New to NCL, disappointed

I have cruised on Royal Carribean, Celebrity, and Carnival in the past. I just went on a cruise on Norweigan. It was the Cayamo music cruise run by the Norweigan owned company Sixthman.

I was really surprised by things I ran into when comparing to my previous cruise experience. My stateroom had quite a few issues. One of the electrical outlets didn't work, one of the bedside lamp USB ports didn't work, the carpet was bubbling up at the edges, and the shampoo dispenser in the shower was broken. The cabin was not as clean as on other cruise lines... I went to put my suitcase under the bed and there was a half inch layer of dirt and garbage under there. They seem to not pay attention to detail cleaning...the mirrors were dirty and the tops of surfaces had dust on them. There were greasy fingerprints and spatters on the walls. I wasn't the only one with issues like this, I heard reports from others on the same cruise with similar issues.

As far as public areas go there were times that the public restrooms were pretty gross. Also noticed dirty walls in areas similar to in my cabin. I had a spa service and used the thermal suite after, and there were used towels laying around and the water for tea was cold. The free body scrub bowl was empty.

Food quality... Worse than any other cruise line I have been on, by far. Some things bordering on inedible. The omelet station ingredients looked old at times. The onions were gray and slimy for several days in a row. I opted for fresher looking ingredients but even the eggs tasted old. The salad bar was pitiful. Healthier / fresh options were hard to find and I wondered how the vegetarians and vegans survived the week. Specialty restaurants were acceptable, but not phenomenal like on other cruise lines.

I bought an internet pack and it was so slow that is was unusable. Overheard someone saying the internet manager claimed it was due to Sixthman hogging the bandwidth and it isn't an issue on a normal cruise. What a waste of $200+.

The music on the ship was fantastic and well run. There was rain on a couple of days and Sixthman handled everything like the pros they are. And the fellow cruisers were wonderful. Because of that, the issues with the ship were certainly not as annoying as they would have been if I was just on a normal cruise. The question is though, are all of these issues typical of Norwegian cruises or somehow limited to these big charters? I really would be hesitant to book NCL again based on my experience.

What ship was this?

What ship was this?

Sorry, Norweigan Pearl

Cayamo Music Cruise HUMMM A "chartered" cruise?

I am really surprised at this.I have cruised on the Pearl three times and it wasn't like that. Sorry that you had that experience. Charters can be much different than normal cruises.

Wow, I was on the Pearl in December and had a totally different experience, it must have really gone down hill after I disembarked.

I’m sorry to hear about your experience. We’ve sailed on NCL 3 times in the past 4.5 years, and I’ve never seen anything dirty. We’ve been on the Sun, Getaway & Dawn, so I don’t think the age of the ship is the issue. I’ve always been happy with the food, but I’ll admit I’m not a real foodie, so maybe my expectations are lower than some people. I don’t know much about charter cruises, but maybe that explains some of the low quality. Maybe give NCL another chance.

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Wow so many issues . Safe to say you will not be sailing on NCL again any time soon.

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We sail 4-6 times a year on NCL. Not really had any of these problems except the internet on the big ships (not the Jewel Class Ships). That being said, we were recently on the Anthem of the Seas and the Voom internet was awful.

Use of thermal suite is not included with treatments on NCL. Is the charter different?

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Who needs internet? Put down your device and enjoy the company of the people around you.

I have cruised on Royal Carribean, Celebrity, and Carnival in the past. I just went on a cruise on Norweigan. It was the Cayamo music cruise run by the Norweigan owned company Sixthman.

I was really surprised by things I ran into when comparing to my previous cruise experience. My stateroom had quite a few issues. One of the electrical outlets didn't work, one of the bedside lamp USB ports didn't work, the carpet was bubbling up at the edges, and the shampoo dispenser in the shower was broken. The cabin was not as clean as on other cruise lines... I went to put my suitcase under the bed and there was a half inch layer of dirt and garbage under there. They seem to not pay attention to detail cleaning...the mirrors were dirty and the tops of surfaces had dust on them. There were greasy fingerprints and spatters on the walls. I wasn't the only one with issues like this, I heard reports from others on the same cruise with similar issues.

As far as public areas go there were times that the public restrooms were pretty gross. Also noticed dirty walls in areas similar to in my cabin. I had a spa service and used the thermal suite after, and there were used towels laying around and the water for tea was cold. The free body scrub bowl was empty.

