My last post was all about Cunard and I mentioned we were going to be doing our next visitation on NCL’s (Norwegian Cruise Line) Joy. So last Saturday we joined three of our fellow agency buddies (Deborah, Ruth and Christa) and headed down to Seattle’s Pier 66 (where we met Candy, another of our team) for a tour of Norwegian’s Joy. We were met by NCL’s Business Development Manager (BDM) Angie West, who runs a great tour plus she’s a bunch of fun. I need to mention for comparisons sake, that Joy can hold up to 4,600+ cruisers and is by far (along with NCL’s Bliss) the largest ship we have ever been aboard. Yet at no time did I feel crowded. There were crowds but it was livable. In the next few months (between now and mid-October) we will visit and sail on two larger ships. That should be interesting.
We were escorted onboard almost immediately upon our arrival and started with a look at the high-end section of the ship, The Haven. After the Haven, where we saw suites and spa staterooms, we went on to visit typical verandah staterooms, outsides and insides. We even saw an unusual stateroom you can only find onboard Joy, a “Concierge Interior” which is almost a suite, but an inside. (See my pics for more about that.) Unlike Cunard where we never saw any accommodations, on Joy we got to see them all before getting about a half an hour by ourselves to take pics of public areas before lunch.
Then it was off to the Taste dining room for some lunch. (Joy has three main dining rooms, Taste, Savor and Manhattan) It was not quite as good as the meal we had on the NCL Bliss last year when we mistakenly were given the entire lunch menu to choose from, but we did have a choice of some pretty decent food. I found it far superior to the Cunard lunch from 10 days before. One highlight (and proof that NCL is pretty darn cool) was that at the end of lunch, our lovely server brought Christa a birthday cake. It turns out that Ruth had just mentioned it to them when we came in and they took it from there. That’s my kind of service. Travel agents on board for lunch get a birthday cake to share—well done NCL Joy.
After lunch we were given total freedom to tour the ship and take pics of everything we wanted…so I did. If you are at all interested, please watch these three sets of photos as a slide show and read the captions. We enjoyed our day a whole bunch and we have two more visitations coming up—one on Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas in a week or so and then on Celebrity’s Solstice (a ship we know well) about a week after.
First set of slides are from The Haven, NCL’s ship within a ship. Very high end, very spendy.
Norwegian Joy
In the lounge area of The Haven
In the lounge area of The Haven
The Haven has a private pool area. Adults only.
The Haven has a gorgeous front-facing lounge.
Just beautiful
More of the front facing lounge
It’s like their living room
One of the top suites in The Haven (The Deluxe Owner’s Suite)
The living room
Its bathroom
Another Haven bathroom
Inside a different shower (this is bigger than some staterooms we have stayed in)
The library of The Haven
More of the library of The Haven
Beautiful corridors inside The Haven
Looking out the library windows.
More of the front facing lounge
A living room of a Haven Spa Suite
The second bedroom/TV room of the suite
Inside a different bathroom
The shower
Inside another of the suites
Just the shower
More of the front facing lounge
Back in the pool/spa area
It is really impressive but besides the overhead there is no way to see outside
The next set of staterooms are a typical verandah, a special Concierge Family Inside stateroom and a handicapped accessible outside. All pretty cool.
Inside a typical stateroom
Inside a typical verandah stateroom
Inside a typical verandah stateroom
Inside a typical verandah stateroom
Inside a typical verandah stateroom
Inside a typical verandah stateroom
Impressive double sink
Walk in closet
The master bedroom of a family Concierge inside stateroom
The living room of a family Concierge inside stateroom
In that room, the virtual balcony
The living room of a family Concierge inside stateroom
The living room of a family Concierge inside stateroom
The second bedroom of a family Concierge inside stateroom
An outside accessible stateroom
An outside accessible stateroom
An outside accessible stateroom
An outside accessible stateroom
An outside accessible stateroom
The last set is everything I took of the public areas. If you are a ship junkie like we are, you will enjoy them. We have never sailed on NCL but this ship and Bliss have made us want to try them out eventually. They are priced well but if you are going to sail NCL, you need to know up front that much of what they tell you is “free” actually comes with a charge. They are the cruise industry champions of add-on charges. With that said, they do a great job and our many clients who have sailed with them, have had a great time and many have gone back for more cruises.
