NCL Balcony Room Service Questions

[ryarger]

11 hours ago, kismetique said:

I will tell you,  I regret sticking to NCL. I've begged Princess to do a 1 time loyalty match just to see if it's worth it to start over.  No! Is the answer.

I’m an NCL fan, but if you’re going to effectively live on ships you’ll build up your loyalty quick enough that I’d not worry about feeling bound to any given line.

 

Heck, do a year on each line!

[DominicAUS]

Wow sounds like an amazing trip, would be a dream to do something like.
 

Have to ask if you don’t mind, how did you book it all? Was it a logistical nightmare, getting the same room etc on the B2B. 
 

spent 20days on the Bliss and will be doing another 20 days next year. TA and then a 7 day Caribbean. I’d stay on for weeks if I could. Sure my boss won’t mind me working from the ship with a grey goose and ginger beer! lol 

[SoloAlaska]

You pay more for suites for a higher level of service which includes superior food. Why do you expect to get that when you’re not paying for it. If you’re not happy of what you get when you cruise in a balcony then don’t take the cruise. If you’re tipping so much maybe go to another line and just pay for your laundry. 
 

yes NCLs food is bland. The ceasar salad is by far the worse I’ve ever had. Guess what I never ordered it again. Your loyalty doesn’t give you the perk of eating premium prices when you’re paying for the regular fare. This thread just reeks of entitlement.

[kismetique]

5 hours ago, DominicAUS said:

Wow sounds like an amazing trip, would be a dream to do something like.
 

Have to ask if you don’t mind, how did you book it all? Was it a logistical nightmare, getting the same room etc on the B2B. 
 

spent 20days on the Bliss and will be doing another 20 days next year. TA and then a 7 day Caribbean. I’d stay on for weeks if I could. Sure my boss won’t mind me working from the ship with a grey goose and ginger beer! lol 

It was/is a logistical nightmare. 

 

I've finally found a spreadsheet on Etsy that I bought and modified to help me keep up with it because we're not staying on NCL the whole time. We don't like flying 12 hours,  so we're taking the Bliss from Miami to Southampton. 

 

From there we'll fly to New Dehli to see the Taj Mahal then down to Kurala to visit the interior in India.  We might fly to Singapore for a couple of weeks, then to Sydney to start our cruises. 

Royal Princess x1 (testing that line)

NCL Sun x2

NCL Sky X2

Dubai for a week

NCL Sky x4

Carnival Valor from Barcelona back to New Orleans (not a fan of Carnival,  but needed to get back home without flying).

 

I used Plum Cruise to find cruises that started in certain ports.

 

The logistical nightmare came from booking NCL OV rooms and using world points to upgrade to balconies (saving over $25k!!).  None of the same rooms from cruise to cruise. And we're just fine with that.  I think it will make us stay more organized to pack up every 12-14 days.  The shortest cruise is 11 days and the longest is 21 I think. Our 50 day train trip last year forced us to pack in only a backpack and 1 carryon each.  So we have that part conquered!

 

I wished there was a section on this board to help ppl put these together or post their own stitched together B2B2B2.... to give others ininspiration I'm happy to answer any questions,  and yes,  I'm very nervous about pulling this off!  I hate that Carnival does NOT refund deposits.  Our itinerary has changed twice from canceled cruises due to the Israel war. 

[kismetique]

6 minutes ago, SoloAlaska said:

You pay more for suites for a higher level of service which includes superior food. Why do you expect to get that when you’re not paying for it. If you’re not happy of what you get when you cruise in a balcony then don’t take the cruise. If you’re tipping so much maybe go to another line and just pay for your laundry. 
 

yes NCLs food is bland. The ceasar salad is by far the worse I’ve ever had. Guess what I never ordered it again. Your loyalty doesn’t give you the perk of eating premium prices when you’re paying for the regular fare. This thread just reeks of entitlement.

I'm not even paying regular fair...

I'm paying for an OV but getting a balcony!

Oh,  the horror of it all! 😉

[kismetique]

6 hours ago, ryarger said:

I’m an NCL fan, but if you’re going to effectively live on ships you’ll build up your loyalty quick enough that I’d not worry about feeling bound to any given line.

 

Heck, do a year on each line!

We're giving it a test run for about 5 months.  It's just so hard to go backwards or start loyalty over!  We just got off the Star in the Garden Villa to Iceland.  If we shared our butler with anyone,  I wasn't aware of it.  I know the GV next to us had a different butler.  Eating our meals in the room at a dining table for 12 was posh!  Even suites have small dining tables which we love!

