UKstages

briggs and riley rocks! i have the same “baseline” international carry on that you do, plus one full size bag. best bags i’ve ever owned!

nobody is dumping anything on NCL. what many are saying is that NCL could and should have handled the communication better! they should acknowledge that it’s a completely different cruise, offer comp or an incentive to take the new cruise and explain the curious regulatory environment they reference. (i’ve googled several times using several different search terms and i can’t find anything about this. and, let’s face it, there is an inherent distrust of NCL because, well, they do tend to stray far from the truth… it was not so long ago that they just made stuff up regarding why they couldn’t serve drinks in UK ports, for just one example. i don’t know that “ireland” has temporarily and unilaterally banned tendering of cruise ships in all ports… seems downright unlikely to me. perhaps they have. but it could also be NCL’s creative way of explaining that they don’t want to pay higher fees for tendering. we just don’t know.)

there’s nothing inherently wrong with the way the NCL communication is written, except it completely ignores the central issue… which is that it’s an entirely different cruise! there’s no “we understand how disappointing this must be…” there’s no expression of sadness or regret and, most importantly, there’s no “we’re hoping you’ll still join us on this very special cruise and, as our way of saying thanks for sailing with us on this revised itinerary, we are offering you…” remarkable. I’d contact them as quickly as possible and cancel the cruise or negotiate some sort of comp if indeed you want to take this cruise. that bit about fully immersing yourself in the culture of northern europe is precious. fully immerse yourself in northern europe… except for the specific country you wanted to visit most.

wowza. i’d like to see more of the email explaining this… “ireland” is no longer allowing tenders? too many questions to know what to make of that. also, if they haven’t already, i imagine NCL will be offering as much as 50% FCC for this itinerary or the choice of a full refund, even though they - technically - don’t have to. was there no offer or special accommodation mentioned in the email? but this would be like flying to hawaii, but when you get there, you discover it’s not hawaii, it’s bali. nothing wrong with bali, but it is not where you were planning to go,

no, not anymore. there might be some special occasion, or if the F&B people might have scored a surplus of lobsters in some port, then, maybe. but there is no “lobster night.” the only place lobster appears without a charge is in the haven restaurant and in NCL’s free at sea advertising.

this topic has come up before, I think even in this very thread. the issue is not whether a concierge will provide this service… the real issue is whether the guest feels comfortable accepting this service. clearly, some do. look, i know all about what it costs to stay in the haven. i know all about how it is supposed to make everything easy and eliminate the stress and hassle of cruising. i understand fully the class system that it engenders and the emotions that divide stirs up in both haven and non-haven guests. i myself have sailed in the haven and I’ve sailed in most other cabins, too. I would feel uncomfortable accepting this perk, should it be offered. (it never has been.) it feels very different than being escorted into an empty 750 seat or 1000 seat theatre, where the perk would not likely impact others. it’s very different than priority disembarkation. It’s very different than getting a reservation to a “sold out” restaurant. to me, being escorted into syd’s in advance of opening, would be akin to having a personal escort at the buffet, who enables me to have a fast pass to access all the food ahead of others and has reserved a prime window table exclusively for me. that’s just not done, and for good reason. as for whether or not private admission to the cavern club or syd’s negatively affects others, i would say it most certainly does. those people waiting in line? they were told that no reservations are accepted. they have a good faith belief that if they queue up early enough, they can get a seat. and yet, if the concierge lets four or fourteen or twenty people into the venue in advance, that means that four or fourteen or twenty of those waiting in line will not get seats when they ordinarily would have. and it means that the same number might be denied entry altogether. NCL can’t have a widely advertised “no reservations” policy for a minuscule venue and then allow people to access that venue prior to the gen pop. they just can’t.

the prima had rotating menus, no longer one fixed menu, when I was on board last month. when I sailed in may, they did also offer a few specials, which i assumed were part of the rotating menus. they also offered steaks, branded as if they came from cagney’s, for an upcharge.

strictly speaking, no, it never did mean that. but the word has been co-opted by social media influencers to mean something that it didn’t originally. so, sadly, that is now one of the accepted meanings... hence the confusion by some in this thread who insist that there are no “hacks” that can be used to exploit these certificates.

