Two Wheels Only

Do you feel the same about the Spa (new) and VIBE (expanded)? People who pay extra get uncrowded space. While sitting in the Haven lounge, you can only be seen by Haven guests.

This thread reminds me that when I get home, I have to organize all of those blue MED bottles under my sink. 🫢

Even on Cunard, some staterooms are larger than others. People who pay more get more. The Haven might be a bit more blatant but "everybody is equal" doesn't really exist on any line.

We're still waiting for actual photos/video.

What would you like to know? Balcony size? Bedroom/Master bathroom configuration? Noise?

Terms for packages can be more stringent than just buying individually. The Starbucks package terms state 18 and older.

You can probably blame the people who share drinks with those who do not have a package for that policy.

How old will the teenager be? If he'll be under 18, the package won't be an option.

My theory.... Joy's history of going from the Asian Market to the $50M refresh for the North American market had some side effects. First, it was the Concierge Suites (no Haven access) and the Haven Suites trying to co-exist. Then, some of the Concierge Suites were turned into Haven Suites which gave Joy 118 Haven suites and some leftover regular/non-Haven suites. At the time, 118 was the most Haven suites on any NCL ship even though Joy's Haven area was no bigger than Bliss' or Encore's. Those leftover suites suffer because so much manpower is dedicated to the Haven suites. NCL can't give those suites Haven access because Joy already has so many Haven suites and NCL can't make those suites into standard/regular staterooms because they are too nice. Joy's suites are caught in the middle.

If you can imagine it..... Take the old Haven library and cut it in half from front to back. Give the port side half to 18100 and the starboard side half to 18700. In that new space, add a bedroom, a bathroom, and a dining room table as well as rearrange the living room and bedroom spaces.

The staterooms are kind of like Legos. One side is wider to fit the bed. The stateroom next door will be wider where the neighbor was narrower and narrower where the neighbor was wider. The patter alternates to get as many staterooms as possible for a given space. There are breaks in the pattern for wheelchair accessible staterooms, crew stuff, structural/functional behind the wall things (plumbing, HVAC, all that good stuff) etc. so the pattern can restart at different points. Some staterooms can be the same configuration but back to back and the pattern will branch off from there. Throw in different stateroom categories and there are even more anomalies. It isn't always as simple as counting staterooms to guess the unknown configuration but without photos/videos to confirm, educated guesses are the best that we can do. The pull man bed being near the closet applies to the Breakaway/Breakaway Plus ships for standard side balcony/Club balcony staterooms so when those sleep 4, the bed is near the balcony. A similar "sleeps 3" won't have a pull man bed so there are some of those that also have the bed near the balcony but most will have the bed near the closet. Haven suites have different rules and configurations so ignore them when figuring out standard balcony and Club balcony configurations.

Not necessarily. The decks don't always exactly match. For example 12784/12786 & 12788/12790 connect on deck 12 but 13786/13788 connect on deck 13. Also, 12788 is the 4th stateroom after the bump out while 13788 is the 5th stateroom after the bump out. What I suggest is to try to book 13790 with 4 people. Some MA category staterooms sleep 3 and some sleep 4. If it sleeps 4, the bed is near the balcony. The deck plan doesn't have the symbol for how many people it sleeps but if the PCC can put 4 people in there, you know where the bed is. If it only sleeps 3, the bed can be in either location but most "sleeps 3" balcony staterooms (standard and Club) on the side of the ship have the bed near the closet. 13800 is bed near closet. 13796 is bed near closet. If that pattern remains consistent (it doesn't always) 13790 would be bed near balcony.

The video in post #24 shows 12788, not 13788

As more information comes in, inaccuracies will get corrected. Even the owner of the ship was misidentified in early reports. As long as the new information is more accurate, it's good to add it to the thread. Corrections aren't being made to embarrass anyone. I appreciate the information. There's another video that shows the track and speed of the ship from the time it left until impact. There's also more information about the lights and the black smoke that was seen. New information will continue to add to the thread.

Holiday cruises tend to be in high demand. As the supply of available staterooms goes down....you know the rest. I sailed last Christmas and booked very early. The price went up and never came back down to what I paid. There's no harm in booking early. If the price goes down, cancel and rebook. If the family members want to go, book them now and watch prices during "sales". If it's worth it, they or you can rebook.

With them both being forward-facing, MSC uses higher glass to block the wind. This makes taking photos more difficult and doesn't feel as "open" as a RS/OS side balcony on the Sea*** ships. The World Class RS balcony seems enclosed like the Meraviglia RS balcony. For World America, I booked a Duplex Suite which has a 2nd balcony that is higher and more open. The lower balcony is shielded by the high glass but the upper balcony feels more like a balcony.

I appreciate the information. It's just that people watching the video might not understand that it didn't happen that quickly and that the ship wasn't traveling that fast.

The video shown in the link isn't in real time. It is sped up. The full video is online and the collapse begins at 1:28:49am.

Only a small percentage of reservations are available to book before the cruise. The rest of the reservations open on embarkation day. As soon as you board, try to make your reservations for the times/people that you would like.

I've looked at and passed through that area several times. I've never seen it crowded.

That's what I always get. 👍

I was pointing out that even lines that charge tax while in port don't always charge tax while in port. 😉 The cruise line is going to get that money from the guests in one way or another. HOW cruise lines get it may differ and guests may prefer one way to another but the line passes that expense onto the customer whether the customer sees it (NCL) or doesn't.

When in the Yacht Club, MSC doesn't charge guests anything extra since guests don't even swipe their card.

I like that. A ship being late and missing a flight isn't as bad as a flight being late and missing a ship. 😉

The OP is sailing on Bliss. None of the aft-facing balconies on Bliss are that deep.