Joy Concierge Cabin/Perk Questions

[Dd3thomas]

We are booked on the Joy, Nov 14^th 2020 for an Eastern Caribbean and have Concierge suite 14778 with the angled balcony. Looks like a great cabin, more spacious than most. We are contemplating upgrading to a Haven but not sure if it’s worth it.  We are traveling with a large group of family and don’t really care about having a “Haven only” courtyard or restaurant. That would make it harder for all the family to visit and meet up.  We did a suite on NCL Pride Dec 2019 and loved the priority on/off, reserved seating section for shows, Cagney’s for breakfast and the larger cabin/bath.  We didn’t use the butler service, but the concierge was great on helping with excursions and what to do.

Can anyone help confirm a few things? Website says priority embarkation and disembarkation, does this also apply to getting off/on the boat at each port?  I saw a comment that there is a Haven line for getting off at the ports, can concierge use it as well?

Concierge cabin gets breakfast and lunch at a private restaurant?

Is there a reserved seating section for shows?  I read they fill up quickly and are hard to get into.

Website says “and special perks” – what else is there?

For reference, we are thinking about one of the Aft facing Haven suites with the large balcony and separate living room to maybe entertain some of the family, sit out on the balcony as we sail in/out of ports. The view from pictures looks great but never had an aft corner before, not sure if it is noisy from the propellers?

Thanks in advance for any and all information!

Edited September 11, 2019 by Dd3thomas

[Albinroo]

We are also booked in a concierge cabin on the Joy, from what I've read previosuly that means lunch and dinner in La Cucina. That seems to be appreciated since it avoids the crowds in the buffet. I don't know about priority embark/debark in ports but I do think they have a concierge available for help with booking things once onboard.

[BirdTravels]

13 hours ago, Dd3thomas said:

Can anyone help confirm a few things? Website says priority embarkation and disembarkation, does this also apply to getting off/on the boat at each port?  I saw a comment that there is a Haven line for getting off at the ports, can concierge use it as well?

Concierge cabin gets breakfast and lunch at a private restaurant?

Is there a reserved seating section for shows?  I read they fill up quickly and are hard to get into.

Website says “and special perks” – what else is there?

For reference, we are thinking about one of the Aft facing Haven suites with the large balcony and separate living room to maybe entertain some of the family, sit out on the balcony as we sail in/out of ports. The view from pictures looks great but never had an aft corner before, not sure if it is noisy from the propellers?

Thanks in advance for any and all information!

The Joy has only sailed Alaska so far. The link below has menus from the Joy including the concierge restaurant. 

 

Breakfast and lunch are are served in La Cucina. The menu is the same each day. 

 

There was a separate check in line. And Concierge was called first for boarding (vs Haven who were escorted onboard before general boarding. 

 

The concierge said that he only escorts off at the final disembarkation port. And he showed us to the private security line. Nothing at ports of call. 

 

At one port, one of the staff saw our room keys and pulled us to the Haven gangway. 

 

Best to to ask what is available on your cruise. 

 

No reserved seating in the theater. 

 

Can’t think about anything else special. 

 

The Concierge is there in the restaurant to help.  He as 87 suites to support. (Compared to the Haven where their concierge (different person) has two assistants to support the 87 Haven rooms). 

 

 

 

 

[htnut]

I had the room next door, the “Penthouse” room which is narrower (smaller balcony) but longer.  We appreciated the length, but if you’re traveling with a group your room is much better because if you have others visit you there is much more space, and you can comfortably fit 6 on your balcony.  These rooms are awesome and probably the best value on the ship. 

 

Ask your room steward for a couple of extra chairs for your balcony!  Ours was happy to oblige. 

