herbanrenewal

It matters when you travel with a friend rather than a family member. When the entire FAS discount per room was applied to my roommate's account. Despite the reservation in my name. When each of us booked an excursion that we each paid for separately, they returned a cancellation reimbursement entirely to her account. not to the credit cards of each reservation but all to her account. To further complicate matters we each have different Latitudes status. They of course were no help with the FAS discounts applied per room, Latitudes discounts per individual status and its up to us to figure it out. When we did the math the difference between giving FAS all to one person versus splitting it amounted to $1-2 dollars per excursion - certainly not a deal breaker, but consistently the difference in our status gave them an extra couple bucks per excursion, for each excursion in NCLs favor. On the plus side, after our last cruise she is now platinum so at least our discounts are the same so its easier for us to figure out when we balance the cost per excursion when just one person got the FAS discount.

might consider doing 3 month stints on various cruise lines if i won the lottery, but no, not a residence on board one ship, or even not all on one line.

i take a photo of favorite crew members with their nametags visible - so I know their first and last names and spell it correctly when i do the survey. For truly exceptional service i fill in cruise line notes/feedback cards during cruise and hand to customer service. Tip too, but I've gotten more thanks from crew when i cite them for going above and beyond. Management likes positive feedback.

I was on the Prima northern route TA, and comments of others here are correct - these beautiful news ships have a lot of outdoor features and the Prima TA last fall was not ideal. Fortunately the Viva route is southern Atlantic. I'm also booked on Viva TA this year. I'm expecting warmer weather for most of the cruise (maybe not Caribbean cruise type weather but warm enough to enjoy outdoor features) The Med ports before heading to the US are great! On other southern Atlantic autumn cruises we have had decent pool weather.

if you book excursions before the cruise, but cancel one when onboard how are you reimbursed? Is it returned to your credit card? refundable as cash onboard? refundable OBC?

good tapas at Casa Rivas. https://bar-casa-rivas.edan.io/

the only time ive been to Girona was for the May Flower Festival (beautiful!!) and we took an inexpensive train to the town. If you are comfortable with metro and trains in Spain this is an excellent option. Barcelona metro stop Paseo De Gracia to Girona tickets around 10Euro

Priority boarding starts at Platinum, so yes... https://www.ncl.com/shorex/259502191/latitudes but can vary from port to port, or by cruise. For example, if there are a lot of Latitudes members with eligible status this group may be a majority of the cruisers, especially on longer cruises and when families with kids aren't as likely to travel, like during school year.

But since the topic is check-in... each embarkation port has its own facets that make it unique. I prefer an early time for Tampa, but definitely prefer boarding in afternoon in NYC. And I mostly avoid Miami - my least favorite embarkation port. As to being first onboard if you pre-book the times and excursions important to you there is no need to run to the desk to grab spots, Your most important booking is probably different than mine so different folks head to different areas when initially onboard. Pre-booking can be cheaper than booking onboard. Generally the only onboard booking for me is the one i'll use my shareholder benefit NR-OBC, and not a must-have event.

i have taken 3 to 5 weeks cruises for 3 years running in February, and have booked 2024 and 2025 already - generally cheapest prices are right after dates are opened and right before last payment date. So i book ahead and check last minute. I also am happy with interior or oceanview since I'm one of those who spend little time in the room. Since I'm well- accustomed to Caribbean ports I don't need to spend a lot to go to my favorite beaches, or enjoy the ship on the port days. I can just relax and enjoy the warm weather. I have a couple ways to compare vaca time vs at home time - primarily by tracking expenses all year. Using a spreadsheet I know what i need to maintain my home and my lifestyle. I dont compare at home cost vs cruise cost. I see what fits in my retirement budget. I have a fixed amount in my budget for travel. If my winter trips come in inexpensive enough I can enjoy another back to back in the fall.

Is there any time when solo sales are likely? I’ve a b2b scheduled for next Feb with a friend but she may cancel.

