sailandcruise

if one ship is delayed it is likely that the other ship will also be delayed -- they are coming to the same port and would be subject to the same weather conditions.

I did a B2B on the Norwegian Sun followed immediately by the HAL Ryndam over last Christmas and New Year's from/to Tampa. Worked out wonderfully.

I got an email his evening that said I can use two CruiseNext deposits on the same cruise as long as it is booked and sailed by December 31.

I have two Future Cruise Rewards. I assume that I can use these as equivalent to CruiseNext deposits and that the name change is irrelevant, but I will of course call to confirm.

Of course if I need two rooms this offer won't help me at all.

I wonder if they are having trouble filling up ships for the remainder of the year and rather than reduce prices as in the past, they are trying special offers of this type.

Has anyone else received this offer? Tried to use it?

I called TravelGuard, and that's what the person said - it would likely be considered a mental issue and thus be disqualified as being one of the exclusions. Of course, she was just trying to interpret it and didn't really know for sure, but any significant chance that it might not qualify is enough for me to not want to take that chance.

 

And if we went with the "cancel for any reason" coverage, that jacks the insurance up to $457 and only pays out 75% of the $2700pp cruise fare. So in effect we lose over $1100 in that exchange (the remaining 25% + the premium). Not a very good deal. We'd need to be pretty sure she wouldn't be able to go before we'd sign up for that deal. And by then it may be too late to get it (not sure how long we have to get it).

 

I'll check some other travel insurance plans, like the one from HAL a few people mentioned above).

 

Thanks everyone!

"Not a very good deal." -- actually it's a great deal for you. You know in advance, or at least have good reason to believe that it is highly likely, that she won't be able to travel, so you are taking out an insurance policy that pays three quarters of the fare for one of the two people booked in the cabin for only $457. You pay $457 and get three quarters of $2700 -- where else can you get such a high return on your money? You are taking no risk and getting the insurance company to pay the single supplement for the person who will travel for a payment of only $457. Insurance is for unexpected events, not for an event you know will happen or think is very likely to happen so you can get a discount.

Not really any of my business, but if you are trying to watch your sugar intake, you're actually better off drinking regular soda over the diet varieties. The artificial sweeteners they use are actually very toxic to your body and more dangerous than regular sugar. I know the drink mixes they use to make a strawberry daiquiri for example are incredibly sugary, but sugar in moderation is okay. Have you considered going with the UDP instead? In order to get your money's worth with the beverage package you have to drink a ton of alcohol and no matter if it's real sugar free or not really won't matter in the long run. Sorry for the rant, but I'm just very educated in nutrition and health and hate to see people be misinformed. Good luck.

This is a widespread misconception. See this recent NY Times article that describes the actual science. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/28/upshot/the-evidence-supports-artificial-sweeteners-over-sugar.html

Are all these drinks on the menus?

Do they have the same drinks available in all bars?

Why not just try one of everything they offer?

Or are these the favorite "don't miss" drinks?

My first thought was that this thread was about a new room category called "under the bed." :D

Seems to me that the substitution of "appropriate" for "required" gets HAL out of the enforcement business. It lets people do what they want, but sets a standard for what's appropriate. People who don't follow that can choose to be inappropriate. If they don't care what other people think of them, it's their choice. But people who are appropriately dressed would be justified in thinking less of those who are not. Social pressure is much more effective than rule enforcement.

I think that the jacket and tie phrasing is good. Many men wear sports jackets but no ties, or shirts and ties with no jacket. They are no longer requiring tuxes or suits but they are also making clear that jackets or ties without the other are not appropriate.

(said by someone who owns a tux, a black suit, several other business suits, and also a number of sports jackets)

On the Sun's Christmas cruise in 2014 this was advertised on several days in the dailies. When I went to guest services to sign up, they said that they weren't doing it. But then the advertisement appeared again the next day in my cabin. :confused::mad:

Another thing to consider is that 3rd guest rate is the same in any cabin on the ship for that same sailing...........so it's more than a 50% discount in those higher end cabins. ;)

YES -- this explains it. When I do test bookings on cabins in all categories from inside through the haven suites, the third person costs $799.50 no matter which category of cabin is booked!

