NCL Joy 6-2-24 Quick Thoughts and Comments

[vacation44]

We, an extended family of 11, just returned yesterday from our June 2, 2024 Joy sailing.   I do have the dailies.  If anyone is interested, just let me know and I will post them.

 

Here are some quick comments and thoughts:

 

1.   We had the absolute pleasure of meeting both @UKstages and @JGMT in the Vibe.    Both are wonderful individuals and we enjoyed spending time talking with them during the week.     Contrary to some members of this board, @UKstages was successful (again) in obtaining Vibe passes for this week's cruise and the past week's cruise upon boarding.   He is a very friendly and knowledgeable cruiser, and we hope to run into him again in the future.  We had a wonderful time in the Vibe and the Vibe staff is truly outstanding.    

 

2.  We dined at Ocean Blue for the first time, and it was our favorite dinner for the week.   Both food and service were outstanding, and we were seated in a private room.   We will definitely be going to Ocean Blue in the future.   

 

3.  As posted in another thread, menus have changed.   My favorite pizza, the one with the prosciutto, is no longer available at La Cucina.  They also do not let you order a pizza as an appetizer as it is now considered an entree.       

 

4.    It was nice to have the option of having lunch at American Diner.    While the food is very similar to the Local/O'Sheehans, it was nice to stay outside instead of going inside.   It was also nice to actually see this location finally being utilized instead of seeing an empty restaurant.     We (me) still wish they kept the mozzarella sticks on the menu but some of our party was very happy to pay the $7 for the shakes (not me).

 

Will finish later--have to go back to work..........

[cruiseny4life]

If only there were an overjoyed emoji! I'm so incredibly happy to see this first part of your review. Need me to call work and let them know you have a very important journalistic deliverable due so you can return to us? 

 

Anyway, (im)patiently waiting to hear all about your trip!!

[Pablo Diablo]

Thanks for sharing your insights on the Joy. I'll be onboard in just a couple of weeks and would love to get a glimpse of the dailies to help in my planning if you wouldn't mind posting them. Thanks!

[weisla]

50 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

It was nice to have the option of having lunch at American Diner.    While the food is very similar to the Local/O'Sheehans, it was nice to stay outside instead of going inside.   It was also nice to actually see this location finally being utilized instead of seeing an empty restaurant.   

I completely agree! When we sailed the Joy last July American Diner was a ghost town. Stopped by for lunch today and it was packed with a line and 30 min wait. The Garden Cafe was less crowded too with more folks eating upstairs. 

[CruisnDeb]

I'm excited to read your thoughts and comments on this ship.  We will be onboard in 292 days for our Panama Canal cruise.

[www3traveler]

Do you by any chance have a list of the Senior Officers?  Thank you

[Fredrik]

1 hour ago, vacation44 said:

We, an extended family of 11, just returned yesterday from our June 2, 2024 Joy sailing.   I do have the dailies.  If anyone is interested, just let me know and I will post them.

Yes please! Always fun to look at, and we’re on the July 14th sailing so it’s closing in. Thanks for the update on JOY.

[andychris]

Glad to hear you had a great trip. 
can you please tell me the names of the vibe staff?  
thanks!

[vacation44]

1 hour ago, andychris said:

Glad to hear you had a great trip. 
can you please tell me the names of the vibe staff?  
thanks!

 

Joanna and Angel were the Bartenders and Williams (Will) and Jessie were the Vibe Butlers (what they call themselves) along with a third whose name I cannot recall.

[vacation44]

3 hours ago, Pablo Diablo said:

Thanks for sharing your insights on the Joy. I'll be onboard in just a couple of weeks and would love to get a glimpse of the dailies to help in my planning if you wouldn't mind posting them. Thanks!

 

2 hours ago, Fredrik said:

Yes please! Always fun to look at, and we’re on the July 14th sailing so it’s closing in. Thanks for the update on JOY.

Will happily post them tomorrow morning!

 

Wish you both a great time. 

[vacation44]

2 hours ago, www3traveler said:

Do you by any chance have a list of the Senior Officers?  Thank you

No, I did not think to make note of them.  

[vacation44]

4 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

If only there were an overjoyed emoji! I'm so incredibly happy to see this first part of your review. Need me to call work and let them know you have a very important journalistic deliverable due so you can return to us? 

 

Anyway, (im)patiently waiting to hear all about your trip!!

Thank you!  Too bad work always gets in the way.  But I was thinking of you when I was reading the American Diner menu and missing the mozzerella sticks!

[andychris]

Thank you!

