KeithJenner

The Epic isn’t doing 7 day cruises in Aigust 2025. They are 10 day cruises (price is showing as just under £5k for me for a balcony). The Viva is doing 7 day cruises, balcony for £3,900 including free at sea, ocean view £3,200.

We are getting a lift to Pompeii and back in September for 1p each. For some reason it still charged us the 1p even though the cost was less than the discount. We are also using it in Santorini as the cost for the Oia excursion worked out at about £25 each after discount. It avoids paying for the cable car and makes getting onshore a lot more convenient. There are certainly some bargains available in places if you use the excursion discount (especially if free at sea plus is justified by the other things you get).

No, most of the speciality restaurants are a la carte. Rules are as above.

The suggestion from what NCL said back in 2013 is that the tax is imposed by the country where the cruise originates. This may be why there was discussion regarding whether it didn't happen for some cruises. I've attached some excerpts from the leaflet handed out on our cruise in 2013. They refer to "Spanish VAT" (we embarked in Barcelona).

Actually, I didn’t notice that it was a transatlantic, but yes, that’s exactly what I was saying. For the tax to be charged on the whole cruise the ship needs to stay within the EU for the entire time. Obviously a transatlantic doesn’t do that. As an example, we once did a B2B from Venice. Week 1 went to Istanbul and therefore tax was only charged in port (if even there, I don’t recall), but week 2 was just Greek Isles so we had tax for the entire week.

I just said that I suspected you left the EU, as that would have explained it. Not making a statement or anything like that, just trying to understand why these things may be. Not sure why they didn’t charge for the whole trip then. The usual procedure is to charge for the whole cruise in these cases. It may be to do with where the cruise started. We have paid tax for the whole cruise when sailing from Italy and Spain, but I do recall discussion in the past that it can depend on that.

I suspect that you left the EU, which is why you only paid the tax in port. NCL have been charging the tax on the entire cruise when it doesn’t leave the EU for at least a decade now. The change is that they have started charging those with the beverage package (previously it was only those paying by the drink). They also charge tax in the shops etc.

Basically, yes that could well be what happens. On the second cruise it is very possible that you will be charged tax whilst in port, but if ships don't leave the EU then the tax will likely be charged for the entire time.

You basically get one of each course. There are some items that have uncharges, which are noted on the menus. In some places like Food Republic you get four items, and Moderno/Teppanyaki are set price, so you get the standard meal there.

Aah, no we had two days in Haifa. That may make a difference, as they will do an all aboard before departure. I don’t know how much difference it will make, but you would certainly need to clear it with them in advance so they don’t just assume you have missed the ship and report you as having not come back/left your luggage etc. I don’t know for sure, but it may be that the Israeli authorities may not like that as they may assume that you are intending to stay on there for a longer period. I suspect your biggest problem is that the shoreside staff are likely to say they can’t confirm anything and it will have to be done onboard, which is likely to be to late to make arrangements.

I have stayed in port overnight on NCL ships a few times in various places (including Haifa) and there have never been any restrictions that I was aware of on when people can come or leave. I’m sure that when we were in Israel there were quite a few people doing the sort of thing you are planning.

MDR reservations have been available for many years and they don’t appear (as far as I can tell) to have made much difference to availability for those just turning up.

I have never seen the idea of freestyle as being that you can wait to decide what and when you want to do things. For me it is about being able to make those decisions myself, rather than being told by the cruise line when and where I am eating and what I need to wear. I understand that this is fairly standard these days on many lines, but it was a big difference when freestyle was introduced. NCL is still further down this road than many lines (no formal nights etc). Just like in real life, reservations are still required in popular places, and there is no real way of avoiding this. I may need that reservation to be guaranteed access to Cagney's on a particular night, but it is totally my decision to eat there. Again, just like in real life. As for the MDR's, I made my first reservation for one yesterday, just to check the booking system. It was no risk to me as we can always cancel/not turn up, and we will almost certainly use the booking anyway as we usually eat at around that time anyway and as we have no other plans that day we are unlikely to find going to Manhattan a problem. If being able to wait until the day to decide on dining is important to anyone then they will struggle on NCL (assuming they will want to eat outside the complementary places), as they would with most, if not all, other mainstream lines. Logistics means that these things are required for the places that have limited seating. But there is no requirement to book MDR's in my experience. We have rarely waited any time at all.

