bkrickles1

Unfortunately, no. I've sailed on ncl escape and encore too. Only the Escape had the ropes course and that might have been my favorite of the ncl ships but the Joy is fabulous in it's own way. In fact, Joy is definitely better for adult entertainment. 2 big theater shows, 2 comedians and live music at 5 different venues every single night.

I have sailed both ships and I've done 5 and 7 day Bermuda itineraries. LOS is much older (I'm sure they've done a renovation at some point). I sailed LOS when it was brand new in 2007, I believe, and it's a real nice ship. It's so nice that we sailed again on Liberty some years later. But that means it's around 16 years old and probably in need of some updating. We sailed Joy last summer for a 7 day Bermuda itinerary and it was great fun for adults and kids. We had my nieces with us, who were 8 & 9, and they had so much fun. The kids clubs were not in full swing but they are now and, form what I've read, they are terrific. There's water slides, go carts and other fun stuff too on Joy. And there's much more variety of eateries. We enjoyed Joy so much that we're sailing on her again in July. I'd choose the 7 day. It takes a couple of days to get your bearings and the almost 3 days in Bermuda can be filled up with activities really easy. It's a way more relaxing trip with the extra 2 days. Also, Joy is way newer. It was built in 2017 for the Asia market and then after a year they retooled it for North America. You figure in the pandemic and it's really only been sailing for about 4 years. Either choice will be good, but I recommend the Joy and the 7day itinerary.

That's a fine location. Midship and should be quiet. We are booked in 13216 on Joy in July, so right down the hall.

Do we have any clarification on this. Last summer I used a single dining credit in my name and shared lunch (4 items) at Food Republic with my adult daughter. I'm sailing Joy again and planned on getting the extra 2 dining credits that are offered prior to sailing for $82 total. I wanted to use 1 credit to go to Food Republic with my adult niece and share lunch and I wanted to use the other 1 credit to go to Q the night we arrive in Bermuda and prior to an excursion and share with my wife. Does anyone know definitively whether this can be done? If not, I probably won't buy the extra dining credits. TIA

I can only speak for the Joy but last summer we had a family club balcony and it had a large shower/tub combo. This summer we booked a regular club balcony and it has the large walk in shower. Looking at the Joy deck plans and the codes, I believe all the family club balconies have that shower/tub combo. On what ships did you stay in family club balconies?

Thankfully, only a scan is needed for muster!

Thanks for the response! The Man o' War were everywhere and hard to spot, being transparent and floating on top of the water. Can't wait to see for myself when we sail in July. Hopefully not much to see. Appreciate the Splash Academy info too. Both sets of parents we're traveling with have a 5 year old and a much younger sibling. The 5 year olds are cousins and best friends, so they'll probably love Splash Academy, and it will give the parents a little break, only having to care for 1 out of 2 kids. Lmao! And I'm sure my wife will do some babysitting and the parents can really have a date night!! 41 days for us!!!!

All very good tips! Thanks!! The small buffet at American Diner for breakfast is the least known place to eat on the entire ship! They also put out coffee, juice and danish in Spice at around 6am. I'll go out there after hitting the gym and have a cup of oj and watch the water go by. Very relaxing! And, I totally agree with not going to Horseshoe Bay on arrival day. We're taking Joy in July with a group of newbies (including little ones) and I recommended they do a nice family excursion that first day, while my wife and I will enjoy Spice and the pool area without any crowding. We have a sunset catamaran tour scheduled for that first evening, so we'll have a leisurely day on the ship before hopping off for that. We've visited Bermuda many times, so we're not as anxious as others to get off the ship. We'll all do Horseshoe on the 2nd day, where we'll get up early and head over before it gets so crowded that getting chairs and umbrellas becomes difficult. We had that happen last summer and then we got run off by the man o war (jellyfish). They actually closed off going in the water by around 1:30 because of it. Lots of people got stung that day. I've never seen that amount of jellyfish at Horseshoe in all of my years going there and, hopefully, they won't be there this summer. Thanks for the review! If you have anything more to say about Splash Academy, I'd love to hear it. Part of our group includes 2 five year olds (1 is my grand niece) and both sets of parents intend to get the kids involved.

As said previously, a "family" listing usually means there's a tub. For example, last summer on Joy we had a family club balcony suite. The bathroom, which is terrific, had a large shower/tub combination. This summer, we're going back on Joy and will be in a regular Club Balcony Suite, which will have a large walk in shower.

I did it on Joy last summer and planned to do it again in July on Joy. I planned on using 1 credit to share at food republic and another to share st Q. I hope this hasn't changed.

I, just yesterday, had my bid accepted for a sailing on Joy July 23rd. That's 45 days prior. The accepted bid took me from an inside cabin to a Club Balcony Suite. I was surprised at how early it was accepted but very happy. Almost 7 weeks prior to sailing and with a minimum bid.

I clicked on the NCL app about an hour ago and it showed my new stateroom #. I am so happy to have successfully navigated the upgrade advantage program. We are sailing Joy on July 23rd and had originally booked an inside cabin (13555) because my wife convinced me to go on 4 trips this year and I wanted to save a little. When we booked back in February, we were able to get an inside cabin for approx. $2500. That includes the $500 cruise first cert. we bought for $250 and my military discount. At the time a regular balcony was going for approx. $1200 more and didn't fit my budget. When I received the upgrade email after final payment, I put in minimum bids for a balcony and a club balcony suite (which is what we stayed in last summer on Joy). $100pp and $125pp respectively. So, for $250 total, my wife and I had our bid accepted. A Club Balcony Suite for under $2800 is a terrific deal for these times and it makes my wife a happy woman. 45 Days until our sailing!!

Thanks! Nothing on the card yet.

To update my posts from yesterday, my one remaining bid is still showing pending. The odd thing, and perhaps good news for me, is that I can't modify or cancel the bid. It could just be that it's about to be "expired", but there's still so many balcony and club balcony suites available for my sailing. Hopefully I know one way or another very soon so I can stop checking and thinking about it. Lmao 😂

Thank you for enlightening me and the entire cc community.

Thanks for your input.

So you say. It must be incredibly tedious always being the smartest person in the room and always getting in the last word. And this all stems from you knocking a very popular investment strategy of buying low on distressed stocks.

Lmao 😂! You're hysterical!

Apparently not, if you consider a passive index investor a FA's worst nightmare. As I said, that makes zero sense.

I'm guessing you don't understand what a FA does or how they get paid because that makes zero sense. And, what works for me, works for the majority of investors.

I've worked as a financial advisor for 30 years, so I'm aware that "it doesn't always work that way". With that being said, I purchased shares in a company that is under some duress and does face significant financial challenges, but I purchased those shares at very close to it's all time low and short of NCL going out of business, it will be nearly impossible for me to lose money in this very small investment. At $11.36 nclh was a solid investment opportunity and it got me $100 obc. I believe I've won on both fronts!!

I know that. I bought 200 because it was so cheap and knew I wouldn't lose $$.

I'm happy I finally did this. I bought 200 shares of nclh last November for around $11.40 and now have $100 obc for my upcoming Joy sailing. It doesn't hurt that nclh hit $17 today but I'll hold these shares so I continue to get the obc for future cruises.

Well, that would be fun! I can't modify that one last bid, so I'll anxiously wait. Lmao 😂 This is one of 4 trips for us this year, which is crazy, so my wife and I booked an inside cabin for budgetary reasons. An inexpensive upgrade would be a nice surprise.

I do a mock booking and then click on the choose another stateroom link and then go deck by deck and section by section. For my sailing there's a ton of balcony and club balcony cabins. Again, I'm just surprised how early one of my bids has "expired".