 

We might hate being on a ship this long NOT in a suite....I guess we'll see!  If we like it,  we'll do a whole year in 2026. If not,  we'll try something else!  But I had the 300,000 points... why not use them!

[DominicAUS]

5 hours ago, kismetique said:

It was/is a logistical nightmare. 

 

I've finally found a spreadsheet on Etsy that I bought and modified to help me keep up with it because we're not staying on NCL the whole time. We don't like flying 12 hours,  so we're taking the Bliss from Miami to Southampton. 

 

From there we'll fly to New Dehli to see the Taj Mahal then down to Kurala to visit the interior in India.  We might fly to Singapore for a couple of weeks, then to Sydney to start our cruises. 

Royal Princess x1 (testing that line)

NCL Sun x2

NCL Sky X2

Dubai for a week

NCL Sky x4

Carnival Valor from Barcelona back to New Orleans (not a fan of Carnival,  but needed to get back home without flying).

 

I used Plum Cruise to find cruises that started in certain ports.

 

The logistical nightmare came from booking NCL OV rooms and using world points to upgrade to balconies (saving over $25k!!).  None of the same rooms from cruise to cruise. And we're just fine with that.  I think it will make us stay more organized to pack up every 12-14 days.  The shortest cruise is 11 days and the longest is 21 I think. Our 50 day train trip last year forced us to pack in only a backpack and 1 carryon each.  So we have that part conquered!

 

I wished there was a section on this board to help ppl put these together or post their own stitched together B2B2B2.... to give others ininspiration I'm happy to answer any questions,  and yes,  I'm very nervous about pulling this off!  I hate that Carnival does NOT refund deposits.  Our itinerary has changed twice from canceled cruises due to the Israel war. 

Wow I can only imagine! This would be a dream of mine to spend so much time in a cruise and see more of the world. I am sure it will be amazing. 
 

Wish I could master the art of packing light, I’m like Rose from Titanic and all my trunks being loaded on the ship hehe. 
 

Hope you drop us a line on here telling us how the trip is going! I know I’d love to hear about it. 
 

 

[Kruzengma]

On 6/16/2024 at 1:15 PM, kismetique said:

We're Sapphire Level, and usually always cruise in a suite.  However, we are planning on spending the first 7 months of 2025 on NCL basically doing B2B cruises with a few days in between here and there, changing ships several times.  Since we're taking 8 cruises, we can't afford to book suites, and in fact, are using all our accumulated World Points and booking OV's and upgrading to balcony's.  The points are basically worthless for those that cruise in suites.

 

I'm so very used to eating lunch in Cagney's or Maderno - any tips or tricks on how to perhaps order room service from that menu from a Balcony Cabin?  Or is it just NOT possible.  I know on one cruise we were on, we made great friends with our room steward and he would help us navigate certain issues, like getting a meal prepared only for the crew, and things like that.  Just took greasing palms. We were on that cruise for 19 days so we had plenty of time to form a bond with him.  I'm also used to ordering anything I want for room service breakfast - will I have to strictly stick to the offerings on the little hangar card?   Or can tipping help with this as well?  If anyone has any experience with this, please fill me in!

 

I know these questions sound trivial, but the last cruise we were on, on the Star, the food was horrendous.  I'm having second thoughts of 7 months of bland and inedible food!  The Shrimp Scampi, The French Dip and the Brie Burger from Cagney's lunch menu were to die for and we would come back to the ship early from port and have the butler on his way with lunch - they were that good!  

 

So - am I kidding myself thinking there is a way to buy special services from my room steward (I'm a big tipper! :)?

I just write in what I wanted on the door hanger menu, or just call it in in the am. Don't know anything about "buying" special services from anyone.

[kismetique]

1 hour ago, Kruzengma said:

I just write in what I wanted on the door hanger menu, or just call it in in the am. Don't know anything about "buying" special services from anyone.

Yes, that's what we do as well for breakfast.  I haven't sailed in lower than a suite in over 20 years,  so I can't remember the cans and cannots!  But saving over $25k by booking with points,  I think I'm willing to give it a try!😉

 

Thanks for your response!

[kismetique]

2 hours ago, DominicAUS said:

Wow I can only imagine! This would be a dream of mine to spend so much time in a cruise and see more of the world. I am sure it will be amazing. 
 

Wish I could master the art of packing light, I’m like Rose from Titanic and all my trunks being loaded on the ship hehe. 
 

Hope you drop us a line on here telling us how the trip is going! I know I’d love to hear about it. 
 

 

Definitely will!