LI_Rainmaker

There are no studios on the Joy and I don't believe that they are creating any with the upcoming changes. The cost for a single in a cabin is about 80% of the cost of dual occupancy. On an Alaska cruise, the Observation deck is a popular spot for whale watching and scenery. That might be a consideration given that they are downsizing the observation deck on this ship.

Completely disagree. This is not about making underutilized space better utilized. First, it is not underutilized space by all, just by those that don't use it which makes it of value to everyone who does use it. Second, the space is being taken up for cabins, not for other uses. So all those who were using the space along with all the new guests in these cabins are jammed into the other areas of the ship that are already overcrowded. So, nothing is gained but additional revenue for NCL. And finally, who cares what the other lines are doing. That is not the point here. There are certain destinations that do pack them in to the observation lounge. For example, on an Alaska cruise you might find it hard to get a seat there.

Not this one. I am a stockholder and I think this sucks. Not only what they are doing bujt the fact that the book up a ship then announce this. I booked a group cruise very carefully choosing the ship and destination that I thought best suited our group. If I were doing this next cruise on my own I would have cancelled but I have 12 cabins booked on this ship so there is too much at stake to change now. Very disappointed in Norwegian. Unfortunately, we will see more of this. Post COVID, ships are booking over 100% of their capacity. The economy is bad and they have already cut services and staff where every they can what else can they do but pack more people onto the ships and upsell more to their captive audience. It may come as a surprise to many but about 50% of their revenue comes from on board sales.

I find this aggravating! it's not more public space, it is more "UpSell Space" to get more money out of you on the ship and as a result of this there is LESS public space and more people on the ship which only means that things are going to be more crowded. I chose the Joy for a group cruise because it had one of the best ratios of space and crew per customer. Not sure how many rooms they are adding with this but it sure sounds like there will be a lot more people on the ship with this change.