Bringing the JOY with as live-ish a review as the lousy wi-fi will allow: Bermuda 7/9-7/16!

[Dorhead1230]

Greetings, all! I’ve been trying to hold off starting my live-ish Joy review, as I’m not sure I can keep anyone entertained for too long before I actually embark. My life is not exciting! However, today I’m officially doing the single-digit dance, I’ve been done with work for the summer for a week, and I need a distraction from the sense of impending doom wrought by another round of Canadian wildfire smoke making its way to Long Island today. So, here we are! The start of another live-ish review of the continued adventures of Dorhead, DH, DM (my mom), and LM (my son, the little man).
 

For my last semi-live review in February on Getaway, the wi-fi was hot garbage, but I fought it bravely and occasionally emerged victorious. We’ll see how the Joy treats me; I’ll do my best to post whenever it cooperates throughout the cruise! I will not buy unlimited amounts of semi-functional wi-fi, but I do have my 150 minutes, plus LM’s, which I will gladly pirate from him, and possibly some of DH’s and DM’s too (everyone has FAS because we have two cabins). I’ll also do Verizon TravelPass in Bermuda so I can just use my phone as normal while we’re there.

 

A little background about us: I’m 39 and a high school English teacher (hence my penchant for very lengthy posts), DH is 43 and an NYPD officer, DM is a woman of a certain age and would perhaps murder me if I publish said age, and LM is 4 1/2 and has been psyched for this cruise for months. This will be DH’s and my 10th cruise together (all NCL), and our 7th to Bermuda (6th exclusively to Bermuda, plus one that made a day-stop there). We love, love, LOVE Bermuda…I seriously consider being “accidentally” left behind every time we go there ☺️. We haven’t gone since 2019 when LM was only 9 months old, so everyone is eagerly awaiting our triumphant return.

 

This will be our first time on Joy, and I’m quite excited to experience this ship! I know it is similar in many ways to Breakaway, Getaway, and Escape, but it has some things that will be new to us, especially the Observation Lounge! I don’t know why I am so excited about a windowed room full of tables and chairs and whatnot, but I am and it will be glorious lol. I think it is because we are not hang by the pool people (love swimming, hate the sea of humanity), so the OL just looks like such a chill place to hang out and relax.

 

DH and I are casino people, so we book through Casinos at Sea. He exists on a somewhat higher plane of degeneracy than I do, so he gets comped balconies pretty much whenever, and I generally only get a discount, unless I have an offer for a specific comped cruise. We have two balconies next door to each other on deck 10, one booked in DH’s name (for his comp) and one in mine (for

my sad little discount). I am sure I’ll spend some time in the casino this cruise, but maybe not as much as usual. I’ve gotten a little annoyed at my offers from CAS, so I probably won’t be devoting as much of my gambling budget to this cruise, as I am treated much better for my play in our land casinos (Caesars AC and Mohegan Sun). Sorry if your eyes just glazed over from casino-speak!

 

Interesting note on the cabins (I did post about this on here some time ago, but as I doubt there are many who eagerly await my every word): the Joy’s deck plan is all kinds of messed up on NCL’s website. Well, maybe not ALL kinds, but messed up if you’re seeking out an angled balcony. We were very frazzled for months before and right up to our Getaway cruise as we were getting ready to move and then moving, so we SERIOUSLY dropped the ball with room assignments (the CAS booking agent actually screwed up, but we didn’t catch it until it was too late) and DH and I ended up a deck above and down the hall from DM and LM. Sucked. Majorly sucked. So, I was crazy with checking deck plans and planning room choices before we called this time. Booked 10946 (depicted as angled balcony on deck plan) and 10942. Subsequently (maybe a week or two later) Googled cabin numbers to see what I could find and found a few reports (one with photographic evidence) of the Joy deck plans being one-off regarding the angled balcony cabins 😩. Checked online and saw that on the port side, 10340 and 10342 were still available and our CAS rep was a rock star and switched it for us. Also, there are many cabins on the Joy deck plan with the PrivaSea symbol (including the ones we have) that are in no way enclosed or obstructed (photos of the outside of the ship clearly show this). So, NCL, fix your deck plan! Sheesh!

