hallux

I think this is less to do with actual capacity and more to do with ensuring the ability of those going "freestyle" to dine when they want. If they book up the entire MDR with reservations there will be no space for people like myself that prefer to walk up when we want to eat. If they're going to go reservations-only they might as well just go back to traditional dining.

I've also used this hotel. The Hilton LAX seems to have good rates for my January/February trip if a suite is not needed.

I've done what @www3traveler does - stay near the airport then use the hotel shuttle back and meet the cruise shuttle at baggage claim.

I saw that on my Pacific Coastal cruise in 2019.

NCL's fleet-wide menus are posted in many places online. There are 21 or 22 menus from which the head chef can pick for any particular cruise. There's no knowing which of those menus will be on a particular sailing.

Any time you add something to or change something about your cruise (transfer, excursion, pre-pay gratuities, etc) you should receive a new cruise confirmation email with a fresh PDF that now contains the new items you booked.

Thanks. They're seasoned travelers, and unlike his first bout with COVID it was a very mild case. Their cruise was a Hawaii cruise out of LA so his isolation days were all sea days. They managed, but had some challenges. The worst part was that I was planning to pick them up, but so as not to put me at risk for catching it (just a "belt and suspenders" cautionary decision) they had me bring their car to the airport for them to drive themselves home. They get to the car at 1 AM - won't start after I'd driven it less than 12 hours previously! Guess who got a call? I got it started with a jump pack, they got home, I went to their house the next day to go get a new battery and I found the negative cable was loose!

NCL is not the only line with this policy. My dad caught COVID on a Princess cruise earlier this year. Disembarkation and travel home was 5 days after the diagnosis (due to his medical history the ship doctor was actually not comfortable providing him Paxlovid even though he's in the high-risk group), the ground transportation was the same as you got - the pre-paid transfer was cancelled and they were told to get a cab at the curb. My dad turned 80 this year, EIGHTY, and they treated him the same way as you were.

Of course they did, I just got my 20,000 points...

Your UK packages/offers will be very different from what those of us in the US get, but you will probably get many people suggesting not to let NCL book your flights, those are suggestions based on US offers.

Royal's Quantum class ships have solo cabins as well. I think about 1/2 dozen Studio Balcony and a dozen or so Studio inside. As noted - a room designed as a single-occupancy isn't always the best deal. I'm booked on a 15 night Panama Canal cruise on Norwegian, a regular inside was cheaper by ~$500 than a Studio, even as a solo. In 2019 when I was planning my Mexican Riviera cruise my TA at the time ran the numbers - to sail in a balcony with full solo supplement and reduced airfare through the cruise line (had to pay 100% supplement to get the airfare perk) cost me only $60 more than booking a Studio cabin and booking my own airfare. Yes, please...

On my Escape cruise it was only on day 5. I was in line just after 8 for a 9:30 show with several people in front of me (ok, more than several, I was nearly in the elevator lobby)

There was discussion of the GF situation earlier in the day -

When I sailed that itinerary on that ship in March it was as follows - Puerto Plata: stern to the port, pier on the port side St. Thomas: Bow in, pier on the starboard side Tortola: stern in, pier on the port side Don't take this as gospel, they can dock on either side and can always change based on some technical need. They need to run lifeboats periodically, if they decide to run the port boats when in port in PP then they'll dock facing the other direction.

For what it's worth - as people were filing out of the Rumours show on my March Escape cruise one of the people sitting near me exclaimed it was the best performance (of any kind, not just that show) he'd seen on any ship. I'm not sure I'd go THAT far, but they were quite good!!

Every single time I sat with the solo group on my last cruise the servers asked before putting anything on the table if there were any food allergies among the group. On another cruise someone I dined with frequently had an unusual food allergy and they were 100% taken care of. Make sure your TA or PCC (if you used one) lets the cruise line know. You can also review https://www.ncl.com/about/accessible-cruising and fill out the form linked there. On the day you board, be sure to go to the open MDR and speak with the host/hostess, explain your situation, they should make a call and have someone come to meet with you to discuss your needs. Your mom's allergy will be noted on your account and any time you check in at a restaurant someone will come to meet you. They should also provide you with the next night's menu so she can make a selection to be prepared to accommodate the food allergy. The cruise line is VERY serious about ensuring passengers don't fall ill due to food allergies, if they are aware of specific needs they will do everything they can to ensure the needs are met.

The person you quoted said 'check in', not boarding. What I've experienced related to that is that there were two sets of check-in counters, depending on what deck you were on. Boarding was done by group number still.

Not to mention that the performers rotate out periodically...

I was on the Escape in March, I'm not sure if the first show (Rock the Pour House) was a predetermined set list. The Second show was a beginning-to-end cover of Fleetwood Mac's album Rumours so that was set. The last show was a "prom night" theme, that was a predetermined list.

For the OP - if you go out to the thread list for the NCL forum you'll find a drop-down near the top. In that drop-down is the list of ships, select the Joy from that and you'll get a list of topics related to the Joy...

I took one from the Joy in Miami last year. It was out to the Everglades, a short airboat tour and sitting as audience for a wildlife expert. Then back on the bus to get dropped off at MIA.

Specialty dining can be reserved beginning at 120 days prior to sailing unless you're in a suite or The Haven (those are 125 or 130 days). If you want to do cover-charge venues AND a-la-carte, book the cover charge FIRST. They can't charge for an as-yet unknown bill (a-la-carte charges won't be known until you order) but they CAN charge for the cover-charge places in advance if the system sees no SDP credits available (either because you don't have any or because you've already booked a restaurant even if it's a-la-carte).

Like others - I have plastic bag holders with steel cable rings. The holders I have are JUST big enough for NCL tags, I use a paper cutter at work or scissors at home to trim the excess paper off so they fit in the sleeve.

Rickety gangway or not - I'm not sure I want to be traversing the gangway while the island and ship are being battered by a tropical storm/hurricane.

@afn10305 I think ultimately all will be revealed. Whoever made that contact will want attendance at their M&G (I thought there needed to be a minimum agreeing to attend before they would organize it) and I would think they will be looking to the CC roll call to build that list. If they're from some other site (somehow, somewhere) and have a list of people attending, I would hope NCL does as happened with @ljrfrm when they do their research and find that the one they had approved is not really a CC meeting...