julig22

And if you make a price adjustment, you get the current offer. Just had this happen, lost my double points because my cruise was no longer on the past-guest list. But I knew that in advance, prefer money over points at this point LOL.

Assuming you are asking when to book, book when you choose your date/itinerary. I believe Canadian terms are the same as US, so with NCL, you can cancel and/or reprice anytime until 4 months prior to your cruise. Which means you normally will get a better choice of staterooms at a guaranteed price if prices go up, but can also take advantage of lower prices if that changes.

You are in uncharted territory with CruiseNext at the moment. They have changed the terms as of 2 weeks ago, so what you are asking to do, with respect to a double-up, is not guaranteed. Terms of the new certificates specifically state that they can't be applied to existing reservations (prior wording was that they could only be used on new bookings). Various opinions of what "new" meant, as in newly booked or simply not past final payment due date. And you've always been able to add a 2nd CN during double up. Triple-up was a little more tricky, as many TA's reported they couldn't add a 3rd certificate but if you were booked through NCL, you could use the website to make a payment. I haven't gone through all the new terms with a fine-tooth comb, only read what seems to apply to my situation - no guarantees I got it right! For a NEW reservation: A CN can be used as a full deposit up to Club Balcony, a CNHC as a full deposit on any stateroom. 2 certificates during a double-up promo. A CF can be used as a full deposit up to Club Balcony. A $500 CF (when offered) has the advantage that you don't have to wait for a double-up offer - but it would not fully pay for a Haven deposit. So in each case, you get a 50% discount (unless you are just buying 1 CN), the face value varies from $250-$500. As someone who has been using CN's for many years, I'll probably buy a $500 CF the next time they come around. BTW, Double-Up for any category is now in effect, through 1/31/24

Well, that puts a pin in it for me. BOGO airfare offer falls off at day 110 AFAIK. So not currently offered on a cruise that's 2 months out. Post your statement details (price drop is based on fare, not total) if you want to be believed.

read the first line of the original post

Coincidence? Just a comment that the upgrade price just happened to be the same amount as the quote to just upgrade outright. Or maybe that's the plan now, to keep people from circumventing the bidding process.

$50 is the price difference when doing a mock booking, based on the original information.

Yes, many of us have done that. But if I'm reading all of this correctly, the OP has been told it will cost $800 to upgrade, not $50. And $800 just happens to be the high bid on the "Upgrade Advantage" option. So it's possible NCL has changed their "courtesy adjustment" policy.

So pay a penalty? How is that a good plan?

Almost there, 1 more price drop to put the upgrade cost equal to my low-end bid. Cruise is still more than 2 months away.

More than what you paid, under the same circumstances? As in, do you have the BOGO airfare offer attached to your original booking? That factors into the price comparison. Nothing new.

Yes, good advice, book your hotel early. If you book through a 3rd party site, it should be fully refundable. And the Alaska train also sells out, if you are planning for that.

I 100% agree. While I don't have any insider information regarding how they are actually paid, I immediately think sympathy tip or simply not understanding their paycheck. I think back to all the co-workers I've had over the decades (nothing to do with cruising) that didn't understand their paychecks or benefits. Not unusual at all. Based on the push to fill out "Hero" cards I'm assuming that may significantly affect what someone gets in compensation, monetary or otherwise, from the DSC. As to the adding 11 more cabins, yes more cabins seems to be true. But stewards are now working a 9-5 shift, more or less, most days - instead of a split shift well into the evening. And with those 11 more cabins comes the possibility of 11 more cabins with tipping passengers.

That varies widely. I'm booked on a cruise where the solo balcony is actually more ($1 LOL) than simply booking a balcony and paying double occupancy. And no solo lounge on that particular ship. The solo categories also tend to be on the lower decks, so your cabin choices are limited. Also, if you use your NCL credit card points for upgrades, you cannot upgrade from a solo booking (it's a pseudo category) - I don't know if you are eligible for Upgrade Advantage. Still hoping for a reduced supplement as it gets closer to my sail date.... CruiseNext folks said having the solo categories would not necessarily preclude dropping the solo supplements on cruises - only time will tell, taking that info with a grain of salt.

