KermitClin

HI - Haven Penthouse Suite with Balcony
Breakaway 
7 day cruise out of New Orleans, Jan 2022
2 people
$1973.00 per person

Are there any special offers to book another cruise while on board? Or is it the typical one cabin upgrade and CruiseNext offerings?

On 8/25/2022 at 1:16 PM, BennyBrun said:

Next Up… ArriveCAN … just another app to download and form to fill out.  Not too bad but time consuming but you will need the QR code to board the ship so got to get that done.  Don’t want to struggle with the spotty service at the terminal to upload and download documents!

When completing the ArriveCAN forms, did you have to upload proof of your negative Covid test in the app?

12 minutes ago, BennyBrun said:

I will be in my usual interior space.  I like interior cabins because it is total darkness at night… best sleep ever.  If you are going to Canada download the ArriveCAN and set up your profile now because that makes adding a trip so much easier and faster when it’s within 72 hours of embarkation!

Oh I already have! lol  I visited family in Canada last December, so I had the ArriveCAN app for that trip and never deleted it. But, I did get my husband's information in the app now too, so we're all set until we're within that 72 hour window!

So excited to follow this, I'll be on the Bliss soon too. What type of cabin are you sailing in?

7 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Just off the Star.  No more 10%, ended with the previous cruise

 

Bummer, thanks for confirming!

Anyone book while on board this month? I'm curious if NCL is still running the 10% off deal.

@Blackduck59 and @victoriaj Do you know of car rental locations within walking distance of the port? Or can you recommend a limousine company that can be hired for a few hours? My husband and I are very familiar with Victoria and would like to take our friends around to our favorite places and stop in to visit my mom (who doesn't drive anymore) while in port.

14 minutes ago, jlseymour3 said:

I'm new to looking at the various marine tracking sites - how often does CruiseMapper "lose" a ship?

The Marine Traffic website is reporting the Breakaway last sent its position on the 25th. I'm guessing since it hasn't sent a position more recenlty, that's how it's fallen off CruiseMapper.

21 minutes ago, SplashOfWater said:

We're still waiting. All of our bids are still Pending. I'm not expecting to hear until Monday or Tuesday. That seems to be the pattern for the Sat/Sun cruises. I'm not sure why some of the other cruises are awarding upgrades early.

I think, or at least it appears, some of them could have been awarded upgrades earlier than the typical patterns because of the cruises that were canceled last week and this. Gave them the opportunity to award some sailings earlier than usual.

I just saw a post sharing an upgrade awarded for a 1/29 sailing. Maybe they're not done with that date just yet. 

I haven't heard anything yet. I was hoping they might start awarding them today since I saw some sailings on the 29th were awarded yesterday. 

To add to what has already been explained, you can only bid on two cabin categories higher than what you booked. For example, I am currently booked in an inside cabin and I got an invite to bid on ocean view, balcony, and spa balcony categories.
Currently, the invites are sent out about 55 days prior to sail date. I think this changes according to NCL's final payment due date, but I'm not certain of that.

Do you have a pop-up blocker enabled? The link opens in a new tab and I've had instances where a pop-up blocker prevented that link from opening in the new tab.

So glad to hear this! We'll be on the Breakaway in a few weeks and hope to hear more positive experiences to ease our concerns. Have a great cruise!

We sail in late January and have decided we will go unless NCL offers a full cash refund. We don't want FCC nor do we want to lose any of our money already tied up in the cruise.

Is there a place to securely store belongings while at the baths? Or is it fairly safe to bring a backpack along and not have to worry about it getting wet? 

20 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

It definitely jacks up the pricing for the fares on sailings that include it, but there is no way to get around that other than booking a Sail Away rate. As for how well it works out, I don't know yet. I have avoided it up until now, though I am strongly considering it for a sailing on the Breakaway in September. It is only $99 per person from my home airport to Miami with the reduced airfare, whereas booking directly would cost about $400 per person right now. Prices for airfare have gone up quite a bit due the the grounding of the 737 Max 8.

Thanks for the info! I suppose we'll have to decide if the extra cost is worth the risk for us. We're looking at booking a cruise for 2021, so airfare can do a lot of different things between now and then! 

