Joy Reviews aren't great

[mugtech]

On 5/21/2019 at 2:33 PM, JamieLogical said:

 The worst day on a cruise is still better than the best day at work. 

The worst day on a cruise is worse than a typical day at home while retired, and more expensive.

[amarvel]

39 minutes ago, CrabbyPatti said:

Don't laugh to hard but Ketchikan has been pretty good to us for coats!  I brought a coat with me and still bought one in Ketchikan!  Best $ 20.00 I spent on a winter "chore coat"  I have actually bought two in different years that we cruised to Alaska.  Now, hubby and I have a running joke going "its time to go get a new coat"  I am currently watching for a last minute cruise deal on the Joy for this summer!  If it gets to my "price point" we may take a last minute cruise and get new coats!

 

Us too! I love getting a coat in Alaska. I just had to get rid of my last one, so I am due at the perfect time.

 

And every cruise is what you make of it. So many complaints are things that could either have been avoided with proper planning (i.e researching the destination or ship) or by making a request or complaint while still on board. If you need more towels, don't sit all mad in your room all day, call housekeeping.  

 

When we booked the POA I was really nervous reading the reviews and that was one of our favorites trips ever. So we booked it again the following year.  Not sure if it will be the same for the Joy, but we are giving her a chance.

 

Read the reviews and be prepared for some of what it says, but also be mindful that your cruise and vacation are what you make of it. Be prepared to be flexible and you will be just fine :)

[careyayn22]

25 minutes ago, amarvel said:

Us too! I love getting a coat in Alaska. I just had to get rid of my last one, so I am due at the perfect time.

 

And every cruise is what you make of it. So many complaints are things that could either have been avoided with proper planning (i.e researching the destination or ship) or by making a request or complaint while still on board. If you need more towels, don't sit all mad in your room all day, call housekeeping.  

 

When we booked the POA I was really nervous reading the reviews and that was one of our favorites trips ever. So we booked it again the following year.  Not sure if it will be the same for the Joy, but we are giving her a chance.

 

Read the reviews and be prepared for some of what it says, but also be mindful that your cruise and vacation are what you make of it. Be prepared to be flexible and you will be just fine 🙂

Hi Angela (I’m pretty sure. Lol) 

::::wave:::: looks like we are missing each other on the Joy by a month. 

Carey

[amarvel]

Hi Angela (I’m pretty sure. Lol) 
::::wave:::: looks like we are missing each other on the Joy by a month. 
Carey

I meant to write you yesterday and say hi (remembered the username from back in the day) and can't believe we will miss each other by a month!

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

[Beardface]

On 5/21/2019 at 2:33 PM, JamieLogical said:

The worst day on a cruise is still better than the best day at work.

 

 

Tell that to the people who were on the most recent sailing of the Costa Concordia

 

😆

[graphicguy]

47 minutes ago, Beardface said:

 

Tell that to the people who were on the most recent sailing of the Costa Concordia

 

😆

That ship hasn’t sailed in 7 years!

[careyayn22]

13 hours ago, amarvel said:

I meant to write you yesterday and say hi (remembered the username from back in the day) and can't believe we will miss each other by a month!

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk
 

That would have been so cool to actually see each other there and the boys would have loved having some automatic new friends at the Splash Academy! 

[quercus alba]

2 hours ago, graphicguy said:

That ship hasn’t sailed in 7 years!

 

OK--"FINAL" sailing...

[Bootman4U]

I am sorry but can we stop with the ageist stuff? Sending food BACK because it isn't cooked correctly or having a Come to Jesus meeting with the person in a restaurant who actually makes a difference because the service was sub-par is not "an age thing" IM very AGED opinion.  It's called growing a set and realizing that you paid for something and making sure it gets delivered.

 

However, there seem to be a lot of people who have what most would consider to be unreasonable demands and that isn't an age thing either.

