NCL Joy 5 Day Mexico Riviera Review in the Haven(12/18-12/23)

[scooter6139]

This is a review or our December 18^th -23^rd Mexico Cruise on the Joy. This is our first time in the Haven but our 3^rd cruise on NCL and our 2^nd on the Joy.  On our other 2 cruises our cabins were both Club Balcony Suites, which we liked and found the bathrooms to be some of the nicest we’ve seen on a cruise ship that wasn’t a full suite.  We were traveling with some friends, but they were not in the Haven.  Per NCL, this was the fullest the Joy has been this year with over 4100+ guests.  There were many, many children on this cruise, which was fun to see but not experience.  To be honest, we loved the 50-60% capacity pandemic cruising when they only allowed vaccinated onboard which precluded anyone under 18 at the time.   Wife is a teacher who likes getting away from kids for a change. 

 

Hotel

We flew down on Saturday via our own flights but stayed in the NCL packaged hotel in LA, the Hilton Checkers.  This hotel is located in downtown, and it didn’t have a airport shuttle so it cost a pretty penny just to get there.  The hotel was great (built in 1927 but remodeled recently).  Inside restaurant was uber pricey for any meal so we just had Starbucks for breakfast (1/2 block a way).   Wife and I both agreed it would be a fun hotel to stay in for a few nights on another trip.

 

Embarkation – San Pedro

Since we did the package, it came with a hotel to port transfer.  We expected to be in a shuttle but with others but strangely we had our own SUV vehicle to ourselves (we didn’t mind at all).  Our transfer was slightly earlier than we were told but that suited us just fine as we thought the 11:45AM was a bit late.  Getting into the World Cruise Terminal in San Pedro took a long while due to 2 ships in port (Emerald Princess).  Lucky for us, the Stevedore we gave our luggage to knew exactly where we needed to go for Haven security and check in.  Our security line was very small, compared to the 200-300-yard-long monster that was general security (I cringed when I saw that beast, as I recall waiting long hours in it on our last Joy cruise in 2019).   Once through security there was a small pre-check Haven line, then escorted to the main Haven Check-In line.  Here we met a lovely family that we kept on bumping into for the rest of the cruise, which was fun.  Fast through that, no time to get snacks or drinks in the waiting area as we and this family group were immediately escorted onto the ship and taken straight to the Haven for the tour and orientation.

 

Cabin – 17702

I had originally booked an SC suite cabin, then upgraded to HI cabin 15150.  Our friends got a balcony a few doors down from there.  I had bid on many other Haven cabin, never expecting any of the poor/low bids to come through.  Yet a week or so before we were upgraded to a HE cabin 17702.  Cabin was very nice, but not as big as 15150.  Comfy bed (not a rock like we had before) but it seemed like it was bigger than a regular king.  It was very high, which I am not used to.  Closet was adequate, storage space was abundant.  Didn’t like the bathroom.  Glass enclosure for the toilet was weird and small.  Sink was about the same size as the double wide one we were used to in Club Balcony Suites.  Shower sucked.  It was a tub/shower combo with a high step and wasn’t very wide.  Very slippery, and at 6’2”, I looked over the top of the shower door.  Water pressure was low, so you had to stand right next to the wall.  I’m a big guy, so this was not a nice place to take a shower.  Wife loved the Nespresso machine, as she had never tried this brand before.  Toilet stopped working one night and wasn’t fixed until the next morning (we had to use the public ones).  Our butler, Pedro, was super nice and very helpful.  Thanks to @Sthrngary, I had my Butler Letter (my wife still mocks me on this) ready to go.  He took it and got us everything we wanted (daily fresh squeezed OJ, cans of soda, daily BLTA x2 plus cheese plates, etc). 

 

