NCL offer for Total Rewards

I received an offer for a Norwegian Cruise Lines cruise from CET.
The dates I need to be in Vegas correspond with a junket by my travel group, so it would cost me $0 to take advantage of this offer. (Well $0 assuming I broke even gambling on the weekend. LOL).

I cannot find any restrictions on the offer! I have until July 2014 to take the cruise, but I can't find where there is any limit on which cruise I pick.

Has anyone ever used one of these offers?

1.) Is there any limit on what cruise you pick? The brochure lists Europe, Alaska, and Caribbean cruises, so I'm guessing the only restriction is if your class is still available at time of booking?
2.) My offer is for an inside cabin. Can I upgrade to a balcony room by paying the price difference?

I still have to pay to get to the port, departure fees, taxes, gratuities, and drinks outside of the casino, so it will be far from free, but it would give me a $1,878 savings. Makes the 5+ hour flight times to and from Vegas worth $180/hour, so I can live with that. :-D

The 12 day Southern Caribbean cruise I am looking at is $939 for Inside cabin. We have done the Southern Cruise on Celebrity before, and really liked it. St. Maarten, and Colombia, would be new stops for us.

The other cruise I am looking at is a Miami to Los Angeles cruise through the Panama Canal at $949 (cheaper since it is not a round trip sail). Has anyone ever done this cruise?

Raleigh,

I have a little information for you about that. I was invited on a similar cruise several years ago (think it was 2007) on NCL through Hilton-AC. My certificate was for up to a 7 day cruise (apparently yours doesn't specify), and I had a little over a year to book it. I booked on NCL Pearl for October 2008 (not quite a year later) within the booking deadline, but about 3 weeks before the cruise, NCL notified me that they were dry-docking the boat for maintenance and the cruise would not happen! I contacted the Casino at Sea people asking to re-book, but where I was working I had to reserve my time off a year in advance, and they couldn't stretch the certificate that far, so I ended up not going at all. At least they were willing to make it right, even if I couldn't take advantage of it.

I have been on the NCL 10 day Southern Caribbean, and it's a great cruise with lots of good shore excursions. NCL is my favorite line among them, Princess, Carnival, and Holland America, and certainly the best casinos among those choices; I haven't sailed Celebrity. Panama Canal I have not sailed, but experienced cruisers I've known think it's among the best trips. And NCL should be able to help you with partner discount air fares to/from destination ports. They're very helpful at their 866 number listed on the website without being pushy sellers. The Casino at Sea (which is a different number, but is wholly owned by NCL, not subcontracted to a gambling consortium) hosts and dealers are very good, and pretty generous with their comps; they can write off shipboard charges, which can include anything you charge to the room, including gaming markers (which they did for me last month; I was shocked). I think as a gambler you might really find it worth your time to start a relationship with them.

I think I got this offer too.

From what I read on Tripadvisor, you are responsible for taxes and port fees at about $250/pp. And you can upgrade to the balcony for whatever the difference in cost is.

We took advantage of a similar offer several years ago.
The brochure I had also showed numerous cruises, but when I showed up in Vegas to collect it, the one we wanted, Alaska, was not available. I suggest contacting your host to confirm, in writing, what is available.
We had no problem upgrading to a balcony.
We took a seven day Caribbean cruise. My first, but my wife has been on many cruises before. The ship was nice and the crew could not have been more helpful. That being said, I am 58 and I was the young stud on this boat. There were walkers, wheelchairs, and morbidly obese people everywhere. The scenery around the pool was not a pretty site.
The stopovers were very nice.
Overall, it was a good deal since I already had a trip planned to Vegas when the offer came. (We could only take advantage of our offer if I picked it up personally)
Good luck and have fun.

I went on one of these in 2011 out of New Orleans. The taxes and port fees were about 500 and upgrading to a Balcony was about 500. So it was a 7 day caribbean cruise with a balcony (at the stern so a big balcony) for about 1000 for me and my wife.

Thanks beachbumbabs, boyimbo, larwiz1, and timberjim for your input.

I had also been googling for this offer, and found a few forum entries on other sites regarding free NCL cruises, but none more recent than 2010. To me, it looks like they may have changed the program a bit. Instead of having certificates for certain cruises, it looks like you get a voucher for any cruise, and you have up to a year to book it. I am guessing it is like free airfare, where they only allot a couple of cabins for freebies, so I many not get to take the cruise I want, if someone beats me to it.

From what I have read, NCL has 3-4-5x craps odds, so that is decent. I went ahead and booked the last 2 seats on the junket. We shall see what happens.

Raleigh,

I am not a craps player, but I let them talk me thru it one slow night, and they were more than competent IMHO; I did very well on the 6/8 odds bets after coming out, and they coached me quickly thru the correct protocol and the best bets without intimidating me. The craps were very popular on the Epic, which has the largest casino in the line; they had 2 craps tables on the boat, plus a third I never saw open, but I was transatlantic; in Miami when they run the Caribbean all 3 pits are very busy according to the dealers. They have 27 dealers on board plus 10 pit supervisors, 1 casino boss, and at least 3 hosts.

