I tried the most controversial Norwegian Cruise in the Caribbean. On boarding day, you are normally filled with excitement. You see a bunch of happy families ready to relax and a huge ship docked in port, ready to take you on an incredible vacation. But that’s not what happened on my last cruise.
When we showed up, people were yelling, cars were honking, and people were blocking lanes and entry points to the parking garage.
It was complete chaos.
We had just driven 5.5 hours, and I knew that in our particular case, at least one thing could go wrong that would result in us not being able to board the ship in time. However, I remained positive. Let’s talk about it…
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I have only cruised with Norwegian and this $15 change has been there for as long as I have been cruising.
Your wife hot, 😲 therefore you are the man 🙂
But yeah man, the main problem I have with NCL is all their ships are "flag of convenience". I first heard the phrase when I was in the USN, a lot of bad things happen on those ships….but for cruise ships, the reason it's relevant is that they only have to follow the laws of the country the ship is flagged in. So if it's flagged in the Bahamas, they only have to have to follow the laws of the Bahamas. If it's flagged in Panama, they only have to follow Panamanian laws. That's why they have crew who are paid like 400/month. Illegal here in the USA, quite legal in Panama.
Two ways you can tell, either Google "[vessel name] vessel flag" and see what the results are, or if you can look at the ship before boarding, go to the aft end and see what flag is flying.
Here's some cruise lines that don't fly FoC:
P&O Cruises– they have three ships flagged in the UK. MUCH better. The Brits have a good, blue water Navy, so you know the ship is going to be safe, and it's illegal in Britain to pay somebody 400 USD/month. (the three ships are Britannia, Ionia, and Arvia.)
P&O Australia — Pacific Adventure and Pacific Encounter are flagged in UK. Their other one is in the Bahamas. 😞
Costa — theirs are flagged in Italy! Another G7 country with a blue water Navy, and a NATO ally.
Holland America — flagged in Netherlands, another NATO ally
Viking Ocean Cruises — flagged in Norway!
Akuska 2 — this ship is flagged in Japan!
Ponant — Yacht cruising, flagged in France!
National Geographic Cruises has some ships flagged in the USA! Venture, Quest and Sea Bird all flagged in the USA.
NCL does have one that's registered here, Pride of America, but you have to fly to Hawaii to sail on her. All American crew, though. Merchant Mariners are paid very well here in the USA! All union job too. Any of those river cruises, like ones that go on the Mississippi River, are flagged in USA, because if you go from one US port to another US port, without going to another country in between, the law requires you to use a US Flag ship. 🙂
They have charged us $15 a bottle every time we cruised on Norwegian for years now. We always have the drink package too. I don't think this is a new policy.
14:22 I agree with you, that doesn't sound safe! Imagine getting caught in there if there are rough seas….although I guess they would shut it down…but still. It must because they are Flag of Convenience. Can you imagine the US Coast Guard or the equivalent in Britain, Italy, Japan, Norway etc. approving that??? I think they would not! But NCL can do it on a foreign flagged ship because they don't have to comply with the laws of country that has a good Navy/Coast Guard. In the Navy, we call the Coast Guard "puddle pirates" lmao, but in this case they are very valuable. Good flags only for me. Like I said, the only NCL ship I would go on would be the one in Hawaii that's USA flag. 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this! I am blown away by this. I read many reviews about what cruisers liked and disliked on a cruise and most of it is personal opinion and some are just being picky. However, in your own experience it is more than words it is proof about the reviews on NCL Joy! My former co-worker swears that NCL is one of the best cruises. All I say they need to clean up their services on the NCL Joy!
WOW guys- what a WHOOOLE lotta let downs!!!! Soooo sorry you had this experience!! At least you had some warning from the reviews, but I was truly hoping you'd have a different experience!! At least there were some standout moments!!
Loved this, but sorry for your experience. Dixie cups?! What’s with that? Lol
Glad to see yall back on a ship, even if bad.
Thank you very much for this review. This is exactly why I’ll stay with Celebrity.
My first couple cruises with NCL years ago, the terminal experience was pleasant. They offered drinks and snacks and seating for all and there were staff everywhere. Now you are most definitely treated like cattle. Its disgusting. We experienced this on our last cruise just this past year.
Sorry your trip was rough. As far as pumping. I can't appreciate the struggle. I hate they lied to you. I nursed my twins for 9mo and never pumped. I went back to work when they were 12wks and it worked out. I did cut back my fluid intake day before I worked and nursed right before I left and as soon as I got home. I never got to leave them for more than 8 hrs.
