ATLJC

24 minutes ago, cruiseaddict44 said:

Hi ATLJC:  I am Shelli, Donna's friend and I do appreciate the info and the pics.  So now my question is regarding the oval door cut into the steel.....Is that the only access between 9310 and 9212?  Or is there also the door that is closer to the balcony that can open?  Thanks for any info you can provide.

Shelli

Yes, the only way between the balconies that share the steel bulkheads are through the cut-out portals.

2 hours ago, GeorgesGal said:

Hi, Ken, following along since I just booked an SV on Beyond for June, 2023 and have a 'burning question':  deck plans for the aft SV's on each pax deck show a blank strip between for instance 9309 and -ll; and 9310 and -12 with the same plan showing on each of the upper decks.  My friend and I with adjacent SV's on Beyond which show the white space between the cabins are wondering what that space represents, and most importantly, will we be able to open the verandas to allow access to each other?

 

Just hoping you might have noticed since you're in the SV as well!

Donna

We had cabins 9308, 9310, 9311, and 9312 and all balconies were able to open on to one another.  Cabin 9310 and 9312 has a access door cut into the steel hull that opens between them as does the structure between 9311 and 9309.  It was a great space to gather for our family of eight.

1 hour ago, ATLJC said:

Our sailing is this Saturday and my offer went into Pending 8 days ago as well, with no options to modify or cancel, or even bid on another cabin type.  I guess for these holiday cruises, they'll wait until the 48-hour mark to process them.  Disappointed I can't even make a back-up offer in case this one doesn't clear. 

Minutes after I posted this, our upgrade cleared for this Saturday!  Happy now!

13 hours ago, Cruising Princess said:

My MoveUp was frozen over 8 days ago. It’s still frozen. I can’t go in to modify my offer on either of the two categories I bid on. My cruise sails next Monday, Nov 22nd.  
 

Ditto….the suspense is killin me!!!

Our sailing is this Saturday and my offer went into Pending 8 days ago as well, with no options to modify or cancel, or even bid on another cabin type.  I guess for these holiday cruises, they'll wait until the 48-hour mark to process them.  Disappointed I can't even make a back-up offer in case this one doesn't clear. 

2 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Just checked with CS and the passenger count for this cruise is 1794 and the current estimate for the next leg is about 1700.

Thanks for the info Ken!

10 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I’ll probably have to wait until we get midway through the next leg before I’ll be able to give you any estimates on that cruise.
 

Here are some figures though. Maximum dual occupancy is 2,910 passengers. But, they currently have deck 6 assigned as the quarantine deck for new crew while they go through the clearance protocols. Deck 6 has 186 cabins or can accommodate 372 passengers. So the most passengers that can be on the Apex until deck 6 is reopened is 2,538. I know it doesn’t help answer your question, but thought I’d just add that so you know. 

Thanks for the valuable info. Enjoying your posts and the insider information, much of it very helpful for our upcoming sailing on the 20th. 

Wishing you a continued wonderful journey and a great sailing ahead. 

2 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

As of this morning the estimated count to board on Nov 13 was 1900 with around 900 of them being travel agents.

Wondering if the Thanksgiving cruise departing on the 20th will surpass the 2K mark. Would be grateful for any insight you could share from your conversations with the crew! 

Can anyone find out how many crew members are currently on board? 

As Celebrity cannot import any new foreign nationals to crew its ships until the US travel embargo is lifted on November 8th, the amount of crew currently onboard would be an indication on how full they can book the Apex once it begins its FLL sailings in November.

14 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

That would have been an easy and cheap way to extend suite benefits to low fare paying family members.   What a cost savings that would be.   Maybe you can still pay to have them dine with you at Luminae.

I believe the cost for non-suite guests was $25 or $30 per person to join suite guests in Luminae. The generous OBC offered by booking onboard would have offset the cost for the inside cabin. Access to the Retreat Lounge would have been omplimentary for the entire family. All that is on hold and hopefully we will be able to take advantage of the old policies soon. 

8 hours ago, El Crucero said:

Just because you read it on the Internet doesn't necessarily make it true.  Non-suite guests can eat in Luminae but only as an invited guest of a suite passenger on a space available basis, and the cost is billed to the suite account.

Sailing on the Inaugural of the Apex this past June, we had booked a suite with a connecting inside cabin and at were first told the inside guests would have the privilege of dining in Luminae and would have access to the Retreat.

Received a phone call in our cabin later that day advising that was no longer possible due to covid restrictions and that the guest in the inside cabin would not be able to take advantage of any Retreat benefits for that November sailing.

Have you tried going into your reservation and modifying it?  Usually after a schedule change, Delta is somewhat liberal in your ability to change the reservation and pretty much opens up the entire schedule for you to choose from, without charging extra for changing to different flight.  Just pick the flights you'd like to change to and it should show you an even exchange - it not, just exit from the modification. You could always call and explain the situation, but the hold times have been painfully long.

Our flight was a 12:15 PM departure.

We requested a 7:45 AM debarkation time and emailed our driver at George's Taxi to arrange for an 8:00 AM pick-up.  It took less than 10 minutes to retrieve our luggage and connect with our driver, and we arrived at the Athens Airport at 9:00 AM. 

Once we checked in, the lines were getting pretty long from that point on, so it's a good idea to leave plenty of time at the airport just in case - 3 hours before the flight is now the recommended arrival time for international travel.

We had just enough time to browse through duty free, grab a light snack, and boarded shortly after arriving to the gate.

