clivep

We went to the early (6.30) show on the 2nd night of our January sailing on the Epic. We had the premium seating and the view was great from the balcony. Half of the balcony seating was unoccupied for this show!

You always have the option of cancelling and rebooking prior to final payment.

... unless your booking is made in Europe in which case you lose your deposit!!!

This is a major problem with CruiseNext Ultimate, that they fail to provide any detailed terms for the program. The statement about "a one-time complimentary change before payment is due" is totally vague. There are so many kinds of changes, I would not assume that they are all allowed.

 

As long as the general promo continues, I see little advantage in booking on board. But it could be a way to get perks for last minute cruises, if they let you use your one-time change to switch to a cruise sailing within 30 days, and still keep your UBP or whichever perk. Can anyone confirm that this is an allowed change?

I asked this specific question when on board the Epic in January. I was thinking of going back 2-3 week later in February. My thoughts were that I could lock in a promo with the CruiseNext Ultimate and then immediately make the one-time change to the sailing that was going within 30 days.

I was passed to the CruiseNext manager who explained that this would not work and if a switch was made to sailing within 30 days of the sail date then you DO NOT get the locked in promo.

On our 13th January sailing it didn't look as if we would make it into Palermo. The seas were a bit rough the day before and the captain made the announcement about not taking chances so I quite expected the port of call to get cancelled.

We were supposed to be in port at 8.00, but were not. Looking on the TV showed our position to be sailing away from Palermo on course for Naples. It also informed us that the last port of call was Cagliari and the next Naples which I therefore took to mean that the Palermo call had been abandoned.

I was most surprised to look again at 8.45 to see that we had docked. The captain had obviously turned around and had another (successful) attempt at getting in to port.

This may explain why on your cruise the captain did not make the announcement until after 8.00. He may still have had hopes of getting into port. They wouldn't cancel Civitavecchia without good cause as it's one of their biggest earners in terms of shore excursion revenue.

Hello, here is Nicole from Germany.

Since December 2015 NCL offers an AI Package for us german Passangers. This include also all Lavazza Coffee Specialities, also Cappuccino, Latte etc.

Here you finde the Information http://www.ncl.de/all-inclusive/ (sorry, only in german).

So, this seems to be the different between your UBP?

Yes, the new "Premium All Inclusive" offering for the German, Austrian & Swiss markets is = UBP + bottles of water for your cabin + Lavazza Coffee Specialities IN THE RESTAURANTS. Note that coffee specialities ordered in the bars are still chargeable.

"Excludes: Open wines and bottled beers or beers on tap over US $ 15, cab service, beverage packages, bottles of water (one liter bottle per person per day for free), Promotions on board or Beer Buckets, excellent premium quality brands (subject to change), bottled wines, fresh squeezed juices, Lavazza coffees, which are ordered through room service, in bars or at the coffee bar in the atrium, wine from the dispenser, energy drinks or vending machines, mini bar, ice bar".

The cost works out at an extra €18 per day. Since all gratuities to all listed All-inclusive and the recommended Crew gratuity (DSC) are included this works out at pretty good value especially for bookings within 30 days of sailing when you wouldn't qualify for a promotional amenity if booked elsewhere.

It's even better for us in the UK to book through a German TA as the NCL € prices usually work out considerably lower than the £ prices (and on the European cruises I've looked at they are cheaper than the US ones as well).

High winds meant Epic could not enter harbour. Very disappointing for everyone who wanted to visit Rome.

Strange - weather underground is reporting that the wind speed in Civitavecchia from midnight until 10am never went above 3 km/h. Presumably there was some gusting that the ship couldn't handle.

If you book on the uk or eu site you dont pay service charge on the package its really free but most of the sailings are cheaper booking them on the us site and better cancellation policy as well since if you cancel before last payment you get refunded the deposit..on eu or uk sites you lose it so check all your options before booking

I've booked through a US TA several times as the prices are often lower but that's not always the case. I only book after the final payment date when the prices drop so I'm not bothered about the cancellation policies.

