wilsonhold

Say you decide to give an extra tip on a reposition transatlantic cruise to either England or Europe,  should the tip be in usd (now NCL only currency) or attempt to give them the tip in the final destination currency?
 

Not sure the hoops and difficultly the stewards, etc  have converting usd to either euros or pounds.

On 1/21/2024 at 12:25 AM, KKB said:

Then went to the theater to change/aquire dining reservations.

Curious . For our 2024 Primi April Transatlantic sailing , reservations are not available for the two main dining rooms (that never showed being available either except party of 6 or 8). Were you able to prebook the Mdr meals at the theatre for party of 2? Thanks

You can check the port for your sailing date.  You can simply type in google
Southampton cruise port schedule may 12, 2024

 

If only one MSC or Ncl owned company including Oceania, etc., than it will be Horizon. If multiple entries,  you may be assigned another berth.

21 minutes ago, jajsmom said:

We're thinking of doing National Express in June.  Our airfare is not finalized yet--we're booking through EZ Air.  How far in advance should we book National Express to get the times we want?

I would recommend you look at how busy the Southampton port for your planned date? This can be done on sites like cruisetimetables.com.

 

Good luck

3 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

"Cheapest" is certainly a competition that National Express will often win, and is a big contributor to its passenger mix. So if that is of overriding importance, then it'll often be the winner.

Full disclosure. We only took them once from LHR airport to Southampton August 2022. To be honest,  I don't remember many details of the trip except it was convenient  and reasonable priced. It left no emotional scars from the trip that we can remember after 2 years. It got us to point a to point b as advertised.

 

Last year we took a train from Civitavecchia to Rome with luggage. While we would do it again, the train was completely full, cramped, and traveling with  luggage was a chore.
 

Of the two experiences, we had no concerns using National Express again. It was 19.00 Usd for the both of us one way to London. 

32 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

Unless you have vast amounts of luggage (in which case you could exceed the baggage limitations for National Express), dealing with luggage on these trains isn't difficult. Millions of people travel on trains with their luggage, all over the country. It may sometimes require a bit of improvisation, but we're all doing that all the time.

 National express luggage allowance seems sufficient for most cruisers (see below). And we have travelled by train in the past with luggage at busy times and just felt the cheapest/easiest transportation wins out for us but i coincide it may not be the quickest and you may have a different opinion.

On 1/12/2024 at 1:27 PM, nini said:

The National Express is super cheap from the airport.

Besides the price, another reason to  consider  using National express is  baggage. Storing and keeping track of luggage on a busy train is not fun.

 

But it just seems very strange to me that a busy port like Southampton would not have some type of bus transportation to either the Southampton bus station or train station (even if need to pay). With sometimes 14k disembarking passengers, I hope they have hundreds of taxi lined up at the 5 separate port areas. Will consider walking, but if it would rain.. not sure walking would be considered.

9 hours ago, herbanrenewal said:

I've  heard some who walked out and got a taxi, and others who said over an hour in queue. My backup plan is to walk - its around a mile, (roughly 1.4km) according to google maps.

 Not sure if you have been following our sailings Primi roll call but on May 12 there will be four ships and potentially 14k passengers in Southampton that day. Consider making your plans early.

On 11/29/2023 at 1:40 PM, herbanrenewal said:

Arriving on TA from NYC to Southampton on May 12, 2024. Planning on using National Express bus to London. How do I get from pier to bus station? Do I need to prebook bus or can I just get to bus station and catch next bus?

We are on the same sailing and booked the 09:35am . Cost us  19.67 usd (on credit card with no international surcharges) for the 2 tickets to the Victoria bus station. 

On 12/5/2023 at 1:34 PM, gumshoe958 said:

Jump in a cab outside the terminal, it shouldn’t take more than 5-10 minutes.

 

You should book the National Express in advance as they can and do sell out. Should be cheaper as well.

I assume there are no bus transfers to the Southampton coach station. Any idea how long the queue would be to get a taxi when a roughly 3000 passenger  cruise line arrives?

We pre-paid our daily service charge  under the old rate of 14.50 usd a day last year. If we would be upgraded to a mini-suite, does anyone know if we would need to pay an additional?  1.00 usd a day or 2.50 a day? On a 28 day cruise, 56 dollars vs 140 dollars for the both of us may start to add up.

40 minutes ago, Tiredandgrumpy said:

I dont believe thats the case for one minute, there will be without doubt a huge contingent of people who don't use the medallion app to order drinks and food. Its very risky business to now monetise something you're having an issue with in an attempt to rectify a problem. In a nutshell…if they're  selling something to the masses it should work. 

It is not the technology but the staffing required to deliver the food/drink.

I guess I am confused. We are sailing Australia this coming October/November for 28 days. Is the new norm as stated in these posts or as Princess officially stated below?. I would love to not have to bring a suit,etc but at the same time do not want to bend the rules and be considered rude.

