JamesIowa

I’ve never seen it go on sale, but I think there’s a lot of value in FAS+. I always upgrade to unlimited internet with streaming. On my upcoming 15 day cruise that’s $379 that I’m going to spend regardless. FAS+ w/streaming Wi-Fi is $780 less the $379 that I had planned on spending anyway, that means I get Premium plus (which I love and don’t want to cruise without) and 2 specialty dining credits for $401. To upgrade to PP alone would be $522 + 2 specialty dining at $82….$604 in value for $401 (33% savings?…something like that). Economies scale to 7 day cruises but I don’t have the exact figures (well, don’t want to look it up). Even better if streaming Wi-Fi isn’t required, FAS+ would then be $630. Note: this is based on a solo cruiser. It’s been a long day and tired of dodging tornadoes.

One of my favorite things on a cruise are the nights I can do early dinner / show in theater / drinks / casino / late night room service or hitting the local. I can sub some of the theater shows with Beatles at the cc, or live music at Q, etc but WoF/TPiR just doesn’t satisfy. I’m sad to see the big shows go, and I have always felt/heard that was just going to be the way it is going fwd. it still didn’t stop me from booking future cruises and buying cn,cf certs but I just wasn’t as pumped for future bookings. I am glad to hear they’re working on something to fill that void. Even if it’s not in time for my next sailing (joy, 30 Nov 24…anybody heard anything re: auditions, rumors?) I think that’ll be good enough to keep me around.

I mean, yeah, you’re not going to get an aft facing solo balcony, not sure what you meant by this over generalization. I booked a solo balcony on joy about a year in advance and am on deck 12 mid. There were other locations to choose from, and higher decks iirc, only picked deck 12 as that’s where others in my party are staying (and they even put us within a cabin or two apart).Some are in a good location, some bad….so like every cabin category then?

It’ll be a bit larger. There’s a thread a page or 2 back for the spreadsheet of breakaway cabins. This vid will give you an idea, taken from cabin 12180 which is the same type/ angle of bump just further towards the bow edit: sorry that’s from encore edit: thread with breakaway balcs

For sure. Take that up to the observation lounge on deck 15 and it’s about the perfect way to start a day in AK. If the lounge is crowded, or you want an incredible view while you eat, the front of the garden cafe on deck 16 directly overlooks the observation lounge as well and has the same view.

I usually add a promotion called Free at Sea Plus which includes premium beverage package and Starbucks among other things. I love it and it works exactly like you’d think. Same drinks you’d get on land, no catch. Start every morning with a double vanilla iced breve. Their hours are listed in the daily program, and while I don’t recall the exact hours, they open pretty early (0600? 0700?) and stay open all day. Don’t recall every seeing any complaints on this board to the contrary, which is very unusual now that I think about it. The Local has a slightly trimmed down menu in the wee hours, but it’s great alternative to room service if you’re out and about.

I prefer the “westbound/southern” transit, but really I think for the NCL itinerary. Starts with a few sea days and the transit ends with the crossing of the Bridge of Americas. Get to see it all during daylight, whereas sometimes in the other direction the transit starts at like 0200 (e.g. Bliss 2023 LA-Mia). Last port is Cabo, and while the time in port is better coming the other way, I’ve done so many MR cruises that have Cabo as the last port, it’s feel weird doing it “backwards” with Cabo as first port.

You are correct. You’d each get a set of 2 platinum vouchers (assuming that’s what you meant). Each voucher is good for 2 people, so each would get 4 latitude specialty dining plus your FAS…so 6 total on a 7 day cruise. If you do FAS+ those extra sd vouchers cannot be shared though. I often cruise with my mom, always separate cabins and we do this every cruise (1 plat 1 sapphire). The only other rub would be if you got vibe cabanas. They include 2 access passes but you can only include others in your cabin. I end up paying the full boat price for 2 but it only includes me (still worth it tho).

Agree! Had the pleasure of sailing with him a few times over the years; spice and vibe. Friendly, but not overly so, which I appreciated. More genuine.

According to the port schedule, jewel is the only ship in port that day….makes it a bit easier since you will then dock in berth 92 instead of getting an outer harbor berth which can take longer. Also much less crowding as there will only be jewel pax disembarking/preparing to embark. Self assist disembark will def help, I’d plan to get off as early as possible with that tight flight time. Can’t help re: when disembark will start / time off ship as that depends on when they’re cleared, if facial recognition is being used, number of customs officers, etc. Imo get off as quickly as possible (I.e. walk very very fast) and order your Uber as soon as you’re outside. You should be ok, although I’m not sure I’d get that early of a flight in socal; still have weekday traffic to contend with, etc. good luck! Correction: schedule shows berth 93, but pretty much same/same.

