K_S

4 hours ago, SliderNc said:

Thanks  Out of curiosity did you book the VIP package or the Jungle & Beach package?  Looks interesting and since it's kid friendly, a plus for us.  Had to justify the three of us for the VIP package.

I don't think they have a VIP available.  Maybe so, not sure.  We took a "third" package which they were going to set up on ground level.  When they messaged us this week and said they had a cancellation for the upper VIP, we switched.  I had told them to put us on the wait just in case.  That would mean our "ground" VIP they were reserving for us would be open. 

Basically, they were converting the lower space reserved for walkups and converting it just for our group of 6.  Honestly, if I weren't stuck on the private bathroom, I would have stayed down there.  It kinda looks like even more space.

Ps., they threw some significant meal credit for the lower section instead of the upper portion...like book the VIP and we will give you 10% off the booking and an extra $50 in meal credit IIRC.

Look up Hayhu Beach Club Muhahual. 

I found it by reading another post on here about CM.  VERY highly rated, non-NCL location close to the port.  We booked the day there. 

Space is limited to 40 ppl.  I know they had a large group cancel (think they were sold out), because I just got an email yesterday that they had upgraded our space to the upstairs terrace.  It was sold out when I made our reservation...

My 15 and 13 y/o teens will be there, which is your kiddos age range I think.

5 minutes ago, complawyer said:

...

 

before posters start yelling at me that there is no need to tip as it's included in the DSC,

as the saying goes, "you get what  you pay for" i personally am more than willing to spend some extra $$$ to up my degree of service.

 

Very much my thought on this.  I'm not trying to be a roller.  These folks go out of our way to make sure we have the best time possible. 

There's a huge rabbit hole this all can go down about tipping and such.  In the end, I think most folks want to show appreciation.  The reason they keep asking, is to know how much seems like a fair amount to do so. 

Thanks for lending your thoughts on who and how much you tend to leave.

50 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

...

 

I hope that is helpful. Be prepared to be told by a lot of folks that it doesn't matter what others tip. And it doesn't. I'm sure plenty of people will judge me for tipping on the low end. I'm ok with that. 

 

Thanks for your reply.  Very helpful. 

Tipping is very personal.  I get that.  It should be what someone feels is appropriate for the assistance they are getting. 

For the folks saying it doesn't matter, it absolutely matters.  If I left a $1 tip for the butler after a week, then that would be considered offensive.  Worse yet, it wouldn't be taken as bonus, but rather a likely symbol that I wasn't happy.

Move the money sliders wherever anyone wants, but the message remains the same.  If someone wants to leave a tip, it's a good practice to know what an average tip might be.  Since many of us don't do this (cruise) often, to say "it doesn't matter" is quite unhelpful. 

A post like yours is excellent.  I have read a couple like it.  I only posted here, because it's the thread I had open and the topic was at-hand right before leaving.  Honestly, there should be a pinned topic to the board since it seems to pop up regularly.  I simply wanted to make sure I took enough cash to cover tips since I don't know how easy it is to get cash on the boat.

In the end, we newbies want to know we can make our tip decisions based upon what everyone else is generally doing, and adjust the numbers according to our budget *and* the level of service which pleased us enough to do so.  :)

8 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Bottom Line. Your Butler and Your Concierge are not included in any gratuities. If you use them. Tip them. 

 

...

Ok.  I thought I had this worked through, but with our cruise leaving in a couple of days, I wanted to be sure.

Background:

Haven; 7-Day cruise; FAS+; PP Gratuities; 6 people in our cabin (4 adults - 2 teens).

• Not really high maintenance.  My parents go on 2-3 cruises per year.  This is my personal family's second ever.  We won't call for help often, but plan to take advantage of the amenities that are offered on occasion. 
• We will use the concierge, although excursions are booked.  Plan to use for entertainment, the service elevator, and incidental needs or adjustments to our trip as needed (like @9tee2Sea suggested above -- pretty much as a central coordination point).
• We will probably have the room stewards tidy up the room a couple of times, although we won't need new amenities such as towels...but they might take a couple away after scuba diving.
• I will totally tip a little additional to the bar tenders.  At the bar, you *always* get what you pay for.
• Maybe tip the maître de $50 at the start of the cruise for choice seating when we go to the Haven Resturant.

