johnrich

12 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

What day of the week? Weekends maybe (LAX). Weekdays, wouldn't try LAX.

It’s on a Sunday. 

What is the earliest you would book a flight home? We would rather fly out of Long Beach but the flights are quite a bit more. Out of LAX we could get an 11:30am flight. Just wondering if that would be doable. TIA. 

3 hours ago, boltnut55 said:

 

Thank you for sharing.  I mean we can get our own cookies and fruit, but it's still a nice touch.  Oh calling someone to get all the reservations would help.  Last time I spent a lot of time online clicking for show and restaurant reservations.

 

I forgot to ask... did you get any free room service delivery?  Someone (maybe on a different post) mentioned getting 2 free room service delivery.  Thanks again.

We got cookies twice during the week. We got free breakfast room service (full meals as opposed to the continental) but had to pay if we wanted lunch or dinner. 

25 minutes ago, boltnut55 said:

John:  Were you on the Joy?  I'm hoping this will still happen even though we don't have a butler.
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We booked the SP category this afternoon for a September Canada/NE cruise.  The butler is not included in the Joy, although I think we are paying the same gratuities (or maybe the butler doesn't get a cut of that).  I used the chat function w/NCL afterwards to find out exactly what came w/it, and this is what she said:  concierge services, priority access on and off the ship, room service, over size bath towels, plush bath robes; concierge  services will include priority services on and off ship, beauty salon appointments, cocktail appointments, restaurant reservations on board, and private art showings and shore excursions booking.

 

She clarified that there is still a charge for room service, so I don't know what she was referring to as all rooms have room service.  If someone can confirm or deny, that'd be great as I had to correct her on some of the other info she provided, mostly about what my butler could do for us, then to find out no butler.

 

I would book it more for the size of the room and what's in the room rather than "services." I'm looking forward to not having one of us stand aside while the other one walks by. 

 

Yes, we were on the Joy. We did have access to the concierge before the cruise as well as during the cruise. We used the pre-cruise concierge number to make all our dinner and show reservations. There was a letter in our stateroom when we arrived from the onboard concierge that if we needed anything to let him know but since we already made our reservations beforehand we never even saw or even called the onboard concierge.

When we were at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, they did have a priority line for us to be in, however there was no one manning any of the check-in stations near our line so check-in really wasn’t priority. 
 

We did NOT have bathrobes in our rooms but did have the upgraded toiletries in the bathrooms. 

We stayed in a family suite. We got fruit one night and cookies two times. The priority embarkation and disembarkation wasn’t a big deal. We just really loved the two bedrooms, two bathrooms and big living room. The virtual balcony was nice especially since it was on the cold side several days at sea. But we really missed the fresh air of our regular balcony. 

On the Norwegian Breakaway this June. Scheduled for Puerto Plata on the 11th. The NCL website says NCL ships dock at Amber Cove but it seems that many people on other NCL ships are saying they went to Taino Bay. Does anyone know how to find out which port exactly we will dock at?

On 11/19/2023 at 11:17 PM, Mhodge42 said:

Did you get priority boarding with it like other suites?

We did not get to wait in the Suite lounge at the port, but we did have priority boarding. 

Does anyone have experience at PortMiami? Both my wife and mother have trouble walking long distances or up inclines. Once onboard they are usually fine as we can stop whenever they need to.   We are cruising on NCL. Our last couple cruises have been ok but weren’t out of Miami. In fact we haven’t cruised from Miami since the new terminal opened. Is it difficult to get a wheelchair when the bus drops you off? Is it far to get to checkin? Any advice would be appreciated. Tia 

23 hours ago, wsurrette2424 said:

Hey All..

 

Thank you so much for all the great replies.... clears things up nicely!

We're really looking forward to our first NCL cruise.  Having done bit more research... looks like the free dining choices will suit us quite nicely.  I'm assuming the nightly MDR menus change nightly?  Seems the MDR breakfast and lunch menus are fixed.

 

Still trying to decide our two specialty restos...

 

 

 

 

Gus, we were just on the Joy in May and will be on her again over Thanksgiving. I may be wrong but I thought some of the lunch items changed in the MDRs. I know the breakfast items did. Not a lot of change, but some. 
 

We always do Cagney’s for one specialty and are probably going to do Teppanyaki for the other. I want to try Ocean Blue but my wife hates most seafood. 
 

You will have a great time on the Joy. There is always something to do. Just make sure you spend some time in the Observation Lounge. It’s a great place to relax and read a book, have a drink and eat a few snacks on your day at sea. 

Maybe I missed a post, but from what I read they are only adding 24 balcony cabins. The other cabins they are just reclassifying. I guess I’m confused about all the people complaining about “so many more people” on the ship now. I honestly don’t think that I would notice an extra 48 people (even 96 people if there were 4 in every one of the new cabins which you know isn’t going to happen). Granted I will miss part of the OL but I don’t think I’ll miss it that much. On our cruise in May, we pretty much had free rein of the OL. It was never crowded. Now Alaska will probably be different but there will now be 48 people watching the glaciers from their balconies instead of the OL.
And on another topic, I am so happy that the Joy is getting the thermal suite. 

