Sailing12Away

I've tried those slippers twice and neither time found them enjoyable. My feet are not long (women's 8), but I get bad edema from time to time due to health issues. So my fat poofy feet don't come close to getting into those things. At least an open toe slipper would let me scoot in further so they stay on for walking around in the room or on the balcony.

You beat me to it and took the words out of my mouth. For every person that is upset that they didn't get 'xyz' there's another person complaining that they did get 'xyz' when they're a diabetic/celiac/vegan/etc. The suggestion of a butler letter was one of the best I've read on here and we stick with that approach. Last trip they took it to the extreme and continued to bring everything we said we liked at one time - talk about gluttony. Finally had to leave notes saying 'no snacks today - we have too many'. So now another revision to the letter to indicate "Pick any ONE of these suggestions below, or surprise us with something similar. But please, only ONE tray per day."

I did the BTS tour on the Joy in Feb-Mar this year. It was nice, lots of interesting tidbits.

For the specialty dining, don't think of it as guest 3 being excluded, think of it as guests 1 & 2 getting a steep discount that makes the meal for 3 guests cost significantly cheaper than paying outright. As for 3 guests in suites on other lines - yeah, Celebrity gives you specialty meals for free, but they charge you an egregious buttload of money to have that guest in your room in the first place. Have been pricing out a Thanksgiving cruise for 3 people on Celebrity and if we have 2 people in the room it's about 6K for a 4 day trip, if we have 3 people it's 9K. So sure, the specialty meals are "free" - but I'm paying 3K for that person overall. Whereas with NCL, the 3rd guest is just an extra $500 or so to join us. So if I want to pay for extra meals that is certainly less expensive than the 3K just to get them in the room with us. If you spend time getting to the nitty gritty, most lines are actually more similar than different. Others claim to include "free" things, but the costs are just rolled into the prices so they look 'free' because it's not an additional charge. The way NCL does it is viewed as nickel & diming to some, but I prefer their model. It lets me add in things that are a value add to me. I don't want free wifi, so by other lines giving it to me for 'free' it's not a value add. All depends on what is important to you. But yeah.... stop fixating over what isn't included, and just compare total prices for the things that are important to you. Adding on an extra 2 meals for $99 with NCL will always be much cheaper than paying nearly full price for the 3rd guest to be in the room with you with the other guys.

Do people actually abide by this for domestic flights? We usually leave our house and are sitting at the gate in about 45 mins thanks to TSA pre check, and boarding begins about 15 mins after that. As for Miami - there's a nice animal sanctuary not far from the port. In the before times we've reached out to them and made arrangements to store our luggage in their managers office while we toured through the park. Uber to the place, then Uber from there to the airport. Better than just sitting in an airport.

Yup, I think we have the same room as you - we're on the port side. The September trip was supposed to be Marty & @CptBoatface, plus my sister & her whole family. So we'll finally get to meet the captain & admiral in person and will definitely do the traditional Blue Moon toast in honor of Marty. @graphicguy, you'll get the full scoop when you share a Guinness with @ChiefMateJRK this trip. Enjoy Alaska guys, have a glacier margarita for us!

If you remember, tag me when you start up your review so I can live vicariously and continue to get excited about my turn in September. I've been bad lately with checking in here and our other 🐀 place, work has been kicking my behind lately. I've got no excursions booked for Iceland and time is running out to book private stuff, so definitely not my norm of plan plan plan.

I'm so glad this thread came up from retirement after I had just taken my last cruise. Oh the insufferable humanity I imposed on my neighbors... please forgive me cruising gods for I have sinned.

