mking8288

Except, that bank of 8 midship balcony cabins ("BA" categories) supposed to be designated for occupancies only ... I thought they all have the convertible sofabed, which quickly become the 3rd berth. There isn't a 4th dropdown bed dropping down/recessed into the ceiling. "Mystery" move continued and deepen.

Got it - went to cruisedeckplans dot com for a closer look and use their helpful Cabin Check Tool to see what's directly above & below, etc. - this is odd, not a connecting stateroom, not accessible designated cabin, it sleeps 3 with sofa closest to the starboard side balcony. It is somewhat near the pool but definitely not below and plumbing related, unless there are other major lines running overhead (no white space) and it is below the sundeck (Deck 15). One deck below are just more balcony staterooms, hmmm - maybe, other plausible reasons, more of those now excluded as probably causes.

We submitted "only" 3 requests for NCLH OBC this year successfully, each and every time - within matter of minutes, not hours - NCL's system responded and automatically assigned a Case Number to our request, acknowledging receipt - and a reply or response shall be expected in 1 business day or 24 hours thereafter. If you didn't get a Case Number generated, check the email address & email system used to see if the outbound message was successful or rejected for whatever reasons; and, resubmit it again as a new one (if no # assigned) or if no follow-up reply or updated Amenity Statement issued after a week, send an email with the Case Number and it should be enough to get it processed. Log into your own "MyNCL" account and look into the Reservation Summary, the OBC issued should be reflected there, i.e. $50 to psgr #1 and $50 to psgr #2 for a total of $100 (a 7 night cruise) Good luck !

@cruisinmeme - if you don't mind, perhaps you want to share partial info about the balcony statement that NCL just blocked & took away from you, without necessary disclosing the exact cabin number but at least whether it's port or starboard side, aft, mid or forward, i.e. Room #1454x or similar. Is it one of the few connecting cabin or possibly an accessible stateroom ?? Angled balcony ?? If there are serious maintenance and plumbing issues, I can see the cabin being blocked off for 3+ weeks, starting now or very recently. There are qualified plumbers & electricians onboard that should be able to address most minor problems like a clogged or blocked grey or black water line ... which typically affect not a single cabin or two, rather an entire section and/or corridor of rooms running along the line & serviced by it. Let's chase down the mystery reasons behind unassigning the cabin after it was "given". Regardless, happy cruising !

@gemologist - looks like, I recommend, refresh your posting skills and got a bit of catching up on where & how to post what, etc. Headings ahead, lost-n-found ?? Going to be lonely here all by yourself ... this is the Roll Call "section" for the Joy and look for others here, or, start a new one if nobody else started one yet - https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/803-norwegian-joy-roll-calls/

@Birdnutty - from what I knew (earlier this year) and recall, yes you can change the mix of FAS promo up until 1 or 2 days before embarkation, call into NCL, ASAP and request the change & adjustment. Be sure to request an updated confirmation/amenity summary that reflect the changes. We always declined the beverage package options, called into NCL to discuss making other changes associated with another link cabin and the agent tried to upsell us on packages - and told me, we are change our pick up close & almost until our sail date then, no penalty or fees, etc. making the adjustments. Of course, YMMV and I'm sure the disclosure and fine prints are somewhere in the long & detailed cruise doc/contract that we "agreed" to ... subject to changes set by NCL, yada yada. Since the DSC is going up next month, instead of requesting a refund, maybe you want to ask the agent to apply/transfer the difference in reduced gratuities toward the DSC directly ... prepaid the rest & you are done. Let us know here on your success, good luck and happy & healthy cruising next month.

