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On 3/18/2021 at 1:55 PM, BoozinCroozin said:

We switched to NOLA just yesterday. We gave up $50 in OBC but the fare cost was almost $550 less. Although we haven't fully decided, but we will fly out on Friday morning to get 2 days in NOLA to explore. My gut is telling me we will get a hotel in FQ so we can tour what we want walking and taking the street cars. When we cruise out on the Sunday, we can Uber/Lyft to the terminal. 

Glad you switched.  An added perk of cruising out of NOLA is the trip down the river.  It takes about 8 hours to reach the gulf.  A meandering slow ride, the banks close on both sides.  

2 hours ago, Travelicious said:

NCL used to allow passengers to bring their own water and soft drinks onboard, but no longer.  Now, if you want bottled water, you must purchase it from NCL for onboard consumption.  Instead, I take a reusable water bottle (currently Hydro Flask) and fill it from the dispenser in the buffet area or from pitchers in the dining rooms or at bars.  Water from any of these sources is fine, and some say water from the stateroom tap is fine too, especially if you allow it to sit overnight.  I have not tried that.  It is easy to get free water onboard.  I have only purchased water one time - when I cruised with my elderly mother who could not as easily trek around the ship to obtain a free refill.

Somewhere on these boards a couple of years ago a water engineer said that he tested the water from various sources on the ship and all was fine but said the best was the melted ice from your ice bucket.  We have been filling our water bottles in the morning from the ice bucket.  It is very good water.

4 hours ago, edspec said:

I remember your review, loved it and your positive attitude.  I was on the Joy last year as well, my first solo cruise and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Thank you. I find my life is less stressful if I stay positive.

2 hours ago, GettotheSun said:

Thanks for sharing.  I'm so glad you got to go, and that was fun to read! 

 

I would love to do an Alaskan cruise.  My rep at NCL said I could move my kids' cruise credit to me and my partner, so I have thought (as an option) to do that and book Alaska for August 2021, just me and my partner.  Either that or we take the kids to the Caribbean March Break 2021.  Or so I hope we get to!

 

Again, thanks for your post, it was a nice uplift. 😀

Thank you.  Alaska is our very favorite cruise.

1 hour ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

Oh I’m so glad you were able to go last year! You just never know what can happen in life.

We know this very well.  Thank you.

19 hours ago, CruzRamirez said:

What a great story!

 

Carpe diem

Thank you.

21 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

I think the pandemic has brought home the point that we shouldn't put off our bucket list trips.  Being older and a cancer survivor, I always took the attitude that we might be one bad diagnosis away from never going anywhere again.  I've been blessed to see much of the world and never regretted a dime I spent doing it 🙂  Another case in point:  who the heck ever imagined Notre Dame wouldn't be there forever???  That said, we had to cancel an extended trip to Asia in fall 2019 for the best of reasons - a son's wedding and a daughter expecting a baby.  We had planned a big 40th anniversary trip to Europe, including a Baltic cruise for this spring and now, of course, that's gone too.  Kind of the opposite of the OP's lovely story but we're still going to try to do the best we can, even if it's just driving somewhere in September (before the second wave hits?)  As the saying goes, it's not so much where you go as who you have with you.

Yes, you need to do what you can and go where you want when you can.  

21 hours ago, MNcruisingcouple said:

What a great story!  My husband and I feel the same way about the one month long Europe trip we did last summer, including two cruises.  So glad to have done it.

Sounds like a great trip.  

22 hours ago, nhtravels said:

I love that by being spontaneous, you were able to take such a magical trip!

Me too.  Again it is very unlike me so I am very grateful.

22 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

What a wonderful, positive story. Thank you for sharing it with us.  I hope your husband is okay, and that you both stay safe and well. 

Thank you.  He is doing much better.  He started improving and all the home therapy stopped (Physical, occupational, speech and home health care) just weeks before the covid restrictions.  

Late winter 2019 I began researching Alaska cruises to celebrate my husbands 80th birthday in May 2020.  This would be our 4th Alaska cruise, we have 30+ cruises since 2001.  I stumbled across a fantastic price on an Alaskan cruise on the Joy.  I immediately called my PVP.  He pointed out that that price was for May 2019 not 2020.  In a spur of the moment decision, very unlike me, I decided to book for 2019 less than 4 months out.  I was able to use 2 future cruise certificates but the balance was due immediately.  Once booked I started to look for flights.  To make it work I had to book arriving in Seattle 2 days ahead of the cruise and leaving one day after the cruise.  Well, I thought, two trips in one, we would explore Seattle.  So I turned to hotel rooms.  Since we were going to be there I wanted to be able to walk around so after looking at my options we ended up booking at the Charter Hotel (a Hilton property) within walking distance of Pikes Market.  2 extra days in Seattle, hotel and food started evening out the savings on the cruise.  I decided to take a "whatever" attitude, very unlike me, and we did what we wanted, bought what we wanted and spent what we wanted.

