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FYI's for Norwegian Joy

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rrrijah

rrrijah

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Posted (edited)

We found them extremely helpful, so passing the love forward.  Here are the dailies for 6/1-6/7.

 

  • We got rained out in Juneau and weren't able to go on our dog sled on a glacier excursion.  The rain cleared out in the afternoon... None of which was NCL's fault.  if we had to do it again, we wouldn't plan for any helicopter tour first thing in the morning to wait out the weather.  NCL automatically refunded the cost.  They only had one person at the desk to settle all of passengers with canceled excursions which was kind of a pain.   We were able to book a helicopter glacier excursion for the next day in Skagway.
  • If you're spa person, the lack of thermal suite was a complete deal breaker for us for the Joy.  We won't sail on this ship again when there are other options (eg. Bliss) with proper spa amenities.  While in the waiting room, we saw so many people come in to ask about the thermal suite.  This was a major miss and apparent lack of thought for NCL during refurbishment.
  • fees and schedules for the race track, laser tag, and Galaxy Pavilion seemed to discourage most people and as a result we didn't see high usage there.  The Galaxy Pavilion's VR rides leaned towards horror and extreme riding.  Family's with kids told us they didn't really care for them. These seemed to be wastes of space; Similarly, the sun deck's design felt like a waste of space (acknowledging that we were in Alaska).
  • On a sunny day, we did the drop water slide.  The cold and wind on the steps were unbearable, but the water in the slide itself (seemed) heated and was bearable. 
  • There are several opportunities for crab cakes.  In the buffet, I only found real king crab legs as additions to the cioppino.  We found the buffet average.  If we had to do it again, we would plan to skip the buffets and have breakfast/lunch/dinner at Taste & Savor.  The Manhattan room was ok but busy/crowded.
  • We chose 3 speciality dining options and did Cagney's, La Cucina, and Le Bistro. Our favorite was Le Bistro. 
  • We were able to order a special request meal at Savor (I believe this goes for Manhatten, Taste, and Savor).  It required 2 days notice and approval from the manager. 
  • the touch screens and app don't seem to work well together and there were glitches with the touch screen reservations. 
  • Both of our pre-scheduled show reservations were changed (by letter) when we arrived which forced us to change other plans.  I think this has to do with everyone booking on sail days and disconnect with the system, onboard screens, and app.
  • We purchased one unlimited wifi and shared that between 2 people.  Only one device could be signed on at one time.  It was fine for light (messaging, social, browsing) use.
  • Favorite drinks: (1) aforementioned Pistachio drink/shot/martini, on the rocks; (2) Mango Mantra (a frozen mango/strawberry daquiri.
  • Ship times were incorrect (as mentioned above).
  • The parties seemed packed and a large mix of types. Here was our itinerary schedule:

    • Day 1 - Saturday: Welcome Bash 1030PM

    • Day 2 - Sunday: 80's Party 11PM

    • Day 3 - Monday - Ketchikan 7AM-230PM: Decades Party 11PM

    • Day 4 - Tuesday - Juneau 7AM-1PM: Latin Hour 1030PM

    • Day 5 - Wednesday - Skagway 7AM-430PM: Glow 1030PM

    • Day 6 - Thursday: 90's Party 1030PM

    • Day 7 - Friday - Victoria 4PM-1130PM: Farewell Party 1030PM

 

Despite these challenges, the cruise was nice, the food was decent, and the views of Alaska were amazing.  Full review to come later.

 

NCL-Joy_dailies_20190601.pdf

Edited by rrrijah
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rrrijah

rrrijah

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On 6/4/2019 at 10:22 AM, Rassilon said:

We are on the Joy in a few months for a panama trip and are staying in a Concierge Family room.  I was under the impression that we could start making reservations 130 days out b/c it was considered a suite room.  Is this accurate?  I looked on the website but it still says everything is too early to book.  First time doing a suite type room with NCL so not sure if I'm just missing something.  

