Fun cruise with the guys

Item: Norwegian Joy
Rating: 4.7
Author: biglarrrr

Norwegian Joy Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

biglarrrr

Contributor Level: Third Mate

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 103

Overall rating:

4.7 out of 5

7 Night Alaska With Inside Passage (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 18, 2019

Ship: Norwegian Joy

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8712

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

Overall the cruise was great. Us guys had a lot of fun. All 3 of us want to go back and see Glacier Bay next.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

One little hiccup on where to line up but overall, embarkation went smoothly.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Note that we didn't go to any of the specialty dinning restaurants... IMO the buffet was fantastic. The variety and quality was great. As for the complimentary dinning rooms, they weren't all that great. The food was just mediocre (even compared to the buffet) and the service wasn't good at all. I also didn't like that we didn't have an assigned dinning room and table. For drinking, the Observation Lounge is really nice. It's on the 15th floor. Our favorite place was the Local on the 16th floor. It's a small pub with great views and the piano guy at night is funny.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

We went to Alaska and even though the weather was awesome, hardly anyone on the cruise got in the pools or jacuzzis. That being said, the pools and jacuzzis were there and they had 2 water tubes. One of the tubes is the type where you drop at almost a 90 degree angle. They also have an onboard miniature putting green, a 2-level go-kart track (awesome), a 3-D gaming area, a laser tag game, a large fitness center, and the typical spa & salon. If you've got kids, they have a kids water park and plenty of other activities for kids.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

On our cruise they had a stage version of Footloose, a magic show called Elements, a musical about wine, a comedy club called Social and a really cool place called The Cavern Club where they have a great band playing Beatles music.

Children's Programs

We didn't have any kids so I really can't rate or comment on this. They did have plenty of on-board activities for kids though.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

I'm giving this one 4 stars only because of the service we received during the 3 (out of 6) dinners we had at a dinning room. We decided to just go to dinner at the cafe after the 3rd night. Other than that, the service was fantastic.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

I loved this ship's design except for 1 thing. You cannot walk around the entire ship on any level. The bow is a helicopter pad and they only opened it up to guests when we got to the glacier. This is a very large ship so be ready to do a lot of walking.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

For 3 adult guys, this was the perfect size. The cabin slept 4. There were 2 twins (pushed together it's 1 full), a couch that turned into a twin and a drop-down twin bunk. Everything was in great shape and very clean. Just note that the mattresses were quite hard. The balcony was massive and being on deck 8 was great.

Ship tip

Get your entertainment bookings on embarkation day. You go to the Social to do this. Get everything written down. Being on the waiting list is no fun at all.

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