 

That’s enough semi-coherent rambling for one sitting. Maybe I’ll go get some things together to pack and avoid a repeat of my February debacle of not finishing packing until nearly 4 AM on embarkation day (had just moved and didn’t know where stuff was 🤦🏻‍♀️).

 

Before I sign off for now, I’d like to announce up front that anyone else on this sailing is welcome to chime in and contribute info, experiences, whatever at any time. At a point when I disappeared for a bit from my Getaway semi-live, someone chastised a person who was adding info to it and I felt just awful about that. It’s a freakin’ cruise message board, not a treatise of my philosophies on life. As long as you’re willing to acknowledge that at the end of the day, my opinions are the correct ones, all are welcome to contribute! 😜

[vacation44]

1 hour ago, Dorhead1230 said:

Greetings, all! I’ve been trying to hold off starting my live-ish Joy review, as I’m not sure I can keep anyone entertained for too long before I actually embark. My life is not exciting! However, today I’m officially doing the single-digit dance, I’ve been done with work for the summer for a week, and I need a distraction from the sense of impending doom wrought by another round of Canadian wildfire smoke making its way to Long Island today. So, here we are! The start of another live-ish review of the continued adventures of Dorhead, DH, DM (my mom), and LM (my son, the little man).
 

For my last semi-live review in February on Getaway, the wi-fi was hot garbage, but I fought it bravely and occasionally emerged victorious. We’ll see how the Joy treats me; I’ll do my best to post whenever it cooperates throughout the cruise! I will not buy unlimited amounts of semi-functional wi-fi, but I do have my 150 minutes, plus LM’s, which I will gladly pirate from him, and possibly some of DH’s and DM’s too (everyone has FAS because we have two cabins). I’ll also do Verizon TravelPass in Bermuda so I can just use my phone as normal while we’re there.

 

A little background about us: I’m 39 and a high school English teacher (hence my penchant for very lengthy posts), DH is 43 and an NYPD officer, DM is a woman of a certain age and would perhaps murder me if I publish said age, and LM is 4 1/2 and has been psyched for this cruise for months. This will be DH’s and my 10th cruise together (all NCL), and our 7th to Bermuda (6th exclusively to Bermuda, plus one that made a day-stop there). We love, love, LOVE Bermuda…I seriously consider being “accidentally” left behind every time we go there ☺️. We haven’t gone since 2019 when LM was only 9 months old, so everyone is eagerly awaiting our triumphant return.

 

This will be our first time on Joy, and I’m quite excited to experience this ship! I know it is similar in many ways to Breakaway, Getaway, and Escape, but it has some things that will be new to us, especially the Observation Lounge! I don’t know why I am so excited about a windowed room full of tables and chairs and whatnot, but I am and it will be glorious lol. I think it is because we are not hang by the pool people (love swimming, hate the sea of humanity), so the OL just looks like such a chill place to hang out and relax.

 

DH and I are casino people, so we book through Casinos at Sea. He exists on a somewhat higher plane of degeneracy than I do, so he gets comped balconies pretty much whenever, and I generally only get a discount, unless I have an offer for a specific comped cruise. We have two balconies next door to each other on deck 10, one booked in DH’s name (for his comp) and one in mine (for

my sad little discount). I am sure I’ll spend some time in the casino this cruise, but maybe not as much as usual. I’ve gotten a little annoyed at my offers from CAS, so I probably won’t be devoting as much of my gambling budget to this cruise, as I am treated much better for my play in our land casinos (Caesars AC and Mohegan Sun). Sorry if your eyes just glazed over from casino-speak!

