New to NCL. Please help me understand?

Hi everyone,

We are new to NCL (sailing on the Spirit British Isles June 2019) and I'm trying to understand a few things. T

family inside cabin, 2 connected inside cabins, one balcony cabin): 2 grandparents, 4 parents, 6 kids (ages 8-16).

I keep reading about having to get timed tender tickets for our tender ports. Where, when and how do I get those? I don't think we are booking a ship's excursion for those ports.

Similarly, with disembarkation generally at each port, can I just walk off the ship whenever I want? What about on the last day? If I take my luggage with me, can I just walk off the ship early?

I am responsible for booking dining reservations and shore excursions for our whole group . Will I be allowed to book the shore excursions for all of us? I'm planning to call to book those to make sure the port credits are applied correctly, but if they will let me book for all of us, what info will I need to have in order to book for folks in the other cabins?

Are we going to have trouble in the main dining room getting a table for 12 each night, do you think? Since there aren't assigned tables, will we have to split up?

How flexible is NCL on the ages for the teen club? One of the kids will be 3 weeks shy of 13 at the time of sailing and wants to be with her older sister in the teen club. Is there a waiver that can be signed to allow that?

Any insight is much appreciated! Thank you!

How flexible is NCL on the ages for the teen club? One of the kids will be 3 weeks shy of 13 at the time of sailing and wants to be with her older sister in the teen club. Is there a waiver that can be signed to allow that?

LINK

Children turning thirteen (13) years old during the cruise are welcome to register for and participate in the Entourage Program beginning embarkation evening.

The allocation of tender tickets can vary from cruise to cruise or even port to port. I’ve seen them available right at the start of a cruise, the day before or even on the morning of arrival.

Reports from others on here doesn’t mean that is how it is done for you. The best I can advise is to ask when you board.

I can’t really help with the large group, but can say that NCL are extremely strict when it comes to ages in the kids club. The question is asked fairly regularly and I have never seen anyone report that they had any success.

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They do take bookings for main dining rooms for larger groups now. I would ask once onboard.

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Hi everyone,

 

We are new to NCL (sailing on the Spirit British Isles June 2019) and I'm trying to understand a few things. T

here are 12 of us travelling in 4 separate cabins (one

family inside cabin, 2 connected inside cabins, one balcony cabin): 2 grandparents, 4 parents, 6 kids (ages 8-16).

 

I keep reading about having to get timed tender tickets for our tender ports. Where, when and how do I get those? I don't think we are booking a ship's excursion for those ports.

 

Similarly, with disembarkation generally at each port, can I just walk off the ship whenever I want? What about on the last day? If I take my luggage with me, can I just walk off the ship early?

 

I am responsible for booking dining reservations and shore excursions for our whole group . Will I be allowed to book the shore excursions for all of us? I'm planning to call to book those to make sure the port credits are applied correctly, but if they will let me book for all of us, what info will I need to have in order to book for folks in the other cabins?

 

Are we going to have trouble in the main dining room getting a table for 12 each night, do you think? Since there aren't assigned tables, will we have to split up?

 

How flexible is NCL on the ages for the teen club? One of the kids will be 3 weeks shy of 13 at the time of sailing and wants to be with her older sister in the teen club. Is there a waiver that can be signed to allow that?

 

Any insight is much appreciated! Thank you!

Yes you can get early morning walk off. For a party of 12 that is eatin hadining room all the time and at a set time, you can speak to a reservation person or the maitreD.

Hi everyone,

 

We are new to NCL (sailing on the Spirit British Isles June 2019) and I'm trying to understand a few things. T

here are 12 of us travelling in 4 separate cabins (one

family inside cabin, 2 connected inside cabins, one balcony cabin): 2 grandparents, 4 parents, 6 kids (ages 8-16).

 

I keep reading about having to get timed tender tickets for our tender ports. Where, when and how do I get those? I don't think we are booking a ship's excursion for those ports.

 

Similarly, with disembarkation generally at each port, can I just walk off the ship whenever I want? What about on the last day? If I take my luggage with me, can I just walk off the ship early?

 

I am responsible for booking dining reservations and shore excursions for our whole group . Will I be allowed to book the shore excursions for all of us? I'm planning to call to book those to make sure the port credits are applied correctly, but if they will let me book for all of us, what info will I need to have in order to book for folks in the other cabins?

 

Are we going to have trouble in the main dining room getting a table for 12 each night, do you think? Since there aren't assigned tables, will we have to split up?

 

How flexible is NCL on the ages for the teen club? One of the kids will be 3 weeks shy of 13 at the time of sailing and wants to be with her older sister in the teen club. Is there a waiver that can be signed to allow that?

 

Any insight is much appreciated! Thank you!

Since nobody has addressed your questions about dining reservations and excursions, o I will try...

First, be sure to have the reservation numbers/names for each room

when you call 1-866-625-1167 (Excursion Desk).

