Ship Overview

Norwegian Joy is the second of four ships in NCL’s popular Breakaway Plus Class. Originally designed for the Chinese market when she launched in 2017, Norwegian Joy received a makeover in 2019 to appeal to the American market before setting sail in Alaska.

This ship is nearly 168K gross tons with a capacity of just over 3,800 guests at double occupancy. Since Norwegian Escape bears a closer resemblance to the Breakaway Class of ships, Norwegian Joy was the first vessel to debut many of the features and attractions that cruisers have come to love on this class of ships, like the Speedway, laser tag, and Galaxy Pavilion.

Yet, she does still retain other popular amenities that are no longer present on the newer ships in the fleet like a complimentary mini golf course and the adult-only Spice H2O.

Not to mention, the ship features the forward-facing Observation Lounge, two pools and whirlpools, a spa, the deck 8 Waterfront promenade, and Vibe Beach Club. There’s also two production shows, Footloose and Elements; however, Footloose will be ending as of October 28, 2023. Additionally, guests can find Beatles tribute bands in The Cavern Club; comedy shows in The Social; and all your other typical cruise activities from trivia to a silent disco and the GLOW party.

When it comes to dining, Norwegian Cruise Line is the innovator of the Freestyle approach. Thus, Norwegian Joy features several specialty restaurants including the signature steakhouse Cagney’s, Le Bistro, Teppanyaki, and more. There’s also three complimentary main dining rooms, The Local Bar & Grill, and the Garden Café buffet. When you get thirsty, there’s plenty of bars to grab a drink too, including two of our favorites, the Sugarcane Mojito Bar and the District Brewhouse, along with two Starbucks locations.

Don’t worry, Norwegian’s Free at Sea has you covered with a free open bar, specialty dining, and even more perks. This offer features a Premium Beverage Package and 2-meal specialty dining package for a 7-day cruise (balcony and above). It is important to note that guests still need to pay the 20% gratuity on these free perks at the time of booking. Guests can also upgrade to the Free at Sea Plus for more inclusions like Starbucks.

Given we have sailed on all three of her sister ships, we were eager to complete the class with this cruise on Norwegian Joy. Plus, this Norwegian Joy cruise to Bermuda featured 3 days in port giving us plenty of time to explore onboard and ashore.

While we were actually sailing on this cruise, Norwegian Cruise Line announced some updates coming to Norwegian Joy in 2024. Some of these enhancements include the addition of a thermal suite to the Mandara Spa which will take the place of the Galaxy Pavilion and an expansion of the Vibe Beach Club which will replace the laser tag arena. Norwegian Joy will also see the addition of staterooms and the redesign of some Haven suites.

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Norwegian Joy Cruise to Bermuda Review – Day 1

A Last Minute Cruise

With some changes to our July travel plans, we decided to book this rather last minute Norwegian Joy cruise to Bermuda. Using our Norwegian Cruise Line credit card reward points, we secured a guaranteed balcony cabin at a significantly discounted rate.

It had been over 7 years since we last cruised to Bermuda, and we couldn’t wait to get back. While we do live in the Boston area, we opted for a New York to Bermuda cruise instead of a Boston to Bermuda cruise simply because of the ship.

We really like NCL’s Breakaway Plus Class of ships. Having just sailed on Norwegian Encore to Alaska, we decided it was time to check out Norwegian Joy.

So, we took the approximately 4 hour drive into NYC the day before the sailing. Securing a hotel reservation at Ink48, we were just minutes away from the Manhattan cruise terminal on embarkation day.

It’s Embarkation Day

We opted to park at the cruise terminal and secured a reservation online in advance of our sailing. The parking fee is $45 per day, but your vehicle is conveniently stowed right onsite at the terminal.

Even though we had a 9:30 AM arrival time, we opted to head over a bit later. We checked out of the hotel around 10:30 AM and took the quick drive to the Manhattan terminal. Parked and our bags dropped off with porters, we headed into the terminal to begin the check-in process.

