NCL Joy coming to West Coast year round

[DaCruiseBug]

Now if NCL can change up the ports with their newser ships in the Caribbean we’d be all set. I can only take so much of Cozumel, Nassau, Roatan, and Costa Maya.

 

It would be awesome if they did a 7 day with the Getaway/Escape out of SJU and hit some of the Antilles or ABC islands.

[RD29P5]

This is such exciting news for the west coast! :hearteyes:

 

I also love seeing that the Joy will go to Icy Strait Point in Alaska where I have never been. So I guess I will have to book another Alaska cruise too! :loudcry:

 

Don't be too disappointed about missing Icy Strait Point, it's nothing special, in fact I found it a bit disappointing. I do like the fact that there aren't the usual suspects for shopping, but other than that there's not much to brag about.

 

They boast about their zip line being the big attraction, describing it as an hour and half trip. Well the actual time your on the zip line is 90 seconds, I think we can all do the math on that one that the trip up is a lot longer than the trip down. Now full disclosure I didn't do it have this fear of heights after a bad fall from a height, but the tour guide on the ATV ride (calling it an adventure is so wrong) said 45 minutes up to the top of the mountain on a bus for the 90 second ride down.

 

If I'm on a cruise that stops there I think I'll just stay on board save my money and take the ferry from Skagway to Haines and wander around there where the usual shops don't exist either.

[LrgPizza]

Personally NCL is dreaming if they think people will pay those kind of prices for the Mexico cruises with the new Carnival Panorama that is about 1/4 the price and will be a brand new ship for West Coast. Then HAL will be bringing over the Koningsdam for some sailings pre Alaska and post Alaska and Princess will have Big Royal Princess sailing out of San Pedro. Also for drastically less money.

Way too many options for Mexico with NEW ships for once for NCL to be charging those kind of prices.

No they aren't dreaming. Some people will pay it. They will sell as much as they can at those prices. Then when it stops selling, they gradually lower the prices. That's pretty much how it always works. You get as much as you can get first. That's good business.

[mpk]

I wonder what will happen to all the Chinese speaking staff they specifically hired and trained for the Joy.

I imagine many will staff the Spirit on the seasonal cruises to China but I can't help but think many will be out of a job

Or they could be transferred.

 

Last month (June), I saw several Chinese crew members on the Star in the Adriatic. Noticeable, because the usual number is zero. These were customer facing crew, in the restaurants and shops.

 

Spoke with a couple of them, good English and friendly. I had assumed they were on temporary assignment for training, but maybe they are permanent transfers. They must have been making adjustments internally before announcing the move this month.

[Cafedumonde]

I cannot understand these prices on Joy. I assume they are putting a new ship in California to copy Carnival's Panorama, but Carnival's pricing is pretty stable. NCL has priced Joy very, very high. I would never consider Joy at those prices.

[JamieLogical]

I cannot understand these prices on Joy. I assume they are putting a new ship in California to copy Carnival's Panorama, but Carnival's pricing is pretty stable. NCL has priced Joy very, very high. I would never consider Joy at those prices.

 

That was my impression as well. The costs are prohibitive at this time. Hopefully slow sales will cause NCL to adjust to more reasonable levels. I am not usually one to complain about prices... it's just what the market will bear... but I have a hard time believing the market is going to bear those prices. I expect them to come down.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

That was my impression as well. The costs are prohibitive at this time. Hopefully slow sales will cause NCL to adjust to more reasonable levels. I am not usually one to complain about prices... it's just what the market will bear... but I have a hard time believing the market is going to bear those prices. I expect them to come down.

