love4god

We are through security and waiting to board the Joy in 2 hours. Once we are on the ship we are going to book our specialty restaurants. We already have Elements booked. Anything else we should be sure to book or check on once we board?

Do you do the shuttle through the cruiseline or a private company?

We're taking the Brightline back up to FLL when we get back. A short trip but should be fun.

Also, it's been several years since I've cruised. Is there breakfast before getting off the ship? Or do I need to plan for something to eat after we're off?

Did you arrange it ahead of time or just jump on a shuttle at the airport?

We have a cruise from Miami on Norwegian Joy. We are flying out of Fort Lauderdale later in the day, around 4pm. Our plan is to take the Brightline up to the FLL area for our flight. I am trying to book but I'm not sure what time I should book it for. I have plenty of time so there is no rush to get off of the ship and I would rather relax and make our way off slowly and miss a bulk of the crowd if possible and then grab our stuff and go. How long does it generally take to get off the ship when you disembark if you're not in a hurry? The schedule says Arrive 7am in Miami.

My wife and I are driving down to Miami w/ a one way rental that we have to drop off on Saturday morning. I was thinking of just taking an Uber, or maybe a shuttle back to our hotel and uber from there. Is there a better option to get from the Miami airport to the Cruise Terminal if I'm not flying in but dropping off my car?

My wife and I are leaving Saturday on the Joy. We have just the basic FAS w/ the beverage package. When you accept that you prepay your beverage package tips. Does that money go to the bartenders who are serving you? Do you still get a slip to sign when you order drinks and do people tip in addition to that? Or, do you just scan your card and go on your way. Not looking to start another tipping thread of people arguing about it, but I'm just curious how it works. Second question is about snorkeling. If heading out out on our own, like at West Bay in Honduras, what do you do w/ your stuff when you're snorkeling? I'm thinking we'll have shoes, wallets, phones, etc.. I can't imagine just leaving that stuff up on the beach. I was thinking of maybe getting a wet bag/backpack to keep everything in while snorkeling. It could keep my from diving when snorkeling but my wife basically stays at the top, if she tethers it, I guess it wouldn't be much trouble. And we could switch back and forth. Anyone have any experience with that? Maybe something like this? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YT12WDT/?tag=outsidview-20&th=1

I don't know about that specific everglades excursion but I know we did an airboat ride/alligator tour with the kids years ago in the everglades and they LOVED it. Very fast, very exciting ride.

I'll be on the same ship the next week, I'll wave as we pass each other getting off and on. If you can, please post pics of the dailies. I'll be following. Have a great Cruise!

Going on my first NCL cruise in about 2 weeks, have the unlimited that came with the cruise (not the upgrade). Part of that cost was paying for the gratuities. When you get a drink onboard do you just scan your card or sign a slip. Does the tip go to those bartenders? Do people still tip the bartenders or is the gratuities you paid what is expected of you when you get that package?

Any chance you took some pictures of the Dailies you could post? We're on the same cruise in a couple of weeks. Hope you're having a great cruise!

Were you able to book elements? I checked in then went to book elements and it said "not available to book". I supposed in the time it took to check in the pre-cruise slots may have gotten filled? But I was checking by maybe 12:20-12:25. Weird.

I already booked two of my 3 specialty meals. Just hoping to get that last Ocean Blue resv on embarkation day. I'll just need to try to book elements tonight after check in. Thanks!

How does the NCL check-in work? Saturday is 21 days out form my cruise on the Joy and I want to try to get an early embarkation slot if I can. Also, anything else I need to make sure I do early or when I get on the ship? I know if I want to get dining/show booked I'll need to do it right away when I get on, or do it on the app if I can connect while waiting. Also, I read there is a limited number of tickets on the Harvest Caye/Belize shuttle if I want to go to Placencia and I should get that right away. Anything else I'm missing that I should look for to reserve or get ready for when they become available? Thanks.

It looks like West Bay Beach is where you can walk to the end of the beach near the rocks and walk out and snorkel the reef or, lots of guides will offer to take you out from there in a boat. Then there are other West End Tours where they will take you out by boat I think. Then when reading the other tours that pick you up I see the Blue Channel, shark/ray alley, turtle crossing, and then the drift snorkel tours. Finally there is Half Moon Bay, which is the one place I think I went to years ago, off Half Moon hResort, where you walk down into a nice area with a shallow, beautiful reef near a boating channel. Basically my question is where all these tours are taking you. Do the boats at West Bay take you somewhere you can't get to yourself if you just snorkel from the beach? If you are on a 3-stop tour one company says the spots are 5 minutes apart) are you hitting the same spots as the drift tour, but you're just hopping to them instead of drifting to them? If not, are there generally 3 spots they go to each day different form that tour (assuming weather is good)? We have some other excursions booked this cruise and this is going to be our main snorkel day. I want to book the best snorkeling possible this day. Beautiful reef, lots of fish, maybe some rays/turtles/sharks. The drift tour sounds fun but will I be missing other spots? I have other more relaxing days on the cruise, this day we want to pack as much snorkeling in as possible. Thanks.

