JandC_Cruising

There was no "hard sell" at all, from our opinion. We did the short tasting, then did the cooking demo/lunch with plenty of pours and then we had 15 minutes or so to walk through the retail shop with all the various tequilas and other item (seasonings, glassware, shirts, etc.). There was a constant flow of other buses doing tastings only coming through, so there was no time for the hard sell. Nothing like trying to navigate through the hard sell at the Mandera spa after a massage!!!!!🤪

We did the excursion last March on the Joy. It was a short bus drive to a tequila tasting room/shop where they walked through the process of making tequila and the various "grades" with sips of each. The tequila was ok, but nothing remarkable in our opinion. After the short tasking, they then walked us around the property to a private dining/open kitchen area where two women demonstrated various traditional tacos that were paired with the various tequilas. They even provided each guest with a small ball of masa that we each hand pressed into our own tortilla, which they cooked and then used for one of the tacos. They were not short with the food or pours. The guide is pouring the tequilas and knows frequent pours lead to better tips.🤣 All in all we enjoyed the excursion and thought it was a good deal with our $50 shorex credit and platinum discount.

The go-carts are fun and definitely worth a spin that the kids will like. My 21+ yo kids enjoyed the track and all the slides. The Local has several games (pop-a-shot and such) that they also took advantage of for a fee. mini-golf in the aft as well. There's no ropes course on the Joy.. The "jogging track" is much like all ships, on 17 going around the upper level overlooking the main sun deck. It's easy to get a good jog in the early mornings, but after that, it will be filled with sunbathers. The fitness center on the Joy is good with plenty of treadmills.

@expectthebestThe Bermuda run is fanastic. Did it on the Joy in June 2022 with our grown (20's) kids and had a blast! (Also in 2019 on the Escape). The Joy is a great ship. The boys will love the race track. The refurbishing is adding a thermal spa (which NCL has great ones on their other ship) and yes, stealing some space from the Observation lounge. IMHO, unless the weather is bad, the OL is not a big deal on warm weather cruises) The days docked in Bermuda are wonderful since you are free to come and go as you please throughout the stay. Getting around the island is very easy with either shared vans, private taxis, or ferries. Definitely take the NCL Ferry to St. George's for a day out on that end of the island. (Tobacco bay beach on that end is a small beach) There is a shared van (when filled it goes) to Horseshoe Bay. Very simple and efficient. If you want chairs and umbrellas, just bring some cash. We always just brought beach towels and sat on sand. There is a great (although expensive) excursion called "hidden gems" that takes you on a hike through the woods, and through sections of the Bermuda caves including swimming in a cave cliff (small) jumping, lunch, and some snorkeling. This is different than just going to the public "crystal caves". "Active Boys" will love that. Also there are 1/2 dozen or more snorkel excursions and as someone mentioned fun Jetski tours available right on the dock by the ship. Wednesday nights in Hamilton is their little street festival; a mix of entertainment, street vendors, and street foods. Again, the kids would probably enjoy the scene. All in all, there is tons to do in Bermuda and being there for three days with a floating hotel is a wonderful vacation!

LOL...I often make the same mistake, but typically that's after spending way too much of the day drinking in the Vibe! :🤪

The vibe on the Getaway has a double hot tube that is covered on the starboard side of the ship. These do not cantilever off the side like they do on the Plus ships. The port side of the vibe (since it's been expanded) just has loungers.

We always give our bags to the porters outside and simply each carry a backpack with essentials (including swimsuits and lotion) to enjoy the 1st afternoon on-ship. We have no desire to drag our bags all over creation or even look to find a place to store them while we wait for our room. In all our cruises we've never waited past 5pm for our bags and never needed anything until showering and changing for dinner the first night.

That stinks....I hate continuous shuffle and the $50 table on the Joy in March (It was next to the craps table) was 8-deck hand shuffle. I understand NCL's motivation to speed up play (and their revenues) but it was nice having at least one table as an option.

The last three cruises (all this year) on Encore, Joy, and Getaway all had ONE table in the main casino area that was $50 minimum with an 8-deck hand shuffle. Other than that one table, all others were continuous shuffle and either $15 min (a few) or $25 min

The issue with this "strategy" is that if the excursion is sold out they will not let you cancel and immediately re-book if there is a waiting list for open spots, which often there are. If you cancel, your spot(s) will be offered to the first on the waiting list. And, as others mentioned, then you have even more OBC. If there is an excursion you want to be sure you take, best to book it ahead to ensure your spot.

First off, as is mentioned often, you do need to be prepared to get a cabin "anywhere" on the ship if you win a bid. This may, or may not be an issue to you. Only you can decide that. If you are particular about where you are on the ship (mid-ship, particular floor or range of floors, etc.) they do not bid as you may end up with a club balcony on a floor/location you are not happy with. All that said, we very much like the Club Balcony's for the larger bathroom. We enjoyed a club balcony on the Getaway this summer. It was a wonderful cabin. But we picked the cabin and knew exactly what was to the left, right, above, and below....Winning a bid doesn't give you that control.