 

Aside from the nice room, the breakfast and lunch in La Cucina is the best “concierge” perk. The priority embarkation/disembarkation didn’t seem to be much of a benefit (everyone was moving through as fast as we were) and the actual concierge proved hard to reach, overworked and only reactive.  I wouldn’t have even known he was there if I didn’t go looking for him a couple of times.  When he was unavailable, I was able to get reservations help from others.  Almost 100% of the staff on this ship is amazing, attentive, courteous, hard working and generous.  In hindsight I wish I had have slipped some cash (folding USD) to some of them.   They work hard and our few dollars means a lot more to them than us. 

 

For concierge “service”, NCL could make this a much better experience, worthy of the higher price.  But I suggest it for the room. 

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, htnut said:

 

For concierge “service”, NCL could make this a much better experience, worthy of the higher price.  But I suggest it for the room. 

I totally agree

 

going back to the OP’s question, there was little to no documentation on the benefits of being in a Concierge suite. It was almost like “don’t tell so don’t have to work” attitude by NCL. I asked at checkin about lunch and benefits to both a shore agent and a guest services officer. Neither could really answer.

 

“See the letter in your room”. I want lunch now at 11:30 not at 1:30 when the room opens. And talking to the somewhat useless Concierge didn’t help either. 

 

Over all a fail on letting leiple people know what they paid for. 

[Dd3thomas]

8 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Thanks so much for the information. BirdTravels the post on your Alaskan voyage was great! Info on the Joy, especially concierge suites seems hard to find.  I know Joy is the only one that has this cabin type and has only been in the US for a little while, is concierge suites a marketing test to see if it catches on or something they had to do to because of re-configuring original set up for an Asian market? Just wondering, they could have just made those extra Haven suites - maybe?
 

 

 

 

[Dd3thomas]

5 hours ago, htnut said:

I had the room next door, the “Penthouse” room which is narrower (smaller balcony) but longer.  We appreciated the length, but if you’re traveling with a group your room is much better because if you have others visit you there is much more space, and you can comfortably fit 6 on your balcony.  These rooms are awesome and probably the best value on the ship. 

 

Ask your room steward for a couple of extra chairs for your balcony!  Ours was happy to oblige. 

Thanks for the tip - will absolutely do that. 

[Dd3thomas]

Does anyone know if you can have guests with you for breakfast or lunch in La Cusina?  In a few of the posts asking about if guests were ok in the Haven restaurants, they said yes but the guest had to pay and was very expensive. Didn’t know if the same applied here.

[htnut]

Questions like this are often a case of ask three different NCL employees and get three different answers. 

 

In practice we were told that we could bring guests that are not in a concierge room, but they would be charged.  

 

We also found that when you check in for breakfast or lunch, only one person shows their key card and they will deliver the number of meals that coincides with the number of guests in your room without confirming if the person dining with you is from your room. 

 

I also think that that depending on the server, they might allow more meals to be delivered.  But YMMV and, strictly speaking, La Cucina is only for Concierge guests during breakfast and lunch. 

[swimmom1]

We had an absolutely phenomenal time in the concierge room. From the first day to early boarding which let us get every showtime and dinner reservation we wanted to the last day when we were personally escorted off on the “secret” elevator it was great.  The room size worked for us and the bathroom was super large. there was tons of storage including two big closets. Every day we had a surprise from our room attendant even though we sure did not need more food.  breakfast and lunch were our favorites as they knew our names after the first lunch and took great care of us. Even though the menu was the same every day none of us minded and there were plenty of options.   I forgot to mention I travelled with my mom, me and my two twenty something year old kids. We usually get two balconies but with the room size we were all together and we all spent more time together than with the two rooms. This was our first time on ncl , we usually travel with rccl but with the perk of 3rd and 4th in room we couldn’t pass it up. We had a suite on rccl last cruise also and this cruise was one of our favorites. We are from south Florida so Alaska was amazing. Sorry to be so verbose but if you have additional questions I’ll be happy to help. 

