European_CruiseGirl

Bottled water is not included in the soda package. My DD loves sparkling water, she just gets club soda with her soda package and is completely happy. Still water she can always get from buffet for free (not in a bottle though). YMMV but I have noticed that NCL is very strict with the rules and no sharing is indeed allowed. This is particularly true for adults and with alcohol. For kids it seems to vary a bit: I have many times ordered a drink for myself and a mocktail for DD at the pool bar and have given both of our cards so they can charge her mocktail to her card. Some times they have just given her card back and said ”no need”. Other times they have promptly charged her card as they should. I’d say 90% of the time they charge the card and I fully expect that to happen 100% of the time I go to order.

Ah yes indeed @Asawi! I checked my profile and the country is blank!

OMG - I have been struggling with this payment problem for almost 2 weeks now and this address thing did the trick! One day approx 2 weeks ago I was doing happily shorex reservations and payments online through the NCL webpage and the next day (really, the next day) it just didn't go through anymore. I tried 5 different cards but always got a message of "try another card". I called NCL several times but to no avail - they couldn't understand what was wrong but said I am not the only person with this problem. I just happened to come across this old thread as someone had resurfaced it (thank you, thank you thank you!) and decided to try the address thing. Unchecked the "use the same billing address as on your file" or whatever it said and just manually added my address. And voila - it worked! Couldn't be happier. Thank you cruisecritic members again - you are fantastic! 🥰

Answer to both is unfortunately no. The dining credits are tied to each person so his credits cannot be given to you. However I do believe there are several places where he might very well enjoy the meals. Italian restaurant for pizza/pasta. Seafood restaurant for fish and chips for example. Non alcoholic cocktails or juice does not belong to the soda package and cannot be substituted for the sodas. There is some free juice/lemonade/ice tea available from the buffet.

As others have said: go to NCL app and do the bookings directly from there. It us very likely that you just got an employee who doesn’t have a clue. It would be highly unlikely that there are no tables available at 124 days. Either it is a computer glitch or an NCL employee glitch.

I was suddenly logged out from my NCL app yesterday evening and cannot log in. I’m guessing it’s the highly incompetent NCL IT again and am waiting until Monday/Tuesday hoping they can work it out by then.

Yes and thats why I said ”either as part of free at sea or if bought” 😉

For a milestone sailing I would change to Silversea, Seabourn, RSSC or similar. Their entry level suites (= cabins) would provide a more luxurious experience than NCL Haven on the Pearl. Don’t get me wrong: the Pearl is lovely and it is a nice experience but I get the feeling that you op are looking for something luxurious and really special and you simply won’t find it on NCL Pearl Haven. Yes the prices can seem steep for those ultra luxury cruiselines but if you factor in what they include (for example RSSC even includes tips/service charges and shorex in their prices) then it isn't that expensive anymore. And as already mentioned you could book entry level at any of those cruiselines and get a better (= more luxurious) product than Pearl Haven.

Underage kids get a soda package on NCL either as part of free at sea or if bought and it is just that, soda (including club soda). No mocktails, no juices, no specialty (non alcoholic) drinks like lattes, no milkshakes, no mineral water. Just soda (coke products on NCL). We have sailed almost exclusively on NCL out of the big cruiselines but just recently sailed with RCI Symphony of the Seas. I have a hard time convincing my teens to get excited about NCL after that experience…unfortunately. Yes there are slides at NCL but no shows like the multiple production shows on RCI. As mentioned the drink package for kids is very limited on NCL. They just fell in love with RCI.

Butlers are of great value in bringing you your Haven breakfast to your suite. It’s a nice way to get your speciality breakfast but enjoy it in your suite. Same for dinners particularly if you travel with small kid/s. Put the kids to bed in the bedroom and enjoy your Ocean Blue etc dinner in your suite’s livingroom. Our favourite butler memory is though when we cruised during our country’s independence day. We had extended family with us. Some were in a suite while others were in balconies/insides. We wanted to host an independence day cocktail event to the whole extended family and our butler arranged everything (free of charge, the only thing we paid was cocktails and non alcoholic drinks which we asked him to bring to the suite). He decorated our suite (and even found from somewhere our country’s flag), arranged fingerfood, hors d’euvres, sliced fruits, cake. It was fantastic. We obviously tipped him accordingly.

