Sand and Seas

All the Diet Coke lovers are getting interested now😋

The Joy is a sister ship to Encore, Bliss and Escape, but the cabin numbering differs. If you check the deck plans for deck 8 on those ships you will see that cabins 8138/8738 are in the same position as your cabin on the Joy. There are videos on youtube for some of the other ships showing the larger balcony with the slant.

You should be able to purchase the airport transfer on board. The Alaska Bliss Dailies for 6/25 cruise were just posted. They mention you can go to guest services by Thursday and arrange the airport transfer. I would suggest you also check to see if your airline participates in PortValet. You can sign up for that at guest services early in the cruise. Have a great cruise😊

Thanks for posting! Very helpful for us😊

Thanks - I checked out the link in your signature. It has been a decade or more since we were on the Spirit. Love the update and your beautiful pictures . It reminded us how much we loved the Great Outdoors and Biergarten😎

It is confusing. Have we seen a US requirement for testing?

Yes, I would agree. Should be able to purchase the airport transfer onboard. I can't imagine that they ever say the airport transfer is 'sold-out'🤔

Thanks for your responses. It seems like the trip from airport to Galveston is the most complicated part of trip🤔

We will be flying into IAH on a Saturday afternoon in late October arriving about 2pm. (Not sure yet if we will go with a shuttle or car-service.) 1- Is it too optimistic to hope that the drive from IAH to Galveston will be less congested than other times I've read about? 2- Will the construction I've read about be completed? It's our first trip to Galveston so we will be staying for two nights prior to our cruise. After reading on these boards, I'm beginning to wish we could stay longer than two nights! (Our cruise ends up in Miami on NCL's Prima)

Thanks for this reference- Just went to their website. In addition to proctoring your own test, they have walk-up sites in several cities.

Two questions if anyone can answer one or both- 1-For the PortValet service, how do you pay your luggage fee to your airline (Delta in our case)? 2-Can you purchase your NCL transfer to airport using your OBC? (We will have non-refundable)

Hmmm.....I can book 'Noise Boys' for $719 (US).....guess I'll wait for that price to go down!

Has anybody heard about the 'Sail & Sustain Mixology Experience' for Diamond and Ambassador tiers? Sounds fun to us!

If HHS will not be covering tests anymore, I wonder if CDC will be easing back on their recommendations about travel🤔 I know that personally, I will continue (for the foreseeable future) to home-test before flying anywhere just for my own peace of mind.

We love lunch at Food Republic and usually plan for 'at sea' days when we know it will be open. On our upcoming Alaska Bliss cruise, there is only one day listed as 'at sea'. Is it possible FR will be open for lunch during some of the other days? Some days, we have early morning calls at Juneau and Ward Cove. Would they open FR at 1pm or so?