5-Day Mexico Cruise Norwegian Joy 1/12-1/17

[travelphreak]

We just returned from the 5-day Mexico Cruise to Cabo and Ensenada on the Norwegian Joy.  We were in a mid-ship mini-suite (11826).  While things were fresh in my mind I wanted to write down some comments.  I have both positive and negative comments that I hope will help others.  We enjoyed the cruise and would not hesitate to do it again.

 

The Joy is a beautiful poorly-designed ship.  It was sparkling clean and the crew were constantly cleaning to keep it that way.

 

1. Who was the wizard who designed the ship?  Sixteen elevators total?  For 3800 passengers?  There are eight elevators in front and eight in the rear - none in the middle.  Many times we would walk to the rear of the ship to use an elevator because the front elevators were full.

2. Unlike any other ship we've been on - the Atrium was only open to Decks 6, 7 and 8 - and no elevators between even those decks (there were stairs).

3. The Observation Lounge on Deck 15 Forward was the best design of any we've seen.  It took a couple of days for passengers to find that it was the best part of the ship.  It had floor-to-ceiling windows, a mini-buffet and full bar.  The bartenders were friendly and knowledgeable.  On sea days we spent a lot of time there.

4. Our mini-suite was roomy and had lots of storage.  The shower was by far the roomiest we have ever had on any ship.  There are body wash and shampoo dispensers in the shower - if you prefer a bar of soap bring your own.

5. We were on the ship during the NFL Divisional Playoffs and the NCAA National Football Championship.  Norwegian ships have ESPN International and for these games they used the feed from CBS and FOX.  As soon as they were over it was back to the never-ending soccer game!

6. I have read many complaints on CC about food quality.  The complimentary restaurants have definitely cheapened their offerings.  We ate in all three restaurants (all had the same menu each day).  It was like a classy Denny's!

7. We also ate at Teppanyaki and at Cagney's.  The service was perfect in both.  I was not impressed with the quality of the beef (we ordered filet mignon).  I realize that each person has a different viewpoint because they were eating a different steak than I was.  The preparation was perfect - it was just a lousy piece of beef.  In Teppanyaki the show was great - the seafood was great - the beef not so much.

8. There have been lots of complaints here on CC about the available wines-by-the-glass for those with the Beverage Package.  We felt that there were plenty of choices and all that we tried were decent.  We wish they had red zinfandel by the glass though!

9. We really enjoyed not being hounded by photographers getting on and off the ship.  They were there for those who wanted a picture but it was nice not having to constantly say "no thanks".

10. If you plan to buy alcohol in the duty-free shop I suggest you know what you want and the going price back home.  Bottles of booze on the ship are one liter (not 750ml like your corner store).  Even doing the math to factor that in - some of the brands are definitely a bargain and some are cheaper at my local SaveMart.

11. Our last destination was Ensenada.  Many passengers took the Wine Country shore excursion and one of the wineries gives away a bottle of wine per person.  Norwegian has rules to confiscate wine and give it back the last night of the cruise.  I don't have a problem with that policy but someone needs a little common sense.  People were returning to the ship at 4:00 PM so they could confiscate the wine and then return it to your cabin at 7:30 PM.  Huh?  That is a lot of work for people that was not necessary.

 

A few other comments:

 

1. For those who have cruised out of the Port of Los Angeles (San Pedro) before - embarkation is a little different.  Security is first and then check-in - not the other way around like it used to be.  I know some have complained about standing in line for hours to check in.  I guess we were lucky - from parking the car to walking onto the ship was just over half an hour.

2. Every so often the room key card is defective - luck of the draw.  Kudos to Norwegian - when our cards did not work and we couldn't get on the ship there was a person there to make a new card instead of having to go back to the check-in desk.

3. Port parking is $19/day.  Be aware that the toll booths are unmanned and you need to use a credit card.  There were four lines and if there was one line that had a person to take cash then I sure missed the sign.

