marrashadow

There is a Tube video of cabins they did get Starlink it went live today.

If you want low crowds and high end service you can't expect that on a ship that has 3k or above capacity. You best believe their goal is to get as close to 100% occupancy as possible. Just like a hotel. You can find specific ships with lower capacity rates in most areas some may be on older end. You can also look at higher end lines but you pay for that service much like those in a Haven suite pay for those perks. All the US focused lines are not focused on the older retiree cruisers but really the lines are building bigger ships with more family based amenities or focused on that kid free party experience(VV). There are tons of lines all over the world and they all have niche's. Find one that suites your needs but anticipate there is a fee for that. I also think travelers in general have to loose their entitlement. As a traveler you can not expect anything to match your home comforts and you have to be flexible. In life we have very little we can control most of all other people.

A dollar per order is way less than you would at a restaurant or bar in the states. Its not about excess just appreciation. Also I'm not going to the bar every 5min so yeah its maybe 5-10 a day. Now I get NCL does charge gratuity with Free at Sea for drinks and restaurant but I don't believe that the workers are getting them. I think its their way off making you pay for beverage package. I've also listened to many workers on these ships and their pay is low and hours long unless they are management level.

I have trip exchange coverage through AIG travel guard it states it will reimburse fees paid or lost from change of reservation. So I'm not sure all of them have it and I know they have a list of airlines they won't cover. So if you have independently purchased travel insurance call them and see. I specifically splurged for the top end plan due to taking a trip that stops in several countries. So it may be an added benefit. It also has a missed port reimbursement of up to $250 per person. Not sure if multiple are missed if its on a per stop basis but thinking not.

So NCL website does not list Sarande, Albania excursions is this a wait till on ship situation or is this a book on your own?

Which again is not a cruise line staffing issue but border control. High volume ports with multiple ships leaving means less agents to go around add to that unprepared passengers and what should take a minute or two per passenger takes much longer.

We experienced a long wait on HAL for embarkation and often these times are based on activity at port. And how organized passengers are with the paperwork needed to board. I watch 6 people stop at counter then began digging through luggage. We had ours in hand and we got the sweetest smile from the woman checking us in. You are waiting at least 20 minutes and even with the signs everywhere you can't get your items ready beforehand? Lines are mostly cruisers fault. Debarking is different as often that is border agent staffing which cruise lines do not control. That being said on any ship, rooms won't be ready until at least 1pm so if you want to be able to access your room once you board opt for times late in afternoon. Bartenders will tend to go towards those who are nice to them or tip them. Take a few minutes when they aren't busy to chat and possibly provide a small tip and you will find your service expedited as a general principal you will find that with most cruise staff kindness counts.

From facebook so take with a grain of salt. It is said this is to change carpeting and address some plumbing issues. There is a second rumor that it is to install StarLink but I think that is wishful thinking. The carpet and plumbing makes most since its a brief dock only 2-3 weeks. They picked up workers in Lisbon for the project.

https://www.flagright.com/post/the-role-of-credit-cards-in-money-laundering

So the thing is if you were to take out a large some of cash at sea prior to returning through customs it can flag you. You are permitted $10,000 cash for travel without declaring it. Which anything higher requires documentation to be filled out. My guess would be you'd later get an undeclared income letter from IRS on that one. No way they don't share information. Now technically since its a cash out you could then prove the charge to the IRS but it looks fishy and you'll probably get audit flagged. That's what the algorithms look for, odd things. Just want to add this type of cashing in gambling credits charged through cards is also used by those laundering money so it could be flagged for that as well. Now for a few hundred here and there probably not but when you start talking about high amounts like in example, buyer beware and if its flagged World Points will cancel your card.

ETIAS begins in May 2025(postponed from 2022 and now 2024 due to Olympics) this is a new required specified precheck which gives you 3 years of travel within EU but you are intended to declare travel intentions. This will include on cruise ships. The time between now and then is not black and white due to adoption of regulations so you may have to verify with that country their requirements and if they allow such a departure from itinerary, then if approved speak with NCL. For deviations NCL doesn't do the work for you and as such will likely just say no. If you go an say I have a preapproval for xyz they may be okay with it. I do not recommend intentionally missing the ship as they can refuse your re-board and they record all calls so they have you asking so they will know. If not maybe switch your travel arrangements to a TA they may be able to assist with getting an approval. Doing travel arrangements for yourself is fine if you do not need anything special but for things like this a TA is extremely helpful.

I'm scheduled for the Mediterranean cruise Trieste to Rome on the Dawn its 10 days with 9 port days. We were on the Rotterdam which is an older smaller ship as well. Our plan is more based on floating hotel than looking for a cruise to keep us engaged 24/7 that being said we do have a sea day. I'm hopeful that with the ships age, size, and itinerary it will be less kids.

Because they contacted the media to share their harrowing adventure and hopefully guilt NCL into paying their cost to rejoin ship. Entitlement at its finest. This stems from people doing public post to convince cruise companies to forego printed policies and succeeding. Carnival just did it with a family that posted on Tiktok who didn't purchase insurance and cruiser had a heart attack and wanted it refunded. They went against policy basically to shut them up. It creates this atmosphere that people believe if their story pulls enough heartstrings they can circumvent the rules.

I find it interesting her descriptions of the other passengers vs pictures. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/cruise-passengers-including-pregnant-woman-32488918 look at the photos of "pregnant woman" and "quadriplegic" these are used to invoke pity but not a real representation. They certainly got their 15 minutes.

@Tyler414Nope it was a tendered port, no gangway nice try. The tenders were all up and they were ready to sail. They had time to call attendance and determine who wasn't aboard get their passports and then take a tender to port authority to drop passports as previously stated at least an hour to do all that.