Uniall

Hi, I’m curious if anyone knows how long in advance of the cruise will we be able to find out the staff onboard? We’re booked on the Escape Sept. 23, 2018. Thanks.

 

 

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Usually, any time between three months before and one hour after boarding.

It all depends on each individual's vacation schedule. ;)

Hi John & Sharon Rae!

What a nice card!

I do believe that you both are ageless.

You haven't changed at all.

I hope you have a Happy Chanukah and a Merry Christmas also!

Judy

Judy

I'm delighted you (en) JOY (ed) :D the card. When you say we're "ageless" you are definitely stretching the truth. But, I love those lies you tell. ;)

John

Does anyone know how long Richard will be on the Dawn? Have a cruise planned Jan 7, 18.

I seem to recall you will either just catch him or just miss him. But, I may be confusing him with Alain's schedule.

John

PS

I don't call CD Matic, "Richard". I call him "Otto" ;p

Amended: Norwegian Sun (as of 11/28/17)

Captain: Teo Grbic

Chief Engineer: Zeliko Skocic

Hotel Director: Brian Walters

Food & Beverage Director: Igor Futivic

Cruise Director: Roberto de Pasquale

Guest Services Manager: Claudia Condurachi

Restaurant Manager: Mihaela Mocan

Executive Chef: Paulo Vaz

Executive Housekeeper: Angel Reid

Concierge Extraordinaire': Carlos Zarate

So I guess that means I'm not special. However, as I said, I changed from a January Epic cruise to a March Epic cruise. How that was handled internally I don't know and I don't care. I was able to get off the ship that would soon be chartered and on one that hopefully still be there when I board. My booking number and booking date remained the same.

Whether you are special or not is not the question. You are giving bad advice to the poster who is trying to resolve her problem. Unlike you, she did NOT change sailing dates. All she did was enter the Upgrade bidding offer, 90 days before sailing for a higher priced cabin. Your post tended to muddy the waters, not resolve her problem.

Whenever i make any changes to my booking, the booking number is the same but the booking date is always different. Like i booked a cruise last December, in January i called up about a price reduction. on the new confirmation email i received, the booking date was January not December. It was like i lost the original December booking date. Lucky i saved all of the confirmation emails, so i know the exact correct booking date.

You are very, very, mistaken.

There are four items in the upper right hand corner:

Invoice Date, Booking Date, Reservation Number, and Promo Codes.

Regarding the Two Dates in the upper right hand corner:

My 14 points that were given were for: 7 points for the sailing and 7 points for the latitude insiders bonus.

I did not get the 7 bonus points for the 9 month advance booking. The cut off date for that was 2/3/2017, I booked on 2/2/17 so there is no reason I should not have gotten it. I was told there is no one I can talk to that I must send another email to Latitude support. Anyone know if there is someone/number that I could speak to?

What was the booking date in the upper right corner of your last booking confirmation????

If that remained 2/2/17 then send it to Latitudes.

If not, call the person who booked you.

By the by, did you make the reservation directly with NCL or use a travel agent? If you used a TA , they should be doing the leg work.

The upgrade is what did it. That counts as a rebook.

That's inaccurate. The bidding upgrade system does NOT change the booking date. That is specifically stated in the upgrade offer rules.

Everything hinges on the booking date which appears in the upper right corner of the reservation confirmation form. If that didn't change from the initial booking, point that out to the Latitudes complaint desk. If it did change find out WHY.

From what I understand it is any seven day cruise on NCL. The complementary cruise must be taken within one year of reaching Ambassador status.

 

If you want to upgrade from a balcony cabin to a higher category, you will pay only the difference in the two rates.

Maybe I should use an internet funding site to raise money to cover my upgrade from balcony to suite. ;p:cool:

Thanks

 

I have two questions

 

1. How free is the free cruise - Port taxes Service charges etc are they included?
   
2. Is there any blackout period and what grade of cabin do you get?
   

I suppose I could go and read the rules just being lazy :)

 

 

And yes it will be to follow Yannis!

7 day cruise balcony. I think I have pay port and tax charges. I can apply the at booking time price to suite at current price and pay the difference.

Uniall, you are so correct but this goes throughout the ranks as you say. Also I think the issue is that being S & P 500 the only people that REALLY matter are the shareholders and all we do is help to deliver shareholder value.

 

The other issue is this the old teams came through the ranks and therefore had a family attitude. I will not mention names but the recent losses are in our view starting to show through in how inexperienced some HD are. The likes of Klaus and his teams will not be seen again in our view. Yes some exist and are still shining lights but thanks to you and the MSC match we may well try the Yacht Club next. I suspect we know a lot of the same crew both past and present some of whom are now with MSC and HAL!!

