Just Back from the JOY 5/18 sailing - AMA

[alexgtp]

Just got back from the 5/18 sailing. Ask me anything.

 

I have to say this ship is awesome! It has something for everyone. Wife and I enjoyed this ship and all it had to offer.

 

Service was great, food was great, bar service was great, on board entertainment was good.

 

I will try and write up a review when I get the chance. I have some pics I will also post up.

 

Room 13146 - Balcony

 

 

Edited May 27, 2019 by alexgtp
add pictures

[Blm03]

Good to know!! We leave at the end of June and I was getting a little worried with some of the reviews!

[alexgtp]

2 minutes ago, Blm03 said:

Good to know!! We leave at the end of June and I was getting a little worried with some of the reviews!

Only negative I can think of,  but this is problematic of ships this class, the elevators are terribly crowded. No matter the time of day there are always loads of people waiting for elevators.  Easily remedied if you like to take the stairs (helps walk off the excess calories..lol).

 

Protip-  stay on the 13th floor forward and you have quick access to the 15th floor (observation deck) 16th floor (garden cafe, aqua park, galaxy pavilion, mandara spa)) via stairs.

[alexgtp]

[Blm03]

3 minutes ago, alexgtp said:

Only negative I can think of,  but this is problematic of ships this class, the elevators are terribly crowded. No matter the time of day there are always loads of people waiting for elevators.  Easily remedied if you like to take the stairs (helps walk off the excess calories..lol).

 

Protip-  stay on the 13th floor forward and you have quick access to the 15th floor (observation deck) 16th floor (garden cafe, aqua park, galaxy pavilion, mandara spa)) via stairs.

I’ve heard that with the elevators. We are on the 8th floor so I see a lot of stairs in our future. Lol

[Sand and Seas]

How was the Footloose production?

Did you go to the American Diner?  How was the menu?

 

Thanks for posting the pictures, and looking forward to hearing more! 

We are for Nov 2020 but getting excited about this ship already 😎

[Weluv2cruise2gether]

Thanks for the review, look forward to hearing more. We sail on the Joy 7/27.

 

I have read on other posts for the 1st Joy to Alaska sailing that there was an Alaska night in the MDR on 2nd night which included crab legs. Did they have this on your sailing, and if so, was it still in the 2nd night?

 

 Thanks again!

[tulok]

Can’t wait for your review. We sail on 6/15, also on the 13th deck. Just starting to think about what to pack. Any theme nights? 

The worse part of a cruise is coming home. 

Edited May 27, 2019 by tulok
Spelling

[alexgtp]

Footloose was your typical cheesy cruise production, enjoyable fun and lively. Crowd was really into it. We enjoyed it.

 

We skipped American Diner and opted for Food Republic (which had an interesting eclectic menu, we enjoyed it immensely, side note you can not use your dining package here this is a la cart only)

 

They did have an Alaskan night but I did not notice Crab Legs on the menu. Lots of fresh seafood on the menu thru out the week (mussels, scallops, different types of fish prepared in different styles)

 

Lot's of theme nights.

Day #2 Awesome 80's Party

Day #3 Decades Dance Party (saw lots of people dressed like 70's and 80's dancers) The Social

Day #4 Nashville Night and Lights (country dance part with line dancing) Q BBQ

Day#5 Glow Party (replaced the white party) you can get you face body painted neon colors which glow under the lights hosted at The Social

Day#6 90's throwback Party - The Social

 

 

 

[alexgtp]

Other things I remembered.

 

-no more towel animals 

 

-straws , YES they have straws you may have to ask for them (they are eco friendly paper straws)

 

-plenty of places to charge your devices in the Observation Lounge ,  plenty of Type B outlets and USB-A outlets conveniently located  on wall and even some of the fancy blue couches.

 

-pool area seems like wasted space, wish they would have added additional pool or left the Tree garden to give it some character, the shiny curvy bog booty statue left me scratching my head.

 

-DadDan the Cruise director reminded me of Alec Mapa, he was fun and entertaining

 

-If you like to dance latin music Sugarcane Mojito Bar is the place to be nightly.

 

-Beer Snobs rejoice - Dogfish Head 90 Min IPA on tap at the District Brew house!! Plenty of Alaskan Brewing Company beers scattered thru out the bars, it was fun hunting out specific beers at different bars (Amber was at almost every bar) if you want Freeride and Kolsch you must hunt.

 

-Each bar seemed to have mixed drinks on tap , pretty cool concept as each place had a theme. Can't really remember them all but do try them.

 

-did i mention how terrible the elevator's are..!!!!

 

-Casino seemed small, from what i remember the Original Joy had 2 floors, a high roller area and a place in the Haven. If you are a roulette player they have a European Wheel with 0 and 00 spots , so if you are used to the American Wheel and playing areas you will need to learn the Euro wheel layout

 

-Casino had an enclosed smoking area , wow does it make a difference, also smoking sections seemed very limited, or maybe i didn't see alot of people smoking.

 

-Alaska is Amazing the scenery is breath taking and Majestic. I highly recommend binoculars (10x42 - 7 should be large enough for Glacier and wildlife viewing, but if you have a steady hand or tripod go larger magnification)

[alexgtp]

[Seany527]

Thanks for sharing.  Do you have any details on internet pricing? 

[alexgtp]

There is a Handy USB charger on the lamp consoles at each side of the bed. Very convenient. Also here is my setup for charging of all my electronics.

[alexgtp]

I had the free 250 minutes which seemed to be adequate. I was able to post to social media and check work emails. Streaming YouTube or netflix seemed to be challenging.

