keep on cruisin

6 minutes ago, julig22 said:

You missed the part about changes NCL made a few weeks back regarding upgrades after final payment.  I can't upgrade on my upcoming cruise because the perks I got when I booked don't match the current perks.

That is new.  I had nit seen that.  In the past inhave done it several times.  shame.

I have taken advantage of price drops after final payment that have made the better room affordable.  The best being our fist Haven suite.  We had booked the Breakaway minisuite for me, my wife and our than 13 year old son.  Had the kids sale free promo.  About 1 month prior to saying the forward penthouse was available for $1100 total more. When we originally booked it was about $3000 more.  I figured sailing in November from NY having the Haven pool indoors was good for the cooler days. I jumped on that.   4 days prior to sailing the deck 9(huge balcony)aft penthouse was only $100 more.  Texted my PCC to switch in the morning if still available.  She texted back that the change was made just needed to make the payment.

I still get brownie points for that surprise, since my wife and son did not know I made the change until the woman at check in asked "Haven" and my wife said " I wish" as I said "yes"  her look was great and the lady at check in told my wife to "just go with it"  

Also, while you cannot reverse an accepted bid, they will still let you upgrade to a higher cabin and pay the difference after an accepted bid. 

2 minutes ago, ShelleyQT said:

 

The way they are currently doing it for land-based vacations in Bermuda, you are tested immediately upon arrival.  Then you must go directly to your hotel and stay there until you receive your test results by email.  The results don't arrive in your email box until the next morning.  After that, you will receive an email from the Bermuda government when your next tests are due (every 4 days).

That assumes you are vaccinated.  If not 14 day quarantine.

17 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I've never bid on one of these but have the "offer" notice for an upcoming cruise.  Has anybody reading this thread ever had a really low offer accepted?  (e.g. $50 - $100 per person)  If I had a strong desire for a higher level room, I just would have booked one to begin with.  That said, I wouldn't mind submitting a low ball bid as a goof if there is any chance it might be accepted.

I believe my accepted bid on Jade from oceanview to minisuite was in the lower third.

1 hour ago, complawyer said:

sorry if you thought it was snarky, the bottom line is that it is against ncl policy to allow the dividers to be opened. live with it or cruise another line that will allow it.

 

it isnt "rude" to tell someone you cant do something that they cannot do.

 

sorry that your entitled self was disappointed. By the way is your name "karen"?

I think you are being unfair to the OP.  Other lines do allow this, she was told by the rep that she booked with that it would be allowed.  It is not her job to determine if the information she was given was correct or incorrect.  Her disappointment here is that she was given the wrong information.

Had the correct information been given, than the choice to accept or not accept would be on them to decide before booking.   

I have actually been told this could be done also,  but have never ended up booking side by side balconies to have asked for it to be done. 

1 hour ago, karatemom2 said:

 

Sometimes it’s not what you say but how you say it. Thank you so much for your thoughtful advice. You are too kind. 

9 minutes ago, fsls40 said:

Any Updates From NCL ?

I have not seen anything for our 10/10 Breakaway, but there documentation says they will send this type of information about 30 days in advance.  With the constantly changing requirements, this would make sense.    The information for someone sailing next week, may not be the same for me sailing in 49 days.

1 hour ago, CruizinKittie40 said:

Our cruise is Oct 17.  When do they notify you that you can bid?

We got our notification on Monday 08/16 for  10/10 cruise.  I would guess based on that time line, you will get your offer tomorrow.  But that would assume that they send the the time for all cruises.  I am not sure if that is factual.  There may be other factors involved such as room availability, how many cancelations at final payment...etc.

7 minutes ago, Russiamomm said:

May the best man/woman/couple win!  LOL.

 

May we both win. We have 2 different shots.  You take one of the wins, we'll take the other.

We bid on the same 2 from our club balcony.  We are competing against each other.  Lol.  Hopefully we each get 1 of them.   

