UKstages

just to clarify, CAS is NCL.

when you call "CAS," you are in fact calling NCL. it's just a different set of agents who are theoretically trained to handle casino bookings. but they are NCL employees, just as the "regular" cruise consultants are and they work out of the florida or arizona contact center or their florida or arizona home offices, just as "regular" NCL agents do.

there is no Big Hash Brown and Big Cookie lobbying for decades to spread misinformation about their products. if there were and the hash brown folks and the cookie folks and the flour, butter, lard, oil and sugar and potato folks had lobbied in washington for decades and claimed that NCL would suffer dire economic harm and people would no longer sail them if they banned cookies and hash browns... we might still be enjoying those tasty treats on NCL ships today. Big Tobacco (and Big Vape) currently has over 900 lobbyists throughout america spreading misinformation about cigarettes. that includes florida, where NCL is headquartered.

do you really believe that an industry that created joe camel to appeal to kids is going to tell the truth about smoking and gambling revenue on cruise ships?

you've kind of turned the question on its end... now you want NCL to make more money by banning smoking. that wasn't really the issue. but, yes, they probably would make more money... again, "studies have shown..."

and you say that NCL removed hash browns and cookies to save money. fair enough. so, sometimes it's about saving money. how much in health care and productivity costs would NCL save by banning smoking? NCL casinos are not just entertainment venues; they are also workplaces. and guests come through and spend an hour or two there a night, sometimes two or three or four cruises a year. but NCL employees (dealers, croupiers, servers, hosts, slot technicians) are forced to breathe in that stuff seven to ten hours a day for six months or more at a time. how many specialty meals are not being sold at le bistro because people refuse to sit in the smoke filled outdoor seating area? how much does it cost to replace the stained and odorous carpets and drapes in the casino?

in any case, in answer to your question, no, i wouldn't expect NCL to ban smoking if they thought they would make more money. i expect them to do so chiefly for guest satisfaction. (that's the reason they're adding glass partitions and smoking rooms to existing casinos.) there is no other industry - except for casinos - that caters to such a small percentage of its customers.

but if NCL would look beyond the lobbyists, they would discover that some of the highest grossing casinos in america are in jurisdictions that ban smoking. why is it, do you suppose, that there are fierce bidding wars for casino licenses  in new york state and in massachusetts. smoking is not permitted in casinos in either of those states. have the casino companies lost their minds? no, they know that the future of gaming is nonsmoking. and that the vast majority of their customers do not smoke.

nonsmoking casinos are incredibly profitable. a report published in 2022 by C3 gaming in las vegas found that casinos that did not allow indoor smoking outperformed their smoking counterparts.

if memory serves, palomar has a whole fish (for two) baked in sea salt.

my best guess is that the "bread" is salt.

4 hours ago, yakcruiser said:

I'm sure they have done numerous studies to find out if they could make more money by banning smoking and have determined that smokers spend more money in the casino.

no, but everybody always says that... "oh, the casinos know what they're doing. they're making big bucks off of smokers or they wouldn't allow it. smoking and gambling go together like peanut butter and jelly!") in truth, it's exactly the opposite. what you are echoing is the message put forth by lobbyists for big tobacco.

they have done numerous studies. there has never been a study that proved that gamblers smoke more or spend more in the casino than non gamblers or that economic harm would befall a casino that bans smoking. (we're talking about legitimate peer reviewed studies that weren't somehow sponsored or tied to the tobacco industry.) if there was such data, surely the casino industry would have shared it every time a state proposes a smoking ban.  in fact, the percentage of people who smoke in casinos mirrors the general population and is currently between 11% - 15%... and it continues to fall. (down from 20% or so a decade ago.) walk into any high limit room in any casino and you will see that for every hundred people, only ten or twelve are smoking. (there are some slight differences based on the player's nationality, but nonsmokers comprise the vast majority of gamblers.)

there is actually hard evidence that suggests that nonsmokers have higher incomes and more disposable income, so the logic is counter intuitive.  one would think NCL would want to make its casinos more inviting to nonsmokers. and indeed they are - slowly - building glass-enclosed smoking rooms on some ships.

it only seems like a lot of gamblers smoke on NCL ships because non-gamblers head there to smoke (not gamble) rather than going to the inconveniently located designated smoking area. and NCL doesn't really enforce their established rules with regard to smoking in the casino on most ships.

