hate2shop

40 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

I am under the impression that only Haven and non-Haven Suites receive the self stick tags?   

My kids have a regular balcony and they received them. Names, date, ship already pre-printed on them. 

The newer self stick tags that NCL sends out now seem a lot sturdier than the old paper and staple type. Also eliminates the need for plastic sleeves and metal rings. I wonder if this will help with missing tags and lost luggage.

Departing from San Juan on Viva in one week and have a few questions. We have a suite ( non Haven ) and our kids have a balcony next door, can we board together? We don’t mind splitting up if needed, just curious. Also does anyone know the benefits for a suite ? I’m having a hard time finding this info on my documents. I choose it for the balcony size and proximity to family. I’ve stayed in Haven before and realize this is not the same. Thank you for any insights. 

My family will be on the Pearl May, 27 for Alaska. I got the email to bid from a Balcony to a Mini Suite or better. This is my first cruise and I'm already freaking out! We have a forward / starboard Balcony and from what I've read people prefer aft / port. Our stateroom is located in a nice and quite location. I thought about bidding on a Mini Suite or Penthouse, but hate not knowing about the location beforehand. What do you guys think?

I prefer Forward and Starboard. I wouldn't bid on a mini suite because I don't think it's worth it just for the bigger bathroom. Alaska at that time of year was wonderful for us. Have a great cruise.

Wow. You found the haven restaurant that good?

Yes absolutely that good. Had surf and turf at Cagney's one night and was wishing it was as good as the standard surf and turf in the Haven. Kids liked O'Sheehans for lunch or snacks and we all enjoyed Shanghais and Teppanyaki.

Yep we got full refund. It had nothing to do with weather or conditions. It was literally a swamp. The guide even said it’s not clean water and do not even put your feet in it.

 

 

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Which excursion was this ? and which port ?

I think you might be underestimating the amount of time you'll spend observing the scenery in Alaska. It is spectacular. It's not a one time show at a certain day or time. We observed from the balcony, dining room, observation decks inside, outside, fore and aft. Spent Glacier Bay viewing topside and got a tan in May. I personally would spend the cash for a balcony in Alaska if you're only planning on going there once. If you choose an inside I recommend a higher deck for easier access to the top decks.

Sorry your trip was so bad! I would have been upset, also.

 

Note to self...Never cruise from Florida during March.

On a less than 7 day cruise. I really think the majority of problems are on the shorter cruises. We cruise all the time during Spring Break with our kids and see lots of families.

Slim to none. Sailed out of San Juan twice in mid-March for Spring Break with my kids.

Airfare, hotel and food for 3 days in San Juan was as much or more than our cruise.

I booked a cruise on the Epic from San Juan leaving March 1, 2020. Where I am from Spring Break happens mid March and I never even thought about that when booking. What are the chances of a bunch of spring breakers sailing out of San Juan?

 

 

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Slim to none. Sailed out of San Juan twice in mid-March for Spring Break with my kids.

I understand charters happen. My irritation is more that NCL is aware that these cruises are chartered, and they continue to sell cruises that will be canceled. This seems to be an inappropriate business practice. On Celebrity as soon as a cruise is chartered, it is immediately not available to the public, leaving only those who already booked to be compensated in some way by the line. :ship:

I can certainly understand your frustration at the way NCL (mis) handled it. In my case I went to join the roll call and some booked passengers for the non-charter were still on there and had not been notified or compensated yet by Celebrity and a lot of their posts sounded very similar to yours. I'm sorry this happened to you. Enjoy your cruise.

I loved my cruise on Celebrity Eclipse this past January. It was a charter, The Moody Blues cruise. A lot of people on the Celebrity forum were very angry when Celebrity cancelled their cruise. My point is all cruise lines run charters and Sixthman is not the only one.

I vote for deck 8 or even better the Lido.

You complicated this by splitting everyone up. It is unnecessary.

Those posted rules only address "kids " up to 20 years old. Carnival still makes me put an "adult" in my kids room even though they are always next door and now 23, 19, and 18 years old. I can't even book our reservations online, when you get to the " age of occupants " sections it makes me call the 1-800 number. This last time the agent said it was because the youngest was only 18 and had to have someone over 25 in his room. The last cruise I took them on was this past January. There is currently another thread with this same topic.

The only reason to book the way you did is if (1) the cabins are too far apart based on the kids' ages or (2) to purchase Cheers for one adult and not the other.

 

Having said that, everyone will need to go to Guest Services together. You can get extra keys for the rooms that work just as keys, so Mom can move to the room with Dad (or visa versa) and the kids can go where they are supposed to. Easy Peasey.

That is not the only reason to book cabins that way with an adult in each. The damn website NEVER lets me put my "kids" in their own cabin. They are 23, 19 and 18. Caribbean, Mexico, Alaska, no matter where I want to go in the world they make me split adults and "kids". FWIW we have always traveled in connecting or adjoining rooms. The last cruise I took them on this January on the Conquest I still had to call and even then she said because the youngest was "only 18" an adult had be be booked in his room. I know some people on here will not believe me but this has happened to me EVERY single time.