Breakaway Haven is really nice.  We have been in the Haven proper twice. 2 bedroom once(pre-bidding, got upsell from aft balcony, was just the 2 of us, but the extra bathroom was nice to have and our son is still mad at us for having a room just hold our luggage while he was at first week of a new school year) and the previously mentioned Courtyard penthouse.  The other was in the aft penthouse but as much as we loved that room and all the space on the huge balcony, we felt the distance from the actual Haven prevented us from taking advantage of the amenities it included.  

See you on board, and the other sites roll call. 

I have actually won both bids I've made on NCL.  One for Breakaway from balcony to Courtyard penthouse, and Jade Oceanview to mini-suite(after winning that bid I ended up calling and upgraded to aft suite) just reached platinum status our last cruise which was the Jade.

I have received the notification anywhere for both about 30 days prior.  

Hoping to win the bid to Haven from Club Balcony on the same cruise as the OP.  Good luck to both of us.  

With covid limiting capacity it will be interesting to see how it plays out for this sailing.  

Just the wife and I on this sailing so we don't need the extra space as much as when our 19 year sails with us.

13 minutes ago, drbeamer said:

I’m booked on the first Boston Bermuda cruise in 2022. Done the trip many times since we can drive to port and avoid air travel. I wouldn’t mind just staying  on the ship for the whole week, and not disembarking at any time. Do you think I could avoid all the Bermuda requirements? I’m vaccinated and would just do the NCL required testing. 

Based on the grid, which i tried to copy.  Under departure day it says munst have TA to board the ship.  So it looks like they NCL would not allow you to board without it.

I can understand that part.  If you dont meet their standard to be on the ship with however many your sailings capacity is, why would they want you potentially infecting all of those passengers while on the ship.

We really all just have to decide for ourselves what level of risk, and what level of protective measures we are willing to go through in order to cruise again.  We chose a 100٪ vaccinated cruise to limit the risk as many of you did.  Some may have chosen it bases in NCL being their line of choice.  We use them often so it falls under both for us.

If you choose not to get of the ship than you may not have to do the testing upon arrival.  One question is for a multiple day stay Wednesday to Friday do we only have to test the first time we leave the ship or would that be day as well?  And for passengers that do not have internet plans, how are they going to get the email that says they are cleared.  Will NCL have a login for that purpose.  Will they have computers on dock to check(which would be a disinfecting nightmare)

We dont sail until 10/10 on Breakaway so hopefully by then NCL will have answers to these questions.  As of now I have not received any notice from NCL letting us know of the requirement.  But as we all know the contract says we are responsible for knowing what will be required.

52 minutes ago, SwimmingDragon said:

So with all of this said. If we paid for excursions and decide to cancel, will be be refunded or will NCL only give us ship credit? My daughter is Neurodivergent, and I can’t imagine her going through that many tests. Then again, she has surprised me before. But PCR test are pretty intense with getting that nasal swab way up there. 

I perform both rapid antigen and the pcr that go to Quest.  The directions for swabbing are the same for the test kits we have had in my office.(basically it should gonup the nasal passage about the distance as between your eye and the front of your ear).  But in alot of places they have the patient do the swab themselves for the rapid and only direct them to go in as far as the size if the tip of the swab.  The difference is the rapid sawb tip is narrower than the pcr so many do find the pcr more uncomfortable.

9 minutes ago, HowardK said:

Thats what I am thinking- this is a unique March 2023 8 night booking that looks different in the sense it has GSC and Port Canaveral- yet skips Nassau and adds Norfolk and Bermuda,.

With Bermuda such a short stop, it seems impossible to do anything outside of the Dockyard area, 

I certainly hope by 2023 all the madness is behind us.  Not saying it isnt warranted now.  But hopefully will not be neccessary in 2023

23 hours ago, gmbhardy said:

The point I was trying to make is that even though I paid substantially more for the Haven cabin I was still not allowed to keep my previous OBC perk. Yes the Haven has more perks, but you pay handsomely for them.

