graphicguy

I tend to like Breakaway and Breakaway + ships....more amenities...lots to do, etc. But, I am itching to sail the Spirit. It looks fabulous since the refurb based on the pictures I've seen.

Haven't checked that Latitudes cruise fares lately, but even with the discount, it really wasn't a good deal. Great ship and great itinerary, though. Fares are a bit surprising given it's the end of season for Alaska. I would have thought they'd be way less.

Pretty hard to miss that ribbon. Nice find!

The GEM has one of my favorite cabins on ANY ship....the Aft Suite. Priced just a little higher than a balcony cabin but way less than the Haven but with nearly all the same amenities. Still, looking forward to the Joy. I've heard nothing but good with regard to sailing her.

A big bag of cash😂 In all reality, I think I got a plate of chocolate covered strawberries! Not something I particularly like, but the thought was nice!

I'm debating about whether to do a live review. Not sure, yet. I looked at the GEM cruise, too. I love the GEM. But, I had never sailed the Joy previously. So, that tilted it to the Joy. Would love to hear your impressions of the GEM, too!

June 16th!

Thanks! Looking forward to this. Will sail her in June!

I use these.....they wrap around the handles of my luggage. Can't remember the cost. I think around $11-$12 on Amazon for 4 or 5 of them...all different scenes.

Jewel CLASS have small Haven areas with no specific Haven Bars or Restaurants...just a small pool/lounge area. I don't know how many Haven specific cabins are available on the Jewel Class, but it can't be many. To my knowledge, Spirit Class has NO Havens. Haven started with the Epic, which has a sizable Haven area with a Bar and Restaurant (sailed it in October '23). It's quite nice since they just refurbished it. Probably the Breakaway/Getaway have the smallest Haven Bar and Restaurant. Sailed in both, multiple times. Never had an issue getting a seat in either the Lounge (where the bar is) or the Restaurant area. The one you and I sailed, Prima, was sizable, too. It was a circular bar. I never had an issue getting a seat at the bar, nor the restaurant. All of the above sailed full. So, there really isn't a stock answer to the question "how many Haven guests will I be sailing with?" The size of the Haven and amount of Haven Guests depends on the ship. Looking forward to the Haven in the Joy, which I have scheduled next in June. That has its own Observation Lounge area. That should be fun. The only times in the last few years I sailed on ships that were not full, were right after the COVID start up, but both were on the Celebrity Edge and Apex, respectively.

The cruise the OP has inquired about hasn't embarked yet.

There are days I DON'T WANT TO BE ME. I can't imagine anyone else would want to. 😉

Oh, that's funny. Similar thing happened to me on my last cruise in the Haven on the Prima. A couple of days into the cruise, I was sitting at the bar at the local grabbing a burger. Guy sitting next to me started small talk. We started talking about the number of cruises we took, the ships we had sailed, etc. I asked him if he was active cruise critic as it seemed he had cruised a lot on NCL. He said he said he posted on cruise critic as "graphicguy" and that he was "well known". I was kind of stunned. At first, I thought..."is it possible there is more than one 'graphicguy' who posts on Cruise Critic? But, they don't allow duplicate user names. I played along. I told him I had heard of him and had seen his posts. I continued on that he seemed like a nice guy and I enjoyed seeing him on cruise critic. I started drilling down a little further asking the ships he'd sailed, questions about his "wife" and the cabin he was sailing. He fumbled along saying there were "so many that he couldn't remember all of them". I asked if he was sailing with anyone else. He said his "wife" was on the ship with him and she was "hanging around" somewhere else (I'm not married and was sailing solo). I asked about his cabin...again, he fumbled around saying his wife had booked it and he thought they were in one with a "porthole" (I was in the Haven and was posting about it live). I was going to call him out on it. But, just got a chuckle to see if I'd run into him again with his wife. Never saw him again. Funny thing is, he never once asked about who I was, who I posted as on Cruise Critic, who I was on the cruise with, or the cabin I was sailing in. Probably best he didn't know. Mystery man imposter, if you're out there reading this, just know the real "graphicguy" is much more charismatic and funnier than you are.