Food quality... Worse than any other cruise line I have been on, by far. Some things bordering on inedible. The omelet station ingredients looked old at times. The onions were gray and slimy for several days in a row. I opted for fresher looking ingredients but even the eggs tasted old. The salad bar was pitiful. Healthier / fresh options were hard to find and I wondered how the vegetarians and vegans survived the week. Specialty restaurants were acceptable, but not phenomenal like on other cruise lines.

I bought an internet pack and it was so slow that is was unusable. Overheard someone saying the internet manager claimed it was due to Sixthman hogging the bandwidth and it isn't an issue on a normal cruise. What a waste of $200+.

The music on the ship was fantastic and well run. There was rain on a couple of days and Sixthman handled everything like the pros they are. And the fellow cruisers were wonderful. Because of that, the issues with the ship were certainly not as annoying as they would have been if I was just on a normal cruise. The question is though, are all of these issues typical of Norwegian cruises or somehow limited to these big charters? I really would be hesitant to book NCL again based on my experience.

I have cruised on Cunard,Carnival,Celebrity ,Holland America and Royal Caribbean .A friend suggested that I try NCL.

I was on the GEM in 2013 and did not like it but was persuaded to try it again .This time I had the Cabin Steward from Hell. The only thing good on the ship was one of the lounge singers.

I decided to try the Breakaway and it was not any better.

I am sticking with RCI

Wow, I was on the Pearl in December and had a totally different experience, it must have really gone down hill after I disembarked.

Just like a new car loses value when you drive it off the lot, the Pearl loses value when NLH Arizona disembarks... ;)

Wow, I was on the Pearl in December and had a totally different experience, it must have really gone down hill after I disembarked.

I was also on the Pearl in December and was extremely underwhelmed. I tried to just enjoy the cruise as a standalone experience but I couldn't help but compare it to my previous cruises on Royal. The food outside of a couple of exceptions was not great (the specialty restaurants especially were a disappointment), service wasn't even close to what I have experienced previously, and the ship and my stateroom had lots of little issues like the OP mentioned (outlets not working, every single elevator showing the wrong date/time, GPS channel in the rooms not working, etc). And my God... the tendering process was an absolute nightmare. It boggles my mind that it could have been that bad. It's like they had never tendered before. That's not to say it was a bad cruise, because it wasn't, it just wasn't up to the same standard as my trips on Royal. I bought some NextCruise certificates because I won't judge NCL off of one subpar experience, but I will definitely be on a different ship next time.

Sorry the cruise did not work out for you.

Keith

I have cruised on Royal Carribean, Celebrity, and Carnival in the past. I just went on a cruise on Norweigan. It was the Cayamo music cruise run by the Norweigan owned company Sixthman.

I was really surprised by things I ran into when comparing to my previous cruise experience.

***Quote Truncated to save space***

The music on the ship was fantastic and well run. There was rain on a couple of days and Sixthman handled everything like the pros they are. And the fellow cruisers were wonderful. Because of that, the issues with the ship were certainly not as annoying as they would have been if I was just on a normal cruise. The question is though, are all of these issues typical of Norwegian cruises or somehow limited to these big charters? I really would be hesitant to book NCL again based on my experience.

In all fairness, I've only sailed on NCL Jade (Dec 2012) and NCL Escape (Apr & Oct 2017) whereas I've sailed 20 times on Princess ships and once in a suite on Carnival over the past four years.

In all the cruises, I've never had as many bad things to list as you did from your cruise, not even if I have one list of all wrongs on all the cruises I've taken, combined. It's almost as if NCL Pearl, as you described it, is a floating disaster.

I'm curious, though, about all the stateroom issues. Did you speak with a housekeeping manager, to report the issues and ask for them to be corrected? Or did you just keep a list of the bad things to post on the forum here?

Hey, but at least the music was good!

Sorry for your Pearl experience, better cruising next time.

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I sail multiple lines and the above is a good reason why I only sail newer ships anymore. I prefer ships that are no more than a few years old. Yes, I know it costs more to sail the newest ships. These types of posts are common on all the cruise line boards on older ships, let's say 12 years and older. Once these ship get to a certain point it seems the cleanliness and upkeep start to go downhill quickly as the ship shows it's age ..... Not saying it's an excuse for a poor steward or poor food but things that are dirty and broken are more common with an aging ship. I'd never sail the Navigator of the Seas on Royal, The Sunshine on Carnival, The Pearl, etc ......

I have cruised on Royal Carribean, Celebrity, and Carnival in the past. I just went on a cruise on Norweigan. It was the Cayamo music cruise run by the Norweigan owned company Sixthman.