The terminal was actually quite busy, but the process only took about 20 minutes. We were assigned boarding group number 26, then proceeded to wait about an hour until we were allowed to board the ship. It was very hot in the terminal building–it seemed as though the air conditioning was not working.

Given that it was a rainy and wet day in NYC, the indoor areas of Norwegian Joy were fairly crowded already by the time we boarded around 12:30 PM. We headed straight to Deck 6 to make our remaining reservations. This included reservations for the comedy shows and racetrack in The Social. (We had already made reservations for the two productions shows, Elements and Footloose, online prior to the cruise.

Heading next door to Teppanyaki, we attempted to make additional dining reservations. Given our last minute booking, most of the specialty restaurants were sold out pre-cruise. Thankfully, we were able to secure a few additional restaurants.

With these loose ends tie up, and the weather preventing our normal “ship tour”, we decided to have lunch in the main dining room. Even though it was busy, we didn’t wait too long for a table.

While we had commented that the MDR food during our recent Encore sailing was much better than we remembered, this was not the case on Joy. My cobb salad was drenched in dressing and Don’s pork chop was rather dry and bland.

Are the Rooms Ready Yet?

Approaching 2 PM now and the rooms still not ready, we walked around the indoor spaces trying to grab some photos and videos where we could. We were able to secure shots of many of the specialty restaurants and the theater during this time.

We stopped in at our muster station near the theater to complete this mandatory requirement as well.

Now almost 3 PM, we decided to grab some Starbucks, which is included in the Free at Sea Plus. We needed this afternoon pick-me-up and a break from lugging around our carry-on bags.

Finally, an announcement was made around 3:30 PM that the cabins were ready. This is the latest we have ever experienced on any of our 70+ cruises.

We booked a guarantee balcony cabin and a couple weeks before the sailing were assigned cabin 13166. This BA category cabin is located on the portside, fairly close to the forward bank of elevators. This cabin was nearly identical to our cabin on Norwegian Encore a few weeks prior.

Given our luggage had already arrived, we took some time to capture content of our cabin and then unpack prior to sail away. We always make time to unpack and get settled in on embarkation day using our tried and true cabin hacks.

Since the rain had temporarily stopped, the sail away party on the pool deck was still a go. Albeit still very humid, we made our way up to Deck 16 for the rather uneventful party. With the ship not departing until close to 6 PM, we grabbed a sail away drink and some rail space on the sundeck to watch the New York skyline pass us by.

Our First Night Onboard Norwegian Joy

Back to our cabin around 6:30 PM, we changed up for our first specialty dinner at La Cucina. This Italian restaurant has been replaced by Onda on newer ships, so it had actually been several years since we dined here.

I started the meal with a margherita pizza, and Don ordered the calamari. We debated a pasta dish but ended up foregoing it and going straight to entrees instead. Don did the osso bucco, and I ordered the chicken cacciatore. While the food was good, it didn’t compare to Onda. Of course, we still couldn’t pass up some dessert. So, we finished up the meal with the cannoli and ricotta cheesecake.

Following dinner, we made our obligatory stop into the logo shop. But alas, there were no ship ornaments for our vacation tree.

Then, it was off to the theater for the first show of the cruise. Tonight, there was a headliner magician, Po, with his FANtast show. While there were some decent illusions including some Chinese fan acts, it was a pretty typical cruise ship show.

Where to next? Don won this battle, so to the District Brewhouse we went. With a drink in hand, we listened to the NCL favorite piano entertainer, Beau Tahana, for about a half hour before deciding to call it a night.

Tomorrow was our first sea day on Norwegian Joy.

Norwegian Joy Cruise to Bermuda Review – Day 2

A Sunny Sea Day

Day 2 of our Norwegian Joy cruise to Bermuda was a sea day. We were up at 6:30 AM to get the day started. Don was working his full-time job the first few days of this trip, so he headed off early to get some photos and videos while I got ready.

It was a sunny and nice morning. To his surprise, the chair hogs were already out and about. This was a foreshadowing of how busy it was going to be all week.

