kmurph22

2 hours ago, joannmarie53 said:

We are well aware we may have had the same situation with another cruise line, but that doesn't make this right.  We also had trip insurance, but if you check the policy it does not cover this situation.  We understood that having read the policy.

 

The whole point is that Norwegian sent us a notice that they will reimburse us for 2 of the 7 days of cruise fare because they were unable to provide the service for those 2 days.  They did not state in their letter any requirements to receive the refund, such as having to arrive in a hurricane and several days later.

I buy insurance for every trip, but wow folks sure love to jump on the  “should’ve bought insurance” train. 

 I agree with Flaham -  OP has a point,  as it relates to the 2 day refund, if as noted above the offer of the 2 day refund did not clearly state that it was contingent on taking the 5 day cruise.   OP seems to understand that by not showing up, they would lose the 5 days ... they just want the 2 day refund, and may have factored that into their decision not to fly. 

I also won my bid, for the H6 Haven Aft, Escape on 12/21!   I am very happy as I wanted an Aft the most.  In total, between my initial pament and the accepted bid, I paid about 77% of the sticker price for the cabin. Not a huuuuge bargain,  but for a holiday cruise with a lot of sea days and cool weather out of NY, plus I don't have to fly since I live near the port,  I was willing to go there.    My bid was in the middle of the "good" range.  

I started in a balcony "BF" on deck 11.

There were 7 Haven aft cabins available as of this morning.

Some of my other Haven bids were "Strong" or even "Excellent",  but I got this one -  interestingly,  it was NOT  my most aggressive bid in terms of the % of the price difference or the % of the maximum bid;  my H5 Courtyard bid was higher when measured this way.  However,  this bid was more total $ (because the price of the cabin is higher).    So -  maybe that implies that actual $ are more important than where you are on the slider or what you are offering relative to what the cabin is currently priced at.   They got several hundred more $ out of me for the Aft than they would have for the Courtyard.     Although, I bid even more for the DOS and didn't get that one.

Good luck to everyone!

11 hours ago, megaphone84 said:

Me too! But, I wasn't able to find it. Where is this thread?? I want in! 

sorry compulsive, not obseessive 😄 

23 hours ago, xcell said:

No New upgrade bids?

 

Anyone on the Escape Dec 21 get theirs -- rooms seem to be disappearing, so I am assuming some reassignments.

My bids are all still pending.  Courtyard rooms are going,  but the others (2BR, Aft, Fwd) have been static.  Crossing fingers,  I agree I think they will go tomorrow & Tuesday.  

Thanks!  I would be happy to answer any questions -  cc has helped me so much in my planning!

Hello fellow cruisers!

My husband and I are now one week removed from departing the Getaway.  We sailed in an H9 Haven spa cabin, so we enjoyed the best private spots on the ship while still making the most of all the Getaway has to offer.  Overall we felt the service was one of the best we have experienced, both inside and outside of the Haven.   We think Captain Roger Gustavsen is someone the crew like working for.  At the Captain's VIP party, he actually got on stage and crooned a couple of tunes,  "Lady in Red" and "Wonderful Tonight"!   He sounded great! The cruise was incredibly smooth -  it barely felt like we were moving most of the time.  All in all,  a wonderful week.

My only knocks:

• I miss straws
• Loud talkers in the Spa
• Ionithermie didn't make me magically thin
• I wouldn't mind more vegetable choices on the menus
• LeBistro was not as great as it's been on past cruises
• Our casino donation was larger than usual

See my blog for more pics & details:  https://bankerchicktravels.wordpress.com/category/cruises/

Happy cruising!

12 hours ago, 2Beeze said:

I think it’s very possible that some people are gaining more gray hair and losing more brain cells over the bidding to the point that any money they save over “full price” isn’t close to worth it.  In watching all this, it’s like the usual 😬 of looking forward to a cruise gets turned into 😰 

 

Lynn

Driving to work in the morning is stressful.  This? This is fun, at least for me, and part of the anticipation. See the Obsessive Cruise Planning thread. 

I do agree that if it’s really giving someone gray hair, maybe they should skip it.  

3kidsncats this is great info, and I agree with your thought process.   I'm in a BF currently. Thanks! 

14 minutes ago, StormiB said:

I'm on the same cruise 12/21. I thought the same thing so I drastically upped my bid (from poor to excellent) for 2 days to see if it would make a difference. It did not make for an immediate upgrade so I changed it back. Have you signed up for the CC meet & greet? Interested to see how and when our upgrades come through. I am thinking next week....

I don't think my heart can take waiting til next week!  I will check the roll call and sign up for the meet & greet,  we just booked the cruise a few weeks ago.  Thanks for sharing your experience! 

1 hour ago, DukeBlueRN said:

I was notified today that my bid was accepted.

Sailing on the Getaway from Miami this Sunday, December 9. We were upgraded from an inside cabin to a balcony.

Just  yesterday(12-2) I increased my bid for a balcony from $55 to $65.  It was definitely in the "poor" range. I also bid on an Ocean View at $45. 

