smithop

On 9/16/2023 at 6:33 AM, rainbowflag said:

I hope you have a fun time and enjoy the spa and the new Emeril  Lagasse dinner menus in the MDR. We hear the tough strip loin is still on the menu and are awaiting the return of the Flat Iron steak Carnival said is coming. 

Let us know how the spa pricing worked out for you, please. Have Fun

I've only tried the ceviche appetizer, it was very nice flavors.  There are only one app and one entre from Emeril on each menu, I was expecting more.

Last night was the second formal so we had prime rib and lobster, both were excellent.   I didn't want to try the Emeril beef carpaccio app, funny how I like sushi but not raw beef. Melting chocolate cake with ice cream and peanut butter did not disappoint 😋. 

I used the $50 spa gift on the Elemis sole pedi, it was $29 plus 18% fee on the $79 price, so $43.

We have enjoyed the cruise and spa cabin, making great use of the thermal suite and Serenity deck.  Next time we want to try the Havana suites.

On 9/20/2023 at 7:37 AM, Capitan Obvious said:

 

That is an interesting idea, for sure. Just wondering, though: How will you get payback against the noisy neighbor on one side without disturbing your other neighbor who has been quiet?

apparently you missed the sarcasm, or I failed to emote it.  why would I interrupt my sleep to join the inconsiderate unwashed masses?

In PV there is a mall and Walmart across the main highway.  We walked over but the heat and humidity got to us so we took a cab back,  $8 US cash from the mall front steps so carry some small bills.  I gave him a $10 because we were so glad to get a ride back.

There are lots of gift shops right at the dock, and a duty free for cigarettes and alcohol. 

Puerto Vallarta update:

We just arrived today, only planning a shopping visit to the mall across the street.

Good news:

Hub app is finally working, found a $50 spa coupon in there as anniversary gift.  Tip - always indicate a special occasion to get gifts :), you have an anniversary every year right? No need to tell them the date lol.

555 Steakhouse was excellent,  nice music from the piano bar.  Anniversary gift was a champagne toast with dessert.

Teppanyaki excellent,  filet and 🦞.  A bit rushed but a fun dinner.

Bad news :

Our friends did MDR, very dissatisfied with lasagna, tasted like chef boyardee kids meal.  Slow service, and could only book the rear MDR on hub app.

I wish people would be more considerate going in and out of the balcony.  Our next door neighbor let's the door slam every time and it shakes our bed.

Thanks for letting me vent  I'll be setting my alarm for 3am for some payback.

Trying to get back on track ...

I uploaded my Caesars Diamond Plus card to fun match. 2 weeks later got an email for a free ocean view cabin.  We used it to upgrade to a spa balcony. 

All spa cabins get a discount,  slightly better than the pre cruise email offer of 10-20-30%, it's 20-30-40%.

I can't see the port days prices yet because Carnival decided to update their IT system this weekend and the Hub is down until tonight.

We did the buffet last night for dinner  because I didn't want to line up for a table with Hub check in not available.   We won't see the new Emeril menu for a few days since we have steak house tonight then Teppanyaki tomorrow. 

Buffet was ok, enjoyed the beef rib meat, the carving station meat was tough, maybe a pork roast.

Leaving tomorrow on Carnival Panorama so I'll update how things turn out, I know my wife wants to book a treatment.

Is it better to book in advance with the small discount offered, 10% on one spa service?  We have a spa balcony and plan on staying onboard for port days, I'm thinking they will offer bigger discounts once onboard for port days.

I signed up for the match with a Caesars Diamond Plus card (we visit a local Harrahs casino quite often).  About 2 weeks after signing up I got an offer by email for a free ocean view, drinks in casino, $200 OBC.  I booked using the code and upgraded to a spa balcony.

I've only sailed once on Carnival, way back in 1994, I was surprised they found it and linked it in my account.

I've also used my casino card to get Wyndham status, we booked a nice trip to Moab, UT.

