KeithJenner

I think the main thing on the Jade lately has been just one theatre show each night.

Are there any bars or restaurants closed on any ships other than POA? I thought they were just on that ship, due to staffing, but I could be wrong.

When our son was younger we used to book mini suites (as they were then called) on the older ships, as the sofa bed blocks the balcony door in a balcony room, but not in a club suite when in use. As we are now sailing by ourselves there is little benefit for us of the club suite. I’ve just used a free upgrade to get one, but wouldn’t pay extra over a balcony room.

No, it doesn’t include any priority embarkation/disembarkation. Basically, the perks are the laundry, booking restaurants and entertainment 5 days early, a bottle of odd tasting wine and snacks delivered a couple of times.

There is no simple answer to this, and unfortunately the NCL website doesn’t necessarily hold the answers either. Firstly, the Eurofins registration just seems to be something that happens on check in and doesn’t necessarily mean that it is required. People are reading all sorts of things into it being there, but it doesn’t definitely indicate anything. Another factor is whether your itinerary takes in Israel. If so there is a lot of testing done on the cruise, including at check in. There is no way that we can say what will happen in a few weeks. In fact even on the day it is unclear. We boarded in Athens a few weeks ago and they didn’t test us as we had a test result from the previous day, but most other people with tests were redone at the port anyway. It still isn’t clear what the actual rules were that day. My only recommendation is to do a test as close to sailing as you can, to avoid any risk of being charged for a port test, but expect to be retested. Just don’t expect any definite answers, and be aware that the stated rules can be changed multiple times in the week up to the cruise and then reality be nothing like any of the communications you received.

No need to do anything. It dropped off the latitudes benefits earlier this year. You do seem to still get it if you are in a suite though.

On the Jade a couple of weeks ago there was no sign of Viva Vino being offered. I didn’t specifically ask, but on previous cruises I would see some mention of it somewhere (freestyle daily or a sign at a bar).

I used latitudesupport@ncl.com I suspect you would get better results by calling, but I decided that email would do in this case as there aren’t any Club Suites on the Viva that I wouldn’t have been happy with, so I decided to go for ease.

That is correct. Instead of the 20% gratuity we pay a fee for taking free at sea. It works out at a fairly similar amount. However they have just put the prices up.

Horizon. https://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/Live_Information/Shipping_Movements_and_Cruise_Ship_Schedule/Cruise_Ship_Schedule/

I just got my Diamond upgrade. I had considered using it on the Dawn cruise which we just booked for this September, booking an Oceanview and upgrading to a balcony, but was too nervous about getting allocated a bad room, so in the end we went for the Viva, upgrading from a balcony to a club suite. I don’t see any club suites as being in too bad a location. As we are in the UK, I decided to try emailing rather than calling. I rather cheekily asked for a front corner room, which are a few hundred pounds per person extra. I just got the reply today, three days after emailing. Unsurprisingly I didn’t get the corner room. We got a room in the aft block on deck 9. I would have preferred 10 or 11, to avoid being directly above the dining area, but I’m happy with 9 as we won’t be in the room much when the dining is busy. Not ideal, but I’m happy enough. The cruise is in two years time, so that is more confirmation that the one year restriction is in arranging the upgrade, not taking the cruise.

These things depend on the ship, but recently on the Jade we had the DVD menu in a non haven two bedroom suite.

I book my own flights. For longer flights (i.e. over to the US) I book using points as they are then cancellable for a very small charge which would be covered by NCL. We usually aren't just doing a cruise in that situation so would likely use the flights anyway. In Europe NCL's compensation covers the majority of any potential loss, so I am more comfortable booking cash flights in that situation. We have had a number of cancelled or rearranged cruises (pre Covid) but they were all over a year out, so no flights booked. During covid flights were cancellable. I would have had a loss on the Prima in August, which I knew was a risk when booking. Luckily the airline were still allowing free cancellations, so we got that all returned as a credit. The cancellations being discussed here are past the point where people start booking flights, which isn't usually the case (as my experience shows). It is very unfortunate for the people involved, especially as reorganising a trip on the Prima is not a cheap exercise at the moment.

I've just scanned and uploaded the freestyle dailies from last weeks 7 day Greek Island cruise. This is not the itinerary which heads out to Israel, but I think that this one is boing done a few times during the Summer. Hope it helps. Day 1.pdf Day 2.pdf Day 3.pdf Day 4.pdf Day 5.pdf Day 6.pdf Day 7.pdf Disembark.pdf