That room is not aft. Not at all. Not even close. So even if they disclosed that 'aft rooms may suffer from extra vibrations and noise - please be mindful when selecting these cabins if you are sensitive to those things' - the room you were in wouldn't even come close to qualifying for that disclaimer. When doing a new booking, NCL website refers to that cabin as mid-ship, which it 100% is. So not sure where you're thinking it's aft. Just because South Dakota is more southern than North Dakota doesn't mean it's located in "the south". For comparison, here's the middle and aft elevators on that ship - the ones in the photo above are the forward elevators. So to call that an 'aft' room is insanity. Even if you're not in a Haven room now, you still have all the access and perks of being a Haven guest. 90% of people pick Haven for the perks, not the specific room itself. So not sure why you feel you deserve substantial cost back to you for now having access to 2 cabins during your trip and still have access to Haven. Our cruise last September I caught Covid and my husband had to downgrade to a standard balcony room in order to not be in lockdown with me. So he paid Haven prices, but had to be in a regular balcony room. We didn't ask for a dime back, because he still had access to all the Haven amenities despite being in a non-Haven room. If you're done with NCL because you chose to try Haven and had buyers remorse, and they wouldn't refund you to downgrade because you didn't like what you spent your money on - well, that's your choice. But in total honesty, it is coming across simply as you having buyers remorse and trying to find a way to get a refund for not eating the full meal after you chose to super size it and now want that $2.50 back for uneaten french fries. For every person that says the aft in general has too much noise for them, there's 2 other people who will cat fight to have one of those rooms and love them. But that first room was not aft - sorry, but it's not. If that room was too shaky for you I would hate to see what you would say about a real aft cabin.

For the cabin service, did you guys remember to use the little lights to let them know when you were out of the room? We were in an HH on deck 15, so similar to you outside of the 'proper' Haven area. But had no issues at all with servicing of the room. Only saw our cabin steward Jovi a few times throughout the trip, but that's how I prefer it. In/out like secret ninjas where you don't see them, but when you come back to the room it's nice and clean and ready for you.

The savings is not dopey. Implying these types of issues are unique to NCL and proclaiming to never do business with them ever again because of it is.

Using a TA doesn't guarantee a lack of issues. And for whatever reason, the system at NCL is not great at preventing duplicate accounts. Hubby has had 3 different accounts created for him, so each trip we need to triple check his lattitudes number to make sure it's the right one with all his points on there. Our next trip is in September, and the reservation document I have from the TA has the wrong number. Despite me giving them the correct one 3x. Just wrote to them again last week because it's still not fixed, and on his NCL account it doesn't even say he has an upcoming cruise booked. So he can't book any excursions, reservations, see our itinerary.... nothing. TA swears they spoke to NCL and it is 'fixed'.... but a week later and he still has no reservation when he logs in. I try to talk to NCL directly and because our reservation is listed as being through a TA they won't talk to me at all. My point is that it happens, far too often than it should. But when there's a glitch it's because of a mysterious duplicate account. But to swear off an entire cruise line completely over a dopey coupon? 😆

Now you're talking my language. I'm a medical laboratory scientist - this is my bread & butter. With an A1c that high those fasting levels are actually great (the 100 at least). Anything less than 120 for you is 'fine'. If you actually dip too much lower than that despite being 'abnormal high' (for 'normal' people) - for you it would actually start to fall in the range of 'abnormal low'. For non diabetics, fasting glucose is usually <100. For diabetics though, their bodies have gotten used to the higher sugar levels and when you guys start to dip below that you can start feeling the symptoms of hypoglycemia. So despite being normal for us - it's abnormal for you. And your fasting level of 125 for example is abnormal for us, but quite normal for you. Did I get you all spun around and confused yet? If you're willing to share I'd be curious what you're down to in 3-6 months when you get it next checked. If your fasting levels have been consistently less than 150 your A1c will definitely drop quite a bit. /nerdy science divergence

Did you ever have the bread at Ocean Blue? Not sure what type it is, but it's very very yummy.

I made the mistake of ordering grits one day for breakfast in the Haven restaurant, hoping they would somehow be similar to these.... not even close. It's all in the sauce, which obviously they didn't have for breakfast up there. If that had been an option I would have gotten it daily. Ha! One of the many veggies I can't stand is water chestnuts. I sit there picking them out of my chinese food every time. But other than them, I prefer my veggies raw and crunchy rather than cooked. Peppers, string beans, carrots, sno peas....

