vacation44

5 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

How were you able to do that? You can add a CN to an existing booking?

Yes, I was able to apply the Certificates to our already booked cruises using the NCL website.

We also have never gotten any laundry done--even with the free platinum bags.   Maybe we will give it a try in June.   

On 3/11/2024 at 9:56 AM, gmbhardy said:

Vibe is generally filled with people staying in the Haven. The Haven sun deck is boring. 

6 hours ago, IAcruising said:

 

Is this statement really getting a pass from this crowd?  I'm disappointed in all of 

@IAcruising, that statement got right pass me!

The Vibe is 100% not filled with mostly Haven passengers.  Are there some Haven passengers in the Vibe?  Yes, but the are in the low minority. 

Just applied third certificates to 2025 booked cruises!  

We did buy Vibe passes for our June 2025 Encore cruise for a few reasons:

- we are going with extended family (all adults) and thought it would be a great space to meet up

- we were on the Jewel this past September and really missed having a Vibe to go to

- heard (and had it confirmed with the Encore Vibe staff last month) that they also serve clam chowder and hot chocolate among other things (the now hard to find cookies)

- they provide nice blankets to keep you warmer if needed

- not worrying if there will be any hot tub space (on the Jewel, there were a few days when we wanted to go into a hot tub, but they were always crowded)

- we are not into the spa (full disclosure, we have never done it)

- it provides another great space to watch the beautiful Alaska scenery go by

- and @cruiseny4lifeswayed my decision when I was looking into it

I will definitely report back on our experience.   

8 minutes ago, jules71 said:

In the process of booking 5 cabins for Feb 25, would you be willing to share the contact info of the person you work with in NCL groups? You should be able to PM me.

Will be more than happy to send you my contact but I have to figure out how to send a PM first.

3 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

March 22

Thank you, that would be wonderful.   We purchased some extra ones last month just to have on hand just in case NCL ran the triple up promotion again.

@mperrizo  Thank you for taking the time to report on your Viva experience.    I appreciated your writing style as it was a very easy read.

We are currently booked on the same itinerary next year on the Viva and have been going back and forth whether to cancel and do a land-based vacation, so your report was very informative to us.  

@YVRteacher  I cannot say enough of how much I really enjoy reading your live (and the non live) trip reports.    Thank you, again, for always sharing your adventures with us.

Regarding the latitudes Behind the Scenes Tour, how did you know they would offer you the latter option when you said no to the 8:00 a.m. tour?    Every time we signed up, we have only been given one option which was on the early side.     

Last month on the Encore, we had two incorrect charges on our cabin account which I caught immediately.   In one case, they added a $10 tip to one of our MDR dinners when we left a cash tip that night.   The Guest Services representative had the attitude like I was trying to take back the tip.       

Very happy to read you are having a wonderful time and looking forward to continuing following along.

We did not go the The Wheel of Fortune last month on the Encore.   We will not go in June on the Joy.  

Happy travel day!   

1 hour ago, kates6044 said:

I had no idea you could order it and cancel it. Good to know just in case. 

You are very welcome.  If canceling, just make sure it is before the sail date.

We have not worn the wrist bands since the start and last month they did not even issue them on the Encore.  The NCL Vibe staff is also given a packet with everyone's pictures.

Just want to add, if you are seriously thinking about it, you should definitely secure the passes now and then you can always cancel them for a full refund before your cruise.

If you call and you are not within the final payment phase, the cost will be added to your invoice.  If you purchase them yourself online, the cost has to be paid immediately.   

1 minute ago, kates6044 said:

New to cruising in general and new to Norweign. I am playing with the idea of getting Vibe as a gift for my fiance as this will be our honeymoon. Is Vibe open the day we embark? Like we do our muster, grab lunch  and can be sitting in vibe as the cruise departs NYC? 

Yes, it will be open.   We spend every afternoon in the Vibe on embarkation day and stay there for sail away too.

1 hour ago, JamesIowa said:

Somebody posted an image a few days ago that showed joy cabana rental prices, but I can’t find it.

Rumor is they will eventually be available for rental but it may be a few months.

I saw it a little back too and promptly updated my handy dandy vacation excel spreadsheet with the potential new cost of switching out our Vibe passes for cabanas.  I wrote an additional expense of $192 per cabin.   However, this price adjustment reflects our cost of $229 per Vibe pass when we secured them in July 2022 for our Joy cruise this June.   

We paid $599 for our Encore cabana last month (which we secured in July 2022) so it looks like prices have been raised.  But our February 2025 Viva cabana was secured for $659.   

4 hours ago, 2boyzmom said:

Yes i thought so too. Glad we were right 🙂

Me too!  Have a wonderful time!

I am still trying to trade in our Vibe passes for the new cabanas for our June Joy cruise.   

Glad to hear it.   I had previously posted that I thought they were holding back the new passes and glad I was right.

37 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

Well, we finally booked a cruise for May and the winner is....

 

 

Drumroll, please....

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Enchanted Princes out of FLL! I am as surprised as anyone else that we decided to give Princess another shot after having sworn it off back in January 2023. Our Christmas/New Years Panama Canal sailing on the Emerald Princes was (and still is) the worst cruise we have ever been on. But the combination of a casino offer, a chance to go to Belize, a newer ship, and upgrading to a Mini-suite for less per day than a balcony on the Joy that same week was enough to convince us to give it a shot.

Wow, did not see that coming!

Have a great cruise and I will be definitely following your report. 

As I mentioned in another post this week, after experiencing The Haven a few times during the past couple of years, our go to now is definitely the Club Balcony Suites.   Club Balcony Suites, Vibe passes and two extra platinum diners are good enough for us.   

Enjoying your updates and thank you for taking the time to post.

I remember there being a door between the Vibe and Haven on the sundeck.   On our first NCL cruise, we were in the Vibe on the Escape and I kept wondering (as a newbie) where the door lead.   

We have not, however, we wished we did when we were in the Joy Haven.   Our experience was it was very hard to get a comfortable lounge chair and the bar service was, for us, practically non-existent.    Lately we have been just going with club balcony suites with Vibe passes and our four specialty dinners being platinum.   We have been just as happy while savings thousands of dollars.   

Yeah!    So happy to hear the update on your new job and you are still loving it and your dad is well in his own degree of well.   Also what a surprise we get treated to a b2b this month when I thought we would have to wait for your next Jewel adventure with your dad.

As always I will definitely be following along and look forward to reading about your adventures, insight, opinions and experience with your fabulous use of words.

Have a great time!

I was actually looking at this excursion this morning and could not figure it out.    Hopefully, someone will report back with their experience.

On another note, I wish NCL would bring back the ability to on input reviews on their excursion page.   It was helpful in the past to gather information.