On that boat, they have 2 smoking pits and 1 non-smoking. They have roughly 12 BJ tables, all 6 deck shoes; I think it was double any 2 cards, stand on all 17's, unlimited splits, no double after split. 3 craps 3-4-5x, 2 roulette wheels with electronic tote/highlights, 1 paigow (no bonus), 2 3 card, 1 let it ride (might be a 2nd one not opened, can't recall), and 2 ultimate THE (I played this almost exclusively; great game!). They have a hi-limit room but not sure what's back there other than BJ. Most table minimums were 5 after the 1st day; they weren't getting much play at 10 so they lowered the limits. They have about 600 slots, with about 40 1dollar or higher; about 1/2 the slots are smoking areas, the other 1/2 non. Almost all penny/2cent video with features, very few game king/VP types. They run tournaments for BJ, THE, and slots about every other day, and deal 1-2 tables of THE 2/5/pot limit every night; when they're busier, i think they deal with higher blinds. You can sign markers for up to 2000/day to your stateroom and settle your account at the end of the cruise, in addition to whatever cash you may have. No checks.

Quote: RaleighCraps

I received an offer for a Norwegian Cruise Lines cruise from CET.

OK Cruisers, what sort of level are we talking about here ? Diamond ? One reference point, if you would share it, is how many tier credits have you earned this year ? Thanks, needless to say, we did not get the offer.

- Mr and Mrs L. Roller

Quote: JohnnyQ

OK Cruisers, what sort of level are we talking about here ? Diamond ? One reference point, if you would share it, is how many tier credits have you earned this year ? Thanks, needless to say, we did not get the offer.

- Mr and Mrs L. Roller

Hi L.R.,

I don't think you are going to like my answer. ;-)

I was a low tier Diamond in 2010, 2011, but I backed off my CET play and fell to Gold. However, I still had a good rating with my local travel junket agent (due to my Beau Rivage play), so they were able to get me a free trip to Paris for New Year's Eve as a CET Gold player. That trip, coupled with 2 overnight trips to Cherokee has given me 7,120 Tier Credits, so I am middle Platinum now. So basically, I have 7,120 points on 3 trips, or about 7 days of play, which is about 1,000 Tier Credits / day average.
In the past 2 months, the volume of offers has picked up tremendously for me, mostly from CET properties (other than Beau).

I usually take about $1000 / day for a trip, and will play almost all craps, with an average bet rating of $120-$210. I will play 4 to 8 hours a day, if my $1,000 does not run out. Lately I have been mostly losing, but during the Diamond years I had quite a few winning sessions, in the $1k-3k range, so my Theo loss was quite high for me, but still not what I would call a high roller by any means. Actually, I'm not even sure I qualify as a medium roller. More like a step above a $10 player. I certainly don't throw black chips around like some other players on here.
So, I think my ADT is much higher than the Platinum 7,120 Tier score would indicate. And I 'think', that is what is driving these extra offers, like the cruise.

My wife will play the $.01 slots most of the time, so she will lose another $500 each trip, but that gets me quite a few Tier Credits from her play.

Celebrity is the tops, especially for food. Every meal was like an expensive 5 star restaurant. Other lines I've been on have been very good food, not as good as Celebrity though. Most other lines have been comparable in terms of cleanliness, activities, etc. But there's a reason Celebrity is the most expensive. My cruise advice is if you are taking the family for a fun vacation, Carnival, RC, NCL are all good. If you are going on your honeymoon or want to really eat like a King, go Celebrity at least once.

Quote: RaleighCraps

Hi L.R.,

I don't think you are going to like my answer. ;-)

No, no, I'm not a "hater" ! More power to you. I think this is one of those rare times where the supply has outpaced demand, so the casino player can get some good comps and offers. I get good offers (well my slot playing wife does at least). A cruise is a FANTASTIC offer.

So, I have returned from my trip to pick up my free cruise vouchers, and as expected, it is not quite as presented.

The offer I got takes the time to show you ALL of the departure ports you can use, AND says the destinations, including Europe.
It also says you have 1 year to use the voucher. There is NO OTHER restrictions listed. Fine print says based on availability....

I checked in, and they already had me registered for the NCL voucher, so they gave me the information for the pickup on Saturday. Completely painless.
Pickup is 12:00 to 6:00 PM
I get there at 11:45 and they are already to hand out the material. (You get a code and a special number to call NCL to register).

I also got a sheet listing the cruises that are eligible.
Now the list of eligible cruises is not much more printed information than what was in the brochure offer. It is restricted to certain 7 day cruises. That eliminates the Southern Caribbean cruises. There still is an option for an Eastern Caribbean, and a slew of Western Caribbean/Gulf cruises, which I am not interested in at all.

