Sand and Seas

We would highly recommend CruiseControl. Driver & main office both texted us to let us know they were on the way to pick us up. We would definitely use them again.

Hmmm....my October Joy cruise just says Puerto Plata DR. Maybe they just aren't sure yet🤔

@UKstages, thanks for sharing with us! Very good detail and well-balanced review. We spent 11 days on the Prima in a Club Balcony very close to the one you had problems with! I guess we lucked out as we had much more gentle seas on our cruise (Galveston to Miami). I was hoping that they had found some work arounds for some of those same issues you noted. Loved the Indulge Food Hall, but it was somewhat of a game to find a table to sit at. We felt sorry for the poor over-worked bartenders at the Penrose bar. I wondered why they didn't use the Belvedere bar for the casino drinks? It seemed under-utilized. Still, we had a fun cruise and will sail the Prima again on another Caribbean cruise (with hopefully gentle seas!).

Just completed 43rd cruise with NCL and we have never had a problem with luggage checked with porters. As a pre-caution, anything irreplaceable (jewelry, medications, etc.) is kept with us in a shoulder bag. Also easy to keep another set of clothing in the shoulder bag. We also 'cross-pack' so that we each have complete sets of clothes in each others suitcase. Then, we a bag is lost/misplaced, we will be able to get by with extra laundry service. We use packing cubes which makes it super-easy to cross-pack. Finally, we take a picture of our luggage. It's funny how hard it can be to describe your lost luggage from memory. (Airlines misplaced a bag for us a couple of times!)

We were on the Joy in Mid April. We checked the Dailies for breakfast options but didn't notice American Diner. Was it open for breakfast and we missed it?

We usually mix & match from the Haven menu. DH loves to order shrimp cocktail and as they have those nice sized shrimp available as part of a menu appetizer, it's an easy one. Others have reported requesting something one day for dinner the next. Or as noted above, asking for Crab Cakes (dinner menu) to be available the next morning for Crab Cake Benedict. (I've really got to try that one!)

Don't be afraid to order whatever you want on the menu, then add a Lobster tail ....or two!

I've seen scones with berries & whipped cream at 'tea time' in the Observation Lounges. Also quiche, small sandwiches & cookies.

Much thanks to you both! We have been wondering about whether to use a taxi or scheduling a car service like Dial 7. It sounds like either option would be comfortable for us. Good to know Taxis are regulated and there is a flat rate from JFK to Manhattan. We will be staying at Ink48 close to the pier.

Are all taxi cabs a good option, or is there something we non- New Yorkers need to be aware of? (We will be flying into JFK.)

We were just in the Haven on Getaway last month and thanks to threads like this, we have finally learned to just ask for what we want. DH really loves ordering the 'how many do you want' shrimp cocktails. I loved ordering Surf & Surf! Do you know you can add a Lobster Tail or two to any item? Never had a problem with ordering a side dish from one item to go with the main dish I wanted. We were surprised not to see bagels on the breakfast buffet so we asked. Apparently, they would hate for you to receive an un-toasted bagel! We asked and promptly received nicely toasted bagels😋

Yes, smoke from the deck 7 casino is a problem on Getaway/Breakaway and the older ships. Design was improved for Joy, Bliss, Encore & Prima. All of these newer ships have an enclosed smoking section in the casino.

Thanks for sharing with us! I'm jealous you can drive to Port Canaveral. We were on the cruise prior to yours and really enjoyed staying at Cocoa Beach for two days prior and eating at Gators at the Port. Such a great area to cruise from! We loved Million Dollar Quartet and were lucky enough to find out about Broadway Unplugged. It was only once during our cruise and performed by the very talented MDQ cast. For anyone sailing on Getaway in the near future, watch for this special performance in the Illusionarium Theatre.

We do too. Sometimes we have problems with unused OBC we need to resolve 🤨 Other times I take a picture of tv screen final.

