mking8288

Half-size and 1/4 size packing cubes (these are from eBags) creatively solved our storage ... even in balcony staterooms with the dresser/desk with the tall, long with narrow cabinet shelves behind the swing-out doors.

She deadheaded toward NY from FL 2 days ago, crews only - heading to Bermuda on a 5 days trip - could be unannounced gov't inspections, loading of provisions, hold for late arriving passengers via air booked in-bound by NCL (as there's no catching up at the next port) - no issues with weather today here in the city earlier (although, sea states and waves were a bit on the high side last night, now it's much calmer). Per chat on their roll call, no boarding allowed until after 2 p.m. for its original 4 p.m. "departure" time. Well, they'll just have to run full speed on all engines to make it there on time & then back ... no coasting at 11 to 13 knots. Regardless, always nice to sail down the Hudson & past downtown and Lady Liberty in the early evening hours, skies are clear - just have to bundle up on the top open deck and/or balcony.

Here's a photo of what the typical Joy Inside Stateroom looked like - very similar, if not identical, to the *Away class ships. Not much in the way of traditional drawer space to use. There are a number of slim & often shallow open shelf space. Collapsible storage bins is good but, IMHO, not very practical. Ditto for the 2 slim bedside night stand - seriously doubtful that you can make good use of those storage pin. There are also some storage space under the desk/dresser. Do you travel with and use packing cubes - we have a mix of eBags and Eagle Creek in assorted sizes & configurations. Those worked well on "older" mid-size ships as well as newer ships, keep items organized & sorted out, easy to unpack (if needed to come up or transfer to the hangers) and quick to repack for disembarkation. You can stack them, put them in sideway or turn them to make best use of the limited space.

It's a virtual benefit only, if you are lucky, you'll get a welcome back letter with the concierge extension, not a name, to call for restaurant & show assistance, and said to help as best as s/he can. Anything else, you are on your own. We're also in a non-Haven family suite on the Joy and got the name of the concierge in the letter. Never once heard from, let alone meeting him face-to-face or anything close, not that we needed anything. But, you'll probably get priority disembarkation luggage tags to use, free & for your convenience, not escorted. We are usually never in a hurry on that final morning, so not important 🤔 Sailings at lowered occupancy level, we haven't come across anything to need concierge services onboard. Just don't expect anything. Happy cruising & stay healthy in a smart way.

We are on the GA for 12 days after you, tracking to see where ya be docking and also the other tender ports. Nassau will be much nicer by May when the new terminal area is ready, worst case is GSC if we can tender ashore 🫣

Getaway is one of NCL's newer mega-sized ship, it's like the Majesty x 3 together, getting to/from your balcony itself is a good daily exercise by itself. The 2 small MDR, Taste & Savor will have plenty of small tables for 2, 3 and 4 to dine alone, and if you go early at 5:30 pm - good chance of getting seated by the giant window to watch the ocean waves - same menu choices as the larger AFT MDR with a dance floor & (live ?? or digital) music, just a bit too noisy all around for us & services can be slower as it is a long trip to/from the gallery below deck. Embarkation, do try to enjoy a leisure lunch in the small MDR (opens at 12 noon) or go to O'Sheehan's / The Local for easy comfort food instead ... crews do try to herd most up to the buffet. You'll plenty of sea days to check out all the Specialty restaurants and don't worry if you can't book or reserve them now, do it onboard & even on Day 2 as all the slots/time will only become available on the ship. If the MDR offers the chef's daily specials, look & consider those as they are often very good - including sit-down breakfast. Check the Freestyle Dailies and better yet, ask at the Dining Reservation Desk ahead if they are opening up some of the Specialty Restaurants onboard for lunch on sea days - the MDR Lunch menu is a fixed one and by Day 4 or 5, you will likely sample all of them ... but, they should have a Daily Specials on these longer itineraries. Check out Spice H20 on Deck16 AFT (plus the Bliss Lounge) while at sea, especially once the ship sailed past the Carolinas into warm climate. Shanghai Noodles is casual comfort fusion dining, open for dinner only & they don't take reservations - it's fun to sit at the counter & watch them prepare food, cooked to order on stainless steel, electric cooktop in a clean, bright & open kitchen. It is right next to the casino, some of the smoke might drift over - despite the upgraded HVAC, as they are enclosed and .... so if you are sensitive, do use your masks accordingly. The "regular" balcony size are small with just enough room for 2 to sit, plus a small mini-table. We will be on the GA again this coming January, and the plan is to do a "minimal" Semi-Live update 2.0 as our/my March 2022 pictorial blog/review was fairly extensive already - look out for that as we'll be back before then on our 12 days. There are a good # of live reviews this year on the Getaway, although the CC "Search" functions aren't very good to help find them - here's one for you https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2840868-getaway-semi-live-limited-ny-florida-pc-gsc-nassau-3272022/ Enjoy your cruise, happy & healthy sailing soon.

