sailawaybellaluna

Day 4: Another Sea Day! Today we woke up to cold, cloudy weather. We had a slow morning drinking coffee in the cabin before heading up to the American Diner for breakfast. (While this is a paid venue, it is free for breakfast). Due to the location, it is quite chilly (partially outdoor), but they did have some overhead heaters going. It's a mini buffet of sorts. I didn't find the food looked very appetizing. Typical greasy food with a pancake and oatmeal option. Not our best experience...😐 The day picked up as we headed to the Observation Lounge and scored two seats and footstools at the very front of the ship! By this point the sun was fighting to make an appearance, and we ended up sitting there for 3 hours reading and drinking pina coladas! Pure bliss!

We got back on board around 4:30 and decided to stop in the atrium bar for drinks. I had the best espresso martini of my life! It was $18, so with the beverage package discount and tax, I ended up paying $3.60. definitely worth it! The sun has returned, so we sat on our balcony enjoying our drinks and taking in the scenery. We enjoyed a gorgeous sunset before heading to dinner!

Thank you for that! My teenager can definitely go and I will plan something else with my little one!

Back to Cabo!! Once our tender group #19 was called, we spent about 20+ minutes queuing to board the tender boat. It took about another 20+ minutes to load everyone and then we were off! It was a beautiful morning to see the ship from the tender! We finally arrived at the pier in Cabo around 2:15 p.m.. We immediately got off and began walking around, greeted by many offers for pharmacies and glass bottom boats! We decided to walk around the harbor and that is where we met Daniel in the Information Booth. We chose to ask him about the boat tours to the arch, and were a very pleased with his suggestion to use EnvaTours. We ended up paying $25 each for the clear boat tour out to the arches. It was through a proper travel agency (EnvaTours) that had an office. All of their staff were in uniforms and very professional. The boat was very well maintained with everyone required to wear a life jacket. We spent just under an hour on the boat and really enjoyed our time! We saw whales, sea lions, and our captain threw tortillas under the boat so we could watch the fish come and eat. We passed Lover's Beach, Divorce Beach, and the arch where the water from the Pacific comes through to the Sea of Cortez. We only had six other people on board, and it was a really enjoyable little excursion! Afterwards we bought some bottled water from one of the pharmacies to take back on the ship and returned on the tender! We were the last to board the tender so getting back was a much quicker process!

I'm afraid I don't have a complete list of officers. The presence of the captain and senior offices was basically non-existent on the sailing. In fact I'm not sure if I even heard the captain give one announcement? These were featured in the Freestyle on Day 2.

I do not recall the Joy feeling this crowded when I sailed her in Alaska! I had to be very aggressive scouting out chairs in the Observation on this sailing!

I don't recall exactly, but the olives were stuffed with pickles and I believe there was some pickle juice in there as well?! Not as good as the Bloody Mary's on Holland America, but I'll never complain about spending time drinking on a cruise ship! 🤣

Back to a beautiful morning in Cabo! I've been there several times in the past, and wasn't too bothered about our plans. We knew it wouldn't be very warm so we did not invest in a resort day pass. We had packed snorkel gear, but the water was very rough and I think it only hit 71° that day. As a Californian, I would have froze to death in that weather. 😅 We had initially booked a tour on Viator for a glass bottomed boat around the arches, departing at 1:00 p.m. We ended up canceling that the week before and decided to just go with the flow. I'm so glad we did because tendering took absolutely forever. The night we boarded the ship, I got on the television to reserve tender tickets. Every option that appeared on our screen was for group 19. So we chose that! We dropped anchor near the arches around 11am, and it was after 1:00 p.m. by the time group 19 finally got called! 😳 If I had spent $130 on a resort pass, or was really anxious to do a DIY tour of Cabo, I would have been really disappointed. I'm not sure why everything on this sailing felt so crowded and moved so slowly! I've been to many tender ports and I know it can be very chaotic, especially the first hour. If I am on a cruise line where I don't have status or priority tendering, I just try and relax and stay out of the way so all of the tours can disembark first. That being said, I didn't expect the madness after already being in port 2+ hours!! All the waiting around meant we popped up to the buffet for salads, a little taste of Indian food, and a dirty bloody Mary! I wasn't mad about it! 🤣

It was a really unfortunate way to start and end the cruise! So sorry you got sick.

Thank you!

I felt the same! I'm not sure if the stormy weather meant all the people that would typically be laying out by the pool were crammed into the public areas, and that's why everything felt so crowded? That was my take on it. We could never get on the elevators and also took the stairs. Which made me sad for older people or those who had real mobility issues waiting around forever for an elevator! Rooms took a really really long time. 😐

Day 3: Cabo San Lucas! We had been watching the weather for our arrival into Cabo, and we knew with the storms it could be dicey. We were thrilled to wake up to a beautiful morning! Room service went much more smoothly today, and we really enjoyed the avocado toast with a side of hash browns! We probably sat on the balcony for an hour or two enjoying the sail in as we approached the arches. We also spotted several whales, which made for a lovely morning!

Yes, I remembered Arvin and Emily as well! I think from my last sailing on the Joy! You are so right about putting the door hanger out. I think because it was a sea day (and we had a time change as well if I remember correctly), we didn't want to be bound to waking up at a specific time. I do NOT pack light, ever. 🙂 I'm known to even take slippers and robes to Europe on vacation. My poor husband! But yes, definitely important to minimize any potential fire risks onboard the ship. I understand that...

After staying in Sugarcane for two hours listening to Tropical Fusion, we walked around the ship and deck a bit before calling it a night. Overall, a fun and relaxing day!

