Norwegian Jewel - Disappointing - Hongkong to Tokyo March 21, 2018 -

In 2016, we enjoyed our earlier cruise with NCL Star for 21 days in a Suite and had absolutely no issues. This is what enticed us to take another cruise with Norwegian. This cruise with Jewel was only for 11 days from March 21 to April 1, 2018. The best part of the cruise is the fact that our Mini-Suite was kept immaculately tidy by our steward. The whole ship always looked tidy. Unfortunately, the positives stop there. NCL Jewel is a highly disorganized ship and the reasons are as follows: (1) from the initial port in HK up to disembarkation. People in HK were not even properly identified as NCL staff. They were grabbing the suitcases from our hotel limo as we arrived. (2)Furthermore, NO ONE in the check in counter in HK knew what Latitudes was. Only those in the Suites were assisted even if the Latitudes program supposedly provided for assistance on embarkation for those in Gold upwards (3)Restaurant reservation made online prior to the start of the cruise did not sync with the ship's system. Hence, I just wasted all that time planning the restaurants that we wanted to dine in. (4)The worst part is the staff at Azura ( on the first night) were demanding a print out from me for the proof of my reservation. I obviously do not walk around with hard copies of the reservation when it is supposed to be in their system as per my NCL account. I did not appreciate this because there were other patrons behind and I never expected to be treated in such fashion when the meal in question is an inclusion and not even a specialty restaurant. I later found out that the whole reservation system was not working for the entire length of the cruise(5) Water purchased in advance were not delivered to our room until after 3 follow ups. We were told that it would be delivered the next day which is unacceptable as my husband and I require such for our medication. (6) Shore excursion organizers at the start were not organized with guests even requesting that a line be formed during the process. This is disappointing as the staff should have organized the whole process better. I started wondering if they had trainees organizing these excursions. Also, some guests of the boat were complaining that the ship ran out of shore excursion openings for most of the tours. It is only for 11 days – how can they get it so wrong. (7) Room service did not deliver an order for nearly 3 hours because they supposedly failed to get our room number. We could not have our breakfast at the restaurants that morning as we were dealing with a family emergency over the phones. This was the height of how dysfunctional room service was. To order for beer at around 10 pm would take at least an hour to be delivered. (8) Food in the specialty restaurants are mostly SALTY. The dishes we enjoyed at the NCL Star are also offered at the Jewel but for some reason almost everything is about 3 times saltier. This made most of our dining experiences not enjoyable. Menus in the main dining areas/complimentary do not change at all. Azura and Tsar have near similar menus ( 9) Staff in the Garden Cafe are NOT very helpful and would really rather stand around than assist guests when the place is packed during meal time. The same goes with Azura. The staff members seem to be overwhelmed during peak times. Hence, guests are left waiting to be attended to. We dined there twice and it is sad to see that the main dining area could hardly cope and not get its act together. (10) As we had to leave the ship earlier than scheduled due to a family emergency, we had to disembark by ourselves. We have paid for the cruise until 01 April but had to leave by 30 March. We were supposed to disembark at around 11 am as our flight was at 3:00 pm. By 9:30 am, housekeeping wanted to check if we were still in our rooms. Yes, the very same room that we have paid for in full till April 1 including the unlimited internet charges I have paid for UNTIL April 1. An hour later, someone in guest relations also went to our room to check if we were still around. This was weird because they all knew we were only leaving past 11 am. I could not understand why they were rushing to get us out when the ship will still be docked until 7 or 8 pm in Kobe. Later, the disembarkation officer was VERY VERY rude and even raised her voice infront of everyone when I said that all I wanted was to get out of this ship once and for all. She should not be in hospitality if that is how she treats guests. Prior to our disembarkation and after having raised some of the issues above with customer relations, the Hotel Director Steven even offered to compensate us with US$200 off our bill for all the inconveniences we encountered. We find that insulting as we did not raise our issues to get freebies. We actually look down on people who try to pull that sort of stuff. In the long run, we believe people with legitimate issues suffer when an establishment assumes that people only whinge because they want to get freebies. We declined the offer and told him to use the funds instead towards boosting staff training and morale. He also later on sent a bottle of wine and some chocolates to our Mini- Suite. We also sent that back and politely said thank you BUT no thank you to the messenger. Over-all we regret taking this cruise. It was only for 11 days but I think it stressed us out in the 9 days that we were inside that ship. We were so impressed with NCL Star that we even made 3 CruiseNext deposits in 2016. We are noW regretting that decision. Since coming back to Australia, we have read some reviews other passengers have given Jewel and all I can conclude is that we are not alone with our findings. They also are the same with the sentiments of most of the people we interacted with on the boat. Most of them even swearing this would be the final time with NCL. I hope I am wrong to assume that NCL only treats guests from the Suites better than the rest. If someone in a Mini Suite this time cannot get decent satisfaction from a cruise liner then I don’t know what hope the other guests in the lower decks would feel. The ship is running very poorly because of low staff morale and inadequate training. Suffice to say, I will surely think thrice before recommending this vessel for a cruise. The Jewel is destroying the NCL brand and needs an overhaul. It has management and staff issues. We have cruised with both Princess and Celebrity on both levels, Suite and Mini Suite, and had absolutely none of these issues.

