Norwegian Joy cruises cancelled as ship heads for 2024 refit and refurbishment

Norwegian Cruise Line has announced the cancellation of four cruises aboard Norwegian Joy in 2024 as the ship will undergo a refit and refurbishment project.

Four cruises departing between January 6th and February 16th have been cancelled as a result of the revitalization.

The 4,200-guest ship was previously poised to sail a series of West Coast, Panama Canal and Caribbean itineraries.

“As part of our commitment to continuously offer extraordinary vacation experiences around the world for our guests, and to uphold a consistent world-class product across out fleet, the Norwegian Joy will be undergoing a revitalization in early 2024,” Norwegian said in an email sent to guests.“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may cause,” the cruise line added, but assured booked guests they would receive full monetary refunds of the paid fare to their original method of payment.

The refunds will reportedly be automatically processed within 30 business days, while reservations paid via a previously issued Future Cruise Credit (FCC) will see a 100 percent refund of the used amount automatically re-applied to the guests’ Latitudes accounts.

No further details were announced about the new features, upgrades and changes being made to the ship.

Norwegian Joy was delivered in 2017, and this will be her first shipyard revitalization. Cruise ships are typically refurbished on a 5-to-10-year timetable, but the first refurbishment typically involves the replacement of various soft furnishings.

Norwegian Joy may also introduce new specialty dining venues, such as those that debuted aboard Norwegian Prima, while enhanced menus and dining experiences previously planned for roll out across the fleet will also be retrofitted.

Cancelled cruises aboard Norwegian Joy

Norwegian Joy was scheduled to sail varied itineraries during what will now be her drydock period.

On January 6th, 2024 the Breakaway-Plus vessel was scheduled to sail from PortMiami on a 15-night Panama Canal voyage, visiting Colombia, Panama, Guatemala and Mexico before ending in Los Angeles.

Norwegian Joy was then scheduled to sail a five-night cruise to the Mexican Riviera before embarking on a second Transcanal voyage on January 26th.

Arriving back in Florida on February 10th, the ship was then meant to offer a 7-night cruise to the Western Caribbean departing from Norwegian’s cruise terminal in Miami.