What can you tell me about Norwegian Cruise Lines!

[mandibc11]

We were in port on an NCL Hawaii cruise when the gangway slipped and a female passenger's leg was stuck between the ship and the gangway. Crew members stood by like deer in the headlights while other passengers helped the woman get her leg free. Then the crew reset the gangway but left it to the passengers to test it and make sure it was passable.

In comparison, my 88-yr-old DMIL fell on her way to dinner on the DCL Magic. The sound of her clonking her head on the floor could be heard several feet away. (Other than a headache for several daze she was o.k.) Within moments, several cast members rushed to her aid. It really was remarkable how quickly they converged (later found out they have an emergency signal that's done with lights) and were so very attentive.

The NCL cruise was the only tme we've had to wait an hour between the appetizer and the main course (finally delivered by management) while a long line of hungry passengers waited to be seated in the dining room. Even my pregnant niece lost weight that week.

Which cruise line would you choose?

It's really interesting you bring this up. I have never been on a Disney cruise, but am the MOST loyal Disney fan out there. That being said, I just got back from a Norwegian cruise 2 days ago with my In-Laws. Someone fell while coming out of a club one evening, and my husband, who is an EMT, rushed to help. The Staff stood around and watched! I will say that they called someone to come help, but the man was bleeding out the top of his head, and my husband was the one telling people to get towels, etc. Kind of makes you wonder...

 

[vellamint]

We just sailed the NCL Sky on 1/24-28/11 for my 30th Birthday. Upon checkin we were ushered to the VIP Lounge to checkin, we were upgraded from an AFT Balcony that we paid $1,335.00 for to a VIP Suite that goes for about $3K. After returning home we called NCL to see if a family member has suprised us with an upgrade but they told us that we were just lucky.

From what we experienced, we will not sail NCL again. We were the "creme de la creme" with a butler and concierge and we still had to chase down out suit cases that were at our former room and paid a porter $20 to bring them to the complete opposite side of the ship. My DH used the sink in the bathroom only to find the pipe under the sink was missing and water poured on the floor. For the next several hours we were washing our hands in the tub while we waiting for a plumber to come and fix it. Apparently there was a more important leak somewhere else on the ship and we had to wait. Our tv was not connected correctly to the DVD player, so we had to wait for one of the tech guys to come and fix it for my 2 year old to be able to watch her Phineas and Ferb. One night the steward was out of beach towels and said he was going to bring them in the morning. Next morning, we are trying to get off the boat for our excursion and he was no where in sight. My DH had to track down another one and beg her for towels. They charge you for them if the go missing, so they dont hand them out freely. I cut my leg on a shard of glass in the kiddie pool and could not find a single employee to report it to so they check the pool for more. The food (except for the charge Steak restaurant) was mediocre at best. I could keep going, but my fingers are tired.

We came off this cruise thinking if this was the experience that we had being a VIP, what experience would we have had as a regular person. AND how ripped off would we have felt had we actually paid the $3K.

We have been on the RCL Freedom in July 2006 and the DCL Wonder on February 2008 and they didnt compare. We are going back to RCL in July and DCL Dream in December and cant wait!!

I don't remember all the specific reasons why I didn't like NCL. I just remember getting off the ship and saying out loud to my fiance "Never again.." The level of customer service is considerably different then the level of customer service on a Disney vessel.

We've only done one NCL -- in Hawaii. And as is mentioned above, they are sailing under a different "arm" of the line. We read horrid reports on Cruise Critic, but it was the only line sailing the islands without having to come from L.A. Suffice it to say that even with reviews in mind and being prepped "for the worse", it was even more horrid than we were prepared for. From that experience (filthy rooms -- and I do mean filthy, attitude of staff from guest services to room steward, dirty/greasy/crumpled look of wait staff and no friendly greetings except on embarkation), we cannot bring ourselves to try NCL for any other itinerary. It was the worst trip experience of our lives in 35 years of traveling together! The room prices were so much cheaper than DCL that we were able to get a verandah and an inside room for my daughter......but you really only get what you pay for.

NEVER ever again. I dont care if it was because the Sky is an older ship. SO many things from food, to service, to pieces of the ship falling off in our hands went wrong.....NEVER again. Even an old ship can be a good experience if the people and the cruiseline make it so... Feel free to read my review on the Sky over at Cruisecritic.... same member name.

NEVER!!

 

[MPS516]

Hi, my family wants to take a Baltic cruise this Summer, specifically the NCL Aug 15th sailing. We'd prefer to cruise with Disney but they are not doing the Baltic this Summer and have not announced any plans to do so Summer 2012 either.

