lx200gps

Princess do make it tough to dig up the ship phone numbers, but here's the US Princess page with the numbers. Note that you will be charged for the call https://www.princess.com/learn/faq/onboard/keeping-in-touch/

Thanks, this has been clarified on a few other threads as well.

We've used this TA for a few years, since well before COVID. In the past their 3 Day Sale was actually very good, with slightly lower pricing and some very decent perqs. In the last few years, they have slipped somewhat, reflecting exactly the Princess pricing and scaling back their perqs. In general, maybe $200 per balcony cabin OBC, the coupon book which is now pretty much useless as it lost the free dinner, and reduced deposits. Doubt it will be different this year. Also surprised to hear it will be from June 9-14 as their newspaper ads here clearly state June 9-11

As you say, they will certainly know where we are staying, as the ship details are all over the application, so I don't mind using the cell #. We shouldn't have any problems with the test, we can get one near here on the 10th, submit it to Bermuda immediately, and board the Joy on the 12th. AFAIK, they are now letting folks board in Manhattan even if they haven't yet received the final Bermuda approval, but I expect no problems having our final approval in hand at the time of boarding. Getting worried about the seeming explosion of COVID cases on these ships, but at least were driving down and don't have to worry about flying.

Perfect, thanks very much. No wonder I missed it, they sure do have it well and truly buried ;o)

Do NCL, like Princess, publish a list of the individual ship's phone numbers, for family contact purposes? Thx

Technically, the two best options in answering "Contact number while in Bermuda" will be the ship's phone number or my cell #, even if our cell phones will be locked in the safe for the duration of the trip. I guess I'll try to dig up the Joy's phone details.

I'm in the process of filling in the Bermuda form for our June 12 trip. What are folks using when answering "Contact number while in Bermuda"? It's a mandatory data field and seems to require a phone number rather than just saying "Norwegian Joy". Thx...

Actually, Port Everglades used to have a dedicated Global Entry line for those who have the card. We breezed through the line many times flashing our NEXUS cards. Don't know if it still exists now "post"-COVID. And the last time we flew home, last November, the NEXUS lines here at YUL were absolutely massive, while the plebeian non-NEXUS lines were deserted. Given the hell of airport arrivals and departures we're seeing on the news currently, I doubt NEXUS would be of much value right now, other than to maybe help get you through to the "shorter" security line reserved for NEXUS holders and priority credit card holders. Don't even know if that applies anymore either.

Not only haven't they been made, they almost certainly WON'T be made either. I'm relying on the belief that NCL, like our usual Princess, always keep many if not most restaurant slots available for post-embarkation booking and only have a limited number open for online booking. We will be heading for the restaurant booking location as soon as we board and since we will be looking to book the very first time, usually 5:30, I don't think we'll have a problem

That's pretty much my understanding as well. We really only booked this somewhat more expensive cabin due solely to the extra floorspace and better bathroom we perceive from the photos of our SC cabin type. It does appear that we will have MUCH more space than a regular cabin and that's important for us. We're not going to worry about these deleted amenities as NCL comped us each $200 OBC and most of the amenities were worthless to us anyway. Priority boarding would have been nice, but we'll just go with the flow and put up with the hell of embarkation at the MCT; we'll try to get to the port early and try to be near the head of the line. The dedicated breakfast at La Cucina is the only real perq we would have enjoyed.

Thanks, yes, I'm checking daily now but nothing remotely useful has shown up for weeks. I have to draw the line at only looking for US location within a reasonable drive, (upstate New York or Vermont) and they show no availability at all. I can actually get an interview literally tomorrow if I want to drive to eastern Maine (8 hours one way) or North Dakota but I'm reluctant to even consider driving to Niagara Falls which would be a 6 hour one-way trip. I'll just have to wait it out and keep checking daily.

Thanks, yes, I'm under no illusion whatsoever that we actually do have these reservations ;o). Even their poor wording leaves me in doubt that anything will have been booked (stating "Your reservations has been updated with your additional dining" then stating in the next sentence "The requests have been sent directly to the ship to be booked with your onboard concierge") We always eat as early as possible anyway, preferably when the restaurant first opens, as it's the quietest time. We'll still be heading for the restaurant booking location, wherever that is, as soon as we board, to correct and finalize our bookings for the week. Thanks again for all the excellent info.