You now can earn CasinoNext that you can use towards admin and port fees. If you earn 5000 points on a cruise and don't use them for 50 Free play, host can issue you a 250 CasNext. For 10k points you can get 500 CasNext. Same rules as Cruise Next. Can use two if cabin qualifies. Then call CAS to book next cruise and they can use them to pay your fees.

We spent two days in Galveston pre-cruise last October and had a great time! The downtown Strand area is very walkable and SO much fun. Lots of good restaurants plus live music from the bars that you can hear while you walk down the street. Hope you have an awesome time😊

Sorry, we just rented at Enterprise at the airport and dropped off at the port two days later. We then used CruiseControl shuttle to return to airport ($25 per person). I would suggest you check the port schedule to see what time other ships are docking that day. It might give you an idea of how busy the rentals will be. The day we disembarked there were four ships in port but docking times were staggered. We did see the Rental Car shuttle as we were disembarking. I think they come by pretty regularly. Just google Port Canaveral ship schedules.

Yes, there is a free shuttle to/from port shared by Enterprise, National & Alamo. Three car rental companies share the same large air conditioned building right at the port. When you are driving your rental car to return it there, look for the white Exploration Tower and turn towards it. The car rental building has lots of seating and nice restrooms. You turn in your car and wait for a shuttle driver to come in and announce a shuttle to your ship. There were three cars in port the day we dropped off our car. Very easy😎

We stayed at the The Tremont House. Really loved this hotel and the way it was easy to walk around to restaurants & bars. The day of our cruise we saw a shuttle from the hotel but we don't know the details. We found it easy to walk over to the port ourselves with our rolling luggage....and we have been retired for a few years😊 If you are interested in the Tremont, suggest you call them direct and ask about their shuttle.

Yes, we have stayed several times at Hampton Inn Blue Lagoon. They do have a free shuttle from/to the airport that I believe starts at 6am. Easy walk across the street to strip mall with Publix & a decent Cuban restaurant.

I should have added, our disembarkation at Port Canaveral was just a week ago. Had a great two days pre-cruise at Cocoa Beach and returned our rental car at the Port (Enterprise) day of embarkation. Rental return about 9:15am went smoothly. Loved the cruise & Port Canaveral! Hope you have a great cruise & no transportation problems!

We really loved the two level Horizon Haven lounge on the Bliss to Alaska. Super roomy, but yes- a lot of premium space available there. Missed that on our Getaway Haven cruise.

We can highly recommend Cruise Control. Small shuttles of 10 or so seats, but our shuttle went to MCO with just four. We started getting texts from Cruise Control dispatch as soon as we docked. Then our driver texted us to let us know he was two minutes out....and there he was😊 Also, I would recommend you allow extra time for MCO depending on the day of week. Remember that in addition to cruises there will be many families flying home from the theme parks. We disembarked and flew home on a very busy Saturday. For some reason, I thought Saturday would be lighter at the airport than Sunday but boy was I surprised. We got to MCO with plenty of time after a nice 45 minute drive in decent traffic, but then found it to be an absolute circus at the airport. (We did hear some others had bad traffic returning to MCO.) The kiosks were not printing out our luggage tags. We (and MANY others) got in one long line to drop luggage, then got sent downstairs to a lower level to get tags and drop our luggage. After that, we went searching for the TSA pre-check line. Signs were confusing- just had an arrow that pointed left for TSA Pre-check. It just didn't show how FAR left and how many un-marked lines we would need to bypass to get to the actual line. Again many of us were sent to wrong lines. Eventually made it to an actual TSA pre-check line and felt so sorry for those that were not pre-check. Once you make it through security, you will probably need to board the tram to get to your gate. All of this takes time so for us, I was glad we had an early on-time shuttle trip. Many at MCO that day did not make it through security and to their gate in time for their flights😕

The Galaxy arcade does take up a lot of space, but not sure how much room that will give them for a thermal spa🤔 I certainly won't miss the arcade! It does have a lovely & spacious Observation Lounge that we will enjoy again this October before the changes.

Your kids (or you) can get a soda at any bar or restaurant. They will usually let you get two at once. The bartender just glances at the keycard saying 'SODA' and doesn't have to swipe it.