carohs

I could be wrong because NCL does tend to obfuscate things, but I'm reading that they make no guarantee to "upgrade" you even if there are direct flights available. Which I'm taking to mean they don't make a guarantee to accept your offer solely based on flight availability. I would hope they wouldn't accept the offer then book you layover flights and say #sorrynotsorry. Plus, the cost being per person not stateroom does make the so-called offer way less worth it, imo. For certain destinations, I'd rather stretch my legs, use a full size toilet, and grab a meal at an airport then fly straight through anyway.

$300 for a guaranteed non-stop for all passengers in the stateroom might be worth it to some people. Even the getting flight details earlier than the 30-day mark (I don't see where it says how much earlier) helps when planning hotel stays and transportation. It's a fair offer if you see value in it. Now the real question is whether its combinable with flight deviation requests..

NCL marketing likes to play games with their wording. I'm very confused by what OP is saying! A copy of the exact wording would certainly help us decipher the mystery.

Omg that's so true. The only time I'll ever turn them off is if the captioner decided it would be a good idea to place them right on top of people's faces (and what we're watching is LA English. Any accents and I miss too many words to turn off).

Following along. I don't have the time or patience to follow multiple but I will try to keep up with yours at least. Have a great cruise and keep healthy. Do whatever brings you joy, even if it means ditching the Tribe and the rest of us vicarious followers. Glad you've put the last cruise behind you and here's hoping this one is everything that one wasn't.

When the FAS includes alcohol, and the refreshment package on RCCL does not, it's logical that you would see a difference in pricing in your comparisons. Though you may not get the value in the included alcohol, it's not fair to price-compare unlike products. Since the value isn't there for you with FAS, you can look into adding the soda package with NCL (only a small difference from the FAS gratuities though). Also, keep in mind that FAS does not include specialty coffee, only the basic brewed, and does not include bottled water either.

I honestly can't remember. I think Skyline was. What I can tell you is that the buffet was surprisingly not busy. Not at all the crowds you normally see, and we boarded at 1 ish.

How many drinks did you drink per day while on NCL? Sometimes we drink more when we don't have to think about it. Consider the bubbles package for just soda too, if you're not a big drinker. If you like wine, bring a bottle in your carry-on. Gatorade, bottled water, energy drinks, specialty coffee are fine but my philosophy is if I wouldn't spend $1000 on that at home I'm not going to do it on a cruise. The cruise cash suggestion sounds like a good compromise for you.

Thanks again for letting us tag along with you!

Ooh this sounds interesting. How did you sign up ahead of time, was it under excursions?

If you're flying and want duty free you might find something at the airport. If you're looking for wine do the room, just get it by the glass. You can get up to two at once. Bring a tumbler, dump, and order two more. Or sit there and enjoy some music while you drink. You can get a basic cappuccino/espresso in the dining rooms included with the HBP. If you ordered a SB at the cafe though that would not be included. Depends if you want to take it to go or drink ☕ outside of the dining room, then you may opt in for the SB package. You're also in port every day so if you're willing to wait until you're off ship there's better cafe options on land. The SB selection on board is fairly limited.

1. Yes the HBP is the only package you can get. No FAS+ or premium. The differences are the flow waters are included and capuchinos too in the MDR only. You also pay vat on drinks while in port. We wouldn't have looked to upgrade anyway considering our plans off the ship and time spent on board. 2. Yes we only had the one comedian. Strangely he was more entertaining in the karaoke lounge. Pg-13 was alright but the 2nd night his jokes weren't landing as well. 3. Most days we were off the ship by 8:10 am. It was really quick off the gangway once the all clear was given. We were also trying to get early starts. Ymmv. Last morning in Honolulu I couldn't say. We were purposely trying to take our time getting off the ship not having plans til the afternoon and still deboarded around 9am. You should have an easy enough time leaving earlier. They had facial recognition for getting off/on the ship in ports and also for debarkation morning which helped move the lines along at a quick pace.

Aww thanks so much! It's only been a few months but I keep thinking back on all we did. I hope another opportunity to go again comes soon for both of us.

Hi! We mostly toured on our own with rental cars. In Honolulu we explored Pearl Harbor, PCC and had a beach day in Waikiki. Although logistically you have 10 while we were only 4. Trip advisor was one of my go to sources of information planning this. The FB group being the other.

Yes, you need to be one who enjoys driving. If you're in any way uncomfortable or hesitant as a driver, this road is better left to a tour operator. We did the GuideAlong tho I have heard both are great. My 10yo especially enjoyed it. He was like, "mom who is that?" And, "can you turn it back on?" Lots of history on the drive back to port. It was nice to have it too because cell service can be spotty.

We rented a car and DH did the driving. I think he actually enjoyed it; it's very scenic and windy. We were aiming to be back by 5ish for dinner but ended up having to wait for a tree to be cleared from the road. We had an overnight so we weren't stressed but we did make it back later than intended. Just be aware of that risk but we loved having the freedom to choose our stops with the app tour and stopping or going at our own pace.

Well... You have to keep it mind that not all servers accurately report their tip income, which skews the results in the first place. I only worked at a chain but I witnessed servers more often than not underreporting their tips (knowing what I made in the same amount of time and they claimed less than half of that). Also in consideration is that most servers don't actually work 40 hour weeks. So the hourly wage they're earning is really good especially compared to working fast food or retail where those employees are unlikely to work 40 hour work weeks also (barring management).

That's a good word, thanks. Didn't realize there's was an educated way of saying "newb." I can see my 10 yo using it too.

Sidebar. Since you booked premium drinks and extra specialty, did you look into FAS+? It's something like $42pd for solo and includes unlimited Wi-Fi (not that the Wi-Fi is usable much). Of the specialty dining, we've tried Moderno and tempayaki. In Moderno they came around with each meat exactly once, so if they miss one or want more of anything you would need to let your server know.

The key being the compensation being similar. I hated working for tips. I always felt like I had to put on a fake persona for the customers or not be tipped as well. Fake smile, fake sing song voice, fake interest in your jokes I've heard 1,000 other times.

thank you @Saint Greg

Ya those all all 4 nights aren't they? I'd hate to look thru to find the one thing I'm looking forward to also happens to be the one that gets cut on a 3n sailing. Unless you can tell me specifically what's the same/different on a weekend trip vs a weekday only?

Idk the policy of on board soliciting but I doubt it's favorable. Otoh, putting it out there on the roll calls for their sailing. Maybe a prepurchase link? I can totally see people buying in on some cookies 😄

Hi anyone have fun times from a 3 night Radiance sailing? I'm going in Feb and wanna get an idea of what activities will be like. TIA

What so interesting about these tip discussions is how much people's perception of the cost and value differs from person to person. Personally I see the suggested gratuities as part of the cost of my cruise. The people who work on the ship work way longer days than I would be willing to whether front of house (customer facing) or behind the scenes. However their contracts and salaries are handled are between them and their employer. How much they make will be impacted whether the tips go directly to the employees or indirectly via the cruise line's bottom line. And seeing as how room servers are cleaning up 2x the plates, stewards making up 2x beds, etc by having my kids on board with me, it doesn't bother me that the suggested gratuities are per person and not per stateroom.