podgeandrodge

As per title, on the Joy transatlantic UK to Miami. How does passport/immigration work for non US citizens?

Do we just line up in a different line to US residents after disembarking the ship? 

16 hours ago, Ella2 said:

Thanks so much for the updates!  I'm on the Joy in June and would be interested to know if the new Thermal Suite will have any type of pool.  I know it's not open yet, but is there any info on what is included for when it is operational?  I'm pretty sure it does NOT (which is a shame) but just checking to be sure.

 

Thanks for all of the helpful information!

I went up to the Spa today and asked. They said they have a "whirlpool" holding up to 8 people. No other pool. 

It will be open in time for its first cruise from Miami. Word has it that it might be open before the end of this TA.

Ponta Delgada unscheduled stop 5am. 

Still 1.8 wherever I go, not to worry, fine for browsing. 

Separately, the ship is diverting (slightly) to Ponta Delgada, due to a medical emergency.  Lucky for said passenger that we're already more south then planned due to weather patterns. It docks at 5am and we've been told not to set clocks back as planned tonight so as to keep ship time in line with our stop. 

I'll do a few ship wise tests.

When upgrading to unlimited today (day 3 so used my 150 latitude minutes first to save when upgrading) the internet manager said not to expect any faster speeds if I went premium. As I didn't need streaming I just went basic at $169 (upgrade price for 8 remaining days).

Captain said slowing down this afternoon for some ship tests (not sure if he meant lifeboats or something else).

Otherwise, our more southerly route as a result of his diversion due to low pressure weather has resulted in nice sunny skies and a little bit of warmth. 

And the best battered fish I've had in years, in the Garden Cafe!

I asked the internet manager why the slow speeds, he said they had had 40 Mbps the day before (I was getting just under 2) and that the main reason was the cloud/fog/middle of Atlantic. 

I have no idea whether this is plausible but presume some on here will have a view.

Edit: no fog this morning, nice and sunny. 

Getting 0.8

1 hour ago, detroitlions said:

Did you board yesterday? How are the changes on the Joy?

I hadn't been in her before, but had been on the Encore.

From what it seems, the seating areas in the walkway port side are gone, whereas remain on the starboard side. 

But all the observation windows are still there as far as I can see. 

Ship has a new feel to it for things like carpets and general appearance. 

Onboard Joy.

1.8 Mbps download is best I've got so far. Less than 1 Mbps a lot. Ok for basic surfing just about but your 150 minutes would be wasted quick loading stuff so you'd really need unlimited.

They sent is an email saying it wouldn't be for the TA

On the Joy. Internet manager confirmed Starlink operational.

The Joy has left Rotterdam.

Ahh, forgot about the webcam, might catch it leaving soon!  I see right now there are ropes attached to the bow that weren't there yesterday.

So, the Norwegian Joy is in dry dock in Rotterdam, sailing on the TA back to Miami on Tuesday 13th Feb.  It sailed from Miami about 3 weeks ago I think.

Where do all the staff/musicians/etc. etc. go for that 3 weeks?  

On 1/28/2024 at 6:22 PM, PhillyTravelBug said:

So, does that mean the dry dock for the Joy is done?  Guess they thought they'd be bored without the galaxy pavilion.

No, it was before the Joy sailed from Miami to Southampton. It's in dry dock now.

I have no experience with the flights with NCL.

But on this subject, just curious. 

How did the original BOGO air work? Let's say, hypothetically, there were 10 passengers going from the same location previously, and direct flights available, would NCL have purchased all 10 direct, even if the last 5 doubled in price? Or would they have booked 5 direct and told 5 others sorry, indirect for you?

Is this new "offer" a way of ensuring you will get the "first 5" whereas previously it might have been a lottery? If so, it could be argued the original BOGO offer has slightly reduced in value?

Sorry if I'm talking nonsense here, but it seems necessary to know how it originally worked ie who got the 8 direct seats before this new 300 offer?

Well I've used the machines with the multiple poker games like 'jacks or better " etc on Epic. There's loads of those fancy slot machines where you keep pressing the pull button but I never used them, can't even figure out what a win is on them!

So, to clarify, what are peoples experiences if they used some of the 150 minutes on day 1 - could they still upgrade on Day 2, or does that kill the upgrade option i.e. you have to keep the 150 minutes unused.  (I see it worked for one person above that had used some of the 150 mins, but a big risk if this is not consistent practice).

Balcony every time for a transatlantic! For the view of the ocean in the middle of nowhere. Even better on a rougher ocean to NYC!

1 hour ago, ziggyuk said:

@dawcruiser

You can even do it yourself on the app, the website insists on full payment but the app allows partial payment, just make a payment of $250 and click the certificate as the funding method.

Didn't know this about the app! Thanks!!

So, Free at Sea package currently reduced on NCL Europe website (half price in some cases) in case this appeals to people looking at price movements/bookings.  11 night cruise $100pp (no gratuities payable as Europe).

Yes, thanks.  As noted, the NCL USA site displays those options.  As I have discovered, the NCL EUROPE website shows none of those cabins.  (I have taken time to explore the options as you say, but this is a website issue for the EU site).

Thanks genealogyfan.  I have just done the same on the US site using a VPN and same as you, found the selection.  Problem seems to bizarrley be the Europe website.   See screenshots below.

54 minutes ago, genealogyfan said:

Just looked on the NCL site and on Deck 10 - mid ship, I am able to choose at least 10 regular balcony cabins. Deck 9 has at least 9 more. Deck 11 has at least 15 cabins available.

Interesting!  I am using the NCL Europe website.  I might use a VPN and see the .com website and see if it's different.  Can you elaborate on how you progressed to the different cabins from the original one suggested? Thanks!

Looking at this cruise on NCL website, I can only get ONE balcony option on Deck 9, 9770, though earlier I think I was offered a different cabin on deck 9.   Normally, clicking on "Choose a different stateroom" brings you to options to select other cabins within the category, however, all I can get is offered AFT cabins with no option to get other standard balcony cabins.

Going to other 'cabin cruise scanning selling' websites, there are a range of balcony cabins to choose from - 

BB Deck 11
BA Deck 15

B4 Deck 14 and 15

I know that other websites regularly show more cabins than the "15" that NCL restrict to, but here we are talking about no choice at all on NCL website.

Can someone with a few minutes time replicate what I am doing and see if I am doing something wrong, or has NCL website decided to be even more awkward than normal!

Separately, I think some of you have a way to find total availability on cabins - if someone could see what balcony availability is on this would be appreciated!

anyone have experience of managing to extend one of these 15% discounts by a few months?  The conditions I have are book by 31 August, sail by 31 December.  I can do the first, but don't want to sail until February!