Striking Out to New Turf – A Joy(ful) Live – 3/18 – 3/25, Western Caribbean

[Dorhead1230]

Bon voyage! I hope you guys have an amazing time! And happy belated birthday 🎂

[cruiseny4life]

Not that price matters today as this meal is included for us...but shrinkflation hits American Diner!

 

Increased price and much smaller mozzarella sticks!

 

Here's what we were served today:

 

 

Compared with Getaway in December:

 

 

You cant easily tell, but Getaway sticks are at least twice as large. 

[cruiseny4life]

My joyful place

 

 

 

[cruiseny4life]

@mking8288, we have our stateroom attendant's name on our TV. 

 

 

Updated mandatory message plays on only one of two TV's in the room.

 

[cruiseny4life]

Muster drill over! We arrived at 3:56 for a 4 pm drill. At 4:11 we left the Tipsy Gypsy and returned to our room. Crowded and annoying, but super simple!

 

 

[cruiseny4life]

Here's our clean room before the suitcase exploded! Even my requested lounger is here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are in a Haven HJ category room. Room 14180.

[cruiseny4life]

I've been instructed to let everyone know about a couple of annoyances. As a good husband, I am following through. 

 

1. Our luggage was halfway down the hallway, nowhere near the room. My husband hunted the suitcase down and ensured it made an appearance in our room.

 

2. The fruit bowl is kind of sad. We definitely received much better previously. There was no plastic, and bow, either. 

 

 

3. My annoyance, kind of. We have a succulent plant, instead of fresh flowers. The flowers provide a pop of color which I like. No shade to the succulent though. I enjoy them too!

 

 

4. We have met out butler, when he brought the fruit. He said he'd come back later. We haven't seen our room attendant. By this time, we have always been greeted and asked about our room preferences. $25 per person, per day, you'd expect the same service as when we paid $20 per person, per day...come to think of it, we pre-paid so maybe this is the new $40 per day service. I'll keep everyone updates.

 

5. Most importantly, we're not that annoyed. Just pointing out the differences from previous cruises and what we like/don't like, thus fat. We've had a wonderful 4.5 hours onboard so far!

[cruiseny4life]

Carnival does sailaway....ummm...loudly!

 

 

 

[Jordan61]

43 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Muster drill over! We arrived at 3:56 for a 4 pm drill. At 4:11 we left the Tipsy Gypsy and returned to our room. Crowded and annoying, but super simple!

 

 

 

Is walking around barefoot a thing? I haven't been on a cruise in a long time, but I don't remember that.

[Trappedontheboat]

4 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Not that price matters today as this meal is included for us...but shrinkflation hits American Diner!

 

Increased price and much smaller mozzarella sticks!

 

Here's what we were served today:

 

 

Compared with Getaway in December:

 

 

You cant easily tell, but Getaway sticks are at least twice as large. 

Not my favorite moz Stix. What a shame. Never again will sail on NCL😄😭

[cruiseny4life]

I believe the 15 deep at a bar statement. Every single person in this photo were waiting ok the two very overworked bartenders.

 

 

Edited March 18, 2023 by cruiseny4life

[Trappedontheboat]

1 minute ago, cruiseny4life said:

I believe the 15 deep at a bar statement. Every single person in this photo were waiting ok the two very overworked bartenders.

 

 

So on NCL it is not servers waiting on tables, it is guests waiting on bartenders🤣

[Trappedontheboat]

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

Muster drill over! We arrived at 3:56 for a 4 pm drill. At 4:11 we left the Tipsy Gypsy and returned to our room. Crowded and annoying, but super simple!

 

 

The drill does not look as terrible as some people described

[mking8288]

36 minutes ago, Trappedontheboat said:

So on NCL it is not servers waiting on tables, it is guests waiting on bartenders🤣

I thought 🫣 it was the washy washy line at the entrance to the buffet 😁 

 

Patience, sense of humor and go with the flow. 

[laudergayle]

5 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Not that price matters today as this meal is included for us...but shrinkflation hits American Diner!

 

Increased price and much smaller mozzarella sticks!

 

Here's what we were served today:

 

 

Compared with Getaway in December:

 

 

You cant easily tell, but Getaway sticks are at least twice as large. 

The Getaway sticks look homemade…yum; unlike the “straight from the freezer made by a machine”. ☹️

[Trappedontheboat]

Does it still takes them forever to serve drinks in Haven restaurant?

[cruiseny4life]

The free WiFi is workinf ok'ish for Cruise Critic. We shall see how it goes. My husband and I discussed the word "saucer" at dinner. He believes the below should be a saucer as it is used to carry sauce.

 

Sense from a non-native English speaker, or so he says. 

 

Edit: Ok, apparently photos won't post. So what I'm referring to is gravy boat type dish he was provided with cocktail sauce.

 

Edited March 18, 2023 by cruiseny4life

[cruiseny4life]

24 minutes ago, Trappedontheboat said:

Does it still takes them forever to serve drinks in Haven restaurant?

About 15 minutes for a Coke and iced tea...so, yup! 

Edited March 18, 2023 by cruiseny4life

[Trappedontheboat]

15 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

The free WiFi is workinf ok'ish for Cruise Critic. We shall see how it goes. My husband and I discussed the word "saucer" at dinner. He believes the below should be a saucer as it is used to carry sauce.

 

Sense from a non-native English speaker, or so he says. 

 

Edit: Ok, apparently photos won't post. So what I'm referring to is gravy boat type dish he was provided with cocktail sauce.

 

Your husband is a wise man!

[laudergayle]

36 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Sense from a non-native English speaker, or so he says.

So, I once worked for a gentleman from the UK.  One day, he yelled from his office…”Gracie…do you have a rubber?”    Evidently…in the UK, a “rubber” is an eraser…who knew🤷‍♀️

[rainmakerjjo]

What time did Haven start boarding?  We are on Joy in two weeks!!

[cruiseny4life]

6 minutes ago, rainmakerjjo said:

What time did Haven start boarding?  We are on Joy in two weeks!!

Slightly after 12. Disembarkation was, apparently, a clusterf...per the robust roll call complaints. This delayed our boarding by an hour. 

 

I kind of want an hour's worth of discount from NCL haha...but, really, the Haven Lounge in the terminal is a comfortable place to meet new folks and wait to board. 

 

Have a phenomenal cruise! And, feel free to ask me anything else. If a photo is necessary, that'll be a challenge. I get gobliteygook computer code when I try to post photos.

[cruiseny4life]

Also, imagine a gorgeous bright orange sunrise, with the rays of sun flickering on the smooth ocean. As I say, "good morning from the Gulf of Mexico!"

 

Time was moved back by an hour, so my 6:45 wakeup was really 5:45. I kind of liked it.

[cruiseny4life]

11 hours ago, laudergayle said:

So, I once worked for a gentleman from the UK.  One day, he yelled from his office…”Gracie…do you have a rubber?”    Evidently…in the UK, a “rubber” is an eraser…who knew🤷‍♀️

Oh my! Kid appropriate @laudergayle! 

 

Ok, you know that's not true. Keep em coming, please! 

 

Also, I can only imagine when he found out what a rubber is! 

[graphicguy]

It humors me to see people waiting for a drink, on any cruise ship, when there’s a bar practically every 100 feet.  That said, embarkation and disembarkation day is always somewhat of a Cluster. 

 

But, maybe I’m so familiar with NCL’s ships, I seem to know where the bars are that are less crowded at any given time.  Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing! 😉