cruisertrish

We went on a cruise to Canada in October and invested in a suite with a large balcony. It was freezing cold. I bet we didn't spend 2 hours out there total. Just in case this helps.

We recently returned from a week in these 2 cabins. It was nearly impossible to get good info from the reviews online, so here is our experience.

The cabins face aft and are advertised as aft cabins but they are not aft at all. They are 1/3 of the distance back from the front of the ship. They face aft but overlook the pool area and the stack of the ship is beyond the pool.

You do not get a full on aft view because the stack is right in the middle of it. However, the view is really sensational nonetheless. We loved it.

The cabins are as quiet as a tomb when the sliding doors to the balcony are closed. If they are unlocked, however, not even necessarily opened, you will hear the bands playing poolside.

We quite liked that because the music is nice.. Out on our huge balcony were a table and 4 chairs and two lounge chairs. It is VERY private, as there are canvas barriers up. No one can see you on your balcony. You don't much hear the pool or the restaurant below you even on the balcony, but there seemed to be a band playing most of the time during the day and in the evenings up until around 8pm. You will definitely hear the music if the door is not closed and locked. The pool is open until 10 but by 8 the activity was basically over, the restaurants/bars at either end were closed and there were maybe 2 or 3 people in the hot tubs or in the pool, if that. Granted this is October, not school break, and there were very few kids on board.

The cabin itself was extremely clean. It has a nice Lavazza espresso/coffee maker and a frig with no freezer. I did not scrimp on the packing, neither did hubby, and the closet/drawer space was MORE than adequate. There are nice robes provided, quality of towels is high and the shower was simply amazing. Multiple jets, fantastic pressure, hand held option.The whirlpool tub is full sized and very nice products provided.

I was confused about whether or not the bed is in its own room. I was told by a NCL agent on the phone that it is. It is NOT. It is large and very comfortable but it is separated only by a curtain that you can draw like in a hospital room. The curtain is a nice fabric and it goes in a horseshoe shape so you can completely enclose the bed. This worked well for us, as my husband goes to sleep earlier than I do and I was able to stay up reading without disturbing him.

The butler was extremely attentive and several times a day replaced the ice in both the ice bucket and the wine bucket without being asked.

Room service is no extra charge and we did use this feature. Each day at least one, if not two, plates of goodies arrived--fruit dipped in chocolate, little hors d'oeuvre sandwiches, chocolate candies, cheese tray, etc. I am gluten free and they always remembered this.

You can order without additional charge from a very extensive menu OR from any of the no additional charge restaurants. The Cadillac Grill, which I was told is being phased out, has great chicken wings and we often got those. A few times we ordered breakfast or cheese platters at night.You can order from the specialty restaurants as well. There would be no charge for room service ($8 per order for regular cabins) but there would be a charge for the food. I am not sure how much, as we did not do this.

My only complaint surrounds the lighting near the mirror in the main living area. There is no light there so after dark, putting on make up can only be done in the bathroom. This is a minor complaint if you even call it that

The suites in my opinion may well be the best ones on the whole ship--quiet, convenient, private, very clean, large, great views, great service, new materials, great bed and pillows, comfortable inside and outside.

I have a lot of issues with NCL and their corporate behavior and customer service at that level--staff on board were brilliant except for a few notable exceptions-- but if you want to cruise the islands for a week they are the only option and if you have to use NCL, these suites are highly recommended by us.

Regarding the rest of the cruise, our brief observations are as follows:

Check your invoice carefully. We had charges we did not incur and had to fight to get them removed. If you are offered anything at all by a helpful waiter ask point blank if there is a charge.

Be prepared day 1 to decide on your meals. We found our one experience in the Liberty Dining Room to be pretty terrible. The food was high school cafeteria grade. However, the Aloha Buffet was really excellent and it is always open and no extra charge. There is a back deck to the ship and you can take your food there easily from the Aloha. We usually went through the door to the Gold Rush Saloon and ate from the Aloha for both breakfast and lunch. It is more air conditioned and not at all crowded, very convenient.