After a great full day in Seattle we boarded the Joy and had a super cruise and again did, bought, spent what we wanted.  LOVED the Joy!

Here we are one year later and the cruise I planned to book isn't happening.  In the mean time my husband has been in the hospital 3 times with various health concerns.  In all probability that will be the last cruise he ever takes, for a variety of reasons.  Although I still have 2 future cruise credits I have gotten the value out of them what I paid so I will just wait and see what the future of cruising holds.

We have been talking a lot lately about how luckily we were that I made a mistake reading the NCL site last year.  I wrote a review of the cruise titled Best Cruise Ever?  I can now adamantly say that yes! It was the best cruise ever, for us. 

$20 at the beginning of the cruise to our cabin steward with our requests for the room.  $20 at the end of the cruise if the steward was good.  $5 at specialty restaurants for exceptional service.  $4 for room service in the morning when they bring our coffee and sweet rolls.  

On our last transatlantic cruise at the last port as we were getting ready to board somewhat early and talking about what to do with our remaining euros we saw our room steward getting off to head into town.  We called him over and gave him all the euros we had, it was not much.  He was very appreciative.  Two birds, one stone.

DH tells this story:

A salesman goes into a diner for breakfast.  He tells the waitress he is new in town and asks what the people are like.  She asks him what the people are like where he comes from.  He replies that they are snakes in the grass, they cannot be trusted, and will lie to your face.  The waitress tells him that he will find that the people here are just like that.

Later that day a salesman comes in for lunch and tells the waitress that he is new in town and asks what the people are like.  She asks him what the people are like where he comes from.  He tells her that they are the salt of the earth, friendly people who will give you the shirt off their back.  The waitress tells him that he will find that the people here are just like that.

So I say, "What have your other vacations been like?  This one will be like those. "

1 hour ago, collectingcoke said:

Fantastic review ! We go first week of September, you gave me so many great tips. Thanks

You are welcome.  Have a great time.  We went in September several years ago and really enjoyed that time of the year.  One of my favorite pictures from of DH and I is one taken in Skayway with the leaves in the trees behind us turning color.  We prefer traveling off season and for Alaska that's either early cruises or late cruises.

7 minutes ago, chars said:

Guests of the Haven have a gold card that says Haven right on it.  So if someone was to "sneak" into the Haven, as soon as they order a drink the bartender or server would know they do not belong there.  I remember purchasing BINGO cards when I was staying in the Haven and the worker, who scanned my card said, "Oh you are in the Haven, you must be rich".  

We were traveling in Portugal staying at the Pousadas (a chain of luxury, traditional or historical hotels in Portugal ) which had a special called "Golden Age" which at the time was offering 40% off for seniors.  At one hotel we asked for the Golden age discount and the clerk said "Oh for the old people".  He was not being rude, it was just the translation.

12 hours ago, RELAXTIME said:

Thank you for your review! I’m really enjoying reading this. We don’t sail til the last of August, so I am taking note's. Really glad to know they have escargot😍!

And they are delicious.  

3 hours ago, amelia3171 said:

Thank you for the best review ever. 

Thank you.  You made me actually lough out loud!

On Saturday October 16, 1999 DH and I were at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, CA when I woke up in the middle of the night because the bed was shaking.  I called out to my husband (who was born in California and lived there the first 38 years of his life) he replied, “don’t worry, it’s just an earthquake”.  Yep, just an earthquake.  We had a corner room and the curtains were swaying back and forth.  As we got up to get in the doorway of the bathroom, we could see the water in the pool looking like large waves.  Once it ended, we went down to see what was going on.  Panic in the lobby, crying and screaming and huddling.  People checking out to get to the airport.  Meanwhile the maintenance crew was already fixing the cracks in the walls.  We were scheduled to leave that afternoon, so we waited until the chaos died down and headed for the airport.  We boarded our plane and in the seats behind us was a family, mother, father and 5-year-old boy.  This was back in the day, so the boy had his Sony Walkman with his earphones.  He was obviously listening to Disney music because he was singing along.  His parents kept shushing him, but DH and I smiled at each other enjoying it.  As the plane took off the little boy said “Up, Up big fella.” And as we reached cruising altitude he shouted out “BEST VACATION EVER!”  Since 1999 when we return from a vacation and people ask us how it was, we always say “Best. Vacation. Ever”.  Thank you, little boy, (now 25 years old) for starting one of our favorite traditions.  So, I am officially declaring this “BEST CRUISE EVER” until the next one.   

