Driberif1

9 hours ago, DLB58 said:

Will cruise critic EVER update the description of NCL Joy and add more reviews?  SOMEONE must have written another review since it’s moved away from Asian shores and become an Americans, (as in North and South America) ship. 

Go to first page of this board and click on "Everything Norwegian Joys Westernization" and there are about 30 pages of a thousand posts with hundreds of pictures and videos, it has been the most active post on here the last few weeks. The entire week everyone was on the ship they kept posting pictures and videos.

We have been fortunate to get the Vibe passes each time we have tried, we have had to make sure to aim directly to Headliners/Guest Services but were never "those people" that run and push to get there, the weirdest thing about it is with all the people going crazy to get the passes there is never more than about 10 other people there and normally it is the same people each time. The only thing I can imagine is multiple Haven guests go ahead and just get the Vibe just so they have access but never actually use it.

On 4/26/2019 at 3:18 PM, mrobstad said:

Haven cruisers wouldn’t need a Vibe pass since they have their own private pool area. 

We have been fortunate to get the Vibe pass most cruises and each time we cruise we meet multiple people in the Vibe that are staying in the Haven. (Seems like 60-70% of who we have met)

5 minutes ago, TheDougOut said:

 

No sports court.  The included-outdoor activities would seem to be limited to mini golf, pool & water slides.

13 minutes ago, Sadric said:

So my so is 14 and this will be the first time where he can enjoy the teen club although judging by the photos it looks lame. Also to confirm...no basketball?

Does “so” stand for significant other?   If so that is a bit weird!

2 hours ago, spanishguy1970 said:

why did she leave the Asian Market?

Allergy to shellfish.

On 4/9/2019 at 12:03 PM, Georgie562 said:

 

More money $$ out of your pockets.... 🤑

I know you might find this hard to believe but that is actually the reason of the entire ship! Most successful businesses seek out to make money.

First cruise I ever took was on Carnival many years ago and I witnessed at least a dozen altercations/fights and the sewage pumps reversed and it came through my shower while I was showering and through the sink and I swore I would never go on a cruise again. Many years later I was talked in to it and was told that since it was just a 5 days cruise out of California it was a party cruise and it is normally not like that so I gave it another try and took another Carnival cruise out of Florida and although the ship was much nicer and had no sewage issue I did witness 3 full on group fights at different times and different people about 10 vs 10 each time. After this I swore off cruising until I was talked in to it again but on NCL, I sailed on the Getaway on its second sailing and it was absolutely amazing, at that time they did not offer the alcohol package as a perk and we were not able to buy it because we traveled during spring break and it was not available. Between 3 of us we built up a $3,000 alcohol bill. The next year we decided to go on a cruise and we searched every cruise line besides Carnival, and NCL was the best value once they included the alcohol package (I know it is not really "free" and you pay taxes/gratuity etc. but compared to paying $1,000 less for the cruise and getting the "free" alcohol it is worth it for us to pay a little more). We now cruise once or twice per year and every time we look in to all pricing and itinerary from each cruise line and make a decision and so far for the last 6 or 7 cruises NCL has been the best overall value. It sucks you can not bring on water anymore, it sucks a few alcohol drinks we have to pay an additional dollar or two, it sucks we don't have straws (especially to stir frozen drinks), it sucks we do not get towels folded like animals. The things you mentioned are nice to have but honestly I feel most people that you call "loyal/cheerleaders" look at the overall package value of what they are going to do and make the best educated decision of which cruise to go on. (approx. $25.00 to buy water onboard/$10.00 reusable straw/extra $15.00 per cruise for add on drink cost/$50.00 extra cash tip to steward on first day to get towel animals and amazing service).   So 90% of the complaints people have can be cured for $100.00!, If you are going to pay $4,000/$6,000 for a cruise I find it hard to complain about $100 more. (here again is when you add up the value of all the other cruise lines also to see if you add the extra $100 if it is still a good value or not). Example: Going on Alaska cruise on Norwegian Joy next month and I could go without those things with a nice balcony and all other NCL perks for $3,520 for 3 people or I can go on Royal and get the folded animals etc for $5,740. I am sure you have heard the phrase jumping over dollars to pick up pennies... I do not feel it is worth $2,200 to get the lobster and a few other small things.