Based on our experience debarking the Apex's inaugural cruise,  leaving the port no later than 8:30 should give you ample time.

We booked perk package for our November Apex sailing in a C1 before the AI program began and we have the Stream package. I found it in the Order History of the cruise planner. 

21 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

Right now, this might be the most important thread on cruise Critic! 

I will be on the July 31 and August 7 sailings...(We originally had earlier dates, but decided to push it back a few weeks to get the Israel itinerary).

My greatest hope is that they really figure all of this stuff out and greatly improve the process and evolve the "rules" over the next few weeks before we get there.

 

To those onboard:  Did you spend any nights pre-cruise in Athens?  If so, how was the experience in Athens itself?  Restaurants and attractions open?  Masks required? And so on...Thanks.

 

As to masks being required, our group always had them at least around our ears if not over faces. outside in Athens. Lifted them up when in shops, museums, etc. I would say about half in Athens were not wearing. In Santorini today, I would say most were not wearing masks at all. We wore ours as some of the paths are a bit close person to person - but of course much less so than when we here five years ago. The public bus required everyone to keep them on.

31 minutes ago, little britain said:

In Santorini today were they still offering the boat transfers to Oia for €15 at the jetty?

We checked with the tour stand right off the tender and were told that boar transfers to Oia were not available while the ship was in port. We took the public bus to get there - less than 20 minutes and €1.60 per person.

21 hours ago, Kreative03 said:

Here’s one thing that’s sizeable, that I need to share now and separately. No one asked for or validated vaccination. Not at a single checkpoint. Not a visual inspection or a verbal attestation. Literally anyone could be on this ship. While it’s not a big deal to some, given the test was administered to almost all folks + the number of passengers — it is a big deal to those of us who intentionally booked a vaccinated cruise. Here’s hoping that for future cruises they actually vet folks.

 

That was NOT the case for our party of 6 during noon check-in.  All of us were asked for proof of our vaccines and each card was photographed on the tablets that the check-in personal used to process all of our required documents. 

They first scanned our QR codes and then took the photo of the vaccine card. We were then sent to get our PCR tests.  Once the test results came back (35 minutes later), we then were allowed to proceed to the ship, where before boarding they took pictures of our passports, again with the tablets, and cleared security

That was the process for everyone I saw checking in, and it was all very well monitored by both shore-side and ship personal.

2 minutes ago, Canuker said:

I imagine the point made above has already been addressed by someone (if so, my apologies for repetition).
If not, it needs to be said that Cunard's on board accounts are always (repeat, always) kept in US$, regardless of the origin of the passenger or currency of the booking contract. Live in Timbuktu and booked in Greek drachma with a travel agent in Fiji? Your onboard a/c will be in US$.

Good to know - thank you!!

28 minutes ago, david,Mississauga said:

 

Thank you, Hattie, for giving us the link. I realise that as Canadians who booked through the US site this doesn't apply to us, but I expect something similar will appear imminently for this side of the pond.

Wouldn't it be a blanket-wide policy on sailings regardless of where booked?  I only say that because the values of OBC are quoted in Dollars ($) and not Pounds.  We all know the failings of the IT department in regards to Cunard's hopeless website, which could possibly be attributed to the lack of notice of the new policy on the US site. 

6 minutes ago, TheDougOut said:

Last day... let me know if there’s anything people need photos of or answers to.

 

I’ll head up to Cavern Club after breakfast. 

I believe that one of the accessible Haven Penthouse Cabins (17130 or 18130) is open for viewing. As we are booked in that cabin in a few weeks time, would really appreciate if you could snap some photos if it is.  Also, some shots of the Haven lounge and restaurant would be great as well.

Your pictures are amazing and have really got us excited to board the Joy next month!

Thanks for all your postings.

4 hours ago, Rassilon said:

Interested in pics of the CF cabins. Also of the kids area. Hoping it’s not shrunk as much as the deck plans lead one to believe. 

See:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2647600-everything-norwegian-joys-westernization-2019/?do=findComment&comment=57355600

Although I'd prefer to take the light rail into downtown, we'll be a group of ten, including my elderly parents, and I don't think they'd be able to handle it very well.  Wondering if I should arrange a van to get to the Sheraton or just hire a couple of larger rideshare vehicles when we arrive at SEA.

Would appreciate any recommendations on these options or a good transportation company to engage.

1 minute ago, FreestyleNovice said:

 

Hmm... sharp eye! That could be it! But why the balconies, if it even are real ones LOL. Or the technical equipment made them tiny-mini-balconies, another new category on NCL heh! 

 

The pool does crosses the hallway/corridor on the deck below, I always thought the pool took in huge amounts of space on the decks below? NCL probably knows best but it had me wondering.

The glass on those balconies doors is a different material, much like a reflective film, so you can't see into them.  I'm guessing equipment for the pool takes up that space and they wanted to continue the exterior flow of that deck with faux balconies for aesthetic reasons. I noticed that on a video I viewed a while back.

I wonder if it has something to do with one of the pools being right above the area of these cabins.

On 2/6/2019 at 1:17 PM, lolodrake said:

How do you get the value prices?

Value pricing is noted in the fine print at the bottom of the flyer ... "Value pricing is available in port only and cannot be combined with other offers..."  So in effect, value prices are available only while docked.

When staying in a Queen's Grill suite last year, we received a very nice leather key wallet to carry our key card and ID. We'll be sailing in a Princess Grill next week and wondered if you get the same holder in the Princess suites.