Loved the Joy, my first big cruise, and hopefully not the last!
Norwegian Joy Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 45
12 Night Panama Canal Partial Transit (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: October 27, 2019
Ship: Norwegian Joy
Cabin type: Suite
Cabin number: 14828
Traveled as: Large Group
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
A wonderful introduction to the world of cruising, thanks to some experienced cruisers in our group and the great crew! (This is a long review with a lot of detail, you have been warned!)Embarkation
One of our party was platinum plus and we breezed through the lines and embarkation groups. She also advised us to stick together even though staff tried to separate us at check in, and that was good advice (we are one family). One relative didn't have proof of his ESTA - not normally needed as it's so computerised for flights - but a supervisor eventually let us through as long as we said we'd get proof before disembarking, but they didn't end up needing it then anyway.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
I loved my food experience, the speciality restaurants were great, my favourite was Le Bistro, which we went to twice, and we had outstanding service from Josephine, Mary Ann, Ronnel, and Rodelio. The experience at Teppanyaki was tasty and a lot of fun. My first visit to Cagneys was disappointing and all our food was overcooked and too salty, but the second visit and Leilani's service made up for it, although the sides still weren't great. Lili Beth at Q was delightful, but I think I should have tried the ribs instead of the brisket. La Cucina was the most disappointing experience, the menu didn't excite me and the server just wasn't up to the same standard as the other restaurants, and also didn't introduce herself nor check for allergens. We also visited Taste and that was very good, Naomi was a star and helped make our time very memorable. Some relatives also visited Savor and loved it. The Garden Buffet was great for breakfast and lunch, but dinners were disappointing apart from the Caribbean night. On the first day and a few other times, the buffet was jam packed and that wasn‘t super pleasant, but otherwise it was a good experience and nice also to see evening restaurant staff there during the day, especially assistant Maitre D's Josephine, Naomi, and Cristina, they and others really made our overall cruise experience fantastic.
Onboard Activities
The water slides were good, but a very long wait for the raft one, maybe thirty minutes. No wait for the verticle drop! Went to an Art talk, it was great, and would have gone to more if I'd had more time. My relatives used the gym and the morning fitness class in Q. I didn't try the spa, it seemed very expensive. Also a pity that laser quest and the speedway are so expensive. A nominal fee might be more reasonable.
Entertainment
Footloose was excellent and I was impressed by the set and lighting changes. The acrobatic couple were more than excellent - they were breathtaking. Heard this was their last show so I'm glad we got to see them. I was disappointed by the magician, but I think that's a tough act to sell. Bringing it all together in Elements was impressive, but I'd generally like a show with more dialog. I enjoyed Kevin Brando's piano and singing, especially in the Observation Lounge where I could relax. Music by the poolside was very loud! We wanted to go to the karaoke one night but it was in a cramped area and we didn't try again after that.
Children's Programs
No children in our group
Service and Staff
As mentioned, Josephine Siew, Mary Ann Basa, Ronnel Leyba, Rodelio Africa were all outstanding at Le Bistro. Naomi was fabulous and also arranged the birthday surprise for one of our group and the singing coffee ladies at the Garden Cafe, remembering later that evening at Taste and bringing us a surprise birthday cake also. Lili Beth at Q was loved by our whole party, and the first server to ask if we had evening plans for after dinner - Leilani at Cagneys did the same and her service made us feel like VIPs, and Cristina Silang was very personable and genuine. There were many other waiters in the Garden Cafe who made our trip special, and I enjoyed the warm greetings every mealtime when they dispensed hand sanitizer. Our room steward was Al Bryan Yambao, and he did an outstanding job all 12 days, and was so polite and friendly every time we saw him in the hallway. Another room steward on deck 14, Ivan, also greeted us pleasantly every time we saw him. Made for a really wonderful experience, thank you all!
Ship Quality
It was easy to find my way around after the first few hours, although we wandered around a while looking for the golf course when trying to find a good view departing Miami. For anyone else on Joy, you get an even better outdoors aft view from Spice H2O, the Waterfront, or a good indoors view from within the Manhattan - we chanced upon that when we were going back through the Panama locks and that was fantastic as we were also having our family birthday function at the time. Things that could be improved - some lifts showed the wrong light outside for going up or down, and the buttons should be higher so those at the back of the lift know what's been pressed. Only a few lifts go to the very top decks and I saw some people waiting a long time for those lifts to arrive - it's not clear which button to press to call them. The white light on the selected buttons isn't very clear generally, and sometimes the called lift button will cancel for no reason and you have to spot it and call it again. The aft lifts were generally much less busy, so once we realised that, that helped. All the public areas were very clean and well taken care of, including the public restrooms.
Cabin / Stateroom
Not too bad, even for 3-4 people, although we had to move out of one another's way when someone needed access to the table or wardrobe and shelves. Would be nice if there were night lights also by the sofa bed / bunk bed. The balcony was fine but a bit small to really be pleasant, as you're surrounded by the paneling, so I preferred sitting out on the Waterfront on deck 8 where it was spacious. The shower was lovely, had a nice big shower head and six jet sprays. I enjoyed the double sink also. Bryan did a fabulous job of keeping everything clean and welcoming, all the time. We left him little notes at times, e.g. when we needed an extra blanket, and not only did we get an extra duvet and a fleece, he also left us a notepad and pen!
Ship tip
Talk to the crew, it's so much fun! They'll also give you tips, such as when it's possible (and better) to disembark from the aft of the ship, as the forward is very crowded!
