Bermuda from New York on the Norwegian Joy
Yup, another trip to Bermuda on the Joy…
My previous posts about my family’s cruise last year to 2003 talked about how we thoroughly enjoyed this trip. It was meant to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, but we ended up bringing our son along. We did this because we had promised him a trip to see clear turquoise waters. Since we will be sending him on a solo trip to Colorado in June, he was OK with us taking the solo trip that we really had initially wanted. I say this, but he really didn’t have a choice, LOL.
On our last cruise, we had an Aft Balcony stateroom. It was spectacular, but we found that we felt the need to spend a lot of time on our balcony. I’m not sure if it was due to the fact that we were booking this cruise during a school vacation week or not, but prices for the same cabin were much more expensive. When we priced it out, it was about $700 cheaper to book an inside cabin AND grab passes to Norwegian’s Vibe Beach Club, which would mean that we would have a great, quiet place to relax in without having to fight the crowds for the loungers that are so coveted on the pool deck. Add in its own bar, hot tubs, and spectacular service, it seemed like a no-brainer.
Back in February 2024, the Joy went into drydock to fix some propulsion issues and, while there, received some updates. They had removed a portion of the port-side Observation Lounge on Deck 15 and replaced it with balcony cabins. Kinda sucks, because it was an amazing space that can definitely become crowded on bad-weather days, and was a great, quiet place to chill at any time of day. I was afraid that reducing the square footage of this area would be a net negative, but it honestly didn’t seem to bad. They also gutted the Galaxy Pavilion (the virtual reality arcade) and replaced it with a Thermal Suite. We didn’t visit this, but it definitely makes the Joy more desirable because we know tons of cruisers that love this amenity. They also removed the Laser Tag area on Deck 20 and expanded the Vibe so it includes the forward areas of Deck 19 (just behind the Haven), and all of Deck 20). It’s now HUGE!
I was anxious to visit the Vibe for several reasons. When I was first researching this cruise over a year ago and decided on the Joy, I had watched several YouTube walkthrough tours of the ship. One older video had showed the obvious hot tubs in Spice H2O and the one by the pools on Deck 16, and it also showed a “hidden” hot tub up on Deck 19 that was a part of a Sun Deck that not many people knew about. Basically, there are two non-Haven hot tubs up there. The port side was public, and the starboard side was a part of the Vibe. When we cruised back in May of 2023, it seems that at some point Norwegian had closed off this port hot tub and included it with the Vibe. I was bummed, as that was the place that I had pre-determined I would be spending a lot of time. Oh well. …it was the one disappointment that I had with that cruise. Everything else was fantastic.
Trying to Score a Deal
We booked this cruise back in mid-August 2023. When we were onboard in May, we looked into purchasing NCL’s CruiseNext vouchers, but didn’t pull the trigger. I regretted it, knowing I’d love to go on another cruise, and purchasing these onboard was a great way to save money. Afterwards, I learned that NCL also has CruiseFirst vouchers too. They’re very similar, but with a few more restrictions. The CruiseFirst vouchers seem to be pretty hidden on NCL’s website, and unless you know about the promo, it’s very easy to overlook. Basically, how it works is you purchase a voucher for $150, and the amount you can use towards your booking doubles to $300 (like I said, with certain restrictions). Several times per year they also offer a $250 CruiseFirst deal, which doubles to $500. Mid-August was one of those times, so I jumped on it. It’s definitely a no-brainer since to book a Norwegian cruise you’ll need to put down a $250 deposit. If you’re going to have to pony up the money anyway to book, you might as well purchase the CruiseFirst voucher and use THAT as your deposit. Meanwhile, once it’s applied, an additional $250 comes off the price of the cruise fare.
We didn’t gamble a ton on our first cruise, but we gambled enough that I figured it would be worth it to give Casinos at Sea a call to see if they could do anything for us. If you’ve cruised with Norwegian previously and have gambled even a few hundred dollars, it may be worth it to see if they could offer you something. I’m not sure if it would be wise to expect a comped cruise, but the way I figured it was anything helps. The phone rep that I spoke with asked what cruise we were interested in and then put me on a brief hold to talk with her manager. After they analyzed both of our play, they were pleased to offer us a 20% discount off our cruise fare, along with $50 of onboard credit! It was definitely appreciated, and really only took about 10 minutes of our time. They made a note on our account, so when we were ready to actually book it, Norwegian would know to book it through CAS.
I should also add that another perk of booking through Casinos at Sea is the priority check-in. It was outstanding!
So, with the 20% casino discount along with the $500 CruiseFirst voucher, we were off to a very good start in making this trip a reality!
I honestly don’t remember whether we booked our cruise by calling the CAS line or NCL’s booking line to finalize things, but the lovely woman that I spoke with was more than accommodating. Having never sailed on an inside cabin before, I let her guide me as to what room would be the best. She was able to snatch up room 11601.