So I guess that a third person without this offer would cost $1599, which is more than than the cost of a separate studio cabin and almost as much as booking a separate inside even with paying for two people when there is only one who will stay in it. So basically the 50% off for a third person is really only worthwhile for people who book a suite or other high-end cabin.

They really should be clear about what the 50% off means, however. While I can find the third person price by making a (virtual) booking for three people, I don't know if that price is listed anywhere explicitly. It should be clear when they advertise a promotion of 50% off for third and fourth passengers what price they are reducing.

Thanks for posting these.

No need to pay extra for specialty restaurants for me -- although I might be tempted on the third of these three when the chef's specialty is just roasted turkey.

A little disappointing that they don't have -- or at least identify -- healthy options, or include nutritional information for people who care about such things. I wonder if this can be provided upon request?

On ships with two main dining rooms, for which the "always available" items were slightly different (e.g., different cuts of steak), I wonder if they will now have the same "all time favorites" in both dining rooms?

Just do the math. 1159 x 2 is 2318

799 x 3 is 2398

 

So....it is just only 80 more and that may be port fees for the third person.

 

medicalma'am,

Thanks for your response. Unfortunately, I did do the math, correctly as explained above. Sorry if I wasn't clear that I didn't include the port fees, taxes, etc. and just compared the quoted fares and if I wasn't clear that the quoted fares when booking for three people were $1159 for each of the first two and $799.50 for the third, not $799 each.

The port fees are listed as additional for each person, at $139.84 each -- not included in the comparison I did.

The total due for two people is $1159+$139=$1298. times two is $2596.

The total due for three people is this same $2596, plus $799.50+$139=$938.50, for a total of $3534.50.

Each room has a regular price for each guest that can be booked. For example, Guest #1, Guest #2, Guest #3, etc. Cruise pricing is done on a PER ROOM basis. However, for marketing purposes, cruise lines advertise the room rate on a "per person" basis. Thus a room that is priced at $1000 is advertised as $500 per person (double occupancy).

 

Guests past the first two in a cabin are on their own pricing scale which is much more tied into overall supply and demand and less into the rate assigned to the room.

 

Guests #1 and #2 each pay half of the room rate. Guests #3 and beyond pay the extra guest rate...which could be more than, equal to, or less than the rate paid by guests #1 and #2.

 

When they advertise "extra guests are half price" you have to ask "half of WHAT price?".

 

You will find that the extra guests are charged 1/2 of the extra guest rate. Your confusion stems from your thinking that it is 1/2 of the guest #1 and #2 rate, which clearly, it is not.

SeaShark, I understand what you're saying -- i.e., that there is some "hidden" price that they have cut in half. However, if there is no way to access this price, then I think their advertising is misleading. Further, for a cruise that doesn't appear to be selling well -- they just added a special $100 per room "Holiday Cruise Credit" most likely so they don't have to reduce the quoted price -- it makes no sense that a third guest would cost more than either of the first two guess on a per person basis.

I'm looking at a cruise for which NCL is offering "Extra Stateroom Guests are Half-Price". This is for the Breakaway on December 20. I'm considering getting either one OV and one studio or just booking one large Family Oceanview with Large Picture Window -- category O1. I compared the price for two guests in this category with the price for three. For two guests, ncl.com gives me a fare of $1159 per person, plus $139.84 (also per person) in Government Taxes, Fees, and Port Expenses. For three guests the fare for the exact same rooms -- and there are over a dozen that are offered with the identical room numbers -- it quotes a fare of $1159 per person for the first two guests and $799.50 for the third guest, plus $139.84 per person in Government Taxes, Fees, and Port Expenses. Now half of $1159 is $579.50, not $799.50. $799.50 is actually about 70% of $1159, not 50%. So how is this Half-Price for the third guest? :confused: And how can NCL advertise it this way? :eek: Could this be a problem with the web site, in which case I should call my PCC and ask for the third guest to be charged $579.50? Or am I missing the fine print somewhere? (If so, please point me to it.) Or is the advertising deceptive? :eek:

See http://us.nvcharts.com/media/images/org/R16_1.png

You can see the reefs all around the island and the complex routes that have to be followed by the large ships.

. OP, can you scan/upload a smartphone image of this new brochure - for us to share and to satisfy our curious minds, knowing how NCL operate these days ... it might take a while for them to communicate, if at all ... Thanks for posting.

