fshagan

4 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

It is not per port. Please be sure to actually review the terms and conditions before answering:

 

Source: https://www.ncl.com/about/terms-and-conditions/promotions

Emphasis is mine, but this is the portion you circled (it's very hard to read with the messy highlighter):

"The first guest may redeem the promotion of $50 Shore Excursion Credit on more than one shore excursion per port."

So you could conceivably take two shore excursions in a port. as long as the times don't overlap, and have the $50 applied to both. But it is also "per port" rather than a single excursion during the entire cruise.

20 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Because it's you, I will make a second post here.

Thanks! I edited my post when I saw yours - we were posting at almost exactly the same time. As a former NCL employee with personal knowledge on this I defer to you!

One per stateroom. But I believe it's "per port", so you take the $50 off NCL excursions in each port.

On 11/11/2022 at 5:09 AM, New2cruise2022 said:

Do you think this happens often? People asking for all of it to be removed? (Regardless of whether service was indeed minimal or just an excuse to outlay less money?)

People from the UK are often on here saying they remove them because "tipping is not part of our culture". NCL in the UK now has higher fares and includes the service charges in the fares.

If you have ever been to the UK you will realize that what they mean is "PAYING tips is not in our culture, but we certainly expect you to pay them when you visit our country." (Insert wry Irish comment here on the moral character of Britons).

Edited this because chengkp75 is a definitive source, and I've never had reason to doubt what he says. My conjecture was slightly different, so I'll let his stand. It makes sense that the service charges would be a line item on their paycheck that can vary; I actually had a job with profit sharing where this was the case.

You can look up and verify that NCL has ships with ITF contracts at the union's website. Search for "NORWEGIAN" and you'll see the NCL ships listed.

Otherwise I'll defer to chengkp75 as the expert in this matter.

..

14 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Fair enough. I get what you are laying down and appreciate the time you took to reply. I referenced the Harvard study in response to your claim that these chemicals are only found on the black market.

I was wrong about that; I should have clarified I'm talking about illness or death due to popcorn lung and vaping, and the ones I've been able to find are not related to either nicotine vapes or the chemcial dicetyl.

So background: The "popcorn lung" cases from vaping cannabis were around July 2019 (an article on it when the problems were first reported is here). This was a huge story at the time because of the deaths - about 50 IIRC. At first, the illnesses were thought to be from nicotine vapes, but they were all from cannabis vapes (the victims were probably hesitant to say they had illegally vaped cannabis). All but a couple were from black market cannabis vapes. There was a supplier to some smaller vape manufacturers that was selling the problem additive too. The majority were black market cannabis vapes.

The illnesses were not caused by dicetyl. It was from vitamin E acetate, an additive that some vapes contained. It was only in cannabis vapes as it has the right properties to be able to "stretch" the amount of THC in a vape without thinning down the liquid too much. Nicotine vapes don't need this. The only good write up of the incident I've seen is from a cannabis industry source, Leafly and it's here.

Good discussion!

And you're right; cannabis still remains illegal at all US ports, and the Feds can search you (no 4th Amendment guarantees at ports) and can arrest you.

11 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

I was trying to avoid this because there are conflicting data, but I don't believe that you accurately addressed the issue of popcorn lung. Diacetyl, Acetoin, or Acetyl Propionyl (common vape flavorings) are not illegal in flavored vape in the USA.  Further, these chemicals in vape aren't just found on the 'black market':

 

https://www.vapedanger.com/health-risks/toxic-chemicals/diacetyl/

 

This is a common tactic. Find a chemical that, in high concentrations or at very high temperatures, could cause a problem, and state that. Then make the conclusion that there are numerous cases of "popcorn lung" possible because of this. It is simply a debating technique and has nothing to do with the actual science.

Diacetyl is found in cigarette smoke at concentrations of about 335 mcg vs 9 mcg in vapes. There has yet to be any link between vaping and popcorn lung in any study.  Snopes did a write up of it here. The article explains the limits of the Harvard study you cited, and why "76%" isn't an accurate percentage of the vape juice that had the flavoring in it (they only tested 8 brands).

I can find a case of "popcorn lung" caused by microwave popcorn exposure, but not one from e-cigs. A man who ate microwave popcorn daily for 10 years, and loved to whiff in the aroma of the butter smell developed the disease, obliterative bronchiolitis.

The link between popcorn lung and e-cigs simply does not exist, so the anti-vape crowd needs to find a new boogeyman. There may be dangers we don't know about that could develop decades from now, but we know there is no link between e-cigs and popcorn lung.

On 10/25/2022 at 2:14 PM, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

A couple of things in red above :). 

Well ...