They are often very busy, so try to be patient and stay on the line. Since you (each stateroom?) have port credits, you should not have any prepayments to be made for excursions. Be sure you know the names of, and times for, excursions you want. Hopefully, that process goes easily for you!

About the dining: call 1-866-234-7350 as soon as you can (120 days prior to embarkation date, or sooner if in full suites). They will assist you as well as they are able. You only need to give them your Invoice number and total number of diners for each date/time.

(Honestly, I have no actual experience with your large group requests. However, I wish you the very best!!!)

For your excursions, you will need access to each cabin's reservation online to book in advance, or call the shoreex phone number with the details for each reservations. Once onboard each cabin can book using the iConcierge app or one person from each cabin show up at the shoreex desk.

Tender tickets will show up on iConcierge or the interactive screens around the ship - as soon as a few days before or as late as the day before. Pay attention and get on quick - and again you need a person from each cabin to swipe a card or log in and get the same time.

For docked ports, just walk off when they call that the gangway is open. Stay together as it can be a mob and hard to find people once on shore.

For your final morning disembarkation: A few days before you will see color tags and times posted near the Customer Service desk. Pay attention so you don't miss out getting the earliest time. Grab the number of luggage tags you need and be ready to carry all your luggage off yourself. If you want to get off as early as possible then get outside the cabin early and watch the monitors - if they start early they may not make announcements at first and you can really breeze through when this happens!

Hi everyone,

 

We are new to NCL (sailing on the Spirit British Isles June 2019) and I'm trying to understand a few things. T

 

here are 12 of us travelling in 4 separate cabins (one

family inside cabin, 2 connected inside cabins, one balcony cabin): 2 grandparents, 4 parents, 6 kids (ages 8-16).

 

I keep reading about having to get timed tender tickets for our tender ports. Where, when and how do I get those? I don't think we are booking a ship's excursion for those ports. It depends on the cruise ship. For example, on those new cruise ships, you can reserve for a tender time slot through the TV. And if you have a shore excursion, you automatically get priority in getting off.

 

Similarly, with disembarkation generally at each port, can I just walk off the ship whenever I want? What about on the last day? If I take my luggage with me, can I just walk off the ship early? At each different ports, once docked - you can get off and on til 30 mins before the cruise ship departure. On the last day, you can walk off. Do not need any color tags. This is self-disembark/walk off with luggage.I am responsible for booking dining reservations and shore excursions for our whole group . Will I be allowed to book the shore excursions for all of us? I'm planning to call to book those to make sure the port credits are applied correctly, but if they will let me book for all of us, what info will I need to have in order to book for folks in the other cabins? If eating at the MDR (main dining room), you can ask once on board, can also call NCL or try to reserve before the cruise. For shore excursions, call the shore excursion line to book them. You can ask if you can book for other family members in different cabins. Probably needed their name, cabin #.

 

Are we going to have trouble in the main dining room getting a table for 12 each night, do you think? Since there aren't assigned tables, will we have to split up? If arrangements are not made, it would be hard to have a table for 12. It is possible to have 2 tables - 6 at each table.

 

How flexible is NCL on the ages for the teen club? One of the kids will be 3 weeks shy of 13 at the time of sailing and wants to be with her older sister in the teen club. Is there a waiver that can be signed to allow that? NCL does not allow it. She wont be with her older sister in the teen club.

Any insight is much appreciated! Thank you!

Have a great cruise. Good luck.

You can book your dining arrangements online with NCL at 120 days out (and I would recommend doing so as soon thereafter as possible, to get the time you want). I just did a mock dinner reservation on my own booking, and I was able to select up to 12 people in my party. When I selected 12, I saw a notation that they may have to put two tables together for parties of 10 or more. So it sounds like you won't have any problem having your entire party essentially at the same table.

Thank you so much to everyone who has responded. You were all incredibly helpful (and knowledgeable)! I really appreciate this.

I'm bummed that I won't be able to keep my kids together in the kid's clubs. That's going to be a HUGE problem. Ugh. While I understand the policy and the reasons behind it, I really do wish they had a waiver system in place.

Sounds like that's my biggest problem, though! Everything else looks pretty straightforward. Thank you all again!

Thank you so much to everyone who has responded. You were all incredibly helpful (and knowledgeable)! I really appreciate this.

 

I'm bummed that I won't be able to keep my kids together in the kid's clubs. That's going to be a HUGE problem. Ugh. While I understand the policy and the reasons behind it, I really do wish they had a waiver system in place.

 

Sounds like that's my biggest problem, though! Everything else looks pretty straightforward. Thank you all again!

Our last cruise was the first time dd15, ds15, and dd17 were able to be in the same club together. They all found friends, and were rarely together except for family time.

If you're doing a ship's excursion at tender ports, you will tender as a group...you don't need to worry about "tickets"...they will provide them to excursion folks if needed.

It's only the folks who don't have a SHIP'S excursion that might need them, if they want to be off right away.

If you're doing a ship's excursion at tender ports, you will tender as a group...you don't need to worry about "tickets"...they will provide them to excursion folks if needed.