Here was our Joy upgrade pricing at Day 2 of our 7 Days CNE Cruise in September and the free 150 minutes credited as $100, making our "net" upgrade cost at $79.94 ($29.99 / day x 6 days for unlimited basic, non-streaming, satellite WiFi) ... before we offset it using non-refundable OBC, that we either use it or lose it. There was no connection fee whatsoever, not before C19 and not on 3 cruises this year, not with setting up for using the other free 150 minutes on a 2nd account and not for upgrading. I stand corrected, but eyes on those OBC posted to your account and if something related to WiFi usage appeared, just chat nicely & calmly with the iCafe manager during her/his posted "office hour" onboard ... don't wait until the last 2 days. As for enabling or using a WiFi or MiFi hotspot, I'm well aware of those "tools" and my traveling Sony Vaio travel notebook has that built-in AP/bridge option (bypassing "Mac address" connection security check) ... it isn't going to be very useful or practical should you notice a further drop or reduction in available bandwidth, speed & errors ... Speed results as measured were better onboard the Getaway & Escape (and, pre-Covid on the Gem & Dawn) than on the Joy, perhaps more passengers online these days & spending money on unlimited plans - effectively cutting down the shared available data bandwidth. Upgraded recently to Samsung Galaxy S22+ and Google Pixel 7 Pro with the latest functions, and it work well with Fios & 5G or 4G signals as AP (hotspot) while on the move ... seriously doubtful, it is a practical or usable solution for sharing satellite connections in a maritime environment. Perhaps, if NCL decided to roll with Starlink, until then - most definitely have a Plan "C" And, BTW ... good luck. Cisco servers/hardware used onboard the Joy are solid and delivering very good speed via 802.11ac (WiFi 5 standards) capable of delivering Gigabit traffic ... the "problem" is the bottleneck further upstream.

Short answer - yes. We had 150 minutes x 2 and did the onboard upgrade at 00:01 the next day, thus charged for N minus 1 day (or 6 days) less the trade-in credit given (no further discounts applied or stacked, i.e. Sapphire) for unlimited basic WiFi. Kept the remaining 150 free minutes to use on other devices for VoIP and messaging, to check emails on as needed basis, etc. while at sea (use a 2nd account's ID and password to logon and logoff ...) on iPhone, smartphone, iPad, Chromebook & notebook PC (all "registered") Whenever we were in range of land cellular towers, we "roam" inexpensively at either 4G or 5G speed.

If you go to Google Map on a desktop PC or tablet, you can do a virtual drive on the upcoming trip to MCT, including the best or recommended routing ... Sunday morning, traffic is typically light & easy. Depending on your whereabouts in PA, best approach could be via I-95 to GWB, and then south on West Side Hwy, direct to MCT / Pier 88, or, via the NY Turnpike to Lincoln Tunnel approach to Midtown West. East Coast Destination sub-forum should be your resources if you have more specific questions. Rooftop parking is safe & secure, $40 for 24 hours or $320 for 8 days, with a max of $400 for 10 days or longer, payable on arrival - credit or debit cards only, cash no longer accepted - a security check is done by a trained dog team with the handler.

Very good point about spliting into 2 yellow taxi with help from uniformed Red Cap, hail 1 minvan/suv taxi (those are usually hybrid) and load as much luggage as possible, 1 adult and 1 child (plus the wheelchair ... assumed that to be a compact, folding "transport" WC first to Pier 88). Then, the 2nd. adult with the 2nd. child) and remaining luggage items & supplies in another taxi - perhaps just 5 minutes apart with loading, onward to Pier 88. Even with the higher taxi fares, surcharges & tips, etc. - each cab/taxi should be $20 to $30 at most, all inclusive, for the short trip - advise the cab driver to go north on 10th Avenue (if I recall correctly) & then turn left on W. 55th Street as the routing should avoid most traffic and the wait on 12th Ave (old "West Side Hwy" for the left turn at the traffic light. Be sure to give the Red Cap a generous cash tip for his "free" services - this will definitely be less than getting a full size, accessible van from Carmel or Dial 7 - private ambulette transport will cost much more & their on-time record is poor at best, inconsistent and miserable mostly, and not worth standing outside the Train Hall at the pickup area, even if sheltered in the middle of winter (as this is going to be for late January in NYC).