Returning to the room with our morning Starbucks, we did work until lunchtime. For lunch today, we headed to The Local Bar & Grill. This complimentary venue is one of our go-to’s on NCL ships. Going with our classic choices, I did the chicken salad sandwich and Don did chicken wings. These never disappoint!

Now, it was time for a little sun. While it was almost impossible to find lounge chairs at this hour, we watched the Sexy Legs competition and explored some of the outdoor amenities like the laser tag, race track, and Spice H2O. The racetrack on Norwegian Joy is certainly smaller than other ships in this class, so we watched quite a few wipeouts on the turns.

The adults-only Spice H2O is a complimentary area aft on Deck 17. It features a bar and a large whirlpool. We do miss this space on newer ships in the fleet.

Dress Up or Not Night

Since this was NCL’s Dress Up or Not Night, the only specialty dinner reservation we could get was early at 5:30 PM. Thus, we had to curtail our sun time earlier than we would have liked. In any case, we headed up to the Observation Lounge for our afternoon coffee then back to the cabin to cool off and get ready for dinner.

Ana and Emily at this Starbucks were by far the best service we had on the ship all week! Not only were they great baristas, they were also friendly and already knew our drink orders by Day 2.

Tonight’s dinner was at Cagney’s, NCL’s classic steakhouse. To our surprise, we were greeted by a long line down the hallway when we arrived to the specialty restaurant for our reservation. It actually took about 20 minutes for us to be seated. Though, we did eventually get a nice table at the very aft of the venue overlooking the ship’s wake.

For starters, I went with a Caesar salad and Don tried the oysters along with his usual crab cake. Unfortunately, Cagney’s does not have a chicken option or a vegetarian dish on the menu. So, I asked the waitress for grilled chicken as my entrée with which she obliged. This time around, Don went with ribeye as his entrée. He actually enjoyed this steak better than his recent filet on Encore.

To round out the meal, we both went with the best dish on the menu– the OMG caramel-butterscotch cheesecake. You can’t beat this dessert!

The Crowds Continue

Out of dinner before 7:30 PM, we decided to head over to the Cavern Club. Knowing it was a longshot, we were hoping to get into tonight’s showing of Beatlemania. That was a big no! Actually, the Cavern Club on Norwegian Joy is even smaller than its counterparts on Bliss or Encore. This meant that passengers lined up close to an hour in advance to get seats.

If we can’t listen to the Beatles cover band, then we might as well continue our bar crawl. Next up was Malting’s Whiskey Bar. This venue’s location is another difference on Norwegian Joy. It is located on Deck 6 near The Social and Teppanyaki on this ship. This meant the bar was in a nice secluded spot and was a good size, but it did also mean that The Social was smaller than its newer counterparts.

While at Malting’s, you need to try the Blackberry Bourbon Smash. This cocktail is on tap and quite tasty.

After enjoying our cocktails for a bit, we headed over to the Atrium for this evening’s 8:30 PM game show Sing It If You Know It. While we don’t really like that the game shows are held in the Atrium on NCL, they are still always a good time.

Next up was our first visit to my favorite NCL bar, the Sugarcane Mojito Bar. Grabbing our go-to raspberry guava and jalapeno cucumber mojitos, we eventually made our way to the theater for our 10 PM showing of Footloose.

Footloose does require reservations, and unfortunately, this signature production show will no longer be featured on Norwegian Joy after October of this year. It’s unfortunate as we did think this show was much better than the one later in the week, Elements. We enjoy the Broadway shows, yet NCL seems to be phasing them off of their ships, which makes Royal Caribbean the clear winner when it comes to onboard entertainment.

The full runtime of the Footloose production was quite long, not ending until around 11:45 PM. Thus, we decided to call it a night after this performance. Tomorrow was another sea day, but we did need to turn our clocks ahead one hour to get ourselves on Bermuda time.

Norwegian Joy Cruise to Bermuda Review – Day 3

Another Glorious Morning

Day 3 of our Norwegian Joy cruise to Bermuda was another sea day. Don had to work again this morning, so it was a similar routine. We were up by 6:30 AM, when he headed out to continue capturing content and returned with our morning coffee.