 

Also, for those that have already been on Joy.  Does anyone happen to have any pics of the arcade area?  I've seen quite a few of the VR Pavilion but not much (any) of the regular arcade.  Got two kids traveling with us so folks are excited about the prospect of playing arcade games at sea 🙂

 

It wasn't that big... here's a video at 15:31 (not mine)

 

Edited by rrrijah
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Steff79

Steff79

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thanks for the daylies, and your review,

great that they showed sometimes late night movies in the Atrium. loved that last year at the Breakaway, at the Getaway two weeks ago they showed never a movie.

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Snagler

Snagler

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13 minutes ago, eiloo said:

Is there an escape room game held on the Joy?

No. They do have laser tag.

 

FYI You only get to play laser tag 10 minutes though. Guest Services told my husband that laser tag was an hour so he signed up himself and our 2 adult sons to play. They were quite surprised to find out play only lasted 10 minutes. Felt it was definitely not worth the cost. 

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Msmojo66

Msmojo66

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On 5/27/2019 at 4:37 PM, Snagler said:

I am on the ship now. We reserved our Footloose and Elements online through NCL.com before we sailed. They changed the dates we had selected but we were given guaranteed tickets on the alternate nights. They sold out right away and other passengers are going to have to wait to see if there are no shows 10 minutes before showtime. So best to make your reservation ahead. 

Can you reserve shows if you don't book via NCL?  Thinking of booking via Priceline for added onboard credits.  Thanks in advance for any advice!!

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jfbbarry

jfbbarry

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You can book your dinner reservations and show reservations by logging into your NCL.com account, search and View Your Reservation or search fill in the fields under "Don't see your Reservation" section.  Select Entertainment to book your shows.  You can also do this for Dining.

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FaithPlus1

FaithPlus1

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I wonder if the Jewel's dailies would be similar in entertainment (no one has posted any from 2018 onwards for Alaska). 

 

Having an 18 and over comedy show 6 out of 7 nights sounds great. I'm not really into hearing music covers or watching people dance, but I love stand up.I would want to see the Beatles tributes though (yeah I contradicted myself). 

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merinski

merinski

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On 6/12/2019 at 7:54 PM, Snagler said:

No. They do have laser tag.

 

FYI You only get to play laser tag 10 minutes though. Guest Services told my husband that laser tag was an hour so he signed up himself and our 2 adult sons to play. They were quite surprised to find out play only lasted 10 minutes. Felt it was definitely not worth the cost. 

Thanks for telling us this, that does sound very short for what you pay.

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rrrijah

rrrijah

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5 minutes ago, llcruisers said:

Hi - can you provide the tour companies that you used to book excursions outside of NCL.  Interested in the tour where you get to hold sled dog puppies for my daughter.

 

this is the one we were finding with good reviews on YouTube:

alaskashoretours.com

There was an offering for a 2 stop helicopter tour (glacier walk + dog sled).  We ended not going up with them because of the cutoffs required to book in advance.

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rick160158

rick160158

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Taxis were readily available at the pier. We had no problem using a cab. We would do it again. There is also a shuttle bus company that charges $40 per person to ride to and from the pier to Mendenhall Visitor Center. They had several buses running. You can get on and off at each end as you please. You may have to pay the additional entrance fee with that as well though.

 

 

The entrance fee is included in the $40. We just came back last week.

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Ptroxx

Ptroxx

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23 minutes ago, Tonilallison said:

Do you know if the Joy offers a tour of the kitchen and a "behind the scenes" tour? Thanks in advance! 

I wouldn’t mind doing this.      I’ll have to check into it.   

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All-ready2cruise Holiday Sharing Rare

All-ready2cruise

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2 minutes ago, jfbbarry said:

Platinum members receive a free behind the scene tour. Other NCL ships offer the tour for a fee. Check the Daily 

Sorry to disabuse you of this "Other NCL ships offer the tour for a fee." Behind the scenes tours are offered on ALL NCL ships for free to Platinum latitudes members.  I've done a few... no fee! 

You do need to book this with the Latitudes Rep but it's very easy to do. 

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