 

Interesting note on the cabins (I did post about this on here some time ago, but as I doubt there are many who eagerly await my every word): the Joy’s deck plan is all kinds of messed up on NCL’s website. Well, maybe not ALL kinds, but messed up if you’re seeking out an angled balcony. We were very frazzled for months before and right up to our Getaway cruise as we were getting ready to move and then moving, so we SERIOUSLY dropped the ball with room assignments (the CAS booking agent actually screwed up, but we didn’t catch it until it was too late) and DH and I ended up a deck above and down the hall from DM and LM. Sucked. Majorly sucked. So, I was crazy with checking deck plans and planning room choices before we called this time. Booked 10946 (depicted as angled balcony on deck plan) and 10942. Subsequently (maybe a week or two later) Googled cabin numbers to see what I could find and found a few reports (one with photographic evidence) of the Joy deck plans being one-off regarding the angled balcony cabins 😩. Checked online and saw that on the port side, 10340 and 10342 were still available and our CAS rep was a rock star and switched it for us. Also, there are many cabins on the Joy deck plan with the PrivaSea symbol (including the ones we have) that are in no way enclosed or obstructed (photos of the outside of the ship clearly show this). So, NCL, fix your deck plan! Sheesh!

 

That’s enough semi-coherent rambling for one sitting. Maybe I’ll go get some things together to pack and avoid a repeat of my February debacle of not finishing packing until nearly 4 AM on embarkation day (had just moved and didn’t know where stuff was 🤦🏻‍♀️).

 

Before I sign off for now, I’d like to announce up front that anyone else on this sailing is welcome to chime in and contribute info, experiences, whatever at any time. At a point when I disappeared for a bit from my Getaway semi-live, someone chastised a person who was adding info to it and I felt just awful about that. It’s a freakin’ cruise message board, not a treatise of my philosophies on life. As long as you’re willing to acknowledge that at the end of the day, my opinions are the correct ones, all are welcome to contribute! 😜

Fellow Long Islander here who also loves Bermuda cruises wishing you a wonderful cruise!   Looking forward to your updates.

[bkrickles1]

Since I'm doing this exact cruise in 23 days and I'm from Long Island, I'll be following along closely. 

Have a fabulous time! 

[BlushPell]

I am not sure if you need to use your minutes. This is a recent daily and it mentions that the use of cruisecritic is free so maybe you will be able to use it free as well. 

[Dorhead1230]

1 hour ago, BlushPell said:

I am not sure if you need to use your minutes. This is a recent daily and it mentions that the use of cruisecritic is free so maybe you will be able to use it free as well. 

I tried on the Getaway. Tried SO HARD lol. I couldn’t get anything to load on CC without starting the wi-fi clock. Even on the FAS minutes it wasn’t any great shakes and sometimes I had to just wait a while to post. Maybe there will be a wi-fi miracle on the Joy and it’ll work better! Not holding my breath, though!

[umpisoccer]

We will be following along.  We sail on the Joy July 30th.

[mking8288]

Have a great time on the Joy ... not sure who's the GM onboard, not that it really matter - generally speaking, it's a good team onboard, if only they manage to wiggle away from corporate rules dictated from Miami.  

 

Joy has an "usable" WiFi and those FAS minutes, however you pool them together, should give you enough to get by on sea days.  Here's a tip that works for me and my gadgets onboard, when it comes to using CC with some success, first - minimize efforts to upload pictures when using ship's free inTRAnet (not running down those "precious" minutes) or don't post them unless/until you get to Dockyard & pickup VZW's partner tower's land signal - will be 4G LTE only (no 5G on the island, no needed or available, AFAIK as of this April during our brief "Epic" stop.  

 

If you have trouble posting, log in quickly (start the countdown on airtime minutes used AND log into your CC account, then sign or log out of ship's inTERnet - make sure the summary screen pop-up & you stopped the meter.  Then, continue to browse and post on CC.  Otherwise, you might run into issues posting on CC for free.  