The Kid’s Club
The main atrium
Wanted to show the lines to make reservations
This is inside around 11:00 am
An actual Starbucks onboard.
In the main atrium
Back on deck 18 (there are 20)
The view from up top
Even a Starbucks cart
And a pool
Lots of places to lounge
In the sun or the shade
Water slides
Water slides
Water slides
The Speedway (only on Joy and Bliss)
The Speedway
More Speedway
It’s pretty cool. Electric cars on a two deck track
Upstairs on the Speedway
On the Speedway
On the Speedway
Looking down from above
The waiting area for The Speedway
Check in ahead
Above the Speedway, the miniature golf course
Above the Speedway, the miniature golf course
American Diner
American Diner
Car-themed restaurant next to The Speedway
An adults only area at the rear of the ship
Inside Spice H2O
Adults only area bar
Lounge area in Spice H2O
Giant hot tub in Spice H2O
NCL Joy’s gym
NCL Joy’s gym
NCL Joy’s gym
Inside the Galaxy Pavilion arcade
Inside the Galaxy Pavilion arcade
Inside the Galaxy Pavilion arcade
Inside the Galaxy Pavilion arcade
Inside the Galaxy Pavilion arcade
Inside the Galaxy Pavilion arcade
Inside the Galaxy Pavilion arcade
Inside the Galaxy Pavilion arcade
Inside the Galaxy Pavilion arcade
This F-1 type racer can be used on The Speedway
Back on the pool deck later, when it is much fuller
In the buffet—lots of room and great food choices
In the buffet—lots of room and great food choices
In the buffet—lots of room and great food choices
In the buffet—lots of room and great food choices
In the buffet—lots of room and great food choices
Wine machine
Great seating
In the buffet—lots of room and great food choices
In the buffet—lots of room and great food choices
In the buffet—lots of room and great food choices
In the buffet—lots of room and great food choices
In the buffet—lots of room and great food choices
Sometimes feels like a mall food court
In the buffet—lots of room and great food choices
In the buffet—lots of room and great food choices
In the buffet—lots of room and great food choices
In the buffet—lots of room and great food choices
One of the many alternative restaurants on Joy
Inside Food Republic
There are outside areas to dine in for many of the Joy alternative restaurants.
Inside the wine bar
More wine bar
Inside another specialty restaurant
More of the same place
Inside the main theater. I was surprised how small it was and that there was only one level.
Inside the atrium from the second level up
Another shot of the main chandler
The casino
More casino
Looking down into the atrium
The chandelier from the other side
The Skyline Bar
Inside the Manhattan Dining Room
Joy has three main dining rooms and this is the largest
It is twice the size of the other two, Savor and Taste one deck down.
Went back to the reservation area about 1:30 and it was packed.
In the Japanese specialty restaurant
Very reminiscent of Benihana.
Find joy in everything you choose to do. Every job, relationship, home… it’s your responsibility to love it, or change it. —Chuck Palahniuk
We found Joy!
Like this:
Like Loading...
Just wow. No….. another Wow.
The coverage and the ship deserve two.
Concierge Inside.. very interesting concept which appears to have been well executed.
The Haven looks freaking amazing just for the observation room.
A non-kids arcade containing Skeeball? Just keeps getting better and better.
Not sure the Skeeball was in a non-kids arcade. That may have been mislabeled.
OK, it’s still pretty good coverage anyway 🙂
What an elegant ship! Thanks for the tour…
If you ever decide you want to cruise, the sister to Joy (Bliss) has some outstanding single cabins.