GLYNAGP

I travel solo, therefore the $50 FAS credit per cabin applies solely to me , when I book an excursion online that is less than $50 its free and no charge is made on check out

I have to make a transfer Trieste to Venice Marco Polo airport in October . Take a look at Flixbus they have services throughout the day and I understand the bus station is just a short walk from the cruise terminal . My ticket was incredibly cheap , around UK£13.

www.flixbus.com

5 hours ago, IAcruising said:

Call me an ugly American, but if all I have is US Dollars, then you either except them, or get nothing. Tell me who won't take Dollar tips, anywhere. Seriously.

I have seen a man in Rhodes Greece  trying to buy a bus ticket in US Dollars,  Another man in Dingle on the West Coast of Ireland trying to buy a shuttle ticket in US Dollars and a lady  in a Mini Market in Southern Spain trying to buy snacks using US dollars .All were refused. Yes you could tip in US dollars in Europe but surely it would be more respectful to use the local currency . Would you expect a tip in Euros to be acceptable in your local town ?

Take a look at Flix Bus (you'll find them online ) I've just booked a single ticket from Trieste bus station to Venice Marco Polo Airport for UK£ 11.99. I understand the bus station in Trieste is a short walk from the cruise terminal and if you want Venice  City Centre the bus also stops in town .

I cruise solo and have to pay double for the privialge, so I always ways book the cheapest inside cabin, I just sleep and shower in it. The Free at Sea package is great value, thats my drinks covered , 150 minutes wifi, just enough to message home and do Facebook posts, $50 per cabin per Excursion credit which makes some excursions great value or some of the cheaper ones free and one speciality meal free . Plus I’m now Sapphire Latitudes with the extra perks that brings. Great Value without breaking the bank

Being British I’m fussy about my tea and as much as I’m a huge fan of NCL their tea just doesn't do it for me. So I take my own, usually Yorkshire Tea Bags . I use them in the buffet and take them to O’Sheehan's and ask he waiters to use them for my Tea. They usually say “I’ll bring you hot water” and I have to explain that to make tea properly the Tea bag(s) needs to go in the pot first and the boiling water goes on top. ☺️

24 minutes ago, si_boy said:

@GLYNAGP Slightly off topic, on the app there is mention of the service charges, do you pay these upfront so they don’t appear on your onboard account and therefore you have zero balance?

This is a bit of an emotive subject for me at the moment. Until recently I always prepaid NCL’s service charge. However I find the recent increase from $15 to $20 PP Per day unacceptable and will not be prepaying on future bookings and making a decision on board as too how much I’m prepared to pay and advising customer services to adjust my onboard account accordingly.

15 minutes ago, si_boy said:

Thank you @GLYNAGP for your helpful explanation.
i was starting to go mad thinking we would be paying $$$ extra.

All makes sense now, I checked back to original invoice and there is a charge for all at sea, £249 each for 12 nights.
Still seems like a good deal.

I think is an amazing deal , I‘ve done 4 NCL cruises in the last year and taken to Free at Sea Deal on all of them .I pre-purchase my excursions on the NCL app which deducts the Excursion $50 credit (or equivalent in UK£), I don't do Spa’s and there's little or nothing I need from the onboard shops so I leave the ship with a zero (or close to zero ) onboard balance

Enjoy your cruise

22 hours ago, si_boy said:

Have read with interest as we will soon be on our first Norwegian cruise and have the Free at Sea pass.
I understand all the benefits but can someone confirm you pay 20% gratuity per day (e.g. 20% of the $109 per day). That seems to add up on a 12 night cruise.

Using the link above I read the T&Cs and read it is included, so now confused.

Also, are service charges additional.

The free at sea package for us in the UK is different from the US ,

We pay once dependant on the length of cruise for my next cruise its £149 for 11 days

for that I’m getting :-

Premium Drinks Package including the gratuity

$50 credit per excursion (only 1 credit per cabin, I travel solo so that's a bonus for me)

4 x Specialty Dining

250 minutes Wi-Fi

I booked the cruise over a year ago when the deal was much better, on later bookings of the same duration I’m paying £199 and only getting 1 Specialty Dining and 150 minutes Wi-Fi plus the drinks and excursion credit. Even then IMO its still a great deal

There is no more to pay, gratuities on the package are paid (unless you wish to tip extra)

In some ports you may find a small change on drinks where local VAT is chargeable when in port .

For me its a no Brainer, I’ve booked and paid for 4 excursions which has already saved me £177, all my drinks on board will be free so I will probably have a zero on board bill at the end of the cruise.

1 hour ago, schmoopie17 said:

April 23, 2023? How was the cruise? 😁

Sorry about that, I did a bit of a typo there .the booking is for April 2024.

I have been on the Dawn before and enjoyed it and am going again on he Dawn  in September this year around the UK

4 hours ago, room with a view said:

Hello, back on this topic ...how did refunds/transfers work out for GLYNAGP, Inside Cabin and Di Ti. ?

 

Our flights for our Epic cruise cancelled by NCL Manchester - Venice / Lisbon - Manchester cost £394.27  ..great prices as we booked early and December/ January flights were cheap.

 

Re booked (loss of £100 for transfer)  .. new flights for NCL Gem cruise.£1081.94  .. September prices ..much higher...also flights from Rome are expensive.  

 

Made a claim to NCL   as it was NCL that cancelled .

Offer from NCL ... £50 ...that's £25 each .... and at this moment that is all they are offering .

