In retrospect, I would have paid more attention to the itinerary before booking. All Alaska cruises are not the same. Maximize your Alaska stops.
The Joy was nice ship, very children friendly.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Observation Lounge
3 out of 5
Allowing people to sleep on the couches of the Lounge was a huge turnoff to me and my family. This should not be allowed. They took over a beautiful venue.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Some really fun things for kids, but had to pay extra. We knew that but take a 5 year old into the play room where things cost as mush as $7 and things add up fast . Have 3 kids and all of a sudden you’ve spent $100 in l5 min. Then everyday it’s a problem because they want to go back.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Every member of staff I encountered was outstanding. They were especially supportive of children, which I really appreciated.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Everything was clean. My only complaint is with the explorers lounge. Great concept, beautiful layout but always taken over by people sleeping on the couches. Why this is allowed, I don’t understand. It is not an exaggeration to say every couch, all day long, had someone sprawled out sleeping. Disgusting to see and hear.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Small, very clean.
Ship tip
Get to observation lounge early. It is packed. It was offensive to me to see people sleeping on all the couches all the time I think this should not be allowed.
Loved Juneau but ship departure at 1:00 was extremely limiting in available excursions. Did do a whale watching tour for $115pp vs ships $189. Great boat, 30 people, lots of whales great fun. That’s all the time we had. Would have rated higher if had more time
I read so many reviews about this stop. Some were great, others said don’t bother to get off boat i’m with the latter. I actually thought maybe we were at the wrong stop. Absolutely nothing except trails to walk. If you don’t buy a ship excursion, When you get off boat you are crowded into a small building and stand in long line to book an excursion, everything sold out when we reached the front. Told to walk or take shuttle to town. Shuttle was a 60 minute wait. Walk was 1.25 mile. Not a bad walk but we had a 6, 4, 3 and 7 month old. They were not happy as we had already waited in lines. The men went ahead to town and the baby and 3 year old went back to boat. The other 2 we took to the kids rope climb. They LOVED it! Worth $50 each. They did it multiple times. But it was something that could have been done anywhere. Not special to Alaska. Then back to boat. Pictures men took of town were laughable. We thought they were fooling us. Looked liked shabby town you see along along a forgotten highway in US. Sorry, don’t mean to offend anyone, but what a waste of a day. We came to see Alaska!
The Roundtrip itineraries have shorter port times due to the need to get back to Seattle and the requirement to stop at a foreign port (usually a short stop at Victoria). A one-way or 10+ day itinerary will usually give you more ports and time in ports.
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