Anyone on May 29 NCL Joy? Did they drop Norfolk, VA ... permanently?

[kylenyc]

I see that the NCL Joy May 29th sailing from NYC to Bermuda no long has Norfolk VA as the first stop.

Can anyone report if they dropped it recently? I would have sworn it was on the itinerary a week ago.

The sailings after June 5 still have Norfolk but I'm wondering if this recent change is a preview of things to come.

 

Virginia's positivity rate is over 16.6%. New York City for comparison is 6.7% (Manhattan)

Edited May 23, 2022 by kylenyc

[dcipjr]

No, this specific sailing didn't have Norfolk, VA. Probably because it's Memorial Day and everything will be closed.

[kylenyc]

36 minutes ago, dcipjr said:

No, this specific sailing didn't have Norfolk, VA. Probably because it's Memorial Day and everything will be closed.

Thanks!

[billslowsky]

1 hour ago, kylenyc said:

I see that the NCL Joy May 29th sailing from NYC to Bermuda no long has Norfolk VA as the first stop.

Can anyone report if they dropped it recently? I would have sworn it was on the itinerary a week ago.

The sailings after June 5 still have Norfolk but I'm wondering if this recent change is a preview of things to come.

 

Virginia's positivity rate is over 16.6%. New York City for comparison is 6.7% (Manhattan)

Positivity rates are not the same thing as prevalence rates.

[bluesea777]

I read somewhere that NCL Joy stops in Norfolk for provisions - cheaper (and easier) than Manhattan. Same thing as other NCL ships stopping in Port Canaveral for that purpose when they cruise out of Manhattan.

 

 

[CruisinMaterial]

I'm more concerned as to whether or not the ship will have Footloose playing going forward as it has been reported this cruise it is not running.

[Mademypoint]

5 hours ago, kylenyc said:

I see that the NCL Joy May 29th sailing from NYC to Bermuda no long has Norfolk VA as the first stop.

Can anyone report if they dropped it recently? I would have sworn it was on the itinerary a week ago.

The sailings after June 5 still have Norfolk but I'm wondering if this recent change is a preview of things to come.

 

Virginia's positivity rate is over 16.6%. New York City for comparison is 6.7% (Manhattan)

There's a lot of Covid-19 on the ship right now. Looks like there are at least 100 people who tested positive between Friday and today. That doesn't include people who aren't on FB or who are asymptomatic. There was few to no people wearing masks and some people who now have it wore theirs anytime they left their cabins.

[MrPhil101]

Could you provide some info on this?  Confused  that if they tested negative on friday and now positive on the ship and positive Did a 100 people all of sudden got to the medical office to get tested and are now in quarantine?

[BirdTravels]

5 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

I read somewhere that NCL Joy stops in Norfolk for provisions - cheaper (and easier) than Manhattan. Same thing as other NCL ships stopping in Port Canaveral for that purpose when they cruise out of Manhattan.

so this is a reasonable explanation. they used to truck a lot of provisions from central provisioning in florida to new york for the bermuda cruises. 

[tbedard1]

We got off the Joy on Sunday 5/22 and my husband tested positive covid when we came home. 

[dcipjr]

16 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

I read somewhere that NCL Joy stops in Norfolk for provisions - cheaper (and easier) than Manhattan

 

When I was aboard the Joy, a member of the crew told me that they are visiting Norfolk because NCL wants to homeport a Prima class ship there, and they have to establish a relationship with the port and city.

 

He told me that this was hearsay, and he wasn't 100% sure, but it seemed to make sense.

 

They may be partially provisioning the ship there to establish supply lines with vendors, etc.

[dcipjr]

13 hours ago, CruisinMaterial said:

I'm more concerned as to whether or not the ship will have Footloose playing going forward as it has been reported this cruise it is not running.

 

A lot of crew on the Joy are at the end of their contracts and going home for break, including the actors and actresses in Footloose. This could contribute to cancellations, if there's a lot of COVID spread aboard (there certainly seems to be) and lots of the new folks test positive.

[kylenyc]

46 minutes ago, dcipjr said:

 

When I was aboard the Joy, a member of the crew told me that they are visiting Norfolk because NCL wants to homeport a Prima class ship there, and they have to establish a relationship with the port and city.

 

He told me that this was hearsay, and he wasn't 100% sure, but it seemed to make sense.

 

They may be partially provisioning the ship there to establish supply lines with vendors, etc.