You can eat breakfast or lunch in Cagneys if you have a suite and it was very good but the same menu every day and we quite liked the HUGE and well kept buffet in the Aloha. So we usually went there.

We ate in the specialty restaurants every night except the first night. We found the theatrics at the Teppanaki good fun but not the food. Like a downgraded Benihana and to us not worth the surcharge.

We heard grousing about Jefferson's Bistro (French) but the night we went there was their one special night they offer lobster and we had that. It was good, if small. Desserts and cheeses were very good. Waiter asked if we would like a cheese plate to take to our cabin. He didn't mention we would be charged $20 for 5 small pieces of cheese. Also charged for an additional lobster we didnt' order or receive. Major argument to get that removed from the bill. Our fault, we didn't examine the bill closely enough when it came and only caught the error later.

Cagney's had marvelous steak and veggie sides. The garlic mashed potatoes were pretty terrible though, insane levels of garlic and pretty sure they were instant potatoes.

The Brazilian steakhouse was brilliant. They bring different meats to the table and it is easy to get just a taste if you want or a huge serving. The salad bar in there is really nice and upscale. I preferred that but the rest of our party loved the meat, meat, meat.

A few staff members were a little snotty but the vast majority were superb. I don't think 100% of the staff on any ship are going to be perfect and we overall were highly impressed with the service. The ship's officers were very visible the entire week, making sure all was well. One staffer in the Aloha was inappropriate and overheard by the Cruise Director, who had the chef himself come out so I could ask for a gluten free roll. He mentioned he would deal with the staffer later. I doubt it, as the ship is US flagged, meaning US Labor laws, which a number of the staff mentioned to me that they loved and that all NCL employees want this ship because of that.

I used the spa for a facial, a manicure and a pedicure. My bill was nearly $600. AND they offered product for sale--2 jars of face cream for $322.

I knew the price of the services and they were long...an hour each...but that is high so you should know the price before you go.

We had onboard credits to our financial statements. $350 nonrefundable and $500 refundable. I had been told by NCL that the $500 was nonrefundable, hence the spa visits, but in fact it is refundable. They send you a check if not used. Anyone not from the USA be aware...they send that check in USD only. So if you cannot deposit a check made out in USD it will be worthless to you and you should spend it on board.

Our biggest complaint surrounded alcohol. The policy for wine is very up front. You buy it from them at VERY inflated prices or bring it on board yourself and pay them a $15 corkage fee. Only this is NOT a corkage fee. If you do not open the wine you paid the corkage fee for, the fee stands. They freely admit it is called a corkage fee but is not. It is just a tax to bring the wine on board.

You can bring it on board, let them hold it, and get it from them any time you want, either right to the restaurant or to your cabin. That way if it is not drunk you can pick it up on Friday of the week. Therefore, obviously, any wine you drink on Friday you do not need to pay the fee for. Just check it in with them when you buy it/board the ship and collect before 7pm on the Friday and there is no fee. YOu can drink it or take it home.

If you are drinking wine $25 a bottle and less you may as well get it from them. If you are drinking better wine, you are FAR better off to buy it any day offshore and bring it on board, paying their $15 fee. A bottle of Dom Perignon is about $100 in the ABC stores at every port. It is $250 to buy from them. Veuve Cliquot is $75 in the ABC stores. It is $150 from NCL. Various reds and whites we bought and brought on board were similarly marked up. Count on paying roughly double the ABC store price. Then decide if it is worth the hassle, which is actually not much hassle. As you return to the ship there is a desk, you hand it to them, they put it on your final invoice at $15 a bottle and hand it back. Takes less than one minute. Or hand it over to them and pick it up as you need it. Both are extremely easy. Your butler will get it for you by the way, you just ask.