Post in passing along a tiny bit of info from our CC friends (both Sapphire & this is their 3rd NCL cruise for 2022) currently onboard the GEM also on the 14 nights T/A, en route to NY (6 sea days) - arriving back here next week. Disclosure: [verbatim, edited or snipped only for clarity & easier read. Please hold your questions for others, wait for others onboard this crossing and/or OP to help respond & further comment, TIA ... ] [from Wed. 12/14] Today is day 7 of our 14 days cruise and our first sea day. 6 ports in the past 6 days and they became a blur. We had decent weather except for Malaga ( heavy downpour all the way to Gibraltar) and Lisbon ( they had bad weather all week with heavy rain and flooding). Our stops at two ports in the Azores had been canceled as well (like the Epic that just got into NY early this morning) due forecast of inclement weather. Instead we will sail to Funchal, Madeira then 6 sea days back to NYC for the 22nd. Gem just got off a 3 weeks mini refits in Marseille. All deck 6 is brand new. New carpets throughout the ship. No changes to the stateroom at all so no additional plugs or USB ports. Food on board is below NCL standard in our opinions and many crew members had an indifferent attitude. Having (Haven't ... I believe they meant to say) seen or heard from the GM or Cruise Director at all ( M&G is in two day’s time with the cruise more than half over ). return on board in Lisbon was done through face recognition technologies ( no need to show keycard). [from Thu. 12/15] Funchal is in sight but Gem is 2 hours late arriving due to very strong headwind overnight. We were only able make 14 kts instead of 20+. All shore excursion delayed but no mention of late departure ( scheduled for 5pm ). Indeed many new environments on the Gem except the stateroom. If you look carefully at the photos *** on deck 6 you will notice all the chairs and sofa are quite low ( design over function). We see lots of passengers struggling to get up ( we just avoided them completely). *** (comment added for 2 photos below) This is the bar/lounge area just outside Le Bistro, behind/near the casino ... starboard side. One good news is that NCL arranged for EU Customs to be at the pier from 2-4 to process and stamp VAT refund ( normally only available at departure airport ). Our friends on the Epic reporting worsened weather conditions in very high wind and rough seas. Something that we are not looking forward to. We believe that the last of the contractors got off in Lisbon. It was a three weeks refit in marseille and the work continues. We had dinner at Le Bistro and the “ special “ wine menu for us had been further downsized. The food portions were smaller as well. Maritime forecast on sea state and waves for a large area of the North Atlantic, not looking pretty ... hold on to those hand rails.

Pierside workers are longshoremen, unionized ones, and until they are on the clock, ship(s) cannot dock and get the gangways connected, ropes securely tied ... even if CBP officers are on duty & available. Ditto for the porters in the terminal building - we've had to sit outside the NY harbor and/or on the Hudson in the pre-dawn, early morning hours and wait, then, make the turn to the pier around 6 a.m. (earliest that I can clearly recall, over the past decade+ ) Express walk-off, NCL style, has been called as early as 6:30 to 6:45 am as long as one is fine without needing porter services in NYC. While fstuff1 was probably asleep, I tracked on MarineTraffic's the Epic by 1 am this morning, reporting her radar position as outside the Ambrose Channel on her westerly heading into NY with ETA showing as 3 am, shortly after my last post. Nice thing about getting in super early, is by 2 or 3 a.m. - if one's awake, those 4G LTE and 5G devices started waking up upon powering up, catch up to the digital world & news, emails & social media, etc. etc. Uploads & downloads become lightening fast again ... unlike NCL's "classic" satellite WiFi, which understandably, most of us aren't really fond of.

Yes, lately ... it's been reported to be possible, depending on the specific category(s) that you are bidding for, and whether you are almost/on the edge of being the next one on the queue to be "processed" With the widely popular Haven bids, they are known to go to "live bidding" but for club and regular balconies ... odds are 50:50, either you do or don't. This can happen as you check in at the pier and/or either even after you've boarded your ship. Just remember to pack all the essentials, personal meds & at least 1 change of clothes in a smaller carry-on or backpack, kept with you at all times ... since your checked bags might be tagged with the "original" cabin #'s if this surprise upgrade happen inside the cruise terminal or onboard with a knock at the door or call from Guest Services. Good luck & happy cruising.

For our upcoming Getaway's planned stop at DR, looks like we could and should be able to dock at and use Amber Cove ... only 2 ships listed in total, seriously doubtful that mega ships will be safely docking in the shallower Taino Bay until it is. Our scheduled time for DR is from 11 am to 4 pm, with AC being another 20+ minutes each way from downtown, planning any kind of independent shorex isn't going to be easy or simple ... even with NCL. We aren't going to do anything until onboard & figure out where we are most likely going ... there's no need to book anything for good old Nassau or GSC. Just wing it - if we do make it ashore at the Cove, we'll probably just check out the shops nearby & not go further into town with the limited time. Besides, we've done a # of virtual tours of DR over at YouTube ... will be just fine staying onboard, could just be another sea day - NCL isn't going to refund the port taxes/fees/charges collected already, no matter what.