Edited May 24, 2019 by Bootman4U

[Defhermit]

12 minutes ago, Bootman4U said:

I am sorry but can we stop with the ageist stuff? Sending food BACK because it isn't cooked correctly or having a Come to Jesus meeting with the person in a restaurant who actually makes a difference because the service was sub-par is not "an age thing" IM very AGED opinion.  It's called growing a set and realizing that you paid for something and making sure it gets delivered.

 

However, there seem to be a lot of people who have what most would consider to be unreasonable demands and that isn't an age thing either.

 

When I said "maybe it's an age thing" I was referring to behavior I've noticed that doesn't make sense to me, that I've only seen in older post-retirement-age people. I wasn't making fun of older people, I was speculating that maybe this behavior that seems unusual to me might be more normal for older people for whatever reason. That reason might be that they were exposed to better service decades ago and they are still holding people to that higher standard they became accustomed to, or it might be that people just get crankier and more nit-picky as they age. I don't know what the reason is but in my experience, I've never seen a younger (well, <60) person send something back to the kitchen.

I meant no offense and apologize if I upset you.

[graphicguy]

On 5/23/2019 at 5:12 PM, mugtech said:

The worst day on a cruise is worse than a typical day at home while retired, and more expensive.

If I was retired, and I looked more forward to staying at home than being on a cruise, I would take my pulse to make sure I still had one. 😉

Edited May 25, 2019 by graphicguy

[mugtech]

21 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

If I was retired, and I looked more forward to staying at home than being on a cruise, I would take my pulse to make sure I still had one. 😉

If you had been on the Sun when they replaced the carpets on your deck and all the workers wore masks but none were available for the passengers and you had to go to the ship doctor for medical treatments  (lungs) and it cost you $900 and you couldn't go anywhere or do anything, I do believe you would have preferred to be healthy at home. Would not call that looking forward to staying home rather than being on a cruise.  Point of science, if you can take your pulse then you have one.

[mking8288]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

If I was retired, and I looked more forward to staying at home than being on a cruise, I would take my pulse to make sure I still had one. 😉

 

I am sending you 🤓 the clean-up bill for spilling my DIY Saturday morning coffee on the Dell keyboard, can't believed we got "kicked" off the Dawn a week ago already & here I am, lurking here again to learn what's going on with the Joy & other newer ship.  BIL and also our CAS friends already booked the newish Bliss & trying to convince us to sail with them, 2 different sailings ... 

 

Some of the better/best ex-Joy crew members are gone ... guess what, they stayed with NCL and had their contracts renewed, some of them are now on the Dawn - very happy, outgoing & spoke good English like the rest of the multi-national crew family - even becoming part of the CruiseNext & Guest Services team, learning to do things differently with everyday challenges.  These new'ish & relatively younger crew members are enjoying seeing the rest of the world as they work & sail along, working 12+ hours daily shifts & loved time-off just like everyone, with the chance to go ashore.  What we learn, among other things, is that the problems - are/were, sometimes with management and/or with the passengers.   To us, bottomline, cruise with an open mind & be happy - life is too short, we missed our departed "young" SIL already - she last cruised with us on the Gem just a year ago.  

Edited May 25, 2019 by mking8288

[Sadric]

I am with the OP on this one. My family and I are in the Haven on the May 25th sailing and I've been seeing terrible reviews on this ship particularly concerning embarkation and debarkation. I am also wondering why there are only 2 shows? My wife and I are avid show watchers after dinner. What is happening in the main theater on non show nights??

[graphicguy]

21 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

 

I am sending you 🤓 the clean-up bill for spilling my DIY Saturday morning coffee on the Dell keyboard, can't believed we got "kicked" off the Dawn a week ago already & here I am, lurking here again to learn what's going on with the Joy & other newer ship.  BIL and also our CAS friends already booked the newish Bliss & trying to convince us to sail with them, 2 different sailings ... 