7 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

So first off, you can purchase CruiseNext deposits for essentially half price. Two CruiseNext deposits can be applied to a Balcony or above. So if you spend $250, you get $500 deposit on your next sailing if it's in a balcony or above. Also, they will put you in the highest category in a "meta" for the price of a lowest category in that same meta when booking below Haven. So, say you are booking on the Escape... they will book you in a BA for the price of a BF or an MA for the price of an MC. A word of warning though. Since they started offering the free or reduced airfare on many sailings, they cannot arrange that for you on board. You will need to call NCL once you are home to make arrangements for airfare if you want to use that promo.

Thanks for the info We're already familiar with the CruiseNext vouchers, I bought one on my last cruise and used it when we booked our upcoming cruise. We definitely plan to take advantage of that again! Is the free/reduced airfare worth doing? Or is it one of those "freebies" offered only after increasing the cost to cover most of it?

We're considering booking our next cruise while we're on the Breakaway next month. Does NCL typically offer better deals if you book while you're on board? I'm curious what others have experienced when booking on a cruise, especially if you have done it recently.

Just now, alreadypacked said:

Sorry it didn't work out for you; maybe keep checking. You never know.

Thanks, yeah I'm keeping an eye on the prices, but they'd have to drop a ridiculous amount to make up for the taxes that we didn't have to pay. I highly doubt they'll drop that low. I'd be great if they did, but I'll still be perfectly happy with my current cabin if they don't. 😊

9 minutes ago, alreadypacked said:

 

We recently upgraded our OV cabin to a mini suite with no problem just by paying the difference in fare (which was under $200).

This is exactly what we were trying to do too, and what I've done in the past. However, this time the difference in fare also includes the taxes that we didn't have to pay with the original booking because of the TAXDAY promo that gave us free taxes and port fees. Upgrading our cabin would make us lose that promo and therefore have to pay all applicable taxes and port fees.

2 minutes ago, bjtravelnews said:

I think whether they accept your offer or not may be dependent on how many unbooked rooms they have in the category you are requesting and how close you are to sailing.

 

We didn't make them an offer, just requested how much it would cost to upgrade to a new cabin now. I've since learned that the reason why NCL's offer to upgrade was so high was because it included taxes we didn't have to pay as part of a promo they were running last April when we originally booked. That promo saved us about $400!

6 minutes ago, RoobyDoo said:

 

I'm on the May 26th cruise out of Miami ("7 Day Western Caribbean"). Our situations are a little bit different though. I was asking for an upgrade within the same stateroom type, i.e., Balcony (from mid-ship to aft), while you are trying to upgrade to a different type (OV to Balcony).  Maybe that's why they're not being as generous with your case. Can't hurt to keep trying. I'm sure it must also depend on whichever rep handles your call, if it's not your PCC. (My original PCC who booked me no longer works there, so I was dealing with a random rep in this instance). Enjoy your cruise!

Thanks! We're also on different cruises, so I'm guessing that's the biggest factor. A few years ago, I upgraded from and Inside to a Balcony after final payment was due and we only had to pay the difference. I was rather surprised when they came back with a much higher offer. Our TA was the one requesting the upgrade for us (as she was last time too) and she said she talked to the supervisor and also tried to talk to the supervisor's supervisor, but they stuck firm on their upgrade offer. No biggie though, it was worth trying and we still have plenty of time left to try again if we want to. Regardless of which cabin we're in, we're thrilled to be on a cruise! Hope you have a great time on yours too!

On 3/29/2019 at 5:47 PM, RoobyDoo said:

I’m booked on the Breakaway for a late May sailing, in a mid-ship balcony (BA).

If you don't mind sharing, which sailing are you on? I'm also sailing on the Breakaway in late May and tried to purchase an upgrade last week. The upgrade would have been about $40pp more than what I originally paid compared to the current pricing (Oceanview to a BD Balcony). Unfortunately I wasn't as lucky as you and NCL offered $480 for the two of us to upgrade to the balcony, which we didn't accept. If we're on the same sailing as you, I'm thinking it might be worth asking them again. lol