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
Miami, Florida Did not visit port
Just embarked and disembarked here - generally didn't find the folk at the port very friendly!
Great Stirrup Cay (Cruise Line Private Island), Bahamas
A pleasant time, plenty of deck chairs for everyone, water was lovely, and the food was good, with ice water freely available to stay hydrated. I should have tried the burger, I heard it was excellent! We didn't go an excursion here, I'm glad we saved those for other ports!
We did the Discover Columbia bus tour, and our guide Oscar was excellent. Very informative and happy to receive our questions. I felt like we did discover Colombia, and the excursion was very accurate according to the description given. Traffic was very bad however, meaning some stops had to be cut short, and we were even waiting for the last pickup after they old city and Oscar seemed quite worried about getting us back to the ship on time! So didn't get any time to visit the port shops, but the locals did sell us their wares when we were waiting outside the old city, and that worked out well in the end. (And Oscar gave us good tips about decent prices and how to not show interest when we didn't want to be bothered.)
Cruise Gatun Lake (Inside Panama Canal) Did not visit port
We had booked an excursion here, but it was cancelled due to boats not being available to tender. Perhaps because they knew the weather was going to be bad? So we were disappointed about that, and instead the ship sat in the middle of the lake for a few hours and then returned earlier through the locks. But going through the locks was cool, many people woke up at 5am for the first passage through, although it ended up that one of the best views of the gates opening was from the stateroom tv!
Very disappointed with this port, and that such a long time was spent here (due to the excursions being cancelled). Local friends from Panama messaged and told me that the shopping mall there was the best thing to see, but it was run down, half the shops were closed, and shops which were open weren't very good and had souvenirs of poor quality. I did see that some of the crew went to the supermarket and stocked up on snacks though!
In contrast, I absolutely loved the local stalls at the Peurto Limon port, and meeting the locals there. The quality of their goods was also excellent. But don't believe those who tell you they or their relatives made the placemats or painted wood - when you walk around, you'll realise other other stalls hold those items too! As you visit other ports, you'll also realise that some items can be found in each place with that port's name on it... although buy what you want before you get to Mexico! We went on the Vintage Train excursion. The train was ok but we didn't get much explanation about it or the surroundings from our guide, just some dancers who weren't visible to everyone in the carriage and some snacks. Our guide (Jorge) did tell us more on the bus ride there though, especially about the banana plantations, and he and the driver helped us see some sloths in the wild, which was very exciting!
Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras
We took the Semi-Submarine tour, and our guide Carmen was quite down to earth and also helped us to see some extra sights, like the giant turtle on the roof of a hotel and the north side of the island. The cameo factory was pretty cool, the artwork is impressive. And at the West Bay stop were found the Roatan Chocolate Factory which had free talks and tour of their factory, that was great also. Then the highlight was the semi-sub itself and seeing the coral reef. It was just thirty minutes, but well worth it, and the guide on the boat was excellent. Got fabulous pictures and videos of the reef and the fish swimming past!
We tendered to the mainland and our guide Sylvester took us on the Spice Farm and Botanical Gardens Tour. He was very informative on the way and also could tell us about the Mayan way of life as that is his ethnic background. On all the excursions we took, the locals were very appreciative of the cruise ships and that we took excursions, as it's a big part of their economy. And they all wanted us to pass on the good news about visiting their countries, which is easy for me to do as we had great experiences! The Spice Farm was great, very fascinating and enjoyable, you get to touch, smell, and taste the plants and leaves, and see how they grow. The guide and driver we had at the farm were very knowledgeable, they do a great job!
I enjoyed our excursion - Liliana was very knowledgeable and great at showing us around the Chacchoban Ruins. She catered well to the group, which was smaller than average (just the bus we got on) and explained things well. Our second stop was the blue lagoon for lunch - the Mexican bbq was great, just like my Mexican friends cook :) there were also free kayaks and a free bar, plenty of deck chairs and the water looked nice although I didn't go in. The day was very rainy, which on the one hand spoiled the view (we only had a few glimpses of the lagoon looking blue) and on the other hand meant we experienced the ruins and lagoon in a different light - fortunately the rain held off until we were leaving the ruins so the rocks weren't slippery for us. My only regret is not looking at the souvenirs at the ruins, as the Costa Maya port was incredibly overpriced! $27 for a t-shirt that was $10 in other ports, and $8 for a magnet that was $1-3 in the other ports. The whole feel was much more commercialised than other ports, a bit offputting. I didn't have time to try the pool at the port, but did stop to watch the Mayan entertainers. However, because there was another ship docked, I lost track of time as there were still so many people around, and had to quickly make the long walk back to the ship to get there before final boarding!
Disembarkation
Getting of the ship was incredibly easy at the aft - we left before 8 as we had the member of our party who is prority plus. Only found out on this site that there were problems for others later! However, it wasn't smooth at the terminal - a long wait behind a barrier while the luggage was still being moved into position for pickup! There was also a port staff member who would have made us zig zag all the way through the empty line - even after a younger staff member was opening the barrier for us - but thankfully she didn't push it when she saw we had two wheelchairs and a porter carrying nine suitcases. We should have stuck together at immigration instead of being separated into different lines as one of the security officers got upset that the porter walked through without permission and took it out on two of our party, being pedantic about what a "family" is. But anyhow, after waiting a while for them, we were out, with good memories of a great cruise and looking forward to the next one!