Captain-John

Thank you Ken, I'm very interested to read about your experience on Diamond and will pick up on your thread. I of course seen Diamond come up in searches when I was considering this itinerary but dismissed her (perhaps prematurely!) as I do like a more modern/refurbished ship which with Millenium's "back to the studs" refurb ticked that box.. I shall reconsider more carefully. Thank again.

Yes I looked back and we have commented on the same thread on the MSC boards r.e the release of their Japan itineraries, although I would not originate in China as seems to be the schedule so far. I have a refundable deposit with X, a BA Reward Flight booking which I can also cancel or transfer and a free cancellation on our Tokyo hotel so have some degree of flex, should a suitable alternative present, but it feels late in the day for this to be a realistic probability. Glad you had a good time on Millenium previously. The pricing for Retreat is more than I'm prepared to pay I'm afraid as I could do 3x YC cruises at least instead. We are in a V2 for this one. If MSC were originating out of Yokohoma I would consider YC at a premium. I don't have any X status which is also different - I haven't purchased a dining package in around a decade as an example, as I am accustomed to the NCL inclusions etc. Best wishes whatever you decide.

For our first Celebrity cruise, we are booked on Millenium around Japan on 27/05/24. I have booked a dining package at not inconsiderable expense (probably would have done anyway, just for variety, as you say limited options on Millenium). Quite concerned about the apparent direction of the line in terms of food quality. Being a predominately NCL and MSC cruiser (Haven and Yacht Club sometimes), I had always considered X a 'cut above' and had hitherto been really excited to try a sailing with them. When the refurbished Millenium came up for Japan we couldn't wait to book. We were previously booked on Reflection for a Southern Caribbean itinerary back in April 2020 (which obviously didn't go ahead). We are locked in at a fair price but the price has only climbed, dramatically, since we booked and by all accounts the onboard experience is being diminished so I would not be happy to pay 'today's' rates. I have booked airfare and hotel and there is no ready alternative to switch to on the same dates, so can only cross my fingers things improve again by next May. I will be watching early reviews of the 2024 Japan season closely when it kicks off. I could cancel hotel and airfare for a small penalty but really don't want to...

Capacity in the market has surely increased though, there were not too many mega-ships in 2003. New ships are coming online all the time and orders for more that were placed pre-Covid will be delivered. Manufacture was delayed but will start to work through over the next few years. Combined with raising interest rates and wider concerns in many economies, I am not convinced the high pricing and reduced offering can be sustained. Covid saving reserves are being burned through, certainly in the UK fixed rates mortgages will be coming up for review and many are facing a cliff-edge when repayments go up etc. etc. Even if people can afford it, if the value proposition isn't there they will choose to do something else. I certainly will.

It's odd that there is such a hole in the schedule after March 2024 and even if they published now, it's a bit late to organise flights and hotels for my liking. Good luck!

I ended up booking Celebrity for May 2024. Had been hoping MSC would have a ship there at the time but the schedule wasn't published, and Celebrity's was so I had to book. A shame for MSC really as I would have happily went in YC round Japan with them.

We may have been unlucky, but the Joy Haven sundeck was closed on at least 2x occasions due to 'adverse weather' - yet Vibe was still open on the same days. Obviously the position right at the front of the ship for the Haven sundeck doesn't help with the wind etc. - but they were very, very slow to reopen when conditions calmed down. So in one regard, you are paying a lot of money for Haven so I wouldn't spend any more on Vibe. Although, the Vibe users got to use the sundeck more than we did in Haven, on our particular sailing, so make of that what you will!

I personally found the observation lounge to be too large and under-utlised, so I don't mind. Likewise with the Haven library. Disappointing no pool in the new thermal area however.

Spotted this on Facebook but can't find any mention on these boards or online so thought I would flag. The comments seem to indicate a 'family style' form of dining. I think the menu looks great! It's not entirely clear to me where this is located, the post says 'extension of the YC restaurant' but the comments make reference to it being on Deck 19 so presumably a section of the existing La Brasserie buffet?

Can someone explain in plain English why my post was removed?

It should have been replaced straight away and without question on your first contact with Guest Services. I'd expect that at a low end hotel never mind a premium cruise line. Tried to clean it?! I've never heard the like of it.