[BirdTravels]

14 hours ago, Dd3thomas said:

Thanks so much for the information. BirdTravels the post on your Alaskan voyage was great! Info on the Joy, especially concierge suites seems hard to find.  I know Joy is the only one that has this cabin type and has only been in the US for a little while, is concierge suites a marketing test to see if it catches on or something they had to do to because of re-configuring original set up for an Asian market? Just wondering, they could have just made those extra Haven suites - maybe?

The Concierge Suites were built for the Asian market where they believed that if they advertised it as "something above steerage", the Asians would flock to it. Now, I admit that the space in the Concierge room was nice. But, it was about the same as a regular (cheap) balcony room on an Oasis class ship (i.e., NCL regular rooms are tiny). 

 

When the ship was in China, the space where the observation lounge is, was additional concierge suites and a concierge lounge where meals were served. They removed the rooms and built the observation lounge as part of the dry dock earlier this year.

 

All of the smaller ships have Suites but no Haven (Dawn, Star, Sun, Sky). The Jewel Class ships have both Suites and Havens like the Joy (Jewel, Gem, Pearl, Jade). Right now,,, the Suites have the same benefits as the Haven without access to the Haven courtyard (private restaurant, concierge, butler service). NCL has been talking about downgrading the service to the non-Haven Suites,,, and the Joy is the first to do that. We hope that they don't do it to other ships. 

 

Again, I was very disappointed at how little communication there was on what we "got" with our concierge room.  

[Toastboy]

Does anyone know if La Cucina was open to Concierge cabin guests on embarkation day for lunch?

[e3c1f4]

It looks like these suites are under the observation lounge. Thinking of booking one, anyone have any experience with what the nose is from above?

[Love my butler]

13 hours ago, e3c1f4 said:

It looks like these suites are under the observation lounge. Thinking of booking one, anyone have any experience with what the nose is from above?

There is no noise from above.

[Toastboy]

On ‎1‎/‎24‎/‎2020 at 5:50 AM, e3c1f4 said:

It looks like these suites are under the observation lounge. Thinking of booking one, anyone have any experience with what the nose is from above?

We just disembarked on Sunday, we were in 14768 concierge villa suite with balcony, never heard any noise from the observation lounge above.  We loved the proximity to the lounge, being able to walk up one flight of stairs and be right there was nice.  Overall the experience was great and I would definitely book a concierge room again in the future.  We boarded late, and were barely able to grab a quick bite to eat at The Local before we had the muster drill, thus never bothered to make reservations for the comedy shows.  Next morning our concierge met us at La Cucina and helped us get the shows we wanted booked.  The breakfast/lunch menu in La Cucina is the same menu they have for breakfast/lunch in the Haven Restaurant.  Tried several things and all were good.  Best eggs benedict I've ever had on a cruise, shrimp cocktail was better in la cucina for lunch than in Ocean Blue.  I wish we had a few more opportunities to eat there, but port days we were ashore at lunch time.  One more thing, we did not do priority disembarkation because we had NCL arranged flights/transfers, so we went to La Cucina and were served a wonderful meal while we waited leisurely for our group to be called.  It was a great way to end the week.

[e3c1f4]

5 hours ago, Toastboy said:

We just disembarked on Sunday, we were in 14768 concierge villa suite with balcony, never heard any noise from the observation lounge above.  We loved the proximity to the lounge, being able to walk up one flight of stairs and be right there was nice.  Overall the experience was great and I would definitely book a concierge room again in the future.  We boarded late, and were barely able to grab a quick bite to eat at The Local before we had the muster drill, thus never bothered to make reservations for the comedy shows.  Next morning our concierge met us at La Cucina and helped us get the shows we wanted booked.  The breakfast/lunch menu in La Cucina is the same menu they have for breakfast/lunch in the Haven Restaurant.  Tried several things and all were good.  Best eggs benedict I've ever had on a cruise, shrimp cocktail was better in la cucina for lunch than in Ocean Blue.  I wish we had a few more opportunities to eat there, but port days we were ashore at lunch time.  One more thing, we did not do priority disembarkation because we had NCL arranged flights/transfers, so we went to La Cucina and were served a wonderful meal while we waited leisurely for our group to be called.  It was a great way to end the week.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to give this awesome detail.  We upgraded to the concierge suite for our April to Alaska before all of the crazy happened.  Its supposed to be our first cruise ever but now its not looking good about it happening which is a huge bummer. (and the Joy won't be in Alaska next year!)