My point here is, they could have just as easily said 7 day cruise in the offer. Maybe the same offer goes to higher rollers who are getting additional cruise selections, although I was led to believe the higher rollers just get better rooms and suites.

Don't get me wrong, the offer is still a 7 day cruise and costs $799 and up to get one of the Eastern sailings, so it is still a nice perk. I just think they could have included the real cruise list in the original offer.
If I wait until 2014 to take the cruise, NCL is sailing a brand new ship next year. That could be pretty cool to take.

Caesars Entertainment's (CET) private equity co-owner Apollo Global Management also owns 50% of Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL). Apollo is using the names from the Total Rewards program at CET and pitching NCL cruises to fill up the ships.

Quote: RaleighCraps

I also got a sheet listing the cruises that are eligible.
Now the list of eligible cruises is not much more printed information than what was in the brochure offer. It is restricted to certain 7 day cruises.

We did a 7 day cruise on the NCL PEARL from Seattle to Alaska (and back, which made the flight plans easier) in June. We saw a good deal on-line and booked it. So this was not a CET sortof thing.

It was a great vacation so I can highly recommend this itinerary if it is one of the ones available to you. Seattle was also interesting to walk around in.

Entertainment: Good to Excellent (the Jersey Boys tribute act). "Jim" the piano lounge player had a low-key and dry sense of humor, which was very entertaining.

Food: Good but not excellent. I was expecting better based on a previous cruise a number of years ago on PRINCESS.

Casino: Not good*. Stingy video poker (the Jacks or Better was 6/5 but there was 4 of a Kind was 30 instead of 25, so I guess it was really Bonus Poker), and a lousy blackjack tournament with a very crappy prize distribution (I estimate only about 20 % of the entry fees were paid back as prizes). Nonetheless, it was something to do. Re * - - If I recall correctly, the Blackjack rules were OK and there was usually a $ 10 minimum table.

Booked my Eastern Caribbean cruise today on the new ship in 2014, Getaway.

Now for the details on this whole offer.

Now is a good time to be cruising, as the cruise lines have a lot of giveaways.
On board credits, free upgrades in room class, and promo codes for dinner for 2 and bottle of wine in specialty restaurants.
I am eligible for none of the above when using the voucher.

To know what I was getting into, I went onto the NCL site and went through a booking for the Inside cabin (IA class) my voucher is good for.
The cabin is $849, and the government fees were $114.92, per person.

For $1269, I could pay for a balcony (BA class) and be upgraded to a mini-suite (MB class).

So I called to use my voucher, and upgrade.
First, none of the upgrades work with the voucher. I had to pay full upgrade price of $500 to go to a mini-suite.
Second, not only do I have to pay the government fee of $114.92 (which I knew and expected), but I have to also pay the $190 port fee, which apparently is included in the normal cabin price that is shown above on the web.
In other words, the $849 price above, includes the $190 port fee, but the voucher does not include that amount.
This greatly diminishes the value of the voucher, from $849 to $659, per person.

Don't get me wrong, I am still going to save $1320. A cruise that would have cost $4,020 is costing me $2700.

My gripe is with the way they promote this giveaway. They could be way more upfront about this whole offer. Yes, they disclosed there would be fees. BUT, they don't tell you the fees you pay will be MORE than the fees you pay when you book a normal cruise. And, not being able to take advantage of any of the offers cost me another ~$200-$300 in value. The agent I spoke with was very nice, and very patient with me. I apologized a number of times for being a pain, and she said, "No problem, we get this all the time."

So what does that tell you? If they are constantly having to explain why people feel like they are getting screwed, doesn't that indicate there is a problem with the promotion or mechanics of this offer?

It didn't help that I was already miffed from the trip.
Paris charged me a $22.40 resort fee a night , for the 3 nights. When I complained about having been told I was being comp'd the entire trip, the first host basically said, Too bad, so Sad. With the second host, I stated that I should have been told up front that my comp'd trip did not include resort fees. He agreed and then said, "Oh you are Platinum, so you shouldn't have been charged the fees anyway. I will get them removed."
I got home, and they charged my cc the resort fees anyway. They also took $26 in Reward credits to partially pay for drinks I had at the pool.

And, the final insult was they only recorded about half of my play. They were running 1 boxman for 2 craps tables every time I played, and most of the time there was no floor either. I just knew I was not getting rated correctly, but had no idea I was getting missed most of the time. And my Pai Gow Poker sessions were more of the same. No credit for all the time I was playing 2 hands at $50 per.
All told, Paris did a terrible job at tracking my play, mainly due to cutbacks in staff watching the games. Well, I have news for them. I don't like losing a couple Gs, but when I do, I want to be credited for that loss. But treat me like they did on this last trip, where I lose money, and get no credit for it, well, I HAVE OTHER CHOICES WHERE TO PLAY CRAPS.
I feel bad when I play at other places when I am getting comp'd on a trip, but any remorse I had at playing other places on this trip has certianly disappeared, based on the gambling at Paris this time. I can't say Never, but that may have been my last trip to Vegas

sorry you got worked over on the trip and the cruise price, raleigh. very disappointed on your behalf.

