What does this mean????

[judyf]

this comes up often....how are TAs so much cheaper than NCL direct and we always say that the TA is rebating part of their commission.

 

However there's also a good chance that the TA has booked group space, and gotten:

 

- an up-front better price on those cabins

 

- a free cabin the value of which they may have chosen to spread across the group

 

- extras like OBC that aren't available through the cruiseline.

 

 

It doesn't mean anything to the passenger, other than getting a better deal than they would through other TAs or through NCL direct.

 

But it's the TA who is then on the hook for those cabins.....and if they don't sell it's out of the TA's pocket.

 

 

/ end thread hijack.

 

I could not have said it better.

 

I have always found a great deal with the online TA's I've used for all my cruises.

 

I have only sailed with 2 adults and I've always been in a group :D No difference to you except the lower prices and the OBC perks you get

 

BUT you have to go through them and NCL doesn't talk to you about much.:( BUT for me I'm low maintence so I like the perks, :D add me to group anyday.;)

[Tomct]

We booked one cruise through a local travel agent, after seeing an ad in our newspaper. As it turned out, we were part of a group composed of a high school musical group and their chaperones. It made no difference to us other than getting daily messages in our mailbox, intended to notify the group of any meetings or events they had scheduled that of course we were not part of.

[judyf]

We booked one cruise through a local travel agent, after seeing an ad in our newspaper. As it turned out, we were part of a group composed of a high school musical group and their chaperones. It made no difference to us other than getting daily messages in our mailbox, intended to notify the group of any meetings or events they had scheduled that of course we were not part of.

 

I never had that happen, :D that's different.:p

 

Most TA's just buy blocks of cabins and sell them to us at a discount.:cool:

 

I can sure see that they would fill a cabin on an actual group cruise too, so not to lose the $$$$ for that group.

[CanadaFour]

When I booked with an online agency for one of our cruises (I now use a diff TA who is outstanding beyond words), we encountered this "you are part of a group" stuff. This caused a bit of a challenge as the group cruise staff needed to handle the anniversary package request, and they don't work the same hours as the regular number.

However, we waited, called back and booked the desired package.

 

It turned out that this particular company is quite generous with 'gifts'' to cruisers. A bottle of bubbly, a bottle of wine, strawberries were all waiting. As was the bubbly and strawberries from the anniversary package. We also go the anniversary package wine in the restaurant. THe only part of the Anniv package not provided by the company was the actual dinnner. That is likely what the person from NCL was referencing== that most if not all of the stuff was already gifted to you. That said, I drank the two bottles of champagne, two bottles of wine and the kids happily gorged on the strawberries. really, not a problem :D

 

So... if you are happy to consume extra wine and strawberries, call back and make sure the package is booked.

 

It is the good life

 

We don't get quite as much with our new TA (I just discovered that she has put an OBC on our account!) but the price she gives us and the service we receive makes me more than happy. The online people did not rip me off, but, they also didn't tend to answer my questions....

[jejaforlife]

OMG, I am laughing at all the one liners. Oh,Pickles,you would be proud - I was just im'ing my husband and talking about the cruise,he used the word "boat". I promptly corrected him LOL.

 

Peg013 - I actually won't see him until the day before our cruise in June but his deployment is over sometime in May.

 

Oh, the Anniversary Package is already pending in my account so, evidently no issues there even though I didn't book directly through NCL.

 

Again, thanks for all the input.

 

Erin

[jejaforlife]

Canadafour - Hey, I'm all about extra bubbly ;). She did make reference to whether or not I was in a group to make sure she didn't have to transfer me.

 

Seems like it's pretty common and not a big deal so that is good. As long as I don't have to deal w/ children and can relax in the sun I will be happy.

 

Speaking of kids - is there an adults only pool on the Sky? I saw the splash pool on the diagram but can't remember noticing an adults only pool.

[saleandsail]

From Wikipedia:

The difference of aft and stern is that aft is the inside (onboard) rearmost part of the vessel, while stern refers to outside (offboard) rearmost part of the vessel.

[dtracker]

Thank you for all the replies!!!

 

I guess everyone has their trivial pet peeves - I've been fighting the urge to correct everyone who posts the word "mute" instead of "moot". LOL.

 

Thanks again!!

 

Erin

 

Me too, jejaforlife!

 

DT

[2Cruise4Ever]

You can only order the anniversary package on-line.

 

I don't think that's true. I ordered ours over the phone no problem.

[icouldahadav8]

You can only order the anniversary package on-line.

I don't think that's true. I ordered ours over the phone no problem

 

It isn't true. Anyone can book a gift directly through NCL. If you call, and are told otherwise, call back or ask for a supervisor. Or both. LOL.

 

If, for whatever reason your reservation is part of a group, the group department does NOT need to handle it. Regular reservations can. If they tell you otherwise...see above.

 

Being part of a group can get you perks, for sure, but not always. What you get will depend on a lot of variables...ship, sail date, agency ranking, etc. It isn't necessarily the size of the group. I have seen huge groups get nothing and teeny two cabin groups get obc, champagne, strawberries, cookies, dinner, etc. Just depends.