Questions: 

• Do you generally keep the same waitstaff when eating there?
• Are the bartenders generally the same/same shifts each day in the Haven?

Tips (cash $):

• Butler - $50 q/day x 7 = $350 - half up front.
• Concierge - $25 q/day x 7 = $175 - all up front.
• Room Steward - $100 at the end - half up front.
• Bartender - $50 up front (if same tender) or $10 upfront on a day we are drinking at the bar more than 1 drink a person. If drinking individually, probably $1 per drink.  I'm only good for about three drinks per day...same with my fam.
• Maître De - $50 - up front
• Waitstaff - Included in FAS+ but certainly willing to drop some extra $$ if waitstaff is amazing.

Analysis:

• Is this excessive?  Are the amounts correct/too high/too low?

My daughter is the same age and we are on that trip.  She was pretty certain she would be stuck with her brother all week.  Ha!

2 hours ago, footer6 said:

We may be getting closer to being able to book the Thermal Suite.  I'm on the April 14 cruise.  For a month, the website had the full week Suite price at $199pp.  Now it it's listed for $299 pp.  Still can't get the purchase to go through on the website though.

Yeah, I'm sure they took the clicks they got over the last few weeks and added that to interest on the ship this week and decided maybe their pricing was not correct. Unforch.

1 hour ago, KyleDefends said:

I am booked on the March 9 Joy cruise.  I just checked and day passes are not available as of right now for the thermal suite.  I can buy a 7 day pass for $199 per person.  I have no idea if day passes will be available after we board.

Have you actually tried checking out and adding the 7-day pass to your cart?  You will get an error.

Still cannot book the Thermal Suite yet on the website for the 9March cruise.  Interesting.

As a side note, for those of you who are discussing non-Thermal Suite topics, I would encourage you to take these talks to a new thread.

Not that I am trying to be a thread police.  I just suspect that there are others who might have similar questions about the Joy, but whom may not read this thread because of the title. 

Thank you for providing the ship update Rush.

3 hours ago, zqvol said:

Do you have any idea how long an Emil would be if it was 100mb?  You have no,idea what you are talking about.

Your premise is generally correct, unless you are trying to send images as attachments...or upload them to something like Dropbox.  Any more, unless you know how to change image resolution to 72dpi, you might be working with 3-5mb files.  If you send 10 of those, you are using a third to half your allotment. 

Not an unlikely scenario if you don't know what you are doing.

It's quite probable that the Starlink gear was installed, but they simply fed the new bandwidth into existing networking gear on the ship.  If that gear was as originally outfitted in 2017, it's certainly understandable that there would be a bottleneck. 

I'm curious if they upgrade the WAPs when they get back to the states.  *shrug*  I suppose I simply won't expect anything good. 

Only thing other's haven't commented on was whether the speeds listed currently are from the standard or premium service tiers...

2 hours ago, SliderNc said:

I can confirm that I can go in for the 3/9 cruise and add the pass to my cart and check out with it.  I was thinking about it for my wife and I, but haven't pulled the trigger yet.  Assuming they get the rest of the work done on the TA they need to do, it would be nice to have for upcoming cruise in 3 weeks.

Not sure how you are able for the March 9 sailing.  Both myself and the Haven concierge get the same error currently.  You can see the pricing, check the boxes, but adding to a cart is not enabled...at least for us.  I just tried it once more right now after reading your post.

11 hours ago, UKstages said:

 

 

 

ok, well, please understand that my report was in fact an onboard report with real world experience. different ship, but onboard.

 

look, we have no reason to believe that passenger internet would be treated more favorably on the joy than on the getaway, but it is certainly possible.  we do have other reports here on cruise critic, however, and they are about the same... within the 2.0 - 2.5 mbps range.

Sorry.  I probably didn't word my response correctly.  I was meaning onboard the Joy, specifically, and maybe for this TA repositioning happening right now. 

I wasn't belittling your experiences.  Likewise, it seems three of us will be on the Joy for the March 9 sailing.  I suppose if all three of us are doing a speedtest at once, we might skew the results.  Ha!

32 minutes ago, UKstages said:

don't applaud too loudly about starlink. it may be more stable and reliable, but NCL throttles the speed to a ridiculous degree. on my recent getaway journey, average speeds on the standard plan were 2.0 mbps down. as for stability... there were periods overnight when the internet connection would drop frequently... sometimes for as long as an hour. 1 am, 2 am... 4 am, etc.