Does anyone here have positive or negative experience with NCL?
Ways to get a discount? Best cabins? Any other tips or tricks?
We are interested in an aft balcony cabin and NCL website price is $5100 for 3.

I rec'd an email from "Vacations to Go" saying they are discounting this cruise, have to call them for the price...anyone have experience with them?

***Also posted on the budget board***

Thanks,
Shawn

We have sailed NCL, Carnival, Disney, Louis and Royal Caribbean - not excited about Carnival but would NEVER, EVER, NEVER again sail NCL. Food was so bad we had to abandon diner seating and catch burgers at Johnny Rockets or the Asian paid upgrade restaurant. Service was HORRIBLE, just awful, Found out later the difference from some of the other lines was on NCL they pool tips so there is just no reason to go the extra mile to offer outstanding service.

Rooms were very small and you can not turn around in the shower, maintenance was lacking and on deck blue coveralls acted like they were there but sure didn't want to be so if they had to scrape or paint they didn't care if chips dropped onto lounging pool siders or warn of fresh paint.

While tendering back to our Disney Cruise ship in France, we heard a pilot's wife telling other passengers about the awful experiences they have had on NCL and will never sail with them again. She was talking about the relationship their airline has with NCL and another cruise line and even if NCL offered the trips for free they would not go on another - I agree.

I need to stop here because I could go on for another 10 pages of how much we don't like NCL.

 

[pudinhd]

I have a question about booking a cruise on NCL. Obviously, booking early is the way to go with DCL. Are there any secrets to getting the best price? Thank you for starting this thread! It's very interesting!

 

[awatt]

I have a question about booking a cruise on NCL. Obviously, booking early is the way to go with DCL. Are there any secrets to getting the best price? Thank you for starting this thread! It's very interesting!

Unlike DCL, TAs can discount NCL cruises. I usually get about 7% off NCL website price from my online TA. Also, NCL runs periodic sales so a TA may help steer you in the right direction for that. And, make sure your TA will do a price drop for you if price goes down before final payment, I have saved a bit of money this way by watching prices. There is a website that automatically checks prices for you it's called cruise fish (one word). Finally, last minute prices can be really low if you have that flexibility.

 

[roxy84]

We cruised on the Sun last sept for a Norway, UK Isles and Iceland cruise. We also did a baltic cruise with disney last summer.

We found NCL quite different from our DCL experience. I think our main problems with it was the Freestyle dinning and entertainment. I find the freestyle dining - people either love it or hate it.

Intially we thought the freestyle dining would be great as we would be able to eat whenever we liked - but we found the biggest problem was the service. We didn't like having different servers every night and also you pay a service charge (12$ p/p a day) that covers the tips for servers/housekeepers etc. We found that there was no incentive for the servers to connect with you because of this - and we had servers who didn't make eye contact or talk to us besides asking for our order.

The entertainment lacked on the ship from daily activities to cruise staff to the nightly shows. We played a lot of cards on our sea days, and my partner had to stop me from leaving some of the nightly shows.

Bottom line - would I cruise NCL again? only if it was for the ports. It was cheap - we had a bed to sleep in and somewhat decent food everyday even if it was bad service.

 

[mmhhmm]

Hi all,

I just finished reading all of your comments about your NCL experiences. DH and I are booked on our first non DCL cruise with NCL to Bermuda this June. The main attractions were: no flight required (cruise leaves from Boston) and the price. It took us both quite a while to decide to try this cruise since we absolutely LOVE the DCL. (We've been on 4 Disney cruises, our 5th is booked for June 2012 on the Fantasy).

Frankly, I worry about what we'll do on the ship when we are not in port. We don't gamble, drink much, or care for really loud Vegas type shows. The thought of cigarette smoke and mediocre food (I'm a very picky eater who is lactose intolerant) makes me think we might have made a bad decision here.

Has anyone had any good experiences on the NCL Dawn going to Bermuda? We love the way Disney handles dinner seating and "Freestyle" sounds like a "free for all".

Please feel free to enlighten me!

Thanks!

Michele

 

[awatt]

Hi all,

I just finished reading all of your comments about your NCL experiences. DH and I are booked on our first non DCL cruise with NCL to Bermuda this June. The main attractions were: no flight required (cruise leaves from Boston) and the price. It took us both quite a while to decide to try this cruise since we absolutely LOVE the DCL. (We've been on 4 Disney cruises, our 5th is booked for June 2012 on the Fantasy).

Frankly, I worry about what we'll do on the ship when we are not in port. We don't gamble, drink much, or care for really loud Vegas type shows. The thought of cigarette smoke and mediocre food (I'm a very picky eater who is lactose intolerant) makes me think we might have made a bad decision here.