1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

Highlights from tonight's dinner at Paloma

i never had much luck at palomar, except for two dishes: something they called "mushroom tartare" was sensational as an app, but i don't think it's even still on the menu. the galaktoboureko dessert was also fabulous.

4 hours ago, vacation44 said:

I just hope it is not going to be like the old days of having to run to guest services to get the Vibe passes!  

i can't specifically say about the cabanas. i still think that's an inventory management thing related to the recent joy dry dock and NCL's inability to load increased capacity into the system for cruises in the first part of this year. but that's just a guess.

i can only tell you that on my most recent trip on the joy last october (2023), they were selling vibe passes, lots of them, on embarkation day. that was before the dry dock and the increased capacity.

i don't know if the cabanas are sold out for 6/2, but if they have any, my best guess is that they will indeed be available on embarkation day. they most likely will not be at guest services, but at a table set up outside of teppanyaki. that's where vibe passes were sold on embarkation day back in october.

i'll see you there! 

just last week, i booked a back-to-back on the joy for the 5/26 and 6/2 sailings.

while i had no problem getting a cabin (through CAS), most of my preferred cabin choices (high decks, no connecting doors)  were taken and, of course, the vibe is "sold out" for online sales and prime restaurant times are all gone.

so i will be doing the nostalgic mad dash myself.

(i read an article recently on the points guy website about how cruises are selling out this year and how nearly nine out of ten cabins are already booked. there is only about 12% of inventory left for all of 2024 across many cruise lines. that explains a lot.)

34 minutes ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

The French will likely snicker at me regardless. 

pay no mind; the french snicker at everybody. 

except jerry lewis, for some odd reason. (not jerry lee lewis, but jerry lewis.)

anyway, the french snicker.

it's mandated in the constitution of the fifth republic.

cabana rentals (including vibe passes for passengers 1 and 2) are available for pre-booking at T minus 365 days. at least they are supposed to be. i strongly believe that the joy, due to increased capacity after dry dock, still has a few hiccups to work out with both regular vibe passes and cabana rentals.

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

But, on my last NCL cruise (Prima), it was first come, first served.

cabana rentals are not available on the prima at all. the prima is unique in that regard; i have no idea why.

14 minutes ago, JGmf said:

Are all the cabanas on the new, top level of the Joy Vibe?

no, some are located on the lower level, too.

11 minutes ago, expectthebest said:

If they are numeric I would imagine the other 2 piers right next to pier 88? If I park at the other 2 piers is it an easy walk back to pier 88?

it's an easy walk, unless you or a member of your party has mobility concerns. it's about one and a half city blocks. when is your cruise? the lots do tend to fill up during the summer cruising season.

for an alternate location, i recommend the MPG parking garage at manhattan plaza. enter on W 42 ST between 9th and 10th avenues. last time i checked, daily parking maxed out at $45 and monthly parking was $600. (401-471 W 42 ST)

if driving to pier 88, to park or to drop off members of your party, you'll need to enter the ramp to the pier at 55th street and 12th avenue. it's counterintuitive for a pier located at 48th street... but the entrance is seven blocks north!

and, yes, the piers are next to each other, more or less. but when traveling south, you will actually get to pier 90 before pier 88. also, yes, they will direct you to the other lot, if one lot is full.

