My review of NCL Joy in a Haven suite

[rxlowry]

We booked this cruise three weeks before sailing since our Crystal cruise was cancelled.  Since we had the airfare and hotel for Miami, I looked to see what was available and chose the Joy.  We are familiar with NCL and are both sapphire.  Since we wanted an experience close to a luxury cruise, we opted for the Haven.  We have sailed in suites on NCL but never had access to courtyard, sundeck, bar and restaurant.  The ports were all places we have been too numerous times so the ship was our destination this vacation and that will be the focus of my review.  

 

Embarkation:   We hit a slight snag as we were ushered to the main area.  There was a lady at the top of the escalator waving everyone to the right.  After security, we saw the long line and told the woman there we were in the Haven.  She gave no reply so we walked down.  We saw the priority check in for platinum and since we were sapphire and there was no line at all we just used that.  The agent had quite a bit of trouble using the iPad and the process seemed longer than we remembered.  She disappeared to get our key for quite some time only to return to tell us to follow her.  She escorted us back out and to the left side where there is a separate entrance for Haven guests.  We did have to go through security again but it seemed she had done most of what needed to be done on the tablet.  We were given our keys and told we could get online to board.  I was tempted to go see the VIP area upstairs but boarding the ship was more tempting.  We did wait in a line for about ten minutes so I would have had time to take a peek.  We were ushered directly to our muster station for a oh so brief talk.  Then, it was an elevator ride to the Haven.  They had some non alcoholic welcome drinks so we opted for a real drink.  Before we were half finished, we heard announcement that the rooms were ready.  

 

Cabin:  We were in cabin 14742 (HI) and it was very spacious and roomy.  We liked the larger balcony and did ask for a lounger which we received the next day.  The decor was tasteful and to the minamalist side.  The bathroom was not fancy but did have a tub and upgraded Blvgari amenities.  There is plenty of glassware in the room and a Nespresso machine.  On the table, we found fresh fruit and flowers.  It's a very functional suite for dining in room although we had no meals there.  There is a full video tour of the suite on my blog, alpacamybagsblog if you are interested.  Although it is not located in the Haven proper, we enjoyed the walk.  It is only three flights up so we appreciated the exercise.  All Haven suites have a butler.  We asked for a lounge chair from him on the first day and lunch one day in the courtyard.  Other than those two requests, he restocked the coffee when we did use it and brought afternoon treats.  I did tell him the first day we weren't too into sweets because I had read that people get M&Ms, gummy bears and peanut butter and jelly.  I did not want to waste these items.  (FYI:  you can make your own in the Horizon and bring it to your cabin, although we did not)  The snacks weren't great, we tried the canapes, cheese plate which were ok.  He did bring ham and cheese sandwiches which looked horrible with orange cheese and mayo that we didn't touch.  One day was chocolate covered strawberries and we didn't want that before dinner.  After dinner, another tray with four more appeared.  It was a little odd but made us laugh.  The last night's selection of canapes was the best.  I think this benefit is not something that would make me choose the Haven.  I know some fellow passengers had coffee delievered each day and really enjoyed that.

 

Haven Restaurant:  Our first meal was lunch in the Haven Restaurant.  It was absolutely perfect.  I was thinking, Crystal who???  The quality, freshness and selection was outstanding for lunch.  I detailed meals on the blog as well so I won't get into it course by course.  After this amazing lunch, we couldn't wait to come back for dinner which was a piping hot, perfectly prepared surf and turf.  We enjoyed all meals here, especially on Valentine's when we had a special treat prepared at our request.  I will say the food in this restaurant is very close to the main dining on a luxury ship.  You can tell the items are made to order and the service is outstanding as well.  The service in this venue is par with luxury.  We had good service in other areas of the ship but this was the only one I would say rivaled a luxury cruise.

 

Haven bar:  The bar is small but staffed very well.  They made some great classics for us:  negronis, Manhattans and Boulevardiers, as well as their signature smoked old fashioned.  During the day, the Pimm's cup, aperol spritz and bloody marys were perfection.  I missed having a little snack served before dinner.  They only had peanuts this week, not the delicious bar mix I remembered.  Luxury cruises would have some type of small bite passed about; crudite, pigs in a blanket, tiny sliders or falafel for example.  We walked to the Horizon lounge to see if the buffet had something for evening but it was empty.  I think that would be a nice touch to elevate the experience.  

