Anyone been on NCL Joy Lately?

[drumming cruisers]

Have read prior reviews on Joy, seems like a lot of people weren't too impressed.

We are booked for Feb in Haven to Mexican Riviera, am wondering if anyone has been on the ship recently and thoughts about it. 

 

TIA

[ChiefMateJRK]

We were on Joy NE in October.  Great ship.  Fantastic observation lounge.  Nice roomy forward facing buffet.  The Elements show was really good, as was Ryan in the District Brewhouse (hopefully he's still there for your cruise).  Crew was excellent as always.  What's not to like?

 

Footloose was well done, but shows like that tend to bore me.  I was glad when it finally ended.

[hallux]

I was on the Joy in March, the experience was on par with my previous experiences on the Bliss (pre-pandemic), which were excellent!  I'm curious what others were not impressed with...

[vacation44]

We sailed on the Joy this past February and again in September.  Both were wonderful and we are booked again on her in June 2024.    

[brad0576]

On the Joy currently - everything is great…. Was on the Bliss last year, prefer the Bliss- but the Joy is fine

[scooter6139]

Will be on Joy in 2 weeks in the Haven, I'm sure I'll comment about it somewhere.  😆

[psac]

On 12/4/2022 at 12:45 PM, drumming cruisers said:

Have read prior reviews on Joy, seems like a lot of people weren't too impressed.

We are booked for Feb in Haven to Mexican Riviera, am wondering if anyone has been on the ship recently and thoughts about it. 

 

TIA

We were in the Haven on the Joy a few weeks ago. Absolutely loved it. We had both the Prima and Joy Haven booked for next spring because we didn’t know which one we wanted to do, and after our Joy trip, we kept the Joy and cancelled the Prima (Prima looks great for a regular cabin, but not sure for Haven, and we like the indoor sundecks on the Joy if the weather is bad.)

 

The Haven restaurant on the Joy was fantastic, food and service were superb. After doing two specialty restaurants, we cancelled our extra two platinum dinners because the Haven restaurant was better than the specialties. 
 

The bar staff and indoor/outdoor deck servers were fantastic.  They knew us after the first day, said hello all the time, were always there for getting drinks or pool food in the afternoon if we didn’t want to go into the restaurant for lunch. 
 

We don’t use the concierge too much, but Patrick and his staff were all fine. 
 

Our butler was good, not the best we’ve ever had, but still good. 
 

Overall a very positive trip, definitely recommend the Joy, especially for the Haven!

[Pens fan]

We were on the Joy in the Haven in Oct. We loved it!! The Haven restaurant was fantastic - better food than the specialty restaurants by far. The bar staff were terrific. Just tell them what spirit you like and what type of drink you like and they will go to town making up all kinds of concoctions. 
 

The Haven exclusive observation lounge is beautiful and compared to the main one so easy to find a quiet spot. The concierge staff was so friendly and helpful. We had a lot of independent tours and getting whisked down the crew elevator to get off (and back on!!) the ship was great.
 

The ship as a whole was beautiful and we had a great time. Food Republic is not to be missed and never full. We enjoyed Footloose quite a bit. Elements was .. different 😂 but enjoyable. As someone else mentioned the performer Ryan at DBH was fantastic. I’d sail the Joy again, for sure. 
 

Have fun!!

Edited December 5, 2022 by Pens fan

[14pp]

14 hours ago, brad0576 said:

On the Joy currently - everything is great…. Was on the Bliss last year, prefer the Bliss- but the Joy is fine

 

Why do you prefer the Bliss over the Joy? I got off the Bliss on Friday and will be on the joy in Feb.

[hallux]

6 hours ago, 14pp said:

 

Why do you prefer the Bliss over the Joy? I got off the Bliss on Friday and will be on the joy in Feb.

I've sailed both, and the only reason I'd prefer the Bliss is that the Bliss has the studio cabins (since I sail solo).  The Joy still has a lot of Asian inspiration in the decor, since it was built for the Asian market initially, but they're nearly identical as far as venues and activities.