There was an option to bid on a Spa Balcony, but I didn't even place a bid there.

We are thrilled with what we got!

Congrats!

I am actively monitoring Haven upgrades for my 12/21 Escape sailing, and as a result I  have become obsessed with trying to figure out NCL's system for awarding bids.   

This post makes me wonder... as time ticks on and the sailing approaches,  does it make sense to slightly increase a bid?  Could there be some kind of tipping point in the logarithm  - i.e.,  if someone offers THIS, we'll take it now?  OR,  does it seem like all of the upgrades are awarded on a single day -  i.e., - on Dec. 15, we'll take the best we've got and be done with it?   

Playing mind games with myself each and every day!  

thank you for the review, we are on the Getaway in about 4 weeks.  She looks beautiful.  

Also upvote for the use of the word "pop"  (midwesterner at heart here).

My name is Kathy and I'm a compulsive vacation planner! Hence, I am on Cruise Critic at 7:25 am on a Saturday morning and my cruise isn't til November.

I make a spreadsheet as well as a Word doc of my itinerary, complete with pics to make it fun. I used to use a binder, but now I upload everything into icloud (my iCloud is used only for vacations, and has folders like "Air", "Hotel", "Cruise", "Rental Car", "Tours Reservations", etc. ). Then I upload so that I can view it even when I'm offline, on either my phone or iPad. Eco-friendly :)

My family makes fun of me - I don't care, I love it. And it's not so much about planning every minute, but being aware of the options that are available, depending on our mood, the weather, etc. Just got back from a trip to Scotland and Ireland and it was pretty near perfectly planned if I do say so myself ;)

Cheers to all my fellow planners and thanks for some of the additional tips & tricks!

Thanks for posting! I’m a serial rationalizer myself, so we will be in the Haven on the Getaway Nov 25! Following with interest.

The only difference between terminal 2 and 3 is the check in area.

 

Everything else from Security screening and so on is practically in the same terminal.

 

By terminal 2 I think they mean the area around pier A and B, intercontinental flights departs from pier C but its only a 5-10 minute walk away.

 

But allow some extra time to get through the passport control, if its very busy then 20 minutes waiting time is not unheard of.

Thank you! exactly the confirmation I was looking for. One site stated that the lounge is accessible to all terminals but also mentioned the 'piers' , which confused me. It makes sense that I would still have to go through passport control due to flying to a non-Schengen country, we will allow plenty fo time for that.

Once agian, thanks for all your help!

Hello Danish Viking,

As others have said, thank you for all of the info you provide. My question relates to the terminal and security structure at CPH airport.

We have a late flight out after disembarking the Getaway, 6:35pm. So even if we drag our feet, we will probably be at the airport 5 or 6 hours before our flight. (we are staying 2 days in Copenhagen before the cruise, so we do not plan to sightsee when we disembark).

I have a "Priority Pass" membership for the Aspire Lounge, which is in Terminal 2, but my flight departs from Terminal 3. (SAS Airlines, CPH-Newark) . The info I have found via several internet sources seems to indicate that after I go through security, T2 and T3 are connected "airside"... suggesting that I could check for my flight and drop off baggage, go through security then relax in the Aspire lounge in T2, without having to go back through security to board my flight in T3. Is this correct? Nothing is quite definitive on the internet re: this particular question.

Do you know?

thanks in advance!

So thank you to Ourfamilylovescruising. Howl at the moon tonight was so much fun!! It was like a giant party for all of the entertainers on the ship all week. It is definitely something to put on your list of things to do!!!

 

Yes, we experienced this on the Escape recently too... I think it's a 'thing' on the ships with Howl ... we had the CD playing the drums and several of the singers from the other shows popped in, and were amazing ... only about 25 guests there so it was like we got a private show. Also a highlight of our trip!

sailing on the Getaway in the Baltics in May! Thank you for the thread! The weather & scenery may be a little different on my trip but it's great to see the ship is ready for me :)

I'm also booked with a TA that has evidently opted out. (although the TA told me it was NCL blocking my abilty to upgrade, because of the 'special rate' I received. Hmmm).

I am perfectly happy with my cabin, but would certainly enjoy the Haven if I could get it for less than rack rates. I just don't get it, why wouldn't the TA/ NCL want more money? it makes no sense. Unless NCL is not sharing the extra revenue with TAs? or sharing at a lower margin?

Got one last year. I just went to my local bank and got it notarized. No big deal. Got our win/lose shortly after we submitted the form.

Hi Cruisin Harvey, did you submit via email (winloss@ncl.com?) We submitted over a week ago, and second request yesterday, with notarized forms, and have not heard back. Did they send you the statement via email or snail mail?

thanks in advance

Yes, this has been discussed on multiple threads since the show has been on the NCL website and bookable on MyNCL.

