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Pens fan

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About Me

  • Location
    Greensburg, PA
  • Interests
    Photography, travel, cooking
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Disney, NCL
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Alaska

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Cool Cruiser (2/15)

  1. We just got off POA on 11/11. It was the worst cruise we've ever taken. I say that as someone who has loved every other NCL cruise we've taken (Sun, Gem, Jade and Joy). But this ship has issues. Overall, we found the crew to be great - there just aren't enough of them and service lacks for it. Everything takes too long and lacks the attention to detail we have been used to on NCL. The food was also a notable departure from other NCL ships. La Cucina was great and we had one pretty decent meal at the Skyline MDR. Other than that is was pretty bad - Tepanyaki was particularly terrible - avoid! It didn't help that the chef lost control of a spatula while doing his spinning the tools act and it went flying right past my head. On a positive note, it's one cruise that I didn't gain weight on! Of course getting what I'm pretty sure was food poisoning about halfway in probably helped with that. Yeah, that happened. But the worst part was our toilet. It was temperamental from the beginning. But it's a cruise ship and that sometimes happens. No big deal. Until it was. It stopped working completely for the last two days. They would come and work on it, gave us numerous excuses and in the end it still did not work when we finally left the ship. Initially they claimed someone in our zone had flushed something they shouldn't have. They supposedly got that cleared, but ours stopped working again a couple of hours later - never to work again. On the very last night our butler finally got the concierge involved and he got us a key to an unoccupied solo cabin on our same deck to use. They did end up giving us a $200 credit, while apologizing that it couldn't be more due to the fact they "had so many other people to give credits to". Never again. Honestly, while it's nice to see all the other islands, when it was all over we agreed that the best way to enjoy Hawaii is to just be there. We felt the time spent on the ship was a waste that would have been better spent on the islands. Thankfully we spent 11 nights in total prior to and after the cruise on land. That's the time we will remember and cherish. I really can't recommend a cruise there. Just pick a couple of islands, find a nice resort and stay. Heck the entire time we were on that crazy cruise I kept getting ads from Southwest offering inter island flights from $39. Kinda added insult to injury šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚. I'll add that our concierge did come through in the end as we were exiting the ship. He gave me a card with the website for submitting a complaint and encouraged me to do so. I went to the site and filled everything out thinking nothing would come of it. Much to my surprise I did get a response and while I'd rather not go into details on an online forum they have given us some additional compensation which I feel is fair. I'm not writing off NCL in general as we've loved all our other experiences with them. But I cannot recommend POA to anyone.
  2. I really hope the rumor of taking away part of the OL for additional cabins is not true. We sailed on the Joy in October and the ship was only about 60% capacity. Yet the OL was often packed. Our cabin was just around the corner from it and we got into the habit of stopping in for a coffee after a day in port. We always just took it back to our cabin balcony as there were very few seats available. I can only imagine what it would have been like on a completely full ship. Reducing the size of the OL seems very short sighted to me.
  3. We stayed in 15130 on the Joy last October. We were very happy with the cabin, however one thing to note is that the balcony is divided into two separate sections with a wall in between. One section was very small but the other was much larger. I don't recall if it was angled, but there was plenty of room for one chaise lounge, small table and a regular chair. The cabin was very quiet and we really enjoyed being so close to the observation lounge and elevators. While not as convenient as being inside the Haven, it really was no big deal to walk or take the elevator up 2 floors to get to the actual Haven. We were originally booked in one of the concierge "suites" and found a great last minute deal to upgrade to a Haven stateroom. We were so happy that we did!
  4. We had a wonderful cruise in the Haven on the Joy last October. All of the staff were fantastic, but especially the bar and restaurant staff. The food in the Haven restaurant was also the best on the ship - even the speciality restaurants in my opinion. This was a port intensive cruise, and we loved being escorted off and on the ship utilizing the crew elevator - such a nice touch. We can't wait to sail in the Haven again sometime. We had sailed in non-Haven suites prior (Sun, Gem and Jade) and loved it, but the Haven is next level service.
  5. This has been one of the most entertaining reviews I've read in a long time. I love your positive attitude and most especially how kind and caring you are for your father - without ever losing your sense of humor. We are dealing with dementia with my MIL right now, and a sense of humor is very important at times. So is a stiff drink occasionally šŸ˜‰.