Paragraphs would help with reading your critique

As to the

Menus in the main dining areas/complimentary do not change at all. Azura and Tsar have near similar menus

Sorry you had such a horrible time.

Wow, after reading this review I guess I should feel really lucky that I had to cancel my cruise on the Jewel; however, I don't feel lucky and while I wasn't on your cruise, I have been on others and been very well satisfied.

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise and have found fault with almost every aspect of it. It seems it was surely was not your cup of tea.

BTW, I'm wondering if you'll be selling those future cruise certificates, pretty sure you'd find willing buyers here.

Good luck on your future cruises,

Cheers.

Do not know for sure, but it would be my guess that the baggage handlers in Hong Kong and those working the check-in counters are Norwegian employees. They are probably employed by the port of Hong Kong.

Auza is one of the Main Dining Rooms which do not require reservations. The first night of a cruise is chaos in any of the Main Dining Rooms.

I am very sorry for your family emergency and the stress that would have caused.

I have written a review on here of the Jewel and although not the same segment seemed to still be having the same problems.

I concur with most of this post and the overriding feeling was one of disorganisation.

They need to get their act together.

This is an extremely difficult read with run on complaints. Some a little one sided. And some errors. They don't mention, what they are, but the only embarkment priority levels are platinum and above. Not gold. Also the main dining room menus are the SAME. Dock workers and port agents, are likely not NCL employees. There ARE going to be waits and lines. Not sure what the baggage problem was? Did they not get their luggage? Otherwise, I've seen this same procedure in a lot of ports with the bags being quickly moved.

I also suspect the stress, and criticism was enhanced with the larger issue being the "emergency" and little tolerance, for anything inconvenient. This experience involves thousands of of passengers.

I hope things has resolved with this op, and the choice to not go with NCL again? There are a lot of cruise options to consider.

Family emergency happened on Day 8 and we left on Day 9. Over a week of NCL Jewel blunders before the emergency. From Day 1 onwards. My family emergency DID NOT cause all these blunders from the Jewel. We reacted appropriately. Why do you think the Hotel Director called our room?

On the day of embarkation, another ship MSC was on the port. The crew dragging the suitcases from the hotel limo were situated in the middle of the 2 ships. No uniforms or signs saying they were working for Norwegian. I would not have worried about it if Norwegian was the only ship at the port. What was worse was that these Chinese baggage handlers did not speak English. I only allowed them to touch our suitcases after someone in a suit came running and introduced himself as a representative of Norwegian. This rep did not have any Norwegian ID. He was just holding a clipboard with a bunch of NCL documents.