Food

First lunch we ate in American Diner, as we knew we wouldn’t pay for this location at during the cruise and we would visit the Haven Restaurant a lot.  It was a “meh” at best.  We shared a burger and fries (these tasted exactly like a Lays potato chip); each had a salad and an appetizer of Mozzarella sticks.  Salads were ok, burger was basic, and the cheese sticks had a slightly weird texture to them.  We joined our friends for dinner in the Garden Café.  It was what I was expecting, comfort style food without much taste.  Wife hated it so we never came back, even for breakfast which is hard to suck at.  Next morning we tried the Haven Restaurant for the first time and wife and I both agree, nothing else on the ship compares.  Eggs Benedict was delightful, as everything else there for breakfast.  Wife didn’t like the Poached Eggs ‘Meurette’ nor the Coffee from the press (she doesn’t like Coffee Press anyway) but she loved the coffee from the machines.  We ate breakfast here every day.  Taste/Savor for dinner was just ok, nothing great.  It was what I remembered from other cruises.  We only ate here once with our friends (I’m telling you, once you eat in the Haven Restaurant you have a hard time enjoying the other food locations).  We did lunch and dinner once each in the Haven (we didn’t like excluding our friends and I was a cheapskate who didn’t want to pay for them to eat there).  We tried The Food Republic, which I loved but the wife didn’t.  We used our 2 packages instead of just one, so we got 8 items total.  Out of them all, really enjoyed the Crispy Salmon Roll, Sticky Pork Belly and the Shrimp Pad Thai (a bit spicy).  For a birthday dinner we did La Cucina.  The Calamari Fritti was good, as was the Beef Lasagna Al Forno and Meat Lovers Pizza, which I only ate half of.  Wife liked her Insalata Con Pere Noci E Gorgonzola, Risotto Ai Funghi Di Bosco and Gamberi Fra Diavolo which she thought was a bit spicy.   We sat outside which was a nice experience if not a bit chilly.  They provided blankets to anyone what wanted one.

 

Entertainment

No idea, as we never went. 😊  We usually ate late (so many families with children) so just never went to any of the entertainment options.  We did Footloose last time we were on Joy, but since there was no intermission in the good but very long show my butt was numb at the end. 

 

Ports

-Cabo San Lucas

Didn’t get off.  Been there many times, didn’t see the need to see it again.

-Ensenada

Unimpressed.  Got off, took a shuttle to “town”.  Waked a few blocks, realized there wasn’t anything or anywhere we wanted to go so we just decided to stroll back to the ship.  Only off for about an hour, but got some good steps in.

 

Haven Experience

I was worried that once the wife and I tired the Haven, it would be nearly impossible to go back to anything else.  I was right.  Just after breakfast on our first real day, wife said “if we were just cruising ourselves I would never leave the Haven area”.  The food is the best in the Haven Restaurant.  Our previous favorite location, the Observation Lounge, has a more private one in the Haven called the Horizon Lounge.  It has the same snacks but better, with a “make your own trail mix” spot we both loved.  It had the coffee machine that wifey loved.   Only “off” thing was we didn’t like the seating that much, as none was super comfortable for our favorite cruising activity (besides eating): reading while drinking something fun and snacking.  The Haven library was also a great spot to sit and read or play quiet games.  The only time we ventured onto the Haven Sundeck was when we were giving a tour to our friend of the Haven area.  We also rotated into the Haven Bar area to read and drink fancy stuff we don’t drink at home.  We never tried the pool or hot tub as it was always occupied by families with children.  We also didn’t quite realize how great the Haven perk of “priority” would really be.  We had always hated those folks who got to go to the front of all the lines.  Now we were those people.  Admittedly, I didn’t hate myself for doing so.  We had the upgraded FASUP package, which we didn’t utilize to it’s fullest either in dining or drinking.   The bottles of still and sparkling water were nice, as was all the cans of Zero soda I got.  We only used the Starbucks once, which I was sure we were going to use a lot as wifey loves Starbucks; but she loved the coffee machines in the Haven, so she felt no need to go all the way down to deck 15 forward or deck 6 midship to get a Starbucks. 

 

Disembarkation

Since we had a port to airport transfer and our flight was before 2pm, we were in the first group to get off the ship at 6:30am.  This sucked.  It was speedy and went pretty fast, but it is always our least favorite part of any cruise.  Love the Face scan Customs thingy.  Ship arrived at a totally different pier than the one we left on, so the had to “shuttle” us from the board to another area for luggage.  Was at the airport at 8:45, which sucked as you can’t check baggage in until 4 hours before the flight at 9:30.  At check in, we were warned that flights were getting cancelled left and right so keep and eye on the flights.  Indeed our flight was first on time, then pushed back then cancelled.  Due to the ongoing winter storm, we could only get home the following Monday, but Alaska Airlines did put us up in a hotel and provide some inadequate food vouchers ($12 per person per day?!)   Thank goodness our house/dog sitters had no issue staying for the extra days.

[RocketMan275]

Thank  you for the review. 

I didn't like the Poached Eggs ‘Meurette’ either.

Looking forward to the French Toast.

BTW, the Biscuits and Gravy in the Buffet were pretty good too.

[scooter6139]

The French Toast was really good.   My wife stole one of the thick slices herself and she loved it, more than the Buttermilk Pancakes (they were a bit dry).  She also got the Avocado Toast as an addition to every breakfast AND she was super thrilled to find cold Muesli at the self serve bar.

