Alaska is Beautiful

Norwegian Joy Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

dadavis7

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 53

Overall rating:

3.1 out of 5

7 Night Alaska With Inside Passage (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 18, 2019

Ship: Norwegian Joy

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 11748

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

Overall the cruise staff was inconsistent. Spent a lot of time waiting in lines. Got conflicting information when asking questions.The room steward was not readily available. Many hours to get our luggage to our room. Complete information regarding our anniversary request was not communicated from the shore staff to the ship staff. The Pride of America 10 years ago was an amazing experience. There is really no way to compare the two cruises. PoA was great. The Joy still needs a lot of help.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

there was a lack of direction at one point as we tried to enter the terminal

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

We ate at the buffet, Cagneys, Ocean blue, & Teppanyaki. Buffet-for the most part average to above average for any buffet. The prime rib was hands down better than the Cagneys Steakhouse. Cagneys-my porterhouse was tough and gristly. My wife argued with the maitre'd regarding the correctness of the cooking of her steak. Her crab cake had 8 pieces of shell and the crab came out of a can... at a specialty restaurant? Teppanyaki was a nice hibachi style restaurant.

Cagney's Steakhouse

2 out of 5

Staff is friendly. Food is lower quality than what I would expect from a specialty restaurant.

Garden Cafe

4 out of 5

Wonderful. Good selection for all palates.

Ocean Blue

5 out of 5

Service and food were great.

Teppanyaki

3 out of 5

Nothing specilal. Food was good.

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5

Didn't find a lot to do on the ship unless you wanted to pay more money. Plenty of places to purchase alcohol. Casino stayed pretty busy.

Atrium

2 out of 5

Limited seating. Staff slow to respond to get out extra seats when required.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Went to one show. Really loud. Lots of strobes. Most of the shows in the Atrium were pretty good and but just getting a seat was a struggle.

Children's Programs

Had no children with me.

Service and Staff

2 out of 5

The waiters in the specialty restaurants did an overall good job. A couple of them did great.

Ship Quality

2 out of 5

The observation deck was nice in concept but the lighting onboard caused reflections in the glass when you tried to take a picture. There was insufficient seating. Some passengers were sleeping there with pillows and blankets which takes seats as well. Overall the ship seemed to be clean and well maintained.

Cabin / Stateroom

2 out of 5

Seemed a little small. Definitely not intended to spend much time there. They kept it clean although it took a couple of days for them to actually put a liner in the waste can. Took a few days to figure out how to operate the shower to get hotter water. The bed was broken down. Shouldn't even have been in the room.

Ship tip

Wait to sail on the ship until next year. Maybe they will be better organized. If you do go, ask lots of questions. Don't have high expectations and you won't be disappointed.

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