Staff including the hotel director did admit that it was their first time to use the port in HK. Still, they should have organized it better. Pure chaos at the front counter and waiting time was just as bad. Took over 2 hours to finally get into the boat. And to think we have Latitude entitlements.

As far as Latitudes is concerned, PRIORITY Check in starts at Bronze NOT only at Platinum. I have attached the link for the latest latitude benefits.

https://www.ncl.com/au/en/latitudes-rewards-program

We have a reached a conclusion that Norwegian is only okay when you are in a suite. And yet, it still pales in comparison alongside the other suites of the other ships.

I have written a review on here of the Jewel and although not the same segment seemed to still be having the same problems.

I concur with most of this post and the overriding feeling was one of disorganisation.

They need to get their act together.

Jewel wins by a mile in disorganization. They are destroying the brand. This was one cruise that without fail had a daily dose of dramas not only for us but for most people on the ship. It was like watching a train wreck. I have never written a review this bad for any organization in all my decades of traveling. As I rely on reviews when booking for most things, I thought it was wise to share our experience. NCL should overhaul the management of that ship.

Sorry you didn't have a good cruise. I think now that you have some time between the awful experiences and you are back in the "real world", maybe you can evaluate some of the issues and take some of the sting out of them.

As others have said, the port workers are not really employees or controlled by NCL in most cases. They are contracted out. I have never had a porter at a dock identified as an employee of any company; if they wear a uniform it is usually one that is generic and not a NCL uniform. The temporary workers that are the check in staff usually have a blazer or something with the company name on it, and when the next ship is ready, they switch blazers to the other company. NCL has more control over the check in process because they do have supervisors there who are company employees in the check in areas.

As to the hotel manager, it is customary in customer service to offer a dissatisfied customer something to show that you care. Most companies now prohibit the old practice of calling the employee out in front of the customer and giving them a verbal dressing down in front of everyone or firing them on the spot, and I think we would all be horrified by that today. But before the offer of a token of their regret, like a $200 refund and chocolate covered strawberries, that was a pretty common practice. So, in NCL's defense on the offer from the hotel manager, he was not trying to buy you off with a cheap gift. I'm not sure what would have made you happy because you were having a horrible cruise, from the very beginning.

What could he had done specifically that would have been better than a $200 refund and chocolate covered strawberries?

You don't need to respond to me or defend yourself as I think you really did have a horrible time. But thinking about these things and analyzing them may help you cope with them and avoid the bitterness that creeps in with lingering resentment.

So, in NCL's defense on the offer from the hotel manager, he was not trying to buy you off with a cheap gift. I'm not sure what would have made you happy because you were having a horrible cruise, from the very beginning.

 

What could he had done specifically that would have been better than a $200 refund and chocolate covered strawberries?

 

You don't need to respond to me or defend yourself as I think you really did have a horrible time. But thinking about these things and analyzing them may help you cope with them and avoid the bitterness that creeps in with lingering resentment.

No bitterness here. If you read my previous post, I rely on reviews when I book anything for our trips. I thought by sharing our experience, it would help prevent other people from wasting their time and money by getting on the Jewel. Relying on reviews has been good for us for years and ONLY BY BEING HONEST DOES IT REALLY WORK FOR EVERYONE. Everything I posted here has been documented by the ship. They have acknowledged their shortcomings and have apologized. We did not expect any compensation of sorts for stating the facts. We initially felt insulted with the offer but I think the Hotel Director was more upset when we suggested to him to use the $ 200 into good use by training his staff more.

I have been on several cruise ships and tours for the past 3 decades of my adult life. I have never had to write such a lengthy and detailed review. My comments in other forums ( Trip Advisor) are nothing but glowing recommendations for the companies we have used. And this included NCL Star.

