New To NCL! A couple of questions...

[Senoj84]

Hi All,

 

I've cruised before but this is the first time I'll be sailing NCL and I'm excited, I'v read their FAQ's on their website and I've searched the boards and still have a few questions.

 

1. I normally put down cash for onboard expenses instead of a credit/debit card. It says there will be a required deposit. Anyone know the amount of the deposit?

 

2. I know NCL is freestyle cruising and the dress is casual, are there any formal nights or dress up nights that I need to bring a dressy outfit?

 

3. On CCL we had traditional dining and assigned waitors, we would get to know them and we were pleased with their service so we would tip them at the end of the cruise... since NCL has freestyle dining, do you tip any of the waitors at the end of the cruise?

 

4. Lastly, are you allowed to bring beverages onboard like sodas? I've been bringing Pepsi cans on CCL for years because they have Coke. Does NCL have Pepsi?

 

That's all my questions for now, sorry if they're repetitive... I really tried to search for the answers. Thanks for any answers and suggestions. :D

[dasmonkey]

Hi All,

 

 

 

3. On CCL we had traditional dining and assigned waitors, we would get to know them and we were pleased with their service so we would tip them at the end of the cruise... since NCL has freestyle dining, do you tip any of the waitors at the end of the cruise?

 

That's all my questions for now, sorry if they're repetitive... I really tried to search for the answers. Thanks for any answers and suggestions. :D

 

To me Free Style dining is the best of both worlds. I can show up when I want to and not be tied to a specific time. I do however enjoy getting to know a specific waiter if he/she is personable and does a good job. I am easy to please but I enjoy the familiarity. The last couple of NCL cruises I found a waiter I really liked early in the week and just always asked for him. Conversely if you get one that isn’t so great you are stuck with them on line with assigned times and tables. With NCL if you don’t like one get a new one the next night. Perfect in my not so humble opinion.

 

Your $12 daily service charge covers the tips but my guy did a fantastic job both cruises so I tipped him some extra just because that's how I personally roll. ;)

[nona0541]

4. Lastly, are you allowed to bring beverages onboard like sodas? I've been bringing Pepsi cans on CCL for years because they have Coke. Does NCL have Pepsi?

 

All NCL ships serve Pepsi

[bakerintn]

Hi All,

 

I've cruised before but this is the first time I'll be sailing NCL and I'm excited, I'v read their FAQ's on their website and I've searched the boards and still have a few questions.

 

1. I normally put down cash for onboard expenses instead of a credit/debit card. It says there will be a required deposit. Anyone know the amount of the deposit?It will be at least the $12 per day service charge per person. I have not done that, but I have seen here on CC something like $40 per person per day.

 

2. I know NCL is freestyle cruising and the dress is casual, are there any formal nights or dress up nights that I need to bring a dressy outfit?Not required, but on the "Dress up or Not" nights, many do dress up a bit....probably a cocktail dress / mens sport coat and tie a quite dressy enough. I think many women wear pants and a fancy top.

 

3. On CCL we had traditional dining and assigned waitors, we would get to know them and we were pleased with their service so we would tip them at the end of the cruise... since NCL has freestyle dining, do you tip any of the waitors at the end of the cruise?

Your daily service charge covers the dinning room staff.

4. Lastly, are you allowed to bring beverages onboard like sodas? I've been bringing Pepsi cans on CCL for years because they have Coke. Does NCL have Pepsi?NCL has Pepsi products. You can bring your own soda / drink mixers without any problems

 

That's all my questions for now, sorry if they're repetitive... I really tried to search for the answers. Thanks for any answers and suggestions. :D

 

Have a great trip.

[nona0541]

NCL does not have a 'formal' night but they do have a "dress up or not" night. You are not required to dress formal but you may if you so desire. You will see some dressed and some not. Freestyle, gotta love it!!!

[npsh]

You can dress up every night if you wish nobody will really care on the NCL Freestyle concept. I wore my jeans/t-shirt many times in all dining venue on our Dawn trip last October even on the noted"dress up or not nights". I really didn't care what other cruisers wore and didn't care what they thought of me. NCL says I can don my very casual attire - so I did. If you enjoy the traditional cruise of dedicated formal nights perhaps NCL may not be your cup of tea

[Senoj84]

Thanks so much for the answers! I really love the concept of freestyle cruising, didn't know how "free" you can be on NCL. Glad that NCL serves pepsi...