 

It's only the folks who don't have a SHIP'S excursion that might need them, if they want to be off right away.

That's the scenario we are facing-- we are doing non-ship excursions in several ports, and will need to be off the boat as soon as possible to meet our tours. I'm also having trouble figuring out at which ports we will be tendering. For whatever reason, I seem to struggle mightily with the NCL website!

That's the scenario we are facing-- we are doing non-ship excursions in several ports, and will need to be off the boat as soon as possible to meet our tours. I'm also having trouble figuring out at which ports we will be tendering. For whatever reason, I seem to struggle mightily with the NCL website!

Name your ports; we can help. Get your tender time as soon as it is posted. Watch the video boards 1-2 days before.

Do you have a travel agent? I had problems with dining reservations for 10 of us across 4 rooms on Getaway.

Despite having all the numbers, they maxed out at 8 guests per res (back in 2016). On the phone they advised me to book 4 & 6 at similar times and it “would be okay.”

It wasn’t ok.

I had to see someone on the ship after we got on. She told me we should have had our TA make the reservations.

YMMV

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Name your ports; we can help. Get your tender time as soon as it is posted. Watch the video boards 1-2 days before.

Thank you! Will the Spirit have the video boards? I know it's the oldest ship in their fleet, so I'm not sure what to expect, really.

Our ports are

Newhaven (Edinburgh)

Invergorden

Kirkwall

Greenock

Belfast

Liverpool

Dublin

Ringaskiddy

Portland

I *think* Newhaven is a tender port? Maybe Kirkwall? I just can't quite figure it out...

Do you have a travel agent? I had problems with dining reservations for 10 of us across 4 rooms on Getaway.

Despite having all the numbers' date=' they maxed out at 8 guests per res (back in 2016). On the phone they advised me to book 4 & 6 at similar times and it “would be okay.”

It wasn’t ok.

I had to see someone on the ship after we got on. She told me we should have had our TA make the reservations.

 

YMMV

 

 

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Thanks! We booked through Costco, and I didn't even think to have them try and make the reservations! I'll do that.

Thank you! Will the Spirit have the video boards? I know it's the oldest ship in their fleet, so I'm not sure what to expect, really.

 

 

 

Our ports are

 

Newhaven (Edinburgh)

 

Invergorden

 

Kirkwall

 

Greenock

 

Belfast

 

Liverpool

 

Dublin

 

Ringaskiddy

 

Portland

 

 

 

I *think* Newhaven is a tender port? Maybe Kirkwall? I just can't quite figure it out...

If you scroll to the bottom of this link it lists all tender ports for NCL:

http:// https://www.ncl.com/uk/en/about/accessible-cruising

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Thank you! Will the Spirit have the video boards? I know it's the oldest ship in their fleet, so I'm not sure what to expect, really.

 

 

 

Our ports are

 

Newhaven (Edinburgh)

 

Invergorden

 

Kirkwall

 

Greenock

 

Belfast

 

Liverpool

 

Dublin

 

Ringaskiddy

 

Portland

 

 

 

I *think* Newhaven is a tender port? Maybe Kirkwall? I just can't quite figure it out...

NCL have been tendering at Newhaven, but that is when using the Jade, because it is too big to dock. The Spirit is smaller and, from memory, the Jade was only just too big so you may be ok with the Spirit. If you do tender then it is quite a long journey. The early journeys last year had big problems with this tender but they seemed to improve things on later trips.

Invergorden and Kirkwall are docked. I’m not sure about the others, but I have a feeling that some of those may tender. The link provided above gives guidance but can’t be relied upon. There are many ports listed there as tender ports where I have docked in the past.

Thank you! I couldn't find that list on the website, so I really appreciate it. Bummer to hear that it might not be accurate, though? Perhaps it depends on the size of the ship. It looks like Newhaven is the only port where we might be tendering. The itinerary has us in Ringaskiddy rather than Cobh for the Cork port day.

Another question... on the shore excursions listed on the NCL website, it seems that excursions appear and vanish at random? For instance, when I first started looking at Kirkwall excursions, there were at least 5 options... and now there are maybe 2. Is that normal? Will the excursion options come back, or are they really only offering 2 options at that port?

Thank you! I couldn't find that list on the website, so I really appreciate it. Bummer to hear that it might not be accurate, though? Perhaps it depends on the size of the ship. It looks like Newhaven is the only port where we might be tendering. The itinerary has us in Ringaskiddy rather than Cobh for the Cork port day.

 

Another question... on the shore excursions listed on the NCL website, it seems that excursions appear and vanish at random? For instance, when I first started looking at Kirkwall excursions, there were at least 5 options... and now there are maybe 2. Is that normal? Will the excursion options come back, or are they really only offering 2 options at that port?

Dont worry about the shore excursions. If you are really worrying about the offering, you can call the shore excursion line to pre-book. They save some spots for cruisers to book on board. This is also the same with dining and shows. Make sure to book online when it is within 120 days prior to your cruise.