NCL Joy review for 4/1/23 sailing

[cruisekrazykaze]

Highlights:
• The staff of NCL Joy were beyond fantastic. So accommodating and friendly. I can't count the number of crew that stopped to talk to our 3 year old and make her trip special. I also appreciate that without asking, they bring the kids meals before the adult meals to appease starving kids a d give them more time to eat.
• The cabin (ours was a balcony) was nice and clean with lots of storage. The bed was very comfy.
• Elements is an absolute MUST SEE. Fantastic quality and very engaging.
• Use the kids club (Splash) when you can for the younger ones. My 3 yr old loved it. Just wish it was open more often!
• Teppenyaki was a meal and a party all in one, we had a blast! (however 12 year old daughter who gets overstimulated easily wasn't loving it)
• Overall was very pleased with the quality of the food, both specialty, main dining and buffet. The one time we did buffet while most guests were off the ship was lovely. We actually had a chance to stroll around and see the fantastic vsriewof offerings available.

Ports (all excursions were independent, not via NCL) :
• Roatan, we booked the 'best of Roatan' private tour with Victor Bodden tours. The sloth/monkey place was the highlight of our trip. So many great photo opps and memories made. West bay Beach (Henry Morgan resort) was also beautiful and we loved having the option of a pool or beach for $20 per person. We were very frustrated and dissatisfied with the communication between us and our guide. When booking the Best of Roatan tour you fill out a long form indicating your interests. Despite this, it seemed our driver took is where he wanted and wasn't clear on what the plan was, how long each would take, etc. This resulted in us going for an island tour for far too long in a vehicle with poor AC. Never been so happy to get out of a car in my life.
• Cozumel, we booked Nachi Cocum. Since our port time was noon to 9,  y the time we got there many other guests were getting ready to leave. We practically had the place to ourselves!! The pool and swim up bar was fantastic. The beach had lots of seaweed (in early April) and fairly rough waves... Better for just enjoying the relaxing sound of crashing waves than actually swimming. Food was very very good. Word of caution for picky eaters, the hamburger has onion and pepper in the burger. That was a deal breaker my daughter unfortunately but the rest of us loved our meal.
• Harvest Caye, absolutely fantastic, huge pool and beach. We were able to snag chairs with shade despite not rushing off the ship. The food and drinks are outrageously priced unfortunately... Total money grab by NCL. Despite them saying no food off the boat.... You can take snacks and water off. They don't bother checking bags. We didn't eat in Port, but ordered room service as soon as we got back to our room (very well timed food after hours of beach and swimming)
• Great Stirrup Cay, we were beached out by this last stop. We stayed on the boat and enjoyed a reprive from the mobs person of people. I do advise pre booking your tender on the TV on your cabin like they suggest. I was surprised that even til early afternoon they were still calling pre booked tenders and open tendering wasn't available yet.


Tips:
• If your group had multiple cabins, ask at check in or at guest services to ha e them link the cards so the cards can unlock either room. This was so helpful us since we had 2 cabins between the 4 of us.
• Avoid the garden Cafe (buffet) at all costs unless early in the morning or when other guests are off the ship. It was so stressful to navigate the chaos, especially with a family.
• The observation lounge is your friend. They have great basic food there, or if you have to navigate the buffet take your food down there for a much more peaceful eating experience.
• If doing more specialty dining than your package includes, plan your most 'expensive' meals first, then pay ala cart for the lesser expensive options (Q, Teppenyaki etc)
• To get an Irish coffee you need to get your own coffee from the buffet or drink station and bring it to the bar. They are happy to provide you irish cream and irish whiskey for it.
• Bring lots to of lotion (dry skin from salt, chlorine, sun etc)
• Bring conditioner, the stuff in the shower dispensar isn't great for detangeling hair
• Embarkation was smooth, don't rush to get to the Port... You will likely end up waiting til noon or after to board anyway. There was is a larger bathroom in the port waiting area of you keep walking away from the check in area. The bathroom closet to check in is a single stall with a looonngg line.
• Debarking, we had a late flight so took our time and did a late debarkation group. Stay away from decks 6 and 7, they were chaos. We found nice seating and quiet in the observation lounge to wait for our group to be called. Probably took 30-45 mins standing in line to get off the boat. Others in our group did the self debark and were out the door as soon as the boat had clearance (7:20ish am for our sailing)


Bummers:
• It felt like the dining hours were more restricted on this ship than other lines we've been on. Would have loved the Cafe to stay open even just with some basics in the 'off' hours between meals.
• The ship venues felt by and large undersized for an at capacity (4800px) sailing. Reservations for everything or otherwise general over crowded... Especially the pool deck, yikes!
• Footloose was a bust, when doing such an iconic musical you have to nail the vocals and I found it mediocre at best.
• How does they not have an ice cream machine open most of the day, having that close between meals resulted in some disappointed kiddos.
• Generally found a lack of activities for younger kids... Shops didn't sell anything kid focused, card room didnt have any games suitable for younger kids etc
• The one kids pool was smaller than a typical hotel pool but super super deep everywhere.

[coralskygirl]

Thank you for your review. Was it ever chilly on deck after the sun went down?

[FLAHAM]

Every NCL ship I have cruised on had both hard and soft ice cream available in the buffet.

[PTC DAWG]

I was on this cruise…the kids, the adult comedy show nailed it. Not NCL’s fault, parents need to get a handle on it. Constant running in the halls, etc..monkeying with the elevator buttons..
 

