Thinking of cruising NCL next year...anyone have any compararisons?

[NancyIL]

Our extended family cruised NCL Hawaii just after 1/3 of the staff walked off in a labor dispute. Don't get me started on everything else that went wrong. Our travel agent is one of the top cruise agents and she refuses to book with NCL now, and has "encouraged" several other agents to boycott them as well.

We've sailed with DCL three times and have loved every one of them.

NCL in Hawaii is a different animal than the rest of the fleet, as it is the only US-flagged ship and has a mostly American crew.

 

[Edd]

Your server didn't tell you that his work at the Palo restaurant depended on time with Disney and the recommendations of the other supervisors he worked with. I am sure his ability to memorize a memo had a small amount to do with the promotion.

 

[strawberryblonde]

We sailed Pride of America in Hawaii.

What we liked:

The buffet was great! Yummy food and easy to avoid long line ups even at heavy times. My DD was 5 and my DS was 8 at the time, and they enjoyed the kids buffet area. We had breakfast at the outdoor buffet aft everyday.

Soft serve was better than DCL and had longer hours, seemed to always be able to grab icecream when ever I wanted . I thought it was Dairy Queen quality which is my favorite.


What didn't measure up to DCL :

Did not care for the food nor the service in the main dining room. We tried dinner and lunch there and then gave up and ate buffet from then on.

Oceanview room was much smaller than DCL, bunk beds are above the mainbed. Our kids were young, so this was fun for them, like a camper van!

Stateroom service was very relaxed. Host tended to just come once a day, not twice.



It would take an extreme deal to get me back on NCL. I am interested in trying RCCL and Carnival. I liked Princess a great deal, but the majority of passengers were much older than us and the entertainment was geared to that generation. Princess had great food and service but it wasn't as much fun. The only future cruise that I have booked right now, is DCL's Fantasy.

 

[LKFan]

Your server didn't tell you that his work at the Palo restaurant depended on time with Disney and the recommendations of the other supervisors he worked with. I am sure his ability to memorize a memo had a small amount to do with the promotion.

Yes he did share that info with us. I assume (and maybe I'm wrong) that promotions on all lines depend on years of service and on reviews. What caught me as different (and again, I could be wrong) is that there was testing and mastering of certain information and fluency levels before he could work his way up. His explanation about memorizing the menu included memorizing the ingredients in each dish as well as how everything was prepared(for people with allergies) as well as extra options or substitutions that could be made.

For what it is worth, we thought this asst server was fantastic and we will look for him on our upcoming cruise. He was new to the ship so he knew it would be a while before he would be able to work in Palo but that was his goal.

 

[mlm71]

I would like to do a 7 day next year. NCL is cheaper than DCL. Has anyone cruised with NCL before, and what did you think of it?

NOOOO RUN from NCL! NO comparrison to Disney. We cruised with NCL on their Hawaiian cruise for our 15th anniversary and it was awful! The service was SLOW and not friendly in the restaurants, the buffet lines were always missing something, plates, silverware, cups, serving utensils and yes, even FOOD! We walked out on the "entertainment". The staff walked around very grumpy and even openly complained to passengers about their working conditions. I really just can't even think of a good thing to say about NCL. I wrote them a four page letter detailing our experience and got a form letter back offering us a small onboard credit for our next cruise with them. Are you kidding me? I would NEVER recommend NCL!

 

[Almagetty]

I think it's already been mentioned that NCL's Hawaii product is a much different product than the rest of their fleet because of the restrictions in staffing required by having a US flagged vessel.

We've had nothing but wonderful experiences on NCL's ships provided by happy and smiling crew.