Your least favorite cruise?

I never have had a bad cruise, but some are not as great as others. On Carnival out of 5 cruises, I thoroughly enjoyed them all.

My least favorite of 11 total would have to be NCL's Star. It was a cruise to nowhere, so maybe not a real true picture. CTN was over-priced. The only real problem we had was our keys did not work, twice. We were not alone. This affected others as well, at the same time. The staff was not as efficient or friendly as any of the other 10 I have experienced with a few lines. Something about that ship was off too. Just something about it I didn't care for.

Thanks in advance for your impressions of your least fave cruise.

There are a couple of cruises that have lasting memories for not being the greatest, although any day on a cruise is better than one at home/work.

We went on the Costa Atlantica in January 2012 and that was our least favorite cruise. We didn't leave port until late so no sail away party, they had English as the third or fourth language and most of the passengers were European and their culture is different than ours in America. We met a lot of nice people, but also experienced some rudeness, more so than other cruises. Not sure if this was a cultural thing or just us (which it could have been).

On our honeymoon we also experienced an issue with the door and the lock actually had to be changed out. The issue took over an hour to fix, which wasn't that bad, but I had had a scalp massage with oil and I looked horrible while they were trying to fix the issue (not their fault, by the way, I just felt dirty). We had dinner at Portofino scheduled that night, but were late due to the issue. They changed our reservation for us so they definitely stepped up to the plate. I guess my point is that there are always things that happen even on otherwise good cruises.

I have loved each of my cruises, but if I had to choose my "least" favorite it would probably be my first cruise I ever took. It was on the Pride in 2012, my honeymoon cruise. We went to Port Canaveral, Nassau and Freeport. Our service was great, I loved the ship, and we had a great time but I think just being inexperienced and the itinerary made it lackluster compared to the cruises I have taken since then.

We have never had a "bad" cruise. Overall enjoyed all of them but our cruise on the Liberty last year was definitely our least favorite. Ports were great but we felt the ship was "off" that week. Food, service & entertainment was all somewhat lacking. With such rave reviews, we were probably expecting too much as well.

My least favorite was the Celebrity Cruise we took last year. The ports and most of the staff were lovely.

There were three issues that made it my least favorite. 1). There was a group of 250 people traveling together whose culture isn't to wait in line but to push and shove. 2) I got tired of a large portion of the fellow travelers telling me how great they are. 3) the food. My expectations were too high.

Our least favorite was an 11 night on Norweigian Pearl several years ago. Crew was not friendly and none spoke if you passed them in the hallways - we never even met our cabin steward. We had a noise in our cabin and my husband is a light sleeper so we went to guest services and asked if someone could check it out. They told us they couldn't help us and we'd have to go back to our cabin and call them!! Several days later, they called to find out if problem had been resolved but no one had come to the cabin.

Marianne

Probably our least-favorite would be a Sea of Cortez cruise that we took.

We had two problems with our cabin that took forever to get fixed (actually one was still not fixed when we disembarked but we were tired of the phone calls asking "is that fixed now?" so finally I just stopped answering them -- someone else got the joy of dealing with the non functioning balcony door).

Our "unlimited laundry package" was limited by the fact that is took SIX DAYS to get us laundry forms, despite asking for them every day.

We had specialty restaurant lunch reservations, made the first day onboard, that were then cancelled by the restaurant. We then made reservations for another day, and those were cancelled by the restaurant. With the voice mail message advising us that "We would be pleased to have you join us for lunch, please stop by and make reservations" :rolleyes:

I wanted to buy a product from the spa and was told to "come back in an hour, we don't have our inventory yet". FOUR trips later, I was finally told that they didn't have it.

Sea of Cortez -- that is a Mexican cruise. Many people didn't want to go ashore because they didn't want to go to Mexico. :eek:

There's more but why bother? :D

Our least favorite didn't have to do with the ship or destinations.....we had been booked for months and months...and 2 months before sail date, hubby needed to get a pacemaker. Everything went fine, and the doctor gave the "go ahead", but hubby's heart wasn't in it...(no pun intended!)...I think a surgery (especially so unexpected) put him in a bit of depression. It was a 10 nighter, and he was done by the 8th evening...couldn't wait to get home!