With Norwegian’s Free at Sea promotion, inside staterooms include only one specialty dining meal. On our last cruise, we enjoyed their steakhouse (Cagney’s) and their French restaurant (Le Bistro). While Cagney’s was good, it certainly isn’t a Morton’s or Ruth’s Chris. Le Bistro was outstanding, and we definitely wanted to return. We wanted to try other specialty restaurants as well, so we added an additional two-mail plan each to our booking. At the 120-day mark, we made online reservations for Teppanyaki on Day 1, La Cucina on Day 6, and continuing the tradition, Le Bistro on Day 7. 8pm reservations across the board since we had already seen most of the entertainment on the ship on the previous cruise, and there were no real changes other than the removal of Footloose, and the change in lineup of comedians. We had no desire to attend Footloose’s replacement, which was a version of Wheel of Fortune, that was an additional fee, like Deal or No Deal. I am a little disappointed that Norwegian removed their Broadway-style production and replaced it with just another cash grab, but it seems that this is the way that many cruise lines are headed…
At the 21-Day mark, we seamlessly did the online check-in (at midnight) and secured an 8:30-9:00am check-in (the first available), and made no further show or dining reservations. The only hiccup I had was in trying to upload pictures of us. I had to wake my wife up and re-take her picture. She wasn’t thrilled about it, and she ended up having her picture re-taken when we checked in at the pier.
Embarkation/Boarding/Departure
I’m cheap, and always want to try and find the best deal in parking. As I’ve laid out in a previous post (full link below), I really do like parking in Weehawken, NJ and taking the Port Imperial Ferry into Manhattan. That was our plan again this time.
The DEFINITIVE Travel and Parking Guide for the New York Area Cruise Terminals
Our home in Massachusetts is pretty much three hours to Midtown Manhattan. Being the planner than I am, right before we left our house I checked traffic for any updates. As it turns out, the Lincoln Tunnel was shut down that morning. I quickly relayed that information to the Facebook Group for this sailing, and it was time to leave. I’ve got to admit, I was a little stressed not having a plan in place!
When we drive into Manhattan, we take the Henry Hudson Parkway. I love using this route not only for the perpetual lack of traffic, but for the amazing views along the Hudson as we drive south into Midtown. Speaking of views, it’s always fun to catch that first glimpse of the ship bracketed by the towering buildings and water. It never ceases to amaze me the sheer size of these ships.
As it turns out, we just ended up parking right at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal. Yes, it is ridiculously expensive at $45/day, but I must admit that it is incredibly convenient. You’re parking literally right next to the ship you’re about to board. Because parking there was literally a last-minute decision, we didn’t make pre-paid reservations there online. We just headed up the ramp, turned into the lot, paid, and parked. It was pretty easy, and finding a spot wasn’t too tough because as we were showing up for our cruise, prior cruisers who had just gotten off the Joy were leaving.
I will say, however, that we did hear some horror stories while onboard talking with other cruisers. Apparently the lot filled, and they had to turn away people who had pre-paid reservations. They were ultimately refunded, but were forced to find other parking, some for much more. So, just beware that if you do plan on parking right at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, there is a possibility that you might be turned away, regardless of whether or not you’ve paid. It’s definitely a good idea to have an alternate place in mind just in case. I like using SpotHero for just such instances. Click the link below for parking near the cruise terminal.
The only inconvenience to parking at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal is that you park first, then drop your luggage off with the porters. I would definitely prefer it the other way around so you would not have to wheel your suitcases from your car to the porters. You park, get to the elevator and head down, drop off your bags, then head inside.
We arrived prior to the Security section opening, we we had to line up. There was already a number of people in front of us. We waited maybe 15 minutes, then they opened up and the line moved quickly. Once through, there were several different lines that one could go through for check-in. Most of them were dependent on what deck your stateroom was on. Obviously another line was set up strictly for guests of the Haven. Another dedicated line was for Casinos at Sea. We went through that line, and were the first people to do so. I think that most who book through Casinos at Sea have comped cruises, and Norwegian definitely wants to take care of their “high rollers.” So the boarding order is typically Haven, Accessible/Special Needs, high Latitudes Rewards members, and then they start going by Boarding Group number, which is a number they assign you based upon your check-in time.
The last time we cruised, we were the very first people to go through Security, but still wound up with a Boarding Group # of 11. It’s still a VERY low number, but the Group 11 card we received was because there were so many individual lines, that had we gone into a different line, we probably would have received a different number, either higher or lower. (I was kind of disappointed at that).
Since they want to take care of their casino guests, and we were first to go through that line, I was absolutely thrilled when I saw that the card that we were handed said “Group 1 Boarding Card.”
We had to wait around until just after 11am, when they started boarding. Sure enough, as Group 1, we were able to board immediately after the Latitudes Platinum (and higher) guests.
