kahoosbt

2 minutes ago, kip6 said:

Hi, are you on the Diamond Princess right now? I am and have been since 06 Jan. 2020.

It is not "really bad" for us now, maybe for people who love to complain and are looking for their 15 minutes of fame it is a Godsend. I am very impressed with the Captain and the incredible crew, we are being looked after exceptionally well. I am not getting into a pissing contest with anyone, but if anyone has any intelligent questions about the situation I will give answers where I can. Just be advised I will only provide information on things I have seen or experienced myself, no heresay, conjecture or supposition will be entered into. 

Good for you! It seems like you have a great attitude. What cabin type are you in?

Good plan to keep up with your exercise! That will help a lot. Also doing a lot of walking around the ship +at ports, and taking the stairs instead of elevators helps, too. For eating, I agree with the poster above. If you like larger tables, they can work, too! Lots of people have special requests whether for weight, allergies, or just preferences. The only thing about the larger table is you will have the bread there, plus people ordering desserts around you. That's something you have to decide--whether those things will be too tempting for you, or not.

Another thing I do (which may or may not work for you) is eat very little in the earlier part of the day. I am not a big breakfast eater, anyway, so often I will skip that. For lunch, I usually have a light salad or something along that line. If I have also been diligent on exercising / moving, that gives me a little more leeway at dinner. I have come to the point where I work hard to lose a little extra before a cruise, which--combined with exercise and diligence earlier in the day--means if there is something off my usual plan that I *really* want, I have it. I just try to make sure it doesn't become every day, and that the off-plan things I choose to eat are worth the calories! 🙂

1 hour ago, Bonobochick said:

As someone who budget cruises on NCL - which I guess classifies me in the derisive titled "bottom feeders" group - I've never once removed my DSCs. The implication of that generalization of budget cruisers is gross. 

I agree completely! We are also budget cruisers / "bottom feeders". We have cruised around much of the world--most of the time in inside cabins. I like bargains, but would never dream of canceling the DSC! While no doubt there are some who do cancel DSCs in order to save money, I believe (hope!) they are a very small minority.

19 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

At that time, there were at least 636 rooms available (site I use shows a max of 100 in any given category).

I know links are not supposed to be shared here, but would you be willing to post a disguised link, hint, or some other info that could be used to find this site? Or send me a direct message with the info? If so, I would really appreciate it. I have done quite a bit of searching and have only been able to find sites that list ~15 available cabins per category. 

Thanks!

Just curious...

What is the earliest / farthest out from the cruise date that anyone has had a bid accepted?

I recall reading of one that was ~38 days ahead. Any sooner than that? --I realize that many are not accepted until much closer to the cruise, but wondering about the other end of the spectrum.

Thanks!

Good topic! I think the most I've gained is around 7 lbs. And we usually take 2 week+ cruises. But there have also been times I have gained only a pound or two, or none at all. (Once I even lost a smidgen!) And I tend to be a very easy gainer!

The times I'm most successful in keeping the weight down, I try to keep breakfast and lunch to a minimum, then I have what I want for dinner / dessert.

I also try to do a lot of walking, taking the stairs, etc. And we don't drink much--usually only the wine we get free through latitudes platinum. 

I definitely don't deprive myself, but basically just try to be mindful and choose things that are really worth the calories to me!

13 hours ago, julig22 said:

My educated guess is that your original room choice is factor #1.  They want to have sellable rooms, so if they can upgrade you to free up a popular but cheaper cabin, they will.  Guest numbers are also a consideration - easier to upgrade a solo or duo than a family.

Good point--that makes sense. Thanks!

I have been wondering whether things like latitudes level, cruise history, etc, factor in to the upgrades in any way, or if they are all random. For example, who receives offers, what the values on the sliders are, who is successful in similar competing bids, etc. Are these affected by your level or history of cruising (or other factors)?

Just wondering if anyone knows, or has an educated guess, based on following the subject or using spreadsheets. Thanks! ☺️

2 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Just my 2 cents - we just sailed the Gem last week, similar/sister ship in the same class. 

Thanks for your detailed and very informative reply!