 

The other challenge, depending on which way the ship is docked ... side facing Clocktower Mall always pickup a good signal from the balcony and/or lower decks, on the pool & upper decks, including the buffet & even from Spice H20, cellular signal is somewhat weak if usable - just something to watch out for.  If some of your cabins are on the opposite side of the ship, then you'll just have to relocate your "Semi-Live" on the other side.  Dockyard (at the shops) sell the free WiFi Day Pass, but it is NOT usable from the ship ... hotspot/routers nearby too far away to reach the ship - don't waste money (your VZW travel/int'l plan should be fine - we had T-Mo/Google & that worked great when we're onboard).  

 

Also, the VIC (tourist/visitor info center) inside Dockyard was closed (it appeared to be a "permanent" one & not (off)seasonal closure - no passes sold for the buses/ferry into Hamilton, only sold in the mall and at the ferry landing, 10 minutes from the gangway.  Otherwise, take advantage of NCL's free ferry to SG on the east end.  

 

Otherwise, will be following / lurking and looking forward to updates about dining and also entertainment, etc.  Bon Voyage 😎

[Dorhead1230]

40 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Also, the VIC (tourist/visitor info center) inside Dockyard was closed (it appeared to be a "permanent" one & not (off)seasonal closure - no passes sold for the buses/ferry into Hamilton, only sold in the mall and at the ferry landing, 10 minutes from the gangway.  Otherwise, take advantage of NCL's free ferry to SG on the east end.  

This is good to know! We don’t have our full plan for Bermuda firmed up yet. I think with it being a place we’ve been to several times, and because we love it and know we’ll go back again, it makes us a little lackadaisical with planning. We’re definitely taking LM to Horseshoe Bay. Some of the other beaches that are harder to reach and/or don’t have restrooms are just out of the question with a 4-year-old (and frankly the restroom issue matters to us all lol). Weather forecast permitting, I want to do that on Thursday, as I think a lot of people from Joy and Celebrity Summit will head right there on Wednesday. On the last day, we generally like to hang in the Dockyard, wander through the Clocktower Mall, we may hit up the fort and museum, etc. Wednesday is more up in the air, so ferries and/or buses may be involved…good to know where we’d need to go buy passes if required!
 

We also don’t tend to be NCL excursion customers, especially in Bermuda where it’s so easy to navigate on our own. In fact, years ago, DH and I were there during Cup Match. We decided to actually go to Cup Match and watch some of the cricket. It was such a blast! Everyone was super nice to us, inviting us into like hospitality areas or whatever they were, giving us food and drinks and swag from corporate sponsors haha. So we’re totally cool with just making our own way when in BDA. However, I am looking at the glass bottom boat twilight cruise for Wednesday night. LM tends to be a night owl like DH and me, so he’d still be up for it and it’s only 1.5 hours. Seems like a nice, easy activity for us all and with the excursion credits that one does work out cheaper through NCL than direct through Island Tour Centre.

Edited July 1, 2023 by Dorhead1230

[Sand and Seas]

@Dorhead1230, you have a fun to read writing style! 

We are sailing on the Joy again later this year.  Looking forward to following along with you!

 

Hope you all have a wonderful cruise😎

[Susandt]

Will be following.  We cruise on joy to Bermuda in August. 

[Dorhead1230]

Good morning! Eight days to go—huzzah! Here’s questions for any past Joy cruisers who may be reading this…upon embarkation, what location is used on the Joy for dining reservations? (We have our main specialties booked, but I want to reserve Food Republic). Or, does FR come up to reserve on the screens? Also, is it the same location to book laser tag? LM is too little for go karts but he is fully committed to trying out the laser tag.

[Always Cruising]

I was just on the Pearl to Bermuda, and Food Republic did not take reservations.  But maybe different on the Joy, but not sure.  We're on the Joy Aug 5, so will follow your posts!

[BlushPell]

59 minutes ago, Dorhead1230 said:

Good morning! Eight days to go—huzzah! Here’s questions for any past Joy cruisers who may be reading this…upon embarkation, what location is used on the Joy for dining reservations? (We have our main specialties booked, but I want to reserve Food Republic). Or, does FR come up to reserve on the screens? Also, is it the same location to book laser tag? LM is too little for go karts but he is fully committed to trying out the laser tag.