How funny. I have a feeling we may have had a crew switch at the start of our cruise because Guest Services was really baffled on next steps. Luckily I had a curling iron in my carry-on! 🙂 This is when not packing light helps!! I think the confusion was that they wanted me to be present WITH the electrician in our cabin to test them. So there was a lot of waiting around until I finally said he's free to test whenever he wishes.

We really enjoyed the live music on board as well! Especially Arvin and Emily and the acoustical piano! Hope you have a wonderful time in July!!

Absolutely! The room service manager was very kind, and obvious very embarassed by the situation. I think I was just a little more intense during the trip mainly because I wanted her first experience to be "the best"! In the end, she's quite easy going, and had a fantastic time!

We headed to the Local for lunch on this particular day, and happened to be there when Deal or No Deal was starting. If you've read my other reviews, you may remember that I don't typically go to many shows/quizzes, etc. I'm pretty low key, reading on my balcony much of the time. Well I would have never guessed I would be chanting GARY! GARY! GARY! halfway through my cobb salad. But here we are. Gary from Minnesota rocked the game, and Emma the cruise director did a great job hosting. We really enjoyed watching!! Afterwards we spent some time in the very busy observation lounge. Reading and having some drinks. We had a wonderful dinner in Savor (quiet table near the window, excellent food, great waiter) and were planning to go to Footloose when an announcement was made that a cast member was injured and it was cancelled. No big deal, we ended up finding ourselves at our absolute favorite venue onboard: The Sugarcane Mojito Bar! We could hear Latin music as we walked by, and were instantly drawn in! Tropical Fusion is probably one of the best bands I've heard on a ship, and we loved it. The bartenders were also so friendly, made excellent drinks, and the vibe of everyone there made for a great evening. The jalapeno cucumber mojito was my favorite.

One issue that I continued to deal with today was talking with guest services regarding an item which was confiscated from my luggage. The night before my suitcase did not arrive until around 8:30 p.m. Once opened I discovered a note that a prohibited item, "a steamer" had been confiscated. Ironically, I don't own a steamer and have never packed one on a trip, so I assumed the letter was placed in there by mistake? Until I realized my beloved hot rollers were missing. Ack. Now I've taken these on several cruises (including this very ship), so I was sure it would be a simple conversation with guest services. It was not. Over the course of 2 days and four phone calls, they were finally able to locate the hot rollers and I was told the only way I could get them back was if I waited in my room for the ships electrician to bring them and test them in my cabin. I waited and waited the first night, but he didn't come. Finally during the second afternoon I just said he is welcome to come at anytime and test them in my cabin and if they could please be left there for me. Finally that evening, we were reunited! Another random, strange experience! 🤪

Day 2: Today was a day at sea. While it turned quite cloudy and a bit stormy later on, we had a gorgeous morning on the balcony to enjoy our coffee. I'd love to say we enjoyed room service as well, but the experience that day wasn't the best. It took roughly 18 minutes on hold just to get through and place our order, and then 1 hour and 10 minutes for it to be delivered. To be honest I wasn't too shocked as I know sea days are always so busy for room service. We had nowhere to be and I was pretty relaxed about it. (I take my own ground coffee and French press and usually fill it from the hot water / tea stations) so I was just happy to have my coffee in hand. Unfortunately when our food arrived, half of it was missing. Only one entree (an omelette) arrived, and it was cold. No salt and pepper, no cutlery. A call to room service (where I waited again) yielded an apology and they sent another entree which arrived around 30 minutes later. I did receive a call from the room service manager later that morning to apologize. He waived the $4.95 service fee and then sent a plate of chocolate truffles to the room. I appreciated the gesture. In general, I don't get too upset about these little inconveniences, they're part of the travel experience. I was just bummed as it was my friend's very first cruise and I wanted her to have the best experience possible.

We had 5:30pm dinner reservations in The Manhattan dining room tonight. I made reservations about a month or two prior to sailing, and I'm so glad I did! In general, I felt the dining venues were always quite busy, even when dining early. Unfortunately on this night we were placed in the aft, right near the waiter station where all the cutlery and trays and menus are organized. It was so so noisy, and I always had someone's bottom in my face while they were at the station. Literally there were always 2-5 people there, and it was sometimes difficult to even hold a conversation across the table while they were working. Eeek. However, our dinner was delicious. We finished and decided to head to the casino to explore. Afterwards we enjoyed looking at all the plaques and welcome gifts that were given to the Joy during their Maiden voyage season. The details on model ship were amazing!

This is so helpful, thank you for posting! I think this has convinced me not to book a tour! Do you happen to know the minimum age for children on the zip line? Thank you!

Also wondering about this! It just got added this week as an option for our cruise!

At this point it was time to head to the muster drill. Pre-covid, in-person drills are back! We were in the theater and it was standing room only. 😳 Fortunately it was very fast and efficient and we were able to head back to our cabin afterwards. My friend's luggage has already been delivered, so she got down to work unpacking while I relaxed on the balcony a bit reading a new to me CoHo book. Her best one yet I think!

Around 3:15 we saw all the doors open to our hall and went to spend a few minutes in our cabin before the muster. We were in #10178 - balcony midship. I have no complaints about the cabin, it was a great location, spacious with plenty of storage, and I love that the bathroom doesn't have a curtain! I was able to notice the wear and tear on the sofa, decorative pillows and some of the drawers since my last sailing. But hey, it's been 4 years. One thing to keep in mind is this cabin and many next to it do not have a clear view down to the water. Rather, you see the top of the Waterfront on deck 8. Not a big deal but something worth mentioning.