 

We definitely enjoyed the cruise.  We prefer smaller ships but the Joy did not seem crowded - except for debarkation.  CBP had a delay of an hour and a half to get the ship cleared.  There were a few rumors as to the cause but no one really knew.  The entrance/exit was through the back of the Theater (Deck 7) and there were basically 3800 passengers in a line that stretched the length of the ship.  We were fortunate - we were walk-off and were near the front of the line.

 

[BirdTravels]

Security before checkin is common for many cruise lines. It is the terminal configuration, not NCL, and used by many cruise lines and you can’t just swap. And you probably want to screen Americans for weapons before they get into the building. 
 

the elevator configuration is common to all NCL big ships. And all of the big Royal ships we have cruised on recently. Elevators forward and aft. Very common. 

 

wrt soccer, you are not in the United States. There are far more countries represented on the ship than the US (who believe that the whole world cares about the NFL). And the US market is not who the cruise line is catering to. 

[coastcat]

I was on this cruise as well, also in a mini-suite. Having sailed on Bliss previously, I already knew to (1) head for the less-crowded aft elevators and (2) hang out in the Observation Lounge as much as possible. In fact, I selected a cabin on 15 mainly to have quick access to the OL for scenery, chilled water, morning pastries, and adult beverages. They also had scones in the afternoon, and I may or may not have eaten a few pounds of whipped cream over the course of 5 days.

 

Based on the cheeriness levels on my bus after leaving the second winery, few of those free bottles of chardonnay made it back to port unopened.

 

My pre-booked reservations were La Cucina and Cagney's but I was able to swap them out for Ocean Blue and Le Bistro after boarding. That was a good move.

 

What I never figured out is why there were so many school-aged children on board. Didn't classes already start in most US schools?

 

Not sure I'd do that itinerary again, but Joy is a beautiful ship and I wouldn't mind a return visit.

 

 

 

[tvetan]

5 hours ago, travelphreak said:

We just returned from the 5-day Mexico Cruise to Cabo and Ensenada on the Norwegian Joy.  We were in a mid-ship mini-suite (11826).  While things were fresh in my mind I wanted to write down some comments.  I have both positive and negative comments that I hope will help others.  We enjoyed the cruise and would not hesitate to do it again.

 

The Joy is a beautiful poorly-designed ship.  It was sparkling clean and the crew were constantly cleaning to keep it that way.

 

1. Who was the wizard who designed the ship?  Sixteen elevators total?  For 3800 passengers?  There are eight elevators in front and eight in the rear - none in the middle.  Many times we would walk to the rear of the ship to use an elevator because the front elevators were full.

2. Unlike any other ship we've been on - the Atrium was only open to Decks 6, 7 and 8 - and no elevators between even those decks (there were stairs).

3. The Observation Lounge on Deck 15 Forward was the best design of any we've seen.  It took a couple of days for passengers to find that it was the best part of the ship.  It had floor-to-ceiling windows, a mini-buffet and full bar.  The bartenders were friendly and knowledgeable.  On sea days we spent a lot of time there.

4. Our mini-suite was roomy and had lots of storage.  The shower was by far the roomiest we have ever had on any ship.  There are body wash and shampoo dispensers in the shower - if you prefer a bar of soap bring your own.

5. We were on the ship during the NFL Divisional Playoffs and the NCAA National Football Championship.  Norwegian ships have ESPN International and for these games they used the feed from CBS and FOX.  As soon as they were over it was back to the never-ending soccer game!

6. I have read many complaints on CC about food quality.  The complimentary restaurants have definitely cheapened their offerings.  We ate in all three restaurants (all had the same menu each day).  It was like a classy Denny's!

7. We also ate at Teppanyaki and at Cagney's.  The service was perfect in both.  I was not impressed with the quality of the beef (we ordered filet mignon).  I realize that each person has a different viewpoint because they were eating a different steak than I was.  The preparation was perfect - it was just a lousy piece of beef.  In Teppanyaki the show was great - the seafood was great - the beef not so much.

