The Behind the Scenes Tour on The Norwegian Joy

The sky was overcast as 

we sail south to Victoria,

British Columbia,

Eric and I, along with other Cruisers, meet Jose for our Behind the Scenes Tour.

The doors in the Lower Decks

are very thick.

Touring the Kitchen

Eric & I get a picture

 with Chef Antonio.

There are several kitchens

on board.

One kitchen is dedicated to preparing meals for Cruisers with specific culinary requests, like Gluten-Free Meals.

The Main Galley is on Deck 6.  Menus for Manhattan, Taste & Savor Dining Rooms are prepared here.  All entrees are cooked and plated just before the Server brings them to the Diners' tables.  All the other Specialty Restaurants have their own Galley.  

Let's not forget the Crew... The Crew Galley is on Deck 5.  

The Pantry is where all cold Appetizers, Salads, Vegetable and Fruit Carvings are prepared.

How are all the provisions brought on board and stored?  Michael, Provision Master, explains taking supplies on board and where they go after loading.

This aisle of the Ship is

I 95.

Supplies are moved along

the length this hallway &

 moved to dedicated

 store rooms.

Fruit has its own store room.  Vegetables are stored separately.  Beef, Pork, Chicken, and Fish are stored separately, on separate floors. These proteins are handled in separate kitchens to avoid cross-contamination.  Safe Food Preparation is "Job One" on the Joy.

What happens to the Garbage generated during a Cruise?  The Norwegian Joy has a state-of-the-art Garbage System that includes an Incinerator to burn garbage that is not offloaded for recycling.  

Our next stop is the massive Laundry Room.  Mario is the Laundry Master.  He oversees Tunnel Washers; Tunnel Dryers; the Cry Cleaning Machine; Flat Ironers; Towel Folding Machines; Pressing Machines; Steam Press Machines; etc.

Laundry Tags are taped

to Washer & Dryer doors

to ensure that the cleaned

clothes go to the correct

State Room.

The Hurricine Press

A carefully positioned

wrinkled jacket goes 

into the Hurricane...

... and is perfectly pressed

for Staff to wear to work.

Mountains of Bed Sheets

Sheets are loaded into this

machine to be pressed.

Clean Sheets are ready to

be loaded onto the Steward's

carts for 

A bin filled with freshly

laundered, folded Pool

Towels.

This machine presses

thousands of Napkins.

Each Towel comes out the

other side wrinkle-free &

ready to be folded around 

Silverwhere.

Pictures are not allowed at the next two stops.  (Sigh...)  Every business has its carefully controlled private areas.

The Tour Group met Joshua, the Stage Manager, to tour one of the Entertainment Stages.  There's a lot of equipment, and he knows how to use every piece.  Joshua has experience running the Lighting and Audio Departments.  He has coordinated Shows on small stages and the Main Stage.  

The Back Stage has even more equipment and lighting.  We walk through the Cast's Dressing Room and look at the carefully curated costumes.  Each performance has carefully planned costume changes.

We thank Joshua for his time and head to the Norwegian Joy's Bridge.  

Captain Dan Svensson and the Bridge Crew work tirelessly to keep the Joy safe on each journey. The Bridge has Computer Stations dedicated to Weather, Navigation, Communications System, a Sextant, Radar, Long Range Identification Tracking, etc., and sending commands to the Engine Room to ensure all maneuvers are conducted safely.  

The course of the Ship is set up on a computer system to ensure that the Norwegian Joy reaches each port at its scheduled time.  

The Bridge also contains a Safety Center where Emergency situations are assessed and evaluated.  The Safety Center includes the Main Fire Alarm Computer; the Controls for Watertight Doors; High Pressure Sprinkler Valves to extinguish fires; a Ventilation Emergency Shutdown Control panel to control intake and exhaust ventilators on board.  The Anchors are controlled from the bridge, as is the Life Boat System and .

The Staff Captain (second in Command) explains work functions on the Bridge and answers questions.  Our scheduled time on the Bridge comes to an end.  We thank the Staff Captain and Crew for meeting with us.

Eric and I enjoy our time on Cruise Ships.  Now we have a much better understanding of how the Norwegian Joy, and others, are supplied, deal with mountains of laundry 24 hours a day, and prepare food for about 4,000 Cruisers and nearly 1,800 Crew Members every single day.

The Bridge Crew is highly trained and uses the latest technology available to ensure the Ship's safety as they navigate from port to port during Cruises.

We now have a deeper appreciation of all that the Crew does to ensure that Cruisers enjoy each trip on a Norwegian Cruiseline Ship.  Many thanks to everyone!