On the issue of the luggage at the HK port, as I have stated there was no sign at all. I don't care about the uniforms or IDs. But as I have said there was no sign at all. The signs only appeared inside the building or once you have parted with your bags outside. I don't think people are comfortable not knowing where there bags will be going if they are about to board a ship for 11 days.

I have even failed to emphasize the demeanor of how the staff members behaved once you question their actions on the ship. Imagine being given the 3rd degree over a dining reservation. Only to find out that their system FAILED the ship. I also forgot to mention that they ran out of supplies with some of their liquors because of management issues. But that did not affect us directly - and hence I did not include it in my lengthy post.

I am not defending what I posted here - as they are the truth. There is no lingering resentment. Simply put, they failed to deliver the goods. This is what forums are for. I

think you need to reassess why you even commented on my post when it is clearly the respond one would get from a cruise liner. NCL should thank you.

Embarkation.-priority is platinum and up. -- read again- your link- what you claim in your original post. was "gold", Nothing to do with Check in. And it can't be a stretch to realize when everyone qualifies for the "check in " benefit, that it isn't going to be too special.

Embarkation.-priority is platinum and up. -- read again- your link- what you claim in your original post. was "gold", Nothing to do with Check in. And it can't be a stretch to realize when everyone qualifies for the "check in " benefit, that it isn't going to be too special.

The long and short of the story is that no one knew what Latitudes was and no one extended the Priority Check in Privilege at the pier. This should have extended to even the Bronze members at the very least. The priority embarkation extended to Platinum members and Suite occupants involves the concierge greeting you at the entrance building and feeding you with canapes and what have you while the check in people stuff around with your documents before boarding the ship. Yes, that is only for the select group that I have mentioned. What reason does NCL Jewel have for not having anyone at the counters dealing with Latitude concerns and extending the so called Priority Check in at the Pier? The whole waiting area and time was worse than a domestic airport in a third world country. Thank God they had good airconditioning and better seats though. The hotel director I think was shocked when he learned no one at the check in counter knew anything about Latitudes. There was a long silence when I informed him of this matter. He could have argued the point but unfortunately he knew the truth. I started to worry when chaos and confusion greeted us the very minute we stepped out of the hotel car. The next eight days confirmed my feelings.

Priority check-in simply means there is a line reserved for Latitudes members. That’s what starts at Bronze. This is basically pointless since you will be in that line unless it is your first Norwegian cruise. Suites and Haven have their own check-in area.

“Priority” check-in is not canapés and special treatment. It is a banner that says “Latitudes.”

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AusQueen, thanks for posting. We'll be on the Jewel for the first time next September (19 day repositioning) and I'm preparing for a substandard experience. No expectations, no disappointments. Thanks for the forewarning. Perhaps the powers that be will read your post and improve their performance.

Oh dear, so sorry to hear you were unhappy and that another poster is expecting a substandard experience on a future cruise.

We have cruised quite a bit and honestly none of the OP’s 10 points are a concern for us. But the poor morale and mismanagement mentioned here and in several other reviews will keep us away from booking the Jewel until improvements are made.

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AusQueen, thanks for posting. We'll be on the Jewel for the first time next September (19 day repositioning) and I'm preparing for a substandard experience. No expectations, no disappointments. Thanks for the forewarning. Perhaps the powers that be will read your post and improve their performance.

That is my hope and purpose for posting my lengthy review on the whole experience. They have heaps of time to fix the situation. They need to boost the training and morale of their staff members. Happy employees produce better results. They seem to have no pride at all with their work and the passengers suffer. One last warning - internet is not good. The Star was an older ship but the internet was heaps better. Enjoy your cruise and I hope the Jewel will not fail you as much for the sake of the Norwegian brand.

I agree that the food is salty. I believe this is fleetwide.

Not the greatest thing to read as I am embarking next month in Yokohama. As that is the first time NCL is doing that transpacific repositioning I fear worst in regards of how smoothly things will be organized.