I totally agree how long till they decide to lower the prices. Many will book elsewhere who plan cruises out for more than a year. I myself am booked through 2019 and currently planning Spring 2020, by that time I will have done over 50 cruises but oddly enough have never cruised on Carnival. I am seriously thinking of booking the Havana Suite on the Panorama for about 30% of the price of the H5 we will have on the Bliss in a few weeks. I was willing to pay a bit more for the Haven in Alaska but for Mexico I am not spending of 4k more for the same Haven Suite of what I paid in Alaska. While I totally understand I am not getting what NCL offers I can still have a pretty nice suite on this new Carnival ship and buy their drink package and save thousands. With these prices they will just encourage early booking for the new Carnival ship.

[TFLG]

yea, they seriously need to rethink those prices. Balcony cabins start at $1600 -$1900 depending on date for a 7 day Mexico cruise. I can do 3 cruises on the Carnival Splendor for that price. Yea, it's Carnival but 3 to 1 ratio is silly. Some of that cost is them passing along the booze and dining package costs. I've noticed since they started this promo the cruise fares have increased for all the future sailings I'm looking at. Same thing happened when Celebrity started giving "free perks". Suddenly the fares went up... shocked face:eek:

 

I'm guessing when they find few takers at those prices they will come down. I know I'm not spending $4k+ for a 7 day Mexico cruise.

[Cafedumonde]

I totally agree how long till they decide to lower the prices. Many will book elsewhere who plan cruises out for more than a year. I myself am booked through 2019 and currently planning Spring 2020, by that time I will have done over 50 cruises but oddly enough have never cruised on Carnival. I am seriously thinking of booking the Havana Suite on the Panorama for about 30% of the price of the H5 we will have on the Bliss in a few weeks. I was willing to pay a bit more for the Haven in Alaska but for Mexico I am not spending of 4k more for the same Haven Suite of what I paid in Alaska. While I totally understand I am not getting what NCL offers I can still have a pretty nice suite on this new Carnival ship and buy their drink package and save thousands. With these prices they will just encourage early booking for the new Carnival ship.

This is us. We book in advance. Just decided on March 2020-- Panorama. We looked at ncl first. Interested in anything other than a Western Caribbean because we have a few in the pipeline. Options were Eastern on Encore. Priced rather high. Also looked at Bliss out of NYC. Thought seriously about it. Pricing decent but goes to Bahamas and Orlando.:( Looked at Joy. Prices nutty, so switched to Carnival.

[JamieLogical]

I can see the Alaska prices on Bliss being high.... I can see the first couple months of cruises on the the Encore being high, but the Joy is an older ship with fewer amenities than both of those, so the pricing just doesn't make sense. I am sure they want to recoup their losses from moving out of the Chinese market and doing $50 million in retrofits for the western market, but why would people pay MORE to be on an older ship with fewer amenities?

[RunBikeCruiseDC]

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:

 

Same here - I wish they would keep more of the Asian theme. I love to visit tea rooms when i'm on the west coast. I really like the Noodle Bar on Breakaway/Getaway. And the high end shopping area is cool - I'm never interested in the cheesy trinkets they try to sell on the ships in the US. Could they move shopping to a different level so it's not disrupting the flow of traffic on the 8th floor of the Breakaway class ships - that really annoys me.

[squick64]

Wow, this is pretty jaw dropping. I was just on their site looking at cruises and kept seeing the Joy mentioned, like the Joy sailing to Alaska, and I was super confused. I was even looking at a Panama Canal thing, and yep--Joy. I couldn't figure it out for the life of me because I thought this was inherently the "Chinese cruise ship". It was designed for them from the ground up. Didn't they end up with a smaller pool area and bigger casino?

 

To have been a fly on the wall at the board meeting, though... "So yeah, guess what, guys? That big ship we just built? Well..."

[JamieLogical]

Didn't they end up with a smaller pool area and bigger casino?

 

Yes. The pools will remain the same size, but the "garden" area in the middle of the deck is being converted to a normal sun deck and a stage. A fair amount of the Casino space will become an "Entertainment Venue", likely along the lines of Headliners. They are making a lot of other changes as well with that $50 million. The new deck plans have been posted.