Yes the Food Republic on Joy takes reservations on the touch screens. I am not sure about laser tag though. You can make all dining reservations on the touch screens.

[bkrickles1]

2 hours ago, Dorhead1230 said:

Good morning! Eight days to go—huzzah! Here’s questions for any past Joy cruisers who may be reading this…upon embarkation, what location is used on the Joy for dining reservations? (We have our main specialties booked, but I want to reserve Food Republic). Or, does FR come up to reserve on the screens? Also, is it the same location to book laser tag? LM is too little for go karts but he is fully committed to trying out the laser tag.

Last summer we made dining reservations in Teppenyaki after boarding. It was the same on Encore and Escape. 

We went to FR for lunch without a reservation so can't speak on that. 

Tonight at midnight is online check-in time for me! 22 days! 

[Dorhead1230]

As far as specialty dining goes, this will be the most we’ve had on one cruise. Back in the day, wasn’t the FAS 3 specialty meals on a weeklong sailing? Am I misremembering? Mommy-ing has killed some brain cells, and teaching teenagers has killed some more, but I feel like we used to reserve 3. Anyhow, this cruise, we have the 2 included with the FAS (and all four of us have it, because of booking 2 cabins), plus DH and I are now Platinum for the first time! So, we’ll have an additional 4 vouchers for dinners for 2 (2 of those vouchers including the bottle of wine). Our usual go-to’s are Moderno and Cagney’s, but no Moderno on this ship. So, our plans are currently:

1. Cagney’s (usually a highlight but totally meh on Getaway in Feb.; hoping that was an off day)

2. La Cucina…ah, the Olive Garden of the seas…usually wouldn’t bother but with the extra meals we have this time we’ll go. Plus, LM will be so happy there because, while he doesn’t have the most adventurous palate, he digs fried calamari and will burst with happiness when they plop an entire pizza in front of him all for him.

3. Q…just to try something new and different; also has some stuff that will make LM happy and I know it won’t be too formal or long and drawn-out.

 

Teppanyaki on the ships does nothing for us as good hibachi places are a dime a dozen on Long Island. As lovely as Le Bistro is, we’re just not that into the menu, and maybe we’ll give Ocean Blue another shot at some point but several years ago I feel like it was just ok on Escape a couple times and we just never bothered with it again. I think that was also back when they still charged an extra supplement for it, so that may have turned us off a little more.

 

So, those 3 will kill the FAS meals and 2 of our 4 platinum vouchers (will use the ones with wine at Cagney’s or La Cucina assuming recent reports are correct and they’ll give us 4 courses with the vouchers). Btw, does anyone know if you use the two vouchers with wine at the same meal if you can take one bottle unopened with you for another night?

 

For the remaining 2 Platinum vouchers, we’re going to do one Food Republic dinner and just use one voucher for 2. There is zilch LM will eat off that menu (unless they bring him just like lumps of plain sushi rice lol), so that’ll be a kid’s meal for him. DM, DH, and I could never in a million years eat 16 dishes from there 🤢, so I’m hoping they’ll be cool with the 3 of us using one voucher and then if we need to get 1-2 extra dishes just to follow the rules we’ll pay for them. The final voucher for 2 is undecided. If Food Republic is as awesome as it was in the past, it may be one more visit there for a lunch. Otherwise, LM would probably dig the decor at American Diner so maybe a lunch there (I would never waste a dinner on that place; looks like half the menu is stuff you can get at The Local lol).

 

I think I invest too much brainpower in planning dining, but we do enjoy our vacation meals and the big ships are crowded, so I like to have those ducks in a row to avoid disappointment!