I never know what to expect from latitudes embarkation as well. Last time in New York I was sent to a single line bypassing everyone waiting for the security X-ray machine getting there directly to the front and then a special platinum plus/ambassador check-in. Would love if that is the worldwide standard.

No bitterness here. If you read my previous post, I rely on reviews when I book anything for our trips. I thought by sharing our experience, it would help prevent other people from wasting their time and money by getting on the Jewel. Relying on reviews has been good for us for years and ONLY BY BEING HONEST DOES IT REALLY WORK FOR EVERYONE. Everything I posted here has been documented by the ship. They have acknowledged their shortcomings and have apologized. We did not expect any compensation of sorts for stating the facts. We initially felt insulted with the offer but I think the Hotel Director was more upset when we suggested to him to use the $ 200 into good use by training his staff more.

That's good. Reviews are important for the rest of us, and I have a bad review of the Jewel as well here on CC.

Your suggestion to the hotel director was probably received as rude and passive aggressive. See below.

I am not defending what I posted here - as they are the truth. There is no lingering resentment. Simply put, they failed to deliver the goods. This is what forums are for. I

 

think you need to reassess why you even commented on my post when it is clearly the respond one would get from a cruise liner. NCL should thank you.

Why did I respond? I think the reason is in the quote above, that's what forums are for. I don't think I was rude to you. If you only want responses that agree with you it could be put in your posts. "Please do not reply if you disagree with me; I want positive responses only" would suffice, and I would honor that.

Your last comment is out of line. I'm discussing your review that you posted on a discussion forum, yet you use passive aggressive language to indicate I shouldn't respond and that I'm some sort of apologist or lackey of NCL. I take offense at that, and you hurt my feelings.

Wow! I was on this cruise and had a wonderful time and I was just in an inside cabin. I was lucky as I didn’t encounter any of these issues.

Yes boarding was delayed, probably by 30 minutes as in this region the immigration officials take forever to clear the ship. It was still much better than when I boarded in NZ and I would have to say Buenos Aires was my worst ever. This is often determined port side, not the onboard staff.

I found the HD to be friendly, charming and polite. Yes he probably offered you compensation as that is the US way of dealing with issues. Most of them once compensated go away happy. Cultural differences.

Also the menu did change each night- some items stay the same but the other items are always changed. Unsure why you made a booking for the MDRs. I didn’t think they took bookings and I was able to walk up with my group and get in straight away the 7 nights I used it - 3 of the other nights I had booked a speciality and had no problems and I walked up to OSheehans the remaining night. I also loved the barbecues around the pool most days and usually had that for lunch. I found most of the waiters and especially the bar staff very friendly. I’m always amazed at how quickly they remember your name.

The excursions for the Japanese ports did sell out within the first two days, but most of those on the waiting list did manage to get the tours as shore ex organized more buses. I know as I was on a waiting list for Kyoto and Mameda and was able to get on both those tours once more buses were organized. Many of the delays were caused by the immigration officials in this region. The staff with many hands onboard worked all night with no sleep to get our photocopied, barcoded passport copies out despite two couples refusing to hand in their passports, which delayed the whole process. That’s what caused the delay in handing them out our first day in Xiamen. The Chinese authorities would not allow the ship to be cleared until they had all the original passports. This is a common practice in this region. The Chinese authorities also wanted a face to face interview with the 200 people who failed to get visas and all the people who had visited the medical Centre before anyone would be allowed off the ship in Beijing. The ship was able to negotiate this not being done. Also in Fukuoka, our first port in Japan we all had to do a lengthy face to face passport check. The Captain got us there early and so the process started earlier. In most ports we arrived early to assist with the lengthy processes, but the port authorities in China took ages to clear the ship - so much paperwork and protocol. I think security, the HD, his assistant and staff did an amazing job dealing with every challenge thrown their way. They also had to cope with some of the angry passengers who didn’t do their due diligence and arrived with no visa for China, then wanted to blame the ship for their negligence. Most of these had booked through a TA, so I’d be questioning my dodgy TA. Part of the challenge of cruising in this region.

