NCL Joy coming to West Coast year round

Wouldn’t be surprised if there is going to be a significant amount of construction work taking place during this voyage.

Stuart himself says that the refit will complete on that crossing.... so you'd have to like paint fumes and hammering to take it!

I’m doing a West Coast HAPPY DANCE!! We need more options sailing regularly. Carnival cam be fun but I’d much rather sail NCL. I hope they mix up the itinerary with some 7 days going North & going to Victoria for the International stop. If not I guess I’ll do Mexico again and enjoy all the ship has to offer!

I wonder if they had shifted its home port to Japan if it would have opened up the Korean stops (closed because of Chinese Korean tensions) and still been able to draw the Chinese tourists aboard...

It seems like most if not all of the stops as of late were in Japan anyway.

Just a couple months ago NCL execs were announcing how well the Joy was doing in China. Things like highest occupancy in the fleet and sold out cruises for the first half of 2018.

Fake news? LOL Typical corporate spin. Say one thing and do another.

I’m doing a West Coast HAPPY DANCE!! We need more options sailing regularly. Carnival cam be fun but I’d much rather sail NCL. I hope they mix up the itinerary with some 7 days going North & going to Victoria for the International stop. If not I guess I’ll do Mexico again and enjoy all the ship has to offer!

I think this is great news and I definitely want to do a cruise on the Joy.

What exactly is going to be the difference between the Haven suites and the Concierge suites?

Thanks!

I can see the Joy being marketed more in Seattle as the family ship since it has the family accommodations interior and not the studios. It also has a lot more things for kids to do with the Galaxy area. While the Bliss has a lot, it might be marketed as the adults alternative to Joy doing the same itinerary. The family hot tub in Spice H2O on the Joy deckplans made me wonder if that's how their marketing plan will be setup. :confused: Plus, no major renovations to the interior aspects to accommodate solos. It would make sense to do something to differentiate the large ships in the same market. Problem becomes when the Joy does West Coast cruises, the solos would be left out. :(

The Joy in China was a 2 year contract. It failed miserably and NCL is pulling out. Revenue projections were badly flawed. Of course NCL will try to spin this as progress but internally this is a giant setback.

NCL has posted the revised deck plans:

 

https://www.ncl.com/cruise-ship/joy/deck-plans

 

The staterooms are largely unchanged with the exception of a number of cabins removed from Deck 15 to expand the Observation Lounge to the same size as Bliss. This means they will be offering the Concierge level of suites in between Mini-Suites and The Haven, and no Studios.

 

The dining venues have been changed to match the Bliss. There is no Ocean Blue as that space is the photo gallery, and the American Diner appears to be staying in lieu of Margaritaville.

 

The Galaxy Pavilion remains intact, meaning the spa will be significantly smaller than other ships. They have added an enlarged fitness center one level up in the place of the noodle bar restaurant.

 

They do not appear to be adding or enlarging the pool.

No studios is very disappointing as they are known for that, this reminds me of the Norwegian Epic and how it is it’s own unique design that doesn’t fit in with the rest of the group. I also believe the Norwegian Joy has a smaller go kart track.

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I don't care as much about the studios because even solo I want a balcony. I am disappointed that there is no thallasotherapy pool in the spa area. I would have booked west coast/Mexico but that is a deal breaker for me.

I have posted this on a few of my FB groups. Pulled the old and new deck plans, here is what I see as changing. I have side by side pictures, but no idea how to post them here.

Deck 6:

• The Supper Club becomes Texas Smokehouse

• Addition of Card Room

• Say goodbye to the Karaoke Rooms

• Addition of a Photo Studio

• Atrium Café and Bar at the Atrium become Starbucks

• Sakura and Hibiscus is gone to expand Teppanyaki

• Joy VIP Casino is gone for “Entertainment Venue”

Deck 7:

• Joy Tea Room becomes The Local

• Casino does NOT look enclosed, but there is a Joy Casino VIP Room

Deck 8:

• The Grand Tea Room becomes The District Brew House

• Le Cave becomes The Cellars

• Take out some jewelry stores, add in a Sugarcane Mojito Bar

• Still retail, though products may vary

• Neptune’s Seafood is gone, add in a Los Lobos Mexican restaurant

Deck 13:

• The middle now lists a MEDICAL, though this may have been here before

Deck 15:

• Removal of a lot of rooms and The “Concierge Lounge” becomes The “Observation Lounge”

Deck 16:

• Serenity Park is gone, Sun Deck and lots of open area shows

• Aerobic and Seminar is repurposed spa; does not show the Pulse Fitness Center

• Bumper cars still showing at Galaxy Pavilion

Deck 17:

• Noodle Bar becomes Fitness Center

Deck 19:

• Adding in Mini Golf

Deck 15:

• Removal of a lot of rooms and The “Concierge Lounge” becomes The “Observation Lounge”

Great list and I believe you caught everything that I did when reviewing the deck plans side-by-side. I thought it might be helpful if you mentioned that the rooms being removed from Deck 15 meant to enlarge the Observation Lounge. It's not entirely obvious from your wording.