[RocketMan275]

38 minutes ago, scooter6139 said:

The French Toast was really good.   My wife stole one of the thick slices herself and she loved it, more than the Buttermilk Pancakes (they were a bit dry).  She also got the Avocado Toast as an addition to every breakfast AND she was super thrilled to find cold Muesli at the self serve bar.

My wife will usually go for the salmon on the self-serve bar.

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, scooter6139 said:

The French Toast was really good.   My wife stole one of the thick slices herself and she loved it, more than the Buttermilk Pancakes (they were a bit dry).  She also got the Avocado Toast as an addition to every breakfast AND she was super thrilled to find cold Muesli at the self serve bar.

Back in April the pancakes were amazing. Then in September, they were garbage (dry and tasteless). I'm going to try them again next week, but will have a backup order in mind in case they are as blah as they were in Sept.

 

I'm glad to hear that overall you had a pleasant cruise.

[podsnel]

Thank you so much for your detailed review! I just booked a July cruise on Joy in the Haven, so glad to hear it was so nice for you- looking forward to experiencing it all myself!

[bundtkate]

7 hours ago, scooter6139 said:

It was very high, which I am not used to.

This was something I noticed too! I had to hop if I wanted to sit on the foot of the bed or something. My husband found this absolutely hilarious, but it's not like I'm ridiculously short. I'm 5'4"! The shower, conversely, seemed to be specifically designed for someone my height with my husband being a bit too tall for it at 5'11". We were in an HI, but I can only assume these features are roughly the same and am glad I'm not alone in finding some of these choices a bit puzzling.

[NW Pacific]

Disembarkation sounds really bad.  You had to get on a shuttle after clearing the Ship to get your luggage??  Wow, that sucks.    Unless all group in Haven you don't get the real experience.  We have travel friends, know to be true,. will not to Haven when they come along, since they wont.  lol

[scooter6139]

20 hours ago, NW Pacific said:

Disembarkation sounds really bad.  You had to get on a shuttle after clearing the Ship to get your luggage??  Wow, that sucks.    

 

Yep, it sucked.  And it wasn't that far to the tents where they had the luggage waiting.  Basically about 200-300 yards in a straight line, but about a mile with the bus route.

[NW Pacific]

Wow, makes absolutely no since.  they had to take the luggage from where the Ship docked to another area, "the white tents" where you usually go through on boarding??  My heads spinning thinking of all the logistics of this.  Certainly glad this has never happened to us, multiple Salings in and out of San Pedro

[sacteach]

2 hours ago, NW Pacific said:

Wow, makes absolutely no since.  they had to take the luggage from where the Ship docked to another area, "the white tents" where you usually go through on boarding??  My heads spinning thinking of all the logistics of this.  Certainly glad this has never happened to us, multiple Salings in and out of San Pedro

 

I was on the same cruise and then there was ANOTHER shuttle if you were using a ride share app. So, we got off the ship (huge line and our color was running an hour late), waited in line to board the shuttle to get the luggage, then in another line to board another shuttle to go back to the original pier that we departed from to be able to get a Lyft to LGB. Luckily we had changed our flight on Thursday while in Ensenada when we learned there would be multiple shuttles and we *had* to put our luggage outside (as opposed to walking off with our luggage). Our original flight was 10:55am but we switched to 12:55. When we got the LGB, the 10:55 was bumped to 12:25 but our 12:55 was still showing as on time, though we actually left around 1:15. All of the other flights that day to Sacramento ended up being cancelled, so we really lucked out. 

[NW Pacific]

Just so curious as thinking of doing another cruise in a couple months from San Pedro, was there an explanation why you could not walk off with your luggage.  On a 7 day cruise we just take walk on walk off luggage.???

[Porterhouse248]

12 hours ago, NW Pacific said:

Just so curious as thinking of doing another cruise in a couple months from San Pedro, was there an explanation why you could not walk off with your luggage.  On a 7 day cruise we just take walk on walk off luggage.???

I was also on this cruise and the reason they strongly discouraged walking off with bags (a letter from the Captain was provided the day prior) was because we docked at berth 46, which is at the far end of the port (actually several miles away from the main port/berth where we embarked). 

 

They required bus/shuttle transport to the remote (tented) “terminal” where checked bags could be picked up, taxis could be secured and another shuttle was available to take passengers back to the main parking area if they had driven to the port. 

 

Due to port regulations, you were not allowed to walk from the ship to the remote terminal, even though it was just a few hundred yards away. While it was not the most convenient experience, it was by no means a deal breaker. Probably added about 20 minutes to our typical process having to wait for a shuttle.
 