We are flying into Newark (EWR) and purchased NCL’s transfers to the ship at Manhattan Cruise Terminal. When I just checked my eDocs it has us flying into EWR but they give the directions to find the shuttle for LGA. I’m going to call tomorrow morning but has anyone taken the NCL shuttle from EWR? If so, where do you meet the Cruise representative? It looks like we will be arriving at EWR Terminal C. 

6 hours ago, dbdb said:

Were you able to enter the terminal and board at the Manhattan terminal before your assigned 4pm? We're looking at an evening check-in option which feels like a big waste.

We don’t leave until next Sunday. May 14. 

Our cruise doesn’t depart NYC until 11:00 PM. The earliest check-in time we could choose was 4:00. We have both flights and transfers through NCL. Our flight arrives at 8:45 AM. Will we have to sit around the airport all day for the shuttle buses or how does that work?  NCL customer service has been telling people that checkin will still be at normal times even though it’s a late departure. Well, I just checked in for the cruise and the first pier checkin time is 4:00 so Cust service is wrong (imagine that, lol). We are flying into EWR if that makes a difference. 

1 hour ago, disneylover89 said:

What do you mean by MCT? If you mean time zone (which would be MST) NYC is on ET

MCT stands for Manhattan Cruise Terminal. 

We used NCL air promo and although the inbound flight would be great if we departed at a normal time (4 or 5 PM), our cruise doesn’t leave from NYC (MCT) until 11 PM. We currently have the NCL transfers. If our flight arrives at 8:30 AM will they even have the buses there that early? Customer service is telling people that boarding will begin at noon, however I know several months ago the Bliss had an 11 PM departure from NYC and several days before sailing everyone received emails saying checkin wouldn’t begin until 4:00 PM.  Another factor is that the Prima is also departing from NYC (MCT) but at 4:00 so I think it will be a mad house if they allow us to check-in anytime before around 2:00. 
We also need to find something to do for the day as well as a place to store our luggage. We plan to do a tour of NYC (specifically Ground Zero and Time Square) on disembarkation day since we have an evening flight but not sure about our arrival day. Any advice or tips would be appreciated. TIA. 

We had a suite on POA and we could eat breakfasts and lunch at Cagney’s every day. I think we only ate at the buffet once the entire cruise. We did a couple specialty restaurants but did the main dining room the rest of the time. 
 

As far as amenities, our butler, Spencer, brought us pastries and juice every morning and snacks in the afternoon. 

Thanks for an awesome review! Can’t wait to be on the Joy in 54 days!

It seems that it may vary depending on the port. Our first is Manhattan Cruise Terminal. Later this year will be Port Miami. 

Although we’ve cruised with NCL many times, this is the first time we’ve used their transfers from the airport to the ship. When we give our checked luggage to the “bus porters” at the airport, is that the last we will see our luggage until it is delivered to our stateroom or will we need to collect it from the bus and then give it to the porters at the port? Just want to make sure we have the cruise luggage tags on it when it needs to be. TIA. 

Thank you all for the replies. I really appreciate it. 

I’ve read several posts on CC about lining the paper laundry bag provided by NCL with a canvas bag to make it stronger (and most have said they can therefore fit more laundry in the bag). For those who do this, what size canvas/cloth bag do you use? If you are currently on an NCL ship, do you know the actual size of the laundry bag (although I doubt many cruisers would have a ruler or tape measure on them). Also, if you do use a cloth/canvas bag, do you mark it as a piece of clothing on the laundry sheet/form? Thanks!

Loving your review. Thank you so much. We are on the Joy in May and then again over Thanksgiving so it is great learning some of the ins and outs of the ship. Glad you liked Q. We booked it but we’re worried after reading some other reviews. Now we feel much better that you enjoyed it. 

They will not “assign” you the same table and/or waiter. However there have been times that we have found a waiter that we like and will request that waiter throughout the cruise. If you tell the waiter you will be requesting them, they will tell you their schedule as they don’t all start as soon as the restaurant opens. 

We are sailing the Joy out of NY and although we always book a balcony, we decided to upgrade to a 2 bedroom family suite so my mom could have her own room and bathroom. Although it is an inside room, the one wall is a virtual balcony so you can see everything that is outside as if you were standing on a true balcony. From people I’ve chatted with, they love it. I’m sure we’ll miss the breeze but the room looks very big. Master bedroom with master bath, living room with a small dining table and a second bedroom with a second bath. It wasn’t much more than the balcony so we thought we would try it. Keeping our fingers crossed. This type of room is only on the Joy. 

Like @Crazy planning mom above, we also rented a car (we used Costco Travel) in several of the ports and used the GyPSy app. If you do rent a car, I highly recommend this app. It offers you not only a GPS to take you to a destination but he offers commentary all along the way. It was awesome. We’ve used it several times. 
One of our favorite things (we did it on our own driving but I’m sure you could do an excursion) was visiting Haleakalā. You’re at an elevation of over 10,000 ft above see level and you can look down at the clouds.