sassycruiser

My husband fell on the Joy in May 2022 and dislocated his shoulder.  We paid nothing in the ships medical center because we had NCL travel insurance.  They sent us to the ER in Bermuda.  I had to pay before they would discharge him.   I sent that bill to my US healthcare (United Healthcare) and received 100% reimbursement.  Never had to make a claim on our travel insurance.  

In may my husband fell and was take off the ship in an ambulance.  It was quite humorous to read that it was due to Covid.   He had dislocated his shoulder.  No Covid.   

When we were in NYC in May the embarkation was a mess.  I saw the Haven people going and told my husband get ready we are next (Platinum). They never called us but they didn’t send us back either.   

I will keep my fingers crossed for our Detroit to San Juan on 2/25/23.  We paid $538 and pp from Detroit it is 1100 and up.   

Wow - these look incredible.  Anyone ever used either? 

I just called again and spoke to a different.  $20.00 to change for my husband and I and no charge for our son who is on his,pwn reservation.  It’s worth $20.00 to have the piece of mind in the winter.  Thank you for the advice! 

Hello

Does the Epic have the Vibe Beach club?   If they do is it possible to pre purchase passes?   Thank you.  

I booked 87 days out and am still more than 75 days out.  I was told on the phone yesterday there would be a 130.00 per person charge to change my airfare from same day to coming in the day before.  

We are in DTW (Detroit) and just booked.   DTW is a Delta hub but we will see….   I agree you get what you pay for.  Airfare to San Juan is 1100/pp from DTW and we paid $538 for 2 people.   

We have AT&T cell service.  We paid 10.00 a day per phone and had  data, calling and texting.   We thought it was well worth it.  

I am still coughing as is my husband.   I get tired really easily.   Hopefully this ends soon.  

If they are wearing your shirts the public perception is that they are NCL affiliated.  And people employed by the MCT leave a lot be desired.  

I get what you are saying but NCL is a big company with a lot sway in todays market.   They can and should do something about it.  

We were on the May 8th Joy sailing.  When we went to the Frog and Onion pub across the street it appeared that Snorkel Bay was closed.   It was early in the season so maybe they have not,opened yet? 

Agreed, the port agents don’t work for NCL.  Nor do the tour operators who stranded us on the pier on Sunday morning.  However, when your shirt says NCL and everyone wearing a branded shirt says NCL then it is NCLs problem to fix.  You don’t allow incompetent vendors to sink your brand.   I love our Joy cruise but I don’t live in NYC.  After having a bad embarkation and disembarkation the consumer starts to think -wow NCL is very good at first or last impressions.  

Tested positive last Thursday after the cruise.   Friday and Saturday were the very worst days I have had in a long time.

oxygen back up 95% this afternoon.  Dislocated shoulder husband says he feels a “little sick”.   Adult son who wasn’t on cruise but came over Sunday to help with luggage is right on the edge of getting sick but doesn’t want to test.  So he is self isolating or with us.   

They claimed to when I asked for one but it was horrible when I received.  Perhaps someone else has had a good experience.  

Wear your masks everywhere!  Back from NYC sailing on Joy on 5/15 and tested positive today.  Started having symptoms on Tuesday and thought it was allergies.  

I am Platinum with NCL and I think it may be our last.  The nickel and dimming has become very inventive.

My most frustrating experience was that I had a headache.  I sent my husband to the store to buy a small Tylenol.  Not available on board except through the medical center with a 140 evaluation. I decided to live with my headache and bought some in Bermuda.   
 

They may be doing that to avoid underreported Covid but still. 

On our Joy cruise we ate 2 nights in specialty and all the rest in MDR.  I was pleasantly surprised to find out the food had improved significantly over my last NCL cruise.  

Just know if you are sailing out of NYC the sales tax applies to all drinks until around 8 pm.  They had signs all over the Joy and every server asked us if we were okay with it before they put in our order.  It’s 9.9% on the price of the drink.  We paid 20-30 because we were trying to get those vacation vibes started and getting our monies worth.  
 