Please upgrade your audio quality. It would really level up your (already awesome) videos.
nice to see u bck on the cruise scene
Get everything in writing. Never heard of a medical grade refrigerator on a non-suite or suite cabin, and ive been cruising since the 90s, but let me ask my friend whose uncle was CEO of RCCL. You said you booked last minute? With a travel agent? Your agent should have represented and addressed all your needs, confirmed in writing with you, as all seasoned travel agents do. I will never understand why people go vacation on a "controversial" resort, destination, or cruise and expect otherwise. 😂 Apparently there were 3000 of these passengers on this controversial ship, which sounds like its reputation doesn't deter anyone. 😅 Dude, you heard McDonald's isn't the best food yet billions of meals are served there yearly, yet some folks expect a Michelin Star experience. 😅
Your wife would have to pump and dump like many other mothers whose babies are not with them. And let's just say there was a medical grade refrigerator in your cabin, how would you transport all the breast milk back to your home when you drive back 5.5 hours? Do you have a medical grade cooler or fridge in your vehicle. Sounds fishy to me and another excuse to whine and pile on a ship that is already beleaguered, catering to a general public. Perhaps if MORE PEOPLE PETITION for medical grade refrigerators in their cabins, then the ship can provide that and charge EXTRA for that, and possibly reduce power to other things on the ship. It cost more money to have a medical grade refrigerator and it will also be larger and heavier. 🙄
Wow! You would've been bored out of your mind on any cruise ship back in the 90s when all there was was good food, good live music, the disco, the shows, the movie theater, the pools and hot tubs, and the endless views kf the ocean and awesome sunrises and sunsets. There wasnt all the sensory overload distractions. Families, friends, and couples communed with each other, spending quality time together. Couples made love. The biggest complaint would've been that they ran out of hazelnut gelato, and that passengers would need to wait till the next day when more would be made. How did milliona of cruisers survived with out the race track or the mini golf or the slides or the flow or ice skating or whatever other electronic and amusement park distraction? Oh right. We went to specific places where those things can be found. I personally still love the idea of crusing with out the Amusement park. Not to say i wouldn't use the attractions but it wouldnt be my priority and yes, those should be charged extra because they don't belong on a cruise ship. This why luxury cruise ships dont have them. BTW, Norwegian is not a luxury cruise line. They have cruise ships with elevated interiors but it is not a Seaborne or a Viking or a Queen Mary or an Asamara.
Sorry but you were not on a luxury cruise ship. You should've managed your expectations based on the reviews you read. It's not the Joy's fault that people still pay to cruise her despite reviews. It's not like you were forced to book last minute and pay more to prove the reviews right. 😂 You can't balme anyone else for your actions. It's called freewill. Again, that McDonald's effect. Folks eating there and hoping for a gourmet experience. 😅
I think some content creators purposely want to create or perpetuate negative content to increase traffic to their YouTube channel.🙄🤪🤣
The roots are headed to atuba and gentleman arr geaded to curacao.
Anthony hamilton in cutacao on youtube
We cruised on Norwegian once. Never again!
OMG I can't anymore with this 😅 First, you tryna sound like JtheNomad in you speech pattern. Then you're comparing the island to RCCL's without mentioning the $100 cost to do part of the cococay island (i love RCCL) then you complain about returning back to the ship last minute when, I am 99% sure you're already aware that many people will do the same coz you've experienced this on other cruises. You accomplished your mission. You've deterred folks from booking this "controversial " cruise ship AND you've driven traffic to your channel. Trust, I have never seen any of your videos before but your lead in is pretty much the old journalistic adage of "uf it bleeds, it leads," and you're definitely reaffirming other previous reviews. Bravo! Youve learned how to picky back on others to create a "successful" episode. Take a bow, pun intended.😉👏
You wanted comments, I'm delivering. It is a known fact that in shorter sailings there may not be any broadway productuon type shows, on ANY cruise lines. You say that the ship underdelivered but you enjoyed the food. You never mention how the general boots on the ground staff treated you. Nor did you observed how other passengers were reacting to the cruise in its entirety. I suppose they were invisible. Mayne next time dont bother with other reviews and go on a cruise, write the review without prejudice (pre-judging based on others' opinions) and drive traffic to your channel on your own merit like the other cruise vloggers. Just a thought. Congrats on being a new parent. You are that child's first teacher and influencer.
I’ve had to do this for the Epic in Barcelona for wine and that was back in like 2017. The first and last time I brought wine onboard NCL.
