justhappy

I am one who finds value in the vibe when I’m not sailing in the Haven. I like to spend time in a quieter environment and usually spend my days reading books and staring at the ocean. Having a good comfortable lounger always available and bartenders keeping us hydrated is worth it to me. pluses are less crowded hot tubs and bathrooms. When are Vibe passes being sold now? As soon as a cruise is open for bookings? A few years ago it was a free for all to be able to get onboard and buy passes first. my last few cruises we booked after final payment date and the passes were all sold out. Now we are booked for an October 20 cruise and the app says not for sale till June 22. 🤷🏼‍♀️ This is a cruise that was just added as the Getaway has been repositioned to New Orleans. The one negative about the Vibe is the chances of not getting your monies worth due to weather related closures .

I did call the pre cruise concierge and that’s who put me in the waitlist. I’m just wanting a good cruise after having to cancel last months on short notice because of Miss Daisy. Fingers crossed she will continue to do better and this cruise will be worry free. I will be on a mission looking for hash brown rounds, mozzarella sticks, cookies and I just might be getting some of those beef tostada appies from the main dining room😋 Because like you I think they are the best appetizer from the main dining rooms. Maybe I’ll ask my butler for a plate of 8🤔 I’d better put a note for day 5 down now! Here is Daisy with a get well card and treats from the neighbors two dogs two days ago. Her eye looks like she’s been on a week long bender with red blood vessels growing everywhere and IOP causing swelling, but the Vet Specialist says she’s doing great!

Thanks Gary, I do think my odds are good, and having dinner in the Haven restaurant the first night was my back up plan, if I felt that what I was asking was too much. Finding another night at Ocean Blue may be a problem though since we have to switch other specialty dinner reservations around. Between Amex, Sapphire status and FAS we have 4 specialty dinners already booked. It’s a spring break cruise so the ship is probably sailing 100+ %. So first world problems I know, I’m not going to starve for sure.

I have an upcoming cruise in early March on the Breakaway. I forgot to make dinner reservations for Ocean Blue and when I called the pre Concierge line all they could do was add me to the waitlist. And its for the first night of the cruise. If they can’t get us in, would it be too much to ask that the butler serve us a meal from Ocean Blue in our stateroom? Knowing it’s a long and busy turnaround day I don’t want to ask too much. I’d hope I would know upon boarding if they were able to get us a reservation, and if no be able to make the request early enough to give our butler a heads up. I would definitely just ask for all the courses at once and not expect them to serve course by course. Do you think that’s asking too much?

Thanks! I’ll definitely try that.

I’ve also done both of these in Seward and can also highly recommend them both.

Spot on advice in your last paragraph. I too miss those hash browns, I usually never have them at home and they were my vacation ‘treat’. I’ve been buying these and cooking them in an air fryer for 10-11 minutes at 390 degrees. A dash of salt and I’m transported (almost) back to vacation mode.😋

Looking forward to your semi live as my husband and I will be boarding the ship when you are departing it. We too are road warriors who spend several days and at times weeks driving across country and enjoy it. Granted it’s nicer now that we have a small class B rv (Ford transit chassis) so we have a bathroom, bed and kitchen, and we can fit in a regular parking space. For us though New Orleans is a short two and a half hour drive. Wishing you safe travels and sunny weather!

I hope your Mom continues to have good pain meds and that she can continue on with her vacation.

As with any law or rule people usually don’t care what you do as long as it doesn’t affect them. Speed limit is 65, you can drive 85. It’s when your speed causes an accident that causes a road shut down or worse than that, an injury. Then your speeding affects others. Disregard rules on drink packages to save some money, I’m guessing most people would not be bothered. But when so many people start doing it that a cruise line has to raise prices or remove certain beverages that were formerly available (Vueve, anyone?) then that affects others. The problem is so many people only care about themselves and not how their actions impact others even if it’s not directly. I think it gets worse when folks have the anonymity of being in a place where most of the people don’t know you, and you’ll be gone in a week or two. Thats why cruises tend to have chair hogs, elevator hogs, bar hogs and theater seat savers, just to name a few “It’s all about me” people.

Safe travels home and thanks again for a great review

All of us at home reading your adventures requested this be sent to you as a thank you. 😉 You ARE the best after all for letting us follow you on this cruise!

Ouch! I’m no doctor but I think it warrants holding a cold frosty beverage of your choice to ease the pain and reduce the bruising😉

That’s enough to make me want to cruise Oceania!

Having been lucky enough to have Adrian as our concierge several times, that’s high praise indeed for Lyster.

Thanks for a great live review. You have lots of wonderful photos. Looking forward to your final thoughts.

When I booked it it was called Escape to Jost Van Dyke https://www.ncl.com/shore-excursions/TOV_50/Escape-to-Jost-Van-Dyke

Thank you❤️ I know you love your fur babies as family too. Thankfully she’s getting better, the meds every two hours around the clock after 8 days are now down to every 4 hours. Since shes 14 years old we know our days with her may be sooner than later and her health trumps any trip. it was just painful calling our good friends who we have cruised with in January for the last 11 years we weren’t able to go. Hopefully they understand.

I just had to cancel 8 days out from my cruise due to a sick dog. I was refunded the port fees and taxes, the gratuities on the FAS dining package and drink package, as well as the OBC I had pre purchased. Not sure how close to embarkation it will be refunded.

I’m glad that waiting till 11am resulted in a short wait for you. Enjoy your cruise!

Looking forward to your review as I’ll be on the Breakaway in March. Having cruised on the Breakaway and the Getaway out of New Orleans several times I think the slightly later arrival time works better. The problem with earlier times being you are fighting through the departing crowds to enter the building. Long lines through security to get to check in. The waiting area is not large and fills quickly. The time we arrived around 11am we didn’t have to deal with any of those issues and pretty much walked right on the ship after checking in.

Sorry if I had you worried! It’s the Escape from Port Canaveral.

I will add I much prefer my last day to be a sea day, I hate feeling like I have to leave the beach early to go pack. And I actually like the idea of GSC on the first full day.

I actually prefer the new itinerary but I don’t have any excursions to worry about. I do feel for those that are having to scramble for new ones though.

I agree with you that if your schedule is flexible and you watch for prices just under the 120 day window you can get a good deal. Was watching for prices on the Breakaway out of New Orleans for my birthday in March when I saw the price on Haven cabins drop, then saw that my favorite- the aft Haven popped up at a lower price than a forward facing Haven cabin. Needless to say I had my TA grab it. I’m like you, but I prefer to call myself an extroverted introvert. I can chat and make small talk but it wears me out and I’d rather be chilling by myself on my own big aft balcony!