Salty Zebra

    Have you heard about NCL (Norwegian Cruise Line)’s Upgrade Advantage bidding program but wondered how it worked? After successfully receiving my first upgrade through this program, I’m finally ready to share with you all about it.   Several years ago, NCL switched to a bidding system for cabin upgrades. You can bid on cabins up to three classes above the one you’ve booked. This means that if you book an inside room you can bid on an Oceanview, Balcony, or Club Balcony Suite. If you book a balcony or above you can bid on a Club Balcony Suite, a Suite, or a room in the Haven.   Typically, you will receive an invitation to bid via email, but if you haven’t you can use the “Room Offers” link on the reservation in your NCL App or visit the upgrade page to enter your reservation information. If you receive a message saying, “We are sorry, we have no space available” you are out of luck. If you receive a message saying that your reservation is not eligible, this ...

  In the travel industry, companies have decided to reward loyalty to their brand by offering status earning programs. For Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), this is the Latitude Rewards program . Once you have travelled at least one cruise with NCL, you can sign up .   You start out at the Bronze Level which lets you start collecting pins when you’re on your cruise. Each level has a different pin and it’s a fun collection to add to. They will also add your Latitude Rewards program level to your cruise key card. They say they’ll give you free artwork at an art auction, but I think they do this for everyone. You’ll get a discount on purchasing an open bar package straight out, but this doesn’t affect the price of a “More at Sea” Drinks package you can choose when you purchase your cruise. Realistically, the “More at Sea” package will always be less expensive than purchasing it outright, even with a discount, so I’m not sure why this is a thing. If you like to shop at the duty fre...

 Have you ever given travel insurance much thought? We often don't think about these things much until we are faced with a need for them, and then it is too late! These days whenever you book some form of travel you are given an opportunity to add travel protection to your purchase. While it is typically a small percentage of your purchase price, adding on one more thing  often feels burdensome at this point in the process. You've already been nickel and dimed for your seat choice, your dining choice, your drinks package. No! We're not paying for ONE MORE THING! The downside to this is then your investment is not covered should the unexpected occur.   Our family has had two experiences involving travel insurance that have cemented our decision to always cover our purchases, with very few exceptions. The first took place on my first cruise in 2010. My grandfather passed away a week before the cruise embarked and the date of the memorial service had not been determined...

I realize this post may not specifically apply to all my readers, but there will be information you can take from it, and who knows, perhaps one day you'll Non-Rev too! I've had a few years of travelling non-rev now and so I thought I'd share some tips I've learned along the way. Most of these could apply to standard air travel as well, so stay tuned! You may be wondering what non-rev travel is. It stands for Non-Revenue travel. This is a perk given to employees of airlines and their families. It allows them to travel for cheap, or sometimes free, on seats that would otherwise be left empty. Travelling in this way comes with some major mind-shifts and it's good to set up your expectations accordingly. In today's post, I'll be giving you the benefit of my experience and research and sharing some fun pictures along the way! #1 - Choose Your Travel Day Wisely One of the most important factors to non-rev travel is planning to fly on non-busy days. The busier a t...

 I'm so excited to share that by God's grace and your generosity I've met my fundraising goal! If you'd still like to contribute, your donations are welcome and appreciated. I'll be keeping the fundraiser up till the end of the month. If you have been blessed by the content in my blog and would like to be a part of furthering my learning and experience to share with you all, you can learn more here , or if you'd just like to donate, click here .  I've had a few people ask me about how I find cruises so cheap, so I thought today I'd share that with you... To start with (almost) every day I get an email from Cruise Watch . I say almost because the system is persnickety and consistency isn't one of its redeeming qualities. What I DO love about it though are the deals it clues me into when they do come through. Here's a piece of the one I received yesterday: Each day I get ten "Recommended Cruise Deals" and ten "Lowest Ever Cruise Deal...