KeithJenner

4 hours ago, blackwing said:

I am curious about the responses that the FAS specilaty dining is non-transferable.  On our recent cruise, we were a family of four booked into two cabins. Daughter and I were booked in an inside (one meal each) and wife and son were booked in a balcony (two meals each).

 

On one night, all four of us went to Ocean Blue.  The hostess asked for my card and wife's card, so we used the inside cabin's one day of meals and one day of the balcony's meals.

 

On another night, wife and I went to Le Bistro.  I made the reservation in my name.  When it came time to pay, wife used her card.  They deducted the two remaining meals left on her card.  In reading the responses here, that meal technically should have been my son's.  They should have known that I wasn't him since the reservation was in my name.  I guess they either overlooked it or didn't care?

My guess is that the server just assumed that the two people dining were the two sharing the room. I don’t know whether you making the reservation would make any difference as that bit would have been dealt with by the person who welcomed you rather than the server.

They may have made an error, or they may have just arranged things in a way that helped you. These things can happen and sometimes they do charge things to the wrong accounts, but it can’t be relied upon.

More often than not, in my experience, they ask for everyone’s card when they do the bills, and often everyone gets their own to sign, so this sort of thing wouldn’t accidentally happen in those cases.

The key thing is that they didn’t charge two credits from the same meal to one account. Many of the sharing questions on this board are where people re asking if four people can turn up and use both dining credits for two of those people. I’m not even sure whether the system would allow this to happen even  if they tried to.

Whilst the credits are not transferable, it is certainly possible for things like you experienced to happen, and people could arrange things to try to get them to happen that way, but it is certainly not guaranteed.

5 minutes ago, stellarose33 said:

We are 7 nights in a balcony. so we each get 2 meals . right? so used to CCL that this FAS is confusing. 

That’s correct.

57 minutes ago, Jetswdo said:

Thank you so much to both replies.  Very informative.  Ok, so I will then click on "too early to reply" after I have logged in.  So it should hopefully work.  If it doesn't or I can't book the times I want for reservations, I will then email the land concierge address which sthrngary  graciously provided.  I already have that pre written on my "mail waiting to be sent"---- this is the first time I have booked Haven---testing the waters to see if it is what I would do again with NCL.  I'll respond again with how the booking the restaurants worked out. (April 16-17 ish).  Anita

It will certainly open up at 130 days (barring standard NCL website glitches). This is a common question and it always works out ok. Our bookings always say the date 120 days out and have never failed to actually open at the correct time.

5 hours ago, fredflint said:

I would talk to them if not book a 2nd person for free and have them be a no show, 🙂

We may think that a solo “should” get double points but the fact is that they don’t. NCLs policy is that it is one point per day per person regardless of how many people you are paying for. The only exception is if you book a suite or if there is an offer on (double points, latitudes offers). The points are awarded to the account of the individual person and are not given to anyone else if there is a no show. You have to sail to get the points.

Talking to them would be a waste of time and booking for two with one no-showing could have other consequences.

Unless you are a large group there is no need to reserve MDR in advance, and it hasn’t been possible to do so for a while in my experience.

Larger groups may been to, but I think you need to call.

17 minutes ago, LongIsland-Cruiser said:

Latitude Rewards are usually for the sailing.  It doesn't matter what room you have.  

You get an extra point per day if you are in a suite.

If the balcony room you have moved to has a large balcony (and it was just a standard club balcony room you had originally - not a large balcony room) then I think that’s a good deal. Standard balcony sizes on the Breakaway are tiny.

1 minute ago, dbrown84 said:

actually, the OP asked if they could use all four of their credits (two each for guest one and two) in one meal for 4 people

I probably didn’t word it well, but that’s what I was trying to say. 

1 hour ago, dexddd said:

Sure looks like that lady in the picture is getting ready to share with the guy.

We regularly share a dessert. We both have the dining package but one dessert between us is enough.

As so often on CC, this discussion has got rather confused. The OP asked whether they can turn up at a restaurant and get the two free at sea meals given to guests one and two used for one meal for four. Only if someone is extremely lucky will that be allowed (I don’t think I have ever heard of people being successful there).

What people are now largely talking about is a group sharing two of those meals to spread amongst more people. That can happen, especially in places like Food Republic, but you are likely to be sharing food that would have been served to two people amongst four.

1 minute ago, F19810 said:

Even though I pay full price for the room?  This is not a solo room.

They don’t give extra points to for being a solo, whatever room or rate you are paying.

6 minutes ago, F19810 said:

I booked a studio cabin for an upcoming cruise.  I know with the studios, you only get one point/night.  The balconies came down in price so I upgraded to the balcony.  As a solo passenger, will I now get two points/night?  I know on RCL, I get two points as a solo passenger in any room except studios.

Thanks

Solos don’t get extra points on NCL.

1 hour ago, itsnotjustme said:

I don't think this is correct.  (Perhaps someone allowed it, but I would not bank on it.)

 

Vouchers are given for Latitude rewards status of Platinum or above.  Each voucher provides dinner for two.  Only two vouchers are provided per cabin, even if more than one guest has the status.

 

Free at Sea is not a voucher and applies specifically to guests 1 and 2 in the cabin.

