kkoenig89

When dining in the MDR, have you noticed a long line for guests who chose the "my time dining" instead of the early or late seatings?

3 minutes ago, RamblinRosey said:

We are also on a Sept 25 cruise out of Southampton.  We are flying from San Diego.  Where did you find your flight info? Was it emailed?  Or in your online account?  Can’t wait to get this sorted!

 

Denyse  

We got our flight info emailed. I have yet to also see it in my NCL account online, which I think is a little strange.

I received my flight information this morning for my September 25th cruise, 52 days out. I was pleasantly surprised to receive them before the 30-day mark since that is what we were informed it would be via email. We requested a 1 day deviation at the beginning of the cruise, which was honored and we have an early morning flight. We fly from a local regional airport and have 1 layover each way to/from MIA. Hopefully the early morning flight means less chance for delays on the way to Miami! Our flight home departs MIA at 1:10pm. Overall, very happy with the flights we were assigned!

Edited to add: We were able to log into both United and American Airlines this morning to pick our seats and connect them with our frequent flier numbers and KTNs.

It looks like you might have found an older PDF on the website. The date at the bottom appears to be from 2019. I found a 2021 version here: https://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/premium-beverage-package-2021v2.pdf

Does anyone know if you can still call NCL and book shore excursions in advance without having to pay upfront like you could with the previous shorex perk?

I just got my email tonight too! Within the 90 days from March 23rd so I wasn't panicking or frustrated yet, but glad to see progress is being made!

For those of you who have received your refunds already, did you get the email from Norwegian saying that it was being processed (as some have said they did), or did it just show up to your payment method? I noticed that my FCC disappeared over the weekend but I have yet to receive that email or my refund...hopefully soon!

One of the options under "Gifts and More" is for Perspectives Studio. I am recently engaged and think it would be cool to have some engagement-type photos taken on-location (we are cruising on the Bliss April 5th). Has anyone purchased this package before? If we only wanted an on-location shoot, and not a studio session, I'm assuming that we wouldn't get a refund if the on-location shoot were not doable due to weather or some other situation that may arise. Any advice would be welcome, thanks!

Home Departure City - Richmond

Arrival/Destination City - Newark/New York

Airline(s) used - United, Delta

Number of Connections - None, Direct flight

Outbound Flight departure/arrival time - 6:00 am/7:24 am (flying into EWR)

Return Flight departure/arrival time - 12:35 pm/2:14 pm (flying from LGA)

*Note, our return flight time was originally 9:59 pm/11:34 pm, but I called the number on the air confirmation and asked if there was any way that could be changed since we have a 3 hour drive from the airport. The representative looked into it, and came back saying he could change the flight for a fee. Since our original airfare was completely free, we jumped on it and still ended up paying less than 1 ticket would have cost us had we booked the airfare ourselves.

Did You Pay for a Deviation (before or after cruise)? No

# of Days Prior to Departure Flights Were Ticketed? 64, updated at 62 days

For anyone who's curious, I was able to call the number listed in my original air confirmation this morning and I paid a small fee to have my return flights changed to a much better time. Considering the original flights were free, we still made out great on the deal.

For those of you who have successfully called and gotten your free/reduced airfare flight(s) changed, what number and what time of day did you call?

*Please do not tell me "you get what you paid for" - I know that we took a risk and will be ok if the flights cannot change, but it never hurts to ask!

From NCL's FAQs: https://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/guest-reservation-transfer-faq

Q: I ALREADY MADE A RESERVATION WITH A TRAVEL AGENCY, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO TRANSFER THE RESERVATION TO A DIFFERENT AGENCY. CAN I MAKE THE REQUEST?

A: No, the agency with which you have your reservation must authorize Norwegian Cruise Line to release it to the new agency. You will need to work with your current travel agent to submit the transfer request.

So your current TA has to approve the request, or you have to cancel and rebook, to switch TAs.