  6. I got this one a few months ago. Said they had had all of my contacts and would be sending out my viewing history to every one of them. I thought, go right ahead! I'm not ashamed that I watch an inordinate amount of youtube videos on cruising and Walt Disney World! šŸ˜‚!
  7. We were able to upgrade to the Joy Haven last October when the prices dropped a few weeks before our cruise. We were in a category HI - specifically cabin 15130 which was located outside of the Haven. While we would have liked to be directly in the Haven, for the price we loved this cabin. As an added bonus we were just a few steps away from the Observation Lounge so we could take advantage of our Premium Plus package and get our daily Starbucks fix. One thing we noticed was that the OL was often packed - especially at sail aways. However the Horizon Lounge in the Haven usually was pretty quiet, as was the pool deck. The only area that really ever seemed to get crowded was the Haven bar in the evenings, though people did seem to come and go as they left for dinner. We loved the Haven bar! The bartenders are the best on the ship. We just told them what types of drinks we liked and they went to town making all kind of different things. The food in the Haven restaurant was better than any of the specialty restaurants in my opinion, and the service was top notch. We also loved being escorted off and (often) back on the ship at each port. We love to make the most of our time in port, so getting whisked down the crew elevators was a wonderful treat. This was our first time sailing in a Haven cabin having sailed in non Haven suites on the smaller ships in the past. While those experiences were also great, the Haven really did spoil us. I can't say I'd only sail in the Haven in the future, but I'd sure try to at least bid on an upgrade if the outright prices are too high.
  8. And I will add to this that if a couple uses each of their dining credits you will get 8 items split between 2 people, and that is a TON of food. We are fairly big eaters, but could never eat that much. They don't always offer this to you up front, but you can just use one credit for 4 items and split that between 2 people. That way you can save your other credit for another meal. If you're still hungry after the 4 items you can always pay out of pocket for something else or run to the buffet. Food Republic is one of favorite restaurants on NCL. We love it.
  9. The hard sell to buy more than 2 CN cert's is annoying and is has happened every time we've purchased them. Last Oct on the Joy was the worst I'd ever experienced though. We had the form in hand, all filled out, and the guy just wouldn't let it go. He kept going on and on, no matter how many times we said no. Finally we just gave him the form, said we only want two and walked away.
  10. The tuna nachos are great, but the black cod skewers were our favorite. Almost everything we had was really good. The only thing we had that I wouldn't order again were the Peruvian beef skewers. We did not care for the spices they used, but that could have just been our tastes. We ate there three times on the Joy back in October. The restaurant was never more than half full, which we couldn't understand. It's was our favorite specialty restaurant. One tip: Each person can order four items with a specialty dining credit. Unless you are just starved, that's a ton of food as the portions are larger than you think they are going to be. However you can split one credit between two people and just get four items to share. If you're still hungry you can always pay out of pocket for something else, and you will save a credit for another meal.
  11. When we were on the Joy in October they did offer a different chef's special entree in the Haven restaurant. At least they did the nights we ate there, which wasn't every night. It was our first time in the Haven, so I just assumed that was normal, but I guess it's ship dependent.
  12. We were on the Joy in the Haven in Oct. We loved it!! The Haven restaurant was fantastic - better food than the specialty restaurants by far. The bar staff were terrific. Just tell them what spirit you like and what type of drink you like and they will go to town making up all kinds of concoctions. The Haven exclusive observation lounge is beautiful and compared to the main one so easy to find a quiet spot. The concierge staff was so friendly and helpful. We had a lot of independent tours and getting whisked down the crew elevator to get off (and back on!!) the ship was great. The ship as a whole was beautiful and we had a great time. Food Republic is not to be missed and never full. We enjoyed Footloose quite a bit. Elements was .. different šŸ˜‚ but enjoyable. As someone else mentioned the performer Ryan at DBH was fantastic. Iā€™d sail the Joy again, for sure. Have fun!!
  13. We were on the 10/12 sailing. Ryan was terrific - very talented and such a nice guy.
  14. The cod skewers at Food Republic. I know they sound basic, but they were the best things we ate on the Joy last month outside of the Haven restaurant. We enjoyed them so much that on our second dinner there, we got two orders of them. So good! I also agree with the previous poster about FR's tuna poke nachos. They were our second favorite thing in that restaurant.
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