I am grateful that NCL has taken up the challenge to try new and varied itineraries. Both on the Star last year and the Jewel this year I have visited so many great ports and done so many interesting itineraries. I’m also grateful they have started bringing a ship ‘down under’ as I have never been a fan of most of the local lines they use here.

So sorry your cruise didn’t turn out as well as expected, but for me it was a great cruise. I met so many great, fun people onboard, enjoyed a lot of the organized entertainment. The weather was sunny and mild most days/ (it had been very cold and miserable in most of these places prior to our arrival), we got to see Mt Fuji as we sailed into Shimizu, the cherry blossoms were in full bloom in all the areas of Japan we visited. I had wonderful days in all the ports, booked all shore excursions through the ship for the first time ever as this was a region I had never been to before and I wanted to make the most of it. As well as enjoying what I saw, I found it a real insight into two different cultures. (I also loved the itinerary I did on the Jewel - Tahiti to Sydney).

I’m also back on the April 16th Cruise and I’m definitely looking forward to getting back onboard, enjoying the ship, the nightly entertainment and seeing more of China and Japan.

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The long and short of the story is that no one knew what Latitudes was and no one extended the Priority Check in Privilege at the pier. This should have extended to even the Bronze members at the very least. The priority embarkation extended to Platinum members and Suite occupants involves the concierge greeting you at the entrance building and feeding you with canapes and what have you while the check in people stuff around with your documents before boarding the ship. Yes, that is only for the select group that I have mentioned. What reason does NCL Jewel have for not having anyone at the counters dealing with Latitude concerns and extending the so called Priority Check in at the Pier? The whole waiting area and time was worse than a domestic airport in a third world country. Thank God they had good airconditioning and better seats though. The hotel director I think was shocked when he learned no one at the check in counter knew anything about Latitudes. There was a long silence when I informed him of this matter. He could have argued the point but unfortunately he knew the truth. I started to worry when chaos and confusion greeted us the very minute we stepped out of the hotel car. The next eight days confirmed my feelings.

Correction - there was a line for Platinum and Platinum Plus with a sign as I used it. It was no great advantage though as the ship hadn’t been cleared by the authorities for us to embark. It wasn’t cleared until just after 12.30 - My lowly inside cabin was ready though. The boarding privilege for latitude members is just that, a line- Never a concierge or special canapés. That is for suite guests. CAS also have special boarding privileges, but I’m not sure what their privileges are. Most ports organize a special line for Platinum and above, but in my experience a few don’t. The concierge is only for Platinum and above at request, but I’ve never used one.

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I found the HD to be friendly, charming and polite. Yes he probably offered you compensation as that is the US way of dealing with issues. Most of them once compensated go away happy. Cultural differences.

 

The staff with many hands onboard worked all night with no sleep to get our photocopied, barcoded passport copies out despite two couples refusing to hand in their passports, which delayed the whole process. That’s what caused the delay in handing them out our first day in Xiamen. The Chinese authorities would not allow the ship to be cleared until they had all the original passports. This is a common practice in this region. The Chinese authorities also wanted a face to face interview with the 200 people who failed to get visas and all the people who had visited the medical Centre before anyone would be allowed off the ship in Beijing. The ship was able to negotiate this not being done. Also in Fukuoka, our first port in Japan we all had to do a lengthy face to face passport check. The Captain got us there early and so the process started earlier. In most ports we arrived early to assist with the lengthy processes, but the port authorities in China took ages to clear the ship - so much paperwork and protocol. I think security, the HD, his assistant and staff did an amazing job dealing with every challenge thrown their way.