On 4/2/2019 at 5:49 AM, thetaro said:

I would rather have a free bottle of water or some chocolate over some towel animals. I feel bad breaking it and don't really know where to put it. 

 Why would you put chocolate over a towel animal? That sounds pretty freaky! I guess if that is the sort of thing you are into I understand. (FYI, it will be tough to get the chocolate out of the towel in the wash)!     😉

You sure you did not accidentally get in a line for an excursion? We have been there a few times (Getaway/Escape) and as soon as we get off the boat there were long lines but they were for specific excursions, if you were not waiting for one of them you could just walk around everyone and head in to town.

How could you not tolerate the upcharge but you can tolerate being a Sabres fan??

3 hours ago, mwolever said:

I always fly in to FLL (I like Southwest) and then stay in South Beach for a Miami departure. We literally walk off the plane and order an Uber, usually around 45 dollars (for a normal Uber, an XL for 6 people would be more expensive) but it is WAYYYYYYYY more cost effective than any shuttle options I've seen, so I highly recommend it.

Completely agree, flights into Miami are normally close to double what it is to Fort Lauderdale, we cruise NCL every year and do the same thing, fly in to FLL and stay in South Beach, Only difference is we have always hired a private driver and it has always only been just slightly higher than an Uber xl and they are already waiting for us when we get there. We also have the same driver pick us up when we get off the ship and he drives us in to South Beach to have breakfast/lunch and waits for us then takes us the the FLL airport

For us the taxes/additional fees are minimal compared to what you get out of it. First time we went on the Getaway was a couple weeks after it came out and at that time you were not able to even buy the drink package during Spring Break cruise and between three of us we built a $3,960 alcohol bill. We find the best way is to start the reservation and go through everything you want and whatever the final price is makes our decision. Using that method Royal has always had final total at the end for us about 30% higher, Carnival use to be about 20% lower but the last couple years it has been within a couple hundred dollars.

On 12/30/2018 at 10:50 AM, kevmoley said:

I received the 6 freebies for booking an Alaskan Cruise in 2019 on the NCL Joy. The Free Airfare (to be assigned at a later date by NCL) from Phoenix to Seattle RT= $0.00 cost to me .. I only paid for the ground transfers of $40.00 each way.

It was kinda weird on our side, we are sailing on the Joy May 11, 2019 and we have enough airline miles we fly for free on Southwest (Las Vegas to Seattle) but for the heck of it when we were booking we clicked the free/reduced airline and the final price of our cruise went up $579.00.  (It only added a small fee that it showed but when we went all the way to the final checkout is where the difference was discovered). Maybe try to rebook your trip without the airline perk and see if the overall price drops also.

We always do the same thing and end up making reservations later than we would like just to make sure we are able to get in and once we get on the ship we have always been able to change them to what we want easily and we have often just did a "walk up" and have never waited more than about 5 minutes max.

Good news is if you visit the "cruise next" desk before the end of the cruise you can get a special on a divorce cruise but you have to use it within1 year.

I am sure "July 1919" is cheaper than any cruise you will ever find!  🙂   Seriously though, I think it will end up being pretty close to the same as what it is for 2019 and possibly slightly less in the future because there are a few more mega ships from different cruise lines moving to Alaska which will force them to be more competitive with the pricing. We booked a cruise for May 2019 and were planning on sailing on the Bliss and the night we were going to do the booking it popped up that the Joy (sister ship) is moving from China there and it was about 20% less than the Bliss so we booked the Joy instead

On 12/26/2018 at 11:30 AM, djpeteski said:

The wife and I along with our four adult children sailed on the Getaway on 16 Dec - 23 Dec 2018.

 

We normally sail Carnival with Royal Caribbean as a back up.  However, we chose this cruise as it was going to save us 1500-2K, and would take us to some ports the kids have not seen before.  The wife and I are veterans of about a dozen cruises each, and it was her first time sailing with NCL.  I sailed with them many years ago.  We have also done some of the shorter "booze cruises" on both Carnival and RC; however, none were as bad as this one.  

