uneamie

1 minute ago, JandC_Cruising said:

No.  The "Free at Sea" is a promotional program attached to your booking.  If you "declined" the beverage package at the time of your booking, you can add it back to your booking up to 48hrs(?) before your departure.  You can call NCL and have them change your Free at Sea selections up to that point.

If you wait past that time, you will have to pay full retail for any drink package you are considering.

 

Thanks....I thought that might be the case. 

We just got an extra $400 on board credit due to NCL bounus promotion. We hae not choosen the Free at Sea beverage package yet so I was wondering if we can still choose it once on board so we can use this onboard credit for the service charges? Has anyone waited till on board to do this? 

6 minutes ago, ggTexasGal said:

Your post is confusing, since a Penthouse Suite would actually start with an "S."

A "BA" is only a balcony room with amenities of other balcony rooms (aside from any status).

Opp!....I originally booked  Balcony BA and got them both confused when I wrote it. We now have a Penthouse suite.  I can't edit it now. Thanks for pointing that out. 

I just had it on the Prima and it as delicious! I always order it at LeBistro. I didn't find the sauce too heavy and I could definately taste the lobster. Yummy! 

On 6/30/2023 at 9:38 AM, JandC_Cruising said:

Excellent point to note.  Definitely consider whether you brother will take advantage of the full value of the meal (App, Salad, entrée, sides, dessert).  Certainly if they are going to, the package is the best deal.  A full dinner at Cagney's, Ocean Blue, & Le Bistro will run $90 to $130 or more, when charged a la carte. 

But a light eater, who doesn't take advantage of all the courses should go a la carte in some of the restaurants.  

Yeah...my brother is 61 and has a hearty appetite so I think we are better off getting him the package. I already purchased it for $119. I'd rather have the option so he can get what he wants. It's not a bad price for 2 specialty dinners. 

Thanks everyone...it's a shame because many people have their young adult children with them in their cabin...it would be nice if they could offer a discounted dining package for 3rd and 4th people. Oh well...I guess we will get him his own. He lives with us...I am his caregiver since he is handicapped. Due to his handicap I would never leave him to go off on his own so he goes with us everywhere. Thanks everyone. I appreciate all your responses. 

We have the free at sea Specialty dinning for the 2 of us but that leaves our my brother who is going to be with us in our cabin. Can I purchase the extra dining package for $69 and give it to him? This way he can go with us and not have to pay ala cart

4 hours ago, salzdt said:

 

 

 

I went to Roll Call and I will look to serif you ere there!

No I am not there....I don't do "Meet and Greets". 

44 minutes ago, Smitheroo said:

I was on the Joy this past February and my experience was somewhat similar to that of the OP.  The only thing I didnt like was that we didnt know we could book entertainment ahead of sailing and when we tried to do so on board, most options were filled. We did get into Footloose but never saw it because mid voyage it was cancelled due to a cast injury. Not seeing all the entertainment was disappointing but didnt make us miserable. There was plenty to do. I think the ship was fairly full yet I never felt crowded. Once or twice they had to redirect the passengers going into the buffet because capacity limit had been reached. I think they directed them to the American Diner where they had a buffet. Didnt effect us because we are up early. The The weather was cool so the pool deck was half empty most of the time, therefore no chair hogs  You had your pick of chairs!  I only saw a few young men doing the water slides anytime I watched.  I wasnt aware of anyone smoking.  Yes, we were delayed getting into our cabins but I didnt really care. My travel partner didnt get his luggage until almost bedtime.   I thought embarkation was bad but disembarkation was a nighmare. I saw people sitting in the atrium while the line snaked back and forth. I'm wonder if they catch the line at the end. I think we were in the arcade for at least a half hour which was annoying. (the music)  Couldnt get into the Manhattan Room for dinner because we didnt want to wait. Most of the time Savor and Taste was only a short wait.  If this is important to you, get there early. The specialty restaurant we choose was La Cucina which was nice.   A friend suggested to my travel partner that he just had to order some special dish (I forget the name), it was outstanding. Well he did and i dont think he cared for it much.  my choice was great. We spent a lot of time in the OL and I'm disappointed that it is rumored they will take away some space for more cabins. Do they really need more cabins?   Yes, the elevators were a source of irritation. No one playing around with them, just a lot of people waiting. Take the stairs if you can!   Between the meals, the drinks package, and all the diversity of the passengers,  I was satisfied.  But I think I will try one of the smaller liners next time.  btw, I did a solo meet and greet on another line back in 2013 and it was poorly attended also.  

We were on the Prima last month and we did the carry your own luggage disembarkation choice and it was a mile long line around a very small area in the Atrium. I don't understand WHY they don't call people down by "decks" instead of everyone ending up there all at the same time. This is not a very smart way to go about it...

3 hours ago, salzdt said:

Thanks for your comment.  Look forward seeing you next June. I have a Red Scooter so you can't miss me.!

LOL....I have a dark red walker but I don't use it much on the ship....only in places where I may have to stand long periods of time or long lines. It is for my back issues. I will be sure to look for ya! 

