Ahoy there cruisers and welcome to another episode of cruise with Ben and David.
In this episode we're going to be giving you our ultimate amazing top tips
for cruising with Norwegian Cruise Line.
Whether you're a first-time cruiser on NCL
or if you've been on a Norwegian cruise before
stick with us because you might learn something you never knew.
So our first big tip would be the book shows before you get on the cruise.
And apart from the comedy shows
you can do this all before you even board
on the online planner.
How cool is that!
You can also do it when you're onboard
on most ships on the TV screens
or at guest services as well.
The shows will show multiple times throughout your cruise
so don't worry if you don't get in the first showing
and for the comedy shows as well
these are sometimes really popular so if you want a particular seat
make sure you get there a little bit before the short starts just so you can
get the spot that you want.
Yes sit back relax order a drink and get there before the masses do.
It's not a problem.
Tip number two is if you are stuck any
time around the ship look at the floor because there is fish that point facing forward.
Trust me when you're in Isles and stuff where you can't see
which direction you're moving this is so helpful isn't it.
Plus keep an eye out for the rebellious fish that swims in the opposite direction.
Yeah it's a red herring.
So our next big tip would be to buy a dining package.
Seriously, this can save you an absolute fortune.
You can buy different types of packages
you can buy, sort of like, three meals.
Packages for your whole cruise.
The more dining in package days you buy
The better the value is as well.
So if you buy a dining package for your entire cruise
you're gonna save the most amount of money.
You can easily save up to 50% because lots of the menus are a la carte.
So it means you have to pay per dish.
We've done this quite a few times and you get to eat in some really really yummy specialty restaurants.
Usually in the speciality restaurant if you have purchased the dining package
you can have as many starter courses as you want
you get to choose a main course and as many desserts as you like as well.
And if you got somewhere with sides as well for
the main course you can order as many of these as you want.
So you can eat in some beautiful places like Le Bistro, La Cucina,
and Cagney's the steak restaurant.
Seriously guys it's so worth the money
the food is amazing.
On the day that you board the ship,
or embark the ship,
there's usually some offers for 20% off some of the shows.
Some shows are paid, not many of them,
some of the illusion type shows or the circus type shows
and if you book these on the first day of getting onboard
you can save 20%.
Also keep an eye out because there may be discounts on speciality restaurants
and spa treatments.
just because usually the first day these were a lot quieter.
Just keep an eye out for any discounts.
Just ask at the spa or at the maitre d office
and they'll tell you if there's any offers on that day.
So make sure you grab those bargains as soon as you get on.
Our next tip is food-related again
as all out tips seem to be.
Don't forget that O'Sheehan's and or The Local as it's called on some of the ships
is complimentary dining 24 hours a day
so if you have the midnight munchies
if you're heading back
to your cabin after a night out boogieing
it's great to pop by there grab some
chicken wings, which were amazing,
or if you're just looking for a light lunch or a light breakfast.
So there's loads of breakfast options on board Norwegian not just the buffet.
There's also a sit-down option in the main dining room.
Plus, you can also get alternative breakfast options in some of the specialty dining restaurants.
Such as Margaritaville.
This is great because they're a little bit quieter than the hustle and bustle of the buffet.
At peak times the buffet can get really busy.
So it's quite easy.
Either go towards the beginning of the buffet opening or the end of the the buffet closing.
And you'll usually find it's a lot quieter and you'll find a seat much easier.
Also another alternative, if you don't want to leave your cabin at all
is to order room service breakfast as well.
It's lovely if you've got hangover you can just lay in bed and order some nice food.
So next tip is Norwegian is all about the flexibility
and your may have heard the term freestyle dining.
This basically means that you can eat wherever you want, whenever you want.
It's so good.
It lets you avoid the really busy times.
We usually find that the busy time for eating on a cruise are 6 to 8 p.m.
So you can quite easily avoid these times by going outside of those times.
You can also use the TV screens to have a look and see
when the restaurants are open.
You can see this in the daily guide as well.
It actually tells you on the TV screens how busy these restaurants are.
You can go to a restaurant really easily that isn't busy
and there's no queue!
