numberguy

It's too late for me to edit my post so I'll piggyback on yours and say that this is up to the staff onboard and is not a given on every sailing. I don't know if it's the decision of the HD, the concierge or the event coordinator (or all three in consultation with each other).

Agreed. I was very pleasantly surprised when this happened to me.

--Michael

Did you arrange the meet and greet ? These sound like the "extra perks" given to the person who organised the meet and greet as a thank you from the ship for all their hard work .

And I third this. Happened to me on the Star in 2014 when I arranged the m&g.

--Michael

Did you mean "some excursions" as opposed to "show excursions?" Probably a typo but wanted to clarify what you meant.... the for-fee shows on board are not part of the credit

I meant shore excursions. It was a typo.

Did you mean "some excursions" as opposed to "show excursions?" Probably a typo but wanted to clarify what you meant.... the for-fee shows on board are not part of the credit

I meant "shore excursions." It was a typo.

You have to call to do it. No upfront payment is required. The excursion will be charged to your onboard account, along with whatever credit is due.

 

NCL Shorex - 866-625-1167

This is good to know. I was just looking at show excursions for my upcoming cruise, and was afraid I'd have to pay when I book them. I'll probably call and book them today. Thanks!

OP, you don't seem to have questions, but sounds like you're looking for confirmation on the itinerary. I would do it again (except there's too many ports I haven't yet visited!) -- one of my favorite cruises of all of them! To be fair, a significant reason for that was a great roll call, but the cruise itself was fantastic, too.

Yeah, I guess validation was the word of the day. Glad to know it was one of your favorites. DH and I like to do the "one-offs" (the cruises that are unique and not ones that are repeated often) when we can, so this looked like a good one, especially at that price.

--Michael

We generally take ships tours (but now always).

That was supposed to be "(but NOT always)." I really need to learn to reread my posts before I post them.

--Michael

Thanks for sharing this information. I would really hate to see them eliminate the bridge viewing rooms on the Jewel class ships. I really enjoy them.

Me too, am hoping to do a Spirit cruise in 2017, and was looking forward to the Bridge Viewing Room. Sigh.

--Michael

How do I go about finding out where/when the CC Meet and Mingle get together will be on my 6/5 Breakaway cruise?

 

I see people posting about attending these and I search Meet and Mingle and can't find any information.

And on NCL, they're called Meet and Greets.

--Michael

We just booked for 11/23/17 sailing of this itinerary. We previously did the Spirit out of Barcelona for the 12 day Med. We loved the Spirit.

This is the one we're looking at, too. I really want to go. I've finally gotten to that Cruise Critic point where I have a cruise upcoming (but not completely paid for), and I'm already looking at scheduling the one after that. These cruise things are addicting!

--Michael

We have never sailed NCL and after looking at the pool photos i am sure we will never sail NCL there pool lay out is horrible with chairs hugging each other with NO room to step out. Everyone seems squeezed and very uncomfortable. Gambee thanks for the great pictures that convinced us never to go NCL.

Don't necessary throw out trying an entire line based on pictures from one ship. While the setup on Escape is really not that great (and I think Breakaway and Getaway might be similar), the older ships might be more to your liking.

--Michael

Just to reiterate Mark and what I said earlier, Morocco is a fascinating country we've been to Fez, Tangier and Meknes while touring on land where we had the time explore on our own and loved it. Casablanca is large, bustling, complicated , the pavement (sidewalks) aren't good, the ship docks in a cargo area. To make the most of it with limited time there take a tour and experience their culture.

We generally take ships tours (but now always). If it's western or northern Europe, it's DIY. Places we're really not familiar with, we'll use the ship's tour, or maybe join a group from the Roll Call.

Thank you everyone for your responses so far!

--Michael

Thanks everyone so far. Yeah, an inside guarantee at $599pp for a ten-day cruise? While I hope I'm not on floors 4 or 5, I'll do that in a heartbeat. Now to convince the hubby. Although with him and the UBP, we might have to pick a cabin and pay $799pp. But still...!

Casablanca is not my "oh my goodness" destination; the island ports are what I'm liking, because it would never occur to me to visit them on my own. Et je parle francais (un peu), so maybe I could at least read where I'm going in Morocco.

--Michael

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about booking the 10-day Morocco/Canary Islands sailing in November/December 2017, and I'm just wondering what you thought of it. The stops in Casablanca, Las Palmas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and Funchal all look really interesting. Been to Malaga before, but not Alicante.