Quote: beachbumbabs

sorry you got worked over on the trip and the cruise price, raleigh. very disappointed on your behalf.

I realize my post makes it feel like I got worked over, but as I said, I am still getting over $1300 in value, so I am content with that.
I just hate "to leave money on the table though", and that is what happened by being shut out of the free upgrades and other benies.

I will still enjoy the cruise, and hopefully the craps game will be very good to me and I will get the difference back in spades.
On two of my cruises, I have had the whole cruise paid for after the first day. Of course, I would have had to stop playing for that to be the final result.
Sadly, on both trips, I gave it all back, plus a bunch more. I can surely say this trip will be different. If I get up the cost of the trip, it will get banked and I will restake myself with $500 to play the rest of the trip. If I grow that, great. If I lose that, it is game over for any more gambling on this cruise.

well, as I mentioned somewhere before, the hosts (not the pit supervisors) on NCL can write off/credit your room account based on your play. I'd approach them on the last full day of the cruise (don't wait until disembarkation; they have other duties that day) and see if they want to extend anything. You might take out a marker on the room (backed by your stake in your room safe if you want) so they have something to credit against.

That is a great idea about taking the marker.
I've never had a cruise casino comp back cash before, but I suppose it is highly possible. Mostly, I end up getting free alcohol, with an occasional high end shot thrown in, but this offer came with free booze in the casino, so that is already covered. Hats and shirts are the other usual giveaway.

The only place on the boat that deals with cash is the casino. Everything else goes on the room. You can take a marker for up to 2000/day. If you don't want the charges to mount up, you can go settle the account with the purser every day. the casino doesn't know what your room account holds, but they definitely know when you take markers, and I think they take you more seriously when you use them. The other beauty, assuming you're a disciplined money manager (see the Patrick thread among others) is that you can pay for your gaming on your credit card without cash advance charges (and assuming you have room on the credit card for it). That way you can accumulate major miles on your card when you pay your bill as well, because it all just shows as purchases on NCL. However, if you don't have the bankroll to pay that off to Visa/whoever in full that same month, you're kidding yourself to do it.

That is all very good advice beachbumbabs.

I knew about the cc adv, because I have done it before on the other 3 cruise lines we went on. I didn't recall paying off any of the advances while still on board ship, but I may have. NCL will be new to me. And you are absolutely correct that gambling off the cc, just because they make it very convenient, is foolhardy without the funds already available. I wonder how many people get caught in that trap, especially considering cruise vacations can often be the cheapest of vacations to take.

Here's some good info about Caesars' NCL offers: link.

You always have to pay port fees and tax for each person.

According to this poster, you SHOULD have gotten the freebies that come with booking the regular cruise (dinner, wine, etc.)

You can charge casino play to your credit card but I believe they charged a flat 3% fee on ships that depart from this U.S. I'm not sure if this can be waived.

Thanks for the link teddys!

That is a great link. It really explains the offer in much greater detail than anything I was given with my offer. A lot of the perks for the 7 star are not applicable to my offer, but it still shows that CET could have created a web page just like this one for my offer, which would have eliminated a lot of the confusion.

From the link;

What you pay:
Only taxes and port charges, typically about $200 to $250 per person.

Here they set the expectation of the amount -my fees are $304 pp, but that is still in the area. My point is, those fees are usually in the $100 range, because the port fee is normally included in the cabin price, so by calling them out here, this prevents a nasty surprise on the amount.

What you get:
Balcony room on most cruises, or ocean-view room on cruises to Alaska
Room for use of two people
Meals at the buffet and non-gourmet restaurants
Use of all the facilities except the spa
Complimentary well drinks in the casino

So the 7 star gets a balcony room (and they mention a 'suite' later which is what I paid to upgrade to), whereas I was given an Inside cabin. That is to be expected. The rest of the items are included as standard on any cruise, so not a comp or perk. The drinks are a perk, and that has also been included in my offer. 7 star gets free soda too, and that is not in my offer either.
This does bring up another point though. I was low diamond, but got this offer as a platinum card holder! The fact that I got this would seem to really weaken this as a 7 star perk. The room upgrade is worth $300-$500 per person, so the 7 star gets an extra $600-$1000 value over what I just received. I was also restricted to 7 days, whereas the 7 star is 5-8 days, but that is only good if you can actually find an 8 day cruise.

