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We were on Deck 12 just a few cabins from aft/stern. It was a guaranteed balcony, so we didn’t get to choose the actual cabin. We felt the vibrations from the engine. My head felt like it was bouncing up and down at night. The faster the ship went, the worse the vibrations got. Seems like the ship went faster at night.

We were on the same ship. It was our first cruise, so the things that bothered you with embarkation and disembarkation didn’t phase us since we didn’t have anything to compare it to. We were on the ship by 12:15 enjoying a nice lunch at Taste which was not crowded at all even though we heard the buffet was a madhouse. We enjoyed all of the Christmas decorations and walking around in our Christmas PJ’s on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. It was fun seeing a large family open their gifts that they had placed under a Christmas tree in the observation lounge. We had Christmas Eve dinner at Teppanyaki and a lovely Christmas dinner in the Manhattan Room. We only ate at the buffet for breakfast a few times and had a couple of salads for lunch. We bought the WiFi upgrade which was well worth it, although the internet was sketchy at times. Not as bad as I was expecting though considering the ship was very full. We never heard a peep from the cabins next to us. The floor shook quite a bit though. It was like driving on a rumble strip which made it more difficult to sleep. Next time we’ll pick our own cabin location so that we are in the middle of the ship and not so close to the back where the engine is located. We were on a private whale watching tour in Cabo on Christmas Day and were treated with seeing 15 whales and 10 bottle-nosed dolphins. It was spectacular and the highlight of our trip! The weather was sunny and warm in Cabo! On our last morning (12/30), our color to disembark was called rather early, but we ignored it and went to the buffet to have breakfast instead. By the time we disembarked, the line was not terrible at all and we didn’t get rained on. Traveling home was a a different story though as our flight was delayed, and then we were put on a different flight because we’d have missed our connection. This made our day very long. It took 10 hours to get home instead of 4. Our travel companions had a direct flight and were home while we sat in airports all day and night. Our checked luggage didn’t make it home, but we retrieved it from the airport the following day. Other than the long day getting home, we had a great time and enjoyed our cruise on the beautiful Norwegian Joy.

We’re already being charged a few hundred dollars in gratuity for the alcohol. I thought this meant gratuities are covered. If the waitstaff isn’t getting that money, then why are we prepaying it? I’m new to cruising, so please enlighten me.

The new Keurig pokes 4 holes, makes 4 cup sizes, has a temperature button for hotter coffee, and a strength button for stronger coffee. It also has a feature for iced coffee. Our older Keurig died after 11 years of daily multiple uses. We were pleasantly surprised with our new Keurig and how much better our coffee now tastes.

What kind of coffee makers are provided (drip or Keurig-type) and do we have to bring our own coffee? We sail on our first cruise on the Joy in 4 days.

The DoubleTree at the San Pedro port has a free shuttle to the cruise ship port. That amenity is not listed on the hotel website, but reviews that I read mentioned it. I called the hotel and asked if they had a free shuttle to the cruise ship port and was told yes. You would have to take an Uber from the airport to the hotel though. We will be staying there for our upcoming cruise.

Do you know what the asterisks mean for two of the dinner choices?