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Ooooo, haunted ship. I like it!

You may have answered this, but where are all of the other passengers?

That's why I said it was controversial! I have no issue with kids on cruises, I mean, it's summer and families go on vacation together. I'm just confused as to why so much space was dedicated specifically to kid things at the expense of adult things, I guess. From what I read, they're going to dry dock Joy and will be getting rid of the laser tag for more Vibe space and they're doing away with the Galaxy Pavilion. I'm glad you didn't find the screen in the adult area annoying, it just wasn't for me. It's difficult for the staff to keep kids away from hottubs when parents insist, and that happened more than a few times in the 40 minutes or so that I sat back there. It was fine, we found tons of other relaxing places to hang out. I love Latin music! I liked Julia Hatfield, the one time I watched her in the Observation lounge. The sailing was calm, and other than the downpour when I finally made it into the water in GSC, the weather was perfect. I loved the staff. The Miami thing was a flog, but again, CAPYBARA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello! Just got home from a 10 day on Joy. As many of your might have heard (maybe???), we had to skip Bermuda because of the impending hurricane, which was a huge bummer, since I love me some Bermuda and was not interested in Miami (or Florida at all, honestly - our first stop was Cape Canaveral and I didn't get off the ship). I'll get the things I didn't like out of the way first, and please know that I don't have kids and don't really care for kids which I know is a hot button topic here, but I'm just putting it out there. There are too many kid-centered things that take up huge amounts of deck space. Two water slides, a laser tag thing (that I didn't see anyone using, though I could be wrong because I tend not to go where I'm going to be surrounded by screaming), a huge arcade, and go karts. I bring this up because the sun decks are laid out super weirdly and the inclusion of laser tag took away a whole bunch of space where people could actually just chill out in the sun. The pools are tiny and the only time I ventured into one was when everyone was in Cape Canaveral, otherwise they were clogged with bodies. They didn't handle the port change well. Since Miami is in the US, we all had to pass through immigration and no one was allowed back on board until everyone had passed through so there were apparently a lot of people left just sitting in the cruise terminal because 14 people refused to leave the ship. I'm sure there was a reason we couldn't stay in Nassau, or even Great Stirrup Cay but Miami is not an equal destination to Bermuda, and I'm not just saying that because I'd made all kinds of (non NCL-sponsored) Bermuda plans. We were given OBC, but the amount that I ended up spending in Miami between cabs and going to Jungle Island (THIS COUNTS AS A POSITIVE BECAUSE I MET A CAPYBARA which I can now cross off my bucket list) wasn't acceptable. NCL didn't really offer a lot of suggestions. I mean, Miami is gorgeous, I've been there many times, but still. I was annoyed, but people were PISSED. I just asked my husband what he didn't enjoy and he said "Well, trying to reserve dinner on the hall TVs was annoying because they weren't super intuitive and very often didn't work at all". We both HATED the adults only deck - Spice H20. There were ALWAYS kids there, it was super crowded with drunk chainsmokers, and rather than offering a place to be able to just stare at the water, there's a huge, unnecessary screen showing various sea-scenes. THEY BLOCKED A VIEW OF THE ACTUAL SEA WITH A TV SCREEN OF THE SEA. I mean...*****? We went twice and studiously avoided it afterwards because it gave me The Ick. (Please note: I am not against smoking, I smoked for a looonnng time, but I'm uneasy about people smoking on a ship). Speaking of smoking - there were absolutely people smoking (cigarettes and weed) on their balconies. It's impossible to stop that unless the whole ship is smoke free and I'm not a cop, but it was annoying. So the positives: I liked all of the food options. The buffet had a good selection and was kept really clean. We ate in the included restaurants twice - once at Savor, once in the Manhattan Room. Both were solidly ok. Le Bistro was also good, although I wouldn't choose to dine there again. We both LOVED Food Republic. Everything we tried (and we tried A LOT because we're on vacation and calories do not count) was amazing. The BBQ restaurant (coyly named Q) was also good, but I'm not entirely sure how it's a BBQ place without an actual grill?? I loved that there was live music almost always SOMEWHERE onboard. Country isn't my thing, but the Neilly Rich Duo were great, and really talented. The mojito bar and all of the bartenders were stellar. I realized that I kind of hate mojitos, but they serve a drink that I fell in love with - Saturn Landing. PLEASE, please please. PLEASE and I do not beg frequently - PLEASE GO ORDER THIS. Even if you hate gin, please do me a favor and get this. It was a delight and I will think about it until the next time I cruise. Despite it being a full ship, once we found our groove, we never really felt cramped. There was always a free lounger or a chair somewhere. I'm running out of steam about this, but if anyone has any questions I can answer, let me know!