crazyboutdisney

1 minute ago, OrcaGirl said:

 

Agreed, we were on the same cruise, and our next door neighbour on deck 9 was often coughing like crazy on her balcony throughout the cruise. Saw lots of people coughing throughout the ship, often right into their hands.

 

On the last full day, I was standing in the buffet next to one dude who didn't feel like waiting for a server and just reached in and grabbed a burger patty with his bare hands!

We were on starboard side. Maybe we heard the same person? We had pot smokers in the cabin between us and our friends. Our friends couldn’t even sit on their balcony or have their door open at all. We complained several times and they never did anything. It was ridiculous!!! I knocked on our friends door and when they opened it that’s all you could smell 

36 minutes ago, SteamboatCruiser said:

My husband and I were on this trip, too.  We could not have asked for a better experience considering the circumstances.  We felt that NCL/Epic staff was doing everything in their power to make our cruise and two day extension a great experience.  I would also like to say that it was the happiest and healthiest cruise that I have ever been on.  We did not run in to any grumpy passengers and NOBODY was sick.  I mean... never once did I hear a person coughing!  It was amazing to see, as there were always sick people on our past cruises.  As far as grumpy goes, there was some tension on the ship as people were trying to make alternate travel arrangements, but even then, they were not being mean and blaming people for the situation.  Overall, I would say that this was one of our top three cruises to date.

I would agree everyone seemed pretty healthy but I definitely heard people coughing. We are on deck 10 and while we were pulling into Port Canaveral someone was outside coughing up a lung. 
But I never felt like the crew ever put us at risk. I feel like they were doing everything to keep us safe and healthy. Overall I would agree passengers were calm. We saw the occasional irate passenger but tension was high at times so I expected that.  

I was on this sailing also. Had a great time!! I thought the crew handled everything well and were doing everything they could to keep us safe! They were cleaning NON stop!! Washy washy happy happy

On 11/20/2019 at 9:44 PM, blakeamy said:

My husband and I are Platinum carnival cruisers looking forward to trying another cruise line. We’re booked on the Getaway next month, and we are so excited! I enjoyed reading all the comparisons, so thanks to those that replied to the OP. 🙂

The Getaway was our first NCL after CCL and we really enjoyed the ship! LOVED that we could get margaritas at Margaritaville with the drink package!

On 11/22/2019 at 7:09 AM, Starry Eyes said:

Just remember, that will be a one time offer.  If the price drops a lot more, you will not be able to call in and get more OBC or a free upgrade.

 

You mentioned that the cruise is in March. Was it just after final payment that you saw those first price drops?

Yes, I realize its a one time deal and we paid our cruise off the first of November. I'm not real sure when the actual drop happened. I just happened to check last week and notice. 

36 minutes ago, Biffire said:

I checked last night and the price of our cabin had dropped considerably. I e-mailed my TA last night, she called as I got home from work, she said, NCL, would upgrade us from a balcony to a mini-suite. I accepted and had my e-docs when I checked after dinner. I realize a Mini, is not much different from a balcony but the tub will be a nice add on. I always book early to get cheaper airfare, and although the price reduction is probably greater than the upgrade, I feel fortunate, looking forward to our cruise!

Im watching to see what happens. If nothing changes in a few days I am going to take the OBC

2 hours ago, yellowsunshine said:

That's interesting - I'm on a cruise at the beginning of December where prices have been dropping like crazy and so I called one time after final payment and went from balcony to mini-suite. The prices kept having huge drops so I called back to try to move to a family suite (I think that's it, whatever is next after the mini) and was told you can only do that once and the person on the phone was so insistent. He kept saying I would've been warned when I agreed to the change that it was one time only which I wasn't. So the person on the phone was wrong? That makes me mad. Now everything is all sold out. I will make a note for the future! 

In my situation the upgrade to Mini suite would be a paid upgrade so I would still be able to take advantage of another upgrade or price drop. 

2 hours ago, cruisin from vegas said:

I have done this recently, so I will give you my experience.  I booked all excursions on the phone with the NCL excursion office. If you book online you have to “prepay” if on the phone you do not.  When you get to the ship they charge you the full price for all booked on the first night.  As you take each excursion, they credit back to you the $50, usually a few hours after was my experience.  It’s $50 per cabin, per port (I traveled solo) at least one person must take the excursion.   You can ask any questions you like...  hope this helps

Do you know if we call and book it with the excursion office, can we cancel prior to the cruise if we change our mind? 

I called ncl back again and talked to a really nice gal and I decided to wait it out. If the mini suite drops $20 we can upgrade for free. The obc would be nice but $65 isnt huge amount so if we dont get it thats ok. Thanks for the comments. I think I just needed to talk it out

34 minutes ago, fastpitchdad said:

 

Aren't you back on the boat by 5pm at every port? 

