Goldenknight

We aren't professional whingers (i.e. the current thread about someone's unending laundry list of Jewel complaints). We had some significant "challenges." Won't note them here. Just two thoughts unique to this specific cabin type: ** You are below the Haven smoking deck 19. Sitting outside on your beautiful huge deck, it is noticeable, especially if cigar smokers (actually, cigars prohibited on deck 19, but some Haven guests will ignore this) ** the crew power washes deck 19 late at night. As in 11 p.m, or 1 am. It is very loud in the Master Bedroom, but even in the Second Bedroom, far side of the Suite.) They do move the furniture first, so the scraping and shifting of loungers will let you know the power washing is about to begin. 🙂 I'd still choose this cabin on a different ship, it's absolutely stunning! We just know that the Joy is not for us. You will love this cabin, ryarger!

Hopefully, the Bliss, which goes into drydock in January, will also be converting theirs into Premier Owner's Suites.

We are just off the Joy, Premier Owners' Suite. Basic information: ** Living room: Furniture is similar to the photos posted above in this thread. Different ottoman. Just one coffee table in front of sofa, but it was unusable, unless you unloaded the stacks of very, very large art books piled on the table. Strange, like they don't really want you to use the table. Different second arm chair, which was missing from the room until day 3. Apparently, it was being repaired in the onboard woodworking shop. ** Dining room: There were eight chairs at the table instead of the six shown in photo above. The shades in the dining room were always pulled up, but the sheers stayed closed. Since the dining room overlooks the Haven Lounge, don't walk around half-dressed. . . . everyone in the lounge can see in. ** Master Bedroom: Bed faced the wrap around floor to ceiling windows. Small seating area, with 2 chairs, on separate deck accessed through bedroom door. ** Master Bathroom: Larger than necessary. Double sinks, deep soaking tub, separate walk in fancy shower with floor to ceiling window, vanity area. Toilet space with sliding door. ** Master Bedroom closet: A walk in closet as large as an inside cabin. It was enough hanging space, drawers, and cabinets for four people. ** Second bedroom: King sized bed, with a vanity area. Separate doors to closet. Separate door to private full bathroom. Lots of drawers and closet space. ** Third bedroom: our cabin steward called it the "kids' bedroom" . . . it was a full sized sofa that converted to a full sized bed, on which steward used mattress topper. This room also had vanity, multiple storage area/closets, and private full bathroom. ** Fourth bathroom is just off the long hallway entering the cabin. Half bathroom. ** Outside forward facing deck, accessed by sliders from the living area. Had Four cushioned loungers. Also a dining room table with four cushioned chairs. This is separate from the little outside deck with two chairs accessed through bedroom. At turndown, steward removed all cushions from outdoor furniture and placed them behind the curtains in the living area. Steward replaced them every morning. This was the more exquisite cabin we've had. We had an amazing steward and butler. There was a parade of employees who came to our cabin after embarkation, to introduce themselves, give us their business cards, and implore us to contact them directly with any request. The butler will take your orders for drinks to be kept at the bar area, fully stocked each day of your cruise. This was done on embarkation day. For a multitude of reasons, we would never choose to sail on the Joy again. Nor would we ever choose this particular itinerary for any future cruise. We would choose this cabin on a different ship, absolutely!

This thread is a wind-up, right? Read some of the comments above, regarding the negativity and, bless, "hand-wringing"...the laundry list of complaints some people spew. Some reviews are filed on the Fiction shelves . . .

Yes, it exists. Example : The Joy Deluxe Owner's suite, on 18th deck, has three bedrooms. The master bedroom is forward facing oceanview cabin with bed close to window. Not likely to find this type of cabin in steerage, hahaha

Yes. And the drummer's name is still Jun, not Juan, or John, or whatever.

I cruise for an entirely different reason than many other cruisers. For us, the ship is the destination, an opportunity to relax, and enjoy just being at sea. My suggestions to two posters here on this thread: perhaps a bit more research into the ports to which you are **briefly** stopping. For example, having a "real chance to visit the Gambia" is an intriguing statement, me asking, "why?" My family was fortunate to live in Dakar, Senegal for about four months. IMHO, Gambia (being the finger in Senegal's mouth), is a puzzling stop. Angola is another puzzling stop. Travelling up the West Coast of Africa is unlikely to be the cruise for hopping on a safari, even if one could be done within short port times. If one's goal is to say we visited 8 or 10 African countries, so be it. Safaris would be perfect as a land based tour, through Botswana, Zambia, etc.