 

Speaking of ducks, the next random tangent my mind is on is that I am still pondering maybe bringing some ducks to hide this time…it’s one more thing to lug along, but I think LM would greatly enjoy hiding them around the ship. 🦆👀

[meglet]

2 hours ago, Always Cruising said:

I was just on the Pearl to Bermuda, and Food Republic did not take reservations.  But maybe different on the Joy, but not sure.  We're on the Joy Aug 5, so will follow your posts!

Pearl has Food Republic? I was on in April and they didn't.

[goldmom]

Looking forward to your posts as we'll be on the Joy in August.

Also, just want to make sure you know that the Platinum dining coupons are 2 dinners per cabin, not per person.  So, if both Platinum guests are in the same cabin you only get 2 dinners.  If there is a Platinum guest in each cabin , then each guest get the 2 coupons (4 dinners).  I know it's a bit bizarre but wanted to make sure you knew so you can plan correctly.

Enjoy!

[ggTexasGal]

10 minutes ago, meglet said:

Pearl has Food Republic? I was on in April and they didn't.

You did not get "April-fooled!"

There is no Food Republic on the Pearl.

[Elvis1209]

20 hours ago, Dorhead1230 said:

 

DH is 43 and an NYPD officer

 

Glad to see you're in the family!  I did 37 years on Nassau County PD. (But he's a "real" cop)

Enjoy your cruise!!!

Elvis

Edited July 1, 2023 by Elvis1209

[Dorhead1230]

34 minutes ago, Elvis1209 said:

DH is 43 and an NYPD officer

 

Glad to see you're in the family!  I did 37 years on Nassau County PD. (But he's a "real" cop)

Enjoy your cruise!!!

Elvis

Brooklyn…as real as it gets 😅

[Always Cruising]

2 hours ago, meglet said:

Pearl has Food Republic? I was on in April and they didn't.

Sorry - it was Lotus Garden - which we enjoyed.  We used our specialty meals for sushi there.  Delish!

 

[Dorhead1230]

2 hours ago, goldmom said:

Looking forward to your posts as we'll be on the Joy in August.

Also, just want to make sure you know that the Platinum dining coupons are 2 dinners per cabin, not per person.  So, if both Platinum guests are in the same cabin you only get 2 dinners.  If there is a Platinum guest in each cabin , then each guest get the 2 coupons (4 dinners).  I know it's a bit bizarre but wanted to make sure you knew so you can plan correctly.

Enjoy!

We do sail in 2 cabins when my mom comes—DH and me in one and my mom and her little roomie in the other. And this time, one is in DH’s name and one in mine, as we are the ones that get the casino rates. So we’ll luck out and end up with two sets of vouchers! Btw, I do find it odd that if two Platinum guests are travel companions it’s like, nope sorry only one qualifies for that benefit. I’m sure it would be pretty expensive for NCL given the number of people that are Platinum and above now, but it does seem to “water down” the benefit a little. I’d at least think once you move beyond basic Platinum they’d throw people a bone and give it to both 🤷🏻‍♀️

[The Traveling Man]

@Dorhead1230

Thanks for posting.  I'm not quite fluent in internet-speak, though.  I'm familiar with DH, DW, MIL, etc., but I'm stumped by LM.  Little Munchkin?

[Dorhead1230]

Just sitting here with LM watching the Port NY webcam waiting for Joy’s sail-away. They’re doing a one-off 8-day itinerary this week that’s the same as what we were supposed to do on Getaway in February (ours was altered and skipped Bermuda, though). Scheduled to depart at 3, but they’re not moving yet. Note to self…don’t tell a toddler we’re going to watch our ship sail away until it’s already happening. His current running commentary: “Is it moving yet?” Repeat about every 30 seconds, and sometimes sprinkle in: “When’s this going to start up?” “Why is this taking so long?”

[Dorhead1230]

3 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

@Dorhead1230

Thanks for posting.  I'm not quite fluent in internet-speak, though.  I'm familiar with DH, DW, MIL, etc., but I'm stumped by LM.  Little Munchkin?

Oh that’s just one of my own invention for when I’m posting on here lol…Little Man! But I like munchkin, too 😊