Which ports are you not seeing any excursions? New Zealand has many places where the ship doesn’t really stop but where the ship just sails (gourgeous views so no problem with that but it might be confusing for some). I know this next one doesnt apply to you op but it might apply to others who have answered you. Once you book a shore excursion through NCL all other excursions for that same port disappear from your app if there is a conflict in time. So those other shore excursions most likely are not sold out - you simply do not see them anymore once you have booked yours.

Yea many places do that: combine gluten free and vegan (and usually lactose free too). Trust me: it is just as frustrating for gf people to get their gf pizza made with vegan cheese and not normal cheese than it is for vegans to get their vegan pizza with gf crust 😑 But for many restaurants they want to just combine all possible dietary restrictions into one dish...

Try watching the ocean each and every day from your window/balcony and unfortunately it becomes insignificant and just a mundane view after years and years of nonstop watching it. Btw I cruise because it is a convenient way of going to multiple places without packing and unpacking and extensive amount of flights. Not everyone cruises for the sea or seaview.

I love those cabins as I like to people watch - not other people inside their cabins or balconies but the Boardwalk or Central Park area. I see the ocean each and every day from my window and balcony at home. I have zero interest in looking at the ocean from my balcony while on a cruise (there apparently can be such a thing as too much seaview) but still a window/balcony is nice. So those for me are my favourite cabins ☺️

I guess the problem here is op said in his opening: ”Surprising someone onboard - try it...you'll like it.” The latter part is why people are reacting. Not everyone likes it or would like their friends to do it. And thats fine. Not everyone needs to like it. If op’s title had been ”We surprised our friends and it was fantastic” the replies would have been very different I assume. I may sound like a broken record but I still want to emphasize once more that people can change their minds. Just because someone has invited you at some point to a trip or wherever and you say no thank you it doesn’t mean that the friends would be happy that you then surprise them by joining as they might at that point have made some very different plans. I might invite someone to my home for tomorrow evening but if they say no I’ll change my plans. I might very well still be at home but have planned something else like a quiet evening and a ”surprise we came” most likely would be a very big no no.

Cancel no. Change times - yes. Funnily enough we just two days ago received NCL info that our cruise - to those exact ports - have new timings 🤣 They were not big changes but changes nonetheless. For example at Cozumel we leave at 5PM instead of 6PM. That could potentially screw someones private tour to Tulum or Xcaret. The reason for the changes: ”As we optimize itineraries for fuel efficiencies, we have modified Norwegian Joy's itinerary as shown below.” 🤣

In US (and Canada?) - yes. In EU/UK (and Australia?) - no. So depends on through which NCL office/travel agent (location) you have booked.

Pre cruise it is good to know that NCL does not do the same kind of discounts on shore excursions, dinners, wifi packages etc through their app like RCCL does. The price is what it is and the only way for the price is up (happens usually but not limited to beginning of the year). So if you see a shore excursion or wifi package or whatever that you want just buy it. It won’t go on sale - ever. Another difference is that even if you have the dining package (as part of free at sea or if you have purchased extra dining credits through the app) you can make reservations in advance for the restaurants of your choice. Reservations open 130-120 days before your cruise depending on your cabin class and past passenger program status. If you are 3, book a table for 4. If you are 5 book a table for 6 etc. NCL reservation systems do not understand odd numbers 😄 Shows…NCL used to have better/more big production shows available. Now it’s 1(-2) bigger shows so definitely less than on the big RCCL ships. If you love the RCCL production shows you will be disappointed. Main dining room. Unless you are a big group there is no need to reserve a table in beforehand at NCL. They know how to handle anytime dining whereas RCCL my time dining is usually a complete mess.