Haven, Special Needs, and Latitudes guests have their own separate, roped off waiting area. They always seem to board effortlessly. Once they’re aboard, they start lining people with the numbered cards up. At that point, things seem to fall apart and no matter how organized the staff try to be, it ends up being a stampede. My advice, if you have a very low number, is to try to position yourself as close to the boarding area as you possibly can if it’s important to you to get onboard ASAP.
So we got onboard, found our muster station, checked in, and then made our way up to Deck 17. Another change Norwegian made since our last cruise was to make the American Diner a complimentary offering. When it was a Specialty restaurant, the place always seemed empty. We had figured that first lunch would be a great time to check it out. Unfortunately they didn’t open until noon. We were pretty hungry, and since we had pretty much beaten everybody else onboard, we figured we’d just hit the buffet. It was empty when we went in there and had our run of the place. Well…. for about 20 minutes. Then it started to fill up quickly.
After lunch, we figured it was time to make our first visit to the Vibe Beach Club. After we made our way up to Deck 19 and approached the entrance to the Vibe, I had a moment of fear. What if my keycard didn’t give me access? What if the door didn’t slide open? Of course, it was just my needless worry, as the door opened and we were immediately greeted by the Vibe staff. They explained how things work up there, said that we’d have wristbands waiting for us in our cabin, and gave us a quick overview of how things worked up there.
We figured that we’d spend the next few hours up there until we heard the call over the ship’s intercom that our deck’s rooms were available. I never caught his last name, but Rodnie (who introduced himself as Rodnie Dangerfield) was amazing. He asked us what we’d like to drink. We asked him to surprise us, and he gave us each a “Blue Dangerfield,” and a shot of some delicious coconutty thing while we waited the minute for him to pour them. Now, I have no idea what was in these drinks other than the Malibu I could taste and the Blue Caracao that I could see, but they were strong, delicious, and were garnished with a pineapple slice. We laid down on two padded loungers right next to the starboard hot tub. Before we knew it, our drinks were empty, and they were right there with another two! Didn’t even have to ask!
By this time, we figured it would be a good time to stake a claim on the hot tub before others did. I would say that each one could hold 6 people if they didn’t mind snuggling up, but two couples seemed fine. Obviously, we’d prefer to be in there alone, so we each visited one of the large bathrooms up there and got changed into our bathing suits.
Even though it was a mid-April day, the sun was shining, it was warm enough, and the hot tubs were great! It was fantastic to be 19 stories above the Hudson River, overlooking all that Midtown Manhattan is, while lounging with a drink in your hand while in a hot tub. I felt like royalty, and was everything I had hoped the Vibe to be.
We departed Pier 88 promptly at 4pm, and before we knew it, we had passed by the Statue of Liberty, and were heading under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and into open water.
Shortly after we went under the bridge, we got the call that our room was ready.
Interior Stateroom 11601
It’s the closest room to the forward set of elevators. The location of the room was extremely convenient, and I liked the fact that we didn’t have to walk down an endless corridor of identical doors to find our cabin. I was concerned about being right next to an elevator from a noise standpoint. The reality was that there was no issue at all! The way that the hallway was set up, the majority of foot traffic actually led away from our stateroom, and there were only 16 rooms that used this hallway. With the A/C blasting in our room, along with a USB-powered fan running, we never heard a single peep from outside our room. It was only when the fan was off would we occasionally hear the “bing” of the elevator reaching our floor.
I was terrified that the room would be way too small. I wouldn’t say that it was too small, but it was cozy. There were times that I missed having natural light, and having to get dressed and take a walk to see a sunrise or the water was definitely an extra step, but the trade-off was that if you wanted to take a quick nap in the middle of the afternoon after a long previous night in the casino, it was ideal. There was definitely less shelf and drawer/cabinet space than in an interior or balcony room, but since there were only two of us (and we packed fairly light), it ended up being just right. In fact, as long as the Vibe Beach Club passes are available, I would DEFINITELY not hesitate to book another inside cabin in the future.
We unpacked, got changed, and went back up to the Vibe for the few moments we had before our reservations at Teppanyaki.
We were actually a little early for our reservation, but they sat us with no problems. The layout of each station is an area surrounded by two flat top grills, with seats all around. The Hibachi Chefs work in pairs, with each one preparing food for those sitting around the flat top on his side. While there’s no open flames at Teppanyaki-style Hibachi restaurants on cruise ships, these guys were making up for it with their antics, singing, and spatula skills. The food was abundant, and I have no idea how we ate as much as we did!
After our dinner, I was amazed to see the casino open already. We spent the remainder of the evening there, but weren’t out too late since it had already been a pretty busy day that started pretty early many hours ago in Massachusetts. So yeah, we called it an early night. Didn’t matter. We were on vacation, and we had all week!
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