1. Yes, I'm in agreement with you here, and responding to the comment by others that cannabis has no medical purpose.

2. You mentioned "popcorn lung" as a specific issue, and I addressed that issue. If that's a poor example to use you might not want to list it in discussions.

3. Sure, more study is needed. But since 2006 when commercial e-cigs were approved in the US, there have been many studies, and many statements from health agencies. Look for studies, and not statements, and see what you find. I don't know of any that show e-cigs as being as dangerous as cigarettes. (Cannabis, on the other hand, does have serious health risks, but they affect few people).

4. I assure you that CPB will indeed arrest you for possession of cannabis at the port.

On 10/21/2022 at 10:04 AM, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

You are misinformed. Take a look at the research associated with  "Charlotte's Web' and seizures.

 

Regarding vaping.... I would hope that anyone using a vape (tobacco or otherwise) is aware of the connection popcorn lung. 

 

A couple of things - one, the FDA has approved a cannabis derived CBD drug called Epidiolex. This is one reason that the Sch. 1 listing does not fit any longer; indeed, our government has found a medical use for cannabis in treating pediatric seizure disorders. Epidiolex had to be developed by a non-American company because of it's Sch. 1 status - it is next to impossible to do research on different cannabis strains in America. So when people say "it hasn't been tested" its kind of a catch-22 because it cannot legally be tested. At least as long as it's on Sch. 1.

Popcorn lung has only happened in black market vapes where the formula is adulterated to cheapen the production costs. It does not happen with commercially available nicotine or cannabis vapes (at least in states like CA where there are strict standards for production of cannabis products), without someone breaking the law. 

But I wouldn't rush out to start vaping if you don't already. My advice is that if you don't smoke, don't start. If you smoke cigarettes, see if vaping nicotine suits you better. It's 95% safer than cigarettes according to Royal College of Physicians in the UK, and is very successful as being the bridge between smoking and cessation of tobacco products (much more effective than gum, patches or other smoking cessation products).

Marijuana remains illegal at the federal level and ports, being "ports of entry", can and will arrest people for possession. It doesn't happen often, but it is possible. Many people get away with cannabis vapes as they don't smell, don't look any different than nicotine vapes, and are not as obvious as a bag of weed. Easier to smuggle and get past CBP are cannabis oil capsules that are indistinguishable from Vitamin E capsules. But, you are taking some risk of arrest and prosecution for possession of cannabis.

22 hours ago, juju2454 said:

I guess what I don't understand is why tap water people get worked up over others wanting bottled water.  If you  are at a bar , do you tell others what you think they should have for a drink?   Just sayin'

I live bottled better, and if it get my my hydration, so be it.  So buy a bigger room, it's their money I buy bottled water,  
By the way beyond the air packs, there has always been air in a can and in a compressed tank,  divers pay good money for it.....

They either 1) don't drink water very often so they don't care about the taste; 2) don't realize they pay more for things that are exactly the same like different whiskeys or beer; or 3) have an environmental concern about plastic bottles. For me it's mostly about taste, with a nod toward the convenience of having the water with me.

How do they handle refills? I know they are .50 at my local Starbucks, but not sure if the ship's Starbucks honors that policy.

On 8/13/2022 at 6:28 AM, ALKID said:

Only if you believed that nonsense.  The only person who could know that for sure would be one of the mechanics on the ship.  It’s like saying your car wont start and someone a thousand miles away saying oh, its the battery, meanwhile it could be at least a half a dozen other things.  Pure speculation

One of the posters here, who was a Chief Engineer on ships, said it happens when they flush the system. The water is sanitized with sodium hypochlorite (bleach) and they sometimes push the levels up very high, maybe like shocking a pool. Then they flush the system removing it.  Occasionally you'll hear about blonds getting "green hair" from a shower when they are doing this, or water in the tap that looks like the picture. According to the engineer, they usually do this on a busy port day so few cruisers notice.

The taste of the sodium hypochlorite is offensive to me; it's pool water in my mind. Where I live, the city water is NOT sanitized with bleach and doesn't have that smell or taste, so it's very foreign when I come in contact with it. I prefer filtered water for the taste - and the water at bars or restaurants seems fine. I buy the water package for convenience; I don't want to run up to the buffet at 2 am when I get up for Tylenol (seems like I need that every night now).

Interestingly, there's a YouTuber who is a Brit, and has done several contracts on different lines, and she listed the things you have to pay for as an employee. One of the things was bottled water, as they are told (or have a peer belief) that you should not drink out of the tap. The link to the video is here and the water portion is at 10:00 into the video.

Hmmm ... minimum bid I'm seeing for our upcoming AK cruise to upgrade from a balcony to club balcony is $100 pp. Not worth it for me. Spa Balcony looks like the minimum bid is $150 pp.

