Semi-Live Norwegian Joy to Bermuda - Norfolk, VA - May 8, 2022

[bluesea777]

@mking8288 great detailed review!! We were on the Joy March 19-26 and there were 2900 on board; 900 of that came over from the cancelled Escape. We had great time.

 

May I ask you to do us a favour? Can you please go to Spice H2O bar and ask for Danny. And tell him to please remember us from Bermuda (Ann & Peter) and contact us. 😁

 

Thanks!! 

 

[mking8288]

2 minutes ago, The P said:

No little beer glasses or snacks!! Bah, humbug! LOL. Henry, I don't see the card?

Virtual snacks 😜 Ship management's discretion, perhaps.  Oops, here is the calling card and extensions 

 

[peg013]

2 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

here is the calling card and extensions 

 

Thank you! Good to know they are giving them out. They didn't have them on the Gem in January.

[The P]

Thanks, Henry. No familiar names to me. But I love the "virtual snacks"; LOL!

[Arzeena]

Any plans for Bermuda?

[mking8288]

 A very, quiet and empty 6-7-8 at 11:30 am on Deck 8, Bermuda time (1 hour ahead of NY)

 

[mking8288]

Taste MDR - lunch is served, anyone hungry ... room is not even filled 30% with guests. Very generous portion sizes. 

 

Sea is very calm today.

 

 

Fleet_MDR_Lunch_Mobile-Menu_Day-3-V2.pdf

[nesila]

43 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Taste MDR - lunch is served, anyone hungry ... room is not even filled 30% with guests. Very generous portion sizes. 

 

Sea is very calm today.

 

 

Fleet_MDR_Lunch_Mobile-Menu_Day-3-V2.pdf 480.93 kB · 4 downloads

How did you choose between Taste and Savor? Decor?

[mking8288]

2 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

@mking8288... Can you please go to Spice H2O bar and ask for Danny. And tell him to please remember us from Bermuda (Ann & Peter) and contact us ... 

NP - will do & give him a written note for you.

 

1 hour ago, Arzeena said:

Any plans for Bermuda?

Weather permitting - everyone's been to Bermuda multiple times, except for the "other" SIL.  We'll probably take the free NCL ferry over to SG and walk, they used to offer a free walking tour in front of the visitor's center/musuem ... except 2 seniors in the group aren't good with steep incline & hills.  Might just stroll around the waterfront.  

 

Friday's forecast is good but Thursday isn't - just going to wing it, water temperature still cool but will be nice to make our own way over to the pink beach / bay.  Public buses might be too crowded to get on & come back.  If practical, we might "hire" a minivan with a driver to take us around the island, 2-3 hours with scenic stops for a flat rate - be more practical & money-wise than the ship excursions (pretty sure bluesea777 has ideas for us) 

[romalley99]

3 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Here is the Card with who is who among the senior officers - 2 GM onboard this week, Ricardo going on vacation tomorrow when we reach Bermuda, and the other GM with the handover today (will get his full name) both from India. 

 

We had very light & simple refreshment, coffee & tea, water for the M&G. No samples from behind the bar counters 😉 or free samples (Escape, I recalled ... right, AR). Jerry the CD hosted the introduction & the GM team, welcomed all. Otherwise, not much mingling or folks connecting across & around the room, especially when CC don't know who's who from the social media group. About 35 attended in total, from my rough count. Not a good M&G event, IMHO, aside from chatting with 2 to 3 others ... hey, Dan - nice to meet you & connect. 🙄 FB group doing a $30 slot pull. 

 

 

 

 

 

Rohinton is taking over for Ricardo 

[mking8288]

38 minutes ago, nesila said:

How did you choose between Taste and Savor? Decor?

Simple, without needing reservations, we just show up and see whether there is a line or pick the shorter line.  Really doesn't matter whether one has priority seating/waitlist status for MDR - both served the same food, same menu choices - friendly & helpful staff and the Decor aren't different either.  Layout & seating for the tables are somewhat different.  Go with the flow, easy.

 

On a related note - the Manhattan MDR doesn't (no longer ??) have a dance floor in the middle, unlike the BA or GA (can't remember if the Escape has one) and the entire dining room seemed smaller for some odd reasons to us, with the tables & chairs being very close to each other - tightly spaced, and too noisy even with us as a group of  6 to converse without shouting.  We are going to stick with Savor or Taste.  The "seniors" in the other cabin went to check out the buffet this morning again for breakfast, and the Observation Lounge - they like & loved the latter.  Not impressed with the choices & offerings in the buffet as they often like to eat & be in and out quick.  

 

Doing Cagney's Steakhouse tomorrow as that seemed to be the top choice & highly rated, we shall see.  

 

Latitudes Welcome Back cocktail party is happening at 4 pm in the Observations (Gold & higher)  and not expecting a huge turnout for free drinks - there're about 100 people hovering in the cruise terminal roped-off Platinum "waiting area" - not quite a "real" lounge - and we're able to board quickly after the accessible passengers - ahead of Zone/Group 1 thru 4 (was a bit chaotic when they began calling groups after a delay triggered by the US Coast Guard inspection &  drill exercise on Sunday ... for odd reasons, exactly what I was afraid of - to be caught with the delay)

 

 

[bluesea777]

7 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

NP - will do & give him a written note for you.