After a few meetings, we grabbed a late breakfast just before the buffet closed at 10:30 AM. It was quite busy making it difficult to find a seat. The only saving grace for me were that there were several omelet stations available with only short lines. The food was on par to what we have come to expect from a cruise ship buffet. Still, with so many other options, we prefer to avoid the Garden Café when possible.

Given it was another nice day, we took some time after breakfast to get outside and explore more of the ship. Norwegian Joy still has a complimentary mini-golf course aft on Deck 19 above the Speedway. Though, it seemed a bit forgotten.

During our travels, we also stopped in at the outdoor Sugarcane Mojito Bar. This spot does not serve the signature bar menu from indoors but rather a small sustainable cocktail menu–think Metropolitan Bar on Prima Class ships. Since the drink of the day was the croissant mai tai, one of Don’s favorites, he couldn’t resist getting one.

We also made an appearance at the Star Wars trivia in the Atrium occurring at 12 PM. While we didn’t officially play, Don tried to convince me that he knew all the answers. He insisted that the questions were much easier than the Star Wars trivia session in which we recently participated on a Royal Caribbean ship.

A Race to the Finish

After the trivia session, we went back to our room for a little work and to change up for our 2 PM reservation for the Joy Speedway. Guests will need closed-toe shoes to participate in this attraction.

This racetrack was the first built, and therefore, it might be the most difficult course to navigate. Being smaller than the courses on sister ships, the turns are much tighter and took a bit of driving skill to not crash. With some aggressive passing, Don did finish in first place, but I took home a nice third place finish as well.

Now, we had a couple more hours to enjoy the outdoors before our early dinner this evening. So, we grabbed a Starbucks and chilled on the Waterfront–it was almost impossible to find any seating on or near the pool deck.

Tonight’s dinner was in the Manhattan Room, and the only reasonable reservation time we could get was 5:15 PM. Much like our lunch in the MDR earlier this week, nothing really wow’ed us.

I opted for the Waldorf salad and chicken madeira, which was nothing like the same entrée I had a few weeks prior on Encore. Don went classic with a Caesar salad and NY strip steak, and we also split the rigatoni primavera. The pasta dish was perhaps the highlight of the meal. We rounded out our dinner with the brownie s’more and tiramisu which were both pretty good.

An Entertaining Evening

Following this early dinner, it was a mad dash to get in line for the 7:30 PM Beatles show at the Cavern Club. Arriving approximately 35 minutes early, there was already a line of 20 or more people deep. We did get seats tonight, but the venue is very small.

Honestly, this particular cover band was not very good in comparison to those we have seen in the past. Thus, we did not even attempt to return to another show later in the cruise.

From the Beatles show, it was downstairs to the Atrium for NCL Joy’s Newlywed Not So Newlywed game show. This show is always entertaining. In fact, the newlywed couple who was seated right beside us in the audience got picked to be one of the couples.

We scooted out of this game show just before it ended to secure seats for our 10 PM comedy reservation. The Social hosts two comedians during the week, each with typically one show a night. These shows do require reservations or you can attempt to go standby. Comedy show reservations can not be made prior to the cruise–only once onboard in the Social on embarkation day.

Tonight, we had a reservation to see Dean Edwards. He was actually one of the better cruise ship comedians that we have seen in a while. He was topical and got into a good flow with the audience.

After the comedy show, we rounded out our evening with some espresso martinis in the Observation Lounge. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, the piano music was just ending so we didn’t get to listen to much of her set.

Tomorrow was our first of three days in Bermuda. It had been over 7 years since we last visited, so we were excited to return.

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Norwegian Joy Cruise to Bermuda Review – Day 4

Time for Some Exploration

Day 4 of our Norwegian Joy cruise to Bermuda was our first day in port. Given that Bermuda is very easy to navigate with public transportation, we opted to do most of our exploring on our own. A bonus of sailing with Norwegian Cruise Line is that they also offer a free shuttle to St. George at set times each day.

