debenson0723

There are still no studios or studio lounge on the Joy. I am booked for next week and the only options for one are the solo inside, oceanview and balcony (unless you want to do a regular cabin for a higher price). My solo inside is not in a desireable location but I am not in my cabin much. I prefer the Waterfront or Observation Lounge when onboard.

They typically drop you off in the city center and then pick you up at the same spot throughout the day. I had them in several ports on my Baltic cruise...some free, some a few dollars. Mazatlan is an industrial port also and you get a shuttle that takes you to outside the gates and then you are in town.

If you are asking about the Studio cabins, there are many that are connecting. I sailed once with my adult son and instead of sharing a cabin, we got connecting studios. It worked out great! We could leave the door open if we wanted to have a chat but we each had our own privacy, including two toilets and two showers. Would not hesitate to do this again with a friend. Also, as mentioned above, Prima and Viva do not have connecting studios.

That's cutting it a little close for my comfort but doable. I have been on a few cruises that ended in San Pedro and have not had a smooth experience on any of them. First time, there was fog so we didn't even dock until after 8am and were delayed in getting off. Twice I have waited over 30 minutes for an Uber to arrive, had a couple cancel (got better fares). It really is a crap shoot at that port, but like @hallux I was usually on a larger ship. If it's a weekend your traffic will be better and Long Beach is a tiny airport so check in is easy. Good luck and enjoy your cruise!

If I decide to do a transfer thru NCL, I always book it once on board. I don't want anything messing up my payments prior to the cruise and ending up with an unknown balance due.

You booked a cruise???!! I thought you were done for awhile, LOL. Please share when and where. And OP, the information you received from @cruiseny4life is correct. Try talking to someone at NCL and they will help you get all the credits.

I just love all your photos. Thank you again for sharing with us.

You posted in your Roll Call, which is a good place to look for others to share excursions but you need to check the ports of call forum on this site. Here is the link to both Italy and Spain. Trying to find hotels at the height of tourist season 20 days out is not going to leave you much to deal with. Good luck and enjoy your cruise. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/464-italy-ports/ https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/465-spain-and-portugal-ports/

It looks like you are doing 2 cruises Back 2 Back on the Escape. Barcelona to Venice from June 23rd to July 3rd for the first leg and then July 3rd from Venice back to Barcelona on the 2nd leg. So wifey needs to look for 2 separate Roll Calls with those dates.

Is this in 2024? Are you doing a B2B?

I am in a solo inside on my upcoming Joy cruise and got the full $100. Never gotten anything less when I have paid for a studio up to a Club Balcony (with no solo supplement). While you can't use it for gambling in the casino, I have in the past used it for Bingo (would not pay out of pocket because it is very overpriced for what you win).

Go to your Roll Call on this forum and also the Port of Italy forum. There are possibly people on your ship who are looking to share excursions/cabs or ubers. You can also check tour groups from Rome in Limo and Italy Tours.com who are looking for passengers to round out their tours, on your ship and others in port the same day. Much less expensive than ship excursions and reliable (their reputations depend on getting people back to the port on time). Good luck and enjoy your cruise!

I am so happy that you went here. I was going to suggest it but wasn't sure how much more time you had in Barcelona. It is truly one of the hidden gems and I loved every minute that I was there. You are seriously making me think I need to leave a few days earlier than planned for my Pearl cruise out of Venice and make a stop in Barcelona. Or scrap the Pearl altogether and do the Escape TA. Or maybe just quit my job and do both! Such bad influences on this board.

I hope you are right about this. I personally feel it's a bit early to predict but even if it is somewhere close to this, I will be happy. One of the worst thunderstorms I have ever been in was in Manhattan in June and that's all I can think about, LOL.

Lots of experiences on the Port of Italy board on this forum. I have been looking myself and trying to decide my options but from Venice to Trieste.

Have done it multiple times with no worries. Drug enforcement are looking for the 'big fish' smugglers (or legitimate illegal drugs) not Costco gummies.