 

I feel like the Cavern Club on the Joy has a better layout.  The only other factor in favor of the Bliss is the theater shows - the Bliss has TWO Broadway productions in Jersey Boys and SIX.  SIX is EXCELLENT.

[Sailing12Away]

Was on the Joy in September, returning again in February. Haven was lovely.

[Mike C]

19 hours ago, 14pp said:

 

Why do you prefer the Bliss over the Joy? I got off the Bliss on Friday and will be on the joy in Feb.

I’ve sailed on both and prefer the Bliss Observation Lounge over the Joy due to the large circular bar on the Bliss

[brad0576]

21 hours ago, 14pp said:

 

Why do you prefer the Bliss over the Joy? I got off the Bliss on Friday and will be on the joy in Feb.

The bar layout in the observation lounge is nicer on the Bliss - the outdoor seating groups on the waterfront are better also….. the location of Maltings on the Joy seems out of place 

[dexddd]

On 12/5/2022 at 3:29 PM, psac said:

We were in the Haven on the Joy a few weeks ago. Absolutely loved it. We had both the Prima and Joy Haven booked for next spring because we didn’t know which one we wanted to do, and after our Joy trip, we kept the Joy and cancelled the Prima (Prima looks great for a regular cabin, but not sure for Haven, and we like the indoor sundecks on the Joy if the weather is bad.)

 

The Haven restaurant on the Joy was fantastic, food and service were superb. After doing two specialty restaurants, we cancelled our extra two platinum dinners because the Haven restaurant was better than the specialties. 
 

The bar staff and indoor/outdoor deck servers were fantastic.  They knew us after the first day, said hello all the time, were always there for getting drinks or pool food in the afternoon if we didn’t want to go into the restaurant for lunch. 
 

We don’t use the concierge too much, but Patrick and his staff were all fine. 
 

Our butler was good, not the best we’ve ever had, but still good. 
 

Overall a very positive trip, definitely recommend the Joy, especially for the Haven!

Have not sailed Joy but think you made the right move.  Prima Haven outdoor area useless if weather not good.  Plus little shade.

 

Haven restaurant was great as was bar staff.

[scooter6139]

16 hours ago, Mike C said:

I’ve sailed on both and prefer the Bliss Observation Lounge over the Joy due to the large circular bar on the Bliss

Must be the same as Encore.  Since we never sit "at" the bar the shape or location doesn't mean much to us.  However, the extra Startbucks in the Observation Lounge on the Joy is a nice addition.

[ChiefMateJRK]

19 minutes ago, scooter6139 said:

Must be the same as Encore.  Since we never sit "at" the bar the shape or location doesn't mean much to us.  However, the extra Startbucks in the Observation Lounge on the Joy is a nice addition.

I don't sit at the bar either, so slightly prefer the Joy's "walk up" configuration.  Of course, it doesn't really make any difference.

[rabidstoat]

I am currently on the Joy in a balcony room. I think the ship is great! I am a big fan of the Observation Lounge. The pools are weird in that they are like postage stamps and the decks are mostly for loungers. I never really go in the pools so that's fine for me but if you like lounging in pools be aware! I also appreciate that the casino has a smoking section that is walled off in a glass room so that the smoke doesn't diffuse over the whole casino.

 

That said, the current cruise is a bit rocky. The computers were down when we boarded Sunday, leading to a 3-hour wait (and 2 of it standing out in the line on our feet). The Footloose shows were postponed, I'm assuming because of COVID or other sickness. There was engine trouble or something similar, causing us to be delayed into our first port of Cartagena, and the land-based tours were pretty miserable being so condensed on top of super-bad traffic.

 

I assume we are just unlucky and that these problems are not typical of most cruises, though.

[allready]

Was on the Joy for the last trip to Bermuda this season. It was Okay.  The ship was clean., other travelers were great and friendly. Our room steward was lovely. 