Nice catch on the 3% charge. This is definitely different than the other cruise lines I have been on. On the other ships, the charge goes against your room, and at the end of the cruise, you just pay the bill, along with any other room charges. In any case, it doesn't count as a cash advance fee from the credit card, but if NCL is taking 3% that still is a $30 charge per $1000 requested. Basically cancels my first win on a $30 Place 6 or 8 ;-)
I did notice that the 3% fee is waived for higher status players (not me).



btw, missed playing with you in Vegas. You would have done well on my trip to MSS. I had another good run, but without all the Come Out 7 rolls that hurt you so bad the last time I rolled.

Raleigh,

They waived any marker fees for me, and they didn't know me from Adam (AFAIK; I didn't give them any TR info or anything). However, I didn't take a marker until the 3rd full day, when I didn't feel like running up to the room safe for cash, and they knew my level of play; that may have had something to do with it. I did see one other guy get a service fee and wondered about it, because everybody else was getting it waived at the table as well.

The well drink thing is a nice perk; I had to earn my comp drinks (I hit the slots hard; they had a QP Platinum 1.50 bank (non-linked) that I liked and did ok on) and I have to admit I found them not comping drinks from the outset irritating as hell, but the pit supes figured that out fast and were buying them for me until I had their card. Drinks start around 7, soft drinks/juices around 3.

The amount the host credited my account was about 2% of my play, and they also bought me a gourmet dinner for 2 with wine in their most expensive restaurant (ERV about 120) and 2 bottles of champagne at/for the UTH table (ERV 70), all on the last full day. They also found excuses during the 11 day cruise to award $25 free play chips to me several times (they go out at certain times with a microphone and "randomly" award play to people on the machines or tables).

I was clearing my account with the purser every day or two so I wouldn't have any nasty surprises at the end; it only took about 5 minutes 'cuz nobody was there mid-cruise. YMMV, but just so you have some idea of what they can do for someone they like. Me, I tipped about $1500 out of winnings over that time, remembered everybody's name, refused to whine about bad hands/streaks. Ended down but less than I tipped, had a great crossing.

Thank you very much for relating this story. I now have a pretty good idea of what to expect on this cruise when it comes to the casino. I really like the idea of clearing the account each day.

At 3-4-5x odds, the craps game won't be too bad. I read a $300 max. I hope that means one bet, not total on the table, but then again, the purpose of this trip is to cruise, not gamble. This cruise opens with 2 days at sea, so there will be plenty of opportunities to hit the casino.

I doubt the upgrade would be worth it but that is up to you.

St. Marteen is very popular but its become more druggie than ever, stay ON the beaten path.

Quote: FleaStiff

I doubt the upgrade would be worth it but that is up to you.

St. Marteen is very popular but its become more druggie than ever, stay ON the beaten path.

It is funny how we each have different criteria for what is, and is not, worth it to us, AND, how these values change as we get older.

Our first 4 cruises were all inside cabins, and we were very content with that. Cramped, but content with the money we were saving. I did not feel spending $400-$600 was worth an upgrade.
Then I managed to get an upgrade to a balcony for less than $100, and that ruined inside cabins for us. There is not that much more room, but being able to step out onto the balcony any time you want, is refreshing. We've sat out there at 1:00 AM and at 5:00 AM. Watching the sun come up in the morning is special.
Of course, you can do that from anywhere on the ship, but other places kind of require that you actually have clothes on ;-).

This cruise we are stepping up to a full rainhead shower, with body jets as well, so the bathroom is going to be bigger. IS that alone worth $400? Probably not, but we won't know until we have tried it once. Besides, all I need is to hit my $200 Buy 4 twice to pay for the upgrade! :-)

Yes, St. Marteen has gotten into some problems over the last couple of years. I follow a couple of other travel forums, and there have been enough problems reported there to make it important that one pays attention to what they are doing, and where they are going. My information is mainly from the French side. I don't have much info about the Dutch part of the Island, so it would be unfair to include them in the problems, if they are not having issues.

It has been surprising how slow the French government has seemed to be to take action against the trouble. There are quite a few frequent visitors posting they won't go back if things don't change, because they no longer feel safe there. Those are not postings that a tourist region can afford to have out there very long.

So, yeah, I dug up an old thread here, but I thought I would update it with my TR "free" cruise offer.

So, I got a mailer from Harrah's Joliet for a cruise giveaway. I'm not sure if it was because of my Diamond status (which has since reverted to Platinum), or the action I have given to the Joliet store or CET in general. Anyway, it turns out that I was slated for a business trip to Chicago the week of the giveaway, so I flew up early, spent a couple of nights at Harrahs, and picked up my cruise "certificate."

I put the word "certificate" in quotes because all it said was "You won a free cruise" and gave a phone number to call to book -- no other details. I found this to be a little odd. After 2 calls to the number provided, I was able to have them email me the actual certificate which showed the actual cruise options with dates, embarkation ports, ship names, etc.

The options were mostly 7-day cruises with one 10-day out of New Orleans, and a 12-day one-way New York to Europe. We chose a 7-day cruise out of Tampa.