@fstuff1 - how's sea state and waves on your Epic race to reach NY tomorrow, still expecting on-time arrival into NY at 6 or 7 a.m. Not seeing even a blip on Marinetraffic but we understood from our friends indirectly that Epic is racing full speed after skipping / cancelled ports, etc. - gotta be disappointed but given the season, not entirely unexpected. Friends currently on the GEM on 14 nights TA were 2+ hours late arriving into Funchal "yesterday" due to strong headwind, doing just 14 knots instead of 20+ and their shorex delayed - then, apparently sail on-time for the westbound crossing. They got 7 days to do it and probably need to do a big go-around the North Atlantic with huge weather/storm system. Early, the Getaway were several hours late reaching NY on their TA crossing. Take care - which NCL ship are you going to be hoping on & off on next month ... LOL Henry

What's odd and head-scatching is on 12/9, there is a $2.47 charge for Laundry, Check 7844 ??? Huh, what was that for - extra surcharge for grease removal ? That's really fishy, someone want to justify and explain it ? We always check & review our daily charges and credit adjustments posted to our onboard account for unusual transactions, and would definitely not disembark the ship until satisfactory answer is given and errors in possible dispute are resolved, settled and close out. The other recourse now, already suggested, notify & inform one's credit card issuer ...

When we're on the Joy in May, 6 of us dine in FR, used only 4 FAS/Platinum vouchers as each can order any 4 items on the mini iPad, tons of food to share among us (16 items for 6 adults). The sushi rolls were jumbo & tasty good. Vietnamese Pho (beef) noodles soup was good, feedback to them is to serve it in a larger & deep bowl, and ease up on sodium (too salty ... trending everywhere on NCL ships, don't they taste test & check their soup stock or broth 🤔 ) Otherwise, we had a great time & lots of laughs with a very friendly & helpful crew and hostess teams, not busy at all. Key is to order items as a group and share.

To fix that, please have them call into NCL's helpline on dining reservation soon, and have them cancel those a la carte restaurant ones already made (i.e. Cagney's, LeBistro, La Cucina, etc.) If preferred time slots/date choices are already limited, ask them to help book the fxed price restaurants first (i.e. Tappenyaki, Moderno, Q, etc.) - before (re)booking a la carte ones. Confirmations of the changes & new dining reservations should be emailed within a few hours or less, and also reflected on their Reservation planner's page when they logged into their MyNCL account(s). Only a fraction (1/4 to 1/3) of the available dining time slots are released pre-cruise for advance reservations, the rest only open up on embarkation - book them once onboard.

@debnjoe1438 - correct format should be specialeventsdawn@ncl.com - typically, it will generate an automatic reply back to your outbound email address immediately. Then, you should get a more personalized reply with the name of the NCL contact person, her/his name & email, and corporate telephone # with the extension - within a day or two of your initial request (excluding weekends) - that they are forwarding the request from Miami HQ to the ship for approval. Once that happen, your contact person will follow-up with a detailed "Confirmation/Amenity Notice" to you for the CC Group, and it is free or complimentary, at no charge.

@fstuff1 - always "good" to read your onboard updates & news, for better & for worst ... sorry to know that ports were skipped and ... Not to make you feel any better, things aren't much better currently onboard the GEM, just heard from 2 of our Sapphire CC friends onboard - they skipped ports due to weather, bypassing Bermuda (which they knew pre-cruise but after final payment) Happy days & nights at sea and wins in the casino for you !! Here are key portions of their message to us, "edited" but verbatium - FWIW. They typically do not post or write / review here on CC, but do read & follow and share with us ... I'm pretty sure others will report post-cruise. (Again, this is for the GEM, currently on her 14 days TA enroute to NY) Today is day 7 of our 14 days cruise and our first sea day. 6 ports in the past 6 days and they became a blur. We had decent weather except for Malaga ( heavy downpour all the way to Gibraltar) and Lisbon ( they had bad weather all week with heavy rain and flooding). We have friends on the Epic on a 9 days Lisbon to NYC. All their activities and port call in the area ( including the Azores ) was canceled due to the Port Pilot 2 day’s strike and the heavy rain. Captain decided to sail the ship direct to Bermuda for a few days there the to NYC. Just got a message this morning that Bermuda had been cancelled due inclement weather and they are proceeding in top speed to get to NYC in two days time.Our stops at two ports in the Azores had been canceled as well due forecast of inclement weather. Instead we will sail to Funchal, Madeira then 6 sea days back to NYC for the 22nd.Gem just got off a 3 weeks mini refits in Marseille. All deck 6 is brand new. New carpets throughout the ship. No changes to the stateroom at all so no additional plugs or USB ports. Food on board is below NCL standard in our opinions and many crew members had an indifferent attitude. My footnote - food is subject, they recently sailed on the Pearl from Boston to Bermuda, so I trust their comparative opinions. Well, it's definitely a bummer for those onboard the Epic and the Gem ... and, we have friends leaving this Sunday on the Getaway to Bermuda, hmmm.