3 hours ago, planefring1 said:

I thank all of you for your input. However,  this is our first cruise.  lets say i never stumbled upon CC.  All I had was a worthless PCC at NCL and info received in piecemeal.  We have no point of reference. our last trip was Disney World during last xmas break.

It's good you found CC! NCL has a long history of wholly inaccurate advice coming from their call center. While not denigrating them personally, it's evident they have very little training and even worse, no valid resources to refer to when responding to guests. All of them have been very nice to me, and seem to try their best, so I blame management for the deficiencies. (I'm probably more tolerant than most because I ran call centers for about 40 years and know the challenges). I think they should completely shut down the call center and invest in better chat and email services.

The website is a bit better. You can at least take screenshots and save them in case of a dispute. For example, I have received a couple of emails that my upcoming cruises won't require testing, yet the only cruise I have scheduled DOES require pre-board testing because it's to Alaska, and we stop in Canada. Like Bermuda, Canada has rules that make the exception necessary.

But, after all this nonsense and horrible service pre-cruise, you should love your cruise onboard like the rest of us do! Its a great way to vacation and I think you'll find the onboard staff to be excellent at providing service that even goes beyond your expectations.

15 hours ago, mast3rn8 said:

I'm going to test out these water bottles w/ filters next month. I also recently read that the water in your cabin's bathroom sink is the same water that's served in restaurants..

It is the same water, but the water that comes out of your tap in the stateroom is chlorinated. In the restaurants they use carbon filtration which removes the chlorine and makes the water taste better. The level of chlorination is not usually any higher than what you find in municipal water systems if they are still using chlorine.

I don't drink much alcohol on cruises, every now and then a scotch rocks,  so water is my drink of choice. I don't like the taste of the tap water at all, so I buy the boxed water they sell now. When I decide to have a drink I just go with whatever is cheapest because I can't tell the difference between the different scotches.

14 hours ago, SeaShark said:

It used to be that the biggest contributor to onboard revenue was alcoholic beverage sales.

 

Since FDR, drinks, specialty dining, internet, shore excursions, etc. are bundled and "included" with your booking. So onboard spending on alcoholic beverages should have dropped like a rock.

 

With all of the things people don't have to pay for onboard...given the freebies...what exactly are people spending so much more money on onboard to cause these increases? Guests who pre-plan spend double onboard over what other guests spend? On what? It would seem that the more you pre-pay, the less you should need to spend onboard.

I'm with you; for us, the more we prepay the less we spend on board. But according to the article's quote of Frank Del Rio, many cruisers that have prepaid for things get on board with a "fresher wallet" and are willing to spend even more. I guess it makes sense for some people, and it looks like a significant number of them do this to help NCLs bottom line. The more that's "included" when they step aboard the more willing they are to spend even more money. It doesn't make financial sense, but more power to NCL if people enjoy the pre-paid things like a drink package and then spring for a dinner show or top shelf drinks.

8 minutes ago, Da-Painter said:

The ships water is just as good, or not better because of the filtration system. But if you believe you are getting better water, and creating more useless plastic for the environment, go for it. 

They are in business to make $$$, and over charge for this,  and any regard for the environment is not an issue for NCL. 

Just Water is not sold in plastic bottles. It is in a recyclable paper carton, with a sugar cane derived "plastic" cap that is also recyclable.

Bottled water is a choice usually based on taste, just like some people prefer different brands of beer, wine or whisky. The water from the tap in the room is chlorinated and takes like pool water to me; but the filtered water at the bars and buffet doesn't have the chlorine taste. It does taste a little flat to me, but is acceptable. So I'll drink NCL water when dining or at a bar. But not out of the tap. I'd rather drink beer than that water.

On 5/22/2022 at 9:08 AM, jules181 said:

Most do antigen tests prior to boarding, how accurate are they?

The package insert will tell you. There are two numbers, one for accuracy of positive tests, and one for accuracy of negative tests. False positives don't happen very often; the Abbot tests I've used are 98% accurate so only 2% false positive. But the accuracy when you get a negative test is only about 92%, so 8% of the time you are getting a false negative (meaning, you're infected even though the test says you're not). So it could be on any given ship that up to 8% of the people who tested negative are really infected.

On 5/21/2022 at 5:12 AM, sarlin said:

Good morning,

 

My DH is immno-compromised.  Needless to say we have bot cruised since Covid arrived.  We have a cruise scheduled in early July in a Haven suite on the Breakway.

 

My question is, has anyone NOT gotten Covid in the last 2 or 3 weeks while cruising or shortly after they got home from a trip?