We were up by about 7 AM with some coffee and continental breakfast items from the Observation Lounge. Once the ship we cleared, we headed ashore around 9 AM.

Our plan for the day was to take the 20-minute ferry ride from the Dockyard over to Hamilton. From here, we would visit the Crystal and Fantasy Caves, have some lunch at the Swizzle Inn, then head back into town to explore more of Hamilton. Every Wednesday evening in the summer is the Harbour Nights street festival which we were looking forward to checking out this evening.

While we realize that we could have taken the free NCL ferry to St. George to reach the Caves as well, we opted to pay the nominal fee for this shorter public ferry ride. Purchasing tokens from the visitor center, we hopped aboard the 10:30 AM ferry.

Upon arrival, we secured a taxi to the Caves which cost just under $30. Of note, you may want to download the HITCH app which is sort of like the Uber equivalent in Bermuda.

When we arrived at the Caves, we still needed to wait in line to purchase tickets and get wristbands even though we technically called in advance to make reservations. You can purchase individual cave visits or a combo ticket. Individual adults tickets are $24 or combo tickets are $35.

Each cave visit is approximately 30 minutes. The Crystal Cave is the larger and more popular of the two; though, I liked the Fantasy Cave better. Of note, both caves do have 80+ stairs, with the stairs in the Fantasy Cave being steeper.

If the stairs don’t make you break a sweat, the humidity will!

Here Come the Storms

With our cave tours complete around 1 PM, we made our way across the street to the Swizzle Inn, Bermuda’s oldest pub and home to the famous Rum Swizzle. Here, we were greeted by only a short line of guests waiting for a table. Not bad.

That was until the weather took a quick turn. Black skies, gusty winds, and downpours lead to flying umbrellas, scurrying outdoor diners, and us trying to take cover under an awning. It was almost like a scene of out Twister. As no one wanted to leave the restaurant in this weather, it ended up resulting in a much longer wait for a table than we anticipated.

Eventually, we got a table along with some rum swizzles, and Don sampled one of the famous fish sandwiches. By the time we finished eating, the rain had mostly subsided, but the skies still looked stormy. So, we had to decide whether we would catch an earlier ferry back to the Dockyard or attempt to stick around for Harbour Nights in downtown Hamilton.

We walked back over to the caves for a taxi. After talking to other guests who reported waiting an hour and asking the office to call some cabs, it was apparent that everyone wanted a taxi at once due to the storms and it was going to take a while. Remembering an advertisement we saw earlier in the day, Don decided to try the HITCH app.

With spotty cell service, we actually weren’t sure if our request went through or not. Luckily, it did and after about 30 minutes, we were finally in a taxi back to Hamilton. At this point, we had to decide if we would take the 5 PM ferry back or stick around with the next ferry not leaving for another 1.5 hours.

We walked around Front Street a bit, grabbing a special edition Bermuda Vineyard Vines shirt and taking a photo with the Bermuda sign. But, with more black clouds rolling in, we decided to cut our losses and head back to the ship. As much as we wanted to check out the Harbour Nights, the weather was too iffy to chance it.

And, we made the right decision, as we later heard from other passengers that the event was cancelled due to weather anyway.

Impromptu Dinner and a Show

Back onboard, we showered up for our impromptu evening on Norwegian Joy. With no dinner plans, we decided to walk up to Q Texas Smokehouse around 7 PM. The venue was pretty quiet, so we were able to get a table without any issues.

The Neilly Rich Duo was playing some country hits which we enjoyed during our meal. While Don is typically a fan of this BBQ restaurant, we both agreed that this visit didn’t live up to our previous experiences. Our apps and desserts were good, but the entrees were a let down.

We sampled the Lone Star chili and deviled eggs as starters along with some smoked peach margaritas. For an entrée, I ordered the turkey breast and Don the pitmaster. My turkey was rather dry and Don’s pitmaster contained a rather anemic portion of brisket and spare rib. The mason jar banana pudding and bread pudding did close out the meal on a high note though.

