Norwegian Joy Review 12/4/21 Western Caribbean
Hi everyone! My nickname is Suzy Cruisy, and I own a cruise-focused travel agency called SuzyCruisy.com. I’m going to write a detailed review of my Norwegian Joy 7-night Western Caribbean cruise, which I sailed on December 4, 2021. The purpose of this is to give you some valuable information, but also encourage you to contact me to help YOU plan your perfect cruise vacation.
Remember, if you’re booking direct with the cruise line, you have nobody to be your advocate if you have any issues with them. If you book with an Elite Cruise Counselor like me, we can get you the same or better prices and offers, and we’ll also be there for you if you have questions or issues. I personally have cruised more than 60 times on various lines, and I have a lot of insider tips and advice I’ll give you if you’re booking your vacation with me.
The review will be written in sections so you can skip around and read the topics that most interest you or read the entire thing. Your choice!
Cruising post-Covid
If you’re wondering what its like to sail on Norwegian Cruise line after the cruise lines have all restarted, I’m here to tell you how Norwegian is handing it as of the end of 2021 and in early 2022. OF COURSE, it is a constantly changing environment and you should check the latest health and safety protocols with your cruise line yourself. However, I’m going to tell you about my experience, and let you know that I’ve sailed on Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian in the last three months so I could test them all out and give you practical tips.
Norwegian came right out, almost as the first line, to say they were sailing 100% vaccinated, no exceptions. Whereas other lines are making exceptions for age or religious purposes, Norwegian is not. Absolutely all crew and all guests are vaccinated. Also, at the time I sailed, all guests are tested within 48 hours of sailing. (You can do the easy antigen or the more challenging PCR test, your choice.)
The policy is constantly changing as to whether you will be required to wear a mask onboard indoors. You will have to wear masks in some ports, and not others. It depends entirely on the current rules and regulations of the countries you’re visiting at the time of your visit. NCL will communicate clearly with you what the requirements are before you disembark in each port.
The Norwegian Joy
The Norwegian Joy cruise ship is one you may not have heard much about. That’s because it was designed for the Chinese market. It launched in China in 2017 and was there most of its first few years until cruising shut down in 2020. It was built new in 2017 and was refurbished in April of 2019. It was in such great shape when I sailed in December of 2021 it felt new.
Norwegian Joy is a Breakaway Plus class ship, which means it’s nearly identical to the Norwegian Bliss (2018) and the Norwegian Encore (2019). Whereas those two ships had A LOT of fanfare and marketing to us in North America as they were launching, you may not have even heard of the Norwegian Joy. That is to your benefit! The Norwegian Joy doesn’t have a ‘following’ in North America, and I am finding better pricing on it as compared to the other two Breakaway Plus class ships. Let me help you take advantage of that! I know how to search through all of the available voyages to find the less popular ones with better pricing.
The Norwegian Joy has a few different things on it than the other two, although it is overall the same as Norwegian Bliss. It still has the water slides, go-karts and laser tag and all those great restaurants. Uniquely though, it has a couple of cabin categories that are special. In particular, it is the ONLY ship with Concierge Family Inside cabins. These are really large multi-room family suites. As you walk into the cabin, you have the living room area of the cabin. There are couches and chairs and a table that seats four. Even though this is an inside cabin, there is a massive TV on the wall showing you the view of outside, so you don’t feel so cooped up. On one side of the living room is a master bedroom with a beautiful bathroom. On the other side of the living room is a bedroom and a second bath for your kids or your friends or your parents. It is SO perfect for groups traveling together. It very comfortably holds four, but can hold up to six using the sofabed in the living room.
The Norwegian Joy also has some full suites that other ships don’t have, and I’ll mention them as I discuss The Haven.
The Haven
The Haven by Norwegian is an exclusive area of the ship for full suite guests. It is almost like a luxury line small ship set inside a larger ship. The Haven has its own large area at the top front of the ship, spanning three decks and is exclusive to those with the suite key card. You COULD spend your entire cruise in The Haven and never venture out into the rest of the ship. Its your vacation, so you do as you wish.