 

I'm really excited :)

[sharonny]

1. I normally put down cash for onboard expenses instead of a credit/debit card. It says there will be a required deposit. Anyone know the amount of the deposit?

 

Always used cash! Just asked NCL this and was told. If cash, $100 per day per person :eek: is required. I asked if they took less and was told not that they know of.

 

I did also ask if they would take a pre-paid VISA for the usual required amount and they said as long as it has the logo it's fine but I will be calling to confirm this closer to out trip. We have a long way to wait.

[Sauer-kraut]

OP

If you are driving to the port, or taking a taxi you can bring a whole case of Pepsi on with you, a case of bottled water and any mixers you might want. Just put luggage tags on the cases, tape them down, and hand them off to the porters. They will arrive at your cabin when the luggage is being distributed.

 

No need to pack anything fancy if don't care to, Freestlye cruising is soooo easy to pack a suitcase for!! :D

 

Have a great time!

[STARFISH*4]

DRESS UP or NOT nights...YOUR CHOICE to or not...will depend on the ship, sailing passengers but you dont see much more than about 25% or so of the people DRESSING UP, but you are WELCOME to do so ANY NIGHT OF THE WEEK!!

 

you can bring drinks aboard, buy a soda card (worth it if you drink more than 3) or purchase by the drink...YOUR CHOICE!!

 

RELAX, ENJOY its NCL~~FREESTYLE:)

[Senoj84]

Always used cash! Just asked NCL this and was told. If cash, $100 per day per person :eek: is required. I asked if they took less and was told not that they know of.

 

I did also ask if they would take a pre-paid VISA for the usual required amount and they said as long as it has the logo it's fine but I will be calling to confirm this closer to out trip. We have a long way to wait.

 

Wow, if that's the case for the deposit I'll put my card down. Do they charge your card at the end of the cruise or do they charge it as your're making onboard purchases?

[Senoj84]

OP

If you are driving to the port, or taking a taxi you can bring a whole case of Pepsi on with you, a case of bottled water and any mixers you might want. Just put luggage tags on the cases, tape them down, and hand them off to the porters. They will arrive at your cabin when the luggage is being distributed.

 

No need to pack anything fancy if don't care to, Freestlye cruising is soooo easy to pack a suitcase for!! :D

 

Have a great time!

 

Great tip, thanks! I normally bring a 6 pack of Pepsi but I may just buy a case this time.

[Senoj84]

C

DRESS UP or NOT nights...YOUR CHOICE to or not...will depend on the ship, sailing passengers but you dont see much more than about 25% or so of the people DRESSING UP, but you are WELCOME to do so ANY NIGHT OF THE WEEK!!

 

you can bring drinks aboard, buy a soda card (worth it if you drink more than 3) or purchase by the drink...YOUR CHOICE!!

 

RELAX, ENJOY its NCL~~FREESTYLE:)

 

Cool, I never really liked the idea of dressing up on vacation because I dress up so much at home but I'll bring a dressy outfit just in case I get in the mood to dress up :)

[swedish weave]

Wow, if that's the case for the deposit I'll put my card down. Do they charge your card at the end of the cruise or do they charge it as your're making onboard purchases?

 

They don't bill your card until the end of the cruise, so if you use your card, you can choose to pay your bill in cash at the end of the trip and they don't bill your card.

[ShipShape4me]

They don't bill your card until the end of the cruise, so if you use your card, you can choose to pay your bill in cash at the end of the trip and they don't bill your card.

 

Not quite true! You get a bill at the end of the trip, however, they block funds during the cruise to assure funds availablity. NCL is VERY different than Carnival. A word of caution is that many of the people providing advise here have never crusied on Carnival and NCL is Very different.To really enjoy NCL - plan on spending more money at the speciality resturants. The MDR is much better on Carnival.I am hope you enjoy NCL and look forward to you reporting back.

[sharonny]

They don't bill your card until the end of the cruise, so if you use your card, you can choose to pay your bill in cash at the end of the trip and they don't bill your card.

 

Well thats good to know. Heck my cash down would have been $2800. I'm figuring $1500 will do for us. Do you know if they would still put the hold on the card? If so how much? I was told or read here it can be up to 30 days. We got rid of all our cards (financial decision) and only have our VISA debit.

[Single Cruiser]

Well thats good to know. Heck my cash down would have been $2800. I'm figuring $1500 will do for us. Do you know if they would still put the hold on the card? If so how much? I was told or read here it can be up to 30 days. We got rid of all our cards (financial decision) and only have our VISA debit.