1 hour ago, goldmom said:

I've been reading articles lately that say to not plug your devices directly into public USB ports as hackers can get your info, which has now, of course, made me paranoid! 

the FBI issued a widely misinterpreted "juice jacking" warning last year about PUBLIC charging stations. the warning was credible, but theoretical, yet it has made some folks, including a frequent contributor to this forum, heretical. the warning was based on an FCC warning four year earlier that never got much attention, possibly because the pandemic started soon thereafter.  but after the FBI issued their warning last year, the FCC felt compelled to reissue their warning. rinse, lather, repeat.

in the first place, it can be argued that a USB port in your stateroom is not in fact a public USB charging station, such as one you might find in a shopping mall or an airport lounge. in order for someone to gain any benefit at all by jacking your USB connection, they would have first had to have booked passage in the same stateroom as you (prior to your voyage) to hack into the system. and it really isn't a system at all... it's just a port in your stateroom. there is no connectivity to other USB ports elsewhere on the ship. 

it is theoretically possible to hack a public charging station, but no evidence has yet been presented that it has been done or, if it has, that the practice is widespread. and, again, your stateroom USB port is not exactly "public."

geez... i dunno. there may be a difference between what is allowed for a back to back cruiser and somebody embarking that day. i live just a few blocks from the manhattan cruise terminal. and i've done back to back cruises that sail out of new york, then return to new york before sailing again. i have never heard of anybody leaving the ship on embarkation day once checked in. i do know several people, including me, who have dropped their bags in the morning, then explored the city or done errands for however long they like... then returned to check in at 2 or 3 pm. but that won't allow you to make early reservations. they may let you off the ship on embarkation day, and i'm sure they would for an emergency, such as leaving medication behind at home or at your hotel, but i'm just not sure. in ports where you may begin your cruise with an overnight, such as reykjavik, they absolutely let you off the ship once you're checked in.  on a B2B from manhattan, i have left the ship, but i've also stayed on... yes, even though i live just a few blocks away.

as a resident of hell's kitchen, i would argue that there actually is a lot to do nearby, without traveling very far. times square is a fifteen minute walk away. and the shops, boutiques and restaurants on ninth avenue are even closer. and a lot cheaper than you'd find in touristy manhattan. yes, the food is "free" on the ship and they don't take your drink card at those restaurants on ninth avenue, but you'd be hard pressed to find better thai food, mexican food, chinese food, afghani food, sushi, pizza, indian food (well, maybe you can get that on the ship). but there is an indian/mexican hybrid called taco mahal at 45th and ninth that's quite good. and there is a target store at 44th and tenth avenue, in case you've forgotten toiletries or sunscreen or if you want to buy salty snacks. (you will often run into the ship's crew shopping there.)

and, as mentioned upthread, the intrepid is a few seps away. just a couple of blocks further south is the north river lobster company, a seafood restaurant on a boat that takes you out on a 90 minute sailing during which you can drink and eat. that's one way to avoid the crowds at the buffet on embarkation day! they have a sister boat called la barca cantina that does the same thing with mexican food.

if you fancy a long walk, you can walk along the river and go up to 80th or 90th street through riverside park south and see the part of the river and new jersey that you never see on a cruise ship that only travels south from 48th street. you can stop at the outdoor cafe around 72nd street. you can also get some great shots of your ship at the pier if you do this! this walk would take between two to two and a half hours.

walk over to rockefeller center and see the ice rink (or the restaurant that takes its place during the spring and summer and fall). take a tour of NBC studios. do a walking tour through the theatre district and tale photos of the marquees. wander over to the tkts booth at duffy square (47th street and broadway) and see if they have any discount tickets for a 1 pm matinee that will finish by 3 pm. walk by the studio for "the daily show" and "last week tonight with john oliver" (which is also the studio for "the drew barrymore show"). they're all in hell's kitchen amd within easy reach, as are certain CBS studios.

it should be noted that while the joy is still checking people in as early as 9:30,  many of their sail aways are not scheduled until 6 pm these days, as with the OP's cruise. and that makes wandering around town more worthwhile.

