vacation44

Sad to read this.

I should also mention that most of us in our group used the NCL app for communication which we each purchased for $9.95. In our case, it surprisingly worked great, and we all said it was a much better experience using it as it was a few years back. We were able to hear the buzz clearly when being texted and the buzz and vibration when receiving a phone call also worked great. For us, it was an improvement and made communication easy within our party.

You are very welcome. I get a lot of information from return cruisers so I thought I would give my two cents.

Yes, Spice H20 was open.

Thought I would do a quick summary of our cruise last week on the Epic. I traveled with my husband, daughter (24), son (23) and 10 other extended family members. Embarkation: As we wanted to purchase Posh passes, we did get to the port extra early and were in the very first group to board. I believe we were on the ship around 11:00 a.m. There was no traffic for us getting to the pier. Our Uber driver said that the traffic problem has been fixed as they added another lane to the road leading up to the pier for taxis/Ubers waiting for passengers. There were no bells and whistles in the Haven waiting area--just uncomfortable chairs, water and orange juice. Ship: Having sailed on the Getaway, Joy and Escape, we really did miss the Boardwalk. As we stayed in the Haven, we did not have the funny bathroom configuration. We would sail on the Epic again if it is an itinerary that meets our needs. The staff were wonderful, and we did not encounter any unhappy crew members. Did hear about the black soot, but as we did not go in H2O, it did not affect us. Cabin: We stayed in a Haven two-bedroom suite. The cabin, unfortunately, did have some issues....locks not working on doors, leaks from the refrigerator, and I think we needed an electrical engineering degree to figure out the lighting system. I really thought there would be more room in the living room part of the cabin--it did seem very cramped, and the table only sat two and they sell the suite as a six passenger suite. Our daughter took the second bedroom, and our son took the living room couch. The sleeping arrangements did work fine for us; however, the coach/bed could have been a tad longer. One morning there was an issue with the toilets on Haven Deck 17 and 1/2 of Deck 16. Unfortunately, we were in the 1/2 of Deck 16. Toilets were not working, and maintenance was going to every cabin that had issues. This also left our living floor wet from the machine they brought into our room to flush out the toilets. They had a pretty nice size blower in our cabin for two days to dry out the carpet. Butler: Upon meeting our Butler, I just gave him a brief note on our likes regarding snacks, water and iced tea in the refrigerator and what we wanted for breakfast on our first port day in the cabin. It was a hit with the snacks most of the time as well as keeping us stocked with water. We had breakfast in the cabin three times and it was ok. Once I called our Butler to tell him what we wanted for the next day and he said to fill out the form and put it outside our door. I was taken a little back and said there was no form, and I would just like to order it from the haven menu. He then came to my cabin and brought me a regular door tag menu and told me to fill it out. Obviously, the form does not have the same offerings as the Haven restaurant so I just wrote what I wanted on the back of the form. Cabin Stewart: Did a great job for us and always brought us fresh beach towels every port day. We did leave him an additional tip. Concierge: They were absolutely wonderful, and we did utilize them a lot more than we thought we would and have previously used them. The Head Concierge put together an additional 3 hour behind the scenes tour when I mentioned my husband and daughter would be interested. Then one night my husband and daughter were talking to the Captain and he asked what my daughter did, and she when he found out she was a Mechanical Engineer for a power plant he asked if she would be interested in meeting the ship's Chief Engineer for a discussion and private tour! When we saw the Concierge later that night, he already knew about it and made it happen. He also knew we were traveling with some family outside of the Haven and did allow them to leave the ship with us at the ports as we had private excursions in three of the ports. Posh: We were able to buy Posh passes upon boarding the ship for our family members that were not staying in the Haven. They were $59 and for us, worth it as it was always a great meeting place and we did utilize it often. However, we really did miss a water feature (as Vibe lovers) and they really should have more usable lounge chairs with cushions (my pet peeve with the Joy Haven sundeck). The bar service was fantastic. We also did use the Haven pool area and am happy to report it was not overrun by children. The children in the Haven were all really well behaved. Food: We ate dinner in the Haven and Savor twice and once in Moderno, Teppanyaki and the Manhattan Room. Everyone in our party thought the food was delicious and had no complaints. We did miss the filet mignon in the Teppanyaki room. The Manhattan Room was enforcing pants so the men in our party wore jeans so they dressed down from their usual dress shorts. I will not comment on the women that were allowed to wear shorts. All MDR dinners took about an hour as service was really quick. The disappointment for us was O'Sheehan's. The food was just not as tasty as usual, and to my horror, they had no potato chips. They said that chips would not be available all week (the Haven had them). Service was on the slower side once you got the attention of the wait staff. The wings, well, for us, they are just not as good as they used to be. And did I mention, they had no chips. I still say bring back the mozzarella sticks. Late night food options: One night while my husband and I were sleeping, I heard a lot of noise coming from our living room. Our adult children brought back to our cabin their cousins for food as they were all hungry and the only food option was O'Sheenhan's which they did not want to sit and wait again. They demolished the abundance of food our Butler had left us. They really did miss the buffet being more available for late night snackage. This is the one cutback that seemed to be more noticed for our group. Entertainment: The Beatles show was good, but I prefer the Beatles on the Joy. Those of us that went to the Elton John show enjoyed it. My husband and I feel asleep during Burn the Floor. Water: For those that have been following on the free water thread, we did receive six waters in addition to our status water. Originally, we were supposed to receive 24 with the promotion. Since we had the constant filled water pitcher in our refrigerator, we had more than enough water so we survived the water crisis. Ports: Aruba--we rented a private catamaran and it was worth every penny Curacao--hired private tour company, GoneCaribe St. Lucia--hired private tour company, Cosol Tours St. Kitts--purchased in advance day passes at the Marriot In summary, we all had a wonderful time. As I stated before in other threads, we do not always need to stay in the Haven. Staying in the Haven did enhance our cruise and we really did appreciate all of the extra services. We all purchased more cruise next certificates for our next extended family cruise. I have the dailies so if anyone is interested, please let me know and I will upload them.