The Haven on the Norwegian Joy is accessed primarily through an entry door on Deck 17 in the forward elevator lobby. As you enter, you’ll walk a hallway with some restrooms and access to a crew service elevator that is also used with The Haven staff ‘escort’ you to places within the ship. As you enter the main area of The Haven, you’ll pass the Concierge Desk. These Concierges will help you with nearly any request you have without you having to ever go to the passenger services desk in the main atrium.
Beyond the Concierge desk, you will enjoy a comfortable seating area and a bar. Walking through that area, you will enter the Courtyard, which is an indoor lounging area with a small pool and a retractable glass dome roof. They open the roof when in ports. Continuing further forward, to the very front of the ship, you have the Haven Lounge with super comfy loungers with a view, some tables and chairs, snacks and non-alcoholic beverages like coffee, tea and water. I loved the healthy snacks there, but there were also sweets, small sandwiches and other constantly changing things. That’s the full lineup for Deck 17.
The Haven continues up onto Deck 18 but in little sections that aren’t connected. So, above the main lounge area is the Haven Restaurant. Absolutely fabulous service for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The menu didn’t change on our 7-night cruise, but there was good variety. For breakfast there is also a continental buffet bar to the side, so you could order eggs off the menu, but supplement it with fruit or yogurt along the breakfast bar. I loved that. I was on a special diet, and they accommodated me perfectly by letting me order for the next night while eating during the current night.
Another section of Deck 18 for the Haven is the Sun Deck. You can go up around the indoor pool outdoors onto nice lounging beds with a windbreak plastic that goes up pretty high. It was rather windy up there while the ship was moving, but if you were lounging behind the protective glass, it was fine. And in yet a different little stairway from Deck 17 there was a private little library for The Haven.
The service was exceptional. We had a butler and also two room stewards. Note that whatever the butler does for you, you’ll have to decide what to tip him as he’s not part of the service charges pool. Also, if you make use of the concierges, you should tip them also. They are extra service you may or may not use, so there is no standard tipping.
A unique service offered to those in The Haven is the opportunity to be escorted by the Haven staff to various parts of the ship, and also off the ship. So, as we got into each port, you could meet in the Haven main area and be escorted first off the ship. You can also get escorted down to the showroom to the seating area marked off for Haven guests on the left side of the showroom, or be escorted to a particular restaurant or bar if you were confused as to where to go. We didn’t use the random escorting, but we DID use the priority escort off the ship on disembarkation day, in the ports, and also to the showroom once.
The suites that get Haven access are varied. Up in the secure Haven area itself are three common Haven room types – The Deluxe Owner’s Suite (just two of them at the very front of Deck 18), then multiple 2-bedroom Family Villas, and Haven Courtyard Penthouses.
Besides those that are actually in the Haven though, if you have a full suite elsewhere on the ship, you still get Haven access. So, there are full suites at the front and the back of the ship on multiple decks AND, and this is the SPECIAL on the Norwegian Joy part, a few amidships suites.
The least expensive suite is called the Penthouse Suite on Deck 14. There are quite a bunch of these, currently called Category HJ. If you want access to the Haven, this is your least expensive option.
Just a tick up from that is the Haven Suite. Category HI, also on Deck 14, which is what I had. I thought this was the most perfect cabin I have ever had as far as the layout and amenities. It was 381 square feet with a 61 square foot balcony.
There are more Haven Family Villa Suites in the center of Deck 15 also. ALL of these amidships suites on Deck 14 and 15 are unique to the Norwegian Joy. On the Norwegian Bliss and Norwegian Encore they have only the suites in the Haven area, the forward and aft suites, and a few spa suites at the after underneath the spa.