It is strange to me that other than the Haven, pricing for the 4/12 cruise is the same or a little higher than on the 4/5 one. That said, we'll be on the 4/5 cruise because it's my spring break as a teacher.

I know that booking for specialty dining and theater shows opens up 120 days prior to sailing (not in a suite or the Haven). Does anyone know what time of day the bookings become available online? Is it right at midnight on Day 120 or sometime in the morning?

Thanks!

For those of you that have used GroundLink before, the price quoted on their site is per trip not per person right? If so, it'd be cheaper than the NCL transfer for us and definitely worth looking into. We aren't cruising until April 2020 so won't have our flight information for quite a while - does anyone know if GroundLink prices tend to increase as the sailing date approaches?

49 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

I have a family ocean view with two kids. I had the pick two. I have the UBP and the kids sail free (3rd and 4th). I simply called after seeing the newest promo where shore excursion credits were a highlight and the rep added it, no charge or change to anything. I didn’t understand his note of me now having $100 instead of the $50 per because I never had that as a perk nor the all five since it is an OV cabin. I hope the rep is right especially having my two kids with us again on this port intensive Panama Canal sailing on the Joy. It is a 20% off Latitudes sailing if that makes a difference. 

It looks like it's part of a new promo where some sailings let you either take Free/Reduced Airfare or an extra $50 per port excursion credit.

Thanks for all of the answers. We do have the Shore Excursion "perk" so it sounds like calling and reserving is definitely the way to go!

Does anyone know when NCL stops adding shore excursions to itineraries? I'm booked on a cruise April 2020 and over the past few days the number of excursions has gone from 29 to 45, and I know there are more possibilities for each port when I browse excursions in general. I'd hate to book an excursion early and miss out on a potentially better one that gets added later (if that happens, can I cancel the booked one with no penalty and book the new one)?

Thanks!

Just now, ColeThornton said:

 

 

Discussions and recommendations of specific TA's aren't allowed on this forum.

 

One other thing:   How long ago did you book through NCL?  You may know this already but the transfer has to be done within 30 days.

 

https://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/guest-reservation-transfer-faq

I apologize, I was unaware - I'm very new to the forum. I will edit my post accordingly. I booked on July 3rd so I still have some time before the transfer window ends.

My main concern (other than giving up the ability to contact NCL directly should there be a price drop or if I'm not a fan of my flight times) is that it's an online agency that I found through that website that lets TAs make offers to you.

Thank you, esm54687 and xcell, for your insights. It sounds like there really isn't a reason not to transfer my reservation to the TA then.

This is my first time thinking about transferring my existing reservation (booked directly with NCL online) to a travel agent company who is offering a substantial amount OBC. If I do transfer the reservation, will I still be able to book my own dining and entertainment when they are available through MyNCL? Also, how would booking shore excursions work since that is one of my perks? Would I be able to call NCL directly to have them pre-book without upfront payment like usual or would the TA have to do that? And, if offered, would I be able to bid on an upgrade? I'm a pretty big DIYer when it comes to travel, and am nervous about giving up that much control to someone else.

1 hour ago, sabrefan15 said:

You can call Norwegians air department at 1-866-625-1163 and make requests to fly up to 2 days before or 2 days after your cruise. You can also make requests on flight times and they do their best to accommodate you. You must call and make requests before they book your flight though. Just a heads up, you will probably be on hold for at least an hour before you get to talk to an agent. Also flights are booked on United, Delta, Jetblue or American if you want to request a specific airline. We cruise Sept. 15 and I called and got my air confirmation within 2 days of call.

How far in advance would you recommend calling to make flight requests? We are booked on a flight in April with final payment not due until December. Should I wait until after I make the final payment to call or would sooner be better?

From the T&Cs (https://www.ncl.com/specialty-dining-package/faq) :For Food Republic, Pincho, Sushi and Wasabi, an SDP meal includes 4 menu items.

Thank you! Were there any upcharges for using SDP in any of the specialty restaurants like there used to be? I don't see them noted on the menu pictures if there are any,