I booked our January Med cruise on the Epic through a German TA as the EU price was cheapest followed by the UK price with the US price being highest.

When comparing always remember that the US prices exclude port taxes and government fees whereas EU/UK ones include these.

As an example, the Epic 16th March sailing is currently €849 for a balcony cabin (it was €799 yesterday). The US price is $999 + $114 taxes = $1,113. The € price equates to about $950 so is quite a lot cheaper and if you take the UBP promo package then the extra saving on the gratuities makes for a very big difference.

Thank you for your quick replies 😊 we booked through the NCL website and its always continental Europe office/price as Ireland isn't an option. It is probably because of the euro that we are included in CE. I booked originally last August but cancelled and rebooked last Friday as there was a huge price drop and and extra perk (UDP) included.We also went from an inside to an aft balcony for the same price, my concern is that we don't get charged 18% of the price of the DUP and UBP as that would blow our budget as if we were just buying drinks we would never spend 69 dollars each a day .

If you just rebooked then it's the SDP not the UDP that you'll have.

For all promotions 18% gratuities are always included for bookings made in UK/EU. They used to be included for US bookings but that changed some time ago and are now added to the final payment. The gratuities for promotions are never payable on board.

If purchasing packages (i.e. not in a promotion) then it's different. 18% gratuities are charged on the package price at time of purchase regardless of where the booking has been made. For cruises from/to Spain and Italy there's also VAT to pay on top but I think this only applies to purchasing the package on the ship and not if purchased in advance.

When we were in Livorno on the the NCL Jade, they offered a shuttle bus direct to the train station for $12 round trip. This made taking the train to Florence much quicker and easier. No need to worry about taxi or public buses to get to the train station in Livorno. We have been to Livorno 4 or 5 times on other cruise lines and NCL was the only one to offer the shuttle to the train station. Not sure if the Epic will have it but if they do, it is best way to go.

NCL Epic offers this although the price has risen to $15 return. We used it on our 13th January sailing. It drops you at the parking lot behind the station (at the end of the underpass used to get between platforms).

There's also an alternative local shuttle offered to Livorno center for €5 return (paid direct on the pier) This is far less convenient for the train station but would be good if you wanted to use the TuscanyBUS option: http://livornonow.com/direct_bus_service_from_livorno_to_pisa_and_florence

MDR/complimentary:

"New for 2016, all ships in Norwegian’s fleet now offer upgraded complimentary dining room menus and the addition of optional à la carte priced items in the main dining rooms."

As per press release; as of now all ships should have the new menu's in their MDR/complimentary restaurants.

We're just back from our Epic 13th January 2016 sailing and can report that the MDR DID NOT yet have the new menus. I was quite pleased about this as I don't think the new ones are quite as good and provide less choice.

An example of what we had is shown at post #615 http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=46157335

French onion soup was available every night. Striploin steak is shown under "Classic Dishes" whereas the new menus have steak frites under "Classic Favorites".

This makes a good argument to wait to book a cruise until 30 days before the sailing date.

Quite so. I only ever book after the final payment date because that's when the prices drop as the cruise lines try to shift their surplus inventory (particularly true for "American" lines such as NCL, RCI, Celebrity, where there are a large number of US bookings and cancellations prior to final payment free up cabins).

With NCL it may now be better to book in the 30-60 day window in order to qualify for a free promotion... it all depends on when the price drop comes in.

I find it confusing. If you cancel before final payment what happens? Do you get your deposit back or is there a penalty???

US bookings get their deposit back, there is no penalty. UK/EU bookings always lose their deposit no matter how long before final payment.

