UKstages

that would be great logic if it were so, but the "D" in "DSC stands for "daily.' in any case, i don't believe it's even called that anymore. it's called the "onboard service charge."

perhaps. the current increase in reality shows and game shows on television is directly related to the writers' and actors' strikes, only one of which has been settled. i'm sure the game shows will continue to be run in the theatre without charging admission. but NCL is attempting to pass off a game show as a replacement for legitimate cruise ship entertainment... and it's not. it's just not. it's atrium entertainment, all pimped out with better production values and the possibility of a few small prizes for a few audience members.

VAT... so misunderstood. it doesn't work anything like that. in the first place, different parties to the transaction pony up part of the VAT... imagine a merchant in the USA having to pay part of your sales tax! most importantly, VAT is a replacement for sales taxes, not an addition to sales taxes. correct. incorrect.

there is indeed a correlation in the sense that NCL collects money from the onboard service charge. and they use that to supplement salary and to fund employee incentive programs fleet wide. but it is a fantastic notion to believe: • that all or most of the "DSC" goes to salary or bonus or "tips" • or that the exact amount of money collected from the DSC for your specific sailing goes to employees on that ship for that specific sailing • or that the tip money distributed to an employee varies based on passenger load for a specific sailing what we do know from the way NCL has chosen to word what little they say about the onboard service charge is that they can use the "incentive program" money pretty much any way they like and that could mean anything from buying fuel to reroute a ship to pick up staff in another country to painting the break room to adding shrimp to the buffet one night in the employee mess hall. we just don't know. (we'd like to think they are doing the right thin, but they have proven themselves to be weasels time and time again.) as for how much is spent to supplement "salary," here again, we just don't know. but to believe that a substantial portion goes to pay employees fistfuls of extra cash would be to place enormous faith in the very same people who eliminated smoked salmon from the buffet, reduced daily housekeeping to one visit, instituted upcharges for previously "free" menu items, removed veuve from the premium plus drink package, pushed bailey's above the $15 threshold so it is no longer "free" and who are cutting the observation lounge on the joy in half. we know NCL to be extremely cost conscious and if they have a slush fund of cash to use at their discretion for what many would consider to be employee operating expenses, they likely will. look, i'm not advocating that guests opt out of the DSC (i don't, even when i've had a bad experience on a particular sailing)... i am simply saying that NCL can use the money at its sole discretion and that there is no direct correlation to the money you pay and the way NCL compensates the employees on your sailing. NCL wants you to think that there is... but there isn't.

yes, well... ather than chastise the person who innocently asks a question (regardless of whether it has been asked and answered repeatedly) and rather than trying to guess some ulterior motive or divine the hidden motive of the question (sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, folks)... why not focus instead on the very real fact that NCL guests have no idea where the DSC goes and that people who provide service, whether they be cleaning your table at the buffet, preparing your laundry or cleaning your room may not be receiving any benefit at all from the DSC, or not receiving it in the way you'd like them to? the way NCL's policy about DSC is written, the company can use the money collected any way they like across the fleet, provided it compensates or motivates employees, at NCL's sole discretion. a certain percentage must indeed go to supplement the wages of employees in the "tip pool." but NCL can also use the DSC to fund pizza parties or award recognition trophies to the staff. they can give high performing individuals days off or an extra day of leave. they can paint the break room or buy new mattresses for staff cabins or fund wifi minutes for employees. they can even buy food with it, provided that food is served to staff members as part of an employee "incentive program." most passengers assume that the DSC is awarded to staff in the form of cash payments or supplemental wages (bonuses), but that's not what NCL says it does with the money. it says the DSC (which is actually now called the "onboard service charge") goes to fund "a combination of salary and incentive programs." and those terms are not defined. and i'd be willing to bet that a substantial portion of the charge goes to fund what most people would consider ordinary business expenses. my experience has been that people who remove the DSC are not cheapskates and are not looking to stiff the staff, they are either people who have had some sort of outrageous service gaffe (amd so they misguidedly believe they should remove the DSC in protest) or they are actually quite generous tippers who tip far in excess of twenty dollars a day.... but they tip whom they want when they want in a manner and amount they deem appropriate. as for whether or not they are stiffing the personnel who work behind the scenes... that's a legitimate question for debate. but this idea that there there is a direct correlation between the DSC and some sort of monetary benefit to staff is preposterous, as is the notion that all the money you pay will somehow magically benefit the staff of the ship you're sailing... that simply isn't true. (for the record, i have never rescinded the DSC and I do also tip cabin attendants and bartenders and cocktail servers and others directly, but i have never gone to the laundry or kitchen to tip.)