Our local casino has free cruise offers all the time, it used to be NCL but these past two years it's been Princess.

Hello,

I just booked with Princess for next May, 2024.  There is another cruise tour called Off the Beaten Path that includes Kenai lodge, so it's 6 days and visits all 3 lodges.  It starts with the train from Whittier, ends in Anchorage.

I looked at Holland also, some of their tours included some dinners it seemed.

I ended up with this OTBP because of the variety of lodges, and got a deal with my TA for OBC.

Thanks for the tip on upgrading to Tundra, will definitely do that!

Dave

I have Diamond Plus status with Caesars Rewards land casinos, I get offers of free play, free hotel nights, and free gifts so it's just not true they won't send offers.

I signed up for VIFP and uploaded my rewards card, no offers for cruises yet, still waiting.  It's fine, I get free offers for cruises at the land casinos, I'll use those. Right now it's Princess inside cabin free.

Sailed on the Joy this past November, first time on a mega ship and was prepared to hate it.  Turned out we had a nice cruise and found areas to enjoy that were not as popular.  It did not feel bigger lengthwise, walking around was about the same, the extra size seems to be more decks going upwards.

- I booked the shows and dining online when it opened up.

- Avoided the buffet and pool deck

- Didn’t try the carts or slides

- enjoyed deck 8 for hanging out, lots of comfortable seating and shade.  Not crowded, most people preferred the pool deck

- did miss OSheehans, the Local was always crowded and noisy

- could not get a seat in Cavern club, would have liked to enjoy those shows.

- had a balcony room, spent time there.  Stayed onboard at all the port stops, gave me time to explore the areas that were always crowded.

@martincath

Thanks for the detailed response, even if the op is being a pill I appreciated it.

I have a full day stop in October and this gives me a good idea of what we can do.  Have previously done the evening tour at Butchart so want to try other options.

When this happened to me on Joy last November it was because of noro on the ship.  I arrived at my normal time anyway (11am) and people were still disembarking.  We were given the option of not taking the cruise and receiving a future credit, we chose to board anyway.  Lucky I had a balcony, we spent a lot of time in the cabin and avoided the buffet.  There were crew members cleaning and wiping down all surfaces daily.

I highly doubt deep cleaning, thats just a term to make people feel better.  If someone gets onboard that is infected all the cleaning in the world won’t stop them from spreading a virus.

Wash your hands a lot and avoid touching your face.

We survived the trip, didnt get infected.

I was just on the Joy, sister ship of Bliss.  The place we enjoyed for reading and privacy was the Deck 8 boardwalk.  Easy to get drinks on deck 8 and nice couch/easy chair seating groups.  It was chaos on the top pool deck and the one above it with the jogging track.  If you like to walk the track, do it early in the am, its covered with sun loungers later in the day.

I doubt if there will be a breakdown of spending by guest for any onboard charges.  I say this because I just took a cruise in Nov with my son, everything went on my card.  The TV app that shows spending listed everything under my name, I never saw a final bill even though a paper copy was supposed to be slipped under the door on the last night.

The only way I knew what son charged was because it was in the arcade, I didn’t play the video games, those charges were listed individually, $1.75 per game.

On 12/14/2019 at 10:49 AM, oregonian123 said:

We are on the Joy now. We boarded on Dec 8. Everything is back to normal. The Savor and Taste and large and a good place for lunch and dinner. The Manhattan seemed crowded. The Staff has been great and they gave us free access to CruiseCritic.com.

That was a nice surprise. The extra protocol that they were doing for norovirus was lifted by the third day and they are back to normal service. Of course, they are still being very diligent about cleaning. 

We are enjoying the Joy, and it doesn't seem overly crowded, despite being such a large ship.  

Can you elaborate on the “free access to CruiseCritic.com”?
 

Did you purchase social internet and they added CC to what was allowed?

Did you have no internet package and they somehow gave you free internet for CC only?