Hi, there ... we are on the roll call & see you at the pier and onboard. Personally, no experience dealing with these matters but plenty of hands-on with frail elders using wheelchairs & walkers over the years. From your other post, you've alerted NCL's Access Desk about the teen's special needs & cleared with them. How many checked bags will you be bringing along & coming off Amtrak **** - once you arrive into the new NY Penn (Moynihan Train Hall) Station, look/ask/call for uniformed Red Cap services to help with carting and moving all the bags & luggage. ** (from Amtrak's NYP website) Baggage assistance provided by 212-630-7914/212-630-6221 (24/7 at Penn. 5a-11p at Moynihan) **** Will everyone and everything all fit into a typical minivan ?? There are licensed yellow minivan taxi, they will take 4 passengers plus luggage - some (as I recall) are accessible friendly. A good, helpful Red Cap should be able to help you up to the street level's taxi stand via elevators (there are lots of escalators, which you do not want) and flag an available mini-van taxi. Arriving on a weekday, what's your ETA into NYP that morning - presumably after or toward the end of the morning commuter's rush hour ? Once you get to Pier 88 that morning, driver should be able to drop your & luggage, etc.off curbside on Level 2, porters are outside to take all the checked bags. Here are some photos that should help refresh your memories as to what it looked like (recently taken) ... exact setup might be a little different. The Accessible Help Desk has always been to the left as you walk into the terminal facility. Your family as a group should be able to bypass the regular line and stay to the left to go thru security first, then proceed to check-in area, and if it's early - be directed to the designated seating area next to the Door (C) opposite the Latitudes Platinum roped-off area, and be among the first groups to board first. This area is marked & usually used by NCL ships for accessible passengers and you go out those double doors (marked "C") to board the ship. P.S. I just priced Carmel car service, a full size van from NYP train station to Pier 88 is about $150 + tips.

Depending on how long these specific production shows have been on ... maybe, just maybe, NCL is about to change or switch them around, putting on a new or different one. Rotating them from one ship to another, perhaps ... just a "wild" guess on my part. We saw Burn The Floor and Million Dollar Quartet this Spring on the Getaway, and will be sailing later next month again - Burn The Floor was the only show listed until last month and Quartet was just added very recently. Hence, we should be expecting to have both of them again ... personally, don't mind NCL showing ours to something different (as we aren't likely to repeat & watch again.)

One of the nieces sailing NCL - Alaska out of Seattle, with her friend mid summer and was able to upgrade on the spot, asked at Guest Services on embarkation day, and paid a fairly low amount for a paid upgrade to a nice Balcony on Deck 15 & issued new Guest Key Cards. They asked & were shown the exact cabin before agreeing to it ... and steward even came around to help them quickly re-pack & move their luggage. Ship wasn't at full capacity - typically, pre-Covid, not possible & SOP is for them to post a sign at Guest Services that they are full, sold out and no upgrades available. Didn't see that sign when we last cruise in mid-September and from most recent reports, averaging 80% occupancies when the ship sailed (upcoming holidays might be the exceptions) ... But, Haven ... typically full nowadays, sold out from upgrades & bids, elbows to elbows. OP, if you are interested, check and ask onboard - no free upgrades, however. Happy cruising & stay healthy !

Here's another one that was just forwarded to my In-Box As a VIP Latitudes Member, you get an exclusive 15% Off when you book a cruise on select Norwegian Gem sailings: January 2, 16, 25 or February 6. Spend 9+ days cruising Bermuda, The Caribbean or the Panama Canal. Call us at 1.888.438.7008 or log in to My NCL to book with your additional 15% off – discount will be automatically applied at checkout. It's a "better" offer ... EXTRA 15% OFF on GEM Sailing - 4 different dates, Jan 2023 to Feb 2023, round trips out of NY - as least you have choice of 4 flexible dates, itinerary & prices to please ... Sweetened with "Extra Bonus Points" - these are last minute deals, better than Black Friday Sale 🤣 🤣 🤣 hmmm, 5 Days to Bermuda ... prices for balcony aren't bad with the extra 15% off. Club Balconies, etc. are full / sold out - just doing whatever it takes to sell & fill up the remaining inventory of cabins.