Norfolk is pretty. When I was there on recently, the ship arrived on a Saturday morning and it was mostly crickets. The city was quiet, very few people on the streets except for cruise passengers, many stores and restaurants appeared closed. Lovely for walking around. I got the impression that Norfolk is busy only during the work week. Would the town open up on weekends if Prima home ported there? Hmm...

Edited May 24, 2022 by kylenyc

[njhorseman]

20 minutes ago, kylenyc said:

Would the town open up on weekends if Prima home ported there?

The poster said a Prima class ship, not Prima, and Prima at present has no Norfolk homeport cruises on its schedule.

The poster also said it was "hearsay'" from a crew member, which usually means there's a 99.99% chance that's it's nothing but a BS rumor. 

 

[bluesea777]

4 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

The poster said a Prima class ship, not Prima, and Prima at present has no Norfolk homeport cruises on its schedule.

The poster also said it was "hearsay'" from a crew member, which usually means there's a 99.99% chance that's it's nothing but a BS rumor. 

 

When NCL launches 6 new Prima ships over the next few years (starting later on this year) they need to find new a homeport or two. Other cruiselines are also building and launching new ships.

 

Norfolk as a new homeport would be a nice change from some others that are big crowded cities with greatly expensive hotels and transportation.

 

[njhorseman]

6 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

 

When NCL launches 6 new Prima ships over the next few years (starting later on this year) they need to find new a homeport or two. Other cruiselines are also building and launching new ships.

 

Norfolk as a new homeport would be a nice change from some others that are big crowded cities with greatly expensive hotels and transportation.

 

If NCL were to homeport in Norfolk I'd guess they would put an older, smaller ship there, not one of their large fancy new builds.

NCL has huge homeport operations in NY and FL where there's always a market demand for bright, shiny new toys and competition amongst the cruise lines as to who has the newest and most tricked out ship.

A secondary homeport like Norfolk is where you're going to find passengers who will cruise for the convenience of not having to travel to NY or Florida and where you won't be competing with other cruise lines' newest hardware.

[CruisinMaterial]

1 hour ago, dcipjr said:

 

A lot of crew on the Joy are at the end of their contracts and going home for break, including the actors and actresses in Footloose. This could contribute to cancellations, if there's a lot of COVID spread aboard (there certainly seems to be) and lots of the new folks test positive.

I'm rather hoping the Joy doesn't turn out to be another Getaway experience from New Years where by the end all you had was the casino and karaoke for entertainment in the evening. 😐

[dcipjr]

2 hours ago, njhorseman said:

The poster said a Prima class ship, not Prima, and Prima at present has no Norfolk homeport cruises on its schedule.

The poster also said it was "hearsay'" from a crew member, which usually means there's a 99.99% chance that's it's nothing but a BS rumor. 

 

Don't we live and breathe BS rumors here on CruiseCritic? 😄 

 

Definitely take it with a grain of salt, but it does sort of make sense, given that NCL will be having multiple new ships coming online, and they'll need places to homeport them.

 

They might also want to homeport one of their older, smaller ships in Norfolk.

[njhorseman]

3 minutes ago, dcipjr said:

 

Don't we live and breathe BS rumors here on CruiseCritic? 😄 

 

Definitely take it with a grain of salt, but it does sort of make sense, given that NCL will be having multiple new ships coming online, and they'll need places to homeport them.

 

They might also want to homeport one of their older, smaller ships in Norfolk.

Yes, if you read my subsequent post responding to @bluesea777 you'll see I did not dismiss the possibility of an older ship homeporting in Norfolk.

IMO homeporting a Prima class ship in Norfolk doesn't make a lot of sense.

[The P]

18 hours ago, Mademypoint said:

There's a lot of Covid-19 on the ship right now. Looks like there are at least 100 people who tested positive between Friday and today. That doesn't include people who aren't on FB or who are asymptomatic. There was few to no people wearing masks and some people who now have it wore theirs anytime they left their cabins.

Stacy, I'm not on FB and was sorry to read this. I was on this cruise with you and am home testing daily. So far, so good. (I put my little duck on my key chain!).      Sharon

[Mademypoint]

4 hours ago, The P said:

Stacy, I'm not on FB and was sorry to read this. I was on this cruise with you and am home testing daily. So far, so good. (I put my little duck on my key chain!).      Sharon

Glad to hear you're testing negative and the duck's come in handy. They were really cute!