Sigyn

23 minutes ago, complawyer said:

i thought you indicated your choices were between the ncl joy and rcl?

Yes, that's what I'm considering. 

On 5/24/2023 at 11:22 AM, AstoriaPreppy said:

Based on my experience in CC and in the real world, for some reason NCL seems to have the most ride-or-die customers. I don't know if it's the ability to wear shorts to the MDR, the unlimited cocktails, the "choice" with dining, or the passenger base, but it's almost inexplicable for the product delivered and price paid.

 

I've had gushing comments about how good the MDRs are (they are ostensibly the weakest of any mass market line). How spectacular the service is (either on-par or below every other mass market line). How there's so many dining choices (moat of these restaurants are par with the MDR on other lines). How great the ships are (huge portions given over to specialty dining and suites, making them surprisingly crowded otherwise). I think it's lack of exposure to other lines and experiences.

 

That said, we're line-agnostic and we sail everything (including NCL this summer), but the NCL fans are hardcore. The only other thing I've experienced that's close is the Royal Caribbean guests who basically give an impassioned TED talk about how you should really work on reaching Diamond when you're chatting in a bar... I've always told my husband I feel like they're trying to sign me up for Amway. 

Line agnostic. I love it. I feel that way. I'm not attached to one particular cruise line. I look at the benefits you get after multiple cruises and I'm like, eh, a free bag of laundry or a level boost in a cabin category. I'd rather find the cruise itinerary I want, on the date I want, at the price I want, and not be tied to one particular cruise line. (As long as it's not Carnival.)

4 hours ago, complawyer said:

no question, the haven hands down!!!. we took our grandson on many cruises on ncl ships, and he never failed to make friends.  ncl also offers (or they did inthe past) things for kids of all ages, for teens 13-18 they have the "entourage" especially designed for teens. up until he was 19 and no longer eligible, we singed him up and he met tons of kids and they hung out. i joke that we saw him when we got on the ship, and then not until we disembarkation. we only requested that he check in periodically throughout the day, and meet up with us a few times for dinner.

 

if your'e going to compare the2 ships, in addition to the privacy issue, you need to (at least i would) compare cabin size, itinerary and estimated number of fellow passengers. our first suite was on the spirit from new orleans a few years back, at that time our grandson was about 14, he was overjoyed that he could call the butler (randy) and order pizza whenever he wanted. definitely go with ncl

I appreciate the input! Part of the problem on the Prima was that they'd pretty much eliminated the teen club. There was no location for it, they just told the teenagers to meet the first time in the kids area and later on it would be something like "meet on Deck 15 at 6 pm for XYZ activity"  It was really odd, and my son didn't want to participate because, at age 15, meeting in what looked like a preschool area was not appealing at all, even if they were going to head somewhere else afterward. 

I'm torn. Looking at spring break cruises for next March. I can book an ocean view balcony on Royal Caribbean's newest ship, Icon of the Seas, which launches in January next year, for $7K for three of us. It will have all the bells and whistles and I know my son, who will be 16 then, would have a blast, as he did on Harmony of the Seas this previous spring break. Tons of kids, lots of fun. He mostly hung out with his newfound friends in the lounges, having virgin drinks, and walking around the ship, and sitting in the hot tubs, and playing cards in the library (yes, the library! It was always empty and so the teenagers loved that it was a nice place they could make their own.) They skipped 80% of the activities on the ship. No idea why. But that's my son. 

The alternative I'm looking at would please my husband and I a bit more - going on the Norwegian Joy and staying in the Haven. It's $6K for a "basic" Haven penthouse or $7K for a forward facing Haven cabin with two rooms that gives our son a separate sleeping area with a door. I know this would please my husband because he hated the lack of privacy (if you get my drift) on our cruise on the Norwegian Prima in December. Plus, the pampering that comes from the Haven would be awesome. The only suite available on the Icon is $15K. Can't do that. That would blast our vacation budget for the summer. 

My question to everyone here is, would a teenager have fun on the Joy? Would there be a lot of teenagers at spring break? Believe it or not, my son didn't meet any kids at Christmas on the Prima and he was bored to death. He's very social, but it was just an odd time and all of the teenagers on the ship were with their families and had brothers and sisters to hang out with. He had SO MUCH FUN on the Harmony with something like 2,000 kids out of the 6,800 passengers and he made tons of friends, all of whom he's still Snapchatting with now, two months later. 

 Can you each book dining reservations in advance at the same time, so the space is booked for that time slot, making it easier once you board to talk to the restaurant and ask to have everyone seated together? 

I agree about booking with an outside company for the excursion. I understand wanting to do it with Celebrity, but unless you want to tell about your surprise in advance, and forward them the money to pay for their portion, the outside company is the only way. Bummer!

2 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Aren't we all?  Besides those who derive happiness and connectivity from conflict and a lack of direction? 🙃

I think some of those people are the trolls on CC!

12 hours ago, intr3pid said:

Elsewhere I'd quote:

https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/04-01-2023-no-level-of-alcohol-consumption-is-safe-for-our-health

or:

https://time.com/6248439/no-safe-amount-of-alcohol/

 

But, you should simply dismiss it.  As a morally onerous RCL shareholder, I encourage everyone to get these drink packages.  It's one of the best innovations to come out of the cruise industry.

Interesting articles and definitely eye opening. But it's quite hateful that you say you want to kill people. 