Also, I am not convinced they are removing the Atrium Bar entirely. If you look at the video someone posted of the Joy, there is already a Starbucks next to/attached to the Atrium Bar, like the set-up on the Escape. I would be surprised if they actually remove that bar entirely. Maybe just reconfigure it to make the Starbucks a bit larger?

I have posted this on a few of my FB groups. Pulled the old and new deck plans, here is what I see as changing. I have side by side pictures, but no idea how to post them here.

 

Deck 6:

• The Supper Club becomes Texas Smokehouse

• Addition of Card Room

• Say goodbye to the Karaoke Rooms

• Addition of a Photo Studio

• Atrium Café and Bar at the Atrium become Starbucks

• Sakura and Hibiscus is gone to expand Teppanyaki

• Joy VIP Casino is gone for “Entertainment Venue”

Deck 7:

• Joy Tea Room becomes The Local

• Casino does NOT look enclosed, but there is a Joy Casino VIP Room

 

Deck 8:

• The Grand Tea Room becomes The District Brew House

• Le Cave becomes The Cellars

• Take out some jewelry stores, add in a Sugarcane Mojito Bar

• Still retail, though products may vary

• Neptune’s Seafood is gone, add in a Los Lobos Mexican restaurant

 

Deck 13:

• The middle now lists a MEDICAL, though this may have been here before

 

Deck 15:

• Removal of a lot of rooms and The “Concierge Lounge” becomes The “Observation Lounge”

 

Deck 16:

• Serenity Park is gone, Sun Deck and lots of open area shows

• Aerobic and Seminar is repurposed spa; does not show the Pulse Fitness Center

• Bumper cars still showing at Galaxy Pavilion

 

Deck 17:

• Noodle Bar becomes Fitness Center

 

Deck 19:

• Adding in Mini Golf

Great list! Thank you for sharing it. I was hoping they would've kept a tea room, if only, to cross-market the ship to the Chinese clientele they've served to try West Coast USA cruises. Now I'm not saying the big tea room, but the little one would've sufficed. Of course, I don't see much revenue in it for NCL by doing so as tea doesn't command the same prices as alcohol. :confused:

Happy happy joy joy! I loved the Bliss and will definitely book the Joy. Modification will be done in Shanghai, projection is a 5 week time frame for work to be completed and reposition the ship. If the work is to commence in April, that would mean arrival in early May....which seems early for the Alaska season. I’m hoping they bring the ship to LA and then run her up the coast to Seattle....if so I’ll book her. What I can’t figure out is the initial press erase stated post Alaska season the Joy would sail Mexico cruises and Panama Canal Cruises. Would the Canal schedule be LA to Miami and then back again? Basically 2 fourteen day sailings?

I want to get on the Joy, but not to Alaska.

As for the China issues, I’m wondering if the Chinese business rules concerning booking procedures had a financial impact. Princess told me that gov regulations required Chinese nationals to book through approved Chinese agencies and prohibited booking directly thru the cruise line. If this applied to NCL, then pricing control would be out of NCL’s hands, not to mention the gov getting a piece of the fare.

Regardless, I’m anxious to see what 50 million buys especially if the mechanics are untouched. One last thought....will the ship be renamed???

The ports for Joy Alaska are; Seattle depart 5pm, at sea, Ketchikan 7am-3pm, Juneau 7am-1:30pm, icy Strait Point 7am-5pm, Victoria 12pm-7pm and Seattle.

I think the pricing went up a little bit over the Pearl but they could still be working with the switch over.

The ports for Joy Alaska are; Seattle depart 5pm, at sea, Ketchikan 7am-3pm, Juneau 7am-1:30pm, icy Strait Point 7am-5pm, Victoria 12pm-7pm and Seattle.

 

I think the pricing went up a little bit over the Pearl but they could still be working with the switch over.

Where are you finding pricing already? I thought bookings for the Joy didn't open until next week?

Happy happy joy joy! I loved the Bliss and will definitely book the Joy. Modification will be done in Shanghai, projection is a 5 week time frame for work to be completed and reposition the ship. If the work is to commence in April, that would mean arrival in early May....which seems early for the Alaska season. I’m hoping they bring the ship to LA and then run her up the coast to Seattle....if so I’ll book her. What I can’t figure out is the initial press erase stated post Alaska season the Joy would sail Mexico cruises and Panama Canal Cruises. Would the Canal schedule be LA to Miami and then back again? Basically 2 fourteen day sailings?