 

This turned out to be a 7 day booze cruise for middle aged adults that could not handle their alcohol and acted like the stereotypical entitled millennial.  Most millennials are hard working decent young people trying to figure out their lives, not what is portrayed in the media.  

 

So it seemed most people selected the free drink perk with their state room, and they behaved worse then a bunch of college kids.  Highlights included a women punching and cursing out a hand sanitizer station.  A man urinating in the halls of ship.  A man punching a bartender and then his wife.  It was crazy how drunk people were and security was totally absent.  The bartenders were clearly over serving.

 

I would avoid this ship and this will be my last time sailing with NCL. 

 

 

 

 

I have been on the Getaway a few times and have never had an issue close to this, of course occasionally you will get someone that drank too much and gets loud but normally friends/family calm them down and nothing becomes of it. I can believe his experience about some crazy drunk people but punching a bartender (and his wife) would get you kicked off the ship at the next stop. Either way though, before you decide your last time sailing any cruiseline you should probably do a "youtube/google" search of "cruise ship fight" and of the approx. 300 videos uploaded there is only 2-3 NCL and 2-3 Royal, a few random and about 275 are Carnival fights. I am sure plenty other fights have happened that were not on video but if you compare statistically I think NCL will be one of the safer choices.

2 hours ago, Seb_Nicole said:

Hello,

 

Not trying to offend anybody. Just wondering if there is a topless area on Norwegian Jade (So nobody gets offended!)

I have been reading about a freestyle sundeck not sure if that's still acceptable and or if there is one on the Jade. If anybody know can you advise me ?

 

Thanks ! 🙂

I have not been on this specific NCL ship and not sure if they have the "Vibe" on it but on the Getaway/Escape there is. There is 3 of us that always travel and get a Cabana in the Vibe and it is completely secluded and the two girls are always able to lay out topless there. (not just a "vibe pass", must get the Cabana in the Vibe)

On 12/7/2018 at 5:24 PM, zitsky said:

 

Where are you getting champagne at cost?  NCL?  The price for Veuve Clicquot is 2-3x the retail price.  I didn't know Dom was an option.  Maybe you're referring to another cruise line?

I am talking about NCL, There is always 3 of us that would buy bottled. Two of us would buy a bottle of Dom at our local liquor store for apprx. $169-$179 and the 3rd would wait until we boarded and she would go buy her own bottle and would get it for $175-$185 so now instead of us adding weight to our suitcases and bringing it all the way from Vegas we just buy it on the ship. (If you wait until you are at sea you save even more obviously because of not paying tax but that doesn't work for the sail away of course)

We use to always buy bottled of Dom and bring them onboard with us and then it turned out that it was within $5.00 of just purchasing once you get onboard, either way though all you need to do is stop by any of the bars and ask for a Champagne bucket and glasses, occasionally some of the smaller side bars will say they do not have any so normally I just go to the 6th floor to the large bar and they always have plenty available. You can also request it from room service and they are normally fairly quick but you are taking a chance on not having it chill long enough.

If you are one of the first few groups to board the ship you can rush to guest services and purchase the VIBE passes for the week.

Anyone recently on the Getaway know if they have NBCSN as a sports channel? We have been on the Getaway a few times and do not remember seeing it in the stateroom but I vaguely recall seeing it on at O'Sheehans. We don't want to miss the Golden Knights advancing while cruising next week.

It appears you got your answer but we have been on the Getaway 3 times and the Escape and we always get room 13870 which is an angled balcony and there is plenty of room for three of us and we enjoy the angle to look down the side of the ship also.

I am sailing next week May 13-20 on the Getaway and I decided to see what the exact cruise will be next year at the same time same itinerary and May 12-19 for 3 people is $270 more so I do not see that big of a difference?!? I booked this cruise on cyber Monday and the week before and the week after did not have the same perks and was much more so technically next year is actually much cheaper 12 months ahead then the cruise I am taking next week at 12 months ahead.

We have been on the Getaway a few times (going again May 13-20) and after many drinks and getting to the cabin late night we would order a pizza almost every night and unfortunately it would take minimum 1 hour to get it so we often would fall asleep while waiting and when we got the knock on the door just put it on the counter and go back to sleep.