Has anyone had any good experiences on the NCL Dawn going to Bermuda? We love the way Disney handles dinner seating and "Freestyle" sounds like a "free for all".

Please feel free to enlighten me!

Thanks!

Michele

Have been on the Dawn 4 times, once to Bermuda (2 years ago). It is a beautiful ship and lots of fun.

If you like traditional dining, I'd suggest seeing the maitre d the first day or night and arrange a set time/waiter nightly. This can be done, but usually you have to eat before 6PM or after 8PM. That is what we have done for each of our NCL cruises, we just find it's easier for our family to do it that way,.

Otherwise, try the different restaurants. We really liked the Italian and Southwestern places, very very good food and atmosphere. I think we made a reservation the night before or morning of for each of these, and experienced no waits or free for all. I think if you can remember to make a reservation, it's all very easy.

There is plenty to do on the ship, although no characters and Mickey. Lots of daytime activities i.e.trivia, dance classes, scrapbooking etc. I am not a big fan of production shows but really enjoyed Bollywood and a show with a magician/aerialist.

I never noticed excessive smoke, no more than any other ship. Casino tends to be smoky, but nowhere else.

I love the Dawn, and Bermuda is so lovely. It was a great cruise.

 

[vellamint]

Hi all,

I just finished reading all of your comments about your NCL experiences. DH and I are booked on our first non DCL cruise with NCL to Bermuda this June. The main attractions were: no flight required (cruise leaves from Boston) and the price. It took us both quite a while to decide to try this cruise since we absolutely LOVE the DCL. (We've been on 4 Disney cruises, our 5th is booked for June 2012 on the Fantasy).

Frankly, I worry about what we'll do on the ship when we are not in port. We don't gamble, drink much, or care for really loud Vegas type shows. The thought of cigarette smoke and mediocre food (I'm a very picky eater who is lactose intolerant) makes me think we might have made a bad decision here.

Has anyone had any good experiences on the NCL Dawn going to Bermuda? We love the way Disney handles dinner seating and "Freestyle" sounds like a "free for all".

Please feel free to enlighten me!

Thanks!

Michele

The one thing I really did walk away from our NCL cruise with is that I LOVE LOVE LOVE freestyle! Hated the cruise. Loved not rushing to dinner or worrying that we were keeping tablemates waiting.. Or that would we like our tablemates....

 

[mmhhmm]

Thanks awatt and vellamint for your insights. I feel better about our upcoming NCL cruise, although I suspect it will be difficult to refrain from making comparisons between NCL and DCL while onboard...

Michele

 

[valbob89]

We have been on 2 NCL cruises. We figured that any cruise can be an off experience so after our Hawaii NCL cruise we chanced a 2nd out of New Orleans. It was either NCL or Carnival and thought NCL would be a better choice - NOT. It was horrible and our friends who are Princess cruisers thought so too. Little to do on board when in port (they clearly want you off the ship), crew obviously not happy.

Maybe if you had never cruised DCL you woudn't mind but your spoilt. Your time, money and expectations are all on the line. Don't chance it.

 

[rileyz]

I've sailed NCL 3 times, once being the Dawn to Bermuda. I enjoyed it very much. Loved being docked in Bermuda for 3 days and loved 3 sea days for relaxation. I read some books, or just chilled. Vacation should be a good combo of fun and relaxation. If you go into it immediately comparing each detail to DCL then you are wasting your money. Each vacation should be it's own, enjoy it for what it is. I think if you go into it that way you will enjoy it

 

[mdvlprof]

I don't remember all the specific reasons why I didn't like NCL. I just remember getting off the ship and saying out loud to my fiance "Never again.." The level of customer service is considerably different then the level of customer service on a Disney vessel.

Well - almost a 'never again'. NCL is at bottom of my list of prefernce. [DCL, X, RCCL, HAL, CCL....], If it's a really really really good deal, I might consider it. DCL spoiled us.

 

[CPT Tripss]

I have a question about booking a cruise on NCL. Obviously, booking early is the way to go with DCL. Are there any secrets to getting the best price? Thank you for starting this thread! It's very interesting!

cruisecompete dot com


added by jilljill, DCL board mod: www.cruisecompete.com

 

[kcashner]

This sounds like the discussion at a church group last week. A friend had just returned from NCL's Hawaii cruise. While she very much liked the ship, a couple of her comments caught my attention--lots of restaurants, but all the ones they liked were the "upcharge" ones. She said there were only 3 included without an upcharge our of 14 on the ship! Yikes.

Her other comment was that they didn't meet anyone and that as much as she loves her DH, speaking to someone else would have been nice. Not sure how to take that--again, I suspect it relates to the dining.

Her big question was why I like DCL without kids...no need to re-hash that answer here.