With no formal plans for the evening now, we stopped in at the Cavern Club for the ADDA Band performing some Elvis Presley before checking out the headliner act in the main theater, Cliché. The Travelers Duo was a pretty impressive aerial cirque-style show.

We then closed out the evening with some espresso martinis and the duo in the Atrium. Arvin and Emily both had great voices and were some of the better cruise ship entertainers we have seen in a while.

Norwegian Joy Cruise to Bermuda Review – Day 5

Another Rainy Morning

Day 5 of our Norwegian Joy cruise to Bermuda was our second day in port. We had a Bermuda Triangle cruise excursion booked for this evening. Our original plan was to spend the day at Horseshoe Bay Beach, but the weather was not in our favor again today.

When we woke up around 7 AM, it was raining. The forecast showed rain until at least 11 AM. With the weather looking more promising tomorrow, we decided that we would take the free NCL ferry over to St. George today and go to Horseshoe Bay for a few hours tomorrow before our departure.

Now, we needed to decide if we would take the 9 AM ferry or the 11:15 AM ferry. Given the schedule and 45 minute travel time in each direction, we opted for the 9 AM ferry to give us a little more time to explore. Heading out into light rain, we thankfully made it onboard the ferry before the heavy rain swept through.

By the time we arrived to St. George, we thought we were in the clear. We briefly walked around the historic streets and Town Square before deciding to take a mini-bus to Tobacco Bay Beach. This was mainly to avoid the uphill walk to the beach and St. Catherine’s Fort. We figured we would tour these spaces and eventually make our way back downhill to the Unfinished Church and other landmarks in this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Well, our plans were deterred again. Shortly after arriving at the beach, it started to rain. Thankfully, we hadn’t purchased chairs yet, so we donned our ponchos and walked over to St. Catherine’s Fort. Just as we arrived, so did the torrential rains and wind.

Starting to get discouraged by the weather, I decided we should start to make our way back towards the ferry. I didn’t want to stick around until 3 PM in the rain, so we needed to be back in time for the 12:30 PM ferry.

Along our way back, we did stop at the Unfinished Church for some photos. Of course, by the time we arrived at the ferry, the weather had pretty much cleared. Nonetheless, we took the 12:30 ferry back to the Dockyard. Along the route, we hit more torrential rain…at least we had cover this time.

I See the Sun

Back at the Dockyard by around 1:30 PM, the sun was finally starting to break through the clouds. Thankfully, this was the turning point in the weather for our cruise. So, we decided to walk around the Dockyard a bit, doing some shopping and grabbing a drink at the Frog and Onion Pub.

Back to the ship a little after 3 PM, we grabbed our afternoon coffee and snacks from the Observation Lounge. We did a little work, before showering and changing up for the evening.

We opted for an early dinner at Food Republic so we could head back out for our evening Bermuda Triangle cruise. When we arrived at 5:30 PM, we were the only guests in the restaurant. Still, the food was great as always. Though, it does get pricey when paying a la carte (we only had 4 specialty dining meals this cruise).

Between the two of us, we enjoyed some sushi, Korean fried chicken, lettuce wraps, fried rice, shrimp pad thai, and dumplings.

Out of dinner before 7 PM, we headed upstairs to grab our bags then back ashore. With the overnight stays in Bermuda, guests can come and go as they please. We were still undecided if we would stay out in the Dockyard after our tour or head back to the ship. The 90’s party occurring in Spice H2O was swaying me.

Getting Lost in the Bermuda Triangle

Taking a few photos at dusk first, we met our tour for 7:30 PM. This 90-minute glass-bottom boat excursion took us out to the Bermuda Triangle to explore the underwater life and shipwreck with some narration along the way.

Honestly, the best part of the tour was catching an amazing sunset. The glass-bottom scenery was pretty underwhelming. We did see some fish and coral, but we expected more in terms of Bermuda Triangle history, myths, etc.

Back to the harbor around 9:30 PM, we agreed to head back onto the ship. Dropping off our bags in our cabin, it was off to listen to some 90’s jams. We like the idea of holding these parties in Spice H2O; however, the area did get quite crowded. From *NSYNC, to Vanilla Ice, to Sir Mix-a-lot, we sung along–no dancing though–for the next hour or so.