Based on what I read here, and basic "too good to be true" common sense, I knew that my 'free' cruise was not going to be free. However, in addition to the port fees & taxes (which came to $313) I expected, they also charged an "Admin Fee" of $140 pp ($280 total). Still, ~$600 is not very much to pay for a 7-day cruise for 2. BTW, this is for an inside stateroom. We could have paid an extra $400 to upgrade to an Ocean View, or $800 for a Balcony. We opted to stick with the inside room.

In addition, the gratuities are $14/day pp, so that will add another $198 to the bill.

One other thing is that when I booked, NCL was offering a deal where you get your choice of 4 freebies when you book: 1) Open bar, 2) Three meals at one of their specialty restaurants pp, 3) Free 250 minutes of wi-fi/internet usage, or 4) Four $50 certificates for shore excursions.
Since Mrs. Joeman would have wanted wi-fi access to keep in touch with her family while on the boat, we chose that option.

In addition, I found out that we get free drinks in the casino while gambling. Also, they said that we would get a complimentary bottle of wine and chocolate covered strawberries.

So, we're paying a little more than I expected, but we're also getting a few unexpected perks. In all, I think we're getting an excellent deal, but it's far from being free.

Quote: Joeman

Based on what I read here, and basic "too good to be true" common sense, I knew that my 'free' cruise was not going to be free. However, in addition to the port fees & taxes (which came to $313) I expected, they also charged an "Admin Fee" of $140 pp ($280 total). Still, ~$600 is not very much to pay for a 7-day cruise for 2. BTW, this is for an inside stateroom. We could have paid an extra $400 to upgrade to an Ocean View, or $800 for a Balcony. We opted to stick with the inside room.

In addition, the gratuities are $14/day pp, so that will add another $198 to the bill.

One other thing is that when I booked, NCL was offering a deal where you get your choice of 4 freebies when you book: 1) Open bar, 2) Three meals at one of their specialty restaurants pp, 3) Free 250 minutes of wi-fi/internet usage, or 4) Four $50 certificates for shore excursions.

I've got three of these (plus a Princess) outstanding right now; you can also trade in your voucher and use it as a credit towards another cruise (usually not worthwhile); the basic ones were worth ~400$ when I checked early last year.

The DSC ('gratuities') can be adjusted if you go to the desk and ask; they make you pay up front on your card but you can get it back in a few weeks. I wouldn't really recommend it normally, but on one trip, they ended up slamming one of the heavy metal hatch doors straight into my +1's side...

If you pick the open bar, you're liable for the gratuities, which comes out to something like 20$/day. Meals are something like 13$ total. (Meals are a pretty decent pick, if you eat a lot; unless it changed in the last few months you can order unlimited apps/sides/etc. but only one entree. One of the places one my ship had something like a 48oz tomahawk ribeye, ostensibly for two, so... ulp.) The excursion credit is 50$ per location, valid only at each location. No stacking them or using them elsewhere. If they skip a stop, you're out of luck. There's also a fifth option that shows up on some routes, at some times, that allows two extra guests for only port fees and taxes. Not bad if you're sharing with cheap people you don't mind crowding with.

I considered the meals and the excursion coupons. Not so much with the open bar, as we are not big drinkers, and we get free drinks in the casino already. The Dawn has a Brazilian steakhouse and a teppanyaki restaurant among their 'specialty' restaurants, which would interest us, but I figured we'd be quite happy with the regular dining room. We are definitely not going to go hungry!

Thanks for the explanation about the excursion credits. I don't feel so bad passing them up.

In other news, today, I got an email from NCL stating I could 'bid' for an upgrade to an OV or Balcony room. Anyone have any experience with this? I was thinking about putting in a lowball offer for a Balcony stateroom.

I'd recommend against the teppanyaki on the grounds that it just doesn't make much sense-- it costs about 25/pp, which is about the same as what you'd pay at a Benihana (less depending on the meat, but you do get a small dessert here too), except you're also not displacing a "prepaid" meal when you go to Benihana. If you don't have a teppan place locally, I guess it'd make sense, but not otherwise. Brazilian BBQ, on the other hand, typically runs 35-45/pp (at least in my area), which makes it an arguable proposition. Never been to any Moderno yet though, so I have no idea how it stacks up against a terrestrial location.

Check the menu for the MDRs (the two rooms are the same, just different location and decor) before you head in; a lot of the time, you'll be able to find the exact same items in the buffet, just some assembly required. One of the notable exceptions is the escargot: That only shows up in the premium restaurants and in the MDR about once a week. And for the love of all that's holy, DO NOT GET THE PAVLOVA.

Good luck with the upgrade bidding; I took a look at the minimum offer amount on my last trip (first time they offered it) for a balcony, did the math, and realized that it would've net more than if I just upgraded to it at booking, between bonuses and whatnot. Something like 5$ bid above minimum for a window didn't pan out, though I didn't expect it to.