Imo NCL is very accommodating for mobility scooters….and there’s usually a bunch of them. My mother uses a scooter and has never really had a problem, even with tenders (although that can change depending on sea conditions and types of tenders used). Navigating around the ship is fairly easy, although you may have to wait a bit longer for an elevator with adequate room. Room navigation is not possible, or very difficult, in a standard cabin / door, but the HA cabins are huge with push button activated doors, easy roll-out to balcony, massive bathrooms and shower.

Now that is naive. Friend, that’s how the world works. NCL does not make these policies. Of course they try to influence them in their interest, do you live under a rock?

Imo this is part of the cruise experience. You get the chance to see a beautiful new spot everyday from your floating resort, but there’s a good chance every place you stop is going to have other cruise ships doing the same thing. Ever been to Cabo, Cozumel, costa maya, to name a few when there are 4+ ships in port? It’s a madhouse. Throngs of people trying to do exactly what you’re trying to do, usually at the same time, but that’s what you signed up for. ‘The responsibility rests solely with the destination, its people, policies and law.

Call when? Daily? This is something they said would be offered months ago, yet released no information. Many of us have been checking multiple times per day for months. We have been calling our PCCs frequently and being told no one knows. Thanks for weighing in tho. never attribute to animosity that which can adequately be explained by stupidity.

@vacation44 good news! I called my PCC and she said she was able to add a cabana to my res on joy in Nov. Interesting though it’s listed on confirmation as $699 but on last 15 day cruise it was $749.

It’s frustrating to say the least; one should not have to dedicate the time and stress to get this sorted. Seems pretty easy, you have a thing that I want. I want to give you money for this. Money can be exchanged for goods and services. Just be consistent is all we are asking. There is no other ship with vibe cabanas that operate this way. Clearly there are people who are willing to pay extra, then extra again, for their own designated sanctuary. <hyperbole> Is it the biggest deal in the history of the world? Yes. </hyperbole> is this a big deal for my cruise? Also yes.

That’s why we didn’t do it lol, especially after waking up at 0500 the day before for the transit. Heard a lot of good things about it though. We really enjoyed it. It’s still a fairly long day with an early start but one of the highlights of the cruise. As mentioned above, our guide for the tour was the same guy who did the narration onboard while we transited the canal.

Were you on the Dec bliss cruise as well or is this a more common occurrence? We took the dome rail car tour in Panama City and our guide (think his name was Miguel, he did the broadcast narrative on the ship as we transited, very smart and interesting dude) said the poor critter got caught in the basin. I dubbed him the Lock-o-dile.

It was so hot out there I believe that’s about the last thing I’d want to do. I’m so lazy I grabbed that screen cap off the bliss live feed while sitting in the observation lounge.

Having sat through my fair share of photo (up)sales I can only imagine what a perspectives session cost. If they’re anything like their land based counter-parts it’s probably a lot of: “most people go with the $12,000 platinum package that includes…” ”these are once in a lifetime memories, can’t put a price on that!” ”it may seem like a lot of money but it’s really only the price of a cup of coffee every 30 minutes” ”of course if you can’t afford the platinum package we have the popular gold package for only $8,000” ”don’t think of the cost, remember the value” The whole business model seems so outdated. Everybody has access to pretty good cameras. If you really wanted formal family photos you could easily do it on your own, worse case scenario you watch a few yt videos on posing and framing. Obviously there will be differences in quality, but for the price? Given the other option is free?

@vacation44 do you have a contingency plan if they’re still fcfs for your cruise? I wonder if a voluntary contribution to the vibe staff might help ensure they’re “reserved” for your party.

Yes, but having checked every day since the time joy cabanas were announced until 2 minutes ago, the option has never appeared. It’s mentioned in “explore ships” but nothing listed under “entertainment”. my PCC said they would be available for reservations “some time after” refurb…but nobody seems to really know. it’s not that it’s sold out, they haven’t been sold yet. We’re literally trying to throw more $ their way and can’t? Very non-NCL like.

It is! Here are a few pics from my bliss pc cruise in Dec 23….i thought we were going to hit for sure. One of my favorite parts of the entire cruise.

Awesome walk through of Joy vibe post refurb Courtesy of YouTuber Mike (@mikesBarbaricYawp) can’t wait to be on the tippy-top deck when passing under bridge of the americas on Nov Panama Canal cruise!