TIA

1 hour ago, Sauer-kraut said:

In Europe (as long as Great Britian belongs to it) tend to do ALL business with direct bank withdrawal or direct deposit, so asking for the bank information is the norm over there. Many charities, departement stores and credit card payments are all done this way.   In opposition, the United States really is "antiquated" in their banking practices, by processing cheques and not as often pulling money directly from people's accounts. 

It's not the US banking system that is antiquated, it's the older generation here, younger people use automated banking.  My son carries no cash and has no checks.  He gets a paper paycheck, takes a picture of it to deposit.

I haven't written a check in years, all my bills are on autopilot, deduct from my checking account.

We pass on the free drinks, we are light social drinkers so even the 20% grats is more than we consume.  If you have a CAS card it's free drinks in the casino.

Be aware that internet is by the minute and you have to turn it off when done or the timer keeps going.  I used my iPad for 15 min and just shut it off, when I went back all the minutes were used up!

Your ship card is marked with the perks you have, the server will take your card and explain SDP then bring back a bill for $0.0 usually.  You only get one entree but can order multiple apps and desserts.

To each his own, we preferred Manhatten, and requested a table all the way at the back. We had a table in Savor next to the window and the waves whizzing by made me quesy, whereas at the rear it didn’t bother me.  As stated, menu is the same for all 3.

On 12/5/2019 at 9:42 AM, RobinKY said:

Yeah my son went there another time and it was very limited menu.  I think he had chicken tenders.  Not sure why they call it a "sports bar" when they only show one channel of sports on all the TVs and they are showing sports (Turkish League basketball lol) most Americans don't watch.  Every sports bar I have been too has 5+ different sports/games going on. 

Are you talking about the one on the port side, aft?  We just got plates of food in the buffet and took a table in the sports bar then ordered drinks.  The garden buffet was near the forward door and the rear door was next to the great outdoors buffet.

They did have some nice hot wings, but as you say, a limited menu.

A lot of people like to visit the Arizona Memorial / Pearl Harbor.  NCL should have a shore excursion for debark day, that would be the best way to visit to be sure and get tickets on the tender boat out to the memorial.  The tours get blocks of tickets, otherwise you have to book in advance, they sell out quick.  If you dont get a ticket there are some exhibits and a movie to watch at the dock museum.

The swap meet at Aloha Stadium is another popular stop for some shopping.  Its all the same stuff the gift shops sell at lower prices.  I know for a fact the shops jack up prices when the cruise ship docks, I’ve seen it happen in Kona.

Take a cab to Waikiki Beach and hang out, its a busy spot with lots of activities and peoplewatching opportunities.  Lots of water sports, surf lesson, mini-sub, jetskis, parasailing, etc. There is a zoo at the far end.  Take a hike to the top of Diamondhead for a photo op.

Just cruised Joy Thanksgiving week, agree with most of your comments, my butt is still sore from the theater seats watching Footloose!  It was my first cruise on a mega ship, we stick to jewel class.  I expected more crowds and having to make more reservation, the NCL app was great for that.

We only went to buffet twice, horrible layout and we didn’t like the location, much prefer a rear buffet and great outdoors aft deck.  Agree on food, we only liked the Indian selections also.

The Local, way too loud in there, noise coming up from below.  We had lunch one day in PV after stepping off to shop.

Things we liked:

Observation lounge early for a starbucks coffee, until the day sleepers showed up, what is with people crashing on the loungers all day?  I can’t sleep like that in public!

The magician Po, his solo show and with Elements, best shows of the week.

Dinners in MDR were fine, lunch was mediocre.  We preferred Manhatten room, service was fast and efficient.  We had SDP so it may have been repetitive if we ate there 7 dinners.

Deck 8 outdoor seating and boardwalk!  It was never crowded compared to all the bodies hanging out on Lido.

The AFT elevators!  So glad we booked an aft balcony.  With the theater and buffet up front the forward elevators were always crazy busy.

Teppanyaki, cooked right in front of you and they even cut it up into bite size pieces.