NCL Joy, NYC to Bermuda, May 21-28

[OttawaJohn]

Quick note, we sailed on the Joy in December and loved it, so were glad to come back so soon!  Being back on the same ship was interesting.  Never sailed twice on the same one.  We had the familiarity of a day 3 of the ship layout the moment we boarded.

 

We flew into NYC on the 19th with the intent of seeing the sights before cruising.  The weather was horrible sadly, a trend for the week.  Still, had a mostly good time, weather, and hotel issues aside.

 

Boarded on the 21st, which was fun.  Seems either a storm or something else was at fault, never clarified but the ship was two hours late clearing customs.  So lots of waiting to board.  We didn't start Boarding general passengers till 1:15. We arrived for 11 but sorry for those there since 10!  Which I don't get.  Why allow people to choose to arrive that early if you know you won't be boarding them till noon or so regardless.  It was very disorganized too. Apparently, passengers were queued up in an area they shouldn't be.   Instead of sending someone to move them, they just kept asking over the speakers.  Just go move them!  And really starting to hate the Haven BS.  They keep showing up and keep getting in while no other group is called.  Though if I spent 2-3 times what a normal Balcony cost for the cruise, I guess I'd want to get on fast to!

 

Once aboard, we noticed that restaurants, bars, buffet all seemed much busier than last time we were on board. Could be because of the rushed Boarding.

 

It really seemed to be a very different crowd.  Much more of a party animal and attitude and loud. People yelling, swearing, etc.  Had a guy down the hall call someone a ***** and slam the door, storming off.  Had a guy at Local screaming into his phone to his friends and dropping the n-word or a **** every second sentence.  Seeing much more sexual stuff as well on the pool deck, people feeling each other up.  We're not prudes but just never seen this before on a cruise.  Its not out of control or anything but worse than any other cruise.  Not a fan. Not sure if it's a Bermuda cruise thing, a NYC cruise thing or the time of year.

 

Also a lot more smoking, we could smell it in many places, including weed.  I saw people vaping while walking the corridors, and smoking on the balcony.  Just, why?  Once realized it was just a few balconies down and called them out on it, they said "sorry I'll put it out."  Why? It's just so dangerous and inconsiderate.

 

Our neighbors were annoying, loud all day and night. Finally had to go over and ask them to turn down the TV at 230am one night.

 

Weather continued to be rainy all week, except the second day in Bermuda where it opened up and was gorgeous.  Went to Horseshoe Bay and had a great time swimming.  Felt bad for the others the other days, we were good to hang on the ship.  First time ever heard a ships foghorn!  I wonder how many excursions were cancelled.  We cancelled the one we had, just did our own thing.  The way they handle credit is so weird.  Our cancelled excursion goes back as OBC.  Ok, fine.  But they can't return it to the card I used, instead they have to give me cash.  Only $150 so not a big deal but what if it was like $800?

 

Oddly there were a lot of medical alerts on the ship, I heard at least 4 through the cruise.  Never heard that before.  And the moment we finished docking in Bermuda, an ambulance sped to the ship.

 

The cancelled port call in Norfolk before we left manifested in an annoying way.  They really were going slow down to Bermuda, so there was almost no rocking of the ship.  A shame, as the feel of the ship moving like that is always one of our favorite parts!  The trip back they opened up though, so we enjoyed that.

 

I'm not impressed with changes to housekeeping.  Fire half the staff and double the rooms for everyone.  Our steward was great though but really a BS management move on NCLs part.  We really miss the turn down service, wish you could choose which you wanted.  Honestly, I wish you could have an express clean of your room. Just garbage, bed, and towels.  I don't need the floor vacuumed and doors washed.  But I understand that would be more complicated probably.

 

Soap and shampoo still suck.  Toilet paper to.  Just very cheap.  Guess all good stuff goes to haven people probably. 🙂

 

Shows were very booked, especially the comedy.  Again, higher privileges for Latitudes and Haven allow them to book before sailing, so we never even had a chance to book it.  Was able to get into see Elements though, which was very cool.  Some amazing stuff but some bits felt a little long.  I loved watching their attitude to fire and how the moment the bit was done, someone was smothering the flames.

 

Food was good as always.  Not sure if age or something else but the buffet has lost all appeal.  We greatly prefer sit down service. Had dinner at Teppanyaki for the first time in years- delicious and such a great show!  Laughed at the dessert though, it was called "exotic fruit"... it was melons and strawberries!  Turns out I had "exotic fruit" every morning for breakfast 🙂

 

A bit bummed that they aren't making ship magnets anymore.  Shame, we loved collecting those.  We have one for each cruise we've done till now.  Going to go on Etsy and get a custom one made, I think.

 

Stopped by the casino one night and was thrilled to see Goldfish.  They are our favorite slots!  Not seen them in years.  And they were nice to us 🙂

 

I'm always surprised at the number of people who don't look at deck plans before booking their cruise.  We spoke to several people complaining about noise from the venues, being right above the theatre or Cavern Club or under the pool deck.  My main suggestion to people new to cruising is always to check your up and down.  Be the middle of a cabin sandwich 🙂

 

The WiFi is really slow, timing out on most things. I need to decide if I want to use it for anything beyond email, and if so, I'll need to upgrade to better packages.