3 minutes ago, itsnotjustme said:

My point was the W-2G generating event(s) must have been big...

not necessarily. one of my central points is that a paperwork generating event occurs when you win as little as $1200.

without interest and penalties, tax liability of 96K would have to have come from 400K or more in winnings, assuming it all happened in the same year. or it could simply have been from accumulated interest and penalties on a much smaller amount over several years. short of a lottery win or a win on a WAP slot machine like megabucks, there just aren't that many ordinary casino wins above 20K or so.

there is actually a proposal in front of the IRS right now to raise the threshold to 5K, submitted by two representatives from nevada. the IRS has said they are likely to implement that change and actually suggested raising it to 6K. (of course, you owe taxes on all winnings, not just on winnings for which you've been issued a W2-G. but that's between most people and their accountants. the IRS actually gets terribly confused when you claim gambling income that hasn't been officially reported.)

if your stateroom has an energy saving mechanism to require card insertion, you will not need an NCL keycard or a card with a magnetic stripe or any special card at all. your keycard is not coded to make the electricity in your room work.

what allows the electricity to flow in your cabin is the blockage of light from that switch. any thick piece of paper will do that, provided it is long enough for you to eventually pull out of the slot. you can use a library card, or a keycard from a hotel that you forgot to return or you can use a souvenir keycard from a prior NCL voyage or a key card from any other cruise line! again, any card will do... and, for the record,  NCL keycards do not have magnetic stripes!

2 hours ago, itsnotjustme said:

And it must have been a nice win to owe $96K! 

as somebody who spends an inordinate amount of time in casinos on land and sea, i can tell you that this is most likely not the case. most tax liability is based on what i call "phantom income." people see that you've "won" $2200 or $6000 or whatever and they like to congratulate you. that's very nice, but i always tell them, "the machine shows what i won... it doesn't show what i lost." 

every year, i come out 4K or so down or 4K or so ahead. (most years, it's 4K down.) it's entertainment and you shouldn't be gambling with the rent money. but there are several things that make gambling a losing proposition... and it isn't just the house odds, which are almost never in your favor.

the first is that the tax policy regarding casino payouts hasn't been adjusted since 1977! 

so, when you hit a jackpot of just $1200 or more, you're issued a W2-G documenting the event for the IRS. that may have been just fine in 1977, when the highest denomination on most slot machines was 25 cents and payouts above a thousand dollars were rare. today, most busy casinos have winners of $1200 or more thousands of times every month. if you're playing $1 or $5 video poker (or a slot machine), you can get six or seven handpays in a single two hour session... and finish with a loss. a W2-G just means that the casino paid you $1200 or more. it doesn't mean you've "won" a great deal of money.

the second thing is that, while the IRS allows you to deduct losses (up to the full extent of your winnings), some states do not. there have been several very active years when i had tax liability at the state level, even though i was a net loser that year.

it can be an expensive hobby.

in any case, a good portion of that 96K is most likely interest and penalties for failure to pay taxes. the person who owes it most likely ignored notices from the IRS asking for payment or for an explanation. it's also possible that the person really did have an exceptionally large win, didn't have any taxes withheld, and was unable to pay the bill. it's also possible that the taxpayer is disputing the amount (although that wouldn't  prevent a passport's validity or ability to travel, if they're in discussion with the tax authorities). i once "owed" 57K, but i disputed it. it was indeed an error, but it took nearly three years for them to clear it.

7 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Hot breakfast just delivered by Room Service at 7:01 AM 

i've never ordered room service breakfast on any ship. not a breakfast guy. but it looks like it was delivered in what can only be described as stackable bento boxes. looks similar to stackable airline dinnerware. is this something new? fleet wide? or just the prima class ships? (i know for lunch and dinner, i've been served on ceramic or melamine plates.)