NCL does not "strand" passengers, nor do "All cruise lines." Passengers "strand" themselves. Take accountability for yourselves if you choose to disembark at any ports. The level of shifting blame to someone else (i.e. the ship's captain) has increased exponentially . . . One example only: Imagine, being "stranded" at a remote Alaskan location (hahaha, Ketchikan) because your family of nine just MAY have decided to not return to the ship like all of the other 100+ passengers on that lumberjack show tour, but lollygagged in town.

You may request your Haven butler to provide a proper cuppa. We never used the machine in our cabin. We arranged tea service for 7 am. every morning . . . a pot of hot water with individual Tea Forte Earl Grey (same as those provided in cabin by machine). Tea cups/saucers/spoons, and tea pot. The carafe of hot water stays hot for at least an hour, which is why the butler won't make the tea in the tea pot for you (it gets cold quickly) plus who wants stewed tea if you have a lie-in till 8? Butler will do tea service with your afternoon canapes, or any other time.

THIS! NCL did absolutely nothing wrong. If there were 150 people on this excursion, it's noteworthy that everyone else made it back to the ship on time except this family. Now, the 3 adults in this family are not going to admit to anyone, especially now, that when the show ended, they decided to go shopping, buy drinks, or use the restrooms. They gambled on there being more buses, ready to take them at their whim. Moreover, it is not the duty of the tour operator or bus drivers to search the town, looking for the missing family who chose to take their time when the show ended. There are always people who luv2whine and sometimes pesky facts get in the way of their whining. The only unfortunate aspect of this is NCL paying out any reimbursement whatsoever for poor decisions made by people who won't take responsibility for themselves. The show (tour) ended, get on a bus like all of the other NCL guests who managed to board on time.

If you're on a ship, such as Bliss, it is a combined library/card room. It will not be quiet. Mah-Jongg groups use the room. I can't go anywhere without something to read. If you're the same, just bring Kindle or actual books (my preference). As a steward of my Little Free Library, in my front garden, I'm in the habit of bringing many books on board, just to leave behind. My spouse uses the LIbby app through our public library and downloads books prior to embarkation.

If this destination is important to you, perhaps it would be worthwhile to investigate visiting French Polynesia land vacation only. It's been a long time since we visited there, but we deliberately chose to plan a land vacation. We used exclusively IHG hotels-- on Papeete for a few nights, and then about two weeks in a beach bungalow at Bora Bora Le Moana. During those two weeks on Bora Bora, we met many passengers cruising on Paul Gauguin. It seemed there was never enough time in port, according to them. The destination was important to us, so it might be wise to look into other options besides a cruise

We will be in this suite on the Joy in a couple months. Never posted photos online, anywhere, ever, nor videos. Willing to confirm whether the stock photos match what it looks like when we embark, and also will answer any questions posted, such as amenities or the size/layout of the 3 bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms.

Reading comprehension skills are challenging for some. FYI, the snippet regarding the CC folks was from someone else's review of the Prima, not my review. And, it's totally separate from my own opinion that there are serial whiners who are never happy, be it the poor grammar NCL allegedly used in an email to them, or the lack of a specific alcohol on board. Finally, I don't consider this site "social media" at all. It's not FB, tweets, snaps or whatever that nonsense is called. Thanks for the "advice", though, that it is. FYI , there is another frequent traveler forum on which I have contributed for decades, it has over 750,000 members. Meanwhile, I had Earl Grey tea and a scone for breakfast today. 😄

+1 This is the most intelligent post ever, anywhere on this forum. Thank you. There is a reason I don't do ANY social media whatsoever, like FB. People seem to have unlimited time to "like" or "hate" millions of people's posts with little emojis. The negativity of serial whiners is reflected in someone's recent review of the Prima: ******* Other observations: This cruise included a contingent of folks from "Cruise Critic" they traveled en-masse and disrupted other passengers wherever they went. They were loud and obnoxious. Thankfully they only disrupted an area they took over for about an hour, then moved on to another venue. I now have a VERY negative opinion of these folks. ******* I ignore threads started by certain whiners who enjoy griping about every imagined slight. It's easy to also ignore the serial complainers. FWIW, I would write a positive review of the Prima, but why bother, and indeed have booked again for another 11 day sailing. . . . an amazing price in the Haven this time that was irresistible.

Thank you for your perspective. So far, every cruise has been with my spouse, or with spouse and adult daughter. Like you, always planning around what they prefer to do. Sometimes that means sitting through a Deal or No Deal game in the Atrium (**sigh**). No one buys game cards, but somehow it's "entertaining" to people watch. (*sigh*) We will go to the art auction once every cruise for the humor, but the "humor" in the Deal games escapes me. I need to try this solo cruising.

Spouse and I absolutely would never buy anything at ship art auction, but we always make a point of going to one for 15 minutes or so every cruise. It's better than the comedy shows on board. If it makes money for NCL, so be it. Good for NCL. It is unfortunate that the OL was closed, as those places are usually packed with people.