Quote: Joeman

In other news, today, I got an email from NCL stating I could 'bid' for an upgrade to an OV or Balcony room. Anyone have any experience with this? I was thinking about putting in a lowball offer for a Balcony stateroom.

yes.
bid the minimum for a balcony.
not much difference between inside and ov.
huge difference between inside and balcony because, well, the balcony!

there's no rhyme or reason how you win your bid.
I met someone on my cruise and he bid lower than I did and won. (we both had an Inside.)

+1 for not getting the ultimate beverage package when you have a free drink card at the casino.
I would have opted for the dining package since you can get free internet at most ports.

and why didn't you pick the cruise with the most # of days? (aka most value)

Joeman, I sailed the dawn last year. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

One Hint that I will give you for now. When you get on the boat you will have about 2 hours before you sail, maybe more. They will tell you to go to the buffet l for dinner. They will not mention that the main dining room is open. Go there instead of the buffet. 2000 people are heading to the buffet and not many people even know the dining room is open.

Oh tip 2. The chicken wings at the 24 hour cafe place are great.

Oh tip 3, at the pool area there are like 5 levels of chairs. On the fifth level there is a bbq grill with hamburgers and hot dogs. I didn't know about that until the 6th day. I was so mad. Also there is ice cream at the bar near the pool.

Oh tip 4, you can order a large pizza for a $5 delivery fee to anywhere on the ship. It was good pizza. We did it twice while sitting at the bar.

I could just keep typing. It is a small ship but we had a ton of fun.

Quote: 100xOdds

yes.
bid the minimum for a balcony.
not much difference between inside and ov.

That's what I assumed. I also read of stories where people were "upgraded" from an inside cabin on a higher deck to a porthole on the lowest deck, and were not happy about it.

Quote:

huge difference between inside and balcony because, well, the balcony!

there's no rhyme or reason how you win your bid.
I met someone on my cruise and he bid lower than I did and won. (we both had an Inside.)

Thanks for the advice!

Quote:

+1 for not getting the ultimate beverage package when you have a free drink card at the casino.
I would have opted for the dining package since you can get free internet at most ports.

Dining package would probably have been our second choice. Onboard wi-fi is a must-have for Mrs. Joeman.

Quote:

and why didn't you pick the cruise with the most # of days? (aka most value)

Among other reasons, the dates we could travel didn't coincide with the dates the two longer cruises were available.

Quote: GWAE

Joeman, I sailed the dawn last year. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

One Hint that I will give you for now. When you get on the boat you will have about 2 hours before you sail, maybe more. They will tell you to go to the buffet l for dinner. They will not mention that the main dining room is open. Go there instead of the buffet. 2000 people are heading to the buffet and not many people even know the dining room is open.

Oh tip 2. The chicken wings at the 24 hour cafe place are great.

Oh tip 3, at the pool area there are like 5 levels of chairs. On the fifth level there is a bbq grill with hamburgers and hot dogs. I didn't know about that until the 6th day. I was so mad. Also there is ice cream at the bar near the pool.

Oh tip 4, you can order a large pizza for a $5 delivery fee to anywhere on the ship. It was good pizza. We did it twice while sitting at the bar.

I could just keep typing. It is a small ship but we had a ton of fun.

Wow! Thanks for the inside info, GWAE!

Do you have any advice on what to do at our ports of call? We've been to Cozumel before, but this will be the first time for Harvest Caye, Roatan, and Costa Maya. We're pretty much cheapskates and typically don't do the paid excursions -- we'll probably want to explore on our own either on foot or with a taxi.

I definitely want to snorkel, and will probably bring my own gear. I was thinking Roatan might be the best for that.

When we did this we got the drink package. However when that was the option you were not forced to pay 99 each for tips. Those were included so it was a great deal. Only problem with getting drinks at the casino is if you are at a show then you have to go all the way to the casino to get a drink or pay for it from server. Pop and such is not free so every drink outside of the casino will cost money. Also the casino is not open until late afternoon so you are restricted to certain time for drinks. I can't rmember what it is called but the showroom/club/game show/bingo area is on the complete other side of the ship. When we went they did not have wifi yet but every port and every restaurant does have wifi so we would skype with the kids when we got to port and when we left port. From what I read the only thing you can do on ships wifi is text, internet, and Facebook. They have uploading blocked, Skype blocked, and wifi calling blocked unless it has changed recently.

I will give my info on the ports in a little while. I have to get on the road right now.

ok I am at work now so I can waste half an hour. We did an excursions but not through the ship. Those are priced at double what you can it for yourself. The only good thing about those are the ship will not leave without you. If you go off on your own you run the risk of the ship leaving if you are not back in time.

We were the last sailing to Belize at their regular port in Belize City so I don't have any info on Harvest Caye.

