nudistcruzer

"Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRB), ham radios and satellite phones" are not allowed on NCL ships and maybe others. New iPhones have satellite features built in. "With iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 15, or iPhone 15 Pro, you can connect your iPhone to a satellite to text emergency services, request roadside assistance, and share your location with friends and family — all while you're off the grid with no cellular and Wi-Fi coverage." Does this mean that anyone with a newer iPhone could potentially have it confiscated? Certainly, if you travel to certain countries, they can and will confiscate these phones. None of the countries you are likely to visit in the caribbean would be a problem, except Cuba, where these iPhones are prohibited. Here is a link to how to connect your iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 15, or iPhone 15 Pro to a satellite: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213885 Anyone with information on how NCL, and/or other cruise lines where these iPhones might be prohibited, handle this would be appreciated. EDIT: The same line of prohibited items is on the Carnival Website. So this question is really industry wide.

I’m just one person so, even though I have paid for two I’m only allowed one. On another note, the Norwegian Viva has just arrived this morning in the United States for the very first time.

Out of Curiosity, what is the earliest anyone was able to book the Vibe on the Viva? (That is, how long before the sail date.) I Actually wasn't even considering sailing on the Viva when I first found this thread. When I did book it was very late, so only the cabanas were left. Also, my cruise was added very late from what I heard. I did book the Vibe on the Getaway more than 10 months before sailing and long before it was fully paid. Is this the standard or does each ship have differences. Since the Viva is a brand new ship I could see that they may put off these bookings for logistics, (until they were sure of the schedule.) EDIT: I did look back at the thread, it looks like 17 months out they are letting people book the Vibe, so my assumption is as soon as it is possible to book the cruise, one can add the vibe.

Although I prefer NCL cruises generally over any of the Carnival lines, Carnival has always made the shareholder benefit easy and fair. While NCL has credited me correctly based upon their draconian stipulations, they give me far less shareholder OBC's than Carnival. On first glance the programs look almost the same, when you look at the details, NCL's benefit is terrible in practice compared to Carnival's. Although, I have never booked a cruise though anyone but directly with a line, unless it was a charter or tour group, I have friends that always use their own travel agent, and with Carnival they have never been denied an OBC, ever, as long as they applied correctly. (Back to back cruises with different booking numbers totaling 14 or more days need to be submitted at the same time with Carnival brands to get the full $250. They divide the amount between the two bookings. NCL never gives you the full $250 credit for a 20 day booking even under one booking number if they consider it two back to back 10 day cruises.)

I have found that each of the Carnival brands are completely different from each other. My favorite on ship experience is NCL. I have even found people that say Carnival is their favorite. It is a a very subjective thing. Holland America is a step down from Cunard but still very upscale. I have friends going on a 5 week Holland America cruise in February out of San Diego. The older people are the more they prefer Holland America, generally.

I just had to take the photo last night my cruise is in 14 days on the Viva... It is possible I didn't need the photo. But somewhere before I had to check-in, here on Cruise Critic, I read that I would need it. So, I already had it ready to upload. If it said something like "it was not required", I don't remember seeing that.

I didn't have any issue with uploading the photo. (Although, I did I.T. support for a professional photo lab for 10 years though.) I have also taken my own passport photos in the past. I can say though I would prefer to not have to take a photo. Now, I also go to AAA for free passport photos and they even sometimes screw it up.

So they require you to take photos as a part of check in for no reason?

Did you think I should create a brand new thread? With the same title and leave this thread to be found with potential incorrect information. I was looking for information about the Check-in photo, this is all I found. Incorrect or not, this is all the information provided about this subject. Much better to update the information in the same thread then leave it to show incorrect information. It still comes up in searches related to Check-in photo on NCL... If you don't want the information found, find out how to delete the thread. So leave old threads to be found and let them provide incorrect information? I'm never going to do that. It would have been different if I did a search and there was a newer thread. I only post on the first thread found on a subject. Should there be a new thread on the same subject every month? Should every thread on the subject have the same title? Many threads with the title "NCL check-in photo"? You apparently were still following an old thread. Why follow a thread then get angry when someone posts?

I was kidding about thinking about the last person you knew who died. I'm not kidding about the expression. Officially: "Have a neutral facial expression with both eyes open and mouth closed."

👍

I am mostly on Charters on Carnival, most of my cruising is charters. Until now these charters have been on Carnival. NCL is doing their first charter with our group in 2025. My only point is, NCL's shareholder benefit is so minimal to me, it is not worth owning the stock. That said, I have preferred NCL cruises in general. Carnival's off ship service: website, customer service, different departments, excursions and shareholder benefits have excelled in those areas. My favorite ships and crews have been NCL's for a very long time.

For Passports I don't think you are allowed to smile anymore. I think the instructions were think of the last person you loved who died. That is the expression they want...