Victoria

We did not get to Victoria until around 6pm.  The last time we were here while we were in a shop picking up the last of our gifts, DH asked the woman at the counter if they gave military discount since he was wearing his Marines polo.  She looked and him and said yes, of course.  We just love Canadians!

So here are some of my recommendations.  Take the time to sit in the observation lounge in the afternoon.  Read a book.  Have a scone with clotted cream.  Order room service coffee in the morning.  We tip them $4.  You don’t have to tip but you should, $1, $2, $3. 

Don’t have a melt down at the elevators. 

Let your room steward know what your schedule is.  Once Mark understood our schedule our room was always clean and we only saw him when we went looking for him.

Visit places on the ship during non prime time.

Debarkation

We put our luggage our before we went to bed.  We leisurely got off the ship.  The line of passengers with luggage was long.  We got a porter, he picked up our luggage (2 pieces) we went to the porter line and were out of there.

We had the red eye leaving at 11:45 so we stored our luggage and walked around Pike Market.  Had another scone.  I mean it GO!

Had a late lunch at the Athenian.  We went to Target, on 2^nd and shopped for some snacks for the airplane, which we did not eat.  Our car picked us up, we went to the airport no flight problems and we got home by 9am. 

4 hours ago, Eggs2Go said:

Loving your lighthearted approach to cruising.  Every moment is enjoyable.  I'm on the Bliss this July for my very first trip to Alaska, and your tips are most helpful.

Alaska is our favorite of all cruises.  Sit back and enjoy.

17 hours ago, trip111 said:

Are people mostly wearing jeans at night?  That seems so foreign to me as when we've cruised before we've always dressed up at night.  

There are a lot of jeans.  It is very casual.  We too, like to dress for dinner.  I took 2 pair of black dinner pants, they took up very little room and 3 pair of black heavier weight pants along with my top.  3 of the tops were fancier and I wore them to dinner. Since we never ate anywhere more than 3 time I was golden.

17 hours ago, Sauer-kraut said:

 

I dispute that claim, I would say our Jewel sailing (5/27-6/4) the average age was just about 40.  Lots of younger couples and not a heck of a lot of "oldies".  I am in my late 50's.

Glad to hear it.  We were on the Jewel for a 9 day Alaska and love the ship.  It is perfectly designed for Alaska.  

Sea Day

Random thoughts.  We used our free laundry twice, it’s one of our favorite perks because we can pack less.  Once I booked this cruise, I went to Kohls to look at clearance merchandise which just happened to be winter clothes.  I was able to buy 10 long sleeve shirts each under $10,  some only $3, I used my 30% coupon and had all my tops for less than $50.  Once we got home, they were washed and put up for next winter when I will have all new tops for the season. 

We were on our balcony all the time.  We would not do an Alaska cruise without having a balcony.

We shopped in the ship store for the last-minute items we needed.  The store is not nearly as good as Carnivals shops.  I want to reinforce, shop in Ketchikan or Skagway.

Being on a cruise ship makes me sleep better than any where else.  I just love the rocking of the ship.  Afternoon naps on sea days are about as good as it gets.

I don’t understand all the criticism of the food.  Nothing was Bad.  Some was adequate, some was good, and a few things were great.  I’m talking to you tiramisu at La Cusina!  If you don’t care for something get something else.  If it arrives cold mention it and get new.  The buffet is what it is.  Hunt for what you do like.

We ate two dinners in T/S and were pleased.  One night they had eggplant with spaghetti, and it was delicious.  The deserts are very good.

To sum up, don’t let a cold app or busy elevators over shadow all the really good things going on.

2 minutes ago, trip111 said:

What do people generally wear at night on an Alaskan cruise?  I keep hearing it is more casual.  Also, is there a formal night on Joy?

It is more casual, wear whatever you are comfortable in.  There is a dress up or not night, ours was on Day 2, Sunday.  This is a good opportunity to dress up and have pictures taken.  We saw people all week dressed up or down.  Please, I beg of everyone, do not wear a baseball cap in a dining room, it's just rude and inappropriate.  If you just have to wear a baseball cap go to the buffet.