kismetique

I don't know but i suffer from it. If I can do it on line, I'm going to do that over a phone call. I think it has to do more with getting CSRs that don't soak good English and having a slight hearing deficit. Those two issues make for excruciating phone convos!!! 😊

I called to ask several questions before I actually did the upgrade and then inquired about just doing it online rather than calling back and the gentlemen said, NO!! Don't book online, always call us, less chance it goes bad! I've only ever done this once, so I have no real experience, but he tickled me with his emphatic NO!

When I recently did my 4 upgrades, I asked specifically, if while booking my 4 b2b's if something didn't work with the chained cruises and I needed to cancel would I get my points refunded, both people I talked to said absolutely, no problem. Just my experience.

Yup... on my last cruise, they gave us OBC for a missed port. I've always been able to have it applied to gratuities, so the night before when I got my bill and they hadn't offset the amounts, I went and asked and was told, no more. We hadn't spent a penny on the ship so I had to go to the shops and spend $250 on crap I had no room in my bags to carry around on the rest of my trip. Either that or leave money on the table, and that wasn't happening!!!! If I had known, I'd have eaten better!!!

I would agree. This is a 4 leg b2b for us. The first leg I found a comparable Cruse on Princess. I was able to book an upgraded mini suite on Princess for what the inside was going to cost me on NCL. Making it very easy for me to cheat on NCL. Now I'm looking at an a Asain cruise on Princess where again, even the upgraded mini suite is the cost of the NCL inside. I think NCL is pricing themselves out of my range and with their food quality taking a hit lately, moving to Princess is looking better and better. I will miss my loyalty perks...I so wished Princess would loyalty match. We like to book the 2 bedroom suite with the connecting club balcony for the entire family and the newer NCL ships have phased that cabin set up out, so I have to look for Cruises on their older ships. 2 upgraded mini suites on the Princess will work perfect for us.

First time doing upgrades and I did 3. I lacked 6,000 points having enough to do 3 inside to balcony, so I did 2 inside to balcony and 1 ov to balcony. Afterwards, wondering if Inside to Balcony is worth it, or if it's more cost effective to go OV to Balcony and save the 30k points for the next cruise. Anyway, thought it might help other first timers. As a first timer here's how it went for me. I called NCL and booked the 3 cruises so I could buy cruise first certs as I booked, as I had used all I purchased from my last cruise and my next one isn't till May and the cabins were looking sparse, so I didn't want to wait. I asked for $500 certs, but only got 2 and the 3rd one at $250.🤔 I called the world points line and got a lady that was less than helpful, unfortunately. But, I guess it all worked out as I knew what to say and ask from reading this board. I had to upgrade two of the cruises in order to chose my balcony and I was worried since ncl.com showed only guarantees left for balconies, that didn't appear to actually be the case, perhaps because we are over a year out, but on cruise number 2, I seemingly got the last balcony available on the preferred Deck 9. I ASKED how much I had to pay to chose my cabin, otherwise she would have not offered. $80 for the first, nothing for the second and $60 for the last. I thought that was pretty good. So I got to pick my cabin on all 3 cruises. Also, we didn't opt to book any of NCLs air. We like to fly premium economy and it's just easier and cheaper to book with points. I saved $4800 on the first cruise going IB to BB, I saved $4700 on the second cruise going from OB to BB, I saved $4800 on the third cruise going from IF to BA So an overall savings of $14,300 I'm quite impressed! I was thinking of giving up on my NCL card, because we usually sail in suites, but for that savings, I think I can do without a butler and concierge! I decided to cheat on NCL and booked the first leg of this 4 b2b on Princess. We've never sailed Princess, but the price was unbeatable when compared to the same to/from itinerary on NCL. We don't drink enough to pay for the package, so we skip it. Princess has more add on's than NCL and they are more costly! I booked an upgraded mini-suite on the Princess for what the inside was going to cost on NCL - same itenerary,1 day difference, so I'll have a hotel room for that one off night, booked with hotel points hopefully. So the savings is closer to $18K when considering how much I saved on the first leg combined with the above savings. Question#1 - I've purchased enough to bring my total points to 30,000 on my next BoA billing cycle. Can I call and drop back down to an inside booking for my second cruise to save more money? Even if I had to cancel and rebook, it might be worth it - I'm not sure - my brain is fried from trying to keep 4 cruises straight and calculating inside/outside/balcony rates! I think I'll stick it all in a spreadsheet and see (not sure why I didn't do that to begin with!) I'm working hard to see how cheaply and how long I can sail before having to fly home. 😊 Question #2 - does anyone know if Princess does status matching or if it's even worth it to ask? We're only Platinum on NCL. Thanks for the help from the board!