They will not open your bags and count your bottles without you being present. Once they count they will charge the corkage fee to your on-board account (if you do not have a drinks package) and let you go on your merry way with your luggage and wines. They will only confiscate the wine if you request them to hold the bottles until the end of the cruise. For example, if you were traveling through Italy pre cruise and purchased some wines to bring home, and didn't wish to consume them on the ship, they will confiscate them and hold until the last day of the cruise (Just as they do when you buy a bottle of Rum in the Caribbean).

Yep...She's scheduled to cruise out of NY through April '24 . She heads back to Europe on April 29, 2024 (NYC to Southampton).

Here is the thread that I started months ago when we first noticed that all the Spa Cabins were sold out for 2024 and beyond. Just yesterday, those of us who made reservations earlier this year for 2024 and later in Spa Cabins received the official letter notifying us of the re-classification and ensuring that our reservation would still include access to the Thermal Spa.... However, as mentioned, moving forward, there will be no "Spa Cabins" in any category according to the letter.

Some cruises have post cruise land vacations options (like adding a land tour through Alaska at the end of the cruise for multiple days). But i don't know why they say "must be selected".

We just decided to book a December 2026 Egypt cruise on Viking yesterday and was shocked to see an October 31, 2024 final payment date! Rather than jumping in, we put a 72hr hold on it and then called to make sure it was correct. They said yes. We are planning to do pre and post add-ons to the cruise which adds another 10K to the total. Do you know if those can be added on at a later date? I'd rather not pay all $30K so early but would be fine paying 20K in Oct '24 and adding the other add-on's sometime in 2025 and paying those at that time. Since you've done quite a bit on Viking do you have any thoughts/experience on adding things after? Thanks..

Last month on the Getaway, the tickets indicated the meeting place and time (Theatre, MDR, Illusionarium...) Once at the meeting place, they will ask that one person from your group hold all the tickets and check-in for the bus # stickers for the whole group. That way they ensure everyone is on the same bus. Pretty simple. The trickiest part is if you have someone in your group that is running late and you don't have their ticket...saw that happen to a few disorganized (hungover?) passenger groups😆

If choosing between those two specifically,, Teppanyaki for the combination of good food and a fun show. We had a great meal and time at Teppanyaki a few weeks ago on the Getaway. Frankly, we haven't been thrilled with Cagney's on our past several visits. It has lost its place in our rotation. We put Le Bistro and Ocean Blue as our top meals and then rotate among others depending upon the ship.

The Pommery Rose was everywhere that we asked for it, including the Vibe. Didn't go to the main pool bar. It was at all the bars on decks 6,7,8 as we could tell (Sunset, Prime Meridian, Mixx, Bar 21, etc.) and on every restaurant wine list.

Just off the Getaway earlier this month. The Premium Plus Champagne available throughout the ship was the Pommery Brut Rose. It was pretty good and we had several glasses throughout the cruise. Le Bistro was offering Veuve Clicquot by the glass, but that was the only place we found it available and we enjoyed that with our starters that evening.

@PhillyTravelBug We are loving your review! We are doing this cruise (in reverse) in 2025. How have the seas been as you've traversed from Iceland to Norway?

Sorry if you thought I was yelling 😀 that was not my intention...I was stressing that "often" the system blocks the 2nd night booking..."but" there is a solution if one is blocked...

making reservations for multiple nights at the same restaurant IS allowed, but the point of my original comment is that OFTEN (as was our case and and several others above) the online system may block you from doing it. BUT it is easily solved (as we did) by calling or chatting online and asking an NCL rep to add the reservation.

There are a few "tricks" to pre-booking reservations. 1. Book your "Fixed Price" reservations first (Teppanyaki or Moderno) so that it uses your F@S certificate. Otherwise it will try to pre-charge you the fixed rate if you already booked other dinners. 2. Online booking will only allow you to book the same restaurant ONCE. You can call and get another night booking for the same specialty restaurant, but for example the system will not allow you to book Ocean Blue for a 2nd night. Call (or use online chat) and an agent can do it if you like. 3. You can book as many Specialty meals as you wish - even if you only have 2 free meals. Just keep in mind the first two rules mentioned above. 4. The system doesn't care or need to know who is dining with you. So if you need a table for 4, just book it. The host will ask how each of you are paying for the meal when you get to the restaurant. 5. The system only has tables for 2, 4, 8...(even numbers). So if you need a table for 1, 3, 5...Just round up to the nearest even number. Again, the host will adjust the number when you arrive.

In short, NCL does not cover any baggage fees with their air booking. The baggage policy will be dictated by the air carrier you get put on. If the airline charges baggage fees, then you will need to pay them, unless you have status on that airline or some other benefit that affords you free baggage on that specific airline. For example, when we get NCL air and get placed on United, we get free luggage due to our United Status. When they gave us a Delta flight, we had to pay for luggage as we don't personally have any status on Delta. When they've put us on Southwest, there was no fees since Southwest doesn't charge baggage fees for anyone.