[BirdTravels]

I can see the Alaska prices on Bliss being high.... I can see the first couple months of cruises on the the Encore being high, but the Joy is an older ship with fewer amenities than both of those, so the pricing just doesn't make sense. I am sure they want to recoup their losses from moving out of the Chinese market and doing $50 million in retrofits for the western market, but why would people pay MORE to be on an older ship with fewer amenities?

What amenities are those? The Joy will be configured with MORE amenities than the Bliss with additional features like the VR lounge. And concierge class rooms.

[JamieLogical]

What amenities are those? The Joy will be configured with MORE amenities than the Bliss with additional features like the VR lounge. And concierge class rooms.

 

Maybe "more" was the wrong term. The Joy has a smaller race track, smaller pools, smaller spa, no thermal spa, concierge suites instead of studio cabins, no separate smoking room in the casino, no Cavern Club, and American Diner instead of Margaritaville.

 

I am definitely looking forward to the Galaxy Pavilion, though. Really hope they keep the bumper cars!

[LrgPizza]

Maybe "more" was the wrong term. The Joy has a smaller race track, smaller pools, smaller spa, no thermal spa, concierge suites instead of studio cabins, no separate smoking room in the casino, no Cavern Club, and American Diner instead of Margaritaville.

 

I am definitely looking forward to the Galaxy Pavilion, though. Really hope they keep the bumper cars!

Smaller race track to take up less space with something I wouldn't want to do... Smaller spa to take up less space with something I wouldn't want to do... Concierge suites instead of studio cabins, offering more options for my family... American Diner instead of Margaritaville... They got rid of the Cavern Club... Looking forward to the Galaxy Pavilion... One person's negatives are another's positives. I'd take the Joy over the Bliss any day. We all cruise for our own reasons.

[BirdTravels]

We're looking forward to the Godiva store and soft serve. The ice cream dishes at Cocos on the Bliss were too OTT. Something more simple, yet decadent is something to look forward to. The American Diner is currently listed as a cover charge of 8.88 on our Joy reservation. We'll see how long that price lasts.

[Linda the Book Lover]

We're looking forward to the Godiva store and soft serve. The ice cream dishes at Cocos on the Bliss were too OTT. Something more simple, yet decadent is something to look forward to. The American Diner is currently listed as a cover charge of 8.88 on our Joy reservation. We'll see how long that price lasts.

 

That is interesting about a cover charge for the American Diner. I can't help but wonder why since the photos look like the Complimentary Cadillac Diner.

[JamieLogical]

Smaller race track to take up less space with something I wouldn't want to do... Smaller spa to take up less space with something I wouldn't want to do... Concierge suites instead of studio cabins, offering more options for my family... American Diner instead of Margaritaville... They got rid of the Cavern Club... Looking forward to the Galaxy Pavilion... One person's negatives are another's positives. I'd take the Joy over the Bliss any day. We all cruise for our own reasons.

 

I agree that the Joy is probably more "family oriented" and therefor has some different, not necessarily "better" or "worse" options available. I still don't really get how they can justify the significantly higher price. Presumably the higher pricing would make it less realistic an option for families? Unless they do a lot of "3rd and 4th guest free" promos, which I am only seeing for about half of their Alaska sailings and none of their Mexican Riviera or Panama Canal sailings.

[Georgie562]

We're looking forward to the Godiva store and soft serve. The ice cream dishes at Cocos on the Bliss were too OTT. Something more simple, yet decadent is something to look forward to. The American Diner is currently listed as a cover charge of 8.88 on our Joy reservation. We'll see how long that price lasts.

 

A week.

[fshagan]

I agree that the Joy is probably more "family oriented" and therefor has some different, not necessarily "better" or "worse" options available. I still don't really get how they can justify the significantly higher price. Presumably the higher pricing would make it less realistic an option for families? Unless they do a lot of "3rd and 4th guest free" promos, which I am only seeing for about half of their Alaska sailings and none of their Mexican Riviera or Panama Canal sailings.