I am thinking about bidding for just a balcony... not an OV. When we booked our IE cabin, we caught it at the very lowest prices... $887 pp for 21 days in the South Pacific! I don't recall what the price of a balcony was, at that time, but now it's $1869+. Given this, I doubt a direct price for a balcony would come anywhere close to 1137. or less pp. (887 + 250, if we bid the maximum listed on the slider.) Of course, we know that, even if we bid the maximum, there's no guarantee of getting a balcony upgrade. But--if not--we have been very content in our inside cabins on other cruises. --Most of our cruises have been in insides (although we have also had oceanview and balcony cabins), and we have no problem with it.

Anyway, nothing definite, yet, but those are our thoughts at this point!

Thanks again for your thoughts! We welcome any and all ideas / feedback! 

I am enjoying reading this thread! Thanks to all who contribute!

I have some questions. First, on our upcoming 21 day cruise (Jewel, Sydney / South pacific), we booked a midship inside. On our upgrade offer, the slider for a balcony ranges from 0 to $250 each. But on the oceanview upgrade, the slider ranges from 0 to $450. This seems strange. Why would they do this? More open balcony cabins or ??

Second, if one puts in a high or maximum bid for an upgrade, would they be more likely to get an upgrade sooner, rather than right before sailing? Or perhaps get a better location cabin, as compared to a successful lower bid? Or are these things just random? 

Thanks!

We're fans of the "cheap seats", too! We don't have a huge budget, but love to travel so this helps us do it! :D

We just started traveling / cruising a couple of years ago (work, elder parent care, etc. prevented it until then.) And I'd say we've done very well on where we've been and what we've seen, for the total amount spent. I *always* look for great deals and we don't mind the inside cabins at all. In fact, hubby prefers them, both because he doesn't sleep well (and the darkness helps) and also because he can tend to get seasick (at least when we've taken our own little 21' boat in the ocean--so far never has on a cruise), so likes mid-ship lower deck cabins. These are also among the cheapest! :cool:

Shelley & John

Thanks, everyone, for the replies. I'll bring some of my own stevia along on our upcoming b2b Buenos Aires to Fort Lauderdale cruise. :)

Shelley

Can anyone who has been on a recent Celebrity cruise tell me whether they stock Truvia / Stevia sweetener packets yet? I found some threads asking this (and the answer was they did not), but the posts were all from quite a while ago. I'm hoping they have started carrying it now, since for a lot of people--like me--it's the only non-sugar sweetener they will use.

Any recent updates would be appreciated. If they still do not carry it, I'll bring some of my own.

Thanks!

Shelley

We're doing a 3 leg 38-day cruise beginning next month which includes a TA (our first). I spent a lot of time searching for a good price for our one-way return flight. We went with Iceland Air because they were the cheapest I found by far. Also Iceland is a place we have wanted to visit and you can stop over in Iceland and continue the flight later at the same flight price as if you flew straight through (a smart way to encourage tourism). So we're staying there for a few days on the way back.

Our flights from Copenhagen to Seattle were $498. each. (I booked them 10 months ahead). :)

Thought I'd post a follow-up to my comment yesterday.

Today I called, was answered almost immediately and able to book my shore excursions very quickly. A total of about 10 minutes for everything!

I hope others who are still trying to get through have better luck today as well.

The website is still not working for accessing my reservation, but at least I got the excursions booked, so I feel much better about everything today!

:)

I've tried calling 3 times today about an existing reservation. First time I was on hold for 23 minutes, second time 64 minutes and now 22 minutes. They on strike or something? I even tried calling in as if I was making a new reservation and its as long as well.

 

Great service they got there.

Tell me about it. I was on hold for almost 1/2 hour the first time and got cut off. Did some other things for a while, then tried again and this time I have been on hold for over 2 hours and my call still has not been answered.

And the only reason I resorted to the phone was because I cannot access shore excursion booking etc, online through my account. That has been "down" for over a week now. I got tired of waiting (cruise is in 27 days) so decided to try the phone.

Not a great introduction for a first time NCL cruiser. (Not first cruise, but first booked on NCL)

:(