Questions about Norwegian Cruise Line?

[wenabre]

Anyone ever sailed Norwegian Cruise Line and /or the Norwgian Dream? I am thinking of doing a cruise thats on this ship and does several ports in Europe than comes across the Atlantic to Miami and would like any info besides the web site and brochures.
Thanks,
Wenabre

 

[Laz]

My family and I have been on two NCL cruises in the Carribean. We have enjoyed both, but IMHO, they are not on the same level as Disney, RCCL, or Carnival (We have cruised them all). Many of their ships like the Dream were older ships they actually cut in half and inserted a middle section with rooms. They did that with the NCL Dreamward, and then renamed it the Dream. We had a good time and would cruise them again if we found the right ship/itenerary etc., but just be prepared for a notch lower than other lines.

 

[CamColt]

My parents have done NCL Majesty, Boston to Bermuda quite a few times now and my sister and her family have done it once. They really enjoyed it. We are all going in August. Somehow I cant imagine not liking any cruise.

 

[magic cruiser]

I agree with CamColt, that any cruise is great, BUT, we were on the NCL Star in March and we were very disappointed in the food mainly,but also the service and the ship itsself.And this was our 6th cruise on NCL and had liked her several years back.But IMHO NCL has really gone down hill.We have been on NCL, RCCL, COSTA, Premire, PRINCESS,CELEBRITY,Carnival and DISNEY.NCL would definitly, IMHO be near the bottom.We would probably never cruise with them again. Oh, the Star sailed around Hawaii...and that is the only time I had wished I were on land instead of being on the ship.

 

[markmyboy]

We were on the Norwegian Dawn in November, and had previously cruised with DCL (3 times) and Carnival (once on the Pride). I would say it was comparable to both. Each line has their good & bad points. On NCL, as a family we were not impressed with the Freestyle dining. We liked the ability to eat in different restaurants, but did not like NOT having a set dining time & we did notice MUCH slower service in the "free" restaurants. We personally like getting to KNOW the wait staff. The food was right on par with DCL & Carnival in my opinion, with their "specialty" restaurants being right up there with Palo (we didn't get to try David's on the Carnival Pride) All of the facilities on the Norwegian Dawn were just great, the club was great for my son, though it was overrun with Children the week we cruised. They have an EXCELLENT childrens pool & slides as well as a VERY small little playground type area, that even Disney should take notes on!! We ended up getting a HUGE room upgrade to a penthouse suite, but my mother balcony room was a bit smaller than it's equivalent on DCL.

I thoroughly enjoyed my cruise on NCL, but left with the feeling that we would have enjoyed it MUCH more if it were just my husband and I, as the dining is more suited to adults than children. We also have a 2 year old & there are NO services for her, so we may just wait until they are older to return to NCL, but I see no other reason not to go & enjoy!!

Check out Cruise Critic, some of the regulars there can be really helpful & many have a favorite ship, so I am sure there is at least one or two self proclaimed "experts" on her!!

 

[OurDogCisco]

We did a Eastern Carribean cruise with NCL and I have to say it was the worst cruise we've ever been on. The food was awful. We went during Thanksgiving week and they didn't even serve turkey or mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving Day. One night was '50s night and the Root Beer Floats were made with coffee ice cream instead of vanilla (YUCK!!!).... I did not find them very accomadating with our infant at all. At dinner time they would make her sit through all the courses when I would order like pasta for her. She couldn't eat it until the main course was served. It was awful. I loved the ports we visited but the ship was awful in my opinion. They didn't have freestyle dining when we went so, maybe things have changed since then.

 

[allshookup]

We also sailed the Dawn during Feb. vacation. DH and I thought the food was comparable to DCL. The shows were nice. My DD actually like the NCL kid's club better than DCL's. I think because she wasn't separated from my DS and there were more activities planned. One activity in particular she raved about was throwing paper helicopters off the 11th floor balcony down to the atruim. That being said, I don't think the decor was as classy as DCL, our balcony stateroom squeaked all night and their private island does not even compare to Castaway Cay. JMHO!

 

[tvguy]

Interesting comment about Carnivnal Laz, I've never been on their ships, but always considered them the McDonalds of cruise lines.
Out here on the west coast, they generally are the lowest cost, youngest crowd, party ships with lots of singles on board.
Wife and I have been on DCL, RCCL and NCL, and all were great. Now, we were on NCL in the pre-free style days, and on the Norway, which is a far different type of ship that what the lines are running now.
My mom, however, loves NCL and the whole freestyle thing.
Bottom line, no matter what line, a cruise is the way to go.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

I was also looking for a transatlantic cruise, preferably from the UK to the US and saw that NCL's Dream has that itinerary. I would prefer sailing on RCCL again but both of their transatlantic cruises leave from Barcelona, Spain which does not interest me one bit especially considering everything going on over there recently. I enjoy reading everyone's input.