Two of our CC friends currently en route to Barcelona, Spain ... 2 days early ... for the GEM's 14 night T/A across to disembark in NY ... they successfully bidded from their OV to Balcony for less than $100 p/p - upgraded almost 3 weeks ago (not a mistake ... toward the middle of November, that's quite early). Their independent T/A booked their flights separately and apart from the cruise. There are still OV and Balconies available for new bookings (as of yesterday) at rather reasonable rates. Club Balcony and other higher tiers, apparently, all filled and listed as sold out.

cruiseny4life - I remember the hash brown shortage back in September ... we had them on our sailing, which I think, followed yours or shortly thereafter, both in the Local and in MDR for sit-down breakfast. Yeah, they're yummy good but sometimes, on the oily or greasy side, not sometime that my PCP and cardiologist wanted to hear about, LOL. There was a news article about these popular (but, pricey) on-demand delivery services ... merchants losing 20% to 30% to the markup and/or raising prices for everyone to cover their margins; and, then even with all the fees & add-ons, some drivers won't deliver or pickup the "job" unless their tip is at least $5 to $10, not 20% or 25% or even 30% ... that it often come to like 50% ++ of the food costs subtotal. And, most often, that McDonald or Popeyes delivery get dropped off 45 minutes to an hour later, cold & needed to be reheated. That was the story for metro NY area ... delivery drivers in the upstate area, perhaps, aren't as picky (my baby brother lived & worked at Rome Cable nearby in the 80's) We typically don't order breakfast in room but the ship was rocking and rolling still in 20' to 25' waves and very rough sea state in the morning en route out to Bermuda, a wise move for us to call for delivery ... besides, we had the living room space & small dining table in the Family Suite then. laudergayle - sorry, I'm not sure but you can probably write your request on the door hanger ... items like white toast or whole wheat toast hasn't been listed as an easy order item for room service, that was possible for us. Birdtravel uploaded the long list of items currently offered ... and it looked fine on what's available. Hmmm, maybe - we'll write in smoked salmon & toasted bagel with cream cheese for delivery, and see what happen.

When we order hot breakfast earlier this year on the Joy, it was $9.95 for the cabin ... 2 trays worth for 3. I believe and expect that to be the same, each time an order is called into room service or using the door hanger. On a side note: has anyone used Uber Eat to order lately ... and know what their charges & fees are, on top of tipping ??

Just my 2 cents - this is the trend across the cruise industries and happening elsewhere as well ... local mom-n-pop diners in our areas had to raise their prices on breakfast items lately to stay on par with inflation (whew, gasoline prices are down, for now) and rising wages, struggling to find workers, willing & able to work the hours. If you haven't walk into a supermarket lately to buy 2 cartons of eggs, have fun & it might be shocking unless you regularly shop & pay for groceries - those aren't pricing errors on sale. We are going to paying more, one way or another, lines like NCL cannot afford not to past along their costs to us indefinitely, postponing the inevitable is not a viable but just a survival option, as occupancies are rising ... while staring down reports of another winter surge in Covid-19 cases. I get it ... CC'ers spending thousands on the typical cruises, granted that this is another hated "nickel-and-dime" move on NCL's part, which nobody wants, needs and appreciated. These days, I hardly read about folks complaining about the Vibe passes, Spa & "Plus" packages, or streaming, unlimited WiFi upgrades. Take a deep breath and look around ... the grass isn't always greener on the other side. I do know, that we aren't going to be paying $1,200+ a week to rent a midsize car on our next vacation. Happy cruising ...

Bermuda might get the occasional passing thru showers, usually not downpours and you are free to buy those disposable rain poncho, sold at the gangway - for your convenience - was most recently priced at $3 USD each ... stores at nearby Dockyard (Clock Tower Malls) and in the city /downtown & on the East End (St. George's) will have them out for sale, similarly priced.

Some of our CC friends from NY are on this GEM T/A coming back home from its Euro crossing, wishing OP and all, a great & wonderful trip. Be sure to check-in onboard with the CruiseNext/Latitude desk to make sure that they know you are on a B2B (if they don't already know ... they should) as you will receive special info & instructions about what, how, when & where - pack your luggage & how your bags will be moved to your new cabin (if you are changing stateroom, etc.) Once arrived into NY (and, there is a very good chance that the ship will arrive much earlier than 10 am) and the ship is clear, you should be among the first group to get escorted together & cleared ... and be permitted to get back on the ship; and/or, to leave for shorex - NCL tours and DIY on your own. New guest key cards should be issued while you on on the ship. Intrepid is just south of the cruise terminals, literally right next door and a 5 to 10 minutes walk, outside in typical December weather for NY (check weather & dress accordingly). Only small (daypack) packs allowed on the Intrepid for security reasons. Book that tour for 11 or 11:30 and you should be safe, and get 2.5 plus hours to see it. Reconfirm the all-abroad time for the 2nd segment of your cruise in NY.