Sorry, just to clarify that I wasn’t answering your question. I have only ever needed to book for up to 4 people so can’t comment on your situation. I’d have thought that they can probably help if you call. There may be a department for larger groups. This has certainly been discussed on here a few times and I’m sure someone else will be able to help soon.

Was that online, or by calling? As stated above, the restriction appears to apply to most cruises when booking online, but occasionally some people have been able to do so. There is no restriction when calling, by chat or onboard.

Yes, they can book them if you call or through online chat. The restriction is only online.

Yeah, there do seem to be a few exceptions to the rule. You certainly aren't the first person to report being able to make multiple reservations. There may be some ships where the restriction isn't there (we haven't worked out why it is there at all). It doesn't seem to have been fixed generally though. We can't do it on our upcoming cruise, and there was another post recently from someone asking why they couldn't book restaurants after their first few - it was because they were trying to book repeats. Edit - It just occurred to me that I have never tried this with the MDR's myself (I never usually reserve them), so just tested it by booking Manhattan for one night on our upcoming cruise (we will almost certainly use the reservation). When I then tried to add another night it wouldn't stay in the basket.

Also available for us on the Breakaway.

Only a proportion of reservations are made available online, but the exact proportion is not known (people are told different amounts, seemingly based on guesses by the staff they are talking to). Anyway, that isn’t the issue here. The online system only allows you to book each restaurant once, so if you want to book more than one reservation in one place then you have to phone or wait until onboard. Having different people making the bookings doesn’t appear to work within a cabin (ie husband and wife both make reservations). It would work if you had people in different rooms doing the bookings.

If you have no OBC in your account and you buy two $250 CN vouchers then you will have a balance of $250 to pay at the end of the cruise. Again, ignore any reference to OBC, it is just a discount, 2 vouchers for the cost of 1. You then have 4 years to use the vouchers (that is the cruise you use it on must sail within 4 years). The vouchers are supposed to be used as deposits, but as long as you haven’t already applied any vouchers you can have them applied afterwards to the cost of the cruise. They can only be used against the cruise cost, not against add ons (excursions etc) and certainly not for onboard spend. They do not provide OBC on future cruises.

Having to pay tax for the whole cruise if you don’t leave the EU is certainly not a new thing. It has been in place for many years. However, the issue is whether you will be charged if you have the beverage package. The answer for most of the time since NCL introduced the beverage package has been no, but this isn’t the first time that they have charged people with the package. It was charged for a while a few years ago, but that stopped after a few cruises. I have neither the time nor inclination to go through the various discussions as to whether they should be charging this (there are a number of discussions on here), but whether correctly or not, they do seem to be charging at the moment. Whether they still will be when you sail is a different matter, and history shows that these things can change with no notice, so you are very unlikely to get a definitive answer.

You can only book for the people in your room. However the seating is unallocated, so if you want to sit with others then just get them to book the same times and turn up together.

Is the Epic doing the Western Med round trips now? These have always had the problem with the taxes being paid through the whole cruise as it doesn't leave the EU. Until recently they weren't charging those who have the beverage package though. I believe there is a valid reason for the taxes being charged throughout the cruise rather than just in port. The question is whether they should be charging you. Not that any of this helps you though. Must be very frustrating.

The different classes of ship overlap with regard to some of these things. For example, the ropes course was on the two Breakaway Class ships (Breakaway and Getaway) and also the first Breakaway plus ship (Escape), but the remainder of the Breakaway Plus ships have the racetracks, which have carried over to the Prima Class. There are various other differences between the first and last of the Breakaway Plus ships, like Spice H2O, Observation Lounge, restaurants etc, so you could say that the Escape is more similar to the Breakaway than it is to the Encore. So, it isn't as easy as just looking at the class. You really need to explore the whole deck plans to see what each ship offers. I find that the NCL site (under Explore Ships) isn't a bad place to start.

Were you trying to add a restaurant that you already had a booking at? There is a known issue where this results in the basket emptying. It has been that way for some time now (I think since the post covid reopening).