[Jenglish711]

Oh I'm so happy to see this and so happy you will be sharing the dailies! Our extended family of 15 boards on the 30th! Looking forward to your review!

[vacation44]

Here are the dailies.......plus the excursions because I hate when you have one booked, NCL automatically takes it off of your available excursion listing.   

NCL Joy Day 1.pdf NCL Joy Day 2.pdf NCL Joy Day 3.pdf NCL Joy Day 4.pdf NCL Joy Day 5.pdf NCL Joy Day 6.pdf NCL Joy Day 7.pdf NCL Joy Excursions.pdf

[vacation44]

16 hours ago, www3traveler said:

Do you by any chance have a list of the Senior Officers?  Thank you

 

While not a full list of Officers, the Senior Hotel Officers are listed on the Day 2 daily.

[JGmf]

I was with @vacation44 and @UKstages in the Vibe and can happily corroborate how wonderful it was to meet them both and also to enjoy the outstanding staff in the Vibe. 

 

I was concerned that the new second deck -- with all the additional loungers -- would mean extra-crowded hot tubs and bars, but that wasn't the case. 

 

I do wish they would pipe-in music to the place, if only the areas around the bar, but I'll keep asking for that in post-cruise surveys.

 

[vacation44]

5.   To our surprise, we each received $20 in OBC.  I believe it was a refund of port charges from the deleted Virginia stop.    

 

6.  Q.  When we got there, I immediately noticed the menu change.   As mentioned above, no more loaded fries.    It took well over an hour for our appetizers to be served only after we asked what was the hold up.   Please keep in mind that there were no more than ten tables, at best, occupied.    While everyone enjoyed their food and the live music, we were in this restaurant for over 3 1/2 hours which included a good half an hour waiting for them to deliver our bills (which were all $0's).    In all of our cruises, we never had such a long, dragged out meal.    No one could leave because they had all of our cards, and it became very frustrating.     The band, the Marck Brothers, were very good.   We went back just to see them play on the last night.      For future cruisers on the Joy, I would definitely stop in to see them play.  While in the future, we might stop in for the music, I think my husband and I are done with eating at Q.

 

7.   Having been on the Joy twice previously, it was a disappointment to see for the first time the change to the observation lounge.    While it did not affect us, I can see it definitely being an issue with cold weather cruises.   I really hope they do not make this terrible change to the Encore and/or Bliss.    We ran up for early morning coffee and late-night water to bring back to our cabins almost daily.      And yes, the bar is still in the observation lounge.  

 

8.  Other than our service at the Q, the service in all of the other restaurants were very efficient.   We ate at Taste, Savior, Q (not efficient), Ocean Blue, Cagneys, Food Republic and La Cucina.     For breakfast we had either room service, the Local or Taste.   And for lunch we mostly ate at the Local.   

 

9.   As I mentioned in my quick recap from our Encore cruise this past February, I still believe early morning breakfast options and late-night snacks need to be re-worked by NCL.   

 

10.   The cookies..........there were plenty in the Vibe and we did get them once in our club balcony suites, but other than that, they were nowhere else to be found.   Along with the hash browns.     And the mozzarella sticks.    

 

11.   The bar service at night was very good (according to the young adults) and there was never really a wait for a drink or to even find a good place to hang out.    

 

12.  We did notice more of a food cut back since our last sailing regarding portions.    My favorite Reuben sandwich only came with one slice of meat.    Once slice.     The second time I ordered it, I asked for double the meat please.    I then was served two sandwiches.    Then, I gave up and went to my next favorite for the rest of the cruise, the Fettuccine Carbonara.   

 

13.  Entertainment.......we did miss having another option in the theater as we did not go to the game shows.   The comedian they had one night in the theater was very good and all 11 of us enjoyed his humor.    I wish they would go back to a reservation system for the comedy shows in the Social.     We did not see the Beatles in the Cavern Club as we just did not want to deal with the crowded atmosphere but did see them in the theater.

  

14.   Between my cabin and our two young adult children's cabins, we had $620 in OBC.   Since my credit card was down on all three cabins, they combined all three on board accounts.    This actually was very helpful in spending it the last day.    I never thought I would encourage anyone to order the lobster or filet upgrade, but I did on many days.    

 

15.  Cabin Stewart.  We had a very good one (Gerry) and the once a day did not bother us at all as he always seemed to lurking around for when we were leaving our cabins.     And he never tried to take back our NCL towels we took from the Vibe each day which has happened in the past.  