for those folks who check regularly and do mock bookings… have you considered that the website and NCL data wizards consider that “interest” in the cruise and it actually increases the likelihood that the price will not go down quickly? after all, if there is such intense interest in that cruise, NCL will stand firm, knowing full well that people will book… because there is, apparently, quite a bit of interest… even though the interest is all from the same bunch of people repeatedly checking. (this applies to data pulled from NCL and displayed elsewhere, too.)

please allow me to introduce you to the prima and viva, designed specifically to promote crowding indoors when sailing cold weather regions or when traveling through inclement weather.

if it's anything like any of the other on your own "tours," the drop off point varies, according to traffic, street closures and local regulations. all they really guarantee is a central location, with easy access to sights nearby (not necessarily walkable from the drop off point). i did the brussels on your own a few months ago and all you're really getting with these "tours" is transportation to and from... as you point out, the travel there is equal to or greater than the time you actually have to explore. the paris excursion has twice as much travel (about six hours) as time spent in paris.

the OP’s question was a good one, the key information shared was that that they have only five hours. what recommendations do you have, the OP asks, of things i can and should do in five hours? the OP is from australia. one can infer that they haven’t been to NYC before. any forum participant here is free to answer the question any way they like, including making broad-based recommendations for a visitor who only has five hours: the empire state building, a hot dog, times square, broadway, macy’s, central park and saint patrick’s (i erroneously said “st. paul’s” up above) are all good recommendations, quintessential new york …it would be hard to visit midtown manhattan for the first time and not consider those. we don’t have to know if the person likes tall buildings or department stores or is religious or a vegetarian. asking somebody what they like in this instance limits their possibilities and ensures that they will have a new york experience that closely resembles their experiences in any other cities they’ve been to. (i can confirm, as hallux said, that this was originally posted in the NCL forum and that the ship will dock at the manhattan cruise terminal on 48th street.)

every time i click on this thread, i'm disappointed. i was hoping i would find unique and novel ways to convince my aussie BFF to become more highly caffeinated. "coffee, mate?"

nope. just those documented on website. and the biggest one, the additional OBC, won't kick in till the next cruise.

all room service food is "free," but there is a delivery charge unless you are in the haven or a suite,

ah, OK, great! if you're hitting sapphire in the latitudes program on your next cruise, it won't make any difference on that cruise. benefits, which include a dinner with "officers," won't kick in till the following cruise. most of the benefits are the same as platinum.

just as a point of clarification... the whiz bang marketing geniuses at NCL thought it might be fun to have a casino loyalty level and a frequent cruiser loyalty level both named sapphire. and one has nothing to do with the other. so, i'm assuming you are indeed talking about the CAS loyalty program? if you hit the sapphire player level in the CAS program (not latitudes) on your next cruise, you can expect to get a new player's card immediately (upon request). and that card will get you a slightly higher grade of free drinks at the casino bar. there are no slot play benefits that i know of, but your OBC (nonrefundable) will increase to $200, but that won't become available until the following cruise (the one after you hit sapphire).

i've been to florida many times. i go to casinos a lot. i eat dinner almost every day. i have never heard of a florida casino dinner cruise. what is that?