Not sure how to do this. I have pictures on my ipad, but it don't know how to upload a legible copy here. :confused:

BTW, the chart is silent as to whether a passenger needs to qualify on number of points AND on number of cruises or on either one OR the other. If the former, it will be more difficult to attain a particular tier; if the latter it will be easier.

Note that my original question was about what, if any, change is occurring -- not about whether we like it or not. ;)

 

As an afterthought, did NCL used to award status based purely on how many cruises one took versus the number of nights? Maybe it was an old pamphlet showing the change from the old system to the new system.

The brochure arrived in the mail on Wednesday this week. Its title is "New Season. New Choices." Cruises listed in it begin in late spring 2015 and go through 2016. It promotes the four current offers -- UBP, UDP, gratuities, and shore excursion credit, plus friends and family sail free. And it has the new logo, with only one wave underneath the "Cruise like a Norwegian" slogan. And the copyright date in the fine print with the terms and conditions is 2015.

So I don't think it was an "old pamphlet." ;)

It could be a mistake -- perhaps an old template was used by the printers, but given the context of all the recent changes, I am wondering if this is an early sign of yet another planned change. :confused:

I received a brochure from NCL the other day. The inside back cover is about the Latitudes Program. It contains a chart that shows the qualifications for each tier (i.e., Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum). In addition to the number of rewards points needed for each tier (1-19 for Bronze, 20-47 for Silver, 48-75 for Gold, and 76+ for Platinum), it has an additional column titled "# of Cruises" with entries 1-2 for Bronze, 3-6 for Silver, 7-10 for Gold, and 11+ for Platinum.

I checked the web site and didn't see any mention of number of cruises.

Has anyone else seen anything about this? Could this be a change that hasn't been announced yet?

I wonder if a passenger would qualify for the highest tier by either method? (I have 43 points accumulated over 7 cruises and my tier is Silver, so perhaps I will be upgraded to Gold for my next cruise?)

 

I use Special Needs at Sea http://www.specialneedsatsea.com/reserve-equipment/scooter-rentals/ to reserve my Standard sized, 125 lb scooter. It can handle up to a 149lb person [ATTACH]347536[/ATTACH]

 

The Heavy Duty and Geriatric scooters are heavier and can hold a 349 lb and 500 lb person respectively.

 

All 3 of the scooters do fit through HAL Doorways, no matter the category stateroom, BUT depending on your stateroom may not fit in the

 

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Please take this as I intend -- I am trying to be helpful, and these details seem to matter. I have no experience with scooters, but, being curious, I clicked on the link that Joannie thoughtfully and helpfully provided. According to the linked page:

The standard scooter can handle up to 249 pounds.

The scooter that can handle up to 500 pounds is called the bariatric scooter.

The bariatric scooter can fit through the doorways only on wheelchair accessible cabins.

The link won't post for me. Is compensation another word for salary?

Try copying the link and pasting it in the address bar of your browser.

In his case, compensation includes $1m salary, $3.5m in stock awards, an additional $3.9m of "non-equity" incentives, and $291k in other compensation including personal use of the corporate aircraft.

CCL had 10.6 million passenger in 2014. (see http://www.statista.com/statistics/266274/passengers-of-cruise-operator-carnival-corporation-und-plc/ ) So his $8.7M in compensation comes out to about 82 cents for each cruiser, on the average of course.

And it is available on-line. I have the NY Times crossword app on my ipad and have the crossword bookmarked on my Mac Air. I was able to access the crossword and solve it without needing any of the paper copies. This was on the Ryndam over New Year's.

Does anyone have any information about the spa. Is there a steam room or sauna available and if so how much

There is a small sauna and a small steam room available for free in the locker rooms. get a locker key at the spa desk.

Combining the August 14, August 28, September 4, and September 18 departures would result in a 47 day voyage with almost no duplication of ports, except for, of course, Amsterdam. Iceland, Norway, Baltic to St. Petersburg, and Western Europe into the Med disembarking in Rome would be a phenomenal itinerary.

On the Christmas cruise, this venue was almost always deserted. The tapas are all pre-made and cold and not very tasty or fresh. We went there one night before dinner and were ignored by the staff; we had to flag down a server who was putting things away at the bar and request service to get our drinks and tapas.

I'm checked in and sitting here in the terminal waiting for boarding to start. Free internet here in terminal 6 -- hooray!