I have been down that road before with a heart situation and a cruise a month later. It was only a 2 night cruise and I can appreciate him just wanting to get home on day 8. Hope all is well now for him. Thanks for sharing. I know.

RCI Mariner. I don't even know where to begin but if it could go wrong it did. Everything from burned out light bulbs that were never replaced despite multiple requests to bad service to bad food to sewage backing up into our shower to the captain being very rude to us after the concierge staff gave us incorrect information IN WRITING. You name it, it sucked. I would rather have been at work. Seriously.

We've had 2 bad cruises:

1) A Western Caribbean cruise in the summer. Way too hot! I was working in Miami for my company and I thought it would be a great idea if my husband met me at the end of the two weeks. I desperately wanted to see the Mayan ruins. By the time I got to see them, I felt like a ruin!

2) The other was a trans-Atlantic on the Caribbean Princess to see Iceland and Greenland. Besides the rough seas and getting seasick, the air-conditioning didn't work. Although, it was cold outside, the temperature inside the ship was hot! I wish I had packed shorts for this cruise inside of winter clothes!

Arlene

The first cruise that DH and I took (on Norwegian) wasn't really bad. We had a good time. It's only once we took our next cruise (on Royal Caribbean) that we knew we could never go back to Norwegian because of how much better everything was.

Yes, we've enjoyed all our cruises, but the two least enjoyed were for the same reason- the weather. We were on ships built for hot climates- P&O's Azura, and RCI's Independence OTS, where much of the action is supposed to take place around the outside pool.

Indy took a cold cruise to Norway, where we had snow, and Azura crossed through gales for 5 days to Madeira and back to Europe. The outside decks were almost deserted, and the inside ones were heaving. Such a shame, as they're both beautiful ships.

My main memory of Azura is trying to watch "Les Miserables" in a howling gale, along with six others, but the water on deck ran into my shoes, and I shiver at the memory.

We only choose ships from Southampton now which have an indoor pool with good seating around- with sea views! :rolleyes:

2012 TA from Europe to Texas. First and last time inside cabin. Learned the hard way. This was our fault though. Food just ok the first week, really terrible tasting the second week. No fresh fruit or veggies. Meats overcooked. Most of the staff were going thru the motions without any smiles or enthusiasm. Heard from one of the bartenders that many staff were completing their contracts in the USA. Maybe that's why it seemed that the staff just didn't care. Trying a different line for a TA later this year. Hoping for a better time.

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2012 TA from Europe to Texas. First and last time inside cabin. Learned the hard way. This was our fault though. Food just ok the first week, really terrible tasting the second week. No fresh fruit or veggies. Meats overcooked. Most of the staff were going thru the motions without any smiles or enthusiasm. Heard from one of the bartenders that many staff were completing their contracts in the USA. Maybe that's why it seemed that the staff just didn't care. Trying a different line for a TA later this year. Hoping for a better time.

 

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I often wondered about fresh produce/dairy on loner crossings like that. I hope you enjoy your next cruise more.

2012 TA from Europe to Texas. First and last time inside cabin. Learned the hard way. This was our fault though. Food just ok the first week, really terrible tasting the second week. No fresh fruit or veggies. Meats overcooked. Most of the staff were going thru the motions without any smiles or enthusiasm. Heard from one of the bartenders that many staff were completing their contracts in the USA. Maybe that's why it seemed that the staff just didn't care. Trying a different line for a TA later this year. Hoping for a better time.

 

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If I may ask, which ship and line was this?

Pride of America, NCL....horrible crew....filthy ship......but wonderful islands.

Pride of America, NCL....horrible crew....filthy ship......but wonderful islands.

I have heard the same thing about the crew of this ship recently as it serves Hawaii. And the look of the ship is odd too, just like Epic. Shoe box looking things.

Our least favorite was an 11 night on Norweigian Pearl several years ago.none spoke if you passed them in the hallways - we never even met our cabin steward.