 

Happy sailing everyone!!:D

[horsesrus]

Pickles - Why, thank you so much for the clarification :D. I guess everyone has their trivial pet peeves - I've been fighting the urge to correct everyone who posts the word "mute" instead of "moot". LOL. Erin

 

Isn't the correct phrase a "Moo" Point? :p

[Pickels]

Thank you for all the replies!!!

 

peg013 - I wonder if that means we won't be able to print ours out either until within 30 days of the cruise? I guess it doesn't really matter - I can't do much of anything on that end until I get my dh's passport # and won't get that until he gets back from his deployment. At least now I will know if I can't print them out before that 30 days.

 

 

Pickles - Why, thank you so much for the clarification :D. I guess everyone has their trivial pet peeves - I've been fighting the urge to correct everyone who posts the word "mute" instead of "moot". LOL.

 

Thanks again!!

 

 

Erin

 

Here is another one of mine, (sorry if I'm being a bore), why does everyone say "A leven" when the spelling is Eleven?:p

[Pickels]

OK, sooo...

It's not just folks here who use aft interchangably with stern. We are in a stern cabin for our June sailing...and my tags say aft. But anyway..no biggie. ;)

 

True, no biggie, they only have FOR, MID and AFT tags for the luggage.

[Carnac767]

We aviators always got the Black Shoes (ship drivers) upset by calling the carrier the "boat." We mainly did it because we knew how much it annoyed them. Landing on a carrier is often referred to as "hitting the boat." I once commanded a unit comprised of folks from all of the services. By the end of my tour even the Army and Air Force people were speaking properly: head, deck, bulkhead, ladder, port, and starboard . . . and the closest body of water was the Rhine River.

[ockelly]

I got the run-around as well. I booked through an online TA, called to order the teen smoothie package, was told I was with a group, got transferred about 6 times, finally got a manager and was able to place my order with a credit card. I thought it was about a 50/50 chance the package would be waiting for us, so I printed out the e-mail confirmation just in case. Hooray, it was waiting for us in our cabin upon arrival, but the 30 minutes I had to spend on the phone was a bit ridiculous. NCL could definitely cut down on cost in their service center if they actually hired people who knew what they were talking about and allowed to make simple decisions and transactions. Bottom line, ask to speak to a manager up front. It will save you time and aggrevation.

[daffodiliaz]

Ok quick crash course in Nautical terms.

the back of the ship is the STERN though many here use AFT to talk about cabins on the back they are wrong. AFT is a direction, it is going Toward the stern it is also the back 1/3 of the ship, then comes MIDSHIP then the front 1/3 is FORWARD or FORE there are also Cabins on the BOW. The PORT is the LEFT side of the ship when facing FORWARD notice port and left both have four letters. Starboard is the RIGHT side when facing FORWARD.

the cabins are called cabins or staterooms not rooms or may be suites of course.

 

OMG, why don't they just say front, back, right, left?! I almost booked the wrong side of the ship. I was looking at my past ship photo and the dock is always on the right with the ship facing forward, so I thought that was the port side (but I guess with that logic the right would be the dockside). Glad I researched that so I'm on the right, er, port side for Glacier Bay.

Couldn't help but wonder where the term starboard came from, so I looked it up. starboard "side on which a vessel was steered," from steor- "rudder, steering paddle" + bord "ship's side." Early Germanic peoples' boats were propelled and steered by a paddle on the right side. (Wouldn't you go in circles?) Which makes me wonder, are the sides flipped on, say, the QE2?

[Carnac767]

OMG, why don't they just say front, back, right, left?! I almost booked the wrong side of the ship. I was looking at my past ship photo and the dock is always on the right with the ship facing forward, so I thought that was the port side (but I guess with that logic the right would be the dockside). Glad I researched that so I'm on the right, er, port side for Glacier Bay.

Couldn't help but wonder where the term starboard came from, so I looked it up. starboard "side on which a vessel was steered," from steor- "rudder, steering paddle" + bord "ship's side." Early Germanic peoples' boats were propelled and steered by a paddle on the right side. (Wouldn't you go in circles?) Which makes me wonder, are the sides flipped on, say, the QE2?

 

LOL. On our last cruse we were in a stern cabin and DW keep thinking that the starboard side of the ship was the left . . . because it was on the left as we faced aft. She did that the entire cruise.

 

Both the Vikings and the Germanic tribes used a steering board near the aft starboard side of their long ships . . . but the rowers were seated on both sides.

[FEckeT]

Where is this fax order form for the Romance Package? I could only find the gift order form, are they one and the same?

[FEckeT]

OMG, I am laughing at all the one liners. Oh,Pickles,you would be proud - I was just im'ing my husband and talking about the cruise,he used the word "boat". I promptly corrected him LOL.

 

Peg013 - I actually won't see him until the day before our cruise in June but his deployment is over sometime in May.

 

Oh, the Anniversary Package is already pending in my account so, evidently no issues there even though I didn't book directly through NCL.

 

Again, thanks for all the input.

 

Erin

How do you know it is pending? Can you see it when you log in to NCL?