 

Weather permitting - everyone's been to Bermuda multiple times, except for the "other" SIL.  We'll probably take the free NCL ferry over to SG and walk, they used to offer a free walking tour in front of the visitor's center/musuem ... except 2 seniors in the group aren't good with steep incline & hills.  Might just stroll around the waterfront.  

 

Friday's forecast is good but Thursday isn't - just going to wing it, water temperature still cool but will be nice to make our own way over to the pink beach / bay.  Public buses might be too crowded to get on & come back.  If practical, we might "hire" a minivan with a driver to take us around the island, 2-3 hours with scenic stops for a flat rate - be more practical & money-wise than the ship excursions (pretty sure bluesea777 has ideas for us) 

Thanks! Danny has been on no less than 6 of our cruises … he’s been so good to us and he gets so shocked and happy to see us when we show up. 
 

As for Bermuda, it’s a beautiful day today with all the Sail GP (Grand Prix) boats out on the water practicing for this weekend’s races. 
 

 

Pink Beach/Bay ??? I think you mean Horseshoe Bay beach. Would be nice to go there and walk at low tide (11:33 am Wed, 12:17 Thurs, 13:00 Fri), but it might be too cold to swim. Mind those Portuguese Man O’Wars. 
 

Getting a minivan to go on a tour would be a great idea. 
 

Enjoy your stay in Bermuda!!

 

 

[mking8288]

Footloose is on today, 7:00 pm and 10 pm and Elements scheduled for Friday, 7:00 pm and 9:30 pm.  Reservations available for today's late show - walk-in possible if ... (and, with just 1,900+ passengers in total)

 

We are 150 nm from Bermuda doing 12 knots - should reach Bermuda by sunrise for on-time arrival.  Forecast: occasional showers tomorrow - oh, Plan B is to ... 

[mking8288]

Observation Lounge - Deck 15 Fwd 

Latitudes Reception - looks pretty packed 

Edited May 10, 2022 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Well, the CruiseNext gathering is over, Pina Coladas cheerfully served with live music. Oops, I mean Latitudes Reception 😁 

 

There's an Ambassador onboard and a handful of Diamonds, and maybe a dozen plus Sapphire members, and of course, more Platinums. 

 

Duty-free shopping: cigarettes, it's now buy 4 cartons and get 1 free, total of $168. That's one way to use up some of the "restricted" NR OBC 😁

 

 

 

[Quencups]

6 hours ago, egurbi said:

Casino manager said headcount next week projected at less than 2500 but she couldn’t be any more precise.

That’s the CAS golf cruise too. 

[Quencups]

Following MK…a great post as always 😊 we r supposed to make that trip Sunday but I’m am just way too stressed out about our covid tests Friday. 🤞🏻

[putchky]

4 hours ago, mking8288 said:

NP - will do & give him a written note for you.

 

Weather permitting - everyone's been to Bermuda multiple times, except for the "other" SIL.  We'll probably take the free NCL ferry over to SG and walk, they used to offer a free walking tour in front of the visitor's center/musuem ... except 2 seniors in the group aren't good with steep incline & hills.  Might just stroll around the waterfront.  

 

Friday's forecast is good but Thursday isn't - just going to wing it, water temperature still cool but will be nice to make our own way over to the pink beach / bay.  Public buses might be too crowded to get on & come back.  If practical, we might "hire" a minivan with a driver to take us around the island, 2-3 hours with scenic stops for a flat rate - be more practical & money-wise than the ship excursions (pretty sure bluesea777 has ideas for us) 

we did a van tour on one of our trips and it was fabulous.  Saw places we hadn't seen in 9 trips to Bermuda.  It was worth the price!

[mking8288]

We ate tonight in Taste, portions have been much LARGER than expected, the Asian summer rolls w 2 large pork spare ribs could be a meal in itself.  The roasted sirloin was pretty good.  Trout was very good and the Tiramisusu cake a knockout, really gotta try not to eat too much for the rest of the cruise week 😆  Just like last night, neither Taste nor Savor just more than 1/3 full and with attentive services. Specialty dining places were busier in comparison. 

 

 

Edited May 10, 2022 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Here are some of the photos taken outside on the Waterfront - no chair hogs anywhere, maybe because it's dinner time, or show time in the Joy Theater - going to the 10 pm one.

 

[mking8288]

More scenic photos on the Waterfront from this evening, for the smartphone or iPhone - feel free to use them. 

 

[mking8288]

OMG, tomorrow is Day 4 - laundry special day again ( we get ours done free ) 

 

Here are the Freestyle Dailies - 

 

[Arzeena]

Henry and Susan......don't forget to kiss (each other ONLY!!!!!! 😁) under the Moon Gate.

[mking8288]

Inside the Joy Theater, showtime in 15 minutes at 10 pm ship/BDA time. This means the production crew are fine now. I did noticed a subtle uptick on cleaning measures onboard, bathroom doors popped open ... probably & hopefully just out of an abundance of precautions. @Arzeena remember our Jan 2019 Caribbean Escape w the noro outbreak then #cough #cough

 

Cruising at 11.5 knots, 90+ nm to Dockyard on a 145 deg heading, moderate sea states, 8 ft. waves with light wind, air temp about 70 deg F.  

[PistolPete13]

Thanks for all the photos!

I do agree that the dinner portion sizes on the Joy do seem larger than while I got on the Bliss in early 2020.  Might need to have them hold the bread if I do the double everything dining next cruise...