yes, pretty much everybody has had this issue before. many of the spots available for online booking get snatched up by those that are quicker than others, typically at midnight ET the very first day they become available. sometimes only 9 PM reservations remain. sometimes, no reservations remian. the good news is that you will likely be able to get most any day and time you want if you tend to it immediately after boarding. go the designated spot for reservations with your calendar and make your requests or pick up the phone and call room service (on most ships, they also make restaurant reservations).

what day of the week is it and when is your onboard call time? if wednesday or saturday, you can catch a matinee if you choose your show carefully. most shows start at 2 pm. traditional shows run about two hours and twenty minutes, but there are some that have no intermission and run less than two hours. if your onboard time is 4;30 or later, you're golden. most broadway theatres are a short ten to twenty minute walk from the manhattan cruise terminal. sundays are more problematic because most matinees start at 3 pm, but there are a few that start at 1 pm, if they are doing two shows that day. personally, i wouldn't take a formal tour. assuming no mobility issues, i'd head out on foot and explore the midtown west, times square, fifth avenue and/or lincoln center areas. stop at rockefeller center, st. paul's cathedral, times square, macy's, tiffany, the apple store (an architectural wonder), central park. take a tour of NBC studios. get a hot dog from a street vendor. and an oversized pretzel. have lunch at a very affordable chinese, thai or mexican restuarant on ninth avenue. or visit rudy's, a self-proclaimed "dive bar" on ninth ave (your NCL FAS card will not be accepted, but the drinks and hot dogs are cheap). stock up on tee shirts or salty snacks or sunscreen at target on 45th and tenth or W 42nd street between broadway and eighth. (you'll likely run into many of your ship's staff while there.) visit the empire state building. visit the museum of modern art. visit madame tussaud's wax musuem. (there's usually one wax figure you can pose with for free on the sidewalk.) take a ride on the subway and visit the 9/11 museum and memorial. you won't be able to do ALL that, but there might be something of interest. also go to groupon and see if they have any good discounts available for the dates of your visit.

this is just a branding and marketing thing, but anybody other than me think it's weird that they "advertise" the special in the haven in the same acrylic frame and using the same style photos and typeface that they use for advertising the specials in the local and the buffet? just seems very pedestrian to me and against the haven brand. (i enjoy the buffet. i enjoy the local. i'm just saying the sign seems out of place in the haven. i'd expect to see a small understated placard on the table or a sign at the entrance in a lucite embedment in the same typeface as the haven menu, with a black or gold border around it.)

it's thai and it's the traditional sauce used for chicken satay. it's a little unusual to serve it with beef, which normally takes a soy or sweet chili sauce. i'm a bit jeallous because i haven't seen that on any of my NCL cruises! bottled peanut sauce is available at any asian grocer and in the "ethnic" food aisle at many main stream chains, as well. try a few until you find one you like. feel free to augment the sauce with more or less of your favorite ingredients. you can make your own peanut sauce with peanut butter, ginger, honey or maple syrup, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame seeds and water. some recipes call for coconut milk, which makes it thicker and that may be what was in the stuff you tried on the gem. you can easily google recipes.

would they not allow a small sign at the original designated location indicating that there had been a change?

day 1. return to ship on port days is generally a half hour before you're scheduled to set sail.

there is one notable exception to "meals from scratch." on NCL ships with a "Q" (texas smokehouse), it is believed that the smoked meats and BBQ are made offshore somewhere, as you can't very well have a smoker or an open flame onboard. they are most likely brought onboard in sealed vacuum packs, much as some of the barbecue franchise fast casual restaurants in the USA do.

understandable. tens of thousands of people who have sailed her have also tried very hard to disavow themselves of any knowledge of the experience.

in other words, you don’t have to prepay because NCL will give you a short window in which they will give you an opportunity to prepay? you’re still ultimately prepaying! i mean, i get it… you’re not tying up money in advance and only prepaying once a DSC increase is announced, but - to me - it’s a distinction without much of a difference.

are you doing a back-to-back cruise with different reservation numbers? if so, that’s perfectly normal to get emails 2X, with a slightly different cadence depending on departure date.