 

 

The concierges other than those like Adrian David and Yahira (Hanno but do not know personally), are really top Guest services reps and are not concierges in our view. I

 

There is an excellent guest services supervisor who we think we make concierge in the future I will keep his name for now but lets revisit this post one day :)

I'll rely on you to reconnoiter MSC ahead of me. I'll expect your usual excellent reports.

But first, I've got to complete NCL Ambassador in May and do my free award cruise in Hawaii on Pride of America in the Fall '18.

Then, I'll do MSC on whatever ship to which Yannis is assigned.

There is an inherent difficulty comparing Concierges from the "old" NCL and the "new". The old NCL gave concierges (and HDs and FBs) much greater Latitude (pun intended) in extra perks and awards. Our all time #1 Concierge Supreme (unnamed) provided comp limo transfer (after Med cruise) from NCL to RCCL ship in Rome to return to U.S. which we booked by internet on board. He arranged by ship phone to have his friend, the RCCL concierge, meet us at the dock, escort us on board (by passing on shore check in) and sit us with the Captain for dinner. Today's NCL would not allow this. But, even if they did, I don't believe anyone would think of doing it because of a New cruise industry zeitgeist.

When I disembarked Epic in March David was embarking. Have heard good things. Maybe next time?

 

I have never had a bad Concierge. But I have to admit my favorite so far is Hanno.

 

 

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I don't know Hanno. What ship is he on?

Concierge David Contreras is the son of Beverage Manager Jose Contreras

Papa Jose and I have a pact.

We always tell son David he's the second best concierge in the fleet.

We never tell him who's the best.

Our theory is that keeps David on his toes ....:D:D:D

John

Adrian is BY FAR my absolute favorite concierge. LOVE HIM!

Aham - Please do not forget David Contreras - he is in the same league in our eyes. But we agree Adrian is superb.

You are both correct. Both Adrian and David are among my top five NCL Concierges. Their delivery of service exceed ten on the "Hospitality Richter Scale."

They differ only in style.

Adrian exudes total competence and control. He listens, makes notes and viola: It is done.

David exudes warmth and charm. He listens, smiles and says "My pleasure" and viola: It is done.

It is my understanding that one must cruise within every three years to maintain the "match status", otherwise will revert to "earned status".

 

 

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You confirm my understanding of what I was told. One cruise every three years is a piece of cake.

if you go to guest services on board you can add occupants for a per person fee...there were 8 of us that shared one for an additional $50/person...there was plenty of room for 8 as long as all 8 don't want to at one time sit in a beach chair (there are 6 set up on the beach)...this wasn't an issue for us since a couple of us preferred the front porch loungers and/or the hammock

That's good info to know. I may have been the cause of the rule relaxation. We were on the 2nd ship to use the Caye. Originally, the ads said it would be for 10. When I complained, about the reduction to 6 shore excursion allowed my 10 people at the flat rate. So, I may have gotten a rethink of the pricing going.

You guys could do a stand up comedy routine. There hasn't been a comic trio since The Marx Brothers or the 3 stooges. The cabanas rent for the duration of your stay in port for a flat rate to be used by a maximum of up to 6 persons.

It has been quite a while since I've visited this (or any) thread.

In October I had to have my May, 2017 hip replacement redone.

I do not recommend this - even for my worst enemy - whoever that might be.

 

I am now up and about in the house and it looks like this time all is well.

 

Thanks to everyone who has posted about Yannis and his return to the sea.

We will definitely consider a cruise with MSC once Yannis can assure me that he'll be aboard.

 

This is just another big loss for NCL.

But then, we already knew this.

 

John and Suzy - I have especially missed your posts.

I'm glad to be back & hopefully I'll find a cruise to book.

This is the first time in at least 15 years that I have nothing on the books.

It's been a long 6 months since our last voyage and I really do miss seeing our NCL friends.

So, who knows, maybe the next one will be with MSC.

 

Judy

:):):)

Welcome back, Judy.

Hip replacement surgery is tough enough without having to redo it. Sharon Rae and I wish you a speedy recovery and rehab. Your perseverance will help me get through knee replacement as a mere walk in the park compared to your ordeal.

We're scheduled to make Ambassador in May 2018 and hoping to book our free cruise in Hawaii on the Pride of America in late 2018 or early 2019. Any chance of you joining us?

John

I read in the fine print that MSC will match perks only one time.

 

 

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MSC agents inform me the fine print only allows you to REGISTER your status once. Afterwards, you raise your MSC levels only by MSC sailings. But you don't drop down after one cruise. I needed to know if I should wait till May when I go NCL Ambassador or REGISTER now as Platinum Plus. MSC's highest level is BLACK and correlates with Platinum Plus. So I don't need to wait till May.