Actually, I'm on the Getaway May 25, within the 90 days, and the Cirque show does not show up as a bookable item under either "Entertainment" or "Dining". Hopefully soon.

getting a kick out of this... I recently turned 50. I'm not huge but not particularly fit and definitely not skinny. In the past I would have left this for the gymrat and teenaged people. But the big Bday has motivated me to go out of my comfort zone. So, I recently did the ropes course on both the Breakaway and Escape ... a couple words of advice!:

1)when you get up there, it seems really high. And the first obstacle is a balance beam thingy that looks right over the side of the ship. Panic! DONT do what I did, which is grip the rope desperately as I took little shuffle steps across. My shoulders and arms were sore for DAYS. Try to trust the harness and clips a bit more and actually balance/walk on the obstacles. I did that the 2nd time and much better.

2)don't look at the photos... trust me, the reason you see only skinny people on the google pics is because the rest of us don't share them. Just not a flattering look for the "average" American.

3)make sure to look around... if you only look at the beam or rope under your feet you will never have that "OMG I'm doing it!!" moment.

4)the zipline thingy on the Escape that goes in a curve OVER THE EDGE OF THE SHIP is the bomb. you literally have to run down a ramp OFF the edge of the ship and trust the equipment to bring you back. (I know you are Getaway but one day.... ) Looking back I still can't believe I did it :)

Thank you! We will be on the Getaway (same itinerary) next May so it's really helpful to see what the weather looks like, and what kind of clothes everyone is wearing!

Great video

Thank you for the review! I suppose it makes me 'feel better' that we missed GSC given the circumstances you describe... the grass is always greener, ha. (we were on Breakaway 11/6).

I agree about the taxi process in Nassau feeling quite safe on the way out of the ship .... but returning I felt it was a little sketchy. DH and I, along with 3 other women, shared a cab back from Atlantis to the ship around 10pm - purposely not too late at night. The driver dropped us off about 100 yards from the gate... it was not clear why. We all felt strange about it, and surveyed the area, remaining very alert and walking together. Nothing happened. DH is a big guy with a loud voice, maybe that helped ;) Interestingly we hadn't even seen the notices on the dailies, but were aware of the general lack of safety from other travels.

And yes they were really trivia happy, weren't they!

Lovedestiny,

sorry I thought I responded last night but it didn't post. Yes we definitely left at 10 am, all aboard was 9 am. There was some conflicting information floating around about leaving later, but we didn't.

Cruise 777, the vibe pass was sold by first getting a number at guest services, then we waited in the Dining line (right next to guest services) to pay. Deck 6 Atrium

Not the OP, but hubby and I were on this cruise as well.

Very smooth sailing and the weather was great considering it's November.

We did not experience long waits for dinner; we ate at 4 specialties (Le Bistro, Cagneys, Teppanyaki, and La Cucina); 2x at Savor, and 1x at O'Sheehans. Our favorite was le Bistro and La Cucina was better than expected after reading reviews. Teppanyaki was OK but too much food and a little bland. We had reservations 5 of the nights; the 2 we didn't, we just wandered until we found something with short/no wait i.e. OSheehan's and Savor. For lunch we grabbed something at the buffet or O'Sheehan's, everything was fine. It would have been nice to have trays at the buffet, I wonder why they don't?

The itinerary was probably my biggest complaint, due to GSC cancellation; just 2 ports; Port Canaveral 1 to 9, and Nassau from 1pm until 10 am next morning (why? not long enough to do a day pass, and who would bother getting off the ship at 7 am to be back on at 9? I felt they could have stretched this longer). Then the ship just sailed around off the Florida coast the rest of Thursday and most of Friday before heading north. Seems like we could have made a stop somewhere, Key West maybe? Miami? Charleston? idk. It was effectively 5 sea days.

Glad we had the Thermal Spa pass as well as Vibe pass due to all the time spent on the ship. The pool area does get very crowded so we enjoyed having our own little space. I do wish some people would realize that the Spa is for relaxation and tone down their voices a little - I don't need to hear about your sister's friend's cousin's mastectomy from the other side of the spa.

We enjoyed a late night comedy show, Howl at the Moon, and Fat Cats.

2nd biggest complaint: smokiness in the Casino and surrounding areas. I've sailed on Breakaway before, along with many other cruises, and have never experienced this... my clothes and hair stunk every time we left the Casino. Upon debarkation we lined up through the Casino and I could barely stand waiting there. The ventilation system, whatever it was, wasn't doing its job. I played less than I might have otherwise if it wasn't so stinky. Slots were tight.

No problem getting drinks with the package, several waiters even offered to bring us a 'double' at a restaurant to make it easier/faster. In general we found all of the staff to be excellent.

I personally like the Atrium as a venue, not sure what he/she meant by "shows" there... it was either a musician or something on the screen like a movie or game. I never felt it was hard to see, more something you do as you 'pass through' the area. Great people watching. Maybe there was something I missed.

We used the gym several times, it was never crowded. We tried the ropes course too, fun - I was proud of myself for doing it.

The cabin was more than sufficient, the shower actually larger than I remember on other ships. Bed was near the closet but we scooted it over, moving one of the end tables, to add another foot or so of room. That helped.

Overall... a week away from work, with a book and a drink in my hand, maybe a little sunshine and music at night, and I'm easily pleased!