Costa Maya- We didn't have much planned so we figured we would walk around. As soon as we got out of the port there were people renting golf carts. We ended up renting a golf cart for a few hours and driving around the area. Then we had lunch on the beach at a small Mexican restaurant. Be ready for people selling you stuff. While eating we had about 20 people try to sell us hand made crafts. Unfortunately we like most everything they had and spent about $40 on things. $40 is a great value for the stuff we bought though.

Roatan- We went to this amazing resort. It was a little pricey but it was probably among the top 10 best days of our lives. https://www.littlefrenchkey.com/

Hope that helps

Thanks again for the info! I'll definitely check out Little french Key.

FYI, I entered a bid of $130 to upgrade to a balcony stateroom. Minimum was $100.

My parents are going on the dawn in march. My mom is picky about rooms and picked her room. They sent that bid thing but she is afraid to try it because she doesn't want a balcony in a bad spot. If it were me I would be happy to pay 130 for a balcony regardless of where it is.

Joeman, check out cruise critic roll call. If your cruise isn't there yet it will be soon. You can pick your exact cruise and meet people who will be on that cruise. A lot of people who sign up for the roll call have been on many cruises. The neat thing that happened was someone set up a meet and greet with the crew. We went to oNE of the lounges and ncl provided us with small food and drinks. They brought the cruise director, captain, head of house keeping, head of food, and a few other people. They gave us a little spiel about what they do and we got to meet them. It was kinda neat. I also met some people on there prior to the cruise and we all went cave tubing in belize. We booked it through a place without the ship and it was a 3rd the price. There was 12 of us so at least we would be all together if we got stranded. We are in our 30s and we were hanging with people in their 50s but it was a lot of fun.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/rollcalls/

The other upshot to booking excursions through the ship is that they tend to have higher standards, and, at the very least, somebody bigger you can point at for liability if something happens. Almost broke a finger when a van seat was improperly secured and slammed down on my hand. Also, you get priority getting off the ship, which is huuuuge if you're on a schedule.

At Puerto Vallarta (I think; the one where you trolley from the ship to a tourist camp), I had a party show up two and a half hours late once, and the ship waited. I did some prodding and wild guesstimation and came up with the figure that it cost in the mid/upper five digits to park the ship there the extra time. And THEY were looking really angry that we were cheering and applauding when they got back nonchalantly.

Quote: Venthus

At Puerto Vallarta (I think; the one where you trolley from the ship to a tourist camp), I had a party show up two and a half hours late once, and the ship waited. I did some prodding and wild guesstimation and came up with the figure that it cost in the mid/upper five digits to park the ship there the extra time. And THEY were looking really angry that we were cheering and applauding when they got back nonchalantly.

That's Mazatlan I believe. PV does require a special pilot to steer the ship out of the tiny port. He exits the ship onto a small vessel afterward. The dumb sh that becomes entertaining when you refuse to play 6:5 Bj and 6:5 JoB.

Quote: Venthus

Also, you get priority getting off the ship, which is huuuuge if you're on a schedule

I assume this is more important at tendered ports than the ports where the ship can dock?

Quote: RogerKint

That's Mazatlan I believe. PV does require a special pilot to steer the ship out of the tiny port. He exits the ship onto a small vessel afterward. The dumb sh that becomes entertaining when you refuse to play 6:5 Bj and 6:5 JoB.

I love watching the pilot boat coming to pick up the pilot. The casinos are usually closed when he's onboard anyway! :)

Quote: Joeman

I assume this is more important at tendered ports than the ports where the ship can dock?

Yeah. I've had quite a few different issues with tenders that would've caused problems with doing your own excursions--
1. The waters were so choppy that they delayed starting the tenders for a few hours.
2. One of them broke down enroute, and took over an hour to be towed ashore.
3. At a location where we were supposed to walk off, a different company basically said "Screw them" and took our berth, so we had to tender.

If you're the type that gets on shore and does your stuff, you're not out much other than the time and possibly your plans. However, if you booked in advance, no refunds...

Quote: RogerKint

That's Mazatlan I believe. PV does require a special pilot to steer the ship out of the tiny port. He exits the ship onto a small vessel afterward. The dumb sh that becomes entertaining when you refuse to play 6:5 Bj and 6:5 JoB.

On one ship, they graciously offered to open a 3:2 shoe game at 100min if we could get enough people together for at least 5k buy in.

Guys, thanks for all the tips and suggestions. We had a great time on the cruise. I put up a trip report here.

Anyone have experience booking a discounted NCL cruise with their Total Rewards status?

I tier matched to get Diamond at CET. So I won’t get any free cruise offers based on my play. But I see they give a 20% discount for Diamond members.

I’m really hankering for a 7 day Bahamas cruise this April.

Quote: ams288

I’m really hankering for a 7 day Bahamas cruise this April.

Caribbean is much nicer than Bahamas.