Just a minor thing, but you do get more than two latitudes vouchers if there are more than two people in the room who quality.

The standard is two vouchers if there are one or two platinums in the room, but if a third or fourth person qualifies then you should get another pack of vouchers.

4 hours ago, Grandmafreddie said:

If you book a balcony you get 2 dinning vouchers which allows you to share. The dinners you get with latitudes you don't. Found this on my last cruise.

It is actually the other way round. If someone allowed you to share the free at sea dining credits then you were lucky.

The latitudes vouchers are actually shareable in that they are vouchers for meals for two people and you can take whoever you want as the second guest.

The free at sea meals are non transferable, so no you can’t do this.

13 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

I heard this was also true of the main dining room as well, that you could get some of the Starbucks options that weren't of the iced versions? 

Yes, most dining venues will serve coffee. From memory I think it is usually Espresso, Latte and Cappuccino listed on the menus. I don’t know whether they will also get others if you request them.

23 minutes ago, sicness4x4 said:

In February, we were on the Joy transatlantic from Southampton with approximately 2200-2300 passengers. Without any stops, Miami was our port of entry to the US. We were in the Haven and utilized priority disembarkation a little after 0800. We waited in the customs/immigration line for maybe 30-45 minutes. Our flight was not until 1710, so we got an Uber to our dayroom by MIA and arrived before 0930.

 

In 2015, we did the Escape inaugural transatlantic with Miami as our port of entry to the US. I don't remember the exact times, but I do recall the line was long, as was the wait to go through immigration, taking about 4 hours. I still lived in the US at the time, so my flight was domestic. I made it to FLL around 1400, just over an hour before departure. 

 

We have sailed several transatlantics to the US. When the port of entry is before the final port, disembarkation tends to move quickly. A few TAs into New York with an early arrival, we were able to complete immigration the night before disembarkation. The Escape TA in 2015 was the longest disembarkation we experienced.

The Escape transatlantic in 2015 was the one I was referring to earlier. That queue really was crazy.

3 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

I'm an early riser so that will be an excellent way to start the day with some breakfast at O'Sheehan's. 👍

Not sure if you are aware, but o’Sheehans should be able to serve you at least some of the Starbucks options with your breakfast. I often get an espresso with breakfast there.

Yes it will be open on embarkation day. I don’t know for sure when it closes on disembarkation day, but I’m quite sure that I got a coffee on that day on my last cruise (different ship).

The hours quoted above sound about right for the opening hours during the cruise.

Basically I don’t recall ever wanting a coffee and finding it closed.

i can’t really help at the moment with your question as we don’t tend to use taxis, but we are on the first Viva Lisbon to Rome trip in a couple of weeks and I may do a live report.

If I do then remind me at the time at relevant ports and I will have a look out for the taxis and report back.

I’ve done two eastbound transatlantic and both involved long queues to get off the ship.

On one (New York) I waited before trying to disembark and the queues had died down by then but in Miami the queue went almost totally round an entire deck and then into the terminal.

In New York the queues certainly seemed shorter.

Like so much, it seems to be something that can vary, but be prepared for it to take a while.

I think I have read that sometimes immigration may happen at an earlier port, but can’t say for sure (both my trips were non stop).

Edited to add, I’m from the UK so obviously the actual immigration part took longer for me than it would for a US citizen, but that only split out at the end.

Late departures are relatively common on European cruises, and embarkation time remains the same at just before midday, although remember you will likely to need to get there early in order to get an early boarding group. Remember that some groups have priority (suites, latitudes) so even if you are the first one at the port then there will be others boarding ahead of you if you aren’t in one of those groups

In case you aren’t aware, Piraeus is quite a way from the centre of Athens so if you are planning on heading back there for the afternoon you need to make sure you have reliable transport in place.

O’Sheehans/The Local is our usual lunch place for embarkation day and we have never had any wait at all there.

We board fairly early, but sometimes have things to do before lunch, and I don’t ever recall seeing people waiting when we leave.

The problem with CruiseNext Haven is that the discount per voucher is the same as for cruisenext, so there isn’t a bigger discount for using them.

Two cruisenext vouchers worth $500 in total cost $250 but two cruisenext haven vouchers worth $1,000 cost $750, so the discount is the same.

1 hour ago, dmwnc1959 said:

Meaning as a unique separate charge or unless you've purchased the Unlimited Starbucks Package? 

If you have the Starbucks package then the charge to your room will be zero.

The procedure is still the same. They scan your card and you sign the slip, it just says zero if you have the package.

My experience is from using the premium plus beverage package but I’d be surprised if it is different for the Starbucks package.

5 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

We're on this same cruise from Rome...just like the OP. This will be our first cruise as Platinum, which is disappointing because all of the Wines Around the World and Behind the Scenes Tour will already be taken by people boarding in Barcelona a few days earlier. 

I don’t know what the current situation is, but you may be ok.

It could be that they keep some spaces available for people boarding in Rome and there may be a wines around the world during the Barcelona to Rome

leg that you would have first shot at booking.

If they have the behind the scenes tour straight after Barcelona (it used to be first day after Barcelona on the Epic, which was a sea day) then again you may be able to book that before others board as well.