alwalaska

I guess it depends on who you are and what you like. We loved the entire day and even debated whether or not we should go inside and have lunch of grab food and eat on the balcony, and this was in the middle of the day in the middle of the lake. My husband is an engineer, so that added to his enjoyment. I enjoyed watching the other ships, watching for places I had read about before the cruise, and so much more. We started the day forward and high, sharing the space with a ton of other people. Once we were inside the first lock, we moved to our balcony. We watched the are called a "Cut" , can't remember right now, from the promenade deck, moved back to an outside top deck for the entry to the final lock, etc.

NCL solved that problem. They no longer have cookies period. 😞

We are currently looking at a Panama Canal cruise and our top 2 contenders include one small and one large ship. We have sailed through the "historical" locks once before and loved the experience. I'm thinking I would like to do something different, but not at the expense of doing something significantly "less cool". My husband is an engineer and totally loved the previous cruise. Has anyone sailed both? Can you please share photos, videos, and your opinion? Thanks!

Hi! We are looking at a Panama Canal cruise that is on the Joy. Our one really big ship experience was on the Symphony of the Seas and we did not like it at all. All of the extra bells and whistles aren't really important to us and the few things we enjoyed were far outnumbered by the feeling that everywhere was crowded and we were constantly waiting in line, even though for meals and entertainment, I made all of the reservations I could, on the first day it was available. Quite a long while ago, the second largest ship we ever sailed on was the Explorer of the Seas. We really enjoyed this ship and didn't feel the crowding issues as we did on the Symphony of the Seas. We aren't foodies, but I like to be able to be seated fairly quickly, early in the evening in the main dining rooms. I like to be able to find tables at breakfast in the buffet, especially on port mornings. I like to be able to see non-reserved shows without having to line up outside of the theater to wait for the doors to open because it fills up long before the shows start. Any personal experience with the Joy would be appreciated, especially if you can compare it to these other ships.

Hi! We are looking at a Panama Canal cruise that is on the Joy. Our one really big ship experience was on the Symphony of the Seas and we did not like it at all. All of the extra bells and whistles aren't really important to us and the few things we enjoyed were far outnumbered by the feeling that everywhere was crowded and we were constantly waiting in line, even though for meals and entertainment, I made all of the reservations I could, on the first day it was available. Quite a long while ago, the second largest ship we ever sailed on was the Explorer of the Seas. We really enjoyed this ship and didn't feel the crowding issues as we did on the Symphony of the Seas. We aren't foodies, but I like to be able to be seated fairly quickly, early in the evening in the main dining rooms. I like to be able to find tables at breakfast in the buffet, especially on port mornings. I like to be able to see non-reserved shows without having to line up outside of the theater to wait for the doors to open because it fills up long before the shows start. Any personal experience with the Joy would be appreciated, especially if you can compare it to these other ships.

Ours was using NCL's tenders. The lack of information early enough to go and get tender tickets the morning before was the most frustrating. Hubby even asked if I wanted him to go and get tender tickets and I said, "No, we have our priority tendering." Ooops.

On the Spirit this February, they didn't tell us until AFTER the pickup of normal tender tickets had been open for almost a day, that "Priotity" tendering would meet around 1 hour after tendering started in one of the dining rooms to be led off of the ship. They would then escort us to the tenders by group. It was a madhouse and the people who showed up last went before those of us who had been there longer. They had called up through tender group 4 BEFORE they started taking any of us. The smart people had picked up tender tickets the morning before and walked out of the "priority" group to go and board the tenders sooner. I was quite unhappy.

You didn't mention the pretzel rolls being gone from the buffet and only in the Local now. I didn't even notice the cookies being gone, but hubby sure did.

We did our first Panama Canal trip on a small Princess ship through the old locks and loved every part of it. We are now looking at PC again for this coming winter and the Bliss and Joy are 2 of the top contenders. It will be interesting to go through the new locks too now. We had an amazing balcony cabin on the back corner of the ship and watched part of the passage from the top/front of the outside decks and a lot from our balcony. We were so close to the walls. You couldn't touch, but it felt like you could.

I have not been on newer NCL ships, but I love the older smaller ships. I sailed a larger ship on RCCL and felt like everything and everywhere was crowded and hurry up and wait. I sail mainly for the itineraries. The ship gives me a bed, food, and some entertainment. I'm not a foodie, so the main dining rooms and buffets alone are fine for me. I don't want or need pool slides, race cars, etc. I like a good acoustical guitar player in a lounge and the shows in the main theater. I'm currently considering a cruise on the Joy or Bliss and was checking out this thread to see why people like the newer larger ships.