All new to me and my DH except for Barcelona and Malaga. And at $599 for an inside guarantee with no perks sounds great to me (plus DH can use miles to get us to Barcelona). Might also wait until we're on our Adriatic cruise to buy a FCC and help with the costs on that cruise. Also, Spirit will be new to us.

General thoughts?

--Michael

My husband and I went to Bayamo on the Escape in November, during the third weekly eastern Caribbean cruise after the launch. We watch a lot of Food Network, and were looking forward to the experience. We were a little underwhelmed. The drinks were, well, weird. The food is an experience, but I don't remember saying, "Oh my God, this is fantastic!" And it was about halfway full.

--Michael

I just flew on United Airlines this past weekend, and their inflight magazine each month has an article entitled "Three Perfect Days in..." For May, the city is Venice. It's a nice article. I took the magazine home with me and might try to go to a few of the places they mention, although I'll only be there for one day. Far too short.

--Michael

Nice! My daughter was VP of her chapter her senior year. We both had to keep pulling outselves back from getting wrapped up in the technical and logistical (quick changes, lighting, effects, cheating out etc) aspects of the show and just enjoy it. They did a good job

I work with a community theatre in Illinois, and I do the same thing whenever I go see a show (where is that light coming from?).

I'm loving your review. You sound like you'd be a lot of fun to cruise with!

--Michael

Our suite # disappeared too. But we are NOT asked an arrival time, in Venice.

 

And yes, it's trying to sell me the UBP which I already have as promo.

 

 

 

Stephen

Hi Stephen!

We're sailing out of Venice, too, but not until September. I was wondering if this was mainly a US port thing, because I just finished all my checkin stuff yesterday (needed Chad's passport #), and it isn't asking me to pick a time (although, we're not fully paid, either--due date is July 11).

If it doesn't ask me a time after final payment, I'll assume it doesn't apply to foreign embarkation ports.

--Michael

I'm thinking it might be a conscious decision on NCL's part to remove the room number from the summary page. I'm just guessing here, but it may be like masking account numbers on web pages: it's been removed from the summary first page, but if you dig deeper and look at edocs or the checkin pages, it shows up. Sort of a security thing. Just a random thought.

--Michael

I am listed as platinum. But if you look at the tier benefits, the platinum awards are grayed out like it does not apply to my status.

 

I guess it's all a bit confusing.

Mine are actually a very light blue-grey which means that's my level of benefits. I'm thinking that's what you're seeing, too.

But you know what? My cabin number doesn't show on the front page anymore, either. However, if I go to the checkin section, my cabin number does show on the right hand margin. Maybe it's a security thing on the front page? People complained about having it on the front page? I don't know, just guessing.

--Michael

Thanks for this. I did NOT know the numbers had changed. I received platinum status after my November 2015 cruise on the escape. I see that my "thermometer" shows bronze, but at the very top, next to my name it says "Tier: Platinum." I think I would go with that word rather than the graph.

Also, if you click on the tier benefits tab and look at the bottom, the number of points to reach the various tiers has not changed. Now I'm wondering if the tier level amounts have actually changed.

They also have a couple of typos on their web pages. Their IT people are not always the best.

What tier do they have you listed as?

--Michael

Great! What's the plan for Escape?

The article says all ships by the end of June.

--Michael

The offer is not unlimited internet. It is up to 250 minutes.

Thank you

At some point, if it's offered again before I sail, maybe I'll switch my Shore Excursion credit for unlimited internet.

--Michael

Could you tell me how you check how many rooms are left in a category? When I go on to make a "fake booking" it doesn't let me see available cabins. It automatically takes me to the "guarantee price" and doesn't show me cabins to pick from, even if I select just inside (I don't select guarantee). Is there a time frame that might be too close to sailing to see empty cabins? I sail June 5th on Breakaway and wanted to know how many insides are left.

I'm going to take a guess here that there are no more inside rooms available, and you're on a "waiting list" of sorts (but you'll definitely get a cabin). If they are able to upsell inside people to balconies, etc., then they can give you an inside room. If not enough people upsell, they'll have to give you a higher level cabin.

They'd rather get someone paying a few extra bucks to move up, than have to give you the "nicer" cabin at your "cheap" inside-guarantee rate.

Again, this is just conjecture; do not rely on this.

--Michael