Our Western Caribbean Itinerary:
Saturday Depart Miami 5:30pm
Sunday At Sea
Monday Roatan, Honduras
Tuesday Harvest Caye, Belize
Wednesday Costa Maya, Mexico
Thursday Cozumel, Mexico
Friday At Sea
Saturday Arrive Miami 7am
General comment – NCL provides towels on the pier for you to take on shore. You don’t need to haul the one in your cabin, nor do you need to ‘sign out’ the towel and be charged if you don’t return it. It’s SO convenient to be on a line that realizes it’s more trouble than it’s worth to keep track of borrowing and returning towels. There were also plenty of towels by all the pools. Our ship had only 1600 guests though, so I suppose on a full ship you might want to take towels from your room in case they run low and haven’t been restocked by the laundry department.
Roatan, Honduras: This is a famous destination for scuba diving, so my husband does that and I do the spa. For the second trip in a row to Roatan, my husband did a dive organized through the ship but at Anthony’s Key Resort. It was well run and the guide pointed out some hidden fish and other animals that made it interesting. They dove very near the resort, so that when they had their break between the two dives, they all bought their own lunch at the restaurant within the resort. The title of his excursion was ‘wall and reef’ 2-tank certified dive.
Harvest Caye, Belize: This port is touted as ‘sort of’ a private island experience, but it’s really run by the Belize people and not staff from the ship. There is a beautiful beach, a large pool with a swim up bar, a zipline, some local shopping and a restaurant you need to pay to go to. We did an escorted wave runner tour along the mangrove forests, which was fun. There were about 8-10 wave runners in our group. Some of the participants were obnoxious and not following the rules, which made the first half less pleasant. However, we got to return to the island in a smaller group and that was super fun. If we’d had our cell phone with us, we would have been able to get a great photo. Note that they’ll rent you lockers while you do activities for $7 for the day. However, the wave runner has two storage compartments and there is plenty of room in them if you want to take all your stuff.
Costa Maya, Mexico: This is a port built by the cruise lines pretty far out from most Mexican civilization. There are some Mayan Ruins you can visit an hour or two away, and lots of stuff to see and do in the port area. There are lots of pools and bars and shopping right at the port. There is also an educational tour and tequila tasting, and another one about the history of chocolate. They also have a pool with dolphins, but it’s not my favorite port for that activity. For the second trip in a row we visited the Aviarius. This is a bird aviary that is built above the port with little aviaries of similar birds at multiple stops. They are connected with bridges that weave all over the port above the people. So, you’re walking in a netted off wooden bridge that is 20ft above the ground with the people and shopping and pools below you, depending on where you are on the loop tour. Anyway, they give you some seeds in a little cup as you start the tour, and you walk along and interact with all different types of birds. It’s very fun, and it only costs $12 per person. You can buy it right at their facility, no need to pre-reserve. Oddly, the manager talked to us at the end of the tour and told us they’re only ‘contracted’ with Royal Caribbean to pre-book this tour with the cruise line. That’s how we learned about it last time, but with another activity we wanted to do closed still due to Covid, we just opted to do that again. We had a great time both times we did this. Be prepared for birds to land on you and have some napkins and hand sanitizer ready! OH! And the really large Macaws are at the END of the tour, so protect your sunflower seeds from the little birds so you have some of these at the end!
Cozumel, Mexico: The first thing to say here is that the port itself is a destination. There is tons of shopping and some restaurants and bars right at the port (LOTS of shopping). If you need a t-shirt or a tote bag, this is the place.
We spent the day at Chankanaab Adventure Beach Park. It’s my second time here, but I’ve still not done everything. It was very convenient to meet on the pier, and then have the transport in large mini-van taxis included in the excursion, as well as the park entry fee. You’re given bands at the pier based upon which activities you paid for in advance, but we all ride in the taxis together.
Some of the top things to do are swim with dolphins – the best place to do that I think, because their pens with the dolphins and manatees are right along the shoreline with the ocean flowing in and out of them. The pools the animals are in are not stagnant water. You can also swim with Manatees and Sea Lions. You can do one of these or multiple types. One of our friends did the Sea Lions and Manatees. If you’re swimming, then you’re given a locker to put your dry clothes and towels in, and a life jacket before you begin the activities. These activities could take most of your day. We had to meet on the pier at 9:15am, departed at 9:30am, had a 15 minute taxi ride, and the departure times were 1:30 or 2:30 (your choice) to go back to the ship.