Formal
When formal nights are held, please observe the dress code in the dining venues for the enjoyment of all our guests.

• Evening gown, cocktail dress or elegant pant suit for women
• Tuxedo, dark suit or dinner jacket and slacks for men

4 hours ago, suzyed said:

The coupons are from your travel agent and if they are giving you one, it will be in your cabin.
Once, I got it in an email from my ta.
Just make sure you have the actual coupon because no one seems to know about them otherwise.

Thanks. Never hurts to ask and maybe could get lucky. A couple dollars here and there never is a bad thing.

18 hours ago, Plato123 said:

Don't forget your free bottle of wine if you dine in a specialty restaurant the first night:

ShipwideSavingsCoupons2023.pdf (responsys.net)

 

Curious. Can these coupons be used by all princess cruisers in 2023 or are there restrictions? Wonder if i could use them on our sailing? 

9 hours ago, Jayhawk said:

Yes, they did have it, however, it was a paid show. We did not go...looks like on our cruise it was days 2, 4,5, and 7.

Thank you

On 1/1/2023 at 1:21 AM, Jayhawk said:

All the major shows were amazing - I commented a bit on SIX above....my daughter was really looking forward to it. We saw it both nights. I saw SIX on Broadway in November and honestly, it was about the same caliber. I expect some of these women will be on Broadway themselves! I thought Burn the Floor was equally amazing. The shows on this ship really set it apart from other cruises.

 

Several people on our FB thread said they tested positive for COVID or RSV after coming home. My husband has a stuffy nose as of yesterday, thankfully no other issues and none of the rest of us have gotten sick. 

Did you notice if the dinner theatre production velvet played in the spiegel tent and what nights? It originally showed up as a breakaway entertainment option on our breakaway sailing this coming may. But now it seems to be gone. 

2 minutes ago, don't-use-real-name said:

 

The Soda Package can be purchased separately !

I should correct my prior  post . I meant as a free perk and only pay the 20% on the soda package

We are not huge drinkers. I sometimes wonder if you could (as a over 21 year old adult) can get the soda package as a perk. And only pay on 20% on the price of the soda package not the liquor package? Maybe something we would consider...

We are booked on a 15 day cruise next year on the Star from Santiago, Chile to Port Canaveral that included air with Ncl. US air carriers charge a lot of money for  one way air flights. Ncl flights costs of 499 from our city is over 1/2 off any available fares advertised.

 

But the extra money to book a  night would cost us including deviation/hotel fees close to 500 dollars.. and with our first port we visit is under 100 miles from our embarkment point, we may be willing to risk the scenario of missing our first day on the cruise.

 

So does anyone know  if it worst case happenned and we arrive in South America  late,what would be NCL's responsibilities to get us onto the ship.. we decided to use ncl insurance for added protection.. so we believe we should be covered.. and  assume hotel, meals and ground transportation would be provided..  any experiences?

We are over 21, and light drinkers. I been wondering if you have the option to chose the soda package  instead of the beverage package as one of the free at sea promotions. There does not seem to be method to do it online, but instead if maybe it could be changed if you called ncl directly. The service charge on soft drinks currently is under 2 dollars a day. It seems to be an option if passengers are under 21.  Does anyone know? 

Thanks. Interesting. Will have to see if any dates would work.

Curious. If you live near Atlanta,  can you  make your own travel arrangements  to jfk New York City and specify jfk as your departure gateway instead of Atlanta on a cruise originating out of Amsterdam ? There is a huge difference in price a flight from the gateway JFK to Amsterdam (free) and a flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam (1299.00)

 

 

Gateway
City - State
Airfare Pricing
JFK
New York/JFK, NY
$0
EWR
Newark, NY
$399
 
YUL
Montreal - Dorval
 
$699
YYZ
Toronto - Lester B. Pearson
$699
MIA
Miami, FL
$799
 
TPA
Tampa, FL
 
$799
YVR
Vancouver, Canada
$799
BOS
Boston - Logan, MA
$999
 
LAX
Los Angeles, CA
 
$999
MSP
Minneapolis - St. Paul, MN
$999
 
MCO
Orlando, FL
 
$999
PHX
 
Phoenix, AZ
$999
 
STL
St. Louis, MO
$999
 
DEN
Denver, CO
 
$1,199
SEA
 
Seattle, WA
$1,199
 
ATL
Atlanta, GA
$1,299

we will be taking Epic’s next transatlantic trip in April.thank you for your post. Hope you enjoy the remaining of your trip..

It the price is right, you should go for it!

We are booked on this upcoming TA trip. A friendly word of advice on price is the factor, you should research the cost of the non cruise transportation that you need. US/Europe mainline carriers charge a hefty premium to fly back from Europe one way. There are other options, but some of these options have reviews are not always positive. Hope you can join us. It should be a good time.

 

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Seaward Jan 1994

 

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