We're looking into the solo category for my MIL for an upcoming trip, so I appreciate your posting your adventures. Any other threads I should check out?

Interesting question. I'm curious to see if you get an answer. For other travel agencies that I have used, the charge comes through as an NCL charge.

Yes, but I'm a data analyst and would love to see actual statistics, not how much or how little people complain about it.

I'd love to be able to see how much this is happening on all of the cruise lines, but I can't think of a way to find the data. Does Celebrity and Oceania tend to make the changes before or after the final payment?

@9tee2Sea One clarification to the response above ... Although it did not happen to me, since Post COVID cruising, there is a very scary disclaimer that they read to you saying that if you cancel your booking, you MAY lose all of your points, and you have to acknowledge that you understand. Some people wait until last minute (right before final payment) to do the upgrades, but I wanted a specific cabin, so I decided to roll the dice. I didn't cancel my cruise, but NCL canceled my cruise. It was part of the almost a year's worth of cruises on the NCL Spirit that were canceled at 3 (I believe) different times. After several days, I had my Cruise Next cert back, but my points had not been returned. I called in, I think it was the WP number, and thye said that sometimes it has to be done manually, there is no automatic refund process. They processed the refund and I had my points about 2 days later and I was able to redo my double-meta upgrade. The other thing that is messy are price drops. Before final payment, the price drop is determined on the interior prices, not the balcony prices. Sometimes, NCL won't do anything about price drops saying that the upgrade finalizes everything. We totally loved our cabin and it was definitely worth the extra work to make it happen.

the online request form. If you call, they might let you choose your cabin, they will pick your cabin if you use the online request form. If you have a specific cabin in mind, it never hurts to ask for it, no guarantees. On my most recent upgrade, they said that the cabin I wanted (which was in the correct category they said I could pick from) was not available. I then picked the best one from the list she gave me. Since I knew the cabin I wanted was available, I asked my TA for suggestions. She decided to try and switch my reservation to the cabin I wanted and was successful. I probably would have also been successful if I had said, "never mind", and then called back to see if I could book it through a different person. It was a cabin where something was wrong on the NCL site and it did not appear in the images but appeared in a different location on the lists if you knew where to look.

I prefer chocolate boxes that come with a map telling you what is where. No nasty surprises like the piece my husband had this with a green gooey center that smelled like our toilet bowl cleaner. 😀 I for one would prefer a known menu rotation with a few changes based on location, availability, etc. I'm a picky eater, but there are a few items in the main dining room that I'd really like to try, but once my reservations for specialty dining are made, I'm not likely to change since I like to eat at a popular time.

That is really strange. You can do it online without even talking to anyone. I logged in, went to my NCL credit card, clicked on Rewards, and the Transfer option is right there. All I have to do is put in the credit card account number that I want it to transfer to after clicking the button. There is a Check account eligibility button, but I think that is because you are only allowed so many transfers in a specific time frame. It might also verify that it is a valid WorldPoints credit card account. I can't find the terms of service anywhere, but that would clarify the rules.

Yep. I believe it is usually 20k or 25k signup bonus if they spend enough in the allotted time.

They could get a credit card and you can transfer the points to them for free. I transferred points from hubbies card to my card to do our upgrade on our cruise that is coming up. I'm not sure what the limit is, if there even is one, but I'm sure it is in the terms and conditions of the card.

So, just to verify, the Encore did go to Taino Bay and not Amber Cove? If yes, that is great news for future cruises that I might be looking at.

It has been several weeks since I received my upgrade bid email for my 2/9/2024 cruise, but then again, there are at least 100 empty cabins on the ship by my best guess. I can no longer find the site that listed how many empty cabins there were per category.

Where can you see real-time bidding? My cruise to AU/NZ has tons of rooms left, nowhere near capacity.

You can bid on upgrades though. I recently booked an interior. Did a double-meta upgrade on a 12-night cruise to a balcony and saved a lot of money. A lot more than if I had cashed it in for OBC or a discount on a cruise. I was recently given the opportunity to bid on suites. I don't know if my price ranges were different since my original cruise price was so much lower than those you had balconies that they paid for. My cruise isn't until Feb, so I don't know whether or not I will win a bid. I'm guessing not since I made the minimum bid.

From where we docked (Amber Cover) it was like a 16-minute or longer drive, and absolutely not walkable. Here it is on a map Paseo de Doña Blanca to Amber Cove Cruise Port - Google Maps. The only info I have from Taino Bay to town was what I gleaned from Google Maps. Here is a sample map - https://maps.app.goo.gl/N2Hea4PKyuerwFGKA . Just go out and put in the port and where you want to go and ask for walking directions. I know people walk it, but have said they were constantly being offered to be guided all along the way.