Following this - interesting - with a bit of curiosity. Looking at Encore's live shipcam this morning/now, she is docked right next to the Carnival Horizon and furthermore, that's at Amber Cove ... at Porta Platta, DR (confused, which is what's listed ??? - doesn't specifically mention the Cove). Our "Getaway" next month has our last port stop at Porta Platta too, doesn't say Amber Cove - and starting to seriously look at shorex options. NCL's posted time for arrival & departure being shorter than what I'm seeing on Cruisemapper - with just 3 to 4 hours on land, might not be worthwhile to bother going ashore & just stay onboard. Maybe, hit concrete / pavement briefly for a couple of "hi, here's our stop & surroundings" photos and browse at the souvenir kiosks for visiting tourists, etc.

This article might offer some info as to price ranges, which vary widely as expected - $20,000 would be on the low end. Probably a good idea to check into one's own health plan coverage as to the fine prints, ours supposed to include worldwide emergency care. https://health.costhelper.com/air-ambulances.html

These photos should help a little bit, as you drive along & approach PC Cruise Terminal across the causeway & over the bridge - you'll see all the ships along with various piers and good signage. Cruise parking is very convenient with covered & connected walkways, depending on which terminal the ship is berthed that day ... We're there just about a month before the beginning of Covid-19 and shutdown, overnighted & rented a car to go to downtown Orlando, parked overnight there with a 5 minutes walk to get back on the ship. Nowadays, gotta be careful with surge pricing at Uber when cruise ships docked and ...

Satellite WiFi inTERnet access while on high seas sailing on one of the NCL ships ... best described as usable and functional, definitions varied depending on a variety of factors. At times, it can be almost like old copper analog, dial-up speed with the Hayes 56k modem days - remember those, but typically at least 2G/Edge to 3G and DSL speed, seldom does it reach anywhere near 4G or LTE cellular speed. If one is used to fast cable and/or superior FiOS speed at work or WFM, then one would likely be disappointed (if expectations were mis-aligned.) It also matter as to what the "end users" (that's "me" or "you" and "others") are using - to access those technologies. Not all laptops, tablets, iPhones and smartphones (Androids) are alike with "identical" radios, features, settings, configurations, and "enabled" capabilities ... How that tiny transceiver chipset is "connected" (wired, wirelessly) affect the connectivity (802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax, etc.) How is one "connecting" ?? wirelessly via an iPhone 14 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy 21 or 22 Ultra, or aging iPhone 8, end-of-life (support/update) Google Pixel XL, maybe an iPad Air 2 or old Mac ... as those computer chips inside the Lenovo or Acer/Asus Chromebook do help make a difference to max out broadband usage. EMC has been partnering with NCL for quite a few years now and unless newer & better partnership come along with superior alliance, like Starlink - the onboard digital experience surfing the inTERnet can be a frustrating and, to some, miserable experience. Basic email, messaging, VoIP, and catching up on news are generally doable these days on a given NCL ship. IMHO, unlimited streaming at 720p, let alone 1080p or Zoom/Skype or similar Webex aren't going to be practical as passenger occupancies continue to climb higher toward normal & full again. Benchmarked speedtest results below ... feel free to decide on how you wish to grade them & whether it's good or not. Compared to other mass cruise lines ... NCL consistently scored on the bottom in speed, usability & costs (CNN actually reached out & contacted a handful of us via CC then) Hmmm, disappointed about what's been said about Prima's bandwidth & connectivity issues. These are typical, unlimited basic WiFi speed onboard - streaming "premium" WiFi might, might not be much better & will cost an extra $10 per day per user-account. Feel free to spent money for it, for your convenience, of course, as @dexddd often joked - if it's worth it or not. Afterall, folks spent money on those UBP alike onboard ... and NCL doesn't tag on 20% service charge (yet) but it's probably already built-in, someone is supporting that outsourced iCafe manager's payroll cost, room & board, meal costs, etc. 😁

Our last 14 days (Jan 2019) "Escape" to West Caribbean & Mexico had already been reduced to just $100 for the cabin, or $50 p/p x 2 ... same as sailing for 7 or 10 days. Checked my notes & the confirmation of updated Amenities ... 15 days and longer, then it bump up to $250 or $125 x 2 for the cabin. And, there aren't too many 15+ days on NCL's cruise horizon ahead.