Happytime22

thats was the NCL rep said?

1 minute ago, Yorkvillain said:

The Joy leaves from Brooklyn and not Manhattan? 

Thats what I was told by NCL for Aug 2024?  Was that info wrong?

We live in NJ and my DW and 2 sons (21, 23) have cruised on both RCL and NCL… Oasis and Breakaway, among others.  We are looking at booking a Summer 2024 (somewhere local to NJ as we do not want to fly) with our 2 College kids and are trying to decide based on what we know, or have been told, about the two lines.

RCL Symphony of the Seas Pro’s:

·        Pier in Bayonne NJ easiest to use

·        Ship has a sports area (one son really likes tournaments)

·        Think entertainment better (keyword: THINK… need help on this)

·        Goes to their two owned islands

RCL Symphony of the Seas Con’s

·        The Boys wanted to try other than a non-oasis ship

·        Cruise more expensive

·        Boys liked NCL food better

·        Booze Package EXPENSIVE

·        Dining Package EXPENSIVE

NCL Joy’s Pros:

·        Cruise less expensive (especially with military discount)

·        Boys liked food on NCL better

·        Booze Package CHEAPER as only pay gratuities

·        Dining Package CHEAPER and only pay for passengers 3&4

·        All loved the cruise on Breakaway MANY years ago, but that may have been due to Julie (cruise Director there)

·        An extra day on cruise

NCL Joy’s Con’s:

·        TA and others think Brooklyn Pier is terrible (IMPORTANT: need other’s thoughts on this) as compared to Bayonne

·        No Sports area for tournaments (heard it is now gone)

·        Worried about entertainment shows

Both ships seem similar in age, size, rooms, etc.

We live in NJ and my DW and 2 sons (21, 23) have cruised on both RCL and NCL… Oasis and Breakaway, among others.  We are looking at booking a Summer 2024 (somewhere local to NJ as we do not want to fly) with our 2 College kids and are trying to decide based on what we know, or have been told, about the two lines.

RCL Symphony of the Seas Pro’s:

·        Pier in Bayonne NJ easiest to use

·        Ship has sports area (one son really likes tournaments)

·        Think entertainment better (keyword: THINK… need help on this)

·        Goes to their two owned islands

RCL Symphony of the Seas Con’s

·        The Boys wanted to try other than a non-oasis ship

·        Cruise more expensive

·        Boys liked NCL food better

·        Booze Package EXPENSIVE

·        Dining Package EXPENSIVE

NCL Joy’s Pros:

·        Cruise less expensive (especially with military discount)

·        Boys liked food on NCL better

·        Booze Package CHEAPER as only pay gratuities

·        Dining Package CHEAPER and only pay for passengers 3&4

·        All loved the cruise on Breakaway MANY years ago, but that may have been due to Julie (cruise Director there)

·        An extra day on cruise

NCL Joy’s Con’s:

·        TA and others think Brooklyn Pier is terrible (IMPORTANT: need other’s thoughts on this) as compared to Bayonne

·        No Sports area for tournaments (heard it is now gone)

·        Worried about entertainment shows

Both ships seem similar in age, size, rooms, etc.????

46 minutes ago, Rogueperson said:

I did the UDP once.  It was only a 5 night cruise, but it was the 5 night leg of a total of 14 night b2b.  Nice comparison between the two.  Here are my takeaways.

 

Even 5 nights, i started to get sick of it.  I was on Adventure of the Seas, there were 3 specialty restaurants plus Johnny Rockets (I don't really count them because i'm not really a fan).  The menus obviously don't change.  Because my wife and I would never get the same things, we pretty much tried most of the menu pretty quickly.  The menus after a couple visits easily become stale.  Some lunch venues were not available due to special events on sea days, so i ate at Chops more times than I did at the others.  You have to like every specialty restaurant, or your choices get even more limited.  I found Izumi's to be lacking, so I ended up bouncing back and forth between Chops and Giovanni's.  By the 1st day of the 2nd leg, I could not eat steak anymore and it probably wasn't until my 4th night, I could eat it again because i got tired of it.

 

The sweet spot for the UDP, in my opinion, double the number of days to specialty restaurants you're willing to eat at.  Adventure had 3, so the sweet spot for the UDP, would be a 6 night cruise.  So anything on the Radiance, Vision and some Voyager classes would be wasted if longer than 6 nights.  Enchantment, I would not bother unless you wanted to eat Chops for the entire cruise to get your money worth.  So anything on Oasis or Quantum Class would be worth it., but smaller, i wouldn't do it for more than 6 nights

SMART!

It is definitely starting to look like a smaller package of meals, rather than the UDP, is the way to go.

Sorry... I am looking through the eye's of a Dad with 2 kids in College (one undergrad the other grad) and retirement knocking.  Maybe I should change my screen name to AlmostBroke22????

OUCH!  $450 p/person!   I'll ask the boys if they are willing to pay their own tuition this year!

Thks for the clarity!

28 minutes ago, Rogueperson said:

That is high for the UDP.  The 3 night is a much better offer.  373.99 comes out to 53/person while the 3 night dining package comes to 43.99 per person.  If you throw in lunch at all the 3 days at sea, you're down to 37.39 per meal, but Lunch is only worth like 20-25 bucks depending where you eat (not to mention their $20.00 credit deal they tacked on)  That really isn't much of a deal.  I'm not even including tip as its going to be 18% off the top anyways.  Dynamic pricing hard at work squeezing the most it can.

 

Does that mean if you buy a 3 day or 4 day or.... you get both lunch and dinner?  I thought it was only for Dinner for those # of days?

Thanks very much all.  We are ONLY Platinum so D+ is ... far far away in another Galaxy!

I was feeling cheap for telling my DW that the UDP was too expensive but I now don't feel so bad!

Also, that 'link' to the RCL Planner for the 8/24 sailing was GREAT!

Thanks again and I will be using CC more often! 

If u buy the ??? Day Dining rather than the unlimited.... are u able to book times ahead of the cruise?

Your right... I see it now  WOW Thanks!!!!!  It shows 3 night not UDP right now.  Lunches seem to be a lot cheaper.... why?

Thanks... I think 8/2024 is too far out to have anything on it now thought

nice suggestions... will look into

wow this does add up!  Thanks all

Island Beachdog:  Is that with whatever the mandatory tip is?

Thks firefly333!

Really... they don't let you know the prices on a cruise that you pay for with a non-refundable deposit?

That makes it tough to compare?

Do you have to book your cruise first to find out what the different dining packages cost for a family of four?

thks... that KILLS Joy for us!

Have viewed multiple entries and one says it 'DOES' have a SPorts area with Volleyball/Basketball then I read another and it says 'DOES NOT'?  HELP, as if it doesn't it is a 'deal-breaker' for my 'College-Kids'