 

Some of the better/best ex-Joy crew members are gone ... guess what, they stayed with NCL and had their contracts renewed, some of them are now on the Dawn - very happy, outgoing & spoke good English like the rest of the multi-national crew family - even becoming part of the CruiseNext & Guest Services team, learning to do things differently with everyday challenges.  These new'ish & relatively younger crew members are enjoying seeing the rest of the world as they work & sail along, working 12+ hours daily shifts & loved time-off just like everyone, with the chance to go ashore.  What we learn, among other things, is that the problems - are/were, sometimes with management and/or with the passengers.   To us, bottomline, cruise with an open mind & be happy - life is too short, we missed our departed "young" SIL already - she last cruised with us on the Gem just a year ago.  

Henry... enjoyed your review.

 

I’m spying some JOY cruises as my next sailing.  Would love to replay your NE cruise for myself, too!

[JamieLogical]

51 minutes ago, Sadric said:

I am with the OP on this one. My family and I are in the Haven on the May 25th sailing and I've been seeing terrible reviews on this ship particularly concerning embarkation and debarkation. I am also wondering why there are only 2 shows? My wife and I are avid show watchers after dinner. What is happening in the main theater on non show nights??

 

There are only two main shows on every NCL ship. Each show is usually performed on two separate evenings, meaning that on a 7-day sailing, there are three "off nights" as you put it. Usually on those nights there are comedians, magicians, or music acts performing in the main theater.

[Von & John]

On 5/22/2019 at 3:38 PM, merinski said:

We are going on the Joy in Oct Van to LA. Wondering if the pools will be warm enough & hot tubs?

 

On most ships - we find the hot tubs definitely warm enough to enjoy in AK  --  great place to enjoy a cocktail & watch the scenery on sea days...

Our Vancouver to Tokyo Transpacific cruise Sept/Oct 2018 - we had gorgeous, sunny days in every port...

The final night of the cruise we did the pool/hot tub circuit, slides included...

In general I believe the hot tub will be warm enough for you - you'll have to jump in the pool & let us know if it's warm enough for you, after the fact 🙂

[x2tpd]

On 5/21/2019 at 1:55 PM, Yo Adrienne said:

We've always had a great experience at Cagney's on the Pearl and the Jewel--and looking forward to cruising on the Jewel again later this year.  What kind of issues have you had at Cagney's and were they recent...?  

I use to love Cagney’s so much we would do it three times a cruise.  This time the steaks were very tough.  The service was slow and robotic.  We will try it again in a September because a tough cut of meat happens.

[careyayn22]

On 5/24/2019 at 3:06 PM, Defhermit said:

 

When I said "maybe it's an age thing" I was referring to behavior I've noticed that doesn't make sense to me, that I've only seen in older post-retirement-age people. I wasn't making fun of older people, I was speculating that maybe this behavior that seems unusual to me might be more normal for older people for whatever reason. That reason might be that they were exposed to better service decades ago and they are still holding people to that higher standard they became accustomed to, or it might be that people just get crankier and more nit-picky as they age. I don't know what the reason is but in my experience, I've never seen a younger (well, <60) person send something back to the kitchen.

I meant no offense and apologize if I upset you.

You’ve never seen someone under sixty send food back? I’m not someone who sends stuff back often, but I certainly have and will if the problem is particularly egregious/inedible. Haven’t done it on a cruise. I do think some people can be annoying about it. My sister in law is one of those and my father law used to be, but that was personality and not age. She was doing that in her 20’s.  I think sometimes sending food back or at least alerting the establishment to a problem  is just common sense and advocating for yourself. 

 

I’m in my mid 40s. 

[elwood_98034]

15 hours ago, careyayn22 said:

You’ve never seen someone under sixty send food back? I’m not someone who sends stuff back often, but I certainly have and will if the problem is particularly egregious/inedible. Haven’t done it on a cruise. I do think some people can be annoying about it. My sister in law is one of those and my father law used to be, but that was personality and not age. She was doing that in her 20’s.  I think sometimes sending food back or at least alerting the establishment to a problem  is just common sense and advocating for yourself. 

 

I’m in my mid 40s. 

If I order steak "Well Done" and it comes out bleeding it is 100% going back. Same as a caesar salad with "No Anchovies". Sorry, I am expected to do my job, or I get fired. I expect everyone else to do theirs too.

