Rpeter

We were on the Getaway in April and it used at Amber Cove.  When we were on the Encore in January, it used Taino Bay.

1 hour ago, blivey said:

It will be a big mess if everyone (or majority) arrive at same time. 

Yes, just like the old days!

eDocs were ready this morning.  Printed them out and Terminal Arrival Time said Not Selected.  Read some comments on a social media site that lots of folks for this sailing had the same issue.  Someone said they called NCL and were told there was a glitch and to just ignore it and arrive whenever they wanted.  So that solves that.  Thanks all for your comments. 

1 minute ago, MBMGWM said:

I had this happen for my January cruise on the Sky.  I posted about it and another cruiser suggested I check back in a day or so.  When I did, I noticed my 100% check in bar had gone down to 83%.  I was able to go to the health section of the check in and select a time.  

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

Well, that is interesting.  I will keep an eye on the check in bar.  Thanks!

What mtrancher said makes sense. 

Don't have my edocs yet but will check them when available.

Today I did our 21 day check-in for our upcoming cruise and was not asked to pick a check-in time.  Has anyone experienced this?  Past 4 cruises post covid we had to pick a time.  Fine with me, but just wanted to know if this is something new.  Could not find anything on this here.

Thanks

4 minutes ago, zqvol said:

I have never had good crab cakes on an NCL ship, what’s changed?

As the pictures show in post #14, they are filled with lump crab meat and very little filler.  Last week, there was no lump crab meat to speak of and a LOT of filler.  The flavor just was not there.

2 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Whaaaaaaaa????? Best crab cakes I've ever had are in the Haven! They beat out Baltimore crab cakes even. Haha...sorry your wife doesn't like them. I love that they have virtually no filler. I've never had Cagney's crab cake, because why buy something when you get yumminess for free upstairs? I do hope she is able to get all the crab cake wonderfulness on your next cruise!

 

Of course I had to find my photos of Crab Cake Eggs Benedict from my Dec/Jan post. I can't wait the 53 days until I have this again! Thank you for letting me think of the fond memories. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

 

We just got off the Encore in the Haven and the crab cakes, unfortunately, did not look like this at all.  My husband had them on the Joy and Escape ( I think ) and they definitely looked just like yours above.  We are former Marylanders so we know a good crab cake also.  Very disappointed.  They looked like all filler last week.

I hope someone is able to help me with this question.   At the new Miami terminal, there is a skyway/covered walkway connecting the second level of the garage with the second level of the terminal directly outside of the Haven check-in area.  In April when we were there this doorway to the terminal was not open.  We ended up going down to ground level where we found a Haven Kiosk outside of the main entrance.  We are going Sunday and I called the NCL Concierge Desk to ask if this was now open.  Unfortunately, neither he nor his supervisor knew the answer.  Has anybody here on CC been able to access this skyway to get to the Haven check-in area directly, without going down to ground level, after parking in the garage?  Also, on that same level in the garage there was an area with signs for VIP luggage drop-off.

I also searched the Florida Departures forum but found nothing.

Thank you.

3 hours ago, david_sobe said:

It definitely does not. You can see that especially in the Haven suites/cabins.  Gone is the spill over luxury for a modern, minimalist chic look.  If it was not for the bigger space you could think it was a standard room with a larger balcony.  The 2 bedroom has cut back on luxury features like a giant marble bar but has increased sensibility of a real second bedroom and a real bed that could sleep 2 adults easily.

I did not see any drawers in the 2 bedroom Haven suite.  Where do we put the things that we don't want left out when the room steward is cleaning?  I know that video did not show the closets, but I saw a photo of a closet in the 2 bedroom and no drawers.  The same suite in the Breakway + has SO much storage.  I will miss it, but am really looking forward to our cruise on the Prima.

At breakfast in the Haven, we have had Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon.  The smoked salmon is always on the small buffet in the Haven restaurant at breakfast - near the almond croissants. 😀

I would have written this review earlier but I came down with a terrible cold once off the ship.  My first cold in more than 2 years.  I tested myself several times just to make sure it was not Covid.  Thankfully I tested negative.  Between the 4 leftover eMed tests, the 4 original free tests sent by the USPS and just last week we were able to get another 4 free tests from USPS, we had plenty of spares.

This was our 12^th cruise since 2003 (all with NCL) and our 6^th time in a Haven suite, so we are a bit seasoned in our cruising experiences but much more seasoned in our ages – mid 70s.  We love NCL.  Before 2003 I thought of cruising as ball gowns and steamer trunks and that is just not me.  A friend told us about the new Freestyle Cruising on NCL – eat when you want, with whom you want, etc.  We were hooked and have no desire to cruise on any other line.