ALSO at the Park is a huge beautiful beach with beach chairs and places for snorkeling if you bring your own equipment. Apparently, the water is very deep right off the beach, with lots of fish.
The third area of the park is an interpretative nature walk. There are Mayan ruins to see, and if you ask at the front area someone will walk with you through all of this beautiful garden greenery explaining the history of the Mayans to you. Pre-Covid there were lots of people working there explaining things as you walked. Now, we learned you need to ask for someone, and they’ll send a guide along the path with you. We had a great time doing this.
Also included in our ticket was an all-you-can-eat Mexican buffet lunch and unlimited beverages. They do not have bottled water, but they do have super purified water and ice, and we had no problems after our visit.
On Ship Entertainment and Activities:
The Norwegian Joy had two production shows that you could and should make reservations for if you want to see them. Footloose was early in the week, and Elements later in the week. Footloose was fun, just OK though. Elements is NOT to be missed!
In the showroom, they also had various comedians and singers / entertainers that were good.
Our favorite thing on the Norwegian ships though is their Beatles tribute band that ‘resides’ in The Cavern Club. They don’t have the same tribute band every week, but different ones contracting on different weeks on different ships. The theme seems to be an ‘early days’ show early in the week, then a Sargent Pepper era show next, and an Abbey Road show later in the week. And then sometimes they do a combo show in the showroom. The Cavern Club is a very small venue, so if you want to watch one of the shows there, show up to get a seat a half hour before showtime.
There are lots of onboard activities that permanently reside on the ship. The go-kart track is always popular and costs $15 each ride, or $199 for an unlimited pass for the week. They have times set for parents with kids in two-seaters, and then most of the time it’s open are for adults.
They also have laser tag and two water slides. The Aqua Racer slide is on an inner tube. It’s fun but easy to get going backwards and then you do the whole thing backwards. If this would bother you, make an extra effort to get going forward. The second one is “Ocean Loops”, which is a drop slide that goes out and over the side of the ship. If you’re not wet enough, or fast enough, or have a non-slippery shirt on, you’ll likely not go up the rise in the tube and slide back down to the trap door where they’ll let you out. I had no problems with this slide on the Bliss, but I, like many, got ‘stuck’ in this one. I was wearing my same tight sun protection shirt I always wear when sliding. If you’re a guy, go shirtless. Make sure you’re really wet in the shower at the bottom of the stairs provided. Also, on the Bliss they told us to cross our feet to go more torpedo-like, but DIScouraged that on the Joy. I think that was wrong. Cross your feet at the top so you go faster down the drop so you have enough momentum to make it past the difficult rise.
Something unique to the Joy that the other Breakaway Plus ships don’t have is Galaxy Pavilion. This is a huge virtual reality games play area for adults. There is even an ACTUAL Formula 1 car that you drive with virtual screens all around you. My husband tried all of if out, and had a great time. He did the 1-hour unlimited for the virtual games and then the Formula 1 car is it’s own cost, $20 for one ride. He says it is very worth it though! NOTE that this takes up a big chunk of the aft of Deck 16 and the Mandara Spa is much smaller on this ship than on the others. There is no relaxation / stone beds lounging area in this spa.
I did two spa treatments, and they were both great. I got a pedicure on one day and a massage on another. And there is a great barber area for men, and two of my friends enjoyed that.
Dining
Because I was in the Haven on this cruise, I used very little of the ‘other’ dining. I can say that the Teppanyaki and the Q BBQ were both good, and the buffet was great as always. We had one lunch in The Local, which is their venue with really long hours. The service was excellent everywhere. NCL has really great food since they also own Regent Seven Seas, a luxury line, and Oceania Cruises, an upper premium line. They made significant improvements with NCL a few years ago, using some of their same practices as they use on the other lines, and you can really tell.
Wrapping up – I would strongly recommend the Norwegian Joy, and I would love to assist you in booking a vacation of your dreams on that ship. Hit ‘contact us’ at the top of this page to send an inquiry!