When the party ended around 11 PM, we called it a night.

Norwegian Joy Cruise to Bermuda Review – Day 6

A Morning of Pink Sand and Sun

Day 6 of our Norwegian Joy cruise to Bermuda was our final day in port. Alas, it was a sunny morning! Up around 6 AM, Don met with our onboard contact to get a pre-arranged tour of the Haven and Vibe Beach Club, so we could have some photos and videos of the area.

Back with our morning coffee, we headed off the ship by 8:30 AM. Grabbing a taxi outside the ship is super easy, and we only waited a few minutes. There are also mini-buses available for $7 per person. Before long, we set off in our private taxi for the approximately 25 minute drive to the beach.

When we arrived, the beach wasn’t too crowded yet. So, we quickly purchased two chairs and an umbrella then walked all the way to the far end of the beach to take some photos and videos before it got too busy.

You can purchase chairs, umbrellas, or tents at the entrance and then choose where on the beach you would like to set up shop. Current prices are $20 per chair or umbrella and $40 for a tent that fits 4 chairs under it.

For the next 3 hours, we enjoyed the pink sand, sun, and ocean water. With Celebrity Millennium also in port with us, we weren’t sure what time that ship’s all aboard was and didn’t want to get stuck waiting in a huge taxi line. Thus, we packed up and headed to the taxi stand around 12:30 PM.

We were able to hop in a shared taxi right away and were back to the Dockyard around 1 PM. With our all aboard not until 2:30 PM, we beat the crowds to the Local for some lunch. Grabbing our afternoon coffee, we then headed back to our cabin to relax and do a little work before dinner.

This Wasn’t What We Planned

Tonight, we had dinner at Teppanyaki at 7:30 PM and a reservation to see the second production show of the cruise, Elements, at 9:30 PM. Unfortunately, the cruise director made an announcement that a member of the cast had been injured and the shows would be cancelled for this evening.

With that said, we attempted to get into Teppanyaki early thinking that maybe we could go standby for the second comedy show tonight to free us up for Elements tomorrow if the show went on. That plan didn’t work, so we grabbed drinks at Maltings until our reservation time.

While this hibachi experience is always a fun time, our waiter was a bit MIA for most of the meal. He forgot my cocktail and never even came by to check in on us or refill our water glasses.

The hibachi tables also felt tighter than those on other ships. We felt rather squished into a table of 10, right next to another table of 10 with the two chefs trying to work simultaneously.

With Don’s scallop allergy, the chef usually prepares everything else first saving the scallops (if anyone ordered them) until the end. However, his dish just showed up out the kitchen way before any of our meals were cooked. This meant his meal was cold by the time he waited for the rest of the table to be served.

We also made it out of dinner just minutes too late to make the comedy show. Oh well. Instead, we grabbed some cocktails at the Sugarcane prior to the GLOW party occurring on the pool deck at 10:30 PM. This party was packed, so we only stuck around for about a half hour before heading back inside to the Atrium for some espresso martinis and music with Arvin and Emily.

Tomorrow was already our last day of the cruise. The good news was that we would be gaining back our hour of sleep tonight to get back on to ET prior to our arrival in New York.

Norwegian Joy Cruise to Bermuda Review – Day 7

A Day of Relaxation

Day 7 of our Norwegian Joy cruise to Bermuda was a final sea day as we cruised back to New York.

Sleeping in until about 7 AM, we got ready and headed out for breakfast at the Local. This complimentary option is a great alternative to the buffet on NCL ships.

Following breakfast, it was time for some relaxation on the Waterfront. This is a great outdoor space for some fresh air away from the crowded and noisy pool deck. While the captain did his best to avoid the bad weather, our sunny morning turned into intermittent rain and clouds as the day progressed.

Nonetheless, we spent close to 3 hours here before deciding we needed a change of scenery. We may have grabbed some frozen drinks during our time here too.