3 hours ago, basenji56 said:

You're making the assumption that everyone with a drink package is drinking too much in their lives. A drink package does not give you cirrhosis of the liver. 

52 minutes ago, intr3pid said:

For us, drink packages = slow death sentence

 

How is a drink package a slow death sentence?

It makes booking a suite in The Retreat more palatable. 

I agree with others who say it's not about the topic of this particular group, but merely the fact that a large group will be on a particular cruise. It changes the makeup of passengers and the flow of things. I would pass.

20 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Here are photos from the HJ, 14180, Haven room we stayed in. It's opposite side of the ship and slightly down the hall from @CDR Benson's room. It's also a bit smaller, without the angled balcony. It was a two minute walk up a couple flights of stairs to the Haven.

 

We enjoy not being in the Haven itself. We get all the perks, but it's also easier to roam the ship. If we're ensconced completely in the Haven, I don't think we'd ever leave. Haha

 

From my understanding, our room is larger than the courtyard rooms, yet it costs less.

I was wondering about booking a Haven room that's outside of the Haven and how that experience would be. I like that those rooms are bigger - we could book a forward facing, for example, and have a separate room for our teenage son to sleep in, and yet it's cheaper than a smaller room that's inside the Haven courtyard where we'd all be in the same sleeping area. 

14 hours ago, scooter6139 said:

Fantastic!  So I presume you are looking at one of the 2-bedroom family villas (H5 and H6)?  I wanted to stay in one of those JUST for the master bath, but it was too big and too pricey.  We had an HE Courtyard Penthouse, and it would have been perfect except for that stupid shower/tub combo, which sadly is in most of the Haven suites.  Just booked a Forward Facing one myself on Joy for early 2025..

No, too expensive. Looking at the forward facing haven cabins.

58 minutes ago, CruisingSince1982 said:

What's the date of the cruise? I'm always looking for a good deal 🙂

It's a spring break cruise for 2024 - March 30.

We get 10% off with a military discount, just fyi.

11 hours ago, miched said:

Everyone has to decide for themselves want line is the best and sometimes you have to go outside the box.   As we age our life styles change and along with that every business changes, if not they will go out of business.   Every cruise line has changed since our first cruise in 2000, along with everything else.  If we don’t like something vote with your feet and money, try something different.   Never know what is best for you.  
 

;Celebrity didn’t suit that person but it did us. 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Exactly this. It's one of the reasons I've cruised NCL, Royal and about to do Celebrity, all since December, after having only previously cruised Carnival. I want to experience the other cruise lines myself to see the best fit. it's the only way to know. I'm glad you and your wife found your happy place.

Thanks, everyone! And @CDR Benson I'm going to read your review now. 

@scooter6139 I'm glad you mentioned the location. I did see that several types of rooms aren't in the Haven proper. If I book, I think I'd step up to a bigger room just so that we can be in the Haven area on the main Haven decks. It's another $1K if we do that, but the location looks fabulous. 

There's a really good rate on the Haven on the Norwegian Joy for a cruise next year. Three of us can cruise for $6K. For those who have been on the Joy, and experienced the Haven, what did you think of it? Good, bad? Indifferent? 

I've only cruised on NCL once, and it was on the Prima in a family balcony cabin. I would like to step it up if I were to cruise on Norwegian again.

Important question since I think all the ports are tenders - do Haven guests get on tenders first? 

On 5/15/2023 at 4:28 PM, smtcan said:

This is how we charged two iPads, two phones, two watches and one set of hearing aids on Silhouette. These were on the desk, nothing by the bed.  Our Kindles had to take their turn!

That's really roughing it. As we say in our family, "Now you know how the pioneers felt."

On 5/21/2023 at 7:48 AM, terrydtx said:

We did our one and done NCL cruise in the Haven and thought at the time, it was far superior until we did our first Retreat cruise and we would not be interested in another Haven or NCL cruise.

We weren't in Haven on NCL, but we will be in the Retreat for Celebrity. So, I have no doubt we'll come away singing the praises of Celebrity over NCL. But not necessarily a fair comparison. 

Much appreciated!!!! Thank you both!

This is my first Celebrity cruise. We checked in today, received our Xpress passes, but luggage tags are still "pending" - when do those become available?

Here's what I see:

I let Royal choose my balcony, knowing it would be a neighborhood balcony, on the Harmony, and it was a great room in Central Park. I was perfectly happy and saved $1,000. They assigned it just a few days after I booked my cruise so I didn't have to wait and see, either. I did the same with Norwegian, again, was given a great room that was a slight upgrade. And I did the same with Celebrity. All good each time. 

None of these were "sail away" cabins or whatever it's called on some cruise lines, but guarantees. 

I buy these 110 lb magnets on Amazon. I had originally bought 25 lb magnets but found them too weak to hold anything: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MRN293F

54 minutes ago, basenji56 said:

How many kids are sailing?  Ages?  Seems overpriced but that is a personal choice depending how much happier your kids will be to sail on Icon.

one kid, will be 16 at the time. The cruise on Odyssey goes to the Southern Caribbean for 8 days. the Icon goes to the Western Caribbean for 7 days. I already booked Odyssey, but thinking about switching, within the window where I could using NextCruise. Icon dropped by $1,000 from where it was when I booked Odyssey. 

If you're lucky, you'll get to pet a grizzly! Of course, it might just be an old man with a beard.