Apart from the speciality dining
there's no need to book
there's no set mealtimes
there's no split where some people have a set mealtime and some people don't.
Everybody, it's just down when you want and where you want.
It's so fantastic we absolutely love the flexibility on Norwegian.
[crickets]
Oh!
Another top tip when booking your Norwegian cruise
is to look at the Free At Sea promotion.
These are available to people outside Europe
and it means that you get to choose
different add-ons to your cruise.
So this could be free Wi-Fi, onboard spend,
speciality dining, drinks packages
and you can get usually one or two
depending on what class of cabin you book.
We recommend that you go for the drinks package if you do have that option.
Because that's probably worth the most amount of money.
Yeah, if you're a drinker, it is definitely.
For everybody in Europe, like us.
When you book a cruise, as standard, it's the all-inclusive premium package.
This actually includes all of your drinks, sometimes things like a little bit of Wi-Fi and your gratuities.
So you don't have to worry about that.
Next tip is to be prepared for some of the themed parties onboard.
So Norwegian like to hold themed parties
and you don't want to be left out in the cold as they sa!
You want to be there with your full-on rock and costume
such as the white party
so make sure you bring some white clothes along
and sometimes the hold things like decade party so
90s, 60s, 70s parties as well
so bring some costumes along.
There's quite a lot of people do like to dress up.
The white part is a highlight of the Norwegian cruise.
They usually do this outside if weather is permitting
on cold climates that will actually do it inside which they did on our last cruise.
[Ben] It is such a fun party as-well. [David] They put glow lights up.
They Even do and free face painting with glow paints and all sorts.
The kids can get involved as well. It's really fun for all the family.
They've got ultraviolet lights everywhere so that's why you wear white.
So you shine like a star!
[laughing]
[ben sings] Shine like a star!
[david sings] Like a star!
[breathy voice] Shine like a star.
Because if you're not on an all-inclusive package
or have a drinks package
water can be quite expensive on a cruise as well
so we always recommend you take an empty bottle a big water.
So just an empty water bottle
so that you can refill it whilst you're onboard.
You can go get some great potable ones.
I particularly at the Chilly's bottles
They are really good
They keep your water cold for 24 hours.
You can find a link to the Chilly's bottles in the description below.
I just think they're brilliant.
They're super light and you can refill them around the ship.
Exactly and you can also bring bottles of wine on board.
But bear in mind that
you will be charged a corkage fee for each one of them.
This is currently, for a standard bottle of wine, $15
and for a huge big bottle of Magnum wine it's $30.
But if you do have a particular wine you like
it's great to bring that on board
and it also maybe could save you a little bit of money
compared to buying wine on the ship.
Just remember you are charged that $15 corkage fee when you board the ship
So even if you don't drink it in any of the restaurants or if you don't open it
while you're on board you're still gonna have to pay the $15 corkage fee.
You can also, if you don't finish that bottle of wine, ask your way to the keep
it for your next meal as well which is really cool.
Finally we're almost at
the end of the video and the end of our cruise.
So our last tip before you get off
is to take advantage of the self assist walk off if you're able to.
It's great because you avoid all the lines during the day.
You just have to remember though,
that you have to carry your own luggage with you.
So that means that you have to carry it down the stairs and off the ship.
So usually you're actually assigned a leaving time
to get off the ship.
So this could be any time usually
from about 7 a.m. until about 9:30 a.m.
But as David says you can choose to use self assist.
Basically all this means is self walk off.
So you don't put your luggage out the night before.
You literally just take your luggage off and walk it off the ship.
But we find that this saves you so much time.
It is usually a little bit earlier maybe 7 a.m.
that you're actually required to walk off the ship.
But there's usually no queues.
You don't have to wait for your luggage
and you get out of the terminal really really quickly.
If you want to find out more about disembarking a cruise.
Some more tips and about self assist.
Check out our cruise disembarkation video.
Shich is in the corner right here.
So guys if you have any tips for Norwegian Cruise Line
That you think we've missed out please let us know
in the comments below.
We absolutely love to hear them.
We'll put them in our next show.
And it's great for your fellow cruises as well to share some knowledge.
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