KeithJenner

You are just making a reservation for a number of people. The system doesn’t know who you are booking for, so your only limit is the table sizes that are available. Mke sure you book any fixed fee places (Moderno or Teppanyaki) first as the system doesn’t always pick up that you have free at sea plus and may try to charge you for any places with a fee after you have reserved your first two meals, which could get expensive for 6 people. If that did happen then get one of the other people in a different room to try.

Yes, I've said that on both my posts on this subject. As I said in my last post, I wouldn't try this if a rejection would mean having to pay a la carte prices. I'd much rather play safe and know what's going to happen when I turn up, and what it will cost, even if that is a bit more than it would cost if I got lucky.

Depends on the ship. Looks like you are on the Prima where theatre entertainment should be bookable 21 days out. For smaller places like Sid Normans you have to queue. The queue starts fairly early apparently and you may need to be there an hour early to have a chance of a seat.

It is specifically not allowed by the terms of the latitudes vouchers in that it states that the vouchers can't be used in the same restaurant. This is often interpreted as meaning that a couple can't use both vouchers in Cagneys, for example, but I think that they are actually talking about the situation we have here (both vouchers being used at the same time). That isn't to say that the staff won't actually allow it, but it may be a risk if they don't and you end up having to pay for meals you weren't expecting to. If they don't allow it then you probably won't have much luck arguing it as it is specifically not allowed. Personally, I wouldn't risk it if it could mean having to pay for the meals a la carte. Absolutely agree with your final paragraph though. As long at the other perks work out (ie you don't end up paying the tips for two beverage packages that aren't used) then this can work well.

Are you sure? Have you tried this? It would certainly be useful for many if you can do this, but I've never heard of it being allowed.

No, you can't do that as the vouchers can't be used together. That isn't to say that the restaurant may not allow you (I've never tried), but it's much more likely that they won't allow it. You can use the voucher for yourself and one child at one restaurant and then your wife and that child at another, so you would just need to buy a package for one of them. If you have free at sea then that would leave one meal for you and your wife by yourselves.

It sounds like lots of people were just looking for a reason to complain. I live in the UK and I probably drink more Guinness than any other beer. I've never heard of "Guinness Day" and it certainly isn't a big thing here. In a pub in the UK I'd guess that the proportion of people drinking Guinness is usually significantly lower than 5%. For every pint of Guinness that is served they will pour much more lager, wine or spirits. Guinness is certainly more commonly drunk in Ireland, and if the cruise line were promoting Guinness Day then they should have made sure they didn't run out before then, but all those upset people were probably only going to have a Guinness because of the advertising of the specified day.

You get two dinners for two. If you find someone to go with you then you can treat them. Even better, find another platinum who is solo and you get four meals for two between you. What you can't do is split your vouchers to make four meals for one.

And some others, mainly from Alfama: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6MBwfVioUM/?igsh=MWM2ZmExMXpvaGltYQ==

Some Pictures of the Freedom Day events: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6MBX7miBws/?igsh=eThyb3Y4ejh4YnFz Edit: I’ve never really worked out how to use Instagram. I don’t know if that link is any good. Let me know if it isn’t.

So it was a great day in Portugal. Walked to Alfama and worked our way back as planned. There was a flypast in the morning which we saw some of from our hotel and then they were getting ready for a parade at Pravda do Comercio. Alfama was really nice. The sort of place I could walk around for hours. On the way back we hit an event happening near the Elevador de Santa Justa which meant we couldn’t see the views from there and it was difficult getting through the crowds, but it was an experience. Relaxing in the hotel now, as we did cover some miles during the day. Overall I really enjoyed Lisbon. It’s my first time here and I would certainly like to get back soon. We didn’t head out to the Monastery at Belem and I think that’s where we will go next time.

I use the bill breakers in the casino to get smaller bills for tips etc.

There will almost certainly be no customs or immigration to deal with in Rome.

An option is to take the bottle of wine with you unopened. That often works well as we have wine with the meal anyway using free at sea and the platinum bottle can be nice to have a lazy afternoon on the balcony.

It will almost certainly be cheaper to get it at an ATM on shore if you can,

He’s 19 next month. Was out on the town last night with friends from University, where he has just finished his first year.

Happy Freedom Day. Somehow, despite seeing the date mentioned many times, I never spotted that we were here on the 25th of April, which is the anniversary of the “Carnation Revolution” when the fascist dictatorship was overthrown. It is the 50th anniversary this year, and there seem to be quite a few events planned. I’m not sure how this will effect our plans today but we will carry on and be flexible as required. We are staying at the Emerald House hotel, to the west of the centre, with a good view of the bridge (Ponte de 25 Abril - another clue that I missed) and the Santuario Nacional do Christo Rei monument across the river. It is a couple of miles from here to Alfama (the old city) and we plan to head there first thing and then work our way back. Hopefully it should be a good day.

Absolutely, regarding getting to know the servers and getting good service. We do tend to tip per drink, not in order to get better service, but just because I want to give something extra to these people who work so hard for us. However we often get to know others who treat the staff the same way bit don’t tip extra (sometimes they tip at the end, but the staff don’t know that). They get exactly the same treatment that we do, Tipping probably does have an effect on the service, but in my experience, the way you interact with the staff is much more important.

Hi everyone. Another one of my live reports is incoming. As usual I’m not sure how regularly I will be posting but I will try to get on every day if I can. A bit of background for those who don’t know us. I am travelling with my wife (our third cruise by ourselves after a few years of cruising with our son, who would rather stay at home these days. We have been NCL regulars for over 10 years now, most often in the Med, but there are a few new ports for us this time. We haven’t sailed on a Prima class yet (we were booked on the first Prima Amsterdam to Reykjavik cruise that was cancelled), so are interested to see how we get on with these ships. We usually book free at sea plus and have done so again this time. In addition we have booked Vibe passes. I’ve never really considered these before, but it made sense to us due to concerns about finding quiet bars outside. Whether it will be worth the cost is very debatable, but we will give it a go. Having free at sea plus makes some shore excursions very good value, so we have booked 5 in total. Some are full tours but we have also booked the hop on hop off in Majorca (for free) and a transfer to Florence. We have two days where we aren’t planning on going ashore (Ibiza and Marseille) but have plans on most days. Currently we are at Heathrow waiting for our flight to Lisbon, we have a day there tomorrow before boarding on Friday, More to follow from Lisbon,

Disembarkation will actually start at around 6am. It starts with haven guests, higher latitudes levels and people with MCL transfers, before others are called, but that shouldn’t take too long. If you are willing to carry your bags off yourself then you will be able to get off soon after 6. So it depends on how keen you are to get into Rome and how much effort you are willing to put into getting off early. We usually go for somewhere between 8 and 9 to make for a fairly relaxed morning.

Thanks for reporting back.

These offers vary a lot. I didn’t get it on my platinum but did on a different card.

Please report back whether it automatically credits the cashback for you. This issue has come up before, as these charges are regularly split, but I don’t recall whether it causes a problem with the cash back. I usually get an email or notification to say the offer has been used so hopefully you will get that soon.

You can make partial payments on the app. I did it yesterday to pay £750 off of a cruise. It can sometimes be a bit buggy and in the past I’ve had to phone because the app wouldn’t process a payment, but it it certainly possible. On the website there is no option to select a part payment.

I have booked a couple of these. On one I was charged a penny and the other was free.