 

American companies often have very high prices and then run 50 to 80% off sales from that regular price. As long as they can show they offered the product at the higher price they can say "50% off" and not get in trouble ... even if that 50% off is still higher than a competitor's equivalent product. There are some guidelines the FTC has in place at that link, but for the most part the way cruise lines do it is legal.

 

I think the high prices are to establish a higher baseline for future sales of the cruises.

[sparks1093]

Well, that didn't take long.

 

Exactly what I was thinking.

[LincolnLog]

Some people seem shocked by the Joy prices but at least for the Alaska sailings (I didn't check the Mexico ones), they don't seem that much higher than comparable sailings on Royal Caribbean, Princess, and Carnival. The Joy is more than those but not by much, $200-$300 from what I saw. I don't know much about the ships from the other lines but I would think the Joy is newer and has more to offer than they do.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Some people seem shocked by the Joy prices but at least for the Alaska sailings (I didn't check the Mexico ones), they don't seem that much higher than comparable sailings on Royal Caribbean, Princess, and Carnival. The Joy is more than those but not by much, $200-$300 from what I saw. I don't know much about the ships from the other lines but I would think the Joy is newer and has more to offer than they do.

That may be the case for Interior and Ocean View and maybe balcony but what I am comparing is Mini suite and higher, specifically Suites while granted the Haven is Nice but not thousands nicer. The Bliss Mini Suite is truly just the size of a Holland America regular Balcony with smaller actually balcony yet the price is almost triple. Comparing Suites the prices are all more than double of a full suite with HAL, PCL and the new CCL Panorama. Truthfully that new CCL Panorama is going to be quite nice for 1/3 of the price, then Princess is bringing over to the West Coast the Royal Princess.

The current prices of the Joy are that of what the Bliss was in January 2017 for the 2018 Alaska season and at that time they were running almost double of what the other lines were running for Alaska. The other cruise lines loved it because it gave them the opportunity to sell early and not drop pricing, NCL eventually had to make some big drops especially for many of the Haven categories. Alaska for 2019 at this time of year is normally starting to sell strong for all the lines but with NCL having such high prices for Bliss and Joy the other lines jumped on the band wagon and brought out a lot higher pricing. It will be interesting to see how long that lasts. But for Mexico the others are all drastically lower priced than NCL in Mini Suite and higher.

[HBCcruiser]

That may be the case for Interior and Ocean View and maybe balcony but what I am comparing is Mini suite and higher, specifically Suites while granted the Haven is Nice but not thousands nicer. The Bliss Mini Suite is truly just the size of a Holland America regular Balcony with smaller actually balcony yet the price is almost triple. Comparing Suites the prices are all more than double of a full suite with HAL, PCL and the new CCL Panorama. Truthfully that new CCL Panorama is going to be quite nice for 1/3 of the price, then Princess is bringing over to the West Coast the Royal Princess.

 

The current prices of the Joy are that of what the Bliss was in January 2017 for the 2018 Alaska season and at that time they were running almost double of what the other lines were running for Alaska. The other cruise lines loved it because it gave them the opportunity to sell early and not drop pricing, NCL eventually had to make some big drops especially for many of the Haven categories. Alaska for 2019 at this time of year is normally starting to sell strong for all the lines but with NCL having such high prices for Bliss and Joy the other lines jumped on the band wagon and brought out a lot higher pricing. It will be interesting to see how long that lasts. But for Mexico the others are all drastically lower priced than NCL in Mini Suite and higher.

 

 

 

I agree. I just booked a Penthouse Suite to Mexican Riviera on the Royal Princess with specialty dining and drink package for $4300.00 for 2. Same trip in a Haven Penthouse suite on the Joy is $5499.00 per PERSON so $10,998.00. Seriously? I love the Haven but not worth it IMHO. Sailing on the Nieuw Amsterdam in the huge Pinnacle Suite (Alaska) for less than that.

 

 

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