cruiser2015

I like NCL. I love Royal Caribbean. Their ships, especially the larger ones, have so many activities it's dazzling. And the entertainment is usually great. Surf simulators, sky dive simulators, ice rinks, sky high observation bubbles (varies, depending on ship class). Broadway shows, shows on ice. I have no idea what may be scheduled for your target, but if you want longer itineraries, check out Panama Canal. If you don't want to go too long, or to the opposite coast, look for a partial transit, where most cruises return to port of origin.

Generally, arrival time is the docking time. Two hours sounds like a lot, unless it was end of cruise. But you mention returning time. Getting back 2 hrs before departure is also a LOT of time. Sounds like they are trying to scare passengers into not being late. What port is this for?

I just wandered onto this board because one of my (adult) kids mentioned she is thinking about doing Alaska next year. Thought I'd see what sort of posts were here and spotted yours due to the recent reply. So, I decided to give you my take. About 10 years ago, we did a one-way, northbound 7 day on Royal Carib., plus a 4 day land tour with 2 nights at Denali, 2 nights in Fairbanks. As for doing the BTB cruises, generally you're looking at the exact same itinerary, but in reverse. Do you want to repeat all of the ports? Many cruisers do do this. You will get another shot at the glaciers. That could be a plus if one of the voyages has bad weather those days. As for shore ports, peruse the tour options and see if there are multiple activities that appeal to you in some of them. If you find positives in that analysis, then a R/T could be for you. Princess has a great reputation in Alaska. We sailed them once, in Europe. It is true that on our land tour, there was a lot of cross country travel. We did do one leg by train, from Denali to Fairbanks. It is reportedly not the most scenic rail section that's out there (trains run from farther south). I happen to like trains, generally. Speaking of, I think the White Pass ride is great. Overall, we enjoyed what we saw on the land tour. Certainly not perfect. I don't recall any exceptionally early activities, but ours is a limited example. So, do some more research, think about what type of trip appeals to you. If you're up to planning your own ground tour, fine. I've down many ground trips in the lower 48. Most likely you'll save a bundle (the cruise line tours are pricy). Otherwise, go for the guided tour if you choose to do a land portion. Good luck and safe travels!

I'm not so sure that using third parties will help in this scenario. The third party must connect through to NCL to check the latest pricing an available cabins, so it could track the same interest.

Thanks for your usual thorough descriptions. What is your take on the subsequent comments? What is the process after you submit a bid under this Upgrade Advantage program? Are there escalations and/or eventual live bids?

We seem to have conflicting opinions here. Salamanca says he bid the max, was outbid and then raised his bid. Liljo says there are no escalations. Are there different types of requests for bids other then the Upgrade Advantage?

I didn't forget. The figures I used in post #3 above includes the full 2 person cabin fare. I also have gotten quite an education over the past 20 hours since I got the NCL message, thanks to CC posts. I've also noticed that as the sailing date approaches, if there's lively bidding, they go to a live bidding process. Seems like if it goes that far, there won't be much of a bargain to be had. I've decided to not even bother with this process.

Interesting. I wasn't aware that there were notices of escalation. The one-time bids for the cabins offered seemed too low. Now I see how they ratchet up the pricing.

Makes sense if there's a lot more bidders than cabins. I'm beginning to see a pattern here. 🤨

That's a downer that I pretty much expected to see. I did a mock booking a little while ago. A Courtyard Balcony Suite is coming in at $18,127. That's more than $11,000 over my booking. The max bid is for $4400. Seems like a steal. Frankly, I's rather not pay that much either.

I've noticed some posts on the boards mentioning bidding for cabins in the Haven, but didn't pay much attention as I felt that I wouldn't be paying for those suites anytime soon. Until now. I'm booked on a Panama Canal cruise this January in a Club Balcony. I just received an email from NCL asking for upgrade bids. The "from" prices look too good to be true. I assume that these are the minimum possible bids and the actual pricing could streak much higher. To make things really crazy, the cabin codes for the bids are an "H" plus (mostly letters); per ship deck plans, it's H + a number. The lowest price indicated (all of the lowest 4 categories out of a total of 9) is for $650 pp, with a bid range up to $2200 pp. Kindly provide the low down on this process and any insights on likely outcomes. Thanks.

Alrighty. Security gone berserk. 🙄

Not quite what I was hoping for. 🙁

Good to know. Where there any hot foods on the way?

I like those options. Thanks, Jenn.

That smells like NCL trying to prevent you from bottling your own on board. Nasty! And that's something I am planning on doing on my next cruise.

Here's another bit of nostalgia: Way back when, tipping in the specialty restaurants was optional. Since you paid your DSC, whether you were served in the MDR or elsewhere, you would have paid a gratuity for that meal. Apparently, the specialty servers were part of the DSC pool; perhaps not any longer. The option to give could apply if you were very pleased with the service. Personally, I did tip extra - but not 20%, as it was just a bump.

Early indeed. Not my preference. I'll guess that with transiting 2 locks, they need that early jump. The only reason I could even do this, is that my DW was not interested in any of the Panama tours, so she is passing (along with a couple of other ports). She does not care about technical stuff - and finds the canal boring. 😲

Thanks for the tips, guys. Actually, I don't do coffee. But an early hot chocolate isn't bad. Do they have mix envelopes on board? Muffins and fruit would be okay if other options are lacking. 😋

Great and thorough analysis. Thanks, BirdTravels. I'll be checking out the Observation Lounge & the Local (if the menu isn't breakfast, perhaps the Cobb salad) or any possible early set-up - I suppose with early itineraries, the may be something unique that day. Also, I'm not seeking an elaborate spread; eggs and toast would do.

Close, my New York friend. I'm on the previous one on the 12th. There's probably only one that fits - the Canal Experience, right?

Thanks. I'll keep those in mind.

I'm sailing on the Bliss in January and I'm eyeing a shorex that departs at 6:30 AM (the ship arrives the prior evening).. Aside from room service, what would be the breakfast options? How early does the buffet open?

What do you expect at a property of that level? If you want the best, you have to pay for it. There's always the lesser brands.

One caution on using this tactic: The credit bureaus will downgrade your credit score for a card cancellation, at least for a while.