fayerussell

Just came back from 2 weeks in Hawaii today. Saw whales but not as many as we had hoped. A local told us they headed out early. Saw several on whale tour in Maui and at a scenic lookout in maui. Couple in Kauai.

Just a update, the price on the SG suite dropped again so I decided to bite the bullet and did a upgrade on Feb 27th. On March 1st the new promotion went into effect adding service charges paid. Since that date the rates on the next category of suites has dropped twice, I called once and it was still too much to my liking to pay for a upgrade. After seeing another price drop yesterday I decided to call again and low and behold they decided to do a complimentary upgrade to a SE which is the same as another price drop, yay! With the SG we are getting a huge bathroom with double sinks, tub and separate shower. This cruise better hurry and get here or they are going to end up paying us to go. Thanks for all your help.

Lol. Awesome!!! We sail on Sat- so excited!! :)

hello! We are sailing the POA on March 21st and just received our Suite luggage tags and letter. They say we can email the concierge desk for special requests, etc. It doesn't really say what we can request though. What have you all requested? Any suggestions??

Thanks for all your help. I think I will wait until Thursday and see if they drop again it seems like it is every 3 days. I read on the NCL boards that March 1st they are adding another perk to the promotion they have already.

Ur welcome!! Good luck! Have a great trip!! :)

Did you just call their toll free number and then select the "already have a cruise booked" number? Or did you ask for a different department?

My B1 stateroom is now only $600 total more than what I eventually paid after all my refunds. There are 10 SG suites showing available when I do a mock booking. I just want to make sure I have all my facts straight before I call.

I booked through ncl with one of their vacation specialists-not sure of their exact name. Lol. I had his name and nmbr so I called him. But if u booked online anyone should b able to help you. My guy at ncl was on vacay one week and I talked to someone else and they helped me. :). That time I did call the customer service number and hit the already booked cruise nmbr. If u get the wrong dept they will transfer u though. :). He also told me on Friday that prices are really dropping and to call back again in two weeks to see if he could add more stuff. lol.

Seeing that you have been a member since 2008 you may have forgotten that there is a search engine and I'm sure there are many pages covering the subject.

I've never understood this. If u don't want to answer the question then don't. Y be rude. Y even b on here reading the questions? Weird.

Thanks for keeping at the review, it's great!! We are taking my mom on the poa in 4 weeks-so excited!!! Love the pic of u and ur mom on the turtle! Lol. My husband and I did the same one 4 years ago! We are getting a suite for first time. Did you ask butler for any special requests? Want to utilize our suite perks as much as possible! :)

The person who I talked to at ncl that did my upgrade told me that ncl got a new ceo 2 months ago. That's why prices are a little weird right now. Have no idea if this is true-just what I was told yesterday.

Lots of tipping threads, and lots of different opinions. For butler, I have seen the guideline of $10 per person per day or around $140 for the week for a couple. Adjust higher or lower based on your experience. We usually tip the steward another $40 or so, concierge maybe $50 although I'm not sure they ( the concierge ) deserve it. I think they make a pretty good salary.

Wow. Ok, good to know. Thanks!

Can I ask a few details? Did you just call and ask for a upgrade each time, if so what did they say....and did the last time did they just give it to you? How much in dollars would you say the upgrade was worth?

Over the last 4 weeks I have received 4 price reductions on the B1 balcony, the SG suites are now below the price I originally paid for the aft balcony so I would be willing to pay a bit to upgrade but if there is a chance they will just give it to me I'd take it. I've been working very hard on this and would love to get a suite never had one before.

Our cruise is March 21st so obviously we are past final payment. So we were not going to get any money back-which I knew. I called and told them the price had dropped and I should receive an upgrade or cruise credit. 2 weeks ago we were upgraded at no cost from a category bb balcony midship to an aft balcony. At that point my price had dropped a whopping $1200. I checked today and saw I could get a suite for the same price. Called again and got upgraded again. At this point the penthouse suite price was same price I paid originally for the midship balcony. Totally crazy!! If the suites on your sailing is less than what you paid for your balcony then definitely need to call!!!