[merinski]

On 5/25/2019 at 9:09 AM, Von & John said:

 

On most ships - we find the hot tubs definitely warm enough to enjoy in AK  --  great place to enjoy a cocktail & watch the scenery on sea days...

Our Vancouver to Tokyo Transpacific cruise Sept/Oct 2018 - we had gorgeous, sunny days in every port...

The final night of the cruise we did the pool/hot tub circuit, slides included...

In general I believe the hot tub will be warm enough for you - you'll have to jump in the pool & let us know if it's warm enough for you, after the fact 🙂

I guess we will have to dip our toes and see. lol

We are doing the California coast, so I imagine it will be warmer as we get closer to California, but it is Oct.

[aubreyc1988]

I always love reading about people's "terrible" cruises. I took a 4 day Carnival cruise a few years ago where the bathrooms onboard were not 100% operational...that's right, we had to go to the bathroom without the ability to flush (You can imagine the smells) and had to really make use the opportunity to use restrooms at port. The staff refused to acknowledge the problem on board and no one was given any compensation. While definitely my least favorite cruise, I just set my mind to "I'm going to have a great time" and I did have a fun time! Do I wish that the whole ship didn't smell of sewage? Yes. But I chose to focus on being positive and having a good time on my hard earned vacation. I did leave a pretty low review and haven't sailed with Carnival since, though. When people complain about their meal not coming with the correct fries and how that ruined their cruise, I can't help but roll my eyes. 

[hondar]

We're mid cruise now and I truly see why some love this ship and some don't.

 

The "physical" part of the ship is amazing! Nicely decorated, good amount of open space, and lots of activities.  Our mini suite, though, is smaller than a regular balcony on most other cruises we've been on. But it is still nicely decorated and well laid out with lots of nooks for storage.  All of the staff are very nice and friendly.

 

Of course, the absolute worst public area is the Lido deck. There is hardly ever a seat available, and your meal is cold by the time you get a seat.  Actual food lines were generally not bad.

 

The bad, to me, appears to be in the management of the ship. I usually have less than one trip to Guest Services on a cruise. On this trip I have already been there six times, and had to wait at least 20 to 30 minutes each time. Only a couple of those trips, I was then told they couldn't help me I had to go somewhere else. Even though I had been sent there to begin with.

  I have a CPAP. Normally I just ask my steward for extension cord.  Not here.  I had to GO to guest services...not CALL guest services.  After standing in line for 30 minutes, was informed they didn't have any  and would have to get them from HOUSEKEEPING the next morning. So no CPAP for me the first night.  To add insult to injury they informed me I would have to return the extension cord to guest services the last day or be charged$15.

 

Also, at different times, 3 of our 4 cards had charging privileges revoked.  Considering my CC on file had a $15000 limit that didn't make sense.  After additional trips to the dreaded guest services, we were informed that they had no idea what happened, but "not to worry"☹😠

 

More later.......

 

[hondar]

Final report from 5/25 Joy cruise.

 

Bottom line:  I, personally, would not sail on the Joy again.  That doesn't mean it isn't a beautiful ship with lots to do, and some might love it.  I have been on over 20 cruises with all cruise lines from Carnival to Regent Seven Seas, and this was my least favorite.  However, as I stated in the OP, I had not been on a ship this large.

PROS

Great shows and good reservation system.  We were able to walk in about 20 minutes prior to show with no wait and good seats.

Amazing crew.  Very friendly and helpful.

Lots of activities all of the time.  No getting bored on this ship.

The Observation Room on Deck 15 was amazing.  Plenty of seating, beautiful views.  My favorite place (besides my balcony)

We chose a later disembarkation time and it was very smooth, unlike previous cruisers encountered.

CONS

Food was terrible.  please note that I am not a "foodie" and not usually particular.  Also I didn't go to speciality restaurants.  (After paying $5,000+ for cruise I expected decent food at the complementary locations.)  I did  go to the MDR and the other 24 hour restaurant as well as the buffet.  The first day's lunch was excellent, but after that it went downhill quick.  