9 hours ago, salzdt said:

We just signed up for June  - 2 - 7. Never have been on a big ship, but decided to bite the bullet and try the Joy out of NYC.  We sailed on the Dawn out of Boston in 2018, because e it was the smaller ship.  Great Cruise.  Some of your negative comments make think we should change and go out of Boston, as I use a scooter and rely on an elevator to get around not the ship.  We are booked on 12th floor, handicapped. room aft facing balcony..  Maybe there won't be too many kids on the early June cruise.

We have time to think about it.  Thanks for your review.

We are booked for June 2nd as well...hoping the kiddies are still in school at that time. 

Thanks for the nice review....we sail on Joy for the first time next June to Bermuda. We love Bermuda....been there this year on the Prima. Question...you mentioned how crowded the pools are on Joy and said one would be better off getting a Vibe pass. Is there a pool in the Vibe? I didn't think there was a pool. 

15 minutes ago, RoundGuy2771 said:

 

 

No problem. As the only outdoor smoking area, and arguably the fastest bar service on the Joy, I spent my share of time at Spice.  🙃 

 

I agree....although I gave up smoking a long time ago, I don't mind the smell of it. I also like that it's an adult sun deck with a bar and a hot tub. Why pay for the Vibe. LOL

Just now, RoundGuy2771 said:

 

 

They were talking about deck 19. Spice is on deck 17.

 

 

Oh...my mistake! Thanks for the clarification 

5 hours ago, complawyer said:

they are both open to only passengers sailing in a suite. you cannot get  in  even if you wish to pay for the meal.

 

usually breakfast in moderno, and lunch in cagneys. by the way, the menus  for both have not changed in years. if youre booked into a suite, you'll get priority boarding, and be taken directly to cagneys for lunch. i can just sit down and without even looking at the menu,  know what's avaailaable.

All suites except the Joy Penthouse suites......they used to get this perk but they took it away along with other perks.  And never lowered the cost of the cabin

It is suspected that the "dry dock" for Joy in Jan/Feb is going to take some of the observation lounge away....not sure what is going in it's place but some say more cabins. This was mentioned by someone who spoke to a few officers. It's not written in stone but it's out there so I am mentioning it again. Believe it or not! 

On 6/23/2023 at 5:50 PM, vacation44 said:

The Vibe is on both the port side and starboard side on the Joy.

Absolutely agree with these two points!

They mentioned the upper sundeck which I am guessing is "Spice" with a hot tub, lounges and a bar...... not the Vibe which is a pay to enter location. 

I am not familier with that cabin....were you in the  Haven? You mentioned you paid 16K for your cruise so that could only be in the Haven. 

3 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

yeah, that's a nice special.  It's for Cruise Next only though.  Not cruise first.  I point that out only because this thread is about cruise first, and I didn't want anyone to think it applied.

Oh I'm sorry....I actually do not know the difference. I thought they were both the same. I will have to look that one up. Thank you for pointing this out. 

We just used 3 of our Cruise Next certificates for our booked cruise for June 2 2024 on the Joy. It's a special they are running now that allows you to use 3 instead of 2.  We bought these on our last cruise a month ago on the Prima. You can buy them onboard on any cruise. We bought 4 for $1000 and $500 free which we used for our onboard final bill. It was awesome. We plan on doing this again. 

1 hour ago, KDebreuil said:

On the Breakaway in late March this year, the Latitudes cocktail party had no sale pitch.  It was held in the Manhattan room, and they had the band playing.  In-between a couple songs they introduced all the officers, and thanked the guests, and then the band went back to playing. 

 

I haven't seen a lot of consistency, even when sailing on the same ship they have been different.

Your lucky....we didn't have any music. Maybe we got there too late...hmm! 

Well the  one we went to on the Prima last month was "nothing special". It was in the observation lounge and believe me it is far from a "cocktail party". It is simply meeting the caption and his crew, have a few drinks and some cheese and crackers. If you have the beverage package then it's even less of a big deal. However, we did enjoy relaxing by the windows and having a glass of cheap champagne. 

2 hours ago, vadersprincess12 said:

Carohs ~ We dropped our bags with the porter; we only had two carry-on bags so carrying them with us was not the issue.  Keycards were given to us at check-in at the terminal so we had them already but when we are told that the staterooms are not ready and they don't want us going there before our deck is called, we pay attention to that.  We don't feel that we are entitled to go against their guidelines.

 

Chilling on the sundeck would be an option if there had been a place to sit and chill, so there's that.

 

Land hotels do have later check-in times, but because the cruise lines do staggered check-in for 5,000 passengers and have to start around 11:00 that leaves a lot of idle time when there is no seating available and no real activities going on.

Please do not tell me there is 5000 passengers on the Joy. We booked her for next June 2 to Bermuda. I can't handle that many people. Yike! 

On 6/17/2023 at 10:58 AM, BermudaBound2014 said:

To ad to the above post, NCL is reacting to extreme debt. I suspect these are cost cutting measures and I would expect more cost cutting measures in the future. Not just NCL, but all mainstream lines. 

I agree....but one would think if they are reacting to debt then why are they constantly building NEW ships? 

Sounds too unpredictable to me....especially the weather and high seas at that time of year. Cruises have been canceled without a lot of notice at times....so there's that. Maybe have yourself a back up plan B.