THANKS! Where did your bags go while you went on the tour? And did the tour company take you to the MIA airport?

We've done this one twice. Your luggage goes into the baggage compartment underneath the bus. It stays with you the whole time.

After the tour the bus drops you off at the correct terminal at the airport. Very stress free. It was pretty chilly when we went and no bugs.

Whatever shore excursions NCL offers will include storing your bags. You mention that there are few choices but you also mention that you want to use the shore excursion credit. So you will have to make a choice.

 

 

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Do they offer an Everglades excursion that ends at the airport ? That was fun. Or you can rent a car and drive to the beach or anywhere you want to go and leave the bags in the car. When we've had really late flights like 9pm I've rented a hotel room at the beach or airport and hung out there for the day.

OK, I am confused by this one. I am a newer travel agent so haven't dealt with this before. Spoke with NCL regarding a BD category guarantee cabin - quad balcony. She said bedding could be 1) Sofa bed + pullman, 2) pullman + foldable bed/playpen or 3) foldable bed/playpen + sofa bed. Kids are 9 & 13 not babies - what is the "foldable bed"? She said its small or a playpen. I said how can they give that with kids that age and she said they don't look at the ages, just see "child" and assign cabin and you may get a foldable bed/ playpen. That sounds crazy to me. I know the answer is "don't book a guarantee" lol but it is a significant savings.

Does anyone have a picture of the foldable bed?

Thanks!

Christie

Call and talk to another agent. I've only booked a quad balcony once for 4 teenagers and the beds were all normal size.

Are you flying to your embark point ? I broke my foot in Miami and had to fly home. It was very painful and there was no good way to elevate it on an aircraft.

Lido Deck Restaurant - 24/7 Complimentary Beverages

Ships: ALL

 

The following beverages are available in the Lido Deck Restaurant, 24/7 and are complimentary: Coffee, Hot Tea, Hot Chocolate, Lemonade and Unsweetened Iced Tea.

In addition to those 24/7 drinks they also have Orange Juice at breakfast and I have heard they might also put out guava juice or other juices. We are thinking of bringing some cans of pineapple juice and supplementing that with OJ from the breakfast buffet - we can store it in bottles in the cabin mini-fridge.

The Lido has an orange/guava juice that I like to use as a mixer but it's only available until 11ish during breakfast. I've also been known to order juice (orange, cran , and pineapple ) with my room service breakfast and save it for use as a mixer.

I check the roll call to see who's onboard for "whatever" sailing.

"

As soon as I see a pattern of "we are a family of four....me, DH, DS (7), DD (9)" I move on.

 

I'm doing this right now for an early June Escape cruise. I thought "the kids" would still be in school, but by page 2 I'm seeing too many "family vacations".

I guess it just depends where you're from. By early June my kids will have been out of school for 2-3 weeks already.

I think your kids will have a great time even without new playmates. After all they do have each other.

They are being dishonest if there are cabins left at that 'starting from' price. They do disclose that there is limited availability of those cabins, i.e. first come first served.

 

bon voyage

If they are advertising a price and then say "Oops sorry none left at that price, would you like this one for $650 more? " that is the definition of bait and switch. If there are no cabins available at that price they need to take that offer off their website.

I think people get confused when they see the different banners that advertise the current promo and also say free. The rate says STARTING FROM which is the key. They always advertise the discounted, bare bones rate that goes up from there depending on which cabin your choose and if you choose any of the perks. Also, taxes and port fees are always calculated on the last page of the booking too.

 

There are times, when the banners are legit, that your cruise fare is coming with the promo and perks since there isn't a discounted rate for that sailing yet.

 

It seems deceptive and misleading which it is but it's marketing. It's all in the little word that says "starting from". That's where they get you and from a legaltiy standpoint, Celebrity isn't doing anything wrong.

I understand the "starting from " concept but if they can't show me a cabin at that "starting from " price I think they are being dishonest.

Hi -- When you see this on the Celebrity web page,what would you think?

 

then the total --

I was able to get an agent at Celebrity to explain this to me. The two items in the image directly above here had nothing to do with each other. I had foolishly assumed that they were part of the same offer. Two free perks were ONE thing, or the starting price was something completely different. The same with the top picture.

 

The banner and the price directly below it were not related -- go figure! The super-low California resident rate was at the bottom, and the free perks were just a different idea.

 

You can have a hamburger with free lettuce and tomato for $1 -- only the bill is $2 - you can get the discounted hamburger for a $1 -- just like we said, only no lettuce and tomato. But, the $2 hamburger has free lettuce and tomato.

 

See you on my next Princess Cruise!

This is what I was referring to in another thread when I said it offered me two free perks and then charged me $650 for them.