Norwegian Joy

The balcony decks on Norwegian Joy sort themselves out in a 2023 thread that asked which to book: decks 10 and 11 were called the sweet spot, because their BB-category balconies are physically identical to the pricier BA cabins on decks 12 through 15. Deck 9 was the one to skip. Its balconies sit over The Waterfront promenade, whose roof clips the view when looking down, and one poster who had a Club Balcony Suite there in 2022 disliked the obstruction enough to book deck 13 the next time; a Panama Canal group scattered across decks 9, 11 and 16 in December 2022 reported the same deck 9 obstruction, found deck 16 so high that the wider deck above cut off the sky, and voted deck 11 the best of the three. Fore versus aft is a venue question on this ship: forward suits the Observation Lounge, Garden Cafe and Vibe, aft suits the fitness center, casino and spa, and because the elevator banks are at the ends, a dead-mid-ship balcony means a long walk to either. One reply also noted cabins open by deck from the top down on embarkation day. For aft balconies, a 2020 thread relayed that deck 9 has the deepest and deck 13 the shallowest, with deck 12 second-deepest and several decks clear of public spaces, whereas deck 9 aft risks noise from Cagney's, Le Bistro and The Waterfront below.

Because the ship was built for the Chinese market, Joy carries cabin types the other Breakaway Plus ships do not. The Family Inside Suite is the one posters rave about: two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a living area in roughly 500 square feet, with a virtual balcony on one wall, priced close to a standard balcony and, per a 2023 family of five, the best value on board for a group. Joy also has a tier of non-Haven suites between the Haven and the Club Balcony Suites, a Concierge class, and no Studio cabins at all; the solo cabins NCL now advertises for it are ordinary inside, oceanview and balcony rooms re-priced for one, as a 2025 thread on solo categories worked out. Two smaller quirks came up in 2024: the interior cabins are laid out along a central corridor that is hard to find from the stairwells, and the balcony chairs have fixed arms that one larger passenger could not sit in. Club Balcony Suites are not suites, just balcony cabins with a bigger bathroom that one Joy passenger called really nice, and the Sail Away rate that makes them cheap drops the Free at Sea perks.

Within the Haven, the trade-off raised in a 2019 thread was an aft-facing penthouse with a big stern balcony, about $300 per person cheaper, against a two-bedroom penthouse inside the courtyard; replies pointed out that the Haven restaurant, lounge and courtyard are all forward, so the aft suites mean a hike every time, and a group of three would appreciate the second bathroom and a real bed instead of a pull-out.