I probably wouldn't say that. You can't use the money for anything else. Also, the actual cost to the line is very minimal, I'm pretty sure, the money cannot be used for anything that is cash equivalent like tips or the casino. I think most people here that own NCL stock have only bought it for the Shareholder Benefit and also would think of it as a dividend. I am very disappointed in the NCL Shareholder Benefit. As far as Carnival, I would have bought the stock only for the OBC and would not have gotten the stock for any other reason. NCLs program offers so much less as far as I'm concerned. If I really understood the difference in the programs between NCL and Carnival I would have never bought the NCL stock. If you are on a charter NCL doesn't pay the benefit, even when the cost for your cruise is higher than if you paid more than booking with NCL. (I suspect those who say they didn't get the benefit because of using a travel agent was probably on a charter, whether they knew it or not.) On Carnival, if you are one the same ship for 20 days even if it is two cruises back to back under different booking numbers, they give you $250. On NCL one cruise under one booking number for 20 days they only give you $200 because they consider it two back to back 10 day cruises. This knowledge is from very recent personal experience and I have the documentation to prove what I am saying. On my NCL cruise for 14 days in February 2025 I am getting $50. Same cruise on Carnival I would get $250. Because 11 days of the cruise is a charter. If it wasn't a charter I would get $150, even a 3 day followed by a 14 day would still be $150. $50 for the first 3 days and $100 for the 14 days. On Carnival this would always be $250 even with a charter. Because of the number of charters I'm on and the simple pain it is to fill out these forms and the fact that NCL doesn't even have a department for the Shareholder benefit that one can call, I will be selling my NCL stock after I get my $50 in February 2025.

So the way it was last month isn't the way it is now? Just saying, two posts in a row, one with direct experience from last month and yours are completely opposite. Were you on a cruise last month like "UKstages" was? Where are you getting your information from?

Mostly I do this as well. Too bad he can't book dining, excursions, etc... They have said their system isn't much better, they also said there was no way to book the Teppanyaki Restaurant without paying and paying for 1 extra non-existent person.

Right, just better to avoid using the website or booking anything ever using the website.

When I worked, I developed user interfaces. That is partly why I get so annoyed. Given the IT budget of these companies, I can't imagine why they can't simply make it work. The IT department I worked in had one employee, me. I worked directly with the people that had to use the user interfaces I developed. I had data entry people from the keypunch days all the way up to people that never touched a keyboard before. This was how data entry was done in the 1970s. Also, these usually were covered in burn marks from cigarettes. 😂

Yes, I may do that. Where is that by the way? Guest services? or is there a specific place to go for dining reservations? Thank you...

I wasn’t told that if I booked the Teppanyaki restaurant first it should’ve worked until after I had given up and booked another 5 reservations. I had only booked 5 of my 10 total entitlements when I tried to book the Teppanyaki restaurant. Customer service said it would not be possible, regardless. So, I gave up and booked another five reservations. Now, I am unwilling to cancel 10 reservations, just so I can maybe go to the Teppanyaki restaurant. Cagney’s will have to suffice.

I tried to book when I did have remaining credits, it did not work. And those remaining were from a package, not a Platinum benefit. So, clearly it does not work correctly, since I was not able to book with a single credit on my second of the back to back cruises. It should take into account I am one person, which it does not do, especially for the Teppanyaki where there are no two person tables anyway. In advance even if I was willing to pay I was forced to pay for two people. The system is almost non-functional as far as I’m concerned. Suppose there is a family of three, a couple with a 12 year old child; to book the Teppanyaki restaurant in advance of the cruise, without a dining package, they are required to fully pay for four people. This is wrong.

Yes, I can confirm that the Pride added studio staterooms in 2013. Still sounds confusing the way they said that, since they didn’t bother to mention that none of the other older ships had studios or studios lounges. Even though the website says, “Studios are available fleetwide.” They must be saying that the studio lounge, confirmed, on the Pride of America doesn’t have these amenities. Norwegian customer service has said that the statement on their website, (“Studios are available fleetwide.”), was false. Because, studios are not fleet-wide.

Unfortunately, editing is only allowed for 15 minutes, the post your quoting is three days old.

All right, they need to tell you that when you’re making the reservations, not after you’ve made 10 reservations. better still, they need to fix their website, so it works correctly.

I was talking about Teppanyaki and also the Brazilian steakhouse. It certainly didn’t work for me and customer service said it probably wouldn’t no matter what. I’m assuming because I’m one person and potentially because I am doing a back to back book under one reservation. Certainly, if their system worked correctly I wouldn’t have a problem at all. There were no instructions that said, I had to book those first. I’m certainly not going to cancel 10 reservations with the hope that I can reserve 2 spots for one person. What they need to do is fix the website so it works and knows how many total free meals you have and allows one to state the number of guests and not the size of the table. The reservation system mentions nothing about free specialty meal from a package. Regardless, it certainly didn’t work for me. customer service said I did nothing wrong. They just said it wasn’t going to work.