TrumpyNor

It depends on when the ship arrives in Trieste from the previous cruise. If it arrives early in the morning, then my guess would be that boarding starts at the "usual time" - between 11.00 Am and noon. Even if the sailaway isn't until 10.00 PM.

No, this is where you are wrong. I have two screenshots in my reply (one for sailaway rate and one for regular rate) - there is a difference in rates - sailaway shows as €10 less than the "just cruise" rate in my example.....

Based on past experience I would say this: 9 out of 10 times what is listed on your cruise confirmation will be correct regarding tendering or not tendering.

Follow this link to start a CruiseCritic roll call for that particular cruise: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/307-norwegian-gem-roll-calls/

I didn't realize that OP had two posts in the thread, so my reply was based on her first post, where nothing was said about sailaway cabins. And my entire reply simply showed the options I had on the European NCL web page, as an EXAMPLE, I said nothing about the way Australian or US gratuities would show or not show.

From the European version of ncl.com there is absolutely a possibility to book without any FAS and instead choose the "just cruise" category both for the Sailaway staterooms (where the actual stateroom is usually given by NCL at a later time, you can not choose location yourself) and for all other types of cabins - it is possible to choose the "just cruise" category and then get a lower price. But as it is a very small difference in price for the Sailaway "unknown" cabin and the regular "just cruise" cabin, I would of course choose the regular one, as I then would be able to choose a stateroom myself.

No, no prepurchase of these types of drinks. Can be ordered through roomservice when you are onboard the ship.

I believe it is only on the Sun and the Spirit that muster drills are held outside on deck, probably due to size of ship....?

Prosecco by the glass is included.

As others have said, mainly on deck 7, but they are quite "visible" also on deck 8.... On this photo we are standing on our balcony on deck 14....

I am not a lawyer and I do not know by experience, but ufortunately I am pretty confident the answer to your question would be "NO". Just for the simple reason that unless Spanish port authorities did an ID-/Visa-check on EVERY passenger on that cruise in the various Spanish ports, then they would have no control of if YOU went ashore in the ports or not. So both for Spanish authorites and for NCL, it is easier to deny you boarding on that cruise. And IF NCL lets you cruise - when scanning your passport, there will probably be some automatic "flagging" in European systems about you being a holder of a Schengen visa with limitations (as extension only will be valid for Portugal), so that you may have some difficulties if you plan on travelling to Europe in the future.

The easiest is to just tell the host/hostess that you will be paying this meal a-la-carte, and then just repeat the same sentence to the waiter, and there should be no misunderstandings at all.

That is the situation for me as well - so I find this change to be for the better, at least from my personal and very subjective view point.... 😊

Here is everything that is included in the Premium Plus Beverage Package - see page 2: https://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/Premium_Plus_Bar_Package_111522.pdf Seems like Moët Champagne is only included with dinner - bootled.

We always get to the port rather early (around 10.30-11.00), and I honestly forgot that due to our Latitude Diamond status we are let to check-in at the pier pretty much as soon as we arrive there, and we are always let on the ship in "group 1". We have also only been doing European cruise itineraries since 2017, and to choose check-in time at the pier when doing the online check-in has not been required here as long as it has for cruises that starts from an American port, so I forgot about that as well. I am very sorry if my first reply caused any confusion.

We had a Haven Spa Suite for a week a few years ago, and what was included was just the "regular" spa admittance that you would get if you just booked a regular spa pass. There are no spa threatments included with the Spa Suite. Just wanted to mention it in case you are not aware of that. https://www.ncl.com/fr/en/shorex/154947592/48057328/spa-detail/SPAS46

You do know that checking in online for your cruise at a later time than "opening day" is absolutely no problem, right? I usually wait to check in until just a few days before the sailing date - as I don't see any reason to do it at an earlier time.

I think you must have quoted my post by mistake, as I did NOT write anything about the next cruise being cancelled...?

I have already a NCL cruise in Europe booked for August 2024 - so they are available now....Both Northern Europe and Mediterranean cruises are available on ncl.com.

It is normal that speciality restaurants on NCL usually don't have large tables available online before 09.00 PM, so you (or the TA) could just contact NCL to book 2 tables for four and then contact the restaurant(s) in question when on board, to "re-arrange" the tables together the way you prefer. As it is not possible for one person to book the same restaurant twice online in advance - I guess because they want to "spread out" reservations so that not "all tables go to the same person"... It is still just a certain percentage of the restaurant seats that are available for pre-booking anyway.

Latest "official news": As Viking Polaris is a ship that is registered in Norway, there was a report here in a Norwegian newspaper less than 2 hours ago (01.00 PM European time), quoting somebody from Viking Line officially stating that unfortunately the wave caused one fatality (passenger) and four other passengers that were receiving medical threatment for non-lethal injuries.

This sign was posted outside most restaurants on board on both the Gem and the Escape in July/August....

If you want ot do the online check-in for everyone, then you just have to "guarantee" for them during the online check-in process, and then have your card removed/swapped with their own cards when checking in at the pier.

I always thought the pools on NCL had "cleaned/purified" saltwater in them, so "similar" to freshwater?

Regarding the "regular" sunbed hogging - this came regularly on the big screen on the pool deck on the Escape on our last cruise in August of this year. I don't know if they actually enforced it, as I usually prefer to find sunbeds in more "quiet" spots myself. The general manager on board at that time was a great one who really had passengers best interest in mind in pretty much every aspect of the cruise - so that may explain it.....