 

 

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Glad you did not encounter at least one of the 10 plus issues we did. You presented way too much inside information about how the Hotel Director (HD), Captain and the rest of the staff carried out their duties during this trip. You even presented some of the confidential info they had to deal with as far as immigration is concerned. I always thought dealings with country ports was a sensitive issue and am not sure how you were able to find out all of these. This makes me very skeptical as to the source of these info and the intention of your post.

Just like you, we have been on several cruises before and even enjoying the occasional suite ( with NCL and the other ships) stays that came with the concierge and the butler who interacted with us on a daily basis BUT I must say we were never privy to sooo much information like you have presented. We never bothered with how they ran their ship because that is their job. The details you presented are what a normal tourist or passenger would not even bother with unless it concerned them directly.

We never blamed the ship for the delays with the passports or immigration. They have no control over that. Nor do we blame them for the passengers who did not secure the correct visas. If you travel a lot, you should know how to look out for yourself. We always do. Hence, when we have done our part, it makes it frustrating when the basic service including courteous behavior from staff is not received. This was a huge part of my original post. We only got this at the Jewel as it appears the culture with this ship is different.

We go on cruises to relax and unwind with the fervent hope of being able to do so with minimum issues. This trip with the Jewel was just relentless till the end. I read somewhere the other day on a different thread that this particular cruise even had the Noro virus towards the end of it. I am just glad we got off on the 9th day and for this matter not to add to the list of things we felt bad about.

The intention of my post is to prevent the Jewel from destroying the NCL brand. NCL is a good company and I hate for it to suffer because of a poorly managed ship. The Jewel wins this category in all angles. My husband and I started thinking that it probably got the worse lot of staff from the NCL pool. It is unfair for the thousands of good employees it has to suffer just because one ship, the Jewel, has been mismanaged.

Frank del Rio and Andy Stuart should really have a good look on this ship.

Wow! I was on this cruise and had a wonderful time and I was just in an inside cabin. I was lucky as I didn’t encounter any of these issues.

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Thanks! Much appreciated to hear a second opinion.

Correction - there was a line for Platinum and Platinum Plus with a sign as I used it. It was no great advantage though as the ship hadn’t been cleared by the authorities for us to embark. It wasn’t cleared until just after 12.30 - My lowly inside cabin was ready though. The boarding privilege for latitude members is just that, a line- Never a concierge or special canapés. That is for suite guests. CAS also have special boarding privileges, but I’m not sure what their privileges are. Most ports organize a special line for Platinum and above, but in my experience a few don’t. The concierge is only for Platinum and above at request, but I’ve never used one.

 

 

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Yes, I saw that sign and that room at the front as you entered the check in area. As we are not yet Platinum with NCL and only in a Mini Suite this time, we knew we were not entitled to it. They were only calling the batch of number 7 and our ticket were for batch number 14 for the Check in at the front. It was nearly 2 pm. After waiting for over half an hour, we approached the check in counter as Latitude members are given courtesy or assistance during their check in at the pier. No one knew what Latitude was nor was there a sign. The staff we approached even consulted the other staff and even a supervisor looking staff and no one knew what Latitude was. She did however drag us out of the long queue and transferred us to a slightly shorter queue as I think she felt something was not right with what was going on. We finally got into the ship around 3:45 pm. Had a quick lunch just in time before they had the mandatory 4:30 drill.

Not the greatest thing to read as I am embarking next month in Yokohama. As that is the first time NCL is doing that transpacific repositioning I fear worst in regards of how smoothly things will be organized.

 

I never know what to expect from latitudes embarkation as well. Last time in New York I was sent to a single line bypassing everyone waiting for the security X-ray machine getting there directly to the front and then a special platinum plus/ambassador check-in. Would love if that is the worldwide standard.

I think we were all in the NCL Star cruise in 2016 for 21 days. That cruise was faultless. We did get off in Dubai before the fun began ( engine trouble) in Singapore and Melbourne. Still I never blamed the Star for anything. The staff and management they have in that ship was so good. The culture in that ship is just different and it shows with the service they provided. They had pride in their work.