[Sailing12Away]

We had Pedro back in September. Very nice, but exceptionally quiet. Curious if we'll get him again in February as we'll be in the same general area we were in for the last trip on Joy.

 

I had to laugh when you said your wife thought the pasta was spicy.... fra diavolo - "from the devil", it's made with lots of crushed red pepper. It's meant to be spicy 😛 

 

As for the Haven restaurant... all of you folks who love it can keep it. Yes, it's lovely, but we won't venture in there more than once as I'm a picky eater and don't find many things I want to try. For our next trip we're going to try talking to the concierge to see if we can pre-arrange for me to eat something from the main restaurant served up in the Haven area. I like the quietness of it, just not the food itself. There's only so many filets I can eat in one trip.

[New2cruise2022]

1 hour ago, Sailing12Away said:

There's only so many filets I can eat in one trip.

This is among the first world problems I need in my life. 

[YVRteacher]

14 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

We had Pedro back in September. Very nice, but exceptionally quiet. Curious if we'll get him again in February as we'll be in the same general area we were in for the last trip on Joy.

 

I had to laugh when you said your wife thought the pasta was spicy.... fra diavolo - "from the devil", it's made with lots of crushed red pepper. It's meant to be spicy 😛 

 

As for the Haven restaurant... all of you folks who love it can keep it. Yes, it's lovely, but we won't venture in there more than once as I'm a picky eater and don't find many things I want to try. For our next trip we're going to try talking to the concierge to see if we can pre-arrange for me to eat something from the main restaurant served up in the Haven area. I like the quietness of it, just not the food itself. There's only so many filets I can eat in one trip.

Yes, you can arrange to have other food brought to the Haven restaurant.  I just did this many times last week!

[OttawaJohn]

On 12/29/2022 at 10:39 PM, NW Pacific said:

Wow, makes absolutely no since.  they had to take the luggage from where the Ship docked to another area, "the white tents" where you usually go through on boarding??  My heads spinning thinking of all the logistics of this.  Certainly glad this has never happened to us, multiple Salings in and out of San Pedro

Yep, it sucked.  We boarded the ship on the 23rd and had similar experience.  We were in a huge tent for embarkation, then had to get a shuttle over to the ship.  Docking was the same as described above, but we had the joy of pouring rain as well and waiting in the rain to board the shuttle and then get a cab.

[NW Pacific]

Wonder how long this mess will last or permanent.  Seems NCL has lost the usual docking of the Ships at San Pedro???  Have done at least 6 times from there, latest one year ago.  Never like this.  We need easy peasy at our age, thanks for the information 

[scooter6139]

18 hours ago, NW Pacific said:

Wonder how long this mess will last or permanent.  Seems NCL has lost the usual docking of the Ships at San Pedro???  Have done at least 6 times from there, latest one year ago.  Never like this.  We need easy peasy at our age, thanks for the information 

 

We don't know if they've lost it or it is simply in use by other ships.  The Emerald Princess was using the other dock when we embarked.  I think there are only two berths at that location for use by cruise ships, but I could be mistaken.

[scooter6139]

On 12/31/2022 at 8:20 AM, Sailing12Away said:

As for the Haven restaurant... all of you folks who love it can keep it. Yes, it's lovely, but we won't venture in there more than once as I'm a picky eater and don't find many things I want to try. For our next trip we're going to try talking to the concierge to see if we can pre-arrange for me to eat something from the main restaurant served up in the Haven area. I like the quietness of it, just not the food itself. There's only so many filets I can eat in one trip.

 

To each their own!  We loved it, but it was only a 5 day cruise so we didn't get bored with it yet.  The Nice thing was we still had every other dining venue as an available option, so that was a nice perk.  But I do agree, I too can only eat one or two filet's a week before I'd be looking for more options. 

[chocopreppy]

Hi! I'm one of the families with young children that were always occupying the pool and indoor hot tub. We loved every minute of it, despite the hot tub never quite hitting the right temperature to actually be called a hot tub. 

 

Our favourite part of the cruise was definitely the restaurant. The shrimp toast for breakfast became a fan favourite. And we pretty much had a standing order of shrimp cocktail, crab cakes and lobster tail for dinner each night (sometimes w a side of filet). 

 

Disembarkation sucked - it was confusing and disorganized and the multiple shuttles was completely unnecessary but as bad as it was, I felt for the next group of people getting ready to board the ship cuz it looked nowhere near as comfortable as our check in location a week earlier at pier 91.