Relaxing Cruise

Item: Norwegian Joy
Rating: 4
Author: baunderwood92

Norwegian Joy Cruise Review to Mexico

baunderwood92

Contributor Level: Second Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 14

Helpful Votes: 323

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Mexican Riviera (Los Angeles Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 15, 2019

Ship: Norwegian Joy

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 13816

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

Norwegian Joy was built for the Asian market. Yes, it was refurbished, but the rooms are REALLY SMALL. We had a mini-suite and you compare that to Royal Caribbean? That would be a balcony room. The beds are uncomfortable (hard as a rock). And, if you are tall, forget it. Your feet will be off the bed. The bathroom was very nice. Walk-in shower and 2 sinks. Plenty of room to move around. Entertainment and food were excellent. If you are going on this ship to enjoy the speedway, it is not as good as it appears. Due to younger drivers being allowed to drive alone that are inexperienced, you never really get to do a lap at full speed. They need to keep it anyone under 16 should not be on the single karts, or at least at a separate time without adults. We got our money back. We will be going back to Royal Caribbean to enjoy future cruises.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Was able to get on the ship in good speed.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Food is amazing on this ship.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Speedway is not what is was cracked up to be unless you are lucky and get in a group of adults that have a need for speed.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Footloose and Elements (the 2 shows we saw) were amazing! Excellent entertainment.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Our room steward went above and beyond for us. Wait and bar staff were also very attentive and somewhat friendly.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Layout and design of the ship was not as good as we expected. Probably because it was built for the Asian market originally (even though it was refurbished). Everything was clean and fresh though.

Cabin / Stateroom

2 out of 5

This was not a mini-suite. It was a balcony room on any other ship. Small room. Small closet space. Small bed (queen) instead of a king. The bathroom was awesome though (which is why we gave it 2 stars). Walk-in shower, 2 sinks and plenty of room to move around.

Ship tip

Visit the Observation Lounge. Greatest hidden secret on the ship.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

5 out of 5

Amazing city - has new and old. Highly recommend shopping/eating in the old town.

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Disembarkation

1 out of 5

The San Pedro port is way out of date. Horrible disembarkation. 2.5 hours to get off the ship and through customs. I highly recommend that you consider using the Long Beach port and not the San Pedro port. It needs to be torn down and rebuilt to handle the larger ships of today.

2 Comments

NCLARRY 4 years ago

Are Asian people really shorter than your race. I can’t believe there were young people riding the go carts that should definitely be an adult fun thing! I’m glad they gave you your $15 back after you had your laps!

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bobduck1993 4 years ago

Glad you were able to enjoy your cruise in spite of the size of accommodations!LOL!

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Other reviews of this sailing

Excellent ship

First Norwegian cruise..... well worth it!

Disappointing, lots of screwed up things that I paid for.