If you use a debit card they will put progressive holds depending on your onboard expenditure. These can cause problems as you say can block funds for weeks.

 

Much better to use a Visa/MasterCard/Amex for the hold and then settle cash if you want at the end!

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

They put a hold on your debit account and it can take up to a couple weeks for your bank to finally release the hold. If you don't have extra cash in your account to pay bills this could cause a problem. I personally don't use my debit card. But I have never heard of $100/pp/pd. That is absurd. I don't think they charge that much. I am not sure of NCL policy but I think Carnival cash deposits are $250/pp for the whole cruise & they advise you when you are running low.

[gagal10]

Well thats good to know. Heck my cash down would have been $2800. I'm figuring $1500 will do for us. Do you know if they would still put the hold on the card? If so how much? I was told or read here it can be up to 30 days. We got rid of all our cards (financial decision) and only have our VISA debit.

 

We always save up our change between cruises and that is the amount we use for Room Charges.. We put down a card when we board, but then we paid the charges with our cash.. I'm not sure about the hold amount though. I thought I remembered that they would charge the card when our charges reached a certain amount, but I could be thinking of the DCL cruises..

 

 

Have fun! :)

[sharonny]

Carnival cash deposits are $250/pp for the whole cruise & they advise you when you are running low.

 

This is what we are use to. Always kept an eye on our spending and added cash when needed. Dang near fell off my chair when she said it was $100/day per person. Going to avoid using the Debit for sure. Back to getting a pre-paid VISA or reluctantly getting another credit card.

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

This is what we are use to. Always kept an eye on our spending and added cash when needed. Dang near fell off my chair when she said it was $100/day per person. Going to avoid using the Debit for sure. Back to getting a pre-paid VISA or reluctantly getting another credit card.

 

I've been in credit card debt before to the tune of over $20K and I don't want to get there again. However, that hasn't stopped me from having a cc. I have 3 now and 2 of them are reward cards. All 3 have a zero balance. I use it to pay all my cruises and travel expenses and get double the points for travel expenses and just pay the balance when the bill comes. I have a Discover card that I use the most. I have received $200 in cash deposit to my balance and have never paid them a dime in fees or interest. Its great! :) I also have a Carnival funpoints card but I rarely use it. I've also received onboard credits & such with its use so something for free and the convenience of paying the debt without worrying about using my checking acct to secure the funds or make payments. Too risky there in my opinion and doesn't grant you the same protections for disputing charges as you get using a credit card.

 

However, I am not advocating a credit card if you don't think you can have one without running up a bill you can't pay. I got myself in trouble once by paying for a new engine on my car when I didn't have the $5K to pay then it was real easy from that point to buy tires, a new dishwasher etc once you have a balance. I'm not going there again.

[sharecruises]

$100 per day has to be wrong....unless you have 4 people in your cabin or something...

 

usually cruise lines require about $250 for 7 night cruise, maybe 300??

 

and about $150-200 for 3 night etc

 

maybe they were counting you, spouse, kids??

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

What I've learned is that you will likely get a different answer depending on who you talk to. Call back and ask again. You might get a different answer. $100/pd/pp seems extreme even for the luxery liners.

[sharonny]

What I've learned is that you will likely get a different answer depending on who you talk to. Call back and ask again. You might get a different answer. $100/pd/pp seems extreme even for the luxery liners.

 

Took your advice and called back. It's $100 per day per person. I know you get back what you don't use and I know that for some people thats a drop in the bucket. But, for some (me included) that's not such an easy task. Figured roughly, for excursions, tips, arcade, soda card, etc., etc. to be about $1000 or so. Figured $500 more for whatevers. I've never put more than $1000 down and always got a refund.

 

I'm not sure if they do it differently from Carnival, as Carnival runs a tally as each deduction is deducted right away then froze when ran dry. As a NCL newbie just gotta understand the ways of the line. :confused:

[ShipShape4me]

They put a hold on your debit account and it can take up to a couple weeks for your bank to finally release the hold. If you don't have extra cash in your account to pay bills this could cause a problem. I personally don't use my debit card. But I have never heard of $100/pp/pd. That is absurd. I don't think they charge that much. I am not sure of NCL policy but I think Carnival cash deposits are $250/pp for the whole cruise & they advise you when you are running low.

Your bank has no control over the length of the hold. The hold is is placed by the merchant service provider that NCL contracted with.

 

I could only wish that we only spent $100.00 per day....