The biggest difference between you and the OP is you were made aware of the lost obc, and were able to make an informed decision.  The OP was not.  Their TA or PCC should have made them aware.   

Now the question the OP should be asking is,  would they have still made the change with the correct information.  If yes, it is just a lesson learned to always get  verification that anything you believe you are getting is actually in place.  If no, than they need to see if the balcony cabin promo is still available to just reverse, or speak to a supervisor to see what can be done.   However it is resolved though, let it go before you get on the ship.   In the end have a great trip. 

9 minutes ago, Karaboudjan said:

NCL is doing antigen tests at the pier.  That will not cut it for Bermuda.  I think the only question is if NCL might accept your PCR test in lieu of the test at the pier.

That would speed up the check in process especially if they have a way to upload the result or accept the Bermuda travel agreement 

Was discussing this yesterday.  It appears to be new for cruisers, but it was already in place for traveling to Bermuda by air.

It will be interesting to see how NCL handles this.  If they are going to test us at the pier to get on the ship in the first place, are they going to try to work with Bermuda to accept that since they are sailing at 100% vaccinated unlike other lines.

That being said I don't have an issue being tested.  Insurance will cover it so that part is not an issue.  I of course would prefer to keep my $75 per person.

I will be surprised if more ports don't initiate this type of thing.  Florida may be preventing a requirement to show proof of vaccination but the ports don't have to abide by that.  An  I do understand the injunction allowing NCL to require.

We are booked on the 10/10 also, and really need a break.  So I certainly hope so.  I have not seen anything that would indicate that the port will not be open.

Can't soak to the owners site but we have stayed on the Breakaway aft penthouse and the 2 bedroom.   

We loved the huge 9th floor aft balcony(breakfast on the balcony every morning) , and the bedroom separated from the living room.   But we felt we did not take advantage of the Haven itself.  The 2 bedroom being in the Haven, made it great for meals in the Haven restaurant. And the proximity to the Haven pool and hot tubs was great.

Both have 2 bathrooms which is a bonus to both.

I would say either are great. I don't know that I would pay a lot more for the 2 bedroom but it really depends on what is most important to you. 

My October cruise on Breakaway is pretty much the same I have paid several times to Bermuda.

When I did the check in for our October cruise,  I was able to take a picture right from the check in screen.  It just accessed my camera.

So I called and they said my wife dabbles and I play which was interesting since my wife plays longer than I do most nights as she tends to lose slower.  ☹️At any rate they said we did not lose enough to qualify for much.  Although he said we were not that far from there minimum.   He did knock about $120.000 off which is better than nothing. 

Always wondered about this too.  We are on the same October 10, Breakaway  in Club Balcony. Wife and I play every night at the tables for a couple of hours.  When asking Pitt boss what benefits we have earned it has not meant a thing.   It's it even worth going through CAS.  Not big players but still a couple hundred dollars each night for each of us. I guess it never hurts to make the call.

37 minutes ago, Fla Senior said:

My key point is "no resistance from FL governor". If Carnival can sail with 95% and governor gives them no issues, then NCL can sail with 100% and also get no resistance from governor.  Seems to me that they just don't want to sail right now.

You are missing the point.   There is 100٪ resistance fro. The Florida governor.  He will not allow any verification of vaccination to be required.  So no matter what number they put out sailing out of Florida cannot be confirmed without voluntary Cooperation from the the guests.  And say 50% of the guest are not willing to show proof of vaccine.  Than they are not allowed to deny them boarding unless they show negative test. So no way to gty that they will be at any percentage until sailing.

Carnival or anyone else for that matter cannot guarantee they will be at 95% for guest for sailings out of Florida unless they are able to require proof of vaccination.  That is the entire reason why lines like RCCL are using voluntary proof of vaccine and than charging steep prices for testing 2 before and during the sailing.  Florida has made requiring proof illegal and a $5000 fine per offense.

NCL could do the same but they are trying to be the ones to control there risk.  Let’s face it, none of the lines want to have a major outbreak and be kept out of ports.