Memorable vacation. It’s not named Joy for nothing

Wonderful ship, extremely friendly staff, and marvelous nighttime entertainment. I thoroughly recommend this cruise line. Be careful with excursions, however, because they take you to places where you would like to linger, and time constraints may make that impossible:-) The food service is excellent and choices of restaurants is very varied. They handle busy times and lots of people very well. We had some excellent learning experiences of international cuisine. They employ a large number of staff from the Philippines, and without doubt they are incredibly friendly and a joy to be in their company. It is nice to be surrounded by people who really love their jobs. The ship is well built and can handle weather conditions very well, but it is small enough to fit into small ports without dominating the Harbour front. My family has traveled on NCL nine times and will continue to do so if we are so blessed.

A Joy to Sail on the Joy

This was my second sailing on the Joy and my fourth on NCL. I traveled as a solo cruiser. Seattle and Embarkation: I flew into Seattle one day before embarking the Joy and was able to take in some of the Seattle sites on Sunday. I stayed at the Hyatt Place on 6th Ave No near the Space Needle. Would I stay there again - no. Did it meet my needs - yes. I wanted to be close to the Space Needle and the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum and they were an easy walk from the hotel. There is no longer a restaurant in the hotel, nor a bar, so I grabbed dinner while at Chihuly. They did offer a shuttle to the pier for $12 per person. It was a 15 minute shuttle ride to the pier and I arrived at 12:30. A porter took my bags directly from the shuttle and I walked into the terminal. The whole boarding process was extremely smooth. I was waiting for a table for lunch at Savor at 12:50. Twenty minutes from arrival to lunch - I’ve never experienced that before on embarkation day. Cabin: My cabin was ready about 2:45 and bags arrived shortly after. Cabin is a port side solo balcony with the couch by the balcony door. Makes it a bit hard to get into the closet with the bed next to it, but not an insurmountable hurdle. The location of the cabin was easily accessible from both forward and aft elevators/stairs and it was very quiet throughout the cruise. My cabin stewardess was very attentive and brought me a bathrobe, a fluffy balcony blanket, and a coffee pot. She kept the coffee pods well stocked. I found the cabin temperature to be warm so I either kept the A/C turned low or kept my balcony door open, particularly on days at sea. Dining: I had a couple breakfast/lunches in Taste and Savor and one breakfast at The Local. All were fine, and I enjoyed Taste and Savor over The Local. Of the speciality restaurants, my favorite was LeBistro. The quality of the food far exceeded my expectations. The experience at Teppanyaki was a lot of fun and the food was well prepared. I would definitely recommend both of these on the Joy. Cagney’s was a miss, for me, on this cruise. The service was very rushed and my steak was not cooked as requested and was not very flavorful. I’ve been very pleased with Cagney’s on past cruises, so I’m chalking this up to an off night. I was quite surprised by my experience at Q after reading some reviews of it. My server was excellent and it was obvious she enjoyed working in a venue with country music. I ordered the brisket and it was tender, moist, and just plain yummy! And the bread pudding - which didn’t really seem like a bread pudding - was the best dessert I had all week. I thoroughly enjoyed my dinner at Q and would definitely return. The Manhattan, Taste, and Savor were all fine for dinner. There were no problems and the food was good - they just didn’t wow me. I didn’t dine at the Garden Cafe (the buffet). Bars and Entertainment: Maltings Whiskey Bar was my favorite on the ship with great drinks and nice atmosphere. They offered a Johnnie Walker blending experience on the sea days that was a lot of fun. The other bar worth visiting is the one outside the Cavern Club on deck 8. It was nice to sit outside with a bit of wind protection and enjoy a drink. I saw two shows in the main theater - Wild Cards and Bring Back the 90s. Both were very good, the performers quite talented, and the theater is very comfortable. No magic shows for me this trip but I did enjoy the comedy shows. Ports: It’s impossible to pick a favorite port. They are all beautiful and unique in their own way. We had long stops in every port which allowed for an excursion and time to explore on your own. The weather was absolutely perfect to enjoy each port - usually foggy in the mornings which burned off by about noon revealing beautiful blue skies. I highly recommend Coastal Cheers Connection in Ketchikan if you are not taking an NCL excursion. I took this from downtown Ketchikan to the ship and it was a lovely one hour cruise that returned you right to the ship. I booked it through NCL. I booked all of my excursions through NCL and I will post specific excursion reviews on pages for the ports. I have no words to describe the day in Glacier Bay except pure beauty. Disembarkation: This went as smoothly as embarkation. My luggage tag color was called about 8:45 and I was in my ride share shortly after 9:00. Pier 66 in Seattle is the most efficient terminal I have ever experienced. Overall my cruise on the Joy was amazing. The ship is beautiful and well maintained. The crew was very accommodating and friendly. I really have no complaints about my time spent enjoying Alaska.

A Joyful Time on the Joy

We had a great time on the Joy, this was our second cruise in the last year on the Joy. From embarkation to disembarkation everything went smoothly. We stayed at the Marriott Waterfront the night before the cruise and I would highly recommend it. The cruise terminal is literally across the street and we were able to walk to it. Check in process was quick and we were on the ship within 15 minutes. We wandered around a bit before settling in the observation lounge to wait for our cabin Once at our cabin, we met our steward Del, from St. Lucia. He was fantastic. Always smiling and cheerful. He took care of us very well. The ship as always was immaculate. There are plenty of things to do if you are so inclined, from water slides to the race track. We ate at several specialty restaurants, Ocean Blue, Cagney's (twice), La Cucina and Teppanyaki. Each mile was excellent. The complimentary restaurants were also good. The only disappointing one was the Local. We normally book shore excursions from private tour groups, but we used NCL for all of our tours. I will review those individually. The weather for the most part was good, though in Alaska, it can change daily, but never too bad. Finally for disembarkation we walked off with our bags, and no issue at all.