julig22

From my understanding, 110 days out is the "new" timeframe for choosing the airfare option - it had been 90. But as far as I know, it's still 75 days for choosing a deviation.

I don't remember the specific timing for the transfers but this transfer was the only time there's been a tour guide, plus we stopped for breakfast (NCL paid)- not sure if that was standard or if they needed to kill time for some reason. Generally speaking, the busses don't bring you to the port until they are ready to take your luggage, you wait at the airport. Sometimes you have to wait until the first busses from the ship drop off before taking anyone to the ship. The tour was a nice touch, especially because a volcano had erupted the afternoon before, so got a lot of information about their geology, etc as we drove to the port.

They should as long as you request it, at least 75 days in advance. Make sure the deviation is listed on your cruise confirmation, otherwise they'll fly you in the day of your cruise.

Noooo. Definitely not like any other reservation. Tickets are basically under NCL's control until 72 hours before the flight and the airline will usually refer you to NCL for anything beyond seat selection within your cabin booking. And NCL won't do anything. Within that 72hr window, there might be more options.

Better location, more legroom WITHIN economy is often possible. Moving outside of economy where the seats are bigger is where there is an issue. Never actually tried myself but that is one of the more common complaints from people who booked using BOGO.

No special requests if you take advantage of the BOGO offers. Basic economy seats, anything else is between you and the airline - and you won't know which airline until your flights are actually booked. For some flights you might be able to pay an additional fee to the airline to choose more legroom but most will not allow you to choose a seat outside economy, which would usually mean standard seats only.

Only NCL can really answer. If you were before final pay, the discount would probably still apply IF the new cabin still meets the terms of the certificate. Since you are after final pay, they might not consider the coupon in determining the price difference. And if they do consider it, will the price of the balcony still be more than what you paid - they usually require upgrades to be paid. Remember you are dealing with NCL logic... They seem to have tightened up on what they let stay. For example, if there is a price change (before final pay) and you've gotten an on-board upgrade, you lose that upgrade with a re-price. They also remove any extra CruiseNext certificates if there isn't a current double-up promo. And a whole different set of "rules" for after final pay adjustments.

Not sure if this has been asked before but with over 5K in responses... Has anyone been able to use points to upgrade for family members? I've booked 2 OV rooms for us, planning to upgrade mine to balcony but if I can upgrade the other room as well that would be a plus. NCL won't let me put both rooms under my name but the last names are all the same.... And I will have a diamond upgrade available to use for my upgrade so I could go that route if they would balk at 2 upgrades for the same cruise.

If you say so but $778 according to the CBP website

You got off cheap. Current PVSA fine is $778.

They don't hold tickets but people cancel and they sometimes will add another tour if they can, depending on the excursion. So keep checking online until your cruise, a spot might open up. Otherwise, head straight to the excursion desk when you board and get on the waiting list.

Never book early - Hah. As long as NCL continues to allow price adjustments at no cost for US bookings, there is absolutely no reason not to book as soon as you decide on an itinerary, IMHO. That's why I have CruiseNext certificates waiting, already paid for so no extra money out of pocket. I booked an upcoming cruise almost 2 years ago - and it's still more than 8 months away. Since I've booked it: DSC price has increased twice - I'm grandfathered in at the old price Airfare has gone up 25% - grandfathered in at the original price I've done 2 price adjustments so far - net price reduction is about 35%. So booking early has made no difference in price, so far, but no negative effect either. Same cruise, booked 1 year prior to cruise, for family members price decreased 29% 2 months after booking, repriced another minor price reduction shortly afterwards but only GTY and no guarantee of keeping cabin, did not reprice price recently increased, almost back to the original booking price. Cabin choice again available. Early booking gets you first choice of NCL excursions, if you want to take them. And if there should be a major change or cancellation, you will most likely get some sort of additional compensation. So with a small investment in time, I can usually take advantage of any early deals NCL may offer. YMMV of course, especially if you are looking at last minute trips from a local port in the off season.

Just because you book your flights on your own doesn't mean that your trip will go smoothly, without a single hiccup. So best to go a day or two early, regardless of how you make your flight arrangements.

And on a recent cruise the CN manager said you can use both coupons at the same restaurant - although he didn't actually specify if they could be used at the same time. So how latitudes perks are applied seems to depend on who you talk to - no different than getting different answers if you call NCL....

Excursions for the Australia stops are now available. Nothing for the NZ stops as of yet

The same people who didn't wash their hands before the pandemic probably aren't doing it now either, so no reason to believe that anything is going to be different. Same with those who won't isolate or take additional precautions if they are sick.

Ship might not be late but other things can happen. Was on the Sun a few months ago. Dock workers having a work slow-down. I had priority luggage tags, had to wait in line well over an hour after tag color called - and those with NCL transfers or with non-priority tags had to wait behind priority tags. So ship wasn't late but anyone waiting for luggage was delayed - walk-offs were fine.

Good luck with that - I have my doubts...

Only available for flights after noon.

They actually give you a $25 credit for taking a deviation. Baggage fees and seat assignments depends entirely on the airline. You usually would pay for luggage on domestic flights. Overseas flights often include at least 1 checked bag, depending on the destination. So from the US, Europe is usually 1, Australia was 2 the last time I went. Seat assignments, paid or not, vary widely by flight and/or airline. Some can be arranged online in advance, some at check in 24/48 hrs before your flight. And sometimes the website won't let you choose in advance but if you call and ask nicely... Never hurts to try!

The horse-drawn tram is always an option. A leisurely tour of the city - open air so not stuffed into a bus (they provide blankets if it's cool).

Same ship/itinerary? It does make you wonder how they set the minimum bids- I actually paid for an OV but I'm upgraded to a balcony - it's probably considered a semi-courtesy upgrade. But the bid options for the upgrade is obviously based on the upgraded cabin - otherwise there wouldn't be any bid opportunity for Haven.

They have been known to offer discounts on bids closer to sailing but it's not common. On the Jewel later this summer, Seward to Vancouver, my original bid amount was $300 ($150x2) from OV to balcony. Minimum might have been a bit lower, I don't remember for sure, I just upgraded using my CC points (worth $300) and cancelled the bid. Now that I am in a balcony, the offers are $75 for Club Balcony, $650 for suites/penthouse, $1000 or more for Haven. That's the pp amount, so final cost would be double.

Per the CF T&Cs: 2. CruiseFirst certificates expire 3 years after purchase date and become null and void at expiration. Limit one CruiseFirst certificate that may be used per reservation. No black-out dates will apply. Reservations are subject to availability. CruiseFirst certificates are not combinable with CruiseNext, chartered sailings, barter cruises, employee discounts, friends and family pricing, Sailaway (categories: IX, OX, BX, MX), interline and travel agent rates. But as we all know, there are other provisions in the T&Cs that don't seem to always apply, so YMMV.

Good question - either it's been deleted or I totally spaced out... and was thinking of a different post. There was a post about how there weren't any comparable cabins initially but better cabins were selling for less. Then when some cabins did open up they still weren't considered equivalent because they were on different decks so not eligible for any adjustment.