halos

On 5/28/2023 at 2:55 PM, BigAl94 said:

Absolutely criminal from a crew comfort and safety perspective

I agree!

2 hours ago, Cruising Chuck said:

Why would he.  It sucked.  I just came off the Prima last week.  It was the same everyday for 5 days.  The Hudson MDR was gorgeous, but the food and wait staff were miserable.  A BIG FAIL for NCLH.  Hopefully Harry cancels the rest of the ships after the Viva comes out.  About 4 pros to that ship versus about 9 cons.

😳 Damn.

i loved everything about my Prima cruise

NCL also dropped Costa Rica from the 12/4 Joy, Panama Canal itinerary and we too are bummed about it, but we've cruised long enough to understand that this stuff happens, unfortunately.

I'm currently searching for some options for excursions for Panama City. I had to cancel the one we booked for Costa Rica. They added Acapulco to our itinerary; also, not a great thing IMO...but it's been so long since we've been there that we are hoping for a better experience this time around

On 10/21/2022 at 3:56 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

This poster offers several good ideas that I support.  I found the tour that I took that visited the entire city: new, old, and very old to be interesting.  A folkloric show that the tour attended was fun and colorful.  (I think lunch was included; don't remember for certain.)  Maybe having dinner at a local restaurant would interest the OP.  

Do you happen to recall the name of the tour, or even better, do you have a link?

Hi,

We once used Charlie Sotos/Okey Dokey Tours MANY years ago and would love to go with them again when we are in Costa Rica in December. Getting hold of them via email posted on their less-than-updated-website has proved futile and I'm wondering if they are still in business. Has anyone used them recently?

On 3/16/2022 at 9:47 AM, Flipchild32 said:

Morale is currently high according to DisneyDude. Still having parties, etc.

 

Update: Morale on the ship is high. Everyone that is out at the bars and restaurants are having a good time. Making the most of our time left here. Haven’t heard many negative comments. 

Nice!

All these photos are making me 'home' sick. I NEED TO GET ON A SHIP

On 1/20/2022 at 1:01 PM, coffeebean said:

I surely hope you are correct about the "break even" point passenger percentages. I don't want to see any cruiseline fail.

I'm with you. Times are tough for everyone right now, personally and for businesses as well. The sanity I'm losing during this period in time is only going to be saved by cruising, so I have a personal interest in cruise lines making it through this without too much damage on top of the fact that I don't want to see any business fail.

One person's nightmare is another's dream. I am so happy you had such a great time and I'm SO FREAKING JEALOUS! We were supposed to cruise on the Getaway on Jan 5. On January 4th as we were in Florida, so super pumped about getting on a ship after a two year drought, they cancelled us.

I love coming here and reading about everyone's fabulous sailings on half empty ships. 

On 1/15/2022 at 5:47 PM, Turtles06 said:

As an alternative, what about the Kennedy Space Center?  Unless you have zero interest in the space program, it's absolutely fabulous.  Not far, and you'll have time to see plenty.   (Also, besides everything else folks have said in terms of the "cons" of going to Disney, Florida in August is disgustingly hot and humid.  I see you are from Arizona, but even so...)

 

 

(photo by turtles06)

I am in full agreement with this, although-- disclaimer-- I am not a huge Disney fan (I just was there in December to experience it with my grandchildren and I think it's the last time). The Space Center is a great way to spend the day especially if you are at all blown away by space flight and or science in general.

IF however, you want the Disney experience in a short amount of time, I agree with everyone who said to go to Disney Springs instead. Disney World itself is just not made for a one day experience. 

17 hours ago, coaster said:

Genting/Star Cruises did a hostile takeover of NCL in 2000. Genting is now bankrupt. Genting sold off half ownership in 2007 of NCL to private equity Apollo. I remember it was due to overexpanding in Hawaii and the loss incurred with cancelling a sister ship to Epic.  Anyone remember those days?

That is before my 'NCL time'

What I do remember is my first every NCL cruise. It was a 15 night Repo on the Spirit right before Kevin Sheehan took over (I believe) and it was absolutely one of THE best cruises I have ever had. I miss Sheehan. NCL was just superb under his leadership.

19 hours ago, CarolinaMamma said:

We are in the Haven so I haven’t eaten in the MDR yet. All specialty restaurants are open. Had dinner at Cagney’s the first night. Food and service excellent. I had the prime rib, and it was “like buttah,” so tender. 
 

I didn’t buy a Wu-if package because I cruise to get away from internet. In St. Thomas, you have regular cell service like you would in the US, so that’s how im

posting now. 

 

Yeah...I'd say that steak looks MIGHTY good.

3 hours ago, CarolinaMamma said:

We are on board Encore and having a great time! There are only 1,300 passengers, and about 1,700 crew.  
 

no Kinky Boots this week, but we did have Choir of Man, the Beatles and comedy shows. Everything is just walk-in, no reservations required. The Beatles show did fill up, but I think other than that, it’s been pretty easy for anyone to see any show they wanted. 
 

We were supposed to have 1,500 passengers, and I’m not sure what happened to the other 200. I hear some had flight issues and are meeting us in St. Thomas today. I don’t know if the rest cancelled last-minute, tested positive, or what. 
 

Here is the pool deck at 9:00 on the first sea day. Plenty of loungers to be had. Let

me know if I can answer any questions. 