 

Courtyard/Sundeck:  We enjoyed both areas although they are not large we always found a place we wanted to sit.  I had heard the Haven was at capacity although the whole ship was only 1500 passengers.  On the rainy day, kids were enjoying the pool and hot tub but that did not bother us at all.  If I wanted a kid free environment, I would chose Viking or Virgin.  No complaints about the younger Havenites from us.  The outside area has two nice sized hot tubs.  There is drink service but sometimes it would take awhile for them to circulate.  The order came quick though once placed.  One nice feature is the courtyard valet who will bring you lunch from the sundeck menu.  This was really nice.  I had read some saying this wasn't offered so we did have our butler bring some lunch one day.  He told us we could order off that menu in the future.  This area isn't really like a luxury ship but it is close.  Attendents on luxury ships at the pool will cover your lounger with towels, constantly circulate and there is more shade as well.  But this is a "ship in a ship" so for the space, NCL did a good job.  

 

Horizon Lounge:  We really liked this space in the morning.  Most mornings, we had our coffee in there while enjoying the views of sunrise or pulling into port.  The pastry and fruit selection was very nice.  They even had dragonfruit  some mornings.  I think if there were snacks or music at the evening this space would be used more.  

 

Specialty dining:   We only had dinner in the Haven or specialty restaurants on this cruise. We had meals in La Cucina, Le Bistro, Food Republic and Ocean Blue.  Le Bistro used to be my favorite but it wasn't that great this trip.  The escargot seemed different and not as tasty although still properly cooked.  I also missed the former dessert selection there.  I commented that there should be creme brulee on the menu there not at Cagney's.  The sommelier was excellent as our bottle of wine (Gruner Veltlinger) was carbonated and should not have been.  It was a selection from the Platinum menu.  He returned with another bottle also bubbly.  I asked him to chose a different wine and he selected the chenin blanc which was great.  The other three venues were very nice meals but I will say the service, quality and presentation was superior in the Haven Restaurant.  I loved Food Republic but you can't compare it to Umi Uma on Crystal (included in the fare) which is a Nobu restaurant.  That is one of the saddest parts about losing Crystal.  

 

Entertainment:  It was a bit hit and miss for us.  One comedian was outstanding, the other was not.  So many passengers complained about how unfunny he was.  I know I fell asleep and no laughter woke me up.  We did not see Footloose.  The magician was ok and the acrobat duo was very good.  We really liked the Cavern Club and the BeatlesStory band.  The music was good on the ship although it was very Latin based.  We enjoy salsa, bachata and merengue and if that is your jam you will find plenty of it.  A little more variety would be good.  Trivia was fun and much easier than Crystal.  The wine tasting was excellent.  We did the black glass tasting and he opened some nice bottles.  The prize was a bottle of Veuve for each team member making it a great value!  Plus, the macarons might have been the best I have ever had!  My husband rode the go karts once and did both waterslides.  I did the one with the inner tube but not the scarier one as I did that on Getaway years ago.  We also did the virtual reality with the one hour package.  Some of the games were fun, like shooting the zombies but some of the others were just ok.  It is not something I would do again for one hour.  I might shoot the zombie ala carte though!  We did not try laser tag but did think about it.  

 

All in all, it was a great cruise.  NCL made lemonade for us from the lemons given by Crystal's bankruptcy for sure.  Do I feel I could only book the Haven after this?  No.  It was great but I think unless it is a great deal, I do not think it is truly worth it.  This cruise was a great deal and a low capacity.  Since we didn't have anything we wanted to do, we used the Haven daily.  On a port intensive cruise, I do not think it would be worth it and the same for a luxury ship.  We have done Europe on luxury and NCL and NCL has been great!  For us, it is definitely case by case or cruise by cruise.    The types of amenities not on luxury such as go karts, waterslides and virtual reality were fun but we rode each slide once, only hubs did the go karts and spent one hour in the virutal reality so is the huge amount of space used for this worth it to us.  If you have kids, that time might be different although it could be pricey as well.  

If you want photos, I do have the LIVE report here as well as more on blog!  