(1) I disagree . . . . no one is obligated to do anything, including "making up any deficiencies in the DSC." It's a business. (2) It's idealistic to suggest deducting from the DSC and then giving that same amount of money to stewards, waiters, etc. It's the "etc" part that is illogical. What about the crew who cleans public bathrooms, or the crew who wipes down elevator buttons and handrails, or the dishwashers we don't see?

I didn't intend to be stroppy in noting that the Siglo drummer's name is Jun. I think my spouse and I are just overly aware of the significance of names in other cultures. We live in a city where many of our neighbors are Filipino-American. We try out our Tagalog with the Filipino crew often, and they are graciously patient and correct us as necessary. Hence, in speaking with Jun, we knew his name had meaning, but that it's Jun. Funny story (maybe just to my spouse and me): there are many Indonesian crew. If they are from Bali, their names have significant meaning: typically, named according to birth order. So, there are many crew named "Gede". That means a first born boy (can also be called Wayan). At the "How to Run a Floating Hotel", DanDan asked for any positives from the audience. One guest said she wanted to thank Gede for his excellent service in the MDR. Dan politely thanked her. Later, in the MDR, we mentioned this to our lovely waiter. He laughed uproariously. He said if a supervisor asked to speak to Gede, 100 crew members would raise their hand

Adding a sixth thought to my original post above: (6) No matter what NCL may do to resolve a guest issue, some people may never be satisfied. (imagine the famous line from "The Merchant of Venice." 🙂) Sort of off topic about learning life lessons: we've been fortunate to have schnauzers in my family for decades. Our second schnauzer developed cancer in his rear leg, high up near the hip joint. The oncology veterinarian recommended amputation, and assured us it wouldn't impact the quality of that dog's life. He was right. Not long after recovery, that beautiful tripod dog was happily prancing on his walks once again, grateful to still be with his family. Sheer happiness for everyone, not just him. Well. Sometimes, nitpicking and whining consumes your life, eh?

Thank you to both "inside cabin" and "mk8288" for the information and screenshots. I don't recall getting any specific Memorial Day sale offer beyond what is posted on their site as a "header" at the top of their home page. I do get those monthly "insider" emails, but only scan quickly. Sailing on the Prima soon, rechecked the codes, and we are each getting more than 3 extra bonus points for this sailing. Because earning Latitudes points doesn't incentivize us, it is still great for our daughter, who gets to the last tier she wanted. Ooops, for the first time, I read the post from "mk8288" in the link to the other thread about these extra points. Yes, you even used the same adjective as me in your post from April: "crazy" amount of points earned. You noted you can get 60 Lat points for a 7 day cruise . . . . we are on an 11 day cruise. Again, we don't check for these point promos, so it's nice to get them, without even realizing that's what was booked.

We at a tier level now that makes earning lots of points on each cruise somewhat inconsequential - - - for us, anyway. So, our next cruise this year is soon on the Prima. Looking at the codes for this reservation, we are each earning a crazy amount of tier points per day. It's the most we've ever earned per day on any NCL cruise. Are these tier earning offers targeted to some cruisers only, or available to everyone who books directly through NCL? Just curious how this happened for this upcoming cruise because I didn't see it in my offers, via email , nor when logged in to my NCL account.

On one of our three cruises so far on NCL this year, we had cabin "concerns" when we embarked on day one. Everything was resolved gracefully and efficiently on that day. (1) It's not helpful to complain about it online, either during or after your cruise. Give NCL the chance to fix it. (2) No need to ever go to Guest Services. If you don't see your cabin steward in the hallway, just use the cabin phone. The steward's "handy phone" number is always on. (3) Because the stewards are also responsible for luggage delivery on embarkation day, it may be the asst deck supervisor who first comes to your cabin that day. NCL does everything possible to make guests happy, ALWAYS. There may be only one cabin service a day, but the stewards now have 24 "touches" of cabins per day, rather than the previous 30.

It's a stunning example of no self-awareness when a poster here doesn't want to acknowledge that it is indeed her silly comments about why they will loudly protest the level of daily service charges (it's not someone else's comments). Summary of their rant: "I know the daily service charge is posted all over NCL. I don't care, I will continue to choose NCL rather than another cruise line. I will then continue to rant about NCL and its' employees, whom are not worth that service charge of $20, but only worth $16.50, and then I will continue to lower it every single cruise." NCL will not miss you. Bye.

So revealing, the foot stomping occurring, not tipping more than the alleged "industry standard" and making a huge point to loudly remove any extra service charges beyond that "other" cruise line's posted percentage. Hint: Don't choose NCL, pick one of those other cruise lines. NCL won't miss you. If you can't afford it, stay home. 🤔