hallux

I'll agree with you there. I most certainly DO look at those things when booking flights. I've even had to make the case to my employer to allow a slightly more expensive non-stop flight because it meant that I would spend less time traveling and result in less hourly wage paid for that travel time (yup - paid hourly, including for travel). I consider it for personal travel as well, and I'm absolutely FINE with layovers as long as I'm not scheduling to spend 3+ hours at BWI or MDW (I primarily fly Southwest domestically)

I agree. Once you get to the day of travel it falls on the airline to get you where you need/want to go. Could NCL have helped by trying to find an alternate carrier? Maybe, but if they did this for everyone that had air carrier issues on travel day they would need to add staff to handle the call volume (and possibly drop the BOGO offer as it would no longer be sustainable when they need to start buying new tickets half the time).

This sentence structure is a little odd, but it seems like that's what you're saying, referencing this: As for this: It IS more than a refund, per the first post the person is getting full refund AND 100% FCC. That tells me that 200% of their fare was given to them in some manner. That's more than a refund in my opinion.

I can't argue that it doesn't cover expenses incurred to get to/from the port for a cruise they didn't get to take, but it's more than JUST a refund as your post that I quoted made it seem.

They didn't get JUST a full refund, they also got a 100% FCC

That person posted the same here...

Actually, I believe the laser tag on Encore is where Spice is on other BA+ ships, so removal of that would make room for Spice...

I have one on my account - 10% off discount Future Cruise Credit. I have to book by June 30 this year and sail by June 30 next year. Not sure where it came from, and I don't think it was there until recently. My last cruise ended almost 4 months ago.

When I was on the Joy in 2022 they also had karaoke in there. I don't recall other bands playing there but they may have (they do on the Bliss).

From a standpoint of earning more points, yes.

Maybe it works different when booked through a TA? On direct bookings I get a new confirmation PDF any time a change is made (dining, excursion, etc.)

I agree with the other two. You get WAY more benefit by charging all your onboard expenses to the card (those on-board spend $$ are worth 3x points) compared to cashing in for OBC. I may have even seen a CruiseNext manager telling people this exact same thing!

Unless it's something separate from the cruise (air, hotel, etc) that the TA is booking then NCL should be sending that to the email on file. Though it might be helpful to get in writing from the TA that you requested a change.

I was in 14252 on the Joy, it was a relatively normal balcony but is listed as "privasea". It was right where one of the angles on the side of the ship is

My experience in the Manhattan Room on the Joy was pretty good, but I also dined with someone with a food allergy so our table probably got a little extra attention. I've honestly rarely been disappointed with the MDR dinner food on NCL.

Log in, do what you need to, log out. This is done through websites (login.com and logout.com, the DNS on the ship resolves them properly but you can't see the same sites at home. though some say the NCL app can do this as well while on board). If everyone has iPhones, Apple's built-in messages app SHOULD work as long as you're not sending images, without being logged into the internet. Airplane mode on, WiFi on, connect to the ship's WiFi. Once connected, you can use the NCL app to get a PDF of the Freestyle Daily (the daily listing of events), make show and dining reservations, book excursions, look at your on-board account. As noted above - if you all have iPhones you should be able to continue messaging each other, the NCL app's messaging protocol requires a port on the ship's firewall to be open that allows Apple's app to function to a degree without logging in and using minutes. The NCL app changes to 'on board mode' and looks different once you connect to the ship's WiFi, you won't be able to see it and play around with it until you board and connect. However, be sure to have it installed before. One more thing - NCL offers messaging within the app for $10 per device. It's hit-and-miss as to how well it works.

How DARE we counter those saying NCL's free at sea isn't worth it by posting actual facts? haha I'm not a drinker and haven't sailed Royal since 2018, but I peek at the board periodically and see comments about them from YouTubers - their drink packages and dynamic pricing at Coco Cay put NCL's "nickel and diming" to SHAME...

Yup, that's one of the things you give up with NCL when you go from a FAS rate to a sail-away. The difference is that with the FAS rate on NCL you get much more than just the ability to pick your room (on sailings where it's possible), you're also getting the excursion credit, beverage package (for $21.80 per day, try THAT on Royal!), some internet minutes and specialty dining for around $10 per meal.

Both of which come up in the pre-filled search I posted 3 days ago but the OP hasn't returned to advise...

Did you mean Faraday?

Unless you take a (increasingly rare) sail-away rate where you don't have to decline the offers in order to not get them.

Follow the build here (linked to the last page/comment, you can backtrack if you like) - I'm sure that information like what you seek will appear there as it becomes available.

There have been a couple threads on this topic (maybe not related to the Joy specifically but answers should apply across the line). 'vegan' in the search box is the only term you need, browse these results - https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=vegan&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=64

The rest of it is a record for the passenger of the items they pre-booked or paid for. It shows excursions, dining and beverage packages, etc. For some this is GOLD as it helps them figure out what they're supposed to get if something isn't as they expect. It's also something they can bring to guest services as proof that as of their check-in date they had something on record as owed to them. Of course, a PDF of that document (as I suggested having on hand) would work for those purposes, but some luddites won't deal with that...

My point is that the menu item itself hasn't changed. The change is that it may be the only fish on the menu...