abcmom123

Thank you!

Just booked a cruise on the Joy for next year. Hubby wants to try out a big ship, but I love the Jewel class ships. I know there is no Great Outdoors venue on the Joy. Is there any place similar onboard the Joy? I've been watching videos on YT and I haven't seen any food stations on the pool deck. Is the buffet the closest place to grab a quick bite? I also saw on a video that you HAVE to make reservations at the Manhattan room to get in, is this true? Am I correct that Taste and Savor have the same menu, but more relaxed dress code? Is there any difference between Taste and Savor? Finally we enjoy having lunch in the dining room on embarkation day, will this be possible? Thanks in advance!

I loved the toasted almond. I noticed though that it's not on the NCL list (great link!!!! Thank you) Does anyone know if they are still available?

Used uber and lyft from airport to hotel. Walked from hotel to cruise terminal (it was a looong walk, but my husband and I are huge walkers).

 

 

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Where did you stay?

Duplicate post, SORRY! FYI Chankanaab updated the coupon on their website.

Thanks for the help! Just heard back from Chakanaab and they updated the coupon online until March 31

Our family will be visiting Cozumel at the end of March. We are planning on visiting Chakanaab. I have gone online to print the coupon, however it states that it expires January 31, 2018. I have emailed them but haven't gotten any response. Does anyone know how strict they are about the coupons? It seems like there has always been one available online (at least for the last 2 years or so that I am aware of). It's only $10 bucks, but I'd still like to save it if I can! Thanks for any advice/experience.

Our family will be visiting Cozumel at the end of March. We are planning on going to Chakanaab. I have gone online to get the coupon, however the coupon states that it expires January 31, 2018. I have emailed Chakanaab but have not received any reply. Does anyone know how strict they a

We also put the two twins together for us. Our son lowered the trundle so that he could very comfortably sit up in bed while under the bed that folds out from the wall. He was 10 at the time and enjoyed it.

Thank you for taking the time to post the dailies, they are very helpful for us "planners"! I may have missed it, but I didn't see any information about tender tickets. Did you not have to tender? For our upcoming cruise I am fairly sure we will have to tender in Roatan as we are the last of 6!!! ships to arrive. In the past I remember them handing out tickets on the pool deck (and waiting in Disneyesque lines). Just trying to figure out when that might be so I can plan accordingly! TIA for any help/insight.

For those trying to gauge processing times, checked my status today. Now says I am in the "final processing" stage. Passport due to arrive by January 28 according to site.

I sent our renewals Jan 3 and we got them yesterday.

 

 

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Thanks for the info Tammy531, your signature line lists you as from PA so am I correct that your renewal went through the Philadelphia processing center?

Talex831, did you also send yours to Philadelphia?

I am in CA, so ours went to the Texas processing center. They must be taking a little longer.

My renewal is/was slated to arrive on 1/27 per the government site, it will be interesting to see if it does. I will update when it arrives.

Keep us updated. When did you send your renewal in? DH and I sent ours in right after the first of the year. According to the website we are both "processing" but no dates are given. They cashed our checks, but don't know if that is a good or bad omen! Our cruise is at the end of March so we still have some time.

Thank you. Sorry for the change to your itinerary. I will continue to hope that "no news is good news" for our sailing, although there are a lot of ships scheduled in port that day so we will see what happens.....

Where did you see the removal of Roatan from the itinerary? We are on the March 25-April 1 sailing of the Pearl. I will be very diappointed if we do not call on Roatan!

Loving the review! Hope to do a Baltic cruise one day. I lived in Copenhagen for a semester and really enjoyed your photos. Looking forward to the rest of your review!

Great report! We are on the Pearl in March. How was embarkation? The first reviews reported that it was quite the mess. Hoping they are working the kinks out.

Looking forward to the next installment, Rostand is my favorite port (so far....!). Thanks for the great review.

Following this thread, since we will be visiting for the first time in March with our 15 and 13 yo. My youngest is in his school's jazz band and we are hoping to find a jazz music venue that is family friendly. I have read positive reviews for the Preservation Hall performances so we have that on our list (so far.....!).

We did our excursion to Tulum through the ship because it was such a long day with lots of travel. Loved it! Friends of ours went to Chichen Itza through their cruise 2 weeks before us. Both of our groups had very rough ferry crossings. Multiple staff members whose "job" it was to hand out baggies, paper towels, and sanitizer. After our friends experience we knew to pick seats low and in the middle to minimize movement and to take motion sickness meds before boarding. We were fine, but MANY were not. Very glad we went but probably wouldn't do it again.

If you are a first timer cruiser, or new to "freestyle", you might not know to make your reservation in advance. Some might prefer to "check out" the restaurant before deciding. If reservations had all been taken in advance you wouldn't be able to experience the restaurants and NCL could potentially lose new customers (and their future $). As a planner I like to lock in my reservations, but not everyone does.

We did our family of 4 (15yo son is 6ft :eek:) in an inside to Alaska. Great family memories! I think using zones helps. Everything has an assigned spot, so you can find things. NCL cabins have 4 shelves behind door. We assign one to each person. When we pack at home we put an entire outfit together and then roll it. Socks and small items go on the inside of the roll. (I have also seen where some people use a Ziplock bag for each outfit and keep accessories inside the bag.)We stack the rolls on the shelf. Get up in the morning grab a roll, shower, change, and put dirty clothes in suitcase. We keep an empty suitcase open under the bed and slide it out. Halfway through its full, close it up and rotate another empty suitcase to that corner. Use closet for nicer, hanging clothes (slacks, dresses, etc). There are I think 2 hooks on the wall where we kept our jackets/sweatshirts for quick grab and go. I also kept my "port" bag hanging up. I kept pjs on the small shelf above TV. Hair supplies/makeup/accessories at the desk area. We have a great bathroom bag from LLBean that has pockets for everything, unzip and it has a built in hook to hang up for access. Swimsuits were hung in bathroom in varying stages of drying. I kept all paperwork next to the TV or in the safe with valuables (camera, iPad, etc). Shoes on floor of closet. My boys each brought a backpack of entertainment for the flights (books, handheld games, etc). They used these throughout the cruise, put books away when not in use and packed souvenirs in the bags as they purchased them. These bags were also on floor in the closet. Enjoy you trip!

Thank you all for the info! I appreciate the help wildcatllamas and saint greg. I think we are going to stick with the Hilton Riverside and use our points.....can't beat $0! Looking forward to our first time on NOLA!

We are cruising out of New Orleans on NCL. We depart March 25 and are looking for a hotel for the night of the 24th. I have been trying to find a decent hotel close to port for a reasonable price. I keep getting "sold out for your dates" messages from individual hotel sites. One booking website says New Orleans is 62% booked for my dates. I have tried looking to see if there is a large convention or something that would account for the bump in price and availability. It is after Mardi Gras so I was hoping that I wouldn't have to pay top dollar (it is a weekend night so I do anticipate additional $ for that) I have a reservation ($400 @ Hilton Riverside) but it is more than I want to spend. Was hoping someone local might have some insight as to whether or not there is hope for a drop in price/improved inventory or if I should resign myself and fork over my Hilton Honors points. Thanks in advance for any assistance!

We have been on both the Pearl and the Jade. Our favorite areas on both ships were the Spinnaker lounge and the Great Outdoors. The Dawn looks beautiful after her update, but I would not want to cruise without these areas. In addition to the bowling alley, the Pearl also has a rock wall. We are booked on her again in 2018 out of NOLA. Love the itinerary.