Is it purely a 'headline price' deception, or are there also tax benefits (as has long been rumoured) to doing the split the way they do? @JamieLogical - I take your point - but if it truly is the same amount of money, why do the cruise lines split it out instead of rolling it into the headline price? Cultural norms given most cruisers are American? The ability to advertise a lower headline price? Tax advantages by topping up crew salaries from a 'tip' pool rather than from another source? I'm genuinely curious and if cruise lines were more transparent about this, there might be less suspicion about the collection of a DSC, and where it goes.

Yes that's my point. It may, or may not be the start of one. We shouldn't drown it out.... It should be noted, for reference, if needed. It might never be needed. It might be isolated. But there's nothing wrong with the OP flagging it. It's an accurate reflection of their experience.

What an absolute clown. It maybe says more about me and my temperament, but Mr and Mrs Hog's initial yelling and reaction to move to the other beds would bring about quite the reaction from myself. Not enough to get cuffed and thrown in the brig, but I would need a lot of strong spirits to calm down afterwards let's put it that way. Unbelievable.

Your observation “the cruise line is forced to make up” is interesting Isn't that a good reason to remove it? Staff still get paid, guest isn't subsidising the cruise line's balance sheet even more than the fare they have paid.... The current system is a madness.

I think it's important that cruisers share their experience, good or bad. It makes it easy to spot a trend but it's only with retrospect a trend can be identified. I don't think anyone should be vilified for accurately relaying their experience on a given ship. If more instances of this occur compared to the previous twice daily service policy, then that is a degradation in standard and service. Yes one experience does not make a trend, but it's still important for all of us and NCL to note and keep an eye on. There is nothing in the OP's post that is hysterical, hyperbolic or unreasonable - so their concerns should not be dismissed or diminished in the way that they have. Of course we see over the top tales and unreasonable reactions to bumps in the road - but this not one Ultimately, many people save long and hard to be able to cruise and should be able to asses the totality of what they will be experiencing - for better or worse. I think a fully cleaned room, with all trace of the previous guest erased is a minimum expectation to be honest.

Yes agreed. I wasn't necessarily making a qualitative assesment one way or the other - just drawing out 'differences' which may or may not be a big deal for some - still worth throwing out there though as I have benefitted from others doing the same. MSC are terribly organised, the food is not as consistently good (IMO), plus many other demerits I could draw out if I put my mind to it. What do you drink? I'l send a few your way... that's a story that needs to be told. 🍹🧉🍻 There's definitely a few standalone threads (panning all cruise lines) in the offing here. Crazy stories, 'Don't You Know Who I Am' primadonna type stories, the list goes on........

Thanks for this. I intend on (eventually!) doing a full write up of our Joy Haven experience in May but a couple of things you said resonated with me. What I will say is I find it very hard to justify 'full price' for the experience (the same goes for any ship-within-a-ship or suite experience - the sticker price is just too rich for my blood vs what is offered). I have sailed MSC Yacht club a few times and find their lounge setup much better than that on Joy. The lack of a bar or any atmosphere whatsoever in the Haven lounge struck me as odd. It was a very under utilised space and wasted given the size. On MSC, the bar is within the lounge and there is light entertainment (a piano) which makes the area more of a focal point. The focal point on Joy Haven was the bar area which at times was too crowded. The snack setup in the Haven lounge is odd and we always seemed to turn up at the 'wrong' time - setting up or clearing away, which was taken *very* seriously by the crew. The coffee machine appeared to be used by the butlers for room delivery rather than the one at the bar (not a complaint, just an observation and in the 'odd' category). I echo the sentiments of slow meal services (and we encountered a very busy restaurant on several occasions). I find their protectiveness over the Riedel glasses amusing (you cannot leave the restaurant with one, the contents of the glass gets decanted into another glass before you can leave). The snack requests to the butler were not consistenly fufilled and consequently there was a lot of food waste on sandwiches etc. we did not want. Sometimes the requests were delivered (cheese plate, gummy bears, potato chips). I am surprised there is no priority elevator override like on MSC (albeit it doesn't always work). I did appreciate the priority embarkation/disembarkation via the crew elevator faciltiated by the Haven concierge. The outdoor sun deck was closed with surprising frequency owing to the position at the front of the ship ('too windy'). However the courtyard pool area with the retractable roof was great. The pool menu is not well advertised in the Haven and unless you knew it was there or spotted it in the app there was nothing to let you know you could make an order. You have got to be kidding!!!