one of the reasons they get no-shows on latitudes behind-the-scenes tours and “wines around the world” is because there is no reminder, no notice, no ticket and the events are not listed in the daily or even in your personal schedule on the app. i missed a wine event, not because i decided not to go, but because it was on day 8 of a 10 day cruise and I forgot, even though i had written myself a note.

there is actually a small mounted TV near or above the bar, if memory serves. so, you can see them and here them. sound quality is good! (sound comes from auxiliary speakers and not the TV.) unless you’re in a cabin next to newlyweds.

ah, i think most of us were confused by the use of the word "upgrade." so this would be outside of the formal upgrade process... it looks like prices have dropped so that the total cost of booking the 2BDR outright would only add $348 to what you already paid for the room you already have. got it. a very good deal, but only you can decide if it's worth it to you, given all the considerations.

all upgrade bids are based on two guests, so is it $175 X 2 = $350? or $350 X 2 = $700? not a major difference, but just wanted to make sure you knew haven upgrade bids are based and billed on double occupancy, even if traveling solo.

i'm no mathematician, but i'm pretty sure the average is not all over. i suspect it's somewhere close to the middle, although it could be less or more, depending on the lowest and highest ages. but without a simultaneous discussion of the median and the mode, it's a pretty safe bet that the average age is somewhere in the middle.

no experience with carnival, but LOTS of experience with casinos, both land-based and at sea. they will likely reissue your offer and keep offers coming for 12 - 18 months. my sense is they will not offer a higher cabin category, but will keep your play-based offer the same until you take another cruise, after which it could be adjusted up or down.

well, that’s one style of cheesecake. and I live in new york, so i can certainly appreciate it. and I do. but there is also italian cheesecake… it’s an entirely different dessert. lighter, less dense and made with ricotta, not cream cheese. i like them both, but prefer the less sweet ricotta version when dining in an italian restaurant. onda serves a good italian cheesecake.

NCL does not all allow the use of OBC prior to boarding. some people recommend booking the excursion, then canceling once onboard (you’ll receive refundable OBC), then rebooking using your nonrefundable OBC. i find that messy and inconvenient, but it does ensure you get the excursion you want. otherwise, you just need to chance it and be among the first to board and head straight to the excursions desk.

you have just described every. single. cruise critic. thread. it’s a wine tasting… not a wine drinking event. it’s intended to allow you to sample different wines with a clear head, so you can note the subtleties in the mouth feel and the bouquet and determine if there are any that you’d like to drink on a regular basis. after a sip or two, or three, you move on to sample another. some folks don’t even find it necessary to - you’ll pardon the expression - swallow. at a “real” tasting, you can often end with a full pour of your favorite from that session, but it sounds like that may not always be possible with NCL.

there are generally two types of wine tastings on every NCL ship… a free event for elite latitudes members and a more elaborate fee-based wine tasting that anybody can sign up for. i didn’t attend either.

i think gary meant to say that you can’t make reservations at these venues… comedy and cavern… just in case it wasn’t obvious from his second sentence.

oh, the almond croissant in the haven! how could I forget the almond croissant?

and many of them are incorrectly called tartares… strictly speaking, a tartare consists of raw meat or fish.

i like the curiously named “mushroom tartare” at onda, the mexican street corn at los lobos, the mushroom flatbread and banana banoffee at the haven and the chicken korma and chicken tikka at tamara, within the indulge food hall.

when i was in amsterdam on the prima last month, we docked at passenger terminal amsterdam (PTA), which is about a ten to fifteen minute walk to central station. i walked about 13 miles that day… it’s a very walkable city. anyway, that cruise terminal is close to city center, yes. and we did go through that same lock, without incident.

to be fair, the FAQ also says that prices are subject to change. and they have.

no, i think the intent of that question was… is that good or bad for the prima… meaning… if you take the current brain trust who are running the prima and transport them to the viva, what will the prima be like under new leadership? that’s a really interesting question! it couldn’t possibly be worse. and, perhaps, the new folks will have some innovative ideas about how best to make the prima more viable. as for the viva, i think we can expect more of the shenanigans we currently have on the prima, albeit with some minor modifications that they may have been able to put into effect with the new ship’s build.