Because we are only 2 ½ ours away from Miami we were obviously driving to the port, as we always do.  I was concerned in the days coming up to Saturday because “they” were calling for rain.  I would check the weather for Vero Beach, West Palm Beach and Miami constantly, hoping for a break.  Our plan was to leave at 7:30 am because it would take us 2 ½ hours.  We were ready at 6:45 so we left then.  No rain, but dense FOG!!!  In my opinion, much worse than rain!  It did not clear until West Palm Beach.  We got there around 9:30. 

The signs at Port of Miami are not as clear as in the past.  You need to know that you are going to Terminal B as there is no signage for Norwegian that we could see.  It was not clear where to turn to get to the terminal without having to go all the way down to the Royal Caribbean terminal and come all the way back.  We did make a left closer to the terminal and asked two guards how to get to the NCL buildings and they were very accommodating.  Just to the left of the terminal you turn right between the garage and the left side of the terminal.  There you can let your passengers off and/or drop off your luggage.  We did this and proceeded to the garage.  On level 3 of the garage there is a sign for VIP luggage drop-off and a skybridge that will take you directly to the Haven check-in area.  It was not open and we were told later that was because of Covid.  It will be very convenient once in use.

Getting into the terminal turned out to be easier than we expected.  We walked out of the garage toward the terminal and were a bit confused as to where to go.  Then a guard directed us to a Haven booth right outside the entrance where everybody was going in.  They checked our paperwork and escorted us to the elevators up to the Haven area where we had our own security check-in and where we received our key cards.  Up another level was the Haven waiting area with comfy seating, snacks and beverages (water and juice, etc).  Eventually the concierge, Efran, came around to introduce himself and check our room number.  Boarding was delayed a bit but when ready the Haven guests were escorted onboard and directed to our muster stations.  After that, we were escorted into the Haven lounge.  We were immediately able to drop off our luggage in our room, where we met our Room Steward, Michael, who was the best room steward ever!  Our tradition is to have our first meal in the Haven Restaurant.  The food was great!

I don’t know how many guests were aboard, but the Haven was sold out and we had some guests from the cancelled Escape for that week.  The Haven on the Joy has 118 rooms throughout the ship that have access, but we never felt it was too crowded.  The restaurant, especially, was never crowded and we ate inside and outside.  We ate all of our meals there, except on one sea day when we went to Food Republic for lunch.  I don’t know why it was so empty, except that maybe everyone chose to be by the pool.  The food was very good.  We used just one of our Dining package meals and could order 4 plates to share and it was plenty.

We really liked the Joy.  We were on the Escape in November and liked it but we much prefer the Joy because of the Horizon Lounge.  Also, Deck 17 rooms have the larger balconies and that is what we booked.  Our room was on the starboard side almost at the back end of the hallway.  It was under the restaurant, which was great because the restaurant was carpeted and you never had any noise from above.  Another plus was, because it was at the end of the hallway, we could just go directly out to the stairs and elevators without going through the concierge/bar lounge.  In addition to the Horizon Lounge, the Observation Lounge on Deck 15 was a wonderful area.  Could not believe how huge it was and it seemed very peaceful.  We toured it on day one when there were not many people there yet and really enjoyed it.  Too bad that the Horizon Lounge does not have a bar also.  We enjoyed sitting up there in the Horizon relaxing in the comfy chairs.  Easy to fall asleep! 

We asked for two 2 loungers for our balcony because it was so large.  It was great to have them out there to just relax and read – except when the band was playing by the pool or someone was REALLY enjoying themselves in a game of Ping-Pong.  If that happened we would just go inside. 

We asked our Butler, Teresa, not to bring any meat products because we don’t eat meat, but we do eat fish.  She was so sweet and one day brought us the salmon pinwheels and the next day brought us Tuna sandwiches (2 days).  This would happen at 3:00 and because we like to eat early we just could not finish them, so we put them in the refrigerator (where, unfortunately, the bread got soggy).  Next cruise we will just ask the butler not to bring us any afternoon snacks, except chocolate chip cookies, of course!  Teresa was a very good butler and would do anything that we would ask of her.  The best!

We did not go on any excursions as we are not beach people and have been to these ports many times.  In Roatan we did something weird.  From the ship we could see a cemetery right behind the port buildings.  In this part of the world, the deceased are not buried underground but put in “tombs” above ground.  It was interesting to see that some were higher than others so we wanted to get a closer look.  We found our way outside of the port where there were lots of guys that wanted to take us somewhere on the island.  We said we only wanted to get a closer look at the cemetery across the street to take some pictures.  A nice young man actually took us inside the cemetery and told us all about it, while I took some pictures.  He never said anything about a cost but he did such a nice job that we gave him a generous tip.  Those guys outside of the port area were very nice and anxious to make a few dollars taxing people around.  Next time you are in Roatan consider giving them a try.