 

i suspect that starlink is providing major advantages for behind the scenes operations and crew members' business use of the internet, but there is virtually no difference from this passenger's perspective.

Hoping someone onboard will give some form of report regarding the speedtest results they see.  I also wonder how much of a difference between the base and streaming options on the new Joy Starlink system.

10 hours ago, tiwi said:

I read that the thermal spa was not completed.  Will they continue to work on it or will it have to go into another dry dock to complete?  Sailing on the Joy in June and that was a big reason I picked that ship.

We are going for spring break, and I can see the option to book the Thermal Spa on their website, but when I try to add it to the cart, it throws an error.  Seems to confirm what you heard.

We sail for spring break in a couple of weeks.  I have heard that the Spa was not completed.  There is a section on the NCL website to book week passes for the Thermal Spa, but you cannot add it to the cart.  That seems to confirm this rumor.  I suppose either SAS or I will be able to confirm soon enough.

It has been said that was one of the upgrades last week.  I suppose we find out in a couple days when she heads back to the US.

Thanks for the responses. 

I'm not the type to carry a keg around with me.  I have had my Yeti for quite a while and it's only 32oz.  Like mentioned, I just like it because it has a lid and is a little more responsible than using up plastic or foam cup each time I want a drink.  I don't drink the contents in it all at once, so it's nice that I can sip on it for a few hours without the ice really melting.  I'll bring a little dish soap to wash things out.

My wife likes to have a couple of cups of coffee through the morning.  She works early and it helps her through her morning day.  Ha!  She just has the large coffee cup size (16oz?) which keeps things warm.

Bump.  Reviews?

Thank you all.  Yes, we will be on the Joy, so it will have the restaurant proper.

Second cruise ever, first NCL trip.  Staying in the Haven (so access to room and whatever drink/coffee service they have there). 

Just curious if Yeti or Stanley cups are allowed onboard and if so, can they be refilled--or do you get a different cup and transfer to your cup?  I'm pretty sure the coffee cups that they have in the dining rooms are too small and my wife will be filling a grande size refill in the cabin to start each day.

11 hours ago, bottsjw said:

The Norwegian Joy will be upfit with Starlink during dry dock in early February. There will also be additional upgrades for the on-ship WiFi to improve coverage. I'll provide a status/speed test during the 13-Feb transatlantic. At the moment (pre-upgrade), it is bearable but that's partly due to good weather and low passenger capacity. I'm able to hold a Teams audio call and had a couple of Zoom video calls but latency is VERY high (600-1100ms) which makes for serious lag. Throughput is consistently <1Mbsp, with a few bursts higher.

I will be on the Joy for spring break.  I do a lot of web work and will need to have a day or work somewhere during the cruise.  I know of the dry dock upgrades, but haven't heard the Joy was getting starlink till here.  It makes sense.  I would love a DM when you find out whether it is up and running.

Thx in advance.

Oh, spectacular news.  Thanks so much!

Thanks for the update.  It certainly clarifies one of the smaller details I was unclear on.

As a side and unrelated note, meals in the room were mentioned.  We are staying in the Founders w/Large Balcony.  As I understand it, that is the one room where you can have any restaurant deliver a meal in the room.  If true, and if we have specialty dining available for the room meal, do we still have to pay for in-room dining?  Or is that just an added 20% gratuity?  (or am I just way off?)

Thanks for the read everyone.  1st NCL cruise here in a few months and only second ever (Disney being first and very different).

We have prepaid gratuities.  Per the post above, can someone explain the Haven staff breakdown a little?

Butler ==> Person bringing specialized XYZ items whenever we call them?

Concierge ==> People helping book things?

Room Steward ==> Cleans room/turns down beds?

Porter ==> Self Explanatory

Wait Staff / Bartenders ==> Paid by prepaid gratuities, but always good to tip your waitstaff if they are good!!!

If we don't call for much or require too many specialize accommodations, have booked our own shore excursions and restaurants ahead of time, would we adjust this scale above to maybe reward the steward most? 

Obviously, porters/wait staff/bartenders are always on a per basis anywhere you go.

Thanks in advance.