago, weisla said:

Try this thread

Both of which come up in the pre-filled search I posted 3 days ago but the OP hasn't returned to advise...

6 minutes ago, erisajd said:

its a fourier box

Did you mean Faraday?

2 hours ago, Liljo22 said:

But, the base fare doesn't change whether you take the FAS or not

Unless you take a (increasingly rare) sail-away rate where you don't have to decline the offers in order to not get them.

Follow the build here (linked to the last page/comment, you can backtrack if you like) - 

I'm sure that information like what you seek will appear there as it becomes available.