With a crowded pool deck, we ended up grabbing our afternoon coffee and just heading back to the room to pack instead. Finished around 3 o’clock, we made our way back outside for an afternoon walk.

Our Final Night on Norwegian Joy

Our dinner tonight was at Ocean Blue for 6 PM. We had not dined at this NCL seafood restaurant in a while, but during our recent sailing on Encore, I noticed the newer menu had a chicken dish. So, we decided we would give it a try this trip.

It was actually better than we remembered. While the food was great, the service was rather slow, taking 2+ hours for our dinner.

I enjoyed the clam chowder and wedge salad as starters, and Don ordered the shrimp cocktail and gumbo. For entrees, I did the brick chicken and Don the cioppino minus the scallops. Everything was to our liking, and this ended up being our favorite meal of the cruise.

We did have a comedy show tonight at 9 PM with the second comedian, Joe Larson. However, when the cruise director announced that Elements was a go for this evening, we had already made the decision to skip the comedy show in order to see this production.

Thus, we headed to the Atrium after dinner to catch a few rounds of Battle of the Sexes. When we noticed a huge line forming at theater for the 9:30 PM Elements, we joined the chaos. And I mean chaos. Luckily, we were able to score some seats close to our usual spot, but others were not so lucky–and were not happy about it.

I guess we were expecting more from this show. After having seen both the magician and aerial acts earlier in the week (also featured in this show), it felt like this show was just a combination of the two along with a bit more visual effects.

Now, we are not sure how much of the show was altered due to the performer’s injury, but it felt like a pretty typical cruise ship show. This was surprising as we usually rank NCL among the likes of Royal Caribbean when it comes to signature production shows.

After the show, it was our tour-de-bars. Grabbing one last drink at my favorite bar, the Sugarcane Mojito, we then headed to the District Brewhouse. Here, Don was able to grab one last beer at his favorite bar while we were entertained by Beau. If you are a frequent NCL cruiser then you know that Beau is a very unique and entertaining musician. So, what better way to close out our cruise.

Well, since it had become our trend all week, why not grab one last espresso martini in the Atrium before retiring for the evening. After all, we did not have to be up too early tomorrow as disembarkation only started around 8 AM.

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Norwegian Joy Cruise to Bermuda Review – Disembarkation

We Didn’t Expect This

The saddest day of our Norwegian Joy cruise to Bermuda had come–disembarkation day! Last evening, we put one of our suitcases outside and would carry off the other one. Since we were driving rather than flying, we did not have to worry about the weight of the luggage.

With self assist scheduled to begin around 8 AM and priority (which we were given by NCL) to begin shortly after, we set our alarm for 6 AM. Showering, getting ready, and enjoying our morning coffee, we were ready around 7:30 AM.

Self assist was initially called around 7:30 AM and was paused shortly after due to congestion. We should have known better, but we decided to wait until around 8 AM when priority was called before exiting our room. Barely making it down 2 flights of stairs, we came to a standstill.

We have NEVER been backed up a stairwell like this on disembarkation day! The even more troubling part was that only self assist and priority tags had even been called. Surely, all these people did not belong to these two groups.

In any case, we were stuck here now. Snaking down 3 flights of stairs, back to the casino, and back around, we finally exited the ship 1.5 hours later. Thankfully, it was clear sailing from here.

On the Road Again

Grabbing our second suitcase, we were through CBP, used the restroom, and to our car in the parking garage in under a half hour. Exiting the garage was efficient, and we were on the highway without too much New York traffic.

While it’s not cheap at $45 a day, we would definitely utilize this parking lot in the future for convenience.

Hitting some traffic through CT, it took us a little over 4 hours to get home. Still, it was better than a day spent in airports.

Now, we would have a bit of time at home until our next scheduled trip. Our next cruise is at the end of August for our anniversary. We will be sailing on an 11-day cruise on Celebrity Beyond to Italy, Turkey, and Greece. Since we have not been to many of these ports before, we are really looking forward to this trip. So, as always, be sure to follow along with our upcoming adventures.

Comments

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