NCL? Tips?

[dreamer17555]

So I found an amazing last minute rate for NCL Joy for a 4 night solo sailing in Nov. I have sailed Royal previously but mostly I have cruised DCL extensively. Would love to hear what I should expect from NCL? For those who have sailed both DCL and NCL, I would really love to hear your thoughts so I can set my expectations accordingly. I am looking at booking a thermal spa pass as it seems somewhat similar to the Rainforest Room. I am a bit concerned about how freestyle dining works as a solo cruiser (I really like set dining times). I did book the drink package as More at Sea too if that is important.

Anything experiences you can share regarding NCL I would sincerely appreciate

 

[DCLMP]

My husband and son did a week on that ship and really loved it. He ranks it as his favorite ship. I guess that is a vote in the good column for what it's worth.
I'm cruising out of Istanbul on the Viva next Summer so I'm interested in reading some responses. I'm cruising for the itinerary so as long as I have a bed, food and alcohol I'll most likely enjoy it.

 

[imbelle]

We did a Greece cruise on the NCL Jade, which I believe is a smaller, older ship than the Joy so YEMV.

The Thermal Spa was not as elevated decor-wise as the Rainforest Room, but I had a favorable experience. I only saw 4 other people in there the entire week, There was an icy plunge pool and a spa pool in the women's side, another spa pool and lounge chairs in a shared unisex area. It was clean and well maintained.

The freestyle dining was convenient since our port sail away times were fairly late. There was one time where we had a wait to get into the dinning room but it mostly worked out. No problem getting a table for two at any time. We did the Free at Sea package which included 2 specialty restaurant dinners. The food at those was better than the included restaurants but nothing was particularly memorable. The Free at Sea package also included drinks (I don't drink alcohol but I was able to get mocktails).

We picked this particular ship over DCL strictly for the specific itinerary and used it basically as a floating hotel to get to the different islands. It turned out to be a good choice because without all the distractions on a DCL ship, it was much easier to just relax in the Thermal Spa after a day in port without feeling that I was missing anything.

 

[jimmymc]

I've done a few NCL cruises but not the Joy specifically.

If you'd prefer to dine at a similar time each night with a shared table, go to the solo meetup every evening. One of the cruise director's staff will organize a short activity followed by dinner in the main dining room, so you can sit with people who you've started to get to know. If you want to dine on your own, there's rarely a wait for two tops in the MDR.

Make sure to get reservations for your upcharge dining credits that come with More at Sea. Those restaurants are popular and will book up.

The Cavern Club was one of my favorite venues on the Encore. You do need to get there early if you want a seat, at least 30 minutes.

The musicians in general were the best entertainment. The stage shows were great when they were doing broadway, now they're standard cruise things.

 

[mcd2745]

We've done a couple of NCL cruises - neither of them on Joy. We enjoyed them both. Actually, one of my favorite things about NCL was freestyle dining. I prefer not having a rigid schedule every day. I will say the biggest negative we felt was the service - especially from the room steward. I don't blame the actual crew persons though as they probably are responsible for more than double the number of staterooms a DCL room host has. Gotta cut corners somewhere i guess to keep the lower price point. MDR service tended to be a little slow also. We're not heavy drinkers, but it was nice having the drink package included as well as a couple of specialty restaurants. Gave it more of a real "all-inclusive" feel to the cruise.

 

[FastPasser.]

We recently did a ten day Alaskan cruise on the Joy. We liked the ship a lot but the entertainment was not up to par, there was a lack of onboard activities and the staff/guest interaction was pretty weak.

The DCL level of service and friendliness from the staff wasn’t there.

 

[dreamer17555]

I've done a few NCL cruises but not the Joy specifically.

If you'd prefer to dine at a similar time each night with a shared table, go to the solo meetup every evening. One of the cruise director's staff will organize a short activity followed by dinner in the main dining room, so you can sit with people who you've started to get to know. If you want to dine on your own, there's rarely a wait for two tops in the MDR.

Make sure to get reservations for your upcharge dining credits that come with More at Sea. Those restaurants are popular and will book up.

The Cavern Club was one of my favorite venues on the Encore. You do need to get there early if you want a seat, at least 30 minutes.

The musicians in general were the best entertainment. The stage shows were great when they were doing broadway, now they're standard cruise things.

Solo meet up? Nice! I did not know NCL offered this and I really appreciate the advice (especially to arrive 30 mins early to the Cavern Club).

 

[dreamer17555]

We recently did a ten day Alaskan cruise on the Joy. We liked the ship a lot but the entertainment was not up to par, there was a lack of onboard activities and the staff/guest interaction was pretty weak.

The DCL level of service and friendliness from the staff wasn’t there.

The staff interaction concerns me. I did notice the Joy seems to lack the entertainment offerings like DCL (or Royal who has amazing entertainment). The price for a 4 night solo sailing in an inside room, with drink package, single speciality dining, taxes, port fees, and gratuity was just under $500. I sadly cannot find a solo DCL sailing for under $1250 (and that is a 3 night before drinks or gratuities). Appreciate the insight. I will try to set my expectations to reflect the cost

 

[DCLMP]

We did a Greece cruise on the NCL Jade, which I believe is a smaller, older ship than the Joy so YEMV.

The Thermal Spa was not as elevated decor-wise as the Rainforest Room, but I had a favorable experience. I only saw 4 other people in there the entire week, There was an icy plunge pool and a spa pool in the women's side, another spa pool and lounge chairs in a shared unisex area. It was clean and well maintained.

The freestyle dining was convenient since our port sail away times were fairly late. There was one time where we had a wait to get into the dinning room but it mostly worked out. No problem getting a table for two at any time. We did the Free at Sea package which included 2 specialty restaurant dinners. The food at those was better than the included restaurants but nothing was particularly memorable. The Free at Sea package also included drinks (I don't drink alcohol but I was able to get mocktails).