 

Any advice on what to do to get them to up our claim ? ,,,thanks

I have now booked a cruise on Norwegian Dawn departing Rome on 26th April 2023 for 10 days ending in Barcelona . This is the very last cruise that it would be possible to use the 20% discount given for cancellation of the original Norwegian Epic cruise.

I was able to change my original Lisbon flights to coincide with the new cruise.

NCL advised they would repay any change fee that the airline charged.

However as luck would have it Easyjet waved the change fee as I am a good customer and a member of their Flight Club.

So I’ve ended up with nothing to claim from NCL.

43 minutes ago, KforKitty said:

We were on the Star last month and a machine and supplies were provided.

 

Catherine

Thats good news , Im going on the Dawn in September and I do like my cup of tea in the mornings

1 hour ago, KforKitty said:

Not automatically but your steward will bring a single cup coffee maker and supplies on request.  I made tea with it too but just allowed the hot water to run through without a bag and then brewed the tea in the cup.

 

We’ve done this on both the Dawn and the Star.

 

Catherine

This may have changed,  up to my last NCL cruise in April I  had always asked and got a coffee/tea maker in my inside cabin. However on the last cruise in April my request was declined as they were no allowed in inside cabins.  

5 minutes ago, di T said:

 

Did you book direct with NCL? 

Yes l always book direct with NCL I feel it gives me more control over my bookings. I have what they call a personal cruise consultant who looks after me very well 

3 hours ago, di T said:

Thanks for all the tips and help,you guys are amazing! I’m gonna follow a few of the suggestions offered I’ll let you know the outcome.Dianne

Dianne

My responses came from:

euguestservices@ncl.com

I'm guessing that in Southampton. 

I think you mentioned earlier you had a case number from your original claim email. They have been very quick to follow up my original email maybe they need a nudge from you for a response 

Good luck 

17 minutes ago, di T said:

Wonder if it’s worth trying to get in touch with them again? Hopefully they will give you some kind of refund for your flights, please let us know how you get on.Dianne

When you submitted your original claim you should have got an automated reply with a case number to quote.

As far as my claim, it will be some time before I can advance this as I need  to change the origin return flights to Lisbon in January to a flight to Rome in April returning from Barcelona in May and the new flight are not on sale yet so I think it's going to be a couple of month yet. 

13 minutes ago, di T said:

Haven’t heard anything back from NCL since the email to say they received the form and I would be contacted within 48hrs this was 6 days ago! Have you heard anything more? 

Yes I heard back within a couple of days. NCL require a cancellation invoice for my flights. I have rebooked a replacement cruise which will also require flights. So I intend to change the original flight to Lisbon (when the flights for the new cruise dates  are available) NCL advised me if there is an admin fee to do this they will refund that fee on production of an invoice showing the amount. 

I had  the most amazing experience departing from Athens a few months ago, as we left the taxi at Piraeus Port one of the NCL staff came rushing over and checked my cabin number, noted I was Platinum Status, immediately took mine and my friends luggage from us, took it to the baggage deposit area, came back and put a small sticker on both of us, escorted us though a side door of the terminal, by passed all the Check in lines to the front if the queue, passed use over to a check in agent who immediately checked us in and we boarded immediately. The whole process took less than 10 minutes. I departed from Southampton a few weeks ago, it wasn't quite so good but I was prioritised and processed ahead of other

7 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

Do they have a route via one if their other airports night be more convenient than alternative UK airport.

They may have, I take a raincheck on it for now, when the flights are out there may be a direct service to Rome with another carrier. 

1 hour ago, room with a view said:

Yes, it is a case of use the tickets now  or face higher penalties . Original tickets cost £652 less £100 admin charges ..so not £552 to spend on inflated prices !!

As I have used Easyjet frequently in the past I am a member of their “Flight Club” which allows me to change flights without the change fee and with no 90 day restriction, just pay any difference in price. However Easyjet do not operate the route from my local airport that I require to join my replacement cruise booking so with the added costs of travelling to an alternative departure airport and the likelihood of needing an overnight hotel prior to the flight, as well as the fare difference its highly unlikely I can make use of my original tickets to Lisbon. My local airport is 10 minutes from my home.

17 minutes ago, room with a view said:

With Easy Jet you have 90 days from booking to change your booking (no refunds) the charge is £25 per person per booking. For us that's £100. 

 

Every day prices go up - sometimes when you are looking at prices ...the page will freeze and then when you look again the price has gone up .  Easy it is not !!!

 

Looking to see what is available in Europe in September.

Unfortunately I don't need any tickets until April next year and the flights aren't out yet so it looks like the Lisbon tickets will be wasted. 

I've just booked  Norwegian Dawn 26th April 24. 10 days Rome to Barcelona. I think that's probably the last available date before the cut off for the 20% Discount 

17 minutes ago, room with a view said:

Is this the same link /form  posted by inside cabin ? ...thanks

Yes, that's the one 

2 hours ago, mpk said:

 

Off topic, but which annual travel insurance do you use?

I buy an annual travel insurance from Europesure. 

15 minutes ago, di T said:

I have completed the form and hopefully sent my booking details from both airlines, will wait and see! Not fair if we loose the flight money but haven’t heard if my insurance will cover this.

No we shouldn't be out of pocket but to be fair to NCL unless we tell them what out of pocket expenses we have, how can they consider reimbursing them to us. Now we'll have to wait and see