Congrats on the upgrade! How did you get the upgrade did NCL call you or did you inquire? We sail on 4-25, I have a B1 aft balcony booked but have been watching the price of SG suites dropping steadily over the last 2 weeks. I am hoping before the end of the month for it to drop enough, for what I am willing to pay, to upsell to one of those. Wish me luck.

I have called them every 2 weeks for the last month and a half. lol It paid off! We were upgraded at no cost so you can't beat that! :D

Awesome! Thanks so much!! My mom is not wheelchair bound but has mobility issues so that will work OK for us. How much do you usually tip them? I wondered about if that was added in gratuities or not. Do you base it off of how much you actually see them/how helpful they are?

We just got upgraded from an aft balcony on the POA sailing out March 21st to a Penthouse Suite room #10524. We have never been in a suite before. What are the perks? Also, anyone been in this cabin? Any pics? Thanks so much. I am so excited!!!! :)

YAYYYYY!!!! Prices have dropped even more for my March 21st sailing so I called back again. I was upgraded 2 weeks ago from a balcony room to an aft balcony room at no cost. We now just got upgraded from the aft balcony to a penthouse suite at no charge!!!!! So excited!!!!!!!:)

I had a surgeon tell me about taking ginger capsules for sea sickness. I start taking them around 4 days before cruise. Day before cruise I start taking meclizine- a generic of Bonine-works great! I used to get very very seasick but now no problems!!! Btw- I ask my pharmacist for the meclizine. I can get an entire bottle of it for half the cost of one small pack of Bonine.

If ur on the pride of America u have an overnight in Kauai. So it really doesn't matter what the traffic is like on the north shore since you don't have to worry about making it back to the ship at a certain time. We did the canyon then went all the way north. We stopped everywhere, had plenty of time, and stayed at one of the beaches on north shore till sunset. Had no trouble with traffic on way back. You're on island time! Enjoy!!

We rented from Thrifty and there was absolutely nothing about not driving all the way. small tour buses go all way around. Road paved all way but bumpy in spots. We live in country on gravel road so we thought roads were not bad at all. We left ship early, got our rental, drove all way around- making many stops. Plus still had time to drive up to the Haleakala crater to watch the sunset. We really enjoyed the day and we are getting ready to do it again nxt month.

Our last cruise a couple years ago we did the canyon first thing, first day. Then backtracked and drove all the way north to the end. It was a long day but we had plenty of time to do everything. The next day we went to the spouting horn and the beach. Worked out great! I have read on many boards to go to the canyon first thing in the morning. That's what we did and it worked great. We drove to the very end and then stopped at lookouts that we wanted to on the way back down. We even saw some mountain goats with a baby!! Very cool!!! :o

I booked with ncl. They just called me back. I am currently booked in a cat BB midship balcony. They said could upgrade me to an aft balcony at no charge. Does this sound good with a $1700 difference??

We are on the March 21 sailing. The price difference now is $1700. I have cruised a lot and hve never had that big of a price drop on one of my cruises!!! I called Norwegian and they are supposed to "get back with me".

If the "tour" is basically a driver taking us around and nothing more, we will tip around $5/pp. If we have a guide who really gives us lots of info, helpful, etc will do more. Have tipped up to $20/pp. Just can't stand it when they ask repeatedly for tips-then I don't want to. lol :D

A little fun thing to do in Honolulu is the Iolani Palace. You can prebook tour times ahead online or wait until you get there. Check out the website online for times, etc. Doesn't take very long but very interesting and cool!!! :D

Yes, we have a March cruise and our balcony cabin is almost $1200 less than what we paid. Chance you take but makes me soooooo mad!!!!!! :( Great for the people who waited last minute though. Kinda makes you wonder why you booked so far ahead. Didn't do us any good......

I have called HHV, the Marriott, and the Outrigger hotels and none of them do day rates anymore. It's a shame since so many people want to do that with the late flights. When we were there 4 years ago a lot of the hotels did it. We are going to take our chance with late checkout. I may call some more hotels, if I hear anything I will def post it since no one seems to know about day rates.:)

Yes!!! Please finish review!!!!!! 😀