 

Fast.com and Speedtest.com are blocked so I was not able to get any real world speed specs for uploads or downloads. Wifi signal was very strong in most areas of ship I avg'd anywhere from -77dB to -105dB (using Network Cell info lite app)

 

 

 

Day 1 daily has an offer for Unlimited Internet Special with Plans starting at $14.99 per day

 

-please note that there are signs thru out the ship, that state something to this effect  'due to the mountainous terrain of Alaska satellite internet reception might not be optimal".

[alexgtp]

[tulok]

Thank you Alexgtp for all the valuable information. I have one more question since this is our first megabox ship; comedy shows and race track must be reserved once on the ship. How busy are the kiosks and do you have advice which areas are the less busy to make reservations? I am having a hard time thinking about 4+k people on the ship and what a headache that could be.

[alexgtp]

3 minutes ago, tulok said:

Thank you Alexgtp for all the valuable information. I have one more question since this is our first megabox ship; comedy shows and race track must be reserved once on the ship. How busy are the kiosks and do you have advice which areas are the less busy to make reservations? I am having a hard time thinking about 4+k people on the ship and what a headache that could be.

 

No reservations were available for the comedy show. I always noticed a long line of people waiting to go in to these shows so we skipped them. (wife hates comedians)

 

You can make reservations for the race track at the race track check in. The Galaxy Pavilion has multiple TV screens with openings for the different activities, which makes it easy to book reservations. Find the time you like and walk up to the desk and make your reservations. We were up in the Pavilion 2 times and never noticed long lines. Maybe due the the price/itinerary? 

 

With as many people on the ship it rarely felt crowded ( with the exception of The Garden Cafe and the Elevators) The premium spots on the observation deck were mostly always full on sea days but a spot was always available in different area's of the observation deck. We sat in the premium viewing area numerous times thru out the trip one time for over 3 hours. Bar service was excellent in that area also!!!

[ggg196078]

Can you recoomend shore excursions? Must see's at port. Tours? etc 

[Mmarc7969]

Can you tell me or do you know what the Concierge level offers?

[alexgtp]

I am not sure what concierge level included. I have looked thru my paperwork and dailies and no mention. Sorry.

 

For excursions I highly recommend in Juneau to do the Whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier PHOTO SAFARI (it is pricier but this excursion is limited to 14 people, on a ship built for sea-life viewing) this had to be one of the best experiences in my life. We saw numerous whales, we saw a mother whale and her calf who would not stop playing around, he must have breached the water 3-4 times during our encounter, we saw 2 pods of Orca's ranging from 15-20 Orca's per pod, we saw harbor seals and Eagles. The tour is done by Gastineau Guiding.

 

 

Ketchikan -

We did the Misty Fjords and wilderness Explorer which was a tour of the fjords on a 60 person boat. Saw some wildlife and amazing views, rather crowded and people tended to crowd certain areas when photo ops arised. They provided soup, coffee and water, and sodas's and alcohol for purchase.

 

Skagway

We did the White Pass Rail and Yukon Expedition. White Pass Rail has amazing views and some pretty awesome pretty awesome photo oppurtunities ( I recommend sitting towards the back of your car and on the side facing away from the mountain because it makes for the best photos/videos, if you want to go outside of the car you should do it as quickly as possible, photo hogs tend to take up the area and not move for others to allow them to take photos)

 

Victoria

We did a food tour which was just plain awful. we sampled calamari, fish taco's had a wine tasting of local wines. Not worth the price. I would skip this excursion.

 

[alexgtp]

Orca Pods the fins on some of the males were around 6 feet long!! These pics do not do them justice. Mendenhall Glacier. These pics are from the Photo Safari excursion.  I do not have many pictures of the whales because i was taking video. Once i edit the videos i will post on up for those interested.

[Weluv2cruise2gether]

3 hours ago, alexgtp said:

 

 

For excursions I highly recommend in Juneau to do the Whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier PHOTO SAFARI (it is pricier but this excursion is limited to 14 people, on a ship built for sea-life viewing) this had to be one of the best experiences in my life. We saw numerous whales, we saw a mother whale and her calf who would not stop playing around, he must have breached the water 3-4 times during our encounter, we saw 2 pods of Orca's ranging from 15-20 Orca's per pod, we saw harbor seals and Eagles. The tour is done by Gastineau Guiding.

 

 

Skagway

We did the White Pass Rail and Yukon Expedition. White Pass Rail has amazing views and some pretty awesome pretty awesome photo oppurtunities ( I recommend sitting towards the back of your car and on the side facing away from the mountain because it makes for the best photos/videos, if you want to go outside of the car you should do it as quickly as possible, photo hogs tend to take up the area and not move for others to allow them to take photos)

 

Thanks for this info, so glad to hear that these 2 tours are good as we picked both of them! Your pictures are beautiful, thanks for sharing!

[smithop]

I have a question about deck 8, the Waterfront.  Is this the deck you can walk around outside?  We enjoy walking around a few laps but it doesn’t look like it runs the full length.  I know there is a track up top but we prefer mid level decks for walks.

 

I’m also wondering about the seating pods around the Waterfront, if they were crowded, they look like small cabana areas.

 

Thanks.

[LivinCruise2Cruise]

I have heard you can't have a lanyard because if you punch a hole in your card it won't work. Do you know anything about this?

[CajunGroover]

On 5/26/2019 at 10:23 PM, alexgtp said:

Only negative I can think of,  but this is problematic of ships this class, the elevators are terribly crowded. No matter the time of day there are always loads of people waiting for elevators.  Easily remedied if you like to take the stairs (helps walk off the excess calories..lol).

 

Protip-  stay on the 13th floor forward and you have quick access to the 15th floor (observation deck) 16th floor (garden cafe, aqua park, galaxy pavilion, mandara spa)) via stairs.

Thanks for confirming the reason I picked my forward room on 13th floor!