KeithJenner

That made very little difference. One meal for two per person changed to two meals for two per cabin (more if there are more than two platinums). If anything the number of meals has increased as now a single platinum in a cabin gets two meals.

Yes, you can order more than one appetiser.

The menu will be the same at Indigo and Summer Palace. Lotus Garden will just be walk ups. I have rarely had any problem getting into the Asian restaurant (but we tend to eat early). I do remember on one occasion on a different ship we had to wait a while. They gave us a bleeper to let us know when there was a space. It is possible to get into the speciality restaurants without a reservation, but it isn’t guaranteed. We always book to remove any doubt, so I can’t speak from experience but some people report that they walk up regularly. I suspect that on busier sailings you would struggle, but at the moment it may be more likely, especially on those itineraries that are sailing well below capacity.

Most economical is train. There are various options but the local train is very cheap. Leonardo Express to Termini and then local train to Civitavecchia. You do still need to get from the station to the port though, which is walkable but not ideal with luggage. There is a cheap bus from the station, but I don’t have details of that.

Having sailed both forward and aft, I would say that the difference in movement between the two is massive. I have sailed in aft rooms many times and never felt any movement at all. Forward, on less occasions, much more movement.

Probably the three things I hate the most are dancing, dressing up and horror. From what I know of Priscilla, it is probably only beaten by Halloween as my worst nightmare come true. 🙂

I have sailed with NCL many times and have only ever got flights through them once (when we booked very close to sail date). The default booking doesn't include airfare, you have to add it (at least that's the case in the UK). As for excursions, that is not the reason to get the "pick 4" deal. The value in that package is the beverage package. Decide whether you want to take that deal based on drinks, and the rest will fall into place. If you don't drink then the deal isn't worth it regardless of how many excursions you plan, as you only actually get $50 per excursion discount anyway. Again, I don't know the exact details of how this works in the US, but I think that you probably get the excursion and internet credit even if you decline the beverage and dining packages (which are the ones that come with a charge). With non suites you can book a sail away rate that doesn't offer the free at sea deals, but I suspect you can't do that with a Suite. My best recommendation is to go to the website and have a play with some test bookings. That way you can see what the various options are and how your choices affect the cost.

We checked in yesterday for our upcoming cruise. As I said earlier, we have only ever had an arrival time since Covid. I assume we didn't have them beforehand due to latitudes level. As on our other post covid cruise we had to select a time again this time, and our Edocs have the time printed, as per BirdTravels post above and also have the arrival time as "Open" later in the docs as per cruise bears post (we are above platinum and in a suite). We will arrive at our selected time anyway, but my assumption would be that the "Open" statement supersedes any time stated elsewhere. Not that anyone eat the port seems to care anyway, as noted by The Shrike.

No, can’t help I’m afraid. The only charge would be for Moderno or Teppanyaki, if they were booked after bookings had already been made to use up any dining credits, which doesn’t appear to be the case here. I don’t know how any charge for Moderno or Teppanyaki shows up on your account, but my guess is that they would show up. You have to pay for them by card when reserving so any charge showing would be matched by the payment. From the later post it seems that the OBC is more likely to be the issue.

There are reports that just one person can upgrade if it is done onboard.

Don't overthink it. It's basically very similar to how things work in real life. Popular and smaller restaurants (the speciality restaurants) require a reservation to guarantee a space. If you don't have a reservation there then you may strike lucky, especially if you want to eat early or late, but you could find that you can't get in at all without a reservation. Larger places (the MDR's) do take reservations, but it is generally easy to get in without them. If you just walk up at a busy time you may have to wait for a table, especially if you are a larger group, but you will get in. We have never booked the MDR and never waited (we tend to eat early). There are also some places (buffet, o'Sheehans/Local, Asian) that don't take reservations at all and you just turn up when you want.

When you say that you haven't been able to get Le Bistro, is it showing as sold out, or can you just not book it? I ask because there is an issue at the moment where no restaurant can be booked online more than once. If you are struggling to get your second reservation there, but it is showing as available then you can book it by calling (or using the online chat I believe). You could also wait until boarding, as long as you will be boarding relatively early.

Are you thinking about latitudes? I've never eaten in Ocean Blue, but I thought it was included in the SDP, but I know there has been discussion lately regarding using the latitudes voucher in other places. Edit - The Ocean Blue menu even has uncharge items for the dining package, so it must be included (unless something has changed recently).

Is that still the case? I had never had an arrival time before, but did get one last time (April). I assumed that everyone had them now.

It depends a bit what you are likely to order, but for most people I would say that paying a of pocket for the fixed price place is best. One reason is that you know what it is going to cost you. If you are using the dining package in the a la carte restaurants then (other than the few uncharge items) you don't have to worry about the individual prices. Assuming that you are going to order three courses then the charge in the a la carte places is likely to be more than the fixed price in Teppanyaki or Moderno. I would certainly pick the fixed price restaurant to pay out of pocket.

Absolutely. This is one of the reasons why given the choice I prefer a non haven suite over haven. When we had a Haven suite we realised afterwards that we spent time in the Haven when, in hindsight, we would rather have been in the public areas. With a non haven suite you get some benefits over a standard room, but still get the cruise experience we love.

I have sailed on Jewel Class ships twice in suites (Jade and Pearl). Neither were inside the Haven, but one had Haven access and the other didn't. We are also booked into a suite on the Dawn which doesn't;t have a Haven at all. The difference? Access to the Haven area itself. The pool and sun deck. Is that worth the extra money? Well, only you can answer that. Is it worth $3,000 to me? Absolutely not, it isn't even worth $300, but others may think it is. One of the great things about the Jewel class ships, and earlier, for us is that you can get a great room, breakfast in Modernos and a few other benefits for not a great amount more then a standard room. If you are into the whole "treated like a rock star" thing then maybe that isn't enough, but if you are just into a great cruise with a little extra added then they are the best.

You can wait until you get onboard as long as you board fairly early and get on with it. They keep reservations back for onboard booking so the clock starts again at that point,

Yes it is. It is not cheap though. My wife drinks sparking water and it is a factor in why we upgrade to the premium plus package.

Auto tip. You can add more if you want, but can't reduce it (as far as I know, I have never tried).

When you booked and selected free at sea you will have been charged an amount (probably £149 each, but it depends on the cruise length) which is effectively what we pay instead of the gratuities on the beverage and dining package. If means that some UK customers can boast about how we get a better deal as we don’t pay the gratuities, whilst totally missing that we often pay more and the offers aren’t as flexible. 🙂

There isn’t really anything about ambassador status that is of much interest either.

I think you must have misunderstood something. Moderno and Teppanyaki are the hardest ones to book in advance, as the system will try to charge you when booking unless you have sufficient dining credits to cover them. If you don’t want those then you should have no problem.

There is no rule for excursions being made available on NCL. They appear whenever NCL make the arrangements themselves, and it can vary a lot. Ive seen them available years out and also seen them not available just a few months out. Sometimes on an individual cruise they are available for some ports and not others. There is no preference given to any status or cabin class for being able to book excursions. If they are released then anyone can book them.

The only restaurants that there is a possibility of a charge when booking are Moderno or Teppanyaki. All the others can be booked with no payment required even if you don't have any packages.