This was our first time at Harvest Cay.  It was very hot and humid that day.  We just walked around the shops looking for a T-shirt.  Also, went into the butterfly area.  We came back to have lunch on the ship.  Glad that they have those people carriers on these ports with the long docks.  I have a bad knee and was very appreciative of the ride.

Coast Maya was cancelled because of the strong winds making it impossible to dock.  Another sea day. 

Cozumel is, well, Cozumel.  Last time we were there we did a tequila tasting excursion which was very enjoyable.  This time we just walked around the “mall” looking for that elusive T-shirt.  No luck.  Maybe we are too picky.

Another sea day before getting back to Miami.  All in all, the weather was perfect.  The seas were very manageable and we had a terrific time – mostly just relaxing and reading and getting pampered.  This is what we like to do on a cruise so we were very happy.

Disembarkation was a bit slow.  We chose to self-disembark and I think there was a delay in getting the process started, but we were in our car and leaving the garage at 8:10.  Oh, if you are driving to the port, just keep in mind that the parking is $22 per day.  Yikes, that was a shock!  Back in November on the Escape out of Port Canaveral it was just $17. 

We had some FCC from this cruise because of a price drop after final payment.  It was already available on Monday after the cruise so we booked the Encore for Jan. 2023.  We want to try the Encore because if has fewer Haven rooms (I think 80 as compared to 118 on the Joy).

Fun fact:  When I was researching what room to get in the Haven on the Encore, I was surprised that #17730 was not on the Encore as it was on the Joy.  Could not figure it out.  They had the same number of rooms so I started looking at the room numbers from forward on Deck 17 to aft.  17700, 17702, 17706, 17708, 17710, 17712, 17716, etc.  Wait – no rooms ending in 4.  Did a little google search and found that the number 4 is considered unlucky in China.  Because the Joy was originally made for the Asian market rooms ending in number 4 were omitted.  Interesting.

Long review and I don’t usually do reviews.  Hope there was some information that will prove useful to someone.

Thanks for reading.

 I have a question about the new parking garage at the new NCL terminal.  I see there is an elevated enclosed walkway from the garage (second or third level) to the terminal.  Has anyone used this and, if so, once in the terminal do you need to go downstairs to go through the vaccination card etc. check?  It is my understanding that the vaccination card etc. check is before you enter the building at ground level and once past that you take the escalators up for check-in.  Or perhaps there is one of these checkpoints at this walkway.  Any experience on this?  Thanks

PS.  I originally posted this on the Florida Departures forum but it was suggested that I post it here.

I have a question about the new parking garage at the NCL terminal.  I see there is an elevated enclosed walkway from the garage (second or third level) to the terminal.  Has anyone used this and, if so, once in the terminal do you need to go downstairs to go through the vaccination/security check?  It is my understanding that the vaccination/security check is before you enter the building at ground level and once past that you take the escalators up the check-in.  Or perhaps there is one of these checkpoints at this walkway.  Any experience on this?  Thanks

Okay.  Great.  Thanks.

With the gap in between the cruises I was hoping it would be okay as it would not be considered a back to back.  Thank you.

Next December we are thinking about taking a Panama Canal cruise departing Port Canaveral and arriving in Los Angeles.  Then about 3 weeks later we would board the same ship in Los Angeles and take it via the Panama Canal to Miami.  Would this be a violation of the PVSA?

Yes that does make me feel better.  Thanks a bunch!

We just got off of the 11/13 sailing of the Escape where we were in the Haven in a 2 bedroom suite on deck 18.  Just about to book the Joy and want to stay on deck 17 in the Haven to get the larger balcony.  Looking at 17730 but am a bit concerned about being below the Haven outdoor restaurant.  Has anyone experienced one of these rooms below the outdoor restaurant?

Thanks!

Garnet,

Thanks for posting those pictures. We enjoyed them very much. Can't wait to see the suite in person.

Looking forward to the rest of your review. Anxious to hear about your excursions.

Thrilled to read your review. We are booked in 11308 for our April 17 cruise on the Getaway and can not wait to see that suite. Did you happen to take any photos of it and, if so, can you post them?

Did you find the walk from the aft PH to the Haven to be long? What was the best route for you? I am thinking going up to 16 and across the upper sun deck may be easier than going forward all the way on deck 11.

Anxious to read the rest of your review. I am sure your daughter absolutely loved the suite and her own private bathroom!

Thanks,

Bobbie

We are booked on the April 17 Getaway cruise in the Haven. Could someone please tell me what evening is the Haven Captain's reception? Our first day is GSC and the next is a sea day, for this particular itinerary.

Thank you.