We are vaxxed and boosted and will mask up.  We are OK with not even getting opff the ship.  Or should we cancecl the cruise?-Like many of you we have booked and cancelled so many cruises over the last few years and really want to GO!!!!!!

Sarlin

 

We cruised in April (7 day Pacific Coastal on Princess). We did not get Covid-19, but I worried about it all the time based on the other passengers. We were in a minority wearing masks. We altered our behavior to suit; did not attend shows in the theater and ate later when we could get seated at least a few feet away from others. Ate some meals in the buffet where we could find a less crowded place to unmask and eat. (I am high risk, and worry about side effects or death even though I am fully vaxxed and have had two boosters).

I don't know when we'll cruise again, but we'll do the same - find a way to dine other than in a crowded dining room, mask, avoid the theater, etc. We still enjoyed the experience.

The CDC lists the ships and their score at https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/cruise-ship-color-status.html

Fill in the header to limit to NCL and you can see the ships and their color code. Note that any cases get them to Yellow, and just 0.3% qualify them for Orange. That's not "three percent" as some have said, it's "zero point three percent".

3 hours ago, caribill said:

 

I have no problem with using option 1 if the App would work on any of our 5 digital devices, but it does not.

 

As for option number 2, I would select that if Princess was paying me the $99 for all the pre-cruise hassle of not being able to use the App.

It's easier to cruise another line if you don't have Princess as your absolute favorite and the problems really bother you. We actually prefer a couple of lines over Princess, so we'll use them until they get the app fixed. Unless there's a killer itinerary and price on a Princess cruise. We would probably take and just keep in mind the limitations with their app.

8 hours ago, Kiran said:

Had a bad experience with Medallion app  (especially for MDR reservations  being list) and nonfunctional  cabin tv on a 2 week cruise in April on Emerald Princess

All of our reservations were wiped out as soon as we connected to the ship's wifi. We met several other people this happened to as well. I was able to log in and make a single reservation for that day on subsequent mornings.

We also hate being tied down to a specific time for dining. Our favorite is Freestyle on NCL because you truly do not need reservations for the MDR and we have never waited more than 5 minutes for a table for two. Princess' "Dine My Way" dining is not the same at all, as even with reservations we had to wait most nights for 15 minutes or more to be seated, and were constantly asked if we would share a table. Had the reservation system worked through the app it wouldn't have been as big an irritant for us. No other line does as well as NCL in this area (possible exception is Virgin, which we haven't sailed yet.)

For the most part, after the first day the cabin TV worked well. But things you can find on other lines are not available on the cabin TV, such as viewing your folio to see current charges. We were never able to see any dining reservations on the TV (image attached).

Other things were minor annoyances, such as no printed ship maps, making you rely on the app or the ship maps near the elevator. Many things like this, which are minor, just added up to make the experience less than optimum.  Still better than going to work, and we enjoyed the cruise, but we feel we have better choices.

4 hours ago, cruzin4us said:

I'm one that personally loves the app.   Anytime I've had it not work properly I try the 2 following things:

1.  Reboot my iphone

2.  Reinstall the app

 

We've had no problems getting all our information loaded and I love being able to set up my Specialty dining in advance.

 

Once onboard, I love the ability to check out all the drinks on the drink menu and being able to order from anywhere on the ship.   

 

So, not everyone hates the app......

I think the people that hate the app are the ones that it doesn't work for. There may be a small number of people who don't want to carry / use their cell phone all the time on vacation, but I'll bet they are a very small minority.

What kind of phone do you have? Everyone I asked who was having problems was using an Android phone so I'm assuming it works well on iPhones.

On 1/23/2022 at 11:55 AM, fshagan said:

Thanks for reminding me to do this! Just left a one-star review with a brief explanation of the issues I've faced so far.

 

I hope our time on the ship isn't compromised by this app. If it is, I suspect we'll take another hiatus from Princess until it's fixed.

And we returned from our cruise. We had things we liked, and things we didn't like as much, but certainly within the range of issues we have with any line, and so Princess would be on our list for future cruises.

But not with the Medallion App.

The first problem happened within minutes of getting on the ship's wifi. All of my dinner reservations were gone. And the app wouldn't work for making new reservations.

We went to the IT help station.  I was able to get mine to navigate better with their help (log out, reboot phone, log back in using your cabin number instead of your name). It did speed up a bit after that, but was still painful to use. I was irritated any time I wanted to see our folio, make dinner reservations, see a map of the ship ... so many things.

Because the Princess experience is so dependent on the app we won't sail with them again until we hear it works for everyone's phones. Nothing personal against Princess cruises, just an annoyance that distracts too much from our vacation.