Never sailed on a luxury line yet, but for us it's not about the price. It's the vibe and surrounding guests. When we're on vacation and back at home - tshirt and shorts kind of folks. I'll get fancy with a sundress more out of comfort than for the sake of being fancy. Hubby hasn't worn a tie since his sister's wedding 3+ years ago and probably his cousin's wedding before that even longer ago. Luxury lines do not have that casual vibe that we need. I'm not intrigued by Michelin star chefs, lobster, foi gras, or any of that fancy stuff. I'm a burger & fries kind of gal. I wouldn't eat half the stuff that the luxury lines offer. Sure, they could probably make me a simple filet with a baked potato, but why pay a ton of money for fancy food if I don't want any of it? The things we like about the Haven is the quiet escape from the rest of the ship when we need it - but the option to join in with 'gen pop' when they're up to something fun. For the luxury lines, I just don't get the impression that there would be much in terms of 'fun' for us to do. Seems much more low key rather than broadway style shows. More lounge/elevator style music instead of rock cover bands. I like the idea of extra attention and pampering, finer wines and top shelf liquor - but not sure I'm ready to give up the other things just for those perks. If you're looking at the Joy, look into the cabin HH, HI, and HJ rooms. Much cheaper than the courtyard, also much bigger rooms. They're midship and just a short 2 flights to the main Haven areas. So it's a great way to try out Haven at a bit of a discount. So if you don't care for it, at least it didn't break the vacation fund budget completely to try.

Just look clean and you're fine. Hubby wore shorts with a plain gray t-shirt and his "fancy" neon dragon Hawaiian shirt. Officers had uniforms and sports coats, other guests were a mix - no ties, no jackets, but still a mix of polo vs button down vs casual us.

I was on that trip with you. We snagged the garden villa for under 8k total for 4 people.

Been sailing with NCL for 5 yrs now and never once received the cup you're talking about. So it has nothing to do with Covid. With RCC, we always had to give the cup to a bartender to fill for us, so it wasn't something of extra time savings or value to us. Not much different from us bringing our own water bottle on board.

Vibration issues in the aft of the ship are not unique to the Joy. Some people are not bothered by it, others are more sensitive. If I had expected it going in when we were there on Encore, I don't think it would of bothered me as much as it did that first night when it woke us up not knowing what was going on. For us, the bigger issue with being aft is that you're a long way from the Haven exclusive areas. On a ship with a full Haven, for us that's a no-go as we tend to not take advantage of the perks as much as we would if we were closer. The vibration itself wasn't the deal breaker for us - it was the distance. On the smaller ships we would take an aft cabin if the price was right, but those bigger ones with the lounge and bar - nope, not for us.

For the lattitudes dinners, you'll get a coupon in your room at embarkation. Take it with you when you want to cash it in. When you check in at the podium, just give them the coupon with your keycard and they'll note it on your table that you're using the lattitudes coupon instead of your credit or a la carte.

I second the notion that on the Joy, the best Haven rooms are the HH, HI, HJ. Huge rooms, large balcony big enough for a lounger, much cheaper than being in the courtyard - so a great value and close enough to the courtyard area that it isn't an issue being on a different floor. It's our favorite rooms on that ship, have done it both times we sailed on Joy.

Pearl is always booked for charters - great way to find insanely discounted prices is when they get cancelled at the last minute. But the other 2 ships have sailings as far as I can see.

We got to experience it for the first time last month. Total of 3 couples plus 2 officers in the MDR. We didn't get to speak with the one officer much as he was seated toward the other end of the table, but we had a lovely chat with the one near us. He had a lot of interesting stories to share about what he did before joining NCL (laying communications cables in a submarine underwater!), and just talked about general stuff. He was a bit nervous as it was his first time going to one of these, but we heard from one of the Haven managers that he enjoyed his chats with us and is looking forward to his next dinner. Pictures were provided to each couple and each of the officers. They really perked up at that - the one near us was excited to be able to show it to his wife and share the story of the experience with her. We will definitely do it again if it's offered on our next trip. Anyone who is living their life completely differently from me will be interesting dinner conversation in my eyes. If I only wanted to ever talk to people with similar lives to my own I wouldn't bother traveling in the first place.

Think I may have mentioned this already, but a good non-Haven bar on Joy is Maltings. The female bartender there is the wife of one of the Haven bartenders. Both are a lot of fun and well loved by guests. I have a new appreciation for the Sugarcane bar as well. The coco mojito was super refreshing and went down quick, plus there's the bonus sail & sustain bar just outside to check in and see what special of the day they have going.