It seems to be the "new sailing full" price. 🙂

Knowing that the aft is out of the question, is there any upside to waiting till on my Cruse in May to book these 4 cruises? What is the lowest inside and lowest OV I can book and still get to pick my balcony cabin? Thanks!

I've been reading and trying to figure these cross meta and meta upgrades out. I've never done this type of upgrade. We usually just book the suite we want and be done with it. I'm planning a B2B2B2B cruise and I understand each segment needs to be upgraded on it's own, that's not a problem. I have 176,000 points. I have a couple of scenarios to ask about. If I book an O4, can I use 30,000 points to upgrade to a B4, then use another 10,000 to go up 2 categories to the Aft Balcony? If that would work I'd have enough points to do that on all 4 segments. If that is not permissible, I'm sailing in May this year. We're in the Garden Villa - does that pull any weight when booking 4 cruises on the ship? My problem is - even through these 4 cruises are over a year out - one of them shows to only have 1 aft balcony left. Can I book the actual cabins I want in order to secure the aft balcony then re-book when I'm on the ship to get the 1 category upgrade to help me secure the aft balcony? Or is there absolutely no way to get into an aft with points, other than by fluke when they do allow it? 😊 If I have this strategy all wrong - can someone help me? I like to map things all out on paper before I make the calls to make the reservations. Thanks for any help, suggestions, or ideas!

Agreed! A full e-visa was going to be $261 each!

Thank you so much for the info. I have applied for the transit visa, but was never asked about insurance. I'm about to decide they are not longer requiring this of US passengers, as our Canadians and UK passengers said they still had to purchase insurance. The cost of the transit visa was $10.50 but it has sat with the same status now for over a month. I emailed them and asked them to check on it and while they responded with a non-answer of sorts, the next day the status of my visa changed from Send to Embassy to Send to Representative. I'm not sure if that is really any different, but at least something changed. NCL has now changed the wording on our embarkation document that we just need to have applied before we sail if we plan to get off the ship. If I have my visa, I'll get off and do a uturn and get right back on the ship. Saudi should not be rewarded for such a cluster of a mess on getting visa's. Everyone was panicked thinking we would be denied boarding if we didn't have it, but seemingly couldn't get it. Again, thank you for your insight!

NCL has a cruise leaving November 24 going to Saudi. We're having a huge discussion on our roll call about the requirements of a Saudi Visa. NCL is NOW, less than 30 days before sailing, telling us that we need a Saudi Visa to even be allowed to board the ship. Did you have to have a Saudi Visa and if so, can you please tell me how you applied and how much you paid for it and how quickly you received it? Some of us have applied a month ago and have heard nothing from them. Thank you ever so much for any information and help you can send my way! Kismetique

As long as the Dawn goes - we will be on it. We've always understood the pitfalls of traveling abroad and while this time the danger is ramped up a bit, we're excited and we are going! If we make it home, just think of the stories to tell and if we don't, just think of the stories our children will have to tell! I bought an international health insurance policy when we booked this trip with a healthy sum to repatriate our bodies should the need arise. My son, emailed me and thanked me for thinking ahead! 🤔🤣

Yes, they were stingy, but we just kept going back and asking for more because the food was so much better than the buffet! We were still pretty new at cruising at that point, and with no specialty restaurants, if you didn't like your table mates in the MDR, the buffet was the only alternative. Speaking of table mates... Sounds like you had interesting ones! Sometimes you have to wonder if it wasn't all a rouse. Like an inside joke between the two of them to spin such a story. Likely she was on the level, but I could see my son pulling such a stunt. He absolutely loves to mess with people he's forced to spend time with. Telling them the most outlandish stories, and the problem is, he's so good at it, they believe every word! I would have been uncomfortable with her story and like... What do you say to someone like that? I'm sure you tried to change the subject or stear the conversation in a different direction, but given that the story was told in the first place, I would imagine she couldn't be deterred!!🤣 I read your post to my husband and he got a belly laugh from it! He said, I would have ran too!