I was really surprised by things I ran into when comparing to my previous cruise experience. My stateroom had quite a few issues. One of the electrical outlets didn't work, one of the bedside lamp USB ports didn't work, the carpet was bubbling up at the edges, and the shampoo dispenser in the shower was broken. The cabin was not as clean as on other cruise lines... I went to put my suitcase under the bed and there was a half inch layer of dirt and garbage under there. They seem to not pay attention to detail cleaning...the mirrors were dirty and the tops of surfaces had dust on them. There were greasy fingerprints and spatters on the walls. I wasn't the only one with issues like this, I heard reports from others on the same cruise with similar issues.

As far as public areas go there were times that the public restrooms were pretty gross. Also noticed dirty walls in areas similar to in my cabin. I had a spa service and used the thermal suite after, and there were used towels laying around and the water for tea was cold. The free body scrub bowl was empty.

Food quality... Worse than any other cruise line I have been on, by far. Some things bordering on inedible. The omelet station ingredients looked old at times. The onions were gray and slimy for several days in a row. I opted for fresher looking ingredients but even the eggs tasted old. The salad bar was pitiful. Healthier / fresh options were hard to find and I wondered how the vegetarians and vegans survived the week. Specialty restaurants were acceptable, but not phenomenal like on other cruise lines.

I bought an internet pack and it was so slow that is was unusable. Overheard someone saying the internet manager claimed it was due to Sixthman hogging the bandwidth and it isn't an issue on a normal cruise. What a waste of $200+.

The music on the ship was fantastic and well run. There was rain on a couple of days and Sixthman handled everything like the pros they are. And the fellow cruisers were wonderful. Because of that, the issues with the ship were certainly not as annoying as they would have been if I was just on a normal cruise. The question is though, are all of these issues typical of Norwegian cruises or somehow limited to these big charters? I really would be hesitant to book NCL again based on my experience.

It is amazing when some one has cruised as often as you seem to have and suddenly they find CC to gripe about things that seem a little over the top. Most of your complaints about you cabin could have been corrected by simply telling your cabin steward or complaining to guest services. I won't comment on your other complaints, it is probably a waste of time, but I will add, I have cruised over 40 times, on all mass marketed lines and have never experienced anything like you are describing on any ship or any decent ship. Has everything always been up to standard?Nope, anyone can find fault but for the most part, certainly we have never found things that bad. As for looking under the bed, we just slip our luggage under the bed and don't get down on our hands and knees to inspect every nook and granny, nor do we stand at the omelete station and check to see what the ingredients look like. How could you tell the onions were slimmy. By the time they were cooked you would have had no way to know. Am go glad you did enjoy the music.:o:confused:

Sorry, Norweigan Pearl

Now, to be honest, when you say the Pearl, I do really question you opinion. We have sailed her several times, most recently 3 months ago. I have never seen anything compared to what you are reporting except the shower shampoo dispenser was almost empty. Everything else was clean, service great and the salad bar was every bit as good as any other line we have sailed. Certainly this goes for the specialty dining rooms as well.

yes, the atrium can get crowded, especially if the weather is not up to par.

Now, to be honest, when you say the Pearl, I do really question you opinion. We have sailed her several times, most recently 3 months ago. I have never seen anything compared to what you are reporting except the shower shampoo dispenser was almost empty. Everything else was clean, service great and the salad bar was every bit as good as any other line we have sailed. Certainly this goes for the specialty dining rooms as well.

 

yes, the atrium can get crowded, especially if the weather is not up to par.

NMNita,

It’s a losing battle. Don’t think OP will answer.

We were on the Pearl in January for the outlaw country charter. We didnt have any issues. Great food. Our room steward was great. There were 3 of us in a balcony cabin on deck 9. No issues at all.

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Regard to the older ships. I sailed the Jewel before dry dock, and couldn't be happier with the cruise. Our cabin was spotless, the food and entertainment, very good. We enjoyed it so much that we booked the escape for this past December, and fond the smae thing. Sorry if the Pearl didn't live up to your expectations, but I would try another NCL ship before abanding the line. I'm not an NCL loyalist, or anyone elses, as you can see by my signature. These were just my observations.

Wow, I was on the Pearl in December and had a totally different experience, it must have really gone down hill after I disembarked.

I think we were on the last of several back to back music cruise charters. I wonder if that is a huge strain on the staff...

I think we were on the last of several back to back music cruise charters. I wonder if that is a huge strain on the staff...

You may have a point, but I’m not sure a music charter is anymore busier than a normal cruise. You go out on a cruise for x days, come back disembark, 5-6 hours later start with new guests and do it again.