While I agree that perhaps they should reduce the fee some when there are multiple people in a cabin, I don't agree with your logic. The DSC doesn't have anything to do with playing games or going to shows. If you choose not to eat onboard, that's on you. People who eat in the specialty restaurants (they are charged gratuities for those) could make a similar claim, as they aren't eating in the MDR or buffet either. No, it might not take a significant amount of extra time to clean a cabin of 4 vs 2 vs 1, but with 4, there are additional beds to make, sheets & towels to wash, etc. The DSC covers the laundry crew, the buffet & MDR crew (whether you eat there or not), and I assume the crew that cleans up the public restrooms, the pool area, the stairs & hallways...

If it's buried in the fare it would be non-refundable in the event you cancel your cruise after final payment. As it stands now, it's refundable if you end up missing your cruise for some reason. Small consolation but it's something.

On rare occasions there have been reports of lowered bid requirements. I had a "special bid offer" once, don't remember if it was before or after the shutdown. I think it was listed for a limited time but I didn't take advantage of it, so don't remember all the details.

I fly from a small airport, so first flight is almost always to a larger hub. And then usually a direct flight. Small airport has nearly always worked in my favor. The only time my NCL flights didn't conform to their guidelines was when they had to rebook a week before my cruise, due to flight cancellations because of an airline strike.

It depends somewhat on your interests. Last August, I took a midnight flight from Seattle to Anchorage, then the Alaska Train to Seward (6am), the day prior to the cruise. Went directly from the train to an afternoon excursion, stayed overnight, took an all-day excursion the next day - boarding is late 7pm, so plenty of time. But I will admit I was pretty tired when I got to the ship! I went with Major Marine tours but there are others that also do wildlife and Kenai Fjords tours - tours vary, depending on the dates you are there. I stayed at the Breeze hotel for that trip, will be staying at Harbor 360 when I'm there in April. Nothing fancy but clean and comfortable. If you take the train, your luggage will be delivered to the major hotels in town. MajorMarine/Harbor 360 will also take your luggage to the ship, Breeze will take you, with your luggage, to the ship.

I find that quite odd, NCL guidelines are a max of 1 layover for domestic flights. There's got to be more to that story.

But on the other side, it's a purchase, not a cash advance - so you do get whatever benefits your CC gives you for travel purchases. With the NCL card, that's 3%, so a wash. If you use a travel card with higher benefits, you can actually make money - or accumulate travel points - over using cash - assuming you don't carry a balance.

All NCL ships use the same process for handling luggage. Color tags are used for sorting bags, depending on when people are planning to leave and/or if they are using NCL transportation after the cruise. But luggage isn't necessarily the reason for long lines at disembarkation. Port Valet in Seattle is unique, it would be nice if it could be expanded to other ports. But it's run by the port, not the cruiselines.

Same thing happened in Seattle. On the Sun, ship tags were yellow, so people who didn't read the instructions thought they were supposed to leave when yellow was called - and were complaining that they didn't get to choose when they got to leave (yellow was latitudes priority, so early). It was probably 50/50 whether their luggage was with the yellow tags or with the unknown bags.

Depends on your interests. I love the Seward/Vancouver route. Longer times in ports, both Seward and Vancouver have additional excursions available if you are wanting additional whale watching or glacier viewing (Seward). And the train from Anchorage is always nice. The Bliss visits lots of ports - and the trade-off is very short times in port. I've been to Alaska on NCL 6 times, my least favorite itinerary.

There are various different land tours, some primarily by train, some by bus. So you'll need to be more specific as to which one you booked. Go to the NCL website for basic details on where your specific tour will be going.