 

I am so happy for you and a tad jealous! Our 1/5 Getaway cruise was cancelled at the last minute and what you're experiencing is exactly what I was hoping to have....a big ship practically to ourselves.

Enjoy it!!!!!!!

On 1/15/2022 at 9:38 PM, Sailing12Away said:

This is a photo someone took of 14778, not sure if it helps, but the balcony most definitely is angled and gives you a smidge more room. I'll be in this cabin a year from now...

Thanks. I knew the PCC was wrong. I just wanted it validated. I appreciate all your responses very much!

3 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

I see that the deck plan has the  symbol in many places where it shouldn't be. The deck plan also doesn't have the symbol where it should be. For Joy, the PrivaSea balconies are the Haven Suites directly under the bridge (13108/13708).

 

 

Look for the oval-shaped partially enclosed balcony. 

 

 

 

Thank you 🙏

1 hour ago, ColeThornton said:

Just look at a picture of the ship, should be easy to spot.

Thanks, I have. I see nothing that looks like a hull balcony. I was just trying to validate this as my PCC is insisting that it is and my confirmation states "this is an enclosed balcony"

I'm also a member on ccruisedeckplans.com and could find nothing that makes it look like the angled balconies are privasea or covered in any way and it is not mentioned in the details. Thus, my frustration. I was hoping someone here had once occupied one of these on either deck 14 or 15 and could confirm for me.

I'm getting frustrated with my NCL PCC.  I want to book 14878which is an angled balcony. The PCC is telling me that it's a Privasea balcony

I did a search and see no definitive evidence of this? Can anyone here tell me if they know if there are ANY of these hulled 'privasea' balconies on the Joy?

50 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

The only way to "change" that I am aware of at this point is before the booking is confirmed, while one is still in the process of making the reservation.  

 

GC

I was trying to change it after the booking was totally confirmed as that is when the PCC told me I'd be able to do it. Obviously she is misinformed...or lied.

Update:

So I decided to just call the 800 number for assistance. I explained to the person who answered that I wanted to change my cabin and was told by my CC that I could do it myself and that it seemed very strange to me AND if that it was possible, I needed help because I couldn't figure out how to do it.

I made it clear I was having some issue with the CC and just wanted to validate that the cabin I wanted was indeed unavailable. The woman told me to hold and then literally connected me with my CC 

So, now I'm stuck talking to my CC I again told her that I wanted this cabin and I see it as available and I was trying to change the cabin myself however THAT is impossible.

What do you know...she suddenly finds the cabin I want IS available.

So...I have it.

Just to be clear this is for a spring 2023 sailing. There are a TON of cabins available. Very weird how every one I mentioned to her was 'already taken'

anyway, it's fixed and it shouldn't have had to take so much time. Thanks to everyone for your responses. I appreciate them. 👍❤️

33 minutes ago, julig22 said:

The only way I know of to grab a specific cabin is to do a mock booking (put reservation on hold) and then call my PCC.  You can't do it yourself as far as I know.   That's what your PCC gets paid for.....

I'm going to have to pull the plug on this CC. I have several cruises booked with her. I tried once before to call a different one and they saw that I typically use this particular one and they referred me back to her out of a sense of not wanting to step on each others toes....but this is not the first time I've had an issue. I'm gonna have to find a way to break up with her  

43 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

They are fully paid and now that message is showing.

 

As stated by the OP this usually means it is in the process of being cancelled. I don’t think I can offer them any reassurance.

Thanks for the clarification....I should stop speed reading

Did you put a hold on the cabin or a deposit?? I'm not sure I understand your question.

I find that the best way to deal with price drops if the prices drop on all cabin categories, to just upgrade your cabin. On my last cruise...ironically which was the 1/5 Getaway that was pulled from us 18 hours before we were scheduled to board....the prices had gone down and I called the cruise consultant and switched from a BA to a Club suite for a total of $37.50 for both of us. I did this about 2 weeks prior to the cruise (that never happened)

Hi

I've cruised for a lot of years but only recently been booking direct through NCL and using a cruise consultant. I wanted to book a certain cabin that is showing (on my end) to be available and has been showing that it is available for days. She is insisting that it's NOT available. Anyway, I have a cabin booked and she told me if I wanted to keep an eye out, if I see a cabin I'd like to switch to, I don't need to call (*and bother*) her but can do it myself on NCL's website if I just pull up my reservation.

Well, I checked and I'm not tech savvy so I may be missing something here but I cannot find a way to do this. Has anyone done this? is it possible to change my cabin myself? If I can, can one of you lovely, kind people explain to me how to do this?? 

Thanks in advance  🙂

4 hours ago, aubreyc1988 said:

 

Hmmm, I was thinking about this today...I have a refundable rate hotel booked for 1/21 (I am sailing 1/22) but I want to cancel this refundable rate hotel for a MUCH cheaper non-refundable rate hotel, but I am trying to figure out when I'll most likely know if my sailing will be happening or not...if it's a week in advance, that is good news for me...I was thinking maybe 96 hrs before my sail date for best odds. 

I was scheduled on the 1/5 Getaway. Our cruise was cancelled/we were notified on 1/4 at around 4 pm.

Giving yourself 96 hours *could be* too generous.