 

 

 

[mafig]

Thank you for this review and also your help on the other thread.👍

[Kat747]

Thanks for such a thorough review. Really interesting. We are on Joy shortly in an HI cabin on deck 14 Port Side. Could I just check with you on the deck plan there is a white area just 2 cabins up from you towards the bridge on both sides. I just wondered if you noticed it or found out what it was? We were just a bit worried if it was a crew area if it was noisy or not? Thanks 

[mafig]

Since you booked late, did you have any problems making reservations for the restaurants?  Is the reason you didn't see Footloose because you couldn't get in?

Did you use your Concierge?

 

Any donations made to the casino?

 

 

[rxlowry]

2 hours ago, Kat747 said:

Thanks for such a thorough review. Really interesting. We are on Joy shortly in an HI cabin on deck 14 Port Side. Could I just check with you on the deck plan there is a white area just 2 cabins up from you towards the bridge on both sides. I just wondered if you noticed it or found out what it was? We were just a bit worried if it was a crew area if it was noisy or not? Thanks 

It was not noisy.  Observation was above and heard nothing. 

[rxlowry]

1 hour ago, mafig said:

Since you booked late, did you have any problems making reservations for the restaurants?  Is the reason you didn't see Footloose because you couldn't get in?

Did you use your Concierge?

 

Any donations made to the casino?

 

 

No problems at all but only 1500 on board.  We didn’t even use the concierge.  Two I made at home and the others using the screens near elevators. 

We didn’t see Footloose because we didn’t want to.  Seen both movies and not really interested.  
We had no use at all for the concierge with such a low count.  We also didn’t book tours or need escorts.  
The casino is great.  They donated to us!!

[Firstin87]

Thank you for the detailed review.  We're on the Joy next week and you answered some of our questions and gave details about things we are interested in. 

[aubreyc1988]

Thanks for the review - did you happen to see wifi prices onboard and if they were letting just one person in the cabin book it? TIA 

[NYFirstTimeCruiser]

Hello.  Do you have a picture of the HI?  I am basically looking for the haven suite with a full sofa bed and not one of the couches that open up that I heard was uncomfortable when someone sleeps on it.  I didn't book HI since the picture on NCL site had the couch... although I know it's not that accurate so any pic or info on the cabin would help.  Thanks in advance

[mafig]

Thanks to this review, we booked the Haven on Norwegian Joy today.😎

[david_sobe]

Curious.  Since you close to sailing on Crystal, I assume you were paid in full?  Did you get a full refund from them?

[rxlowry]

6 hours ago, NYFirstTimeCruiser said:

Hello.  Do you have a picture of the HI?  I am basically looking for the haven suite with a full sofa bed and not one of the couches that open up that I heard was uncomfortable when someone sleeps on it.  I didn't book HI since the picture on NCL site had the couch... although I know it's not that accurate so any pic or info on the cabin would help.  Thanks in advance

I’m not sure what type of sofa bed it is.  I have a video tour on blog but I’ll post a photo 

[rxlowry]

8 hours ago, aubreyc1988 said:

Thanks for the review - did you happen to see wifi prices onboard and if they were letting just one person in the cabin book it? TIA 

Here’s from the dailies on second day.  

[rxlowry]

2 hours ago, david_sobe said:

Curious.  Since you close to sailing on Crystal, I assume you were paid in full?  Did you get a full refund from them?

We disputed it with our credit card and got a refund.  Still waiting though for October but that was only deposit but the credit card is working on that one. 

[NYFirstTimeCruiser]

Thanks. Yup. That's the couch/twin pullout. Thank you!

[vacruizer]

On 2/22/2022 at 4:18 PM, Kat747 said:

Thanks for such a thorough review. Really interesting. We are on Joy shortly in an HI cabin on deck 14 Port Side. Could I just check with you on the deck plan there is a white area just 2 cabins up from you towards the bridge on both sides. I just wondered if you noticed it or found out what it was? We were just a bit worried if it was a crew area if it was noisy or not? Thanks 

I was in 14138 a few weeks ago and next to the white space. No noise at all and we never figured out what it was. Storage locker? There’s even a fake balcony out there with no furniture. 

[Kat747]

That’s great to hear vacruizer. Thanks so much for taking the time to let us know. Very excited now 

[vacruizer]

6 hours ago, Kat747 said:

That’s great to hear vacruizer. Thanks so much for taking the time to let us know. Very excited now 

Loved the room and location. The suite was beautiful and balcony huge. Ran into the Captain several times in the hallway. We had an amazing room steward although the butler wasn’t so great. We don’t need much so that certainly didn’t ruin our trip.