UKstages

no problems with chrome. my problem, such as it is, is with safari. but the real problem is with NCL's website and its poor design and infrastructure. i'd say i experience this maybe half the time... 26 out of 52 weeks of the year. there's a thread nearly every week on CC asking if people are having trouble logging in.

you do have to login to the app... the app is worthless if you don't log in. but that's very different than logging in to the internet to use wifi minutes. those are two separate logins and verification processes! once onboard, you get all manner of useful information and scheduling features if logged in to the app. in addition, you can connect to the wifi through the app, if you so choose. it's an academic discussion in this thread, since the OP has returned to clarify that not only is at least one of her children "of age," but that there will actually be a parent in each room because they will be mother/daughter in one room and dad /sons in the other. but as far as who cares... i can assure you that NCL does care. in many cases, it's a matter of liability. more importantly, i'm pretty sure that the people in adjacent cabins care very much, especially those who have had cabins next to unchaperoned "teens." in most cases, you can indeed text iphones on and off the ship for free (not using internet minutes), but it's not a documented benefit or feature. it's a backend loophole. photos won't go through, unless you're connected to the internet. again, plain text messages can be sent and received to other apple devices (ipads, macs, iphones) on or off the ship without using your internet minutes. as far as what to do when in port... by all means if there is available wifi in port and you wish to connect, you can do that. make sure it's wifi, though and that you haven't turned your phone's cell service on, otherwise you'll be subject to roaming fees. some cell phone plans include international coverage, and some include $10 a day service when in certain foreign countries. remember that if you stop in st. thomas or puerto rico, that's "america" and you should have a cell signal. if your cruise includes a stop in mexico, many cell phone plans include coverage in mexico, as well. check with your provider. it is called imessage, but the user doesn't need to know that and it's not a separate app. you just open up your text app, send a text, and it's delivered behind the scenes through imessage. it basically connects apple devices behind the scenes through known identity factors like your phone number or apple ID or email address... when connected to the internet and when cell service is unavailable.

i haven't traveled on oceania and regent, but my understanding is that the casino programs are indeed merged... that is to say that you can receive discounts, comps and tier benefits across all three brands. so, that's a "no" on latitudes, but a "yes" on CAS.

perhaps. but i have an advanced degree in gobbledygook, so i resemble that remark. i studied with the best. irwin corey and sid caesar were my mentors. so when it comes to gobbledygook, i sneer at an academic discussion such as this. i play strictly by the book, the gobbledygook handbook. there needs to be far more misdirection, more subterfuge and more typos to be certified as proper g-gook.

i'm also booked on the getaway for an upcoming cruise. from the vibe cabana blurb on the website: "your exclusive, adults-only retreat at the top of the ship is even more peaceful with your own space. with this package, you’ll enjoy vibe beach club from the comfort of a private cabana for the entire length of your cruise. spend the day relaxing in style with special food & drink menus and complimentary amenities such as water spritzers, chilled towels and skewers of fruit." there is no price listed as it is "unavailable to book." but i'm guessing you could purchase a cabana and an additional vibe pass. a 10-day vibe pass is also listed at $289 per person on my cruise and still available, but i'll be using OBC, so i will purchase once onboard.

i don't believe so, but it doesn't matter much as i understand it, viking's loyalty program isn't as much a loyalty program with tier statuses, as it is a way to recognize previous guests. anybody who has sailed at least once gets essentially the same perks. the biggest perk is a $200 discount on another cruise, if you book within a year. (drops down to $100 if you book within two years.) and there's a cocktail party. perhaps more valuable is their referral program, which gives both you and the referred guest $100 travel credit. if somehow you can convince 13 people to take a viking cruise in one year, you'll get a free cruise.

what do you mean by the cabana deal? do you mean that two vibe passes come with cabana rental? i know that’s still offered on the getaway. not all vibes have cabanas… are you looking at a ship that doesn’t have cabanas in the vibe and therefore concluded that they no longer offer this?

that particular poster was not in the haven. non-haven suite guests are invited to breakfast at cagney’s.

https://www.hiltonhonors.com/en_US/status-match/landing/ with regard to “permanent” status, frequent guest and frequent flyer programs don’t award permanent status, except for “lifetime” status which generally comes after years of loyalty and millions of points earned, or hundreds of nights nights stayed or a set amount of dollars spent. NCL’s program is different and awards status based on all accumulated points, with no annual reset. also, as mentioned above in post #6, there are strict requalification requirements. in hilton’s case, you get 90 days to prove your status worthiness by hitting a special program-specific goal, which is lower than the requirement for those not taking advantage of a status match.