I didn't realized the Sun was still in service. We did a 12 day on her to South America and loved loved loved that ship! Of course, that was back before specialty dining. I think they were just starting to experiment with dining options and they had this little Bistro set up on the back of the ship, tucked away by the buffet dining area. They didn't advertise it, but once we stumbled upon it, we kept going there for dinner each night. It was like ordering Tapa's. They wouldn't give you very much at at time, so you had to keep going back and ask for another serving....but no one knew it was there and we were usually the only ones! It was magical and free of course! Our concierge on the Jewel was fabulous. The butler seemed somewhat new and not comfortable with his duties yet. I had to keep asking for lemonade and tea each day for the room. I told him on day one, that's all my husband drinks and to please provide a pitcher of each, each day. We were also celebrating 4 birthdays and I told him I would like to have a cake one evening after we had our meal in Cagney's - but I didn't tell him what night - I told him I would let him know. We got back to the room after the Azura dining disaster to find our room decorated with balloons and streamers and a birthday cake! We didn't eat it because of the dining snafu and the next day he kept saying, but Madame - you said, you said. I told him it was fine, we would eat it eventually, not to worry. He fretted over the cake until we finally just threw it away so he would stop worrying. I'm looking forward to this same cabin on the Dawn. That bathroom is to die for and I'm seeing the newer ships don't have that configuration for that type of suite. I may just have to stick to the older ships ...or switch lines.

I'm not sure what the $20 for each meal was! I was simply appalled! This was a Mexican Riviera cruise on NCL Jewel in April of 2023. It was in the Azura MDR. The hostess was tacky and standoffish and the wait staff were completely indifferent to us. It was the first night of the cruise and I was dreading the rest of the meals under these conditions. It shouldn't matter, but my son gave his room key to check us in, he was in a club balcony next door to my 2 bedroom suite. We hadn't cruised in over 10 years so I didn't really even understand what the Haven was all about. It's my understanding now, that the Jewel doesn't really have a Haven proper, but yes, I had purchased 3 cabins for this cruise, a 2 bedroom suite with balcony and 2 club balconies next door. I tipped the concierge very well up front so that all 3 rooms could have SOME of my suite perks (priority tender, reserved show seating, etc)... Of course, they couldn't go with us to Cagney's and I never even asked for that. So we didn't any of us partake of that perk. I did have room service breakfast each morning, but the butler would only bring enough for the 3 staying in our room, which was irritating that he got to decide what was enough for each of us, as I was not ordering for the rest, they all loved the breakfast buffet! My husband is a huge breakfast eater and will usually skip lunch and just have dinner. I usually had to share my breakfast with him because our butler was stingy! 🤣 His second 'end of cruise' tip envelope reflected my displeasure too! Here's the funny thing. At first, I thought the bar tenders were being nice to an old lady not charging me for my Cokes!!!! I kept telling my husband, I'm going to the bar alone to get the Coke so they don't charge me! Hahaha. I finally realized, it was the color of my key card and I could have asked the butler to bring me some Cokes for the room! I prefer to think they were just being nice to me! 😁 The last time we cruised years ago, your Latitudes tier level was the big deal. We could book an inside and still get perks because we were Platinum level, which apparently means almost nothing now. We used to have ALL KINDS of little goodies in our room upon arrival. NCL Pins, tons of snacks, nice selection of drinks, coupons, invitations, etc. I think we had a warm bottle of Champaign in the room upon arrival in April, and that's it. Cruising has changed drastically since we last cruised! Some for the better and some for the worse. Being retired, I have more money for cruising these days and I'm sorta wishing my cruise line of choice had not been NCL all those years. We are on a 19 day Middle East Cruise in November on the Dawn, in the same type cabin just for the 2 of us this time (that bathroom is to die for!!!) and I better get everything I order for breakfast this time!! 😁 So, no Haven proper, but I do plan to maximize my suite perks to the absolute MAX! Now that I know what it's all about!