Anyone on the Joy now? How does the observation lounge look? Part of the plan was to build new suites that were going to take up some of that space.

Have you been on the Joy before? Been to the observation lounge? I think that was a lot of people's big concern with the dry dock renovations, hoping the space wasn't too gobbled up by the new suites. On another note... It's interesting to me how little people know about network access control and security. If you are connecting to the internet through a company of any size just assume that they have complete control and visibility of everything that you are doing through that connection. This is not paranoia or conspiracy, it's the reality of business today. Anyone in the industry knows the control that any company is REQUIRED to have if they're going to do business with other corporations. There is a litany of certifications and compliance SOPs that have to be kept in order if you want to remain in business. Part of this certification process is control and accountability for everything that occurs on your network. The network controls we have at work are exhaustive. An admin can see every address, every download, every email, every click that is made and touches our network. Now there is also accountability within the department, everything that an admin looks at is also tracked. So if someone is just snooping around for no good reason there will be consequences. But if the company needs to know what you were doing just assume it's like someone were sitting in a chair looking over your shoulder the entire time you were on their network. This includes controlling your level access, bandwidth, and every other aspect of that connection. Just an FYI.

Just curious, I wonder how much food changes from ship to ship on the same cruise line. I'm sure they're all being supplied the same bulk ingredients at the same quality level across the line. However, does one ship have a better executive chef or staff than the others? Or, is it like a chain restaurant where so much is mass/factory kitchen produced and delivered that it's basically the same.

This looks like the place, I think this is it. Thanks! We loved the snorkeling here. I didn't make it to West Bay so I don't know how it compares, I just know there were only a handful of people there and West Bay supposedly was mobbed that day (from reports of people at our dinner table that night). Are the snorkel trips out to the blue channel significantly better for snorkeling than from the shore? Or should we stick to just walking in and snorkeling?

Now that footloose is gone and Elements seems to be the main show, what do they do the other nights? I saw someone mention the Beatles cover laying 2 of the nights (the same show, or different sets?) and someone else mentioned a magician? I wish I knew the entertainment schedule ahead of time because some dinner reservations can be made now but I'm not sure what nights we want to eat late and catch a show and what nights we don't care so much about time.

My wife, kids, and I were on a cruise that stopped in Roatan about 6 or 7 years ago. We hired a private car for the day and went zip lining, saw the monkeys, etc.. Then after that, I said please take us to West Bay so we can snorkel. The driver said "it's really crowded there, I know a place just as good without many people". It was amazing. I don't have the email anymore with his contact info to hire him again, don't remember his name, and can't seem to find this place. Maybe someone can recognize it. We pulled into a dirt parking lot near the forest. We walked a short trail through the woods past an outdoor shower with a couple red doors. And then we came out to a small clearing to the ocean with stairs leading down into the water. As soon as you walk down the stairs and start snorkeling you are over reef. It was pretty shallow where it started and got deeper for about maybe 40-60 yards before a deep drop off.. We were in some kind of inlet or bay because it seems like just past the reef, where the water got deep, there was a bit of boat traffic going in and out through that channel. So, does anyone recognize this place? Where we were? Thanks.

My wife and I are on the Joy/Western Carrib in March. We want to do a Discovery Scuba excursion on one of our stops. I think we may do it in Costa Maya because we want to do amazing race in Cozumel and snorkeling in both Roatan and Belize. We LOVE snorkeling but never tried scuba before. The excursion says that it's a quick shuttle from the port to the place that has the Discover Scuba excursion. The ship arrives at 8am. There are multiple booking times. Do you think if we get in at 8am that we could make a 9:30am excursion? Or do you think we should do the 11:30am? Anyone done one of these courses? My wife loves snorkeling but is very afraid of the water sometimes. The first 10 minutes of snorkeling is tough but once she settles down it's her favorite thing in the world. So we're not sure if we can handle scuba or not. This seems like a good way to try it out without investing too much time or money, to see if she can do it.

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Great! I was wondering if you got the more expensive drinks at discount. I think we're fine right where we're at.