no, actually you wouldn’t. points are not calculated and awarded until the end of the cruise. tier status doesn’t change until the points are awarded. this is not semantics. on the first, second, third day of the cruise (and on and on), you’d still have only 149 points. (if you have 10,000 frequent flyer miles and you take a flight to london, you don’t have 11,500 miles when you fly over newfoundland. miles are awarded after the flight is completed.) nobody is going ballistic, by the way. this is a forum in which people generously give their time and knowledge to answer questions from those who are confused or lack experience in a particular topic.

why wouldn’t they? status matches are quite common in the hospitality industry. it’s a time-honored way of poaching high value customers. most matches have strict requalification standards built into the offer, so the company doesn’t get burned. airlines do it, hotels do it, casinos do it, other cruise lines do it… (also, birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it).

i disembarked the prima in southanpton in june and took the NCL transfer service to heathrow whereupon i took the tube into town and had a five night theatre holiday. i've been to london more than thirty times, so there is very little i haven't seen. most of my time in london these days is spent at the thetare, shopping and at restaurants. you can take a train from southampton into central london, but it is more cumbersome to do so, especially with luggage. at least that was my experience. there is nothing easier than getting off the ship and going immediately to a waiting bus to be whisked away as soon as it is filled. the trip to london, by the way, is less than two hours, possibly as little as 90 minutes if no traffic. NCL does offer a disembarkation excursion for those staying in london. it goes to several major tourist attractions including stonehenge, if memory serves, ending at victoria station, at which you can easily catch a taxi or the tube for your onward journey to your hotel. as for le havre/paris, there is no need to arrange your own transportation to paris. NCL offers a transportation option... usually called something like "paris on your own." essentially, it's commentary from, a guide while on a bus trip to paris, then they drop you off in a central location and you explore on your own. the guide gives you a meeting time for the return bus. i have no experience with this for paris, but i did do it in brussels, where, similarly, NCL's port is not in the city, but in a city a few hours away.

nope. the advice was absolutely correct... and could actually save minutes ,not waste them.. the OP asked about switching from one device to another. and the advice given was correct. if you are switching from one device to another, there is no need to log out of the first device. the second device will recognize you and ask if you want to log out of the first device. say yes and you'll be automagically logged into the second device and no longer connected to the first device. and, since NCL does not give credit for partially used minutes and charges you the full minute, signing in and out in this manner could actually save minutes, if your login occurs at just the right time. once you're done using the internet, you should absolutely sign out, yes. but that's a different issue than what was being discussed above.

did anybody else get one of these? i received a survey link a few days ago via email. apparently NCL wants to know everything about my free at sea plus purchase. why did i purchase? which are the most appealing parts of the package? what was missing? what would make me purchase again? did i see value in the package? did i use the second excursion credit? they even asked me to rank the various components of the package. it took about ten minutes to answer the survey and i spilled the beans. no holding back. i revealed my true feelings on all things FAS+. there was just one problem. i have never ordered FAS+. and there was no way to indicate that on the survey. my gawd, rule #1 of market research... qualify your participants. ask qualifying questions before the survey begins! whatever they're spending on this survey administered through an outside firm... 20K, 40K, 200K... it's all for naught. because the data is corrupt.

both those locations are for tourists. nothing wrong with that, of course. but if you want the real junior's experience, and your ship is in port for a day or longer, hop on the subway and head to brooklyn. they've been doing the cheesecake thang for nearly 75 years at the same location.

my experience, however, has been that excursions are not available to be booked and you don't have excursions available on your reservation until some sort of payment has been made. i put something on hold yesterday and did not have access to excursions on the reservation until i applied payment today.

similar to some fo the discussion above, i take this to mean that the OP will have 149 latitudes points after having completed the second cruise. in that case, no, the guest is not eligible. if i'm somehow misreading this and 150 days will have been completed after the second cruise, then, yes, CN can see this and bump you up and make sure you get the higher tier bennies. sort of. it's the same calendar day, for sure. but you don't get credit, you don't get a latitudes point, on the disembarkation day of your cruise. if you did, all 7 night cruises would award 8 latitudes points. so unless day 150 was the last full day of the second cruise, this dog don't hunt. "day 1 of the 3rd cruise," while occurring on the same calendar day as the "end of the 2nd cruise," does not actually begin until the second cruise has ended. and latitudes points are calculated and awarded after the end of each cruise. the OP will not get a latitudes point for day 1 of the 3rd cruise until that cruise has ended.

no, commercial vehicles are not exempt. the law was specifically designed for commercial vehicles, particularly busses.