 

You absolutely could not get a table at the buffet without waiting and stalking people who were finishing their meal.  I've been on cruises with 2,000 people which had more seating than the buffet area.  I put this completely on the cruise line.  With all of the kids (3rd and 4th person), I would assume there were close to 4000 people on this ship. (3400 for double occupancy)

On the same note, you could never get a seat in the atrium during activities.  Again, a beautiful atrium, but better suited for 2000 people instead of 4000.

 

Apparently NCL has given each room steward 16 mini-suites to clean...by themselves.  This means that the room was often not cleaned until early afternoon.  This also means that the steward was overworked.  Hours were from 7-3 and from 5-9.  Again, on previous cruises, the stewards worked in teams, all rooms were cleaned before noon and stewards were off duty until 5.  Human rights issues?????  Left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

As I stated previously, Guest Services was a disaster.  If you don't  have to deal with them, then you probably will have a better cruise.

 

Was the trip horrible?  Absolutely not.  However, from talking to other passengers, I definitely got the impression that the guests in the Haven had a totally different experience (which they paid dearly for).  Excellent food, service, etc.  Didn't have to mix with the masses on a routine basis.

 

[GA Dave]

19 minutes ago, hondar said:

Final report from 5/25 Joy cruise.

 

Bottom line:  I, personally, would not sail on the Joy again.  That doesn't mean it isn't a beautiful ship with lots to do, and some might love it.  I have been on over 20 cruises with all cruise lines from Carnival to Regent Seven Seas, and this was my least favorite.  However, as I stated in the OP, I had not been on a ship this large.

PROS

Great shows and good reservation system.  We were able to walk in about 20 minutes prior to show with no wait and good seats.

Amazing crew.  Very friendly and helpful.

Lots of activities all of the time.  No getting bored on this ship.

The Observation Room on Deck 15 was amazing.  Plenty of seating, beautiful views.  My favorite place (besides my balcony)

We chose a later disembarkation time and it was very smooth, unlike previous cruisers encountered.

CONS

Food was terrible.  please note that I am not a "foodie" and not usually particular.  Also I didn't go to speciality restaurants.  (After paying $5,000+ for cruise I expected decent food at the complementary locations.)  I did  go to the MDR and the other 24 hour restaurant as well as the buffet.  The first day's lunch was excellent, but after that it went downhill quick.  

 

You absolutely could not get a table at the buffet without waiting and stalking people who were finishing their meal.  I've been on cruises with 2,000 people which had more seating than the buffet area.  I put this completely on the cruise line.  With all of the kids (3rd and 4th person), I would assume there were close to 4000 people on this ship. (3400 for double occupancy)

On the same note, you could never get a seat in the atrium during activities.  Again, a beautiful atrium, but better suited for 2000 people instead of 4000.

 

Apparently NCL has given each room steward 16 mini-suites to clean...by themselves.  This means that the room was often not cleaned until early afternoon.  This also means that the steward was overworked.  Hours were from 7-3 and from 5-9.  Again, on previous cruises, the stewards worked in teams, all rooms were cleaned before noon and stewards were off duty until 5.  Human rights issues?????  Left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

As I stated previously, Guest Services was a disaster.  If you don't  have to deal with them, then you probably will have a better cruise.

 

Was the trip horrible?  Absolutely not.  However, from talking to other passengers, I definitely got the impression that the guests in the Haven had a totally different experience (which they paid dearly for).  Excellent food, service, etc.  Didn't have to mix with the masses on a routine basis.

 

Now you can understand why my DW and I have decided to do just one Haven cruise every other year vs balcony/mini-suite cruises 2-3 times per year.  The Haven experience is completely different than the “normal” cruise experience.  The food, service, attention to detail, etc is just outstanding in the Haven.

We walked to the regular buffet once on our Getaway cruise, took one look at the insanity, and left.  Just not for us.