 

As much as we have enjoyed the cruise, I don't think we will do it again.  We miss the variety of ports, the rocking at night and don't love the different crowd we seem to have.

Still, any cruise is a good one.

[Hmmcminn]

Thanks for the review.  Glad you managed to have a god time despite some annoyances.  
 

I’ll be doing this cruise in August and I’m counting down the days!

 

Do you happen to have any of the Freestyle Dailies you could post?  Thanks!

[Ellis1138]

Thank you for the review. I'm sorry it was such an odd crowd on board. 

 

I do know the reason for thin toilet paper on cruise ships, though; the on board sewage treatment can be very finicky, so having septic grade toilet paper means less clogs.

[MsTabbyKats]

 

@OttawaJohn

The crowd may be a "colleges are out for summer" thing.  It's not a NY thing.

 

Question about the buffet:  Did you not like the choices, quality etc....or did you just need to get away from the chaos?

 

I have an Escape cruise coming up....and I am really looking forward to the buffet.

 

Sorry you missed Norfolk.  Although most people don't care about it...there is a nice battleship right next door.  We spent a few hours there last June (?) on the Joy to Bermuda.

[OttawaJohn]

1 hour ago, Hmmcminn said:

Thanks for the review.  Glad you managed to have a god time despite some annoyances.  
 

I’ll be doing this cruise in August and I’m counting down the days!

 

Do you happen to have any of the Freestyle Dailies you could post?  Thanks!

 

I don't, sorry.  Though given how often things shifted around due to weather (events cancelled, rescheduled, moved, etc) it wasn't very accurate 🙂

[OttawaJohn]

13 minutes ago, Ellis1138 said:

Thank you for the review. I'm sorry it was such an odd crowd on board. 

 

I do know the reason for thin toilet paper on cruise ships, though; the on board sewage treatment can be very finicky, so having septic grade toilet paper means less clogs.

Interesting, hadn't thought of that.  Though since I use twice as much, not sure it evens out 🙂

[OttawaJohn]

2 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

 

@OttawaJohn

The crowd may be a "colleges are out for summer" thing.  It's not a NY thing.

 

Question about the buffet:  Did you not like the choices, quality etc....or did you just need to get away from the chaos?

 

I have an Escape cruise coming up....and I am really looking forward to the buffet.

 

Sorry you missed Norfolk.  Although most people don't care about it...there is a nice battleship right next door.  We spent a few hours there last June (?) on the Joy to Bermuda.

Yes, we weren't sure if ti was a "Bermuda is a cheap cruise, let's party" crowd or not.

 

We're not sure why we are shifting away.  The food was as good as usual, standard hit or miss on certain things.  I think it was a combination of the crowds and jostling for seats, only one of us being able to go at a time or we risk losing our chairs.  Essentially, you don't eat together at a buffet, you eat in turns 🙂

 

I had wanted to do the tour, I'm a big naval history guy, so was bummed it was cancelled.  Though I got great views of the Intrepid when we were docked next to it!

[Ellis1138]

4 minutes ago, OttawaJohn said:

Interesting, hadn't thought of that.  Though since I use twice as much, not sure it evens out 🙂

Oh even if you use more, the actual toilet paper breaks down way easier in there than would Quilted Northern or Charmin Fluffy Stuff or whatnot.

[OttawaJohn]

2 hours ago, Ellis1138 said:

Oh even if you use more, the actual toilet paper breaks down way easier in there than would Quilted Northern or Charmin Fluffy Stuff or whatnot.

Makes sense.  Still hate it but makes sense 🙂

[Maplemoose]

What shows were fully booked? Footloose? When did you first try to book?, i was hoping that I could get reservations after the "upper class" have made their bookings. 

[OttawaJohn]

13 hours ago, Maplemoose said:

What shows were fully booked? Footloose? When did you first try to book?, i was hoping that I could get reservations after the "upper class" have made their bookings. 

Footloose had availability, as did Elements.  The theater is huge, and with multiple showings, you can normally always get into one.  The challenge is more about getting into Social, the small venue where the magic show, the comedy show, etc is done.  And the Cavern Club is worse, with people queuing up an hour before the show to get a table, though no reservations there, first come/first serve. 

 

They will, for the other shows, release seats if the reservations are no shows, so you can show up and wait in a stand-by line to see if they have an opening as well.  We just never did.

 

The moment we got close to the ship, I went onto the WiFi to try and book and they were already full.  That was around 11am.  You can't book ahead of day of unless you are higher tier or Haven as far as I know.

[cruiseny4life]

I just love the full-fledged from my mouth to the keyboard type of review you just posted. Thank you for the laughs and headshakes! And, please...keep it up! We need more of these style reviews. 

 

Happy post tulip festival week to you, my Ontario neighbor! 

[unionhall]