 

Marianne

Its odd how people are different, I like that kind of service! :)

Hubby and I were discussing which of our cruises were our least favourite and we couldn't decide. Our recent PC one was a cruise of a lifetime but was let down a little by our cabin steward loosing my nightgown which was given to me by my Grandma and sentimental.

Hands down voted by the entire family is the recent Glory cruise. Cabin steward didn't clean or let down the beds the first night. Next morning argued with husband that he did. MDR staff was uptight and unfriendly and made for a very unpleasant dinning experience which we didn't go back the next nights. Rude passengers all around BUT as a family we enjoy our time together and make the best of any situation.

Hands down voted by the entire family is the recent Glory cruise. Cabin steward didn't clean or let down the beds the first night. Next morning argued with husband that he did. MDR staff was uptight and unfriendly and made for a very unpleasant dinning experience which we didn't go back the next nights. Rude passengers all around BUT as a family we enjoy our time together and make the best of any situation.

Sounds unpleasant, but I am glad you enjoyed your time together as a family. That is magic. Family and friends are treasures. Oh yeah.

We had an exceptionally rude MDR waiter on Carnival's Miracle a few years back. The only time on 5 cruises on Carnival. That was on the 1st night. The next night we asked for anybody's table but his. We got an incredible dining staff, so on any cruise if the staff in the MDR is bad, just request another wait staff.

Not possible with your cabin steward, but I would certainly make my voice heard about any staff who was not serving you with care and respect.

My worst cruise was a New England-Canada cruise on the Celebrity Summit in 2012.

It started out well enough, with our first port being Portland, Maine. The ship docked there and, having booked a ship's excursion, my cabinmate and I found our group, boarded the bus, and had an enjoyable time seeing the Lighthouses of Maine.

From there, it all went downhill. The ship docked in Halifax the next day, but instead of being told to go outside and find our groups, everyone was told to meet in the theater. There were at least ten groups that were supposed to meet at the same time. The shore excursion staff started with one group and had them walk down three flights of stairs, where they got off the ship and were shown to their buses. Then another group was walked down three flights of stairs. Then another, and another, until my group was the last group allowed off the ship. By the time we boarded our bus, the tour guide told us that we were very late, and she said that we wouldn't get to see some of the sights we were supposed to see because we were so late.

I asked afterwards why we had to wait and wait and wait in the theater instead of being allowed to walk outside and look for our group. I was told that it was because the shore excursion dept. wanted to help us. I said that it wasn't very helpful to sit and sit and sit in the theater and wind up being late for our excursion and then not to get to do what we had already paid for.

We had to tender at a number of ports, and the crew did a horrible job with the tenders. No, there wasn't a problem with the weather or high tides. We had to wait for literally hours to get off the ship, get into a tender, and take a ship's excursion. At first, the shore excursion people promised us that we would get to see everything that we were supposed to, but eventually they had to admit that a number of excursions were cancelled because the crew just couldn't get us off the ship.

On one shore excursion, the tour guide rushed us unnecessarily. We were divided into two groups to take turns watching a movie, but there weren't enough seats for everyone. We should have been divided into four groups, but the tour guide didn't want to take that much time. And we were divided into two groups to tour an old mansion, but each group was too large for everyone to fit into the rooms. We should have been divided into three or four groups.

I found out why the tour guide rushed us so much. It was because one woman on the tour wanted to go to a drugstore, and the tour guide had us all sit in the bus for twenty minutes as we waited for that woman to finish her shopping. I hope the shopper gave the tour guide a big tip, because I don't think the rest of us tipped her well.

The worst excursion was called Best of Arcadia. We had to tender to Bar Harbor, Maine, and we reached shore one hour late. Our tour guide told us that we were supposed to see some gardens, but because we were so late, we wouldn't be able to see them, even though we had paid to see them. Lunch was included in the tour, but we didn't get to eat until after 4:00 PM.