In general their excursions are insanely overpriced. You can save money booking the same thing NOT through NCL. If we were to do it again, we would reserve a rental car in each port and drive ourselves. This is extremely easy to do. Advantage Rent a Car is the best we found via Priceline. It is really cheap and very easy to drive yourself around. The vans like the ones at the airport are right outside when you get off the ship. Our friends booked a helicopter tour on Hilo via Paradise Helicopters and were happy except the headphones knocked a very expensive hearing aid off the ear and it was never found.

In Hilo, the best way to see it is walk off the ship and get on the local hop on and hop off bus that is sitting RIGHT there and bop around the island to all the sites for $20. NCL doesn't mention this option, obviously, but it is clearly the best bet.

In summary, the ship does a good job. NCL we found in general deceptive and sneaky. Always assume they are up to something is my advice.We did and avoided getting charged/overcharged to a large degree but the amount of faulty information was concerning. You definitely are treated as VIP if you are in a suite, no question about that.

We recently returned from a week in these 2 cabins. It was nearly impossible to get good info from the reviews online, so here is our experience.

The cabins face aft and are advertised as aft cabins but they are not aft at all. They are 1/3 of the distance back from the front of the ship. They face aft but overlook the pool area and the stack of the ship is beyond the pool.

You do not get a full on aft view because the stack is right in the middle of it. However, the view is really sensational nonetheless. We loved it.

The cabins are as quiet as a tomb when the sliding doors to the balcony are closed. If they are unlocked, however, not even necessarily opened, you will hear the bands playing poolside.

We quite liked that because the music is nice.. Out on our huge balcony were a table and 4 chairs and two lounge chairs. It is VERY private, as there are canvas barriers up. No one can see you on your balcony. You don't much hear the pool or the restaurant below you even on the balcony, but there seemed to be a band playing most of the time during the day and in the evenings up until around 8pm. You will definitely hear the music if the door is not closed and locked. The pool is open until 10 but by 8 the activity was basically over, the restaurants/bars at either end were closed and there were maybe 2 or 3 people in the hot tubs or in the pool, if that. Granted this is October, not school break, and there were very few kids on board.

The cabin itself was extremely clean. It has a nice Lavazza espresso/coffee maker and a frig with no freezer. I did not scrimp on the packing, neither did hubby, and the closet/drawer space was MORE than adequate. There are nice robes provided, quality of towels is high and the shower was simply amazing. Multiple jets, fantastic pressure, hand held option.The whirlpool tub is full sized and very nice products provided.

I was confused about whether or not the bed is in its own room. I was told by a NCL agent on the phone that it is. It is NOT. It is large and very comfortable but it is separated only by a curtain that you can draw like in a hospital room. The curtain is a nice fabric and it goes in a horseshoe shape so you can completely enclose the bed. This worked well for us, as my husband goes to sleep earlier than I do and I was able to stay up reading without disturbing him.

The butler was extremely attentive and several times a day replaced the ice in both the ice bucket and the wine bucket without being asked.

Room service is no extra charge and we did use this feature. Each day at least one, if not two, plates of goodies arrived--fruit dipped in chocolate, little hors d'oeuvre sandwiches, chocolate candies, cheese tray, etc. I am gluten free and they always remembered this.

You can order without additional charge from a very extrensive menu OR from any of the no additional charge restaurants The Cadillac Grill, which I was told is being phased out, has great chicken wings and we often got those. A few times we ordered breakfast or cheese platters at night.

My only complaint surrounds the lighting near the mirror in the main living area. There is no light there so after dark putting on make up can only be done in the bathroom. This is a minor complaint if you even call it that

The suites in my opinion may well be the best ones on the whole ship--quiet, convenient, private, very clean, large, great views, great service, new materials, great bed and pillows, comfortable inside and outside.

I have a lot of issues with NCL and their corporate behavior and customer service at that level--staff on board were brilliant except for a few notable exceptions-- but if you want to cruise the islands for a week they are the only option and if you have to use NCL, these suites are highly recommended by us.