PS>> tvguy...I agree with your comments about Carnival. I sailed on her a few years back and that's exactly how I would describe the line. I have no intentions of sailing on Carnival again. Just not my cup of tea.

 

[wenabre]

Thanks to all re info on the NCL, here is a group hug for you My Mom and I have booked our cabin on the NCL Dream to do a cross Atlantic cruise in Sept. So needless to say I am really especially as this is a treat from my Mom,so I guess I will be doing a lot of this for the next little while . I also have to tell the & and I know that they will be & !
( By the way I have just discovered that there are a lot more of these smilies-did you notice?)
I just wish I could to the UK instead of fly!
Thanks again everyone,
Wenabre

 

[Luckymommyx2]

Wenabre...could you please do me a HUGE favor and either PM me or post a trip report when you get back in the fall? I know it's a long ways out but I'm really interested on getting your feedback so I can try to decide for myself if I want to book the Dream for a transatlantic next fall. Thanks!!

 

[bdkmom]

We have been on two Norwegian Cruises. The first to the Carribean and the 2nd to Alaska. While we enjoyed both cruises we have chosen not to do Norwegian again since they switched to freestyle cruising. On the second cruise the tip was automatically billed to our stateroom. The service on our second trip was poor compared to the first when the staff "earned their tip".

 

[CAMICKEY]

bdkmom - Were you able to adjust the amount of your tip at all? From your post it sounds like it was automatically billed (Like DCL) but that you had no option to change it (Not like DCL). Is this true? I have over 1100 points on my NCL credit card and plan on taking an NCL cruise to either Mexico or Alaska before my points expire. - Mike

 

[mrsfuzzmo]

We really like NCL. We've sailed on RCCL, NCL, Carnival, Dolphin, Windjammer, and now we've just returned from DCL. (12 cruises total). NCL is one of our favorites, and of course like any other line, the newer the ship, the nicer the amenities, the cleaner the carpets, etc., etc. We liked the "adult" entertainment on NCL the best of all of our cruises. We always found something to do at night that turned into a lot of fun. OUr DCL cruise to us was fairly boring. Nothing for us old foggies (38 & 43) to do after dinner. We tried to liven up the nightclubs, but to no avail. The food on NCL was terrific the 3 times we sailed them....but, as was stated above, that was pre-freestyle days (yes, we sailed on the Norway the year before she blew-up! and even the ship being as old as she was, it was a WONDERFUL cruise!). We actually like going to the restaurants at a certain time and seeing the same waiters, and same tablemates night after night, so we thought that we would not cruise NCL again.....BUT....after the boring awful waiters we had on DCL, the rude tablemates that didn't socialize and had their children sitting at our end of the table, we would have LOVED to have had more dining options on the Magic! After this last cruise, I would definitely consider Freesstyle.

All in all, NCL is a great line, that has EXCELLENT amenities for repeat cruisers, nice ships, super entertainment, good staff and excellent prices for what you get. I would not hesitate to go on NCL. But then again, any cruise beats staying home!

Mrsfuzzmo

 

[CAMICKEY]

mrsfuzzmo - Are you able to answer the question about tipping in my previous post in this thread? - Mike

 

[hydster]

It was a few years ago when we sailed Norwegian but I highly doubt we will EVER sail with them again!! We got a terrible taste in our mouth from the very beginning and the trip just got worse at every turn!! Of course we DID sail on the Norway which I realize is an OLD ship but it was just not for us! We did the E. Carribean with them which is now why we are going BACK to the E. Carrib with Disney hoping for a much better trip! The Norwegian people from booking to room steward to wait staff were all very rude and distant from everyone! We got called Stinking American's more than once from a few of the wait staff at the buffet and we've never used such an un-organized before cruise cruiseline who got everything wrong and then told us tough when we called them on it.

I think NCL is the only line I won't sail again but that's just our personal preference.

Heidi

 

[Laura]

Originally posted by CAMICKEY
bdkmom - Were you able to adjust the amount of your tip at all? From your post it sounds like it was automatically billed (Like DCL) but that you had no option to change it (Not like DCL). Is this true? I have over 1100 points on my NCL credit card and plan on taking an NCL cruise to either Mexico or Alaska before my points expire. - Mike

It is automatically billed; you can change it. To do so, you have to visit the front desk and fill out a form.

I haven't done it myself, but I'm on cruisecritic.com's boards and read many posts by NCL cruisers stating this.

 

[CAMICKEY]

Thanks Laura - I just want to make sure I understand their policy for tipping as I plan on cruising with NCL to use the points I have accrued. - Mike