My cabinmate and I had Select Dining, and before the cruise started, I called to say that we were going to take the Best of Arcadia shore excursion, and I wanted to know when we should make our dinner reservation for that night. I was told no earlier than 7:30 PM, so i booked us for that time. We got on line for a tender at 6:45 PM. 7:30 PM came and went, and we were still standing on line, waiting for a tender. After we finally got on a tender, the driver drove very fast and recklessly, and the tender smashed into some rocks. The air filled with the stench of gas, and we were afraid that the engine was going to explode. We got back to the ship very late. The dining room was closed. So, at 11:15 PM, we went to get pizza, because the newsletter said that pizza would be available until 1:00 AM. When we got there, we saw that the pizza station was locked up tight. Very nice.

The next day, I decided to ask for a partial refund on all of my excursions, with the exception of the first one. I had no problem getting refunds, because it turned out that almost everyone else on those excursions had complained about them. In fact, as soon as I mentioned the excursion with the woman who went shopping at a drugstore, I didn't even get a chance to mention the shopper, because the shore excursions employee interrupted to say that they had gotten lots of complaints about that excursion, and she immediately offered 60% off.

Also on the next day, the people on the tender that smashed into the rocks had a meeting with the captain who said "sorry about that!" He didn't say a word about us getting any compensation. Everyone on the ship knew what had happened, because I heard two announcements about it when everyone was on the ship, and it's possible that there was an announcement about it while we were still sitting in the tender and smelling gas.

People talked about it a lot, and I always told them that I was one of the people on the tender. They would ask me if I was asked to sign anything. I said no. Then they would ask me what compensation had been offered. I always said, "Not even one penny!" Because it was true - the captain seemed to think that he just had to say "sorry about that!" and we would be fine with that.

A couple of days after the cruise, a Celebrity employee called me about the incident, and I told her my story. I was very surprised when she called me a couple of days later and offered me (and my cabinmate, who was also on that tender) enough cruise credit to pay for an inside cabin on a one week cruise, plus port charges and gratuities. We accepted, and we chose a cruise that did not involve any tenders. But it was too bad that this took place after the cruise ended, because the other people on the ship were left with the impression that Celebrity was not going to give us even one penny.

Even if the tender had not smashed into the rocks, it still would have been a bad cruise, because of the way they messed up the shore excursions. And if they say that pizza will be available until 1:00 AM, it would be nice if pizza really was available until 1:00 AM.

Hey Vacation Luvver. Wow, what a mess you experienced. Sorry to hear of all of that.

Glad you got cruise credit. That was at least one good thing. You well deserved it and then some.

I guess in comparison me getting locked out of the room twice with the key problems isn't that big of a deal. Thanks for sharing and all of the details too.

Hope next one is awesome.

My cabinmate always winds up getting locked out of the cabin. The problem is where she carries her keycard. Wherever she carries it, it seems to get demagnetized.

Yes, it was great that we were given cruise credit. I didn't know what to expect. I mean, on the cruise, it seemed to me that they were trying to sweep it under the rug. What's funny is that, to this day, Celebrity never asked us to sign anything saying that since we received cruise credit, we won't sue them. And obviously, we were not asked to sign anything saying that we wouldn't discuss the incident with anyone. So I feel free to talk about it whenever the subject comes up.

I was really annoyed, though, about pizza not being available at 11:15 PM when the newsletter said that it would be available until 1:00 AM. Luckily, there was fruit and rolls available. I guess we could have called room service, but I was already angry that we had missed a meal that we had already paid for, and for which we had already tipped (when you use Celebrity Select Dining, you have to prepay all your tips), and I didn't see why we should have to get room service and have to tip again. I don't mind missing meals if I oversleep and miss breakfast, or if I take a shore excursion that includes a meal, or if I choose to miss a meal. But I did not choose to miss dinner that night. In fact, as I said, I was told that I could make a 7:30 PM reservation for dinner. Even if the tender had not crashed into the rocks, 7:30 PM had come and gone, and we were still waiting for a tender, and if we hadn't crashed, I don't know what time we would have gotten back on the ship.

Yeah I have heard about those key cards getting de-magnetized including if you use them a lot to open the safe.

With us on NCL's Star it was a malfunction of the ship. The first day we couldn't get into the cabin along with other folks.

Then the next day coming back in the evening another several dozen of us or so were locked out again.