[Wendy&Grumpy]

On 9/13/2019 at 7:50 AM, BirdTravels said:

NCL has been talking about downgrading the service to the non-Haven Suites,,, and the Joy is the first to do that. We hope that they don't do it to other ships. 

 

It appears they're doing exactly the opposite. CA & CB are being reclassified to Haven (HI & HJ I think) and CC & CF are being reclassified as Suites (SC & SP).

[Two Wheels Only]

9 minutes ago, Wendy&Grumpy said:

It appears they're doing exactly the opposite. CA & CB are being reclassified to Haven (HI & HJ I think) and CC & CF are being reclassified as Suites (SC & SP).

 

I haven't gone over all of the details so maybe someone with more Joy knowledge can help. 

 

Will there be 102 staterooms on Joy with Haven access after September 2020?

[Dd3thomas]

44 minutes ago, Wendy&Grumpy said:

 

It appears they're doing exactly the opposite. CA & CB are being reclassified to Haven (HI & HJ I think) and CC & CF are being reclassified as Suites (SC & SP).

I had not been following anything cruise related the last 6 weeks but just signed onto my account. We sail Nov 14th, and had a CA suite, my reservation is now saying Haven, HI category for our cabin now!!!! 

[graphicguy]

I know this thread has been dormant for a while.  But, I’m looking at a 01/21 JOY cruise in a concierge suite.  They’ve all been reclassified at Haven Suites and all the benefits the Haven affords....including the Haven Lounge and Haven Restaurant!

[Wendy&Grumpy]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

I know this thread has been dormant for a while.  But, I’m looking at a 01/21 JOY cruise in a concierge suite.  They’ve all been reclassified at Haven Suites and all the benefits the Haven affords....including the Haven Lounge and Haven Restaurant!

Not all of them. Some are only suites. See above.  😊

[graphicguy]

13 hours ago, Wendy&Grumpy said:

Not all of them. Some are only suites. See above.  😊

OK..thanks for pointing that out.  Looking at some suites on deck 14 that looked to be former Concierge Suites.  They now have a HI designation.  They look to be the same size (actually some have a much larger balcony) as the other Haven Suites. 

 

Prices are really good, too.

[BirdTravels]

14 hours ago, graphicguy said:

I know this thread has been dormant for a while.  But, I’m looking at a 01/21 JOY cruise in a concierge suite.  They’ve all been reclassified at Haven Suites and all the benefits the Haven affords....including the Haven Lounge and Haven Restaurant!

No. Some are still suites. Which have better benefits than the concierge suites. 

[LewieE]

I was just looking at the Haven cabin count today  and I think they reclassified the CC cabins as Haven as well.  We are on the 1/24/2021 sailing.  There looks to be 118 Haven cabins, which is a substantial increase to the previous count of 74.  Hoping that the additional cabin count doesn't completely overwhelm Haven common area capacity.  IMHO, it would make the cost of the Haven even harder to justify;

[BirdTravels]

34 minutes ago, LewieE said:

I was just looking at the Haven cabin count today  and I think they reclassified the CC cabins as Haven as well.  We are on the 1/24/2021 sailing.  There looks to be 118 Haven cabins, which is a substantial increase to the previous count of 74.  Hoping that the additional cabin count doesn't completely overwhelm Haven common area capacity.  IMHO, it would make the cost of the Haven even harder to justify;

There were about 80 Haven cabins and 80 concierge cabins. The Haven was designed for 80. And of the converted cabins will cause the diminishment of the Haven experience for all.