bkrickles1

I was on Joy in July and was told that they don't hold back passes. But, I was told that there are typically cancellations and that frees up some passes after embarkation. I've pre-booked Vibe for a Getaway sailing in April for the first time. We always have others travelling with us, many times with children, and we end up not wanting to be away from them all day. This trip in April is just me, my wife and my daughter, so it's the perfect time to book Vibe and we're all super excited to experience it. If some of our friends and family decided to join us, we could potentially cancel our passes prior to sailing and those passes could be made available after boarding. I think that's probably how it might happen for others. My wife would kill me for saying it, but I kind of hope nobody joins us. LMAO!!

Yes! Awesome venue!

I disagree "mostly" with the nickel and diming. Every cruise line has their unique way of pricing and packaging the product they offer. To me, it's clearly laid out and I always know exactly what I'm getting into. A little research and ownership of what you're purchasing is more important now than in the past and if you are surprised or confused it's on you. The pandemic crushed the entire cruise industry and required everyone to raise prices and reconstruct things just so they could survive and provide all of us with a cruise product that's still pretty damn good if you're a reasonable person. I began cruising, as an adult nearly 33 years ago, so I am aware of how things used to be. I'm also aware that the world has changed just a little bit too. Our last 4 cruises have been on NCL, but I always look at RCCL and Celebrity too when I'm planning. Apples to apples, with all fees, taxes, upcharges, and whatever else you can think of, NCL has always provided us with more for less. The one caveat in my research is that we like to drink a little more on vacation. If you're a drinker, NCL is a tremendous value with their FAS perks. And, we just sailed Joy in July, post pandemic, and the service and entertainment was excellent in spite of cutbacks. We enjoyed it so much that we've since booked a 10 sailing on Getaway for next April.

I agree. Nothing like being in there with the crowd and the music right in your face. I mentioned the Waterfront option because you can't always make every show and you may have some time to kill before doing something else or you're just taking a stroll. We were on Joy in July and one night we volunteered to babysit for my 1 and 5 year old nieces. We were walking along the Waterfront and there was a show going on inside the Cavern Club and we took a seat and enjoyed the music as we sipped on a cocktail. The 1 year old was sleeping and the 5 year old had some space to play and run around. We did make it inside the Club 2 other times for shows, so we also got the full experience. Excellent use of the amenities!

But there are speakers out there, so you can comfortably listen to the shows while sipping on your favorite cocktail and gazing out to sea!

I am so looking forward to Syd Normans on Getaway next April!! And I have no problem waiting on line a little. I did it on Joy in July, waiting for the Beatles tribute and got fabulous seats up by the stage. My wife brought me cocktails while I waited and the time flew by. So much fun!!

Just like I met people in July at Horseshoe Bay in Bermuda, who paid $49 per person for a transfer back and forth from the pier instead of the $14 per person we always pay when we visit. That's the one I'm always surprised about!

I'm sailing Getaway at the end of April, 2024 for 10 days and I just booked Vibe for $289 per person. It's my first time booking Vibe. We always cruise with others. Usually anywhere from 10 to 20 people and it always includes children, so we never have had the opportunity to book Vibe without dumping the majority of our group. And my wife loves to be with the kids too much to not spend the majority of our time with them. This time it'll be just my wife, myself and our 23 year old daughter. Not only will Vibe get us away from the crowds, it'll be nice if the 3 of us want to go have a nice sit down breakfast or lunch and not leave someone behind to save chairs. We can come and go as we please and always have space to enjoy our day. So looking forward to it and definitely will be worth it!

Thanks for the review! We've sailed Joy twice in the past 16 months and thoroughly enjoyed both sailings. We especially thought the staff was terrific! We had Club Balcony suites both sailings and, as good as our cabin steward was in 2022, the one this year might have been our best ever! And while I'm with everyone not loving the cancellation of Footloose, I can tell you that this year we didn't go because we saw it last year and there was still so much entertainment at night. We love live music and there was an abundance of it on Joy every single evening. At least 6 musical acts every night and we made the rounds to all of them! That's in addition to 2 comedians, Elements, Magician and many things in the atrium. We were thoroughly entertained!

Lmao 😂! Thanks for the funny reply. I was referring to any drawings that showed alterations to the OL on Encore or Bliss. Most everyone on here knows about Joy and it's scheduled refurb and why they're so easily able to convert part of the ol into cabins. No worries!

I know because in all of my years on CC and reading Bird's posts, she has never claimed to work for NCL. And if she doesn't work for NCL, she doesn't know. And, I didn't skip over anything. You made a statement, then I made a statement. You made another statement, then so did I. And what was drawn is not plausible in my humble and reasonable opinion.

With all due respect, Bird has no insight here. She doesn't have the blueprints for the Joy refurb and there is zero evidence that anything will ever be done with the other observation lounges on the other ships. This thread is only providing agita to the not so experienced who believe almost anything.

Lmao 😂

Definitely

I believe so. Right by the internet help desk in the Atrium.

I totally agree with you! It's just that the examples you used were finite items. A dozen eggs, a gallon of gas, etc. And I never upgrade to plus either. I'm totally satisfied with the standard fas.

While I understand your point, your analogy is extremely flawed. I loved my cruise in July on Joy. It was a great experience! But, there were some cutbacks, mostly minor for me, so I agree with those that say that we're paying more for less. And I might be paying twice as much for my dozen eggs, but I do come home with 12 eggs 🥚. Lmao!

You definitely shouldn't be blasted for how you want to conduct yourself on your vacation. Especially when you're following the rules. With that being said, I always tip my cabin steward on the first day and have been doing it for many years. We sailed Joy in July, after service was reduced to once per day, and I tipped our steward within 10 minutes of entering our cabin and I provided him with a short list of items that we'd like to have done. We had one of our best cabin experiences on this sailing and our steward was phenomenal! I don't know for sure that our extra tip led to our exceptional service, but I did speak with many other cruisers on our sailing and nobody said that there cabins weren't cleaned at all on some days.

As far as I can tell, nothing has really changed, except that everything has gone up in price. I sailed Joy in July and while it was more than I paid the previous year, it was still a tremendous value compared to any land based vacations. I just booked a 10 day on Getaway for next April and I'm paying approximately $175 per day/per person. That's with all the FAS perks. That's just ridiculous value, as far as I'm concerned! I'll drink that much by dinnertime every day! Lmao!! I've compared pricing/value to other lines and it's all very similar to what I remember it being pre covid. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I'm certainly not confining myself to one cruiseline, but I could not find better value for when I want to sail next year and I looked at Royal, Celebrity and MSC. 210 days until Getaway!!

As soon as you book, I believe. I booked getaway for next April 250 days in advance and I booked vibe passes a couple of days later.

It's very difficult to do what you're asking as the showtimes can change from sailing to sailing.

I'd rather they offer Cagney's 7 Layer Cake in the mdr's instead! That I'd pay for. My family has grown tired of Cagney's and it's slightly above average food, but we love the 7 layer cake. Has anyone just gone to Cagney's for dessert? That would be of interest to us. Lmao!!

I recently booked Getaway for next April and Syd's was a major draw for us. It's a 10 day sailing and I'll try and see/hear every show. I see the 2 negative reviews from June and I'm surprised. Syd's, almost universally, gets solid to great reviews.

I usually do! I did a review of Joy when I returned in July of this year and I really enjoyed there entertainment too. Thanks again!

I'm 100% certain you will get the obc if you have a statement in your name with the shares listed. It does not matter what type of account it is.