So so transatlantic ( we have done many) - partly due to weather ( nothing NCL can do about), but largely due to choices NCL made

Item: Norwegian Joy
Rating: 3.8
Author: df1sp

Norwegian Joy Cruise Review to Transatlantic

df1sp

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 10

Overall rating:

3.8 out of 5

Verified Review

11 Night Transatlantic (Southampton To Miami)

Sail date: February 13, 2024

Ship: Norwegian Joy

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9306

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 2 months ago

Review summary

Nice, stable ship ( although we don’t mind motion). Our feeling is that NCL in general is cutting everywhere - not going unnoticed also by fellow passengers ( case in point: no onboard band). An 11 day non-stop xatlantic is unusual ( and in my humble opinion not a smart move to maximize revenue), but no real daytime entertainment such as enrichment talks is unheard of. Also, if NCL wants to attract Central European passengers: Southampton is a pain to get to. We will avoid.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Fast as we were late ( due to major train problems)

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Main dining rooms largely very good, although selections seem trimmed down considerably; buffet good, but also trimmed, Texas restaurant needs major revamp

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5

Gym too small - pools very small for a ship that size. Couldn’t check outdoors activities too much due to weather

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Theater Entertainment was partially great, some other evening entertainment soso Daytime entertainment mediocre to non- existent

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

The staff saved the cruise for NCL

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Clean ship- considering we were coming out of dry dock ( expecting an almost new ship…): well… I.e. the balcony door in our first cabin did not close… and it was ice- cold

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Everything good ( after we changed cabin due to constant knocking noise)

Ship tip

Nice areas to enjoy sea days ( ie observation room), specially on bad weather days, of which we had many

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Southampton (London), England

2 out of 5

A painful port to get to from central EU - first and likely last time we will consider it- this was amplified by major train delays from London that day

Thumbs Up 0

Miami, Florida

4 out of 5

Largely well organized cruise port, but…

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

2 out of 5

… major delays to get off the ship and at immigration

9 Comments

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