We are but we usually have a sea day which would be when we might do a specialty dining. Only one sea day on this cruise 🙂

I’m just not sure if we will use the dining. Cruise is out of San Juan and port intensive. I just hate to pay $129 and have the mini suite drop $20 next week and we could have gotten it for free. Ugh!! If only I had a crystal ball lol 

We are booked on the epic March 2020. Just happened to look online and the price has dropped. Called NCL and they said we we could get a one time obc(not sure on the amount if she meant $65 a person or flat $65) or pay $129 total and upgrade from a balcony to a mini suite and receive all free at sea (right now we have shore excursions and drink package) OR wait and see if it drops $20 more and get a free upgrade to a mini suite with all the free at sea. My gut was to take the obc and be done as Im not sure of the likelihood the price will drop again.

And thoughts? TIA!

I was also unaware it was called Shorex promotion. We have never booked free at sea so this is new to us. 

I did try using the search and nothing came up to answer what I was looking for. 

If we dont prepay our gratuities would the credit come off of that? If we just book them online and pay in full?

So how does the $50 credit work? We are booked on the Epic and have this as part of our package. Am I understanding correctly that you get the $50 per cabin as a credit while on the ship? Want to make sure before we start booking excursions. 

57 minutes ago, M.rusz723 said:

I know this is an older thread, but we're currently booked in 12892. How did you like it?

We liked it! The balcony was larger than most which was kind of nice. Loved the Bliss!!!

We have sailed both many times and would continue to sail on both, I like them each for different reasons. The one thing we really like about NCL is the layout of the buffet. It is not one continuous counter with a long line to wait in, it is broken up into many sections allowing people to step in and out. And the selection is repeated in several areas. Just makes for a better experience.

I also liked that there is food available after the dining room is closed. 

8 hours ago, janj01 said:

 

We had a balony cabin with all perks booked and when saw sailaway cabins drop heavilly in price we decided to forfeit the perks and save $1200 each and get the sailaway. We have our cabins and got deck 10 midship which is almost the same position we originally booked. Very happy

Now that is a great savings!!! Awesome!

1 hour ago, cruisinmeme said:

I would of said something but the dad looked 6’6” and 400 lbs and mom not far behind.lol. I dont know what was worse the wall banging or door slamming.  At one point i saw them sitting in the hall playing. At lease they were sitting.  We were in balcony cabins.  Who leaves kids for hours on end in cabin with a balcony. 

You sure we weren’t on the same ship!! Lol This was the exact experience we were having! 

21 minutes ago, cruisinmeme said:

 

Yes, huge savings for the two I have booked sailaway. We do get two meals as platinum guest and 30 mins each internet and dont drink so the extra’s are not important. 

Yes, if you dont like the location and you are not paid in full yet change away.  Like my PCC told me, even change to mini suite rather than balcony and see what happens there. It is driving me nuts that i got cabin assignment right away before now i am waiting on one.

like others have said i have had plenty of cabins i picked and had neighbors from hell. My last cruise i picked cabin and paid dearly and the kids in cabin thought they was in a gym doing wall tumbles all week.

This happened to me on our last cruise with another line. The kids were being left unattended in the cabin and I swear they were bouncing off the walls. And running in and out of the cabin, slamming the door every time. So another good point!! 

4 minutes ago, cruisinmeme said:

Yes, sail away price can go down so i watch daily.  It actually went down the first time 2 days after booking then a few weeks later it went down again.  

I just hope when i finally get my cabin assignment it is good as i had.  Each time you call/email about the price change you start over and wait for new cabin. 

Another question...can you change back to a regular category where you pick your room? Say you really hate the location? 

1 minute ago, cruisinmeme said:

Yes, sail away price can go down so i watch daily.  It actually went down the first time 2 days after booking then a few weeks later it went down again.  

I just hope when i finally get my cabin assignment it is good as i had.  Each time you call/email about the price change you start over and wait for new cabin. 

Good to know! So at that point you consider  the money savings against the room location. 

52 minutes ago, brovol said:

My wife and I have booked sail always several times, and have always gotten our cabin assignment very quickly; and even at times immediately.  We are booked on the Getaway at the end of March, and took the perks deal instead.  Kind of regretting that choice now though, as I think, because we are not huge drinkers, and the specialty dining isn't a big deal to us either, we might have been wiser to have taken the sailaway and paid for drinks as we go.  I guess I was thinking we can let our hair hang down on this cruise.  Now I am reflecting on it with more practicality in mind.  In short though, don't hesitate to take the sailaway rate.  Our cabins have always been as good as if we picked our room.

So if you get your assignment and don’t like it can you change back to a category where you pick your own? I have never changed a booking with NCL so I’m not familiar how it works w sales etc 

All of the responses have been very helpful!!! The difference in price is less than I thought, $677. We are now debating just sticking with what we have. Even if we don’t drink that much I think the gap will come closer. BUT this info has been very helpful because this will definitely be something I will consider more seriously in the future!