Yes indeed. I once had a situation at a hotel while I was attending a seminar (this was in Germany of all places, usually they are very strict with personal info). One evening mid seminar I heard a knock on the door and it was a person (male) whom I had met at the seminar. I am a female who was travelling alone. I was completely puzzled because I certainly had not given him my room number or even hotel name but he just casually said that ”Oh I noticed you came to this hotel after the seminar, I stay here too so I just asked at check in what is your room number”. Whaaaaaaat??? I made some vague excuse to get him away and immediately went to check in who scoffed at me and said ”well madam if you would have wanted to stay incognito you should have mentioned it when you checked in”. Those were their exact words. I asked for the supervisor who changed my room - but still made a big deal out of it saying to me that ”well now madam we have marked you incognito”. Ummmmmm…shouldn’t everyone automatically be? You shouldn’t really be handing out room numbers to others 🙄 Needless to say I have not stayed at that (big international) hotel chain anymore.

However that was then. They could have changed their minds after that and looked forward to just some alone time. It does happen many times. People hope for something to happen (in this case for friends to come along) but when they hear it is not possible they change their plans and embrace the possibility to spend alone time as a couple. Obviously they wouldn’t tell about changing their minds because…why would they need to tell anyone? The friends already said they are not coming. In that type of situation it will become as a truly unwanted surprise if those friends then suddenly join and expect to hang out. I am 100% sure op knows their friends and hence there is no problem for him or his friends. But for many…yea, there are huge potential risks associated because people are allowed and will change their minds…without telling their friends.

Wow I would hate this kind of surprise - but thats just me. I guess you really need to know the other people. Even if they’d initially asked someone to join they might have later made other plans and planned for alone time together and a suprise like this could really backfire.

I had kind of this happening (kind of)…but my PCC told me what to expect so it wasn’t a surprise. If it was I would have been upset too. We had a cruise booked and bought the FAS+ upgrade for it. After that we needed to change our cruise. Our PCC quoted us the new price and said ”please notice that the FAS+ does not automatically transfer to the new cruise; instead the money you paid for that will be considered as a payment towards this new cruise and your final payment is only xxx because of that. However please notice that if you want FAS+ also to your new cruise you have to pay for it again”. We were ok with this but I can imagine being truly upset if we’d been quoted a new final payment sum and only later found out that it was actually much higher but our previous FAS+ payment had been used towards the new final payment. I have noticed on several occasions that when you talk with NCL reps about changes they always just quote the new final payment sum. Tbh I am most interested in that anyway (knowing how much I still owe to NCL after the change I am thinking about making).

No s/he does not. And also the concierge is not included on the daily service charge.

It's still weekend for NCL who is based in Miami. They will come to work at 9 AM and then slowly realize that "ah there has been a mistake on the updates they did during the weekend" and start sorting it out. The cruise may come back by tomorrow morning. Or then it truly is cancelled but tbh anything strange that happens during the weekend on a NCL website is most likely due to their IT department doing something...

I wouldn't do it. We once cruised so that my father and mother were in a club balcony and we (me, my husband, DD, DS) were in a Haven suite. They simply did not want a Haven suite and we all thought it was not a big deal as we'd anyway be quite often at the main pool area, having dinner together at a specialty restaurant 4 days out of 10, we'd be at port so we wouldn't even notice we are on a different cabin category. Boy were we wrong... Going to the port at embarkation my family was whisked away to the Haven lounge. My parents (although platinum) were faced with a huge crowd and lines. When we were inside the ship we called with my parents who indicated they'd have still approx 30-60 min until they would be inside. So we headed to Haven restaurant. When they got in they went to where ever. Breakfasts onboard: either we ate separately (not nice) or we ventured out from the Haven for breakfast (not nice that either). At tender ports we had priority access for the tender. They did not so either we gave up our tender priority and stood in long lines with them or we went our separate ways. Non specialty dinners...see breakfasts...If we went to the Haven restaurant without them we felt bad. If we went to main dining room with them we missed the Haven restaurant and felt that we had paid a ton of money for something we didn't use. Debarkation, sun deck etc...well you get the point already. We learned that there simply is no good way to go about a cruise with some family members at Haven and others in a non Haven cabin. Either the ones at Haven cannot use the Haven perks to the max and they will need to downgrade their experience to spend time with their non Haven family members. Or then they must be ok with going their separate ways and doing many things separately. For us it definitely did not work. For others it might. But at least downgrading the Haven experience to spend time with the non Haven guests seems like a huge waste of money to me. Why pay for Haven if you're not going to use it to the max.