We picked this particular ship over DCL strictly for the specific itinerary and used it basically as a floating hotel to get to the different islands. It turned out to be a good choice because without all the distractions on a DCL ship, it was much easier to just relax in the Thermal Spa after a day in port without feeling that I was missing anything.

How was the ship overall? NCL has a lot of good itineraries on their older ships especially in Asia.

 

[CamColt]

I've only been on 3 older NCL Ships, and while I will say they don't compare to Disney, the cruises were still a great time! Just don't go in expecting what you get on DCL.

 

[imbelle]

How was the ship overall? NCL has a lot of good itineraries on their older ships especially in Asia.

It was serviceable. Adequate for what we needed but not much distinguishing character. Decor was the typical "brass and glass" you'd expect. The Jade was the "Pride of Hawai'i" that had been overhauled within the last year or so before we sailed on her so it seemed to be in fairly decent shape.

I don't gamble or drink so I didn't frequent the bars or casino. I did go to one show which was a glitzy, Vegas-y shindig with dancing, a magician, etc. I don't remember seeing anything in the daily schedule that caught my interest but since we were there for the port-intensive itinerary, our evenings were basically, eat dinner, veg in the thermal spa, and turn in early to get up early.

 

[DCLMP]

I've only been on 3 older NCL Ships, and while I will say they don't compare to Disney, the cruises were still a great time! Just don't go in expecting what you get on DCL.

Good to know. They have some great itineraries in Asia, South America and Europe which DCL doesn't offer.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

I just a booked a short cruise on NCL Getaway over Christmas week tonight! So excited and honestly a phenomenal deal for the price. It works out to less per person than what a hotel room per night would cost anywhere else we considered. And that's with EVERYTHING included.

(Yes I priced out the Mouse but he is charging over $3,000 for a 3-night cruise over Christmas... and that's supposedly with a 20% discount going on right now. Yikes! No drinks, tips, travel insurance, etc. included either.)

As for the Joy, I've done it twice and it's one of my favorite ships! The thermal suite on the Joy is actually a newer addition and very different to some of the other ones but they did a good job retrofitting it in the existing space. It actually did remind me more of a Rainforest Room situation there because it's atypical of NCL's other spas since this one had mostly thermal showers, a large hot tub, a cold plunge, and the tile loungers.

Have a great time!

 

[piglet1979]

So I found an amazing last minute rate for NCL Joy for a 4 night solo sailing in Nov. I have sailed Royal previously but mostly I have cruised DCL extensively. Would love to hear what I should expect from NCL? For those who have sailed both DCL and NCL, I would really love to hear your thoughts so I can set my expectations accordingly. I am looking at booking a thermal spa pass as it seems somewhat similar to the Rainforest Room. I am a bit concerned about how freestyle dining works as a solo cruiser (I really like set dining times). I did book the drink package as More at Sea too if that is important.

Anything experiences you can share regarding NCL I would sincerely appreciate

Several years ago we were on the Dawn and loved it. We loved the freestyle dining and they had great entertainment. Last year we went on the Joy. We were disappointed. Food was not a great (it was fine just not what we remembered from the first trip. Just nothing special) and they really lacked in the entertainment.

This was a short trip. Just 5 days to Bermuda with being docked for 2 days. After I had kids, I learned that I now get sea sick so this trip was to see how I would do with the patch. We had a pretty awful summer and early fall (DD and I both got whooping cough plus DD had some other health issues going on) so our plan was to just have a relaxing time for our 20 year anniversary. We booked the Vibe deck and we loved it. It was nice a quiet with dedicated bar staff. They really got to know us and even remembered our names the first day. I would say this was the best part of the boat for us. Housekeeping for us was great too. He was so nice. But dining staff was not as great.

This trip (19 years after our first trip on NCL) was just more of a disappointment then the first and really felt like they were cutting costs. We still had a great relaxing trip and would do it again with going in with a different mind set. This relaxing trip was perfect for us on the Joy. Unfortunately, we will not be on another cruise as the patch was worse then without. The first few days were great but the last 2 were bad. I ended up getting a ton of the side effects including vision and neurological. I was also super sick the last day heading back to NYC. The vision issues lasted for almost 6 months after I got back. I had to get a new prescription because of the patch. So it will be all land trips for us know.

 

[tvguy]

We have cruised NCL three times, twice before Freestyle dining, once after. Freestyle meant an hour wait for dinner, but there is a trick to get around that. In the Main Dining rooms, you can only make a reservation 24 hours in advance. So every night at dinner we made a reservation for the next night with the same server team. If you prefer the extra cost restaurants, you can make your reservation for the entire cruise in advance.
We still like NCL but they have cut way back on their entertainment. We cruised on the Norway twice and that ship featured "celebrity" entertainers, who did their show on the ship and then hung out with the passengers the rest of the week. I am talking about people you would see on the Tonight Show, etc, not the usual cruise circuit entertainers. We saw Norm Crosby, Shields and Yarnell, Jack Jones, The Fifth Dimension on the ship.

 

[sponica]

I've sailed the Joy, but we were in the Haven and we tended to just eat in the Haven restaurant, so no real experience in freestyle dining.

We probably lived in the thermal suite on the sea days, because I found the activities lacking....and because there's no "schedule" there tends to be a lot more "what are we doing" crowds near the elevators than I'm used to. (I guess my definition of fun things to do on a sea day is meet characters).

 

[MaveDatthews]

Have a 7 night booked for the Aqua in 2027. Never been on NCL before - only DCL (Wish) and Royal only one time YEARS ago. Looks like an interesting ship - seems huge.