 

In summary, we all did have an excellent and relaxing vacation, but I do think a portion of that was due to being all together.   My family and my sister's family travel very well together and our children love spending time together.      Next up for my husband and I is the Viva in February.    We were going to cancel it a few months back for our back up option but decided to go forward with it.    The price for our balcony cabin has gone up a whopping $3,812 since we booked it.    

 

My husband and I still prefer right now our club balcony suites, with Vibe passes and our four specialty dinners to the very high price of the Haven cabins which we have done a few times.    It is all about how you choose to spend your money.

[vacation44]

31 minutes ago, JGmf said:

I was with @vacation44 and @UKstages in the Vibe and can happily corroborate how wonderful it was to meet them both and also to enjoy the outstanding staff in the Vibe. 

 

I was concerned that the new second deck -- with all the additional loungers -- would mean extra-crowded hot tubs and bars, but that wasn't the case. 

 

I do wish they would pipe-in music to the place, if only the areas around the bar, but I'll keep asking for that in post-cruise surveys.

 

Thank you!   I was concerned too and do think that the majority of people that utilized the top deck, stayed there most of the time.    

[sid_9169]

One slice of meat in the Reuben? That's absurd...

[cruiseny4life]

Since you didn't mention it, I'm guessing not, but were you able to secure cabanas in Vibe? I'm very happy you had Vibe passes, but am curious about this. If not, did you talk with those who secured them to find out how they did?

[vacation44]

7 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

One slice of meat in the Reuben? That's absurd...

I know!     For months leading up to the trip, I kept telling my daughter's significant other how great the sandwich was.   Of course, he ordered it at our first day lunch and it was so disappointing.    They were also very light on the chicken salad the few times my daughter ordered it.   She then started to ask for an extra scope in a bowl.   Like my experience with the Reuben, they then brought her two sandwiches instead.   

[vacation44]

1 minute ago, cruiseny4life said:

Since you didn't mention it, I'm guessing not, but were you able to secure cabanas in Vibe? I'm very happy you had Vibe passes, but am curious about this. If not, did you talk with those who secured them to find out how they did?

And your guess would be correct!!!    

 

We boarded really early with Platinum (11:00 a.m.) and got to Guest Services immediately after the muster station check in.   There were two groups of people in front of my daughter (I went to the cruise next desk).   A Guest Services worker asked everyone in line what they needed.  When he asked my daughter, she said she was inquiring about the cabanas.   She was told rather loudly that there were three left.    Three.   Well, the two groups in front of her heard him tell her and decided to inquire about them and then took all three of them.   She was not too happy that 1. the guy was very loud about it and 2. we did not go to Guest Services first which would have gotten us ahead of the two groups in front of her.      

 

I think only one cabana was presold and the others were swooped up at boarding.  While it ended up working out better for us in the end because we ended up taking over the same area every day, the whole process was just annoying.   And I was glad to save the $500 plus.   However, I do think I am going to switch out our six Vibe passes for three cabanas for our Encore cruise next June.   The day beds are so much more comfortable than the lounge chairs they have in the Encore Vibe.     And remember, you talked me into buying the Vibe passes for an Alaskan cruise as I was on the fence about it.   Now looking forward to blankets, hot soup, the hot tubs and beautiful views without fighting for a good viewing spot.

[JGmf]

51 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

We did notice more of a food cut back since our last sailing regarding portions.    My favorite Reuben sandwich only came with one slice of meat.    Once slice.     The second time I ordered it, I asked for double the meat please.    I then was served two sandwiches. 

 

Again, in total agreement with @vacation44.  I know food is subjective, but yes, food portions were smaller and the new La Cucina menu was disappointing -- fewer choices and mediocre meals.  Also, I've never, ever been a fan of The Local, but my negative opinion was firmly cemented with the one and only thing we ordered, which was nachos that we were craving, but there was a scant few chips on the plate with virtually no toppings.  Blah!

 

All that said, I didn't starve (geez, I gained weight...probably due to the drinking) and Food Republic was a standout excellent meal.  The best, I think, on the ship.

[Sand and Seas]

51 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

I know!     For months leading up to the trip, I kept telling my daughter's significant other how great the sandwich was.   Of course, he ordered it at our first day lunch and it was so disappointing.    They were also very light on the chicken salad the few times my daughter ordered it.   She then started to ask for an extra scope in a bowl.   Like my experience with the Reuben, they then brought her two sandwiches instead.   

😲

My DH will be very disappointed with a skimpy Reuben!

And I love the Chicken salad sandwich.    I would rather they save wasted food by listening to me when I say 'no fries'.