I wonder why you get so many emails that I don't...maybe because you are in the Haven? I did my check in at 9pm on Saturday night and my edocs were ready at 11:10 (so about 2 hours later). I never got any emails at all. Or maybe it is something in your NCL settings?? No big deal, just curious. Since the pandemic, I also don't print edocs anymore. Just a screenshot of the bar code is all I have needed to get inside the terminal. You don't need cell service or wi-fi for that so no worries there, and I can't deal with all the paper anymore. Same with hotel reservations, boarding passes, word/excel docs...everything in stored in one Travel folder on my phone/tablet and I can access anywhere. I know that's not for everyone but works for me.

If you do a search under BOGO, NCL air, etc you will find many, many threads on this topic; for, against and in between. Since the cruise isn't for quite a few months, there is no way to really guess how much it would be but $2800 is extremely high. I am guessing you are looking at Miami to Los Angeles...you could book two people yourself on Delta or Southwest for much less than that. I am looking at a cruise in November and airfare for me (solo traveler) is less than $800 round trip, flying to Venice and home from Rome. Also be aware that you do not get to pick your airline or flight times and you might not get something that is advantageous to your schedule. But you can add a deviation of 2 days on either end of the cruise (or both). So I would try again on the website or give a call on Tuesday

Oh I plan to keep trying up until the last possible minute. I will buy you a drink (as long as it's not over $15) and ice cream at Bailey's in Bermuda (not gelato but the best I can do). Or you could just @schmoopie17 us and show up at the Cavern Club bar on the Waterfront at 5:30. I promise I won't be mad for being surprised.

Wonderful review...thanks so much for posting it. My first solo cruise was also on the Getaway, back when she was brand new. I was nervous too but now prefer to sail solo, most of the time. I met a couple of other solos on that cruise that I am still friends with to this day and see once or twice a year. So glad you had a great time and are back home safely.

I have had this type of cabin twice and I love them. One was a Mexican Riviera cruise and there was almost no movement or waves crashing against the bow. But on my eastern caribbean cruise, it was another story. It was only the first night and half of the 2nd night, but the waves crashing was very loud. I think it bothered me most because I didn't know what it was the first night. I saw the Captain the 2nd day and asked him about it and that's when he told me it was the waves. He also assured me that once we got to our first port, it would not happen again, and it didn't, not even on the way back to Miami. Be aware that you have to keep your curtains closed at night if you have the lights on, But you can't see anything out there in the dark anyway so that was not an issue. I would for sure take this cabin over an inside (and maybe even a balcony) if given the opportunity.

I am sorry you had this experience. This hasn't happened to me at all when checking in. Since I have a 3 hour time difference from Miami, I was able to check in at 9pm last night. It took me 7 minutes, start to finish and I had my edocs at 11pm. I typed everything in and uploaded a photo saved to my desktop (same one I always use and sometimes they retake my photo and sometimes they don't). I think that maybe some issues have to do with the browser people are using. I use google chrome and have very few problems. I also clear my cache quite often (sometimes daily depending on what I am doing). The good news is, in 3 weeks at just about this time, we should be on board, having that first cocktail! I have a general idea of what I want to do each day in Bermuda (never been there), an idea of how much money I am going to take so now I just need to figure out what to pack. I know from your past 'lives' that you are a minimalist when it comes to packing but unfortunately, I am not. I am getting better but still have the 'but what if I need this' mentality, LOL. I am going to start my list today and see where it takes me....wish me luck!

I checked in this morning for my upcoming cruise. Took me all of 7 minutes, photo (that I have used prior and is saved to my laptop) uploaded on first try and I had my edocs within 2 hours. Couldn't be easier or maybe I am just lucky (and really excited to be boarding in 3 weeks!).

Don't be sad...tomorrow is check in day for the Bermuda 6/16 cruise that will include myself and @graphicguy (aka The Fall Guy). And you don't need a passport for it! Loved this review so much and can't wait to see your adventures in Barcelona.

I agree with this completely. Haven't seen her in quite a while but she is a favorite...always so gracious and kind.