Update to this... We only received the letter and the stick-on luggage tags for our SC category suite a few days ago. In the letter, it gave the Email address of the onboard Concierge, and clearly offered to make restaurant reservations for us ahead of time. We wrote a long Email to them, over this past weekend, with a long list of reservations and times we wanted, and they responded by the end of the first working day (i.e. today) saying : Thank you for your email. We will be more than happy to assist you. Your reservations has been updated with your additional dining, you will not see the dining reservation on your side. The requests have been sent directly to the ship to be booked with your onboard concierge" Fingers crossed it actually happens, we'll know when we board in a few weeks.

No worries, we're in an SC in a month and I've been following your thread closely. As far as I can tell, the only benefit to these rooms now is the significantly larger floor area, as pretty much all the useful perqs are gone, albeit replaced by our unexpected $200/pp OBC. The only other perq we'll be trying is the Concierge "service" for making restaurant bookings. Pre-boarding, I've only been able to book 4 specialty restaurant meals, only one per restaurant and we need three more, including Ocean Blue which I couldn't do on-line. I wrote the Concierge an Email this weekend, receiving an automated reply that they'll get back to us during working hours. Let's see if they can actually make these reservations.

Would anyone have any info on when/whether the NEXUS interviews will start up here in Canada? I assume it's just "wait and see". My latest NEXUS card expired in August 2020, I wasn't lucky enough to get an automatic 5 year renewal as some others have, and I'm nearing the end of the 24 month grace period. I didn't bother scheduling my interview on the US side to avoid the cross-border issues, as I naively assumed that the Canadian interviews would open up soon, and we're a few miles form the big center at Montreal airport, where I've been interviewed before. As at today, there are no interviews available anywhere within driving distance of here on either side of the border, so I was wondering if anyone had read of possible interview restarts here in the Great White North..

I'm confused? According to the NCL Deck Plan for the Joy, the SC category Suites are the "Penthouse Suite with Balcony" and the SP Category are the inside "Family Suites"

Which cruise line are you sailing with, and do they have their own flight booking system? We usually sail Princess, and their EZ-Air system is sometimes fantastic. They offer multiple flight options from different airlines including AC and Air Transat at decent, sometimes excellent pricing, but also offer many very useful perqs as well. Things like free change and cancellation, no booking fees (Pay only at time of cruise final payment), late arrival protection etc. If you book with them, you can watch the pricing and change your flights as many times as you want to take advantage of price drops. Worth looking into if you haven't already done so.

To clarify, I believe the testing requirement only applies to flying into the US? AFAIK if someone is driving down there is no need for a test, only proof of vaccination?

Second that. We use the big cruise-specific travel agency, and they just announced their Princess 3 Day Sale is June 9-11, so I would expect more cruises for 2023 into 2024 to open up before then.

Absolutely agree. The cabins do appear to be pretty much the same, and we won't use most of the Haven perqs except probably for breakfast in the dedicated dining room. Certainly not worth the huge added cost. And prices for the upgrade are exactly the same as they were weeks ago, so we're going to keep the SC cabin. I check the trip price regularly, and although our category is now sold out for our sailing, the price for the lowest Haven suite (the same size cabin) has skyrocketed.

Any chance your Chromebook fits in the room safe? My MS Surface measures 11.5" x 8" and I sure hope I can cram it in. I know it fits in safes on Princess ships, but I have yet to sail with it on NCL. Thx

I suspect that the mysterious $200/pp OBC we received for this cabin is probably in response to the cancellation of many of these perqs specific to the Joy, such as the lost breakfast and lunch in specialty dining, free room service, etc. It all works out in the end.

Definitely something strange going on. There was a thread a month ago on here titled "Best Suite Class Perks" and on post #19 some one posted an NCL document they had received by Email from the Concierge just a few weeks previously, outlining all perqs for all staterooms on the Joy. It clearly states, for SP and SC categories "F&B Amenity (2X a week, provided by Room Service". Seems pretty clear. It's probable that all Room Service orders are automatically charged by the "system" and a follow-up with Guest Services or the Concierge is needed to get them credited back?

AFAIK, from reading previous threads, the SC and SP category Concierge Suites on the Joy have 2 of the $10 Room Service charges waived. I guess you're saying that's incorrect information?