Ship Reviews
Based on 17 reviews
Submit your review Cruise reviews reflect the opinions of travel editors and cruisers/ readers and may not represent those of our company.
Sailing on the Joy
April
Pros: Good on board entertainment, lots of dining choices
Cons: Slow elevators, long waiting to get into the restaurants at dinner
Recommended: Yes
Due to storms we had to leave Bermuda after only 1 day so we had another day at sea.
SCORECARD
Staff | ![]() |
---|---|
Dining | ![]() |
Entertainment | ![]() |
Activities | ![]() |
Cabins/Staterooms | ![]() |
Itinerary/Ports | ![]() |
Value | ![]() |
Lots of things to do but service glitches
April
Pros: Kids and kids stuff
Cons: Service glitches, small rooms
Recommended: No
Many things for kids to do and the food was good. There were service glitches in food service, Cagneys, room steward service was not on par with other cruises. Tge cruise itinerary changed without any explanation. All in all we would not recommend Norwegian particularly after the recent public disclosures how passenger health situation were handled. It was average service , we are "nickel and dimed to death" and feel we have gotten better service on most every other cruise line we have been on. Also it is very apparent that very few employees have any authority to handle/solve problems. It goes up the chain of command and us lost. We were lied to about a major service problem in Cagney's and it soured the rest of the cruise.
SCORECARD
Staff | ![]() |
---|---|
Dining | ![]() |
Entertainment | ![]() |
Activities | ![]() |
Cabins/Staterooms | ![]() |
Itinerary/Ports | ![]() |
Value | ![]() |
Beautiful ship and venues
March
Pros: Ship design and ambiance, service, newly renovated Mandara Spa, spacious bathroom (club family balcony), evening shows
Cons: Pool too small, lack of trash can throughout the ship
Recommended: Yes
We had an overall wonderful experience aboard the Joy. The ship is beautiful, including the cabin and all its venues. The service was great! The food was, as expected, much better in the main dinning and specialty restaurants as oppose to the buffet which lacked some good fish (there was mainly tilapia) and red meat, mostly chicken and pork. The night shows in the theatre were spectacular! The pool unfortunately is way too small for a ship this size. The Atrium, where a lot of the games happen, also runs out of space as it gets packed.
SCORECARD
Staff | ![]() |
---|---|
Dining | ![]() |
Entertainment | ![]() |
Activities | ![]() |
Cabins/Staterooms | ![]() |
Itinerary/Ports | ![]() |
Value | ![]() |
New England Canada Sept 2023
September
Pros: I've been on the Encore twice and this ship was an older version that's scheduled for and update within the year. Food, entertainment and stateroom was typical NCL nice
Cons: The first 2 stops (Boston and Portland Maine) were deleted and we lost a day of the cruise because of a Hurricane by Bermuda where the ship came from. Some of the tours needed better on shore leadership via signs- it was confusing without the normal signs on shore
Recommended: Yes
A nice ship that will be made even better with the upcoming refurbishment.
SCORECARD
Staff | ![]() |
---|---|
Dining | ![]() |
Entertainment | ![]() |
Activities | ![]() |
Cabins/Staterooms | ![]() |
Itinerary/Ports | ![]() |
Value | ![]() |
Bringing Joy
May
Pros: Everything we needed and more
Cons: None
Recommended: Yes
This was our second trip to Bermuda on the Norwegian Joy. That alone should tell you what we think of the ship, the service and the destination!
SCORECARD
Staff | ![]() |
---|---|
Dining | ![]() |
Entertainment | ![]() |
Activities | ![]() |
Cabins/Staterooms | ![]() |
Itinerary/Ports | ![]() |
Value | ![]() |
awesome ship
January
Pros: big enough to not feel crowded.
Cons: none
Recommended: Yes
We have been on Joy twice now to 2 different locations. We love this ship. It's big enough to not feel crowded with the amount of people onboard. Great entertainment. Great bars. Great pool & upper shaded pool area. Absolutely great staff as always on NCL.
SCORECARD
Staff | ![]() |
---|---|
Dining | ![]() |
Entertainment | ![]() |
Activities | ![]() |
Cabins/Staterooms | ![]() |
Itinerary/Ports | ![]() |
Value | ![]() |
Panama Canal is an experience not to be missed
January
Pros: Exceptional entertainment, observation deck, great variety in buffet
Cons: Embarkation process was a disaster, slow service in restaurants
Recommended: Yes
We truly enjoyed our experience in the Norwegian Joy. Our biggest complaint was the embarkation process. We’ve been on almost 20 cruises and by far this was the worst. Sitting in a tent for over 3 hours waiting for your group number to be called was torture. This will definitely affect my decision to cruise with Norwegian again.
SCORECARD
Staff | ![]() |
---|---|
Dining | ![]() |
Entertainment | ![]() |
Activities | ![]() |
Cabins/Staterooms | ![]() |
Itinerary/Ports | ![]() |
Value | ![]() |
5-night Bermuda Cruise — 08/28/2024 — CALL
7-night Western Caribbean: Harvest Caye, Cozumel & Roatan Cruise — 10/26/2024 — from $1,218
15-night Panama Canal: Mexico & Colombia Cruise — 01/05/2025 — from $1,605
10-night Alaska: Hubbard Glacier, Skagway & Juneau Cruise — 05/02/2025 — from $1,378
10-night Alaska: Hubbard Glacier, Skagway & Juneau Cruise — 07/25/2025 — from $1,828
15-night Repo - Panama Canal Cruise — 10/05/2025 — from $2,347
7-night Eastern Caribbean Cruise — 01/10/2026 — from $906
7-night Eastern Caribbean Cruise — 03/07/2026 — from $1,006
9-night Alaska Cruise — 06/29/2026 — from $1,722
9-night Alaska Cruise — 09/21/2026 — from $1,517