6 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Annoyed that the Freestyle Daily printed misleading info about the need to do Face to Face interview, and, it wasn't corrected and revised until this announcement

25 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

We asked this am and were told the in person is for UK.

this was the case on my prima transatlantic last year at this time.  no formal icelandic immigration at all... just walk off the ship. there were officers there who could have stopped anybody, but they didn't and there was no formal immigration.

UK immigration was required and was handled on board prior to arrival... a day or two before. UK immigration officers came onboard and cleared you in person at a scheduled time - more or less - in the observation lounge (which was closed for several hours while this took place). they ran off schedule, of course, by at least a couple of hours, but never made any announcements to that effect, until people started arriving on time and were scolded to listen for the announcements. when we insisted that there weren't any announcements, a tussle ensued, until the assistant to the GM - who was in charge of the immigration fiasco - radioed somebody who confirmed that they hadn't been making announcements. they started calling people by deck number shortly thereafter. that was UK immigration, prima-style!

anyway, it was a delight to just walk off the ship in southampton!

as for misinformation in the free style daily... i'm not normally one who supports NCL in this regard, but - technically - whether or not a formal immigration is required is up to local officials. and NCL probably doesn't get clearance to forego formal immigration until they arrive. it might've had something to do with the early arrival... there may simply not have been enough people at that early hour to process everybody.

25 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

 

We will be gone 8 hours and miss dinner service and do dinner during our tour.

i took one of those tours. i wasn't looking forward to the "lunch" (dinner) very much at all. it was served family-style at an unprepossessing cafe at the back of a gift shop. turns out, it was one of the best pieces of salmon i had ever had in my life. the salad and vegetables weren't much to write home about, but that north atlantic salmon was absolutely stunning.

5 hours ago, dexddd said:

What is that couple up to?  Maybe trying to sneak into unguarded Haven elevators?

it looks to my untrained eye like they are dancing.

(of course, i don't know much about dancing. or couples.)

2 hours ago, SAmome said:

I skipped the featured review from June 22 and read Mar/Apr 24 reviews

reviews from march and april typically are from those who were on cruises corresponding with spring break and/or easter. the ship is likely to have been way over capacity, with as much as 25% or more of passengers being kids and young adults. that may account for the reviews that mention crowding and lines.

yes, if you have the regular UB (ultimate beverage) package, order any drink over $15, and you will only pay the additional cost above $15, plus 20% gratuity on the overage.

order an $18 drink, for instance, and you'll pay $3.00 plus $0.60 gratuity for a total of $3.60.

1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

Casino At Sea players (base level or lowest tier) - no more house drink card, and not even carton of water while playing in the casino ... bar runners will bring a glass of water.

true. the new program went into effect 4/1. there are a couple of threads here on CC about this.

they bungled the announcement, then took a lot of flack from players, then reversed course, then reversed course again. they actually did respond to player feedback and tweaked the program positively, but cluelessly held the line at no longer offering free drinks. and free drinks is pretty much table stakes (pun intended) for any casino operation. they did, however, add a free water package... rated players get a set number of cartons of water as an in-room amenity.

to be fair, they actually upgraded the program for the two highest player tiers... ruby and elite. they now offer a free UB drink package to ruby players (free from gratuities, valid throughout the ship, not just in the casino) and, similarly, a free premium plus drink package to elite players. they also added a free "behind the scenes" tour (the longer shorex version) for rubys and elites.

4 hours ago, RWK1952 said:

Cancel and reprice is not the same as what I was able to do

i said you can "cancel" or "reprice."

that is not the same as "cancel and reprice."

before final payment, you can indeed cancel. you can also reprice. those are two separate things. you linked them in your reply.

