oteixeira

I am hear for the rat guard jokes.

Not saying it is better or worse, they just pulled some old favorites, probably to make it easier on the kitchen. I miss the shepherds pie.

We noticed on the Joy in Feb the same thing you might be noticing. The Local menu is far smaller then it used to be.

Not me, I currently have zero booked trips right now. My wife (who is not on this site) is going to Alaska on the Spirit May 24th. Enjoy your cruise!!

I will be happy to show you my folio, you DO NOT get 50% off the $29 laundry deal. You get half off other bags of laundry (and more I guess, as I explained my numbers did not add up to what I thought).

The fill the bag deal is a special and you don't get a discount above and beyond that. All that being said, we needed to do a second load on a trip while we were GOLD level and my wife said at 50% off there was like $50 worth of stuff in the bag (she did math, I was on vacation so I passed). We get it back and I check the folio, they charged us $19 and change. I didn't ask, and they didn't tell. So, what I am saying is, it may be cheaper then you thnk.

While this argument is understood, when you pay the money you do to get on one of those Lines, does it really make sense to order a cheeseburger and fries ? It seems cost prohibitive to me. I think that is the point that a lot of folks make. For me it is the shows, the bigger casinos, the ability to wear what I want when I want (no dressing up at all if you want), and so on.

Buy a nice bottle of champagne? Bring home a gift for the person watching your home/dog/cat/people? Splurge at a dinner in a pay restaurant? There are tons of ways to spend it.

Not on the Away ships, it is mostly open to the air above.

I was on 2 weeks ago, it is actually bottles of anything 15 and OVER by the glass. I know, its confusing. Actually, that was my number one thing in my survey. Even the folks onboard serving you are confused.

It was the same in Miami after a 15 day cruise. Problem is Customs wants a face to face after a long cruise, and that slows everything down. Very common on long cruises, if you are not use to that, you just don't know.

Gary, this was fun. I want you to know there are youtube channels with slot machine mechanics and I saw an interview with a person who has worked Las Vegas, Cruise Lines, and Indian Casinos in the past 2 years. He said WITHOUT A DOUBT the loosest slots are on ships, followed by Vegas, and Indian places being the least. He also said to win go find the high dollar slots, notice the ships are filled with penny machines? By law the odds are better based on the lowest bet allowed, so go find the $1 or $5 bet machines and play the minimum and you will win more then doing $1 spins on the penny machines (which most people do). Just something I found interesting.

Oh! Almost forgot, had the P+ drink package, it seems though Moet is still advertised on the site AND on the ship as included it is not. You have been warned. The crew onboard is JUST as confused as we are about how it works and what is included. I plan to detail this issue to NCL in my review. Hopefully they think this through and clean it up so people can look at a list and understand what they can order.

I was on this cruise as well (My wife and I were the aforementioned old friends on the cruise). We were unlucky enough to have to stand huddled in a line outside in the sideways rain in LA, it was the worst embark I have ever been involved with. Something was going on with the Port of LA workers because it makes no sense to move from tents to a real building to avoid having people outside only to then tell thousands of people to line up (around 2 full sides of the building and out through the parking lot) with no cover other then the side of a building. Not at all impressed with their work. As a result there were a TON of people on this cruise who ended up with the sniffles, colds, etc. Hopefully they are all pretty much recovered by now! The cruise itself was great, although I did find out that my tolerance for eating way too much every day is about 11-12 days. It is crazy how full you feel even when you wake up after being on a cruise for more then a week. Highlights were the late nights with old and new friends and Rodney at the Haven lounge, the great shows, and of course the great (but far too much) food. The weather also worked out great other then the first day in LA. Tons of sun and heat, which I love. Some slightly not great things....I need to adjust my letter to the butler. Turns out sometimes they will bring you just the one or two examples of things you like every day, so we didn't get much variety this trip. When you get past about 10 days the Haven menu can get boring, and to supplement it they just brought up a "special" from the main dining room. IMHO, it would be much better to let the haven chef and his or her team just make a special like they used to do pre-covid. I remember getting things like food from the chef's home country, and those were some of the best things to eat. Oh, before I forget, if anyone has a model ship of the Joy they are willing to part with, hit me up here in the thread and we can work out my purchasing it from you. Thanks! Getting off was OK for us. We waited until they kicked us out, since our flight was 3PM. We waited 30 minutes to get through face to face customs, and then walked over to pick up and had a lyft in less then a minute. Smooth and easy to the airport. I honestly never use NCL transport, it started because I would rather be in a private car without the crowds, but stories like the one @Sailing12Awayjust shared reinforce why I do it.

Keep everything running well for us, we get on as you get off. I am glad to hear things are starting to get smoother with the muster, I had a feeling the initial reports had more to do with crew being new to it (remember a lot of these folks where not crew members before covid) then on the entire system suddenly being broken.

Yes, in the haven, on a fully sold out ship. Just bid, people can last minute cancel, you just never know. (My winning bid was before the shutdown, again, fully booked out ship).

That will happen on every cruise, and in your home town. Covid is still something anyone can get, so people will get it. Hopefully it will be mild for all and they will recover well.

And this is why we all can enjoy different lines. I have no interest in workout classes for free, I walk 3 miles every morning before most people are awake on the ship. I also LOVE the beatles and fleetwood mac tribute bands that they have introduced. I am in my early 50s and the are both well within the timeline of popular music from when I was a young kid. As for the crowds, I would think most lines are close to back to 100% capacity. This is what cruising always was. Maybe folks forgot with the empty restart ships? I sailed the Pearl with 522 guests on board, it was crazy! Anyway, what I am trying to say is I am glad you found a line that works well for you in Virgin.

This actually checks out with our cruise which starts when you get off. We were told we are embarking at 46, so I am thinking for sure that is where you get off. I am sure NCL buses would take you to LAX if you like. I plan to use uber to get there.

I know they are covered in the Premium Plus drink package, but that is all I know about them.

14 days......and I am on the struggle bus trying to be both working and in vacation mode. We had a big layoff followed by new goals so I need to make sure I keep up with all the other folks. I don't want there to be any metric reason that they can cut me if we have to have another. And I am impressed, how imperial are we talking? 9%?? 10%??? I like it better when we just call them double or triple IPAs. Just like the naming convention. I have never had quad points. Triple this is my second time (on this cruise). I will be at 111 after it, so still a bit away from sitting at the big kid table (officers dinner). The Platinum is most important to me.

With the brewhouse I agree it's not going to be my main brew. On the older ships (pre-district) I drink a lot more of it.

Wait, your Sapphire already? Darn you guys work fast. :) And for anyone wondering, we will have the Blue Moon lifted early and often at the end of the month.

The Haven restaurant. Also, maybe what I consider upscale is not super upscale. I dunno, so I will say upscale to me. :)