What stunk:
entertainment was extremely lacking!  The ticketing system sucks.  We saw the same comedian 3x in 5 days because basically not much else on board to watch.  Footloose was cancelled with no reason given.  The new Elements show was Ok. Not our thing.  

Guest services was kind of ridiculous, couldn't resolve an issue.  The cruise director was in hiding :).  Never saw her do anything. Casino slots were frustrating more than normal. 

Food was boring!  Must do speciality dining.

 

Spa was nice but overpriced!

The good:
Cagneys was amazing.  
The pool decks  were really nice, loved Spice H2O to chill and beautiful aft view.  Watching USA I n the World Cup on the pool deck was just exciting -- alot of energy. 

go-karts - OK, just dont go at night if chilly, as mask will fog up and can't see anything. 7D movie didnt work right, but clever. Alot of VR activities for extra $

 

Not sure we would travel it again. We have had better experiences on other ships & cruise lines. 

 

 

[Traveller20074]

1 hour ago, allready said:

Was on the Joy for the last trip to Bermuda this season. It was Okay.  The ship was clean., other travelers were great and friendly. Our room steward was lovely. 

What stunk:
entertainment was extremely lacking!  The ticketing system sucks.  We saw the same comedian 3x in 5 days because basically not much else on board to watch.  Footloose was cancelled with no reason given.  The new Elements show was Ok. Not our thing.  

Guest services was kind of ridiculous, couldn't resolve an issue.  The cruise director was in hiding :).  Never saw her do anything. Casino slots were frustrating more than normal. 

Food was boring!  Must do speciality dining.

 

Spa was nice but overpriced!

The good:
Cagneys was amazing.  
The pool decks  were really nice, loved Spice H2O to chill and beautiful aft view.  Watching USA I n the World Cup on the pool deck was just exciting -- alot of energy. 

go-karts - OK, just dont go at night if chilly, as mask will fog up and can't see anything. 7D movie didnt work right, but clever. Alot of VR activities for extra $

 

Not sure we would travel it again. We have had better experiences on other ships & cruise lines. 

 

 

 

 

 

so, it HAS the spa?  is there a spa pass?

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, allready said:

The cruise director was in hiding :).  Never saw her do anything.

Count your blessings.  She came out at the end of shows on our last sailing and expected us to sit and listen to her even though the show was over and we were ready to move out.

2 hours ago, allready said:

Casino slots were frustrating more than normal. 

Don't blame a cruise ship for math.  Math always wins (i.e the house always wins).

[allready]

6 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Don't blame a cruise ship for math.  Math always wins (i.e the house always wins).

I should have been clearer- the variety of slot machines were bad, and table min just too high. So much they were mostly empty tables

[allready]

7 hours ago, Traveller20074 said:

 

 

 

so, it HAS the spa?  is there a spa pass?

 

Yes it has Mandara Spa, we used the services. I heard some one soeaking about daily pass but I don’t think it was worth it

[hallux]

10 hours ago, allready said:

The cruise director was in hiding :).

Who was that Cruise Director?  I had the opposite experience on my 3 NCL cruises so far.

9 hours ago, Traveller20074 said:

so, it HAS the spa?  is there a spa pass?

There's a spa, no thermal suite though...

[CDR Benson]

The Good Mrs. Benson and I sailed on Joy, in a Haven suite, this past September.  I echo the positive comments about this ship.  In fact, after we got back. I had to virtually arm-wrestle with the GMB to belay her suggestion that we cancel our cruise with Regent Seven Seas next year and replace it with another cruise in Joy's Haven.

 

We compromised.  We're still doing the Regent cruise in November, 2023, but also doing another cruise on Joy, in the same suite we had before (# 14778), in February, 2024.

 

 

[AndyCapn]

12 hours ago, allready said:

Guest services was kind of ridiculous, couldn't resolve an issue.  The cruise director was in hiding :).  Never saw her do anything. Casino slots were frustrating more than normal. 

We were on this same cruise and my wife and I noted this was our first cruise where we never saw the Cruise Director.

 

And we also had trouble with Guest Services that we ended up working around rather than being properly resolved.