they do offer day passes, pending availability. on my recent cruise on the joy, a day pass was offered at $99, i believe. the "break even" between the day pass and the entire voyage is two to four days, depending on the length of your cruise. i purchased the entire cruise (12 days) at $349, if i remember correctly. but i asked if day passes were available, just so i could answer questions on cruise critic... and they were.

if you board on Sunday, embarkation is what you'd normally expect. i have no B2B experience in port canaveral; but I feel quite confident that it will be handled for your second cruise in one of the two ways discussed above... you'll either stay on the ship and clear CBP on the ship... or you won't! if you are required to leave the ship, you will be brought back onboard before all new passengers. either way, you will have the option of exploring port canaveral for the day and bypassing checkin on your way back.

my understanding, after several back to back cruises, is that the zero count specifically excludes B2B guests. to achieve a zero count, all disembarking guests have to be off the ship. in my experience, the B2B guests either stay on, as described in several posts above, or they need to get off to clear customs and border patrol (or that country's equivalent), also as described in several posts above. either way, the "zero count" can be achieved with B2B passengers still onboard.

there have been reports that this "feature" was changed on the prima, so that you can now order from any of the food stations, not just the one you are sitting at. i'm surprised to see they didn't do that on the viva. kwokpot, i'm very much enjoying your review. really well written and highly detailed! and i share your sentiments on onda. i thought it was one of the best restaurants on the prima.

yes, I know. actually, it's available on a whole bagel if you ask for what now constitutes a "double order." they used to give a whole bagel with the salmon on just one side. now they only give half a bagel. and, for some curious reason, they insist on putting a single leaf of lettuce on that half of bagel. in all my considerable years of eating lox and bagels, i have myself never once put lettuce on a lox and bagel with a schmear, nor have i ever seen anyone else do it. it's like serving pastrami on white bread with mayo. some things are sacrosanct. I've never seen chives served with smoked salmon on NCL. are you thinking of dill, perhaps? either way, I'm a bit of a purist. dill, as a garnish, is not as bad as a lettuce leaf, but I just move it to the edge of the plate. it has no place in a proper bagel with smoked salmon. when it comes to dill on a bagel, follow nancy reagan's example and just. say. no.

as somebody who lives - literally - blocks away from the MCT (yes, as many of you know, i walk to the terminal), i have very mixed feelings about NCL having a significantly reduced schedule out of manhattan on smaller, older ships. on the one hand, i'm going to miss waking up at 9 am and being onboard the breakaway or the joy or the prima at 11:20. (OK, that's not entirely true... i won't miss being on the prima at all ever.) on the other hand, NCL is a major contributor to air pollution and traffic congestion in this neighborhood. and by that i mean not just the smoke coming from the ship itself, but the exhaust from the fifteen to twenty trucks that line up overnight, for as long as 24 hours, idling their engines illegally and causing traffic disruption as they wait along the west side highway to unload their cargo. sometime the trucks go as far back as W 57 street. every day that a ship docks at the MCT and is not connected to shore power, it puts the equivalent of the emissions of 34,000 tractor-trailers into my neighborhood. the west side of manhattan has some of the worst air quality in manhattan and that is not coincidental. back to the reduced schedule... manhattan is the USA's fourth busiest cruise port... it doesn't make sense to me that they would reduce the schedule... you gotta go where the people are and where it's easiest for your customers to get to. the new york area has remarkable air lift, with direct flights to most major cities. and many people enjoy pre or post vacations within the city, which is a tourist favorite all by itself. indeed. with regard to one point I made above, about the ship's power and smoke coming from the ship... all cruise lines have agreed to be connected to shore power while in port in NYC by 2028, both brooklyn and Manhattan. while the cruise lines have agreed to this, it's likely because it's backed by legislation... so they have to do it. they can't possibly be happy about it, despite every line touting their "sustainability" and eco-friendly efforts. MCT currently has no access to on shore power. brooklyn does, but it's only being used about half the time. in many cases, that is because the ships lack the capacity to connect to onshore power. all the newer ships have that capbility. ships are in port in manhattan 227 days this year, while there are 43 days during which ships will dock in brooklyn. as part of this shore power initiative, expect a $1 per passenger levy, which will go into a community fund. sorry. (not sorry.)

typically, two days before the second cruise, you'll get a letter in your stateroom explaining everything. if there are a really large number of passengers doing a back to back, there may be a meeting in the theatre during which they explain everything and the excursions team may even give you an overview of the excursions on the. next cruise.the letter delivered to your room will include "in transit" or "transit passenger" stickers to wear while onboard during the switchover and - if you're changing cabins - it will include special luggage tags for your bag. you cabin attendant is responsible for moving your bags from one room to the other. i have always changed rooms on my B2Bs, so i needed a new key card. others have told me that if they weren't changing rooms, they didn't need a new card.