I have a similar dilemma. Sailing in November but Diamond expires in October, by a matter of weeks. However, the biggest perk is the Butcher's Cut meal for us. It's cheaper to buy a dining experience to encompass this than it would be to fly to mainland Europe to do 1 night in an inside cabin on an MSC ship and fly back from somewhere else (although I admit, I did consider it!).

This. It never fails to amaze me how many things people are happy to 'let go' after spending thousands on a cruise and agreeing to be provided with certain services in return. It's an incredibly one sided contract to begin with, and then we have people who defend large corporations who have resources, experience and whose job it is to deliver on what was promised to the customer - it really blows my mind. NCL should be proactive in offering profuse and sincere apologies, along with refunds and compensation on top for this issue - anything less shows contempt for the customer (although I can see why they do it, as so many are happy to roll over and 'go with it' as gets evidenced on Cruise Critic all the time).

We were there last week. We paid c. $40 each (with c. $20 F&B credit), making the reservation directly with the hotel. 1) $10 to go (unlicensed, 'man with car' scenario negotiated on the walk to the Renaissance shopping area). $20 coming back, from a (presumably) licensed taxi waiting outside the lobby. I thought this was really steep for what is such a short ride. 2) Yes. A card is provided to exchange for a towel (1 each, and they hold ID to make sure they get the cards/towels back!) It was a great day, the resort is very nice - but top tip, if you want to swim in the sea, take water shoes (we didn't). It's very rocky in some places. Not much to see if you have snorkelling equipment either but we did enjoy both pools and the beach itself.

Just off Joy's Haven and have the following to note: 1) The slippers were not embroidered (but just assumed they ran out and didn't think to ask). 2) The bathroom towels did not feel any different to 'regular' towels. 3) There were no 'covers' on the Haven sun deck loungers - you had to use towels to cover the padding (and only one was 'preloaded' to each lounger). 4) The little black Haven 'wallet' to hold your keycards had to be requested from the concierge. Appreciate we are in the very fine detail here but I do appreciate for e.g. MSC's embroidered Yacht Club towels (pool and bathroom), which differentiates the experience further compared to NCL's blue pool towels and 'standard' bathroom towels.

Sounds extreme. Surely the administration involved in that costs more than the 'shrinkage' from the odd traveller who thinks a towel used by 100s of others is a worthy souvenir. Then again, it's perhaps a bigger problem than I would think hence the policy. Definitely not like that on Epic last October.

Does this policy vary by ship? On Epic last year we did not have to exchange existing towels nor provide a cabin number when collecting fresh ones. However on previous crusies there has been more of an audit trail on the towels. I think it's a 'cheap' policy personally but seems variable as to when it's applied?

I have read elsewhere (having waded through some rude and 'shouty' comments) on other threads that sailings on the schedule after a certain date are new additions and therefore those that were cancelled in previous years due to Covid wouldn't have had the opportunity to book onto the new(er) released sailings so they are less likely to be oversold etc. I don't know what stock to place in that given the tone with which the information was relayed. I too am booked on 27/04/24 sailing in a V2 and there is plenty of available still showing. I am concerned as to the whole 'season' and their intentions for Millienium as others are and I don't think this is unreasonable. Just want to pick your brains on this if I may and apologies to others for the off-topic question. I am booked on the 27/05/24 sailing and intend to redeem a BA 2-4-1 companion voucher to hopefully fly to HND in J. We plan on heading out to Tokyo at least 4 nights before so I have the T-355 date marked in my calendar. Did you phone the US office to book? I note you had to stay up two nights, do I infer it wasn't an easy process? Finally I take it they keep the trip 'open' for you to add in the homeward leg when it is released and it is all held under the same redemption? I have redeemed companion vouchers before but always through the UK office and never in two seperate calls so not sure what to expect. On the ShoreEx topic, I am delighted that Celebrity let you use OBC to book tours in advance and I've used up all $750 of my credit already plus some cash on top - scary!