On our May 8th cruise on the Joy my husband dislocated his shoulder and the medical center drugged him and sent him to the hospital in Bermuda.  The medical staff asked what travel insurance we had and i had bought NCLs just out of laziness.  So I don’t know if that made the visit free but as of now we haven’t been charged for the X-ray or painkillers/iv they gave him

Now, hopefully the travel insurance or our regular medical will reimburse the $3500.00 the hospital charged.  They told me they wouldn’t release him without us paying.  I was curious what they would do with him if I didn’t pay but I figured being a smart ass wouldn’t help the situation.   

11 hours ago, dcipjr said:

I just got off the Joy this morning. I tested myself prior to getting off, and was negative, but I’ve got a test scheduled again in a few days.

 

After going back and forth whether I should go at all, due to case numbers starting to increase in the last few weeks, I decided to go. I was burnt out from work, and needed a break, and my wife encouraged me to go (she couldn’t go, so I went alone).

 

This was my first cruise since right before the pandemic—Feb 2020 on the Joy, right under the wire.

 

Here’s my anecdotal experience:

 

- The vast majority of passengers were not wearing masks. There were some passengers wearing masks, and the crew was masked (to varying degrees of compliance—I found that the cabin stewards chinstrapped their masks pretty often).

 

- My cabin steward disappeared by Day 3, to be replaced by another cabin steward. When I asked the replacement what happened, he said something along the lines of “Oh, they rotate us around”. But in all my past cruises, I had never had my cabin steward changed mid-cruise. I would guess it’s more likely than not that he tested positive.

 

- My cabin was by the Medical Center, on Deck 13. I did not observe anyone going in or out of the Medical Center—no long lines, suspicious activity, anything of that nature.

 

- The port side cabins on Deck 5 were blocked off. Could be that because the ship was at less than half capacity (1900 guests out of 4400 total occupancy), but I think it’s more likely that Deck 5 was the quarantine deck. If true, don’t count on getting fresh air if you get quarantined.

 

- I saw someone get taken off in an ambulance while docked in Bermuda, and someone I was talking to saw another evacuation a day later. Not necessarily COVID-related, but worth mentioning.

 

- Bermuda itself seemed pretty safe. More Bermudians were wearing masks than not while indoors and in vehicles, and most activities were outdoors. I didn’t feel unsafe there.

 

- Getting on and off the ship in Bermuda used facial recognition instead of key-cards. This probably aids in contact tracing and quarantining.

 

Setting aside the lack of caution required to travel on a cruise ship during a pandemic 🙃, I was pretty cautious onboard. I tried to avoid crowded areas, and if I couldn’t, I masked. There were enough other passengers wearing masks that I didn’t feel odd wearing one.

 

I did feel like I held myself back a little, because I didn’t want to get quarantined for either testing positive or being identified as a close contact of someone who had. 

 

I went to see the Beatles tribute band in the Cavern Club, but it was crowded enough for me to feel uncomfortable, even with a KN95 on, so I left.

 

All in all, it was a good experience overall, and I’m glad I went. My goal was to relax and disconnect a bit, and I did. The sea air, and seeing the turquoise waters of Bermuda again had a therapeutic effect on me. I wasn’t looking for a party cruise, and I was looking for some quiet downtime, and I found what I was looking for.

 

Would I go again, and with family? Yes…but I think I would have to wait until case numbers were a bit lower. I still felt like I was looking over my shoulder a bit…if you’re thinking you’d be able to forget about COVID once onboard, I wasn’t really able to do that. 

 

I felt like I was about as careful as one could be onboard, and with the reduced number of people onboard (less than 50% capacity on my sailing), if I still wind up testing positive in a few days, that’ll be interesting.

 

I’ll report back…anyway, let me know if you have any questions.

Just an FYI -one of the ambulance evacuations was my husband.  He slipped getting into the hot tub and dislocated his shoulder.  The medical center sent him to the hospital in Hamilton.  

We were told by a bar tender on the Joy that they were no longer offered fleetwide.  Perhaps someone else has different info.  

Loading the bus now to go to the airport 

Not selling the tour or transfers when they know there are issues would be a good first step because the tour guide said this keeps happening.  
 

Also sending non snotty excursion personnel would be a good step also. 
 

And we are still waiting.