My husband and I both took our Yetis filled with water to Horseshoe Bay along with two extra cartons of water this past September.

Thanks for the heads up!

We had to sign on the Joy last year at Teppanyaki. I do believe it is to encourage additional tipping. We dip in cash to the chef directly.

Thank you and hope you are having a great time. We are going to get there on the early side as we hope to board early with the Haven passengers.

Thank you! We leave at 4:00 a.m. tomorrow so very excited.

Have a good "joy"full time and safe travels!

After final payment, as long as there will be a price increase to upgrade, you can upgrade without penalty.

NCL charges you as soon as you book the excursion.

When there is a price drop, it is a wonderful way to start the day!

I check every morning with my first cup of coffee!

I would price check constantly and see if the price comes down. We are sailing again in a Haven cabin this Sunday on the Epic and the price went down around $3400 from booking to final payment. Then I received another $640 in FCC for a final price drop after final payment. But as I stated above, we do not always need to be in the Haven or want to spend the additional money. We have an oceanview cabin booked for our cruise in August to Alaska. We choose to spend the money on pricey excursions and first class plane tickets. The cost right now is an additional $6700 to upgrade to a Haven cabin. No, thank you.

I made an educated guess that we will be at full capacity based on spring break, no cabins have been left on NCL to book for a while, and the last few sailings have been at full capacity. I really hope I am wrong.

We were on the Joy twice last year--once in a Haven suite and once in a non-Haven suite. We have a 2024 Bermuda cruise booked on the Joy and booked a Club Balcony Mini suite and secured Vibe passes already. If it was just my husband and I, I would have booked the non-Haven suite again, but we are going with extended family and we are covering the cost of four cabins so that majorly played into our decision. It really comes down to what you want to spend your money on. Personally, I think the Haven prices are very high and unlike posts from a lot of people, I can go back to a non-Haven cabin and still have a wonderful time. It is possible and a lot of people do it.

Thanks for the tip as we will be on the Epic this Sunday. Hope you are having a great time even with that crowd. We expect the same next week, but we sailed the Escape during her first Christmas/New Years' cruise and believe nothing can top that.

Thank you and I guess that means you are also on this sailing! I recognize your name as someone who is always very knowledgeable with the re-pricing and FCC for price drop rules. I have learned a lot from you so thank you.

I remember from the other thread that you did not receive a coupon, but then had your daughter check and she did have one. For this trip, I already re-priced two times since booking, but I do check daily. We have never done an Alaskan cruise (or been on a smaller ship) and picked this one for the longer port times.

I know the internet can be prorated on the second day (midnight on the first evening) but believe it is only a short period that it is allowed.

If you have the drink package, 20% is automatically added when you book and pay for your cruise. No other tip is required for your drinks. We bring $1s with us to tip extra but, again, it is not required.

We are going to be on the Epic this Sunday and I am hoping to reprice the Jewel trip. Still holding out hope to get that coupon. Yes, we are staying two nights in Anchorage at most likely the Holiday Inn. I have reservations for Comfort Inn Downtown too but we are partial to Holiday Inn based on our staus there. Already have the train reserved for Monday morning. I do like the idea of leaving for Seward on Sunday, but for us, I think we need a full day in one place to recover from the long travel day on Saturday.

Thank you! We tried them the last time we were in the Haven, but we are partial to the chocolate croissants. My husband grew up in Huntington but we live more out east--closer to West Hampton.