7-Day Christmas Cruise Norwegian Joy

Norwegian Joy Cruise Review

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Reviews: 3
Helpful Votes: 40

Overall rating:

4.1 out of 5
Norwegian Joy

7 Night Mexican Riviera (Los Angeles Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 23, 2022

Ship: Norwegian Joy

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 14246

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

I cruise for relaxation, so overall I had a great time!

Embarkation

1 out of 5
Embarkation: TERRIBLE AND UNORGANIZED! (this time)…I always cruise Norwegian and the embarkation process is normally easy breezy…crowded, but easy. I’m guessing that the process was a mess this time because the port changed a few days before we sailed.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5
Teppanyaki was excellent!

The Cavern Club

4 out of 5

The Cavern Club Liverpool: On the other side of this bar there’s an outside bar, a little hidden gem that is very quiet with a view of Puerto Vallarta’s marina and some of what the city/port offers (when in Port). The Bartender, Blessing (yes that is his given name…Blessing) was truly an awesome blessing. Very respectful, courteous, friendly and beyond that…he did a wonderful job with getting our drinks out to us timely and was a wealth of knowledge in bartending questions we had, great employee.

Teppanyaki

4 out of 5

We ate at Teppanyaki…twice! The food was great, however; the first time we ate there, the Chef prepared the rice and served it, then the vegetables…served them, then the meat and served it. Even though the food was served separately it was still delicious. The second time the food was prepared and served together…delicious! It’s a very live and fun atmosphere with the sing alongs, cooking utensils show the Chef put on and jokes.

The Local Bar & Grill

3 out of 5

The Local: This 24 hour eatery’s food is just ok, yes…just ok, however it has the best carrot cake EV-VER!!! We were able to catch the NFL games as well at the bar area!

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5
The casino was fun, the slot machines need to be updated, as there are a lot of newer slot machines that weren’t available on the Joy, the ones they have are old, however it was fun…at least I can say that those old machines sent me home happy!

Casino

4 out of 5

It was e casino was fun, the slot machines need to be updated, as there are a lot of newer slot machines that weren’t available, the ones they have are old, however it was fun…It’s safe to say that those old machines sent me home happy!

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Galaxy Pavilion

4 out of 5

My husband and I went to the Galaxy Pavilion and did the 7D Dark Room experience…THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN! It costed $8 (charged to your room’s key card). They provided 7D glasses, you enter a dark room with high-backed seating, there’s arcade guns attached on the sides of the seats. We chose Zombies for our experience. When the experience started, we were in a vehicle that ran off the road into the woods where the Zombies attacked us. We got points for each of the Zombies we killed. Because the experience is 7D, they are coming from everywhere, fast and right up on us in our faces. It was an excellent and super fun experience…we did it twice.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
All three of these employees get 5 stars from me. Stateroom Steward: Shony was excellent. He showed up everyday for the entire cruise making sure we were comfortable and our needs, if any were met. Because he worked very hard, we (my husband and I) made sure that we didn’t bother him, as he was assigned to 16 staterooms. He is a very pleasant person and he have an amazing work ethic. A Bartender, Blessing (yes that is his given name…Blessing) was truly an awesome blessing. Very respectful, courteous, friendly and beyond that…he did a wonderful job with getting our drinks out to us timely and was a wealth of knowledge in bartending questions we had, great employee. He made the best Green Yea Shots too! I can’t remember the young lady’s name that took my Starbucks orders, however she too was very nice and had a nice, welcoming attitude.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5
The ship was being cleaned continuously. Even the bathrooms were being cleaned as much as possible considering the number of guests on the ship.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ports of call

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

4 out of 5
I went out and walked around, I enjoyed the sites. I didn’t do any excursions.

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

4 out of 5
I enjoyed Cabo, I made some pretty cool purchases. I didn’t do any excursions.

San Pedro (Los Angeles), California

4 out of 5
I only left out of this port, there were no excursions. However I think San Pedro is an ok area.

Mazatlan, Mexico

4 out of 5
I went out and walked around, I enjoyed the sites. I didn’t do any excursions.

Disembarkation

2 out of 5
It was a cluster (insert your own bad word), however it wasn’t as bad as embarkation.

Traveler Photos

Blessing, Bartender Shony, Stateroom Steward
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