I've always managed to find some decent wine store near every embarkation port. Forums like Trip Advisor usually have locals respond and I've gotten wonderful recommendations there. It can be fun to try a local wine at dinner the night before cruise and bringing a bottle onboard. Of course I usually stay in embarkation port the night before US cruise ports, and several nights before international travel - plenty of time to find a great local wine. I'm not a wine expert, but I hate paying over a hundred bucks for a wine I can buy at home for $15 or less. Since I only drink a glass at dinner I decline the "Free" drinks and save enough from avoiding the tax and tips fee to buy a coupe nice bottles to bring onboard.

I usually check state.gov websites to see official US government recommendations https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/mexico-travel-advisory.html Being someone who tries to reduce risk I personally won't go exploring with a cab or small group but feel the type of things I like such as beaches and snorkeling with a cruise excursion within my risk category.

I have stage 4 kidney disease and have a very strict sodium limit. My first stop on arriving is going to talk to special dietary - usually wherever they are making specialty dining reservations you can make contact with them. Every day you need to pre-select from the next day's menus - they can provide all menus for regular and specialty dining. Then the chefs can prepare your food so you are eliminating the salt and other sources of sodium. Aps like My Fitness Pal help identifies what fits into your diet. Before this i never realized how much sodium was in a single slice of bread. I eat most of my meals in the main dining room since you have no way of knowing how much sodium is in any of the prepared dishes in the cafeteria.

I was on the initial transAtlantic, and I loved the Prima's potential, but really thought it is designed more for warm weather cruises than the north Atlantic. I had purchased the thermal spa pass. The cold weather destinations mean thermal spa is the only warm pool, but onboard found out there were no jets in the water features. If anyone knows if they are working id love to know - i wont be booking Prima class ships if there are no jets in those spa pool features.

Like weltak - for me, the cruise itinerary is a defining factor. Northern Atlantic TAs, Alaska, Northern Europe I want the thermal spa; Caribbean, Panama canal, southern Med warm weather cruises I dont use the Spa enough to spend the money for it. I might go for the Vibe if there is a lot of kids onboard instead. My tolerance of kids has declined in recent decades.

My experience has been that when itineraries are freshly released the price may be lower. Then over the next two years before sail dates price rises. If its not selling well there may be drops in some cabin categories. But despite the "latest and greatest ever" sales the price is relatively stable. I've kept spreadsheets on cruises I've purchased to look for possible upgrade or money back opportunities, or you may hear of a meaningful price drop on a roll call. Other than that, best prices are AFTER final payment dates when some who have booked but decide not to complete payment cause a surplus of rooms available. This works great for retirees or someone who can wait for last minute booking. On popular itineraries or international travel where you need to book air and hotels earlier I will book earlier since sale prices are not changing much.

Excellent friend for 45 years. We usually share an interior or oceanview, so low end budget travelers. Between getting two FAS instead of sharing those benefits, and both able to get shareholder benefits instead of just one of us, and both being able to use future cruise certificate, if we booked solo sale cruises we could save money.

mu friend has used hers for several years so i think she knows what she has.

That's easier to do in a relationship - but my roommate is my neighbor. I'd also prefer to book and pre-pay because you save 15% by prepaying.

how did you do it? when I tried it wouldn't let me, so I called and was told it is not possible. The agent actually told me to "just use your friend's phone." Because I've gotten different answers before I also tried using the chat feature.

I just found out today that I can't upgrade my internet without my roommate upgrading too. She has a phone plan that covers her international with no fees, but I would have to pay my phone carrier. I now realize that couples dont get to only grade for one, but they usually share phones - or at least know the same people they communicate with in an emergency. So on a b2b2b that last 31 days I'd have no internet to stay in touch with my family. I think from now on we'll be booking solo. We also can't each use our shareholder benefit. If it wasn't after final payment we would cancel and get 2 interiors - it would be cheaper!

I was told by a ncl rep that if the b2b was booked under one reservation number you could keep the account open but if you booked as two separate cruises each cruise was separate. I've done b2b back where i added the second (or even third) cruise.

Does anyone know of a wine store near Crowne plaza Hotel San Pedro? Also store to buy sunscreen? I like to buy after flight since I carry-on only.

You can fly open jaw (also called multi-city) ticket - West bound - fly to European city, take cruise, return to US port then second part of trip is from port city to home airport. For example, I can fly to Barcelona, cruise to Miami, return flight Miami to Baltimore. East bound - home airport to port city, cruise to Europe, fly home.