KeithJenner

If you would book a club balcony at least then the diamond upgrade would mean you could do that for the cost of a balcony. That could be a significant saving. I know you prefer a suite or haven (everyone on this site knows that 🙂 ), but as you mention a club suite as an option then that could make the diamond upgrade worth it).

You have one year to arrange the upgrade. The cruise itself can be later. We used mine for a cruise in spring 2024.

One other thing on Dublin, I see the last tender was 6pm. What time was departure?

Yeah, certainly makes sense for a solo. It would be free for me, but for my wife it is £33 (£39 before latitudes discount), so for a couple the Dart is far cheaper.

You need Premium Plus for Champagne. The free at sea offer is the premium package. Yeah, the upgrade is worth it for us. I was just checking that we would be able to get champagne there. Sometimes you make assumptions, even logical ones, and then find that you were wrong. 🙂

I like the look of Cellars on the Dawn and were planning on going there quite a bit. Not sure if it being that empty if a good or bad thing. If you get chance could you see if they are serving champagne there. You would think so with it being a wine bar, but you never know.

I had already decided that we would use the Dart rather than the Hop on Hop off, so glad to see that choice was vindicated. Last time I was in Dublin we were staying outside the city and used the Dart, it worked really well. We’ve not been to the Guinness Storehouse for ages, and were considering going back this year. I think you’ve just made my mind up. How long did you spend there?

I think that they are referring to upgrading to the premium plus beverage package. I’ve seen a few people mention being able to do that onboard for just one person. The free at sea beverage package can’t be added onboard. It is part of your booking and the gratuity will be charged for both people. You have to either accept it or decline it for both. If declined then the only way to get the beverage package onboard would be to pay the full price. Even if they were to allow you to do that for just one person it would still cost much more than the gratuities for two (about three times as much).

No, reservations can’t be altered or cancelled online. You have to either call or wait until you are onboard.

If they were turning people away from Cagneys, Moderno and Teppanyaki for wearing shorts then someone was imposing their own dress code on those restaurants. Shorts are allowed in all three.

The stricter dress code in the aft dining room varies between ships. It isn’t just a case of whether they enforce it or not, on some ships it is listed as having that dress code and on others it isn’t.

The wine shop was still there last time I was in Barcelona, but being able to get it onboard without paying corkage has never been guaranteed. In my experience that works about 50% of the time.

Latitudes should in theory get you priority boarding, which would be late morning. I’ve not sailed from Barcelona in a few years, but they used to have latitudes priority boarding there (things may have changed though). I think you can go back out after checking in (and after boarding), although I’ve never done so myself. Just remember to be back two hours before departure (keeping in mind it can take a while to get back to the port from the city).

Boarding on that itinerary in Barcelona is no different to a standard cruise. If you weren’t aware beforehand about the Rome embarkation then you likely wouldn’t even notice it. You check in as normal and boarding starts late morning.

As there have been posts in many places online saying that people have been unable to get drinks in port there is a chance that may be where the question originated from. Many of those posts don’t even mention Greece.

You can reserve whatever meals you want in advance.

They have probably heard about the issues in Greece recently.

All sorted now. You can get drinks if you have the beverage package.

Following. We are doing this cruise (in reverse) in September. As we are British I know the ports quite well already, but I’m following to see how the logistics go in port (and in case you find anything I’ve previously missed). We use the HGI at Heathrow regularly. It is a decent and good value hotel, with an above average breakfast for a British hotel. We stay there when we are in the area, not just when using the airport. It’s an excellent choice and the tube station is very handy. Have fun this weekend. I’m keeping well out of that lot. 🙂

No formal nights

Yes, per cabin. It will be based on the highest level person in the cabin.

You have to pay taxes whilst in some ports. How much of an issue this is depends on the itinerary. In my experience, when you have the beverage package it is mainly an issue in US ports.

I think the idea is that the MDRs will each have their own fixed menus, like the speciality restaurants do. I seem to recall talk of some daily specials, maybe coming from the speciality restaurants. Edit: from the CC article: ” The new concept is that the menus will be fixed -- typically on cruise ships, the menu changes daily, with a few fixed items -- and extensive. It will feature dishes from all over the world, including two that the line showed off to shipyard tour guests March 7 in Venice: shrimp arancini and Greek bruschetta. Other options might include Spanish paella and Italian mussels prepared in a white wine sauce and vegetarian options such as mushroom risotto and cauliflower piccata. Both venues will also feature a build-your-own-pasta section where guests can request a tailormade Italian classic pasta dish by selecting their choice of pasta, sauce, and topping, providing more than 24 meal combinations. The menu will also include a "Specialties" section where cruise goers can select a dish from one of the ship's specialty dining eateries. The revamped menu will debut on Norwegian Prima and will roll out to the rest of NCL's 17-ship fleet through 2023.” https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/6807/

I’m not sure what you are asking. NCL announced that the Prima will have the new fixed menus, and that this may go fleet wife afterwards. There won’t be any changes yet, and I wouldn’t expect them on other ships this year. Are you saying that they aren’t doing the fixed menus on the Prima any more? That would sound unlikely now it’s been announced.

Yes, to confirm, they are giving $25 per cabin to platinum and €50 per cabin for sapphire and above.