4 hours ago, RWK1952 said:

since there is no guarantee that when you cancel a booking, you will then be able to get the same or even a similar cabin when you rebook, assuming one is still even available.

when you "cancel" a booking and rebook after a period of time, that is true.

but you're not really canceling... in order to reprice, the agent has to edit the reservation and reselect the booked category. i don't know if that means the cabin has to be reselected or if the system retains the prior selection if the same booked category is reselected.  if it does give up the selected cabin, it's only for a moment. there could be, i suppose, a theoretical chance that you could lose the cabin, but that is a very slim chance indeed.  what you may well lose is the promos applied to the reservation, if they are no longer available. 

all of this is moot because it's about what can take place before final payment. my post was about the "courtesy" that NCL affords customers after final payment. 

great stirrup cay (GSC) is indeed a tender port.

1 hour ago, againsthesun said:

I played the sound recording for my fiancé who immediately says “that’s it - that’s the sound!”  So glad to know nothing can be done, unfortunate that it is such a known problem. At least we now won’t waste time going to guest services!

well, that's up to you. it sounds like its bothersome to you guys, but not completely debilitating. in my case, i lost at least three nights of sleep. you can read that whole thread if you want to, but spoiler alert: it ended with me being given another room to sleep in and $500 in OBC.

the team on the prima have a playbook, so to speak, on how to handle noise complaints from these rooms and they seem to max out at $500 per person in service recovery when a guest lodges a serious complaint. 

so, i wouldn't say that nothing can be done. they can't fix the noise problem, but you may be able to get something for your troubles. but it's really a question of degree. if the noise is only intermittent and moderately bothersome, then maybe not. if it's keeping you awake at night, by all means go to guest services. or reach out to the GM, my good buddy marc (i hear he's now very responsive) or the assistant to the GM. that was the way i ultimately got my case resolved, although i also reached out to NCL corporate in miami via email while i was on the ship.

i did this same transatlantic journey last year at this time, so i'm sad to hear that this problem is still ongoing, but i'm not terribly surprised. i always said they wouldn't be able to fix it till dry dock, if they can fix it at all. the really sad part is that they continue to sell these rooms, despite full documentation of the problem. i encourage everybody in one of these rooms to register their concerns... otherwise, NCL may think this is no longer a major problem or that guests will happily tolerate it.

20 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

The Commodore Room is used in the morning into the mid afternoon for the art gallery & auctions - no lunch services possible until and unless the arts are moved elsewhere

same art gallery block on my prima cruises. and on one cruise, the commodore room was completely taken over by a large group with special dietary preferences. so i never got to eat in there at all. and, based on the many from that group that i saw dining around the ship, neither did they.

they closed the commodore room for gen pop dining for the entire cruise, but the special group almost never ate there. it sat empty most of the time and that was a damn shame because i really liked the special menu they had in there and would have liked to have crashed that party! but, alas, i wasn't a member of the group.

13 minutes ago, RWK1952 said:

My final payment, other than my initial $250 deposit, was not due until Nov 28th, 2024

you can cancel or reprice all you want until final payment. your experience is not unique.

as noted above in post #80, the one time "courtesy" applies after final payment.

just so you know, NCL is quite specific about the terminology they use. they say that accommodating a price drop after final payment is a "courtesy" and is not in fact a "policy." in practical terms, it seems like most people can indeed get a one time "courtesy" applied after final payment, payable in FCC. Or in lieu of FCC, they can get an upgrade, as a "courtesy," if their paid amount exceeds the current price for a higher stateroom category. FCC is valid for two years from the disembarkation date for the cruise relevant to the price drop. 

(again, my comments above apply to price drops after final payment.)

2 hours ago, Fogfog said:

hmmm that sounds like concierge won’t really be sending engineering then… I asked before breakfast…telling them we’d be out of the cabin between 10 and noon.I

came back to no notice of anyone having been here..still clicking.

 

Asked Concierge again..saying I didn’t know if they had been by..and we’d be out after 2…

 

Mentioned it to Butler where it is

both the butler and cabin steward can confirm if the noise is usual and customary for that cabin. i suspect it is. when i played a recording for my cabin attendant, he said, "oh, yeah, sure. i hear that all the time."

here's a link to a recording of what the noise sounded like in my cabin...

it's post #113 if the jump doesn't work properly.