8. There have been lots of complaints here on CC about the available wines-by-the-glass for those with the Beverage Package.  We felt that there were plenty of choices and all that we tried were decent.  We wish they had red zinfandel by the glass though!

9. We really enjoyed not being hounded by photographers getting on and off the ship.  They were there for those who wanted a picture but it was nice not having to constantly say "no thanks".

10. If you plan to buy alcohol in the duty-free shop I suggest you know what you want and the going price back home.  Bottles of booze on the ship are one liter (not 750ml like your corner store).  Even doing the math to factor that in - some of the brands are definitely a bargain and some are cheaper at my local SaveMart.

11. Our last destination was Ensenada.  Many passengers took the Wine Country shore excursion and one of the wineries gives away a bottle of wine per person.  Norwegian has rules to confiscate wine and give it back the last night of the cruise.  I don't have a problem with that policy but someone needs a little common sense.  People were returning to the ship at 4:00 PM so they could confiscate the wine and then return it to your cabin at 7:30 PM.  Huh?  That is a lot of work for people that was not necessary.

 

A few other comments:

 

1. For those who have cruised out of the Port of Los Angeles (San Pedro) before - embarkation is a little different.  Security is first and then check-in - not the other way around like it used to be.  I know some have complained about standing in line for hours to check in.  I guess we were lucky - from parking the car to walking onto the ship was just over half an hour.

2. Every so often the room key card is defective - luck of the draw.  Kudos to Norwegian - when our cards did not work and we couldn't get on the ship there was a person there to make a new card instead of having to go back to the check-in desk.

3. Port parking is $19/day.  Be aware that the toll booths are unmanned and you need to use a credit card.  There were four lines and if there was one line that had a person to take cash then I sure missed the sign.

 

We definitely enjoyed the cruise.  We prefer smaller ships but the Joy did not seem crowded - except for debarkation.  CBP had a delay of an hour and a half to get the ship cleared.  There were a few rumors as to the cause but no one really knew.  The entrance/exit was through the back of the Theater (Deck 7) and there were basically 3800 passengers in a line that stretched the length of the ship.  We were fortunate - we were walk-off and were near the front of the line.

 

 

[tvetan]

Could you please tell me if the smoking section of the casino is in a glass off room like on the Bliss.  If you could answer me here or pm me on facebook robyn logsdon

[coastcat]

2 hours ago, tvetan said:

Could you please tell me if the smoking section of the casino is in a glass off room like on the Bliss.  If you could answer me here or pm me on facebook robyn logsdon

 

Yes, the smoking area of the Joy's Casino is in a glassed-off area like on Bliss.

Edited January 20, 2020 by coastcat

[travelphreak]

Coastcat already answered your question but I can also confirm that the smoking area is glassed off.  This is the first on-ship casino that was a pleasure to walk through without holding my breath!  I can't vouch for how the machines paid off!

[travelphreak]

Coastcat - it sounds like you were with us on Rigo's bus from the Wine Country tour!  My wife and I enjoyed the first of our two bottles of L.A. Cetto chardonnay with dinner tonight.

[Love my butler]

33 minutes ago, travelphreak said:

 I can't vouch for how the machines paid off!

 

I can, they didn't.  NCL was once again the big winner in the casino.  Same as always.

[coastcat]

14 hours ago, travelphreak said:

Coastcat - it sounds like you were with us on Rigo's bus from the Wine Country tour!  My wife and I enjoyed the first of our two bottles of L.A. Cetto chardonnay with dinner tonight.

I was on Abner’s bus - the party was going on everywhere! I gave away my Chardonnay but am planning to look for L.A. Cetto’s sparkling wine locally (allegedly Costco may have it) as that was my favorite of everything we sampled. Maybe I’ll get a bottle or 3 to bring on my upcoming Alaska cruise.