That is so crazy, b/c we sailed Joy last year, and it was one of THE BEST experiences ever! So much so, we booked it for March 2024. Not sure why, maybe people don't like the ship b/c it was set for the Asian market, but we had the best room, and enjoyed the differences of the ship! (We also booked Encore the following year to compare). I didn't get to the rest of your video yet…but interesting for sure!
80oz!!!!! OMG all that liquid gold!!!! My heart sank when you said that. Not being able to accommodate a breastfeeding/pumping mom is unacceptable! All of this is unacceptable and really frustrating. I feel the wine thing is just silly. When we went in 2021 their wine policy information was a bit confusing, and we understood that maybe we just didn't read the policy correctly so we did have a bottle held hostage until the end of our trip but we were allowed to keep one. However, $15 for one bottle of wine?? There is so much more alcohol that will be consumed for them to charge $15 to bring one bottle on board. I don't know what NCL is thinking but they need to get it together. Sucks that this experience was so frustrating. I know how it feels to need a parenting break and looking to plan something special.
I enjoy the content but your audio is too echo-y to listen. Hope you can resolve the issue. Your other videos aren't like this. Wish the NCL Joy had provided you with a better experience. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much Griff! My daughter and I are scheduled on the Joy for 2024 and now…..because of your review I think I will cancel and schedule a different cruise! Your review was excellent and I don't usually go off other's negative reviews but yours was SO thorough! You just saved me a lot of money!!! Thank you very much! Love you guys!
Yeah, NCL is declining. I got suckered into a Cruise Next cert, so I'll go on at least one more, but itll likely be my last. Their prices are much too high for what they offer. I'm actually considering trying Carnival's Excel class ships. Have y'all done them yet?
I have been on 5 NCL cruises and have never had any of these experiences. Wow maybe it's just that ship, I haven't sailed the joy.
NCL is not one of our fav's. It seems to us that it is always a slow process for everything. Food has always been great.
We just got off the Joy on Friday and were on the sailing after you guys! It was an 11 night cruise and we had so much fun and a totally different experience from you guys. I will agree embarkation in Miami sucked, that terminal was NOT designed properly and to handle so many people. Our embarkation took a while and very slow, nothing compared to the quick embarkation process that Royal and Carnival offer. And it’s a brand new terminal so I was expecting much better. I think your embarkation was delayed because the ship had came in from a long cruise, so customs delayed boarding for you guys.
I was disappointed with the embarkation process too, but once onboard the ship everything was great, aside from waiting a while till 3pm for our room to be ready.
However, our cruise was overall amazing, probably my favorite cruise I’ve done so far out of 17. We love NCL, but definitely agree there’s some policies/rules that need to be changed and a lot of room to improve on some things.
Hope you guys give a NCL another shot in the future and have a way better experience than this one!
Sandals and the Four Seasons are in no way the same class of hotels. Inaccurate and irrelevant comparison. Also, when and where has NCL ever billed themselves as a "luxury cruise line?" They don't. Again, inaccurate. Sorry you had a bad experience but don't let it cloud your judgement so much.
I have a cruise planned on the joy next year in March. Maybe I should cancel it. Doesn't sound like it's worth the hassle and i'm also leaving out of miami
Went on NCL escape. The food wasn’t good at all. Lines everywhere. Had to pay to do anything. No sitting at shows/events. Had a better experience on carnival dream.
So did you ever figure out what the hold up was in the terminal? Im wondering if it was a immigration/customs issue with them not being able to clear the ship in a timely manner.
The wine thing isnt adding up. They charged you $15 simply got boarding with wine? Their website states $15 is the corkage fee for drinking in restaurants or public areas. Should not have been charged that simply for bringing it onboard to drink in the stateroom.
Lol
sounds like your lack of planning was the cause. Never had this experience on NCL. Worst experienced are on royal. Oh and your facts are wrong on the ship. do some research
Are all NCL ships like this or in your experience is this isolated to the Joy?
I have been on a couple of Ncl cruises and they all have been great. My favorite was the Alaskan cruises I was on. I am sorry your experience wasn't the best. Try going to Alaska you will love it on Ncl
Dang Griff, you went hard in the paint on this one 😂😂😂😂😂. Keep those reviews coming.
Thank you for the detailed review and content.Glad to see your back taking cruises. Hope all is well!
They gave you an obstructed interior room 😂.
sorry about your bad experience…. Probably safest next time to review their website. It clearly states information like having to pay for wine.
I'm going on Sunday from NYC anf I didn't know uou could bring a bottle of wine at all. I literally brought fake flask to bring drinks on board as I don't have the drink package but my mom does have the package so can she bring on the wine for free?