Georgie562

46 minutes ago, jenf22 said:

Has anyone had any luck rebooking with the $1 deposits and getting the original deposit paid back?  I've got a cruise booked for June 2020 and I would much rather have $3 down than the $700 I've got now.  I suppose I could just cancel and rebook.  The price is the same as when I booked.

 

As far as a TA goes, I ALWAYS use one.  I use one of the "big box" ones and have never had trouble rebooking to a better promo.  The Princess cruise in 2020 has $710 OBC.  So a little more than a dinner of a bottle of wine. 

Cancelling and rebooking would be the correct formal way assuming you're not past final payment.

And also you'd have to consider the amount of time the refund would take to hit your card. Either way those $700 are going to have to get paid sooner or later. If it were my situation, I'd leave it alone and avoid the hassle. Come final payment you'll have $700 less to worry about.

Don't book your cruise specifically just to visit GSC. You will be disappointed if you can't tender due to sea/weather conditions.

56 minutes ago, RedwingHockeyFan said:

 

You misunderstood my point.  I'm not saying it's great but it is better than paying per drink prices if I didn't select it as a perk.  I've looked at both Celebrity and MSC.  I'm intrigued but they still weren't cheaper.  MSCs drink plan only includes two types of beers and other certain well drinks.  To upgrade it cost about $30 per day per person.  That brings the cost right back up.  Plus, the Aurea Balconies you get to choose from are equal to the lowest tier NCL balcony, front/rear lower floors.  The last two NCL cruises I booked I did it from the ship with Cruise Next certs which saved me $250 plus I got a free stateroom upgrade.

98% of the time Norwegian is the most expensive nowadays.

I currently have a cruise booked with Holland Caribbean cruise in December on their newest Nieuw Stantendam and I booked during their drink package promo and also a free specialty dinner in regular interior cabin. 

I priced a similar itinerary cruise on NCL during December cruise and surprise surprise (NOT) NCL is more expensive thanks to the fees!

No where on my HAL do you see such thing as beverage service charges  dinner gratuities charges because they truly do include it as a complimentary perk promotion. 

I used to like NCL and I want to keep liking NCL but right now I can’t because of all these outrageous changes and fees. II don't care how many bells and whistles this NCL ship has but I follow the savings $$. ll take my cruising vacation business elsewhere. 

Gotta love them $1 deposits!!!

3 hours ago, Outerdog said:

 

Once upon a time it was $59 / day + 15%.

 

Once upon a time the beverage package was truly just included and there was no such thing as beverage service charge and cruise fares we’re very reasonable. Here’s my first Norwegian cruise on NCL Star a 5 day back in 2015. 

As long as the sheets are changed on turnaround day for new set of passengers It really doesn't bother me. Too much other fun stuff going on in a cruise to worry about having your sheets changed on a constant basis.

Yes, only 1 person needs to purchase but just please be honest and don't share your beverages with your husband.( I am not saying that you will do this) This is happening more and more and eventually Princess will start making everyone in the same cabin purchase the package.

The $50 distinctive voyage credit and the $50 shore ex credit will show up normally the evening the day of the excursion. The credits will  go to the main reservation holder but you are able to split those credits in half. It requires trips to guest services. So we just waited towards the end to split the credits between both of us instead of going day by day.

On 1/28/2019 at 10:14 AM, LrgPizza said:

There is a tiny table there in the most aft, starboard corner of laser tag. That's where I plan to hang out and drink. If anyone kills me, they need to get me another drink.

Yea I doubt that will happen with recent price increases. I don't think anyone would want to fork up $30 to get you a good drink.

It is a Station Casino promotion seems like they are the ones responsible.

No different than a Travel Agent offering you OBC out of their own pocket once on board but then you don't see that OBC.

3 minutes ago, OCruisers said:

 

Yes!  We didn't but a guy sitting with us wanted to test it out so ordered a drink which was brought to him fairly quickly.  It took him a while to figure out how to use it.    

Sweet! Sure beats the line and crowd at the bars. I guess if you are patient enough to learn how to use the Medallion App it's worth it. I wonder how the drink package comes to play when you order a drink through the app.

Do you remember if they were serving popcorn during the Movie Under the Stars?

Known for beautiful atriums known as the Piazza

Is it true that you can order drinks with the Medallion App and the bar waiters just bring them to you?

2 hours ago, RWolver672 said:

It's definitely not fake news.  There are two other postings on here about it.  Fire destroyed the power plant and the water plant besides other buildings.  The next scheduled cruise to stop there was re-routed to Half Moon Cay.  With no power or water, ships won't be stopping there for quite a while.  More than likely those ships scheduled to stop there will now have an extra sea day if they can't get in to another port.

I'd definitely would prefer an extra sea day over a stop in Nassau

4 hours ago, jessykaw said:

Well, it looks like NCL won’t be seeing much of me in the casino then.

 

I learned a lesson the hard way on my first cruise by using my debit card for my onboard account. All my other cruises I have started my onboard account with cash, gift cards, or prepaid OBC. I could transfer money from my onboard account to my player’s account or receive cash advances at the casino cashier. It just reduced the amount of available onboard funds on my account. If my onboard account got low, I would add more cash to my onboard account.

 

I plan on starting my onboard account with $600 and I have $50 OBC from NCL. We have a drink package and will have service gratuity paid prior to the cruise. We really don’t spend any money on the ship besides the casino. If they will not allow me to use my cash funded onboard at the casino, it looks like they will be cutting me a check for a refund at the end of the cruise.

 

I don’t have high limit credit cards and the holds eat up all the available credit. This is why I use cash.

Not a good idea.... from what i was told it will take weeks to months to get your check. They don’t give it to you at cruise end. The hold they put is for $300 on your card 

I sailed Pacific Princess in 2014 - 10 Day Tahiti cruise and indeed she is a perfect size ship for great itineraries. If I recall correctly the buffet wasn't that big but crowding was not an issue. There is also a bar at the buffet. And I can't recall if salads are make your own or pre-made. sorry.

22 minutes ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

"... the  'tiny' Maasdam...." - really???   This sounds a bit patronizing, not to mention wrong.  The S and R classes  are considered mid-sized ships.  

Seemed tiny to me compare to the cruises I been on since I started cruising in 2009.

your idea of tiny is not the same idea as mines obviously so thanks for pointing that out.

Nice article. Makes me want to book a HAL cruise because although I've only been on one HAL cruise, I really did enjoy my cruise on the tiny Maasdam and would like to compare to these bigger ships like the Koningsdam and Nieuw Stantendam.

7 minutes ago, Royals Carol said:

Can you put cash in the slot machines on the Getaway?

Yes you can. When you're done playing and cash out ,you will be given a voucher.

11 hours ago, jessykaw said:

I am using cash to load my account and not giving them my credit card. Am I going to have any problems in the casino as far as using my onboard account to pay for my gaming?

 you must have a debit/credit card registered at guest services in order to access your cash loaded on your account for casino purposes. This was my experience on Bliss in November and Epic in December 

10 minutes ago, Love-to-ride said:

Our PVP called and we  book the first sailing, can't wait!!!

what is your booked itinerary?

5 minutes ago, pbenjamin said:

 

 

How and when would I do that?  Is that just the Onboard Payment Preference that's part of the check-in process?

yes

I know Carnival has some stops at Princess Cays so here are the recent news

How terrible.