woodley

We have just returned from NCL jade South Africa and Namibia cruise. In October we did the NCL Star cruise which was awful and had we not already booked this one would not have used NCL again. However the Jade was a lot better, food was good as were the drinks and our cabin was great as were all the staff on board. The entertainment was ok but nothing really stood out as being great. We had one port removed Durban with no explanation or return of port fees which seems to be a pattern with NCL now. The spa prices which were always more expensive on board ship are now so high priced that I chose not to partake as were the minimums on the gambling tables. These were two areas that we have always enjoyed but sadly now are out of our price range, the fun has gone and only serious gamblers would partake. Shore excursions.....what can I say except the ones we did through the ship were awful. One was a bus ride for 90 mins to shop at a gift shop area for one hour then a ride back to the ship 90 mins. This was described as Kynsa at leisure a total waste of our money and time. They also advertised one as a safari, snorkel and barbecue $399 each. We decided to get a private guide at this port and for £87.00 each did the exact same trip except we had lunch on our own (restaurant or snacks). WE know we did the same trip as we followed them around. We were in a very nice air conditioned van for most of the trip then on a safari jeep and pontoon boat for the rest of the tour. I know NCL supporters will jump on me but this post is to help others make informed decisions. I was a loyal NCL customer but no more. In my opinion they have cut back so much with all the little extras and priced some things so high, spa, gambling tables, shore excursion, specialty restaurants, drinks etc. that NCL is no longer the cruise line for me.

I hope you are in a suite as I cannot imagine hosting friends for a drink in your cabin otherwise.

We are the one after you Jan 14th.

My post was a true recollection of our disappointments while on the cruise. I thought it may help people who were planning a future cruise on the star. Of course there were good points but that was not what the title of the thread was about. The food was good, the staff were lovely and the ports I did not mention were enjoyable. Having been on 44 cruises prior to this one many of which were on NCL I can honestly say this one was our worst experience.

We knew we booked an inside cabin but the picture posted above shows a chair we did not get a chair and the space around the bed was blocked by the vanity unit on one side and a pull down bed on the other so the room was quite different from the picture you posted above.

Prior to sailing the port in Portugal was removed and replaced with one in Spain and one in France. This was disappointing as we really wanted to go there and we never received a reason as to why. Our cabin, a sea view was really small with no seating except for on the bed. It looked dated and tired. The sheets were almost threadbare. Entertainer's were very poor, we walked out most evenings. The singers and dancers were very poor, no coordination and amateurish. I think they thought if they were loud and held one note for a while we would be impressed. Guitar player/singer was awful, couldn't understand most of what he sang. The latitudes platinum party was a joke, cocktails were served but having the drinks package cost the cruise line nothing and the food offered was cubes of cheese, better cheese was being served in the buffet. So basically they gave away nothing as a reward for our loyalty. in the past there have always been nice foods/snacks offered. In Bordeaux we did a shore excursion called Bordeaux sampler. It should have been called Bordeaux on your own as all it consisted of was a bus ride to the city. We left 2 hours late due to port problems so we only had two hours in the city instead of four hours. the journey to the city was two hours there and two hours back. By the time we ate lunch we had less than an hour in the city to explore. A complete waste of money. The daily activities were lackluster, totally boring. The port le harve was removed due to strike action. We stayed overnight in Belgium but it was an industrial port so there was nowhere to go in the evening and we left the next day at 12pm so no shore excursions we offered that day so it became a day at sea. Then on the last day Guernsey was removed due to the weather. No port fees were refunded for missing ports. It has been a few years since we have been on NCL and it may be our last trip with them.

My husband and I did the Nile cruise with lunch which we enjoyed. At the end of the lunch they served coffee with milk in little jugs with lids on. I had black coffee my husband had the milk in his. He went to have a second cup and removed the lid on the milk to see if there was enough. To his horror the little jug had about 10 fly's floating in the milk. Later that afternoon he became quite sick so much so we had to get a Dr. out to him he was given fluids and an injection (not sure what was in the injection) but it did stop the symptoms. He was weak for about a week afterward. So if anything has a lid on it check under it before you use it.