UK terms are simpler and do not seem to have changed:

All bookings other than Suites (category H1-SJ) Period before departure notification of cancellation received by us Cancellation charge per person cancelling* more than 61 days deposit 60-42 days 45% 41-16 days 75% 15-5 days 90% Under 4 days+ 100% After departure 100%

Suites (category H1-SJ) Period before departure notification of cancellation received by us Cancellation charge per person cancelling* more than 91 days deposit 90-42 days 45% 41-16 days 75% 15-5 days 90% Under 4 days+ 100% After departure 100%

Great review.

We'll be joining the ship on Wednesday for the 11 night sailing.

I've booked our speciality dining but I'm trying to find out what menus are currently used in Taste/Manhattan. I've managed to download the 2015 ones and also the newest ones but don't know whether these are on the Epic yet (the new a-la-carte speciality ones will be on the Epic in March).

Would it be possible for you to post a picture of any Taste/Manhattan menu? Alternatively, could you let me know if the wording down the page on the left hand side says "Classic Dishes" (old menus) or "Classic Favorites" (new menus).

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for that.

We're on the Epic 13th January sailing and if we enjoy it we may go back on the 3rd February one if the price drops sufficiently. It would probably then be a good idea to buy a CruiseNext deposit on board and maybe book on board as well if the CruiseNext Ultimate offer is available (despite being within 30 days of sailing???).

At least I should be able to monitor the US pricing on board and then check the UK & EU pricing when in a cafe onshore.

I would expect that limited access to NCL's web pages would be available on their computers free of charge. Is this correct?

Does this then apply to wi-fi to get limited NCL pages on your tablet if you don't purchase any wi-fi package?

Apologies for pre-empting the change to the US T's & C's.

As I was anticipating, these HAVE now changed to include eligibility for Free at Sea promotions on 17+ night sailings.

However, they've not updated the rest of the T's & C's to reflect the eligibility so they don't say how many meals you get on the dining package although I'd expect it to be 7 as in UK/EU.

The shore excursions credit is still showing as a maximum of 4 ports. I don't know if this may change as this option is not available in UK/US.

US T's and C's have just been updated and new bookings for 17+ nights now also get the promotion choice (bringing it in line with UK/EU).

Speciality dining package gets 7 meals.

http://www.ncl.co.uk/offers/free-at-sea/terms/

Sorry, my mistake. This is still the UK T's & C's. The US website is hard to access in the UK as it keeps switching automatically to the .co.uk one.

As you say. the main page is saying 4th Jan -10th April. Also, since I posted, the T's and C's have now been updated and indeed new bookings for 17+ nights now also get the promotion choice...

I'll post a new thread to highlight this.

Sorry, my mistake. This is still the UK T's & C's. The US website is hard to access in the UK as it keeps switching automatically to the .co.uk one. Wish I hadn't posted that new thread!

I just noticed that the UBP price has risen from $64 to $69 per day (+ 18% gratuity).

UK/EU bookings also now give the Freestyle promotions on 17+ days (dining package gives 7 meals). No sign yet of this for US bookings but then againg the NCL US is still showing T's & C's for bookings made up to 1/03/2016!

I doubt you'd get anywhere with NCL. Reports seem to suggest this only works if you were prepared to cancel & rebook which is no good if the cruise price has gone up or if you lose your deposit.

Yes you can do this with the option to select the standard or premium seating. I've already done this for our January Epic sailing.

All the menus are mostly online on NCL.

 

https://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/15333_EPIC%20SHANGHAI.pdf

Is that a current menu? I notice that it says "cover charge applies" at the bottom of page 2 and had read somewhere that the menu was changed when Shanghai went complimentary.

Spirit gets back to Barcelona on 15 Jan 17 then a gap until it leaves Barcelona on 31 Jan 17.

The only info I can find on this period is from Travel Weekly which has this as an European Inland Waterways cruise stopping at Marseilles at the beginning and end with all days in between showing as "At Sea".

http://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise/Norwegian-Cruise-Line/Norwegian-Spirit/Cruise-p9671705?id=369572

...bump

Can anyone shed any light on this please?