Dema at the Cavern Club outside was perfect.  Most drinks on point. Great weather..

 

Agree on the pool deck, our group of 9 just avoided it. Needs to be redone. 
 

Disembarkation was a joke. 1 hour to get off at 10 am..

 

Fix it NCL. You could have a really nice product. 

Edited April 9, 2023 by PTC DAWG

[PTC DAWG]

29 minutes ago, coralskygirl said:

Thank you for your review. Was it ever chilly on deck after the sun went down?

No, weather was perfect..,room AC was lacking to me.

[cruisekrazykaze]

12 hours ago, FLAHAM said:

Every NCL ship I have cruised on had both hard and soft ice cream available in the buffet.

It was available but the buffet closed between meal times. 

[Barb Nahoumi]

12 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

I was on this cruise…the kids, the adult comedy show nailed it. Not NCL’s fault, parents need to get a handle on it. Constant running in the halls, etc..monkeying with the elevator buttons..
 

Dema at the Cavern Club outside was perfect.  Most drinks on point. Great weather..

 

Agree on the pool deck, our group of 9 just avoided it. Needs to be redone. 
 

Disembarkation was a joke. 1 hour to get off at 10 am..

 

Fix it NCL. You could have a really nice product. 

That's why we booked an afternoon train home.  

[Barb Nahoumi]

58 minutes ago, cruisekrazykaze said:

It was available but the buffet closed between meal times. 

The buffet, or at least sections of it should always be open.  That's the way it was on the Jewel Class ships.

[cruisekrazykaze]

47 minutes ago, Barb Nahoumi said:

The buffet, or at least sections of it should always be open.  That's the way it was on the Jewel Class ships.

Agree, that's how I e seen it on other lines as well

[Sand and Seas]

For disembarkation,  does Joy disembark from deck 6 or 7 in Miami?

Does anyone know how late breakfast is available?

Is a light breakfast available that day in Observation Lounge?

  

We do not have to rush off the ship, but of course will be out of our cabin.  Thinking of eating breakfast at later time to stay out of everyone's way 😉 

[cruisekrazykaze]

On 4/9/2023 at 2:15 PM, Sand and Seas said:

For disembarkation,  does Joy disembark from deck 6 or 7 in Miami?

Does anyone know how late breakfast is available?

Is a light breakfast available that day in Observation Lounge?

  

We do not have to rush off the ship, but of course will be out of our cabin.  Thinking of eating breakfast at later time to stay out of everyone's way 😉 

Disembarkation happens from deck 7. You will need to be out of the room at 8:30ish at the latest, they actively start booting you at 9ish. There was breakfast available til about 9ish (even though the Daily said 8 or 8:30). They shut the Observation Lounge breakfast down sooner, the Garden cafe seemed to be the last on to close. We went up and grabbed some fruit, pastries, etc from the cafe and brought them to the Observation Lounge to enjoy later.

[Sand and Seas]

12 minutes ago, cruisekrazykaze said:

Disembarkation happens from deck 7. You will need to be out of the room at 8:30ish at the latest, they actively start booting you at 9ish. There was breakfast available til about 9ish (even though the Daily said 8 or 8:30). They shut the Observation Lounge breakfast down sooner, the Garden cafe seemed to be the last on to close. We went up and grabbed some fruit, pastries, etc from the cafe and brought them to the Observation Lounge to enjoy later.

Thanks!  Your plan sounds perfect for us☺️

[Amazing World]

Just got off the ship today March 23, 2024. 
 

We got a family suite 2 Bedroom 2 bathroom inside. 
 

pros: loved the simulated balcony during the day. Love the special shampoo, conditioner, lotion it provided. Love the amount room we had it was as big as 4 to 5 cabins. Provides free movies. Coffee machine (water may be an issue). 
 

cons: Unless you get water package or top tier drinking package water is not included. For the price the bed is below average. The sheets are not any better. Shows are sold out, but still go early they let us in even though it was sold out. Food variety was the worse I ever been to in a cruise ship. American Dinner, Manhattan, Local, Taste and Savior all had similar foods and did not include a lot of variance and choices. Speciality dining food was not as good as other cruises a lot of people complained about Q Texas smokehouse. Teppanyaki is a great show and eating experience. Food is slightly better than the free but not as good as other cruise lines like Princess in my opinion. 
 

To disembark in ports is very disorganized and crowded. Only one exit and one entrance! They don’t bring down towels to hand off as you exit like Princess you have to go to 16 floor than 4 floor to exit. Again no free water you have to go to 16 floor to fill up your own bottles. You unlimited drink package is very limited. No Starbucks, bottled water, or juices in first limited drink package.

 

the pictures are ridiculous overpriced in my opinion. I prefer to the unlimited digital package that some other cruise allow you to select! 
 

the app for NCL is very lacking. No true map built in. Reservations didn’t work. The app to call and text was very hit or miss. Very big deal! Wi-Fi is expensive. 
 

didn’t like the hours for kids activities. The check in process took long time. 2 pm to 5 pm then 7 pm to 11 pm. Don’t remember the morning session but guessing 8 am 12 pm. Once you check in can take over 30 minutes to be in standby and 10 minutes to let them know you are on your way. Bathroom was broken. So they would have to go out of the area! No food, no characters. 
 

overall I do feel that NCL employees are friendly. As far activities didn’t feel it was any better than most cruises I have been on. 
 

the entertainment elements was amazing, magician was great, comedians was very funny! Music was great!