Sailed in Haven 9 times….Some more than once on the same ship. Getaway, Breakaway, Epic, Prima! Sailed in Spa Haven to a 2BR Haven Suite. Each Haven has a different layout…Epic is different than Breakaway which is different than Prima! Some are bigger than others. So, each holds a different amount of people. Prima Haven is bigger than the Getaway, but it also has more Haven Cabins and holds more people! The Haven Bar is not just the bar area, there is an entire area with couches and chairs. The Haven Bar in the Prima is a circular bar. The Haven Bar in the Breakaway is more like a straight bar. In brief, they are different. And, it’s not just a Haven Bar, but an entire Haven Bar area with bar seats, padded chairs and couches. I have never seen the Haven Bar area totally full, even on sold out cruises. Generally speaking, the Haven sells out first among all the cabin types! In short, there’s no specific answer to how many people are in the Haven. Too many variables!

The link I posted above states this... *Participating airlines and departure times vary by ships sailing out of Seattle. *Domestic and International flights are accepted with the exception of Delta Air Lines. Delta Air Lines only allows for domestic flights only. *Enroll in the service online up until the evening of the 1st day of your cruise at 4:00 PM. Any enrollments made after this time will not be accepted. However, after this time, you can sign up onboard. *This service is free for all passengers flying out of Seattle and is generously provided by the Port of Seattle for all cruise passengers on flights leaving after 11 AM on disembarkation day and before 1:30 AM the following day. *Airline-assessed baggage fees will be applied to your onboard account when applicable as per your airline's rules.

Participating airlines are Alaskan American Delta Jet Blue Southwest United

The FAQs and Ts and Cs.... https://maketraveleasier.com/PortValet I've used the port valet often. But, I fly Delta. According to the above, if you're on a discount airline like Frontier, Spirit, etc, they don't participate. I don't think the cruise lines can accommodate the Port Authority if they don't offer it to the airline.

Truer words have never been uttered.

They bring it to your table and carve it there. There really is no way for them to bring you only rare (if that's your preference). You'll see them carve it table side. What you're asking for is more along the lines of going to Cagney's and telling them how you want your meat cooked. They don't do that at Brazilian restaurants (at least none that I've ever been to).

I "think" there's some sort of registered note that you watched it, and you can't go to your muster station and check in until you watch the safety video. The issue is there's no "stop" code that keeps the safety video from being sent out after you watch it.

If I’m going out to dinner and I think the tab will be $100, I bring $125 with me because that’s the total cost coming out of my wallet with tip. In my 60+ years age, I can think of only twice I did not include a service charge or tip as part of my bill. It’s part of the out of pocket. Just booked a 7 nite Bermuda Cruise for $3,500. I know and budget for $175 for service charges to cover cabin steward, bartenders, wait staff, etc. Taxes and fees are $335. My out of pocket, the only number that matters is right about $4,000. BTW…the service charge is right at 5%. That’s cheap!

Hmmmmm...I don't think I've ever seen two lines at NCL MDR kiosk to seat you. You just walk up and give them your key card and they seat you. Royal has had two lines in the past...those with and those without reservations. But, NCL is FreeStyle where reservations aren't needed.

I concur. The thing is, who really cares if you go to Customer Service to remove the DSC? If you're going to do it, get on with it. We don't need anyone to announce it here! Why even announce it?

....if there are two food stations, let's say one with bread and one with pastries next to one another, a woman is serving herself some bread but no one is taking any pastry at the moment, I would definitely go and grab a pastry if I wanted one. You had me right up until the above statement. If that's the case, there are other stations all over the buffet where you can "justify" that. What if you're at the coffee station and you want decaf but someone is in front getting regular coffee? Or, someone is getting scrambled eggs and you only want the bacon right next to it? This is where you find people 2-3 deep because they just wanted this or that at the station. IT makes for some pretty testy people, also. Point being, this is what causes shoving in the buffet lines. How long do you have to wait for your pastry by waiting in line? A minute, maybe 2 minutes? Is that such a trial? The rest of your post I agree with, though.

Generally speaking, EU fares are higher since they bake in the service charges into the fare. Do whatever you want. It doesn't affect me one iota (unless it raises my total out of pocket when I sail). I know how much I'll spend in total before I sail because service charges, taxes and fees are part of the cost. Just add them in and decide whether you want to take the cruise or not. IF it exceeds your budget when you total it all up, keep shopping for another cruise. But, this whole "I'm not paying crew because I don't want to" excuse is tired and pretty worthless. They forget cruising is part of the service industry. Restaurants, Hotels, Resorts, etc....one way or the other it's baked in, no matter how the pie is sliced up. IF you want to have it removed, go to Customer Service and tell them. When they ask why, tell them that, too. When your cabin steward cleans your room, tell him/her why. When the bartender serves you a drink, tell them why. If you're going to do it, spread your point of view to the people who are affected instead of skulking around here and trying to gather mindshare.