I want to get on the Joy, but not to Alaska.

As for the China issues, I’m wondering if the Chinese business rules concerning booking procedures had a financial impact. Princess told me that gov regulations required Chinese nationals to book through approved Chinese agencies and prohibited booking directly thru the cruise line. If this applied to NCL, then pricing control would be out of NCL’s hands, not to mention the gov getting a piece of the fare.

Regardless, I’m anxious to see what 50 million buys especially if the mechanics are untouched. One last thought....will the ship be renamed???

Joy should be scheduled to arrive in Seattle for the Pearl's originally scheduled April 27 departure. I would expect the full repositioning to be done with crew only as they will be continuing modifications throughout. The itinerary posted previously indicated only one intermediate stop in Honolulu, and they could not sail directly from Honolulu to Seattle with paying guests.

Norwegian Joy will likely assume a winter schedule similar to Norwegian Star's schedule this year. This would mean 7-8 day Mexican Riviera runs through December, two Panama Canal round trips to Miami in January and February, and then resuming Mexican Riviera Runs in March until it goes to Alaska.

Given that NCL is already marketing the ship in the U.S. as Norwegian Joy with the same hull art, I think it's safe to say neither one of those will be changing. However, it would not surprise me if they removed the Chinese characters from the hull and throughout the ship.

It says Joy will be doing Panama Canal cruises. I assume they mean the traditional full transit, a typically 14dy trip or so.

Is it possible to do a partial transit from the south end - Pacific side ?

How far would she have to go before she could about turn and exit the canal the way she entered? Gatun Lake?

Could that be done in a day ?

That way the cruise could be shorter too which would appeal to many I'm sure.

It says Joy will be doing Panama Canal cruises. I assume they mean the traditional full transit, a typically 14dy trip or so.

 

Is it possible to do a partial transit from the south end - Pacific side ?

How far would she have to go before she could about turn and exit the canal the way she entered? Gatun Lake?

Could that be done in a day ?

 

That way the cruise could be shorter too which would appeal to many I'm sure.

On the 14 day itineraries, the transit takes place on either day 4 westbound or day 10 eastbound. It would be impractical to do a partial transit from the west coast.

Where are you finding pricing already? I thought bookings for the Joy didn't open until next week?

I was originally booked on the Pearl. They sent passengers a notification earlier this week to notify us of switch over to Joy (a very nice gesture) Same or better stateroom and keep pricing and perks. So my ncl now shows my booking on the Joy vs. Pearl.

Fingers crossed they add a nice size spa. Not sure if I’d be up for sailing on a ship that big, non Haven, without a nice big spa. I’m pretty sure that the Haven is going to be out of my budget. It was pretty high priced on the Pearl Alaska.

Fingers crossed they add a nice size spa. Not sure if I’d be up for sailing on a ship that big, non Haven, without a nice big spa. I’m pretty sure that the Haven is going to be out of my budget. It was pretty high priced on the Pearl Alaska.

It doesn't look like they will be adding a big spa. They have already announced there will be no Thermal Spa and the updated deck plans don't show much room for the rest of the spa amenities.

The more I think about this, I'm surprised they didn't leave the ship as is and market it to the Chinese who want to see the rest of the world. More comfortable for them to a ship dedicated to their needs.

It doesn't look like they will be adding a big spa. They have already announced there will be no Thermal Spa and the updated deck plans don't show much room for the rest of the spa amenities.

 

If they took out the foot clinic ...area? Would this make it comparable to Bliss spa? I’m sure they make quite a bit on spa passes and spa treatments with western culture passengers. Last year I was on the Jade and it was over half mainland Chinese groups. Typically the spa is pretty busy on colder weather sailings but unless the few Chinese guys with passes were in there socializing, it was oddly empty.

If they took out the foot clinic ...area? Would this make it comparable to Bliss spa? I’m sure they make quite a bit on spa passes and spa treatments with western culture passengers. Last year I was on the Jade and it was over half mainland Chinese groups. Typically the spa is pretty busy on colder weather sailings but unless the few Chinese guys with passes were in there socializing, it was oddly empty.

Here are the Deck Plans for the Joy side-by-side with the Deck Plans for the Bliss. You can see that no mater what, unless they do away with the Galaxy Pavilion, it's going to be considerably smaller.

Here are the Deck Plans for the Joy side-by-side with the Deck Plans for the Bliss. You can see that no mater what, unless they do away with the Galaxy Pavilion, it's going to be considerably smaller.

 

Wow. Thanks for the comparisons. Can definitely see the Joy appeal for families over the Bliss but both being more appealing for families over the smaller ships. That spa is probably a deal breaker for me though.