Completely agree. For us, Daisy was the exception, not the rule. And since she didn't just give expected service, but WAY, WAY over and above every night, she was handsomely rewarded. That's what I believe a tip is all about. Trust me, she earned every dime! I've not had that level of dining service since our first cruise 20 years ago!

That's the whole point of tipping so well, when you find one you like, to keep getting them!!! The first night on this ship we went to the more modern MDR (forgot the name). We had to wait 20 min for a table, despite the dining room being half empty. We waited another 10 min to be brought menus. We ordered with the VERY unfriendly waiter. Our party of 8 had to be broken up into 2 tables that weren't across the restaurant from each other, but not very close either. The two dad's got the two kids. I inquired about the steak, the waiter shrugged his shoulders at me. I asked about another dish, same response. We all ordered and 30 min later, the plates were thrown in front of us. We've now been there over an hour and the two children have gone to sleep in their chairs. The dad's ask to have the meals boxed so they could take it to the room and put the kids to bed. $20 EACH!!!!! WHAT?!?!? They walked out and left the food, put the kids to bed and when we got back to the room an HOUR LATER, they went to the buffet. This is unacceptable. The service was terrible as was the food! So when we got Daisy the next night.... We made sure she was our go to waitress the rest of the cruise. One night we went to Cagney's. It was equally as bad as the first night in the other MDR, so we skipped Maderno all together and opted for Daisy in the MDR. I not only plan, but expect to tip well on a cruise. When we now talk about the cruise, Daisy is always mentioned, so good memories and money WELL spent! We all have different priorities. 😊

Will do, we get back 5 days before Christmas!

I agree with the letter, but I only give half their tip up front. I give this in an envelope with "Butler - Envelope #1" on it. Likewise with the Concierge (2 envelopes with a letter). Hopefully, they understand, there's another envelope with "Butler - Envelope #2" on it, IF I get good service. That way, if it's bad service, I'm not kicking myself the whole trip that I already gave them the $$. This next cruise is 19 days and I'm not about to tip it all up front! I'll order room service breakfast every day, and will order items that are not on the card menu... If I get them, he/she will get handsomely rewarded. If not, there might be money subtracted from the envelope!

If they went above and beyond and made my dining experience more than I expected, I would tip that evening.... And this is not going to be popular. I might tip $20, even as an individual if I wanted this waiter the rest of the cruise. You want to incentivise them to want YOU at their table and have a chat with the maitre d. I feel certain this is what Daisy did, and why that table was always waiting on us .. Even though she had NO guarantee what time or even if we would come that evening! We never made any prearrangements or reservations. I'm a huge tipper IF I feel I was adequately waited on and they went above and beyond. When I ask about a dish, but decide on a different one, yet the waiter brings both dishes without me feeling bad for ordering 2... That's worth $20 to me especially when paired with other niceties ( drink waiting at table, honest recommendations, etc. ). Here's why she kept getting $50 a night from my husband and me. I like salads, but I like protein in them, so I would combine 2 appetizers and asked that they be served together, like the salad of the night topped with shrimp scampi. No problem, no questions, no hesitation! All this while carrying on separate and personalized conversations with everyone at the table! This is their livelihood and when they excel at their job, I want to reward that so they feel inclined to give others this same service. Her service was so good, we cancelled our second specialty restaurant meal and went to the MDR instead.

He would die of embarrassment! So of course, I'm going to try this one too!

We have 6 flights... So plenty of opportunities to try out different scenarios! I can't wait!

Yes, after the first night in the main dining room with Daisy we tipped her excessively well as we each got up from the table we handed her folded bills. There were 4 families and each family tipped her individually. I would imagine she made a haul that night, although we didn't tally the tip between us. She was absolutely wonderful. She made recommendations and even brought extra dishes when we were indecisive... Didn't ask for them, but she knew we might want to try them. We had 2 children in the group and she catered to them, bringing them over the top desserts and fixing hamburgers just as they liked them. We didn't get her the next night, so we asked for her table the third night. And again, she was fabulous and I'm sure we all tipped her well. Each of the following nights, a table for 8 in her section was waiting empty for us and she never knew what time we were going to show up. I would estimate, between 4 families and 5 dinners she probably made $600 in tips. She was THAT good! She was the ONLY server we tipped individually, outside of my room steward, butler and concierge.

Yes!!!! Excellent... Thank you!