Sky is 77,000 in tonnage vs. Getaway, Breakaway & Escape, etc. in the *.Away/plus class size at 145,000 to 160,000+ size (practically 50% difference or half sized)

Sky is much smaller in size vs. Getaway and Escape (that ran aground in March navigating that narrow channel) etc. with destination listed as Puerto Plata.

Relax, it is there - 2 outlets to the left, view blocked by the iP telephone set. This was from our GA balcony stateroom but the layout/configurations are the same and identical. You will be fine. Bring a 220v adapter to use dual-voltage devices ... or, these GE triple outlet adapter cubes on Amazon, got them on sale - 3 for under $12 + tax & (Prime) shipping.

This will probably need to/should be in the East Coast forum, but ... in other related news about ground travel - transit fares, looking ahead into 2023 (and, year-end) it will be going up for licensed yellow/green taxis, Ubers/Lyft, etc. and; you can be assured that other FHV (For Hired Vehicles) are raising their fares too to match & keep up with operating costs ... Average fares will be up by 23%, the news article highlighted https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/17/nyregion/taxi-fare-hike-nyc.html TLC has voted to approve the increases already & scheduled to go into effect by the end of this year ... thus, Happy New Year for all 👴 Looking ahead to our options to MCT next month, already seeing that reflected even if we book now & prepaid ... price quote with surcharges already showing a pretty substantial jump, before suggested 20% tips for the driver. Tolls for river crossings ... that's a different story.

Half-size and 1/4 size packing cubes (these are from eBags) creatively solved our storage ... even in balcony staterooms with the dresser/desk with the tall, long with narrow cabinet shelves behind the swing-out doors.

She deadheaded toward NY from FL 2 days ago, crews only - heading to Bermuda on a 5 days trip - could be unannounced gov't inspections, loading of provisions, hold for late arriving passengers via air booked in-bound by NCL (as there's no catching up at the next port) - no issues with weather today here in the city earlier (although, sea states and waves were a bit on the high side last night, now it's much calmer). Per chat on their roll call, no boarding allowed until after 2 p.m. for its original 4 p.m. "departure" time. Well, they'll just have to run full speed on all engines to make it there on time & then back ... no coasting at 11 to 13 knots. Regardless, always nice to sail down the Hudson & past downtown and Lady Liberty in the early evening hours, skies are clear - just have to bundle up on the top open deck and/or balcony.

Here's a photo of what the typical Joy Inside Stateroom looked like - very similar, if not identical, to the *Away class ships. Not much in the way of traditional drawer space to use. There are a number of slim & often shallow open shelf space. Collapsible storage bins is good but, IMHO, not very practical. Ditto for the 2 slim bedside night stand - seriously doubtful that you can make good use of those storage pin. There are also some storage space under the desk/dresser. Do you travel with and use packing cubes - we have a mix of eBags and Eagle Creek in assorted sizes & configurations. Those worked well on "older" mid-size ships as well as newer ships, keep items organized & sorted out, easy to unpack (if needed to come up or transfer to the hangers) and quick to repack for disembarkation. You can stack them, put them in sideway or turn them to make best use of the limited space.

It's a virtual benefit only, if you are lucky, you'll get a welcome back letter with the concierge extension, not a name, to call for restaurant & show assistance, and said to help as best as s/he can. Anything else, you are on your own. We're also in a non-Haven family suite on the Joy and got the name of the concierge in the letter. Never once heard from, let alone meeting him face-to-face or anything close, not that we needed anything. But, you'll probably get priority disembarkation luggage tags to use, free & for your convenience, not escorted. We are usually never in a hurry on that final morning, so not important 🤔 Sailings at lowered occupancy level, we haven't come across anything to need concierge services onboard. Just don't expect anything. Happy cruising & stay healthy in a smart way.

We are on the GA for 12 days after you, tracking to see where ya be docking and also the other tender ports. Nassau will be much nicer by May when the new terminal area is ready, worst case is GSC if we can tender ashore 🫣