Tell me why I should try NCL

[Guest]

okay people we have sailed on Disney and RCL, we have enjoyed them both. We are now looking at an Oct 2004 cruise on NCL Sun. Why would I want to do this when we loved our trips on the other two? Convince me that the money I save on NCL will not be met with dimished service or expierence. I'm a cheapskate so help me out.

[gdries]

On the SUN, you cannot go wrong. You are on one of the MOST stable ships in the NCL fleet. You will have great food, impecable service and actually be treated as enough of an adult to know when to eat where you want, when you want. Unless you want the structure you will love the SUN. We will be taking out 9th NCL cruise on the SUN next spring. We have sailed on Princess and Celebrity as well, and they each only have earned one cruise. We will sail Princess again, and NEVER Celebrity again. Again, I have structure in real life. I love to escape into it being "my time" on the ship and NCL accomodates that nicely. Princess is a close second

 

Aloha Hawaii from LA via San Francisco

 

[zimmerjulie]

We also loved our cruise on the Sun last April. Beautiful ship, great crew, fun passenger mix, convenience of freestyle, excellent meals, AMAZING desserts in the dining rooms, great entertainment....a wonderful time overall.

 

I enjoyed this cruise more than others that were a lot more expensive.

[Jeconk]

Pros: Great ships. Great crews. Good shore excursion choices. Lots to do on ships. Freestyle concept = great idea. (no need to pack formal clothes, eat when and with who you want.)

 

Cons: Very poor customer service. Things in brochures not always accurate/truthful. Unresponsive to customer concerns. Be warned: I will get bashed for these comments but they are my opinion and proven facts.

[momofteens]

You will save money but be prepared. The service is not at all like Royal Carribean or Disney. Think chain restaurant service.

[gardencat]

I must agree with jeconk. Cruised last year on Norwegian Dawn and had a great time. After being home only a week I booked another NCL cruise for this May.

This time we ran into problems. First about 6 weeks out from sailing day they changed the itinery. No biggy but I just called to find out the reason for the change. No one seemed to know, no one cared to find out or give me any information on that change. Once again no biggy the customer service seemed a little slack but we went ahead still planning to enjoy our cruise. Then, on April 2 I found out (from the cruise critic board) that our cruise scheduled to leave May 2nd,had apparently been cancelled due to engine problems. Since this was a repositioning cruise (it started in Honolulu and ended in Vancouver) this was a big problem for us.

I called NCL and, after some confusion they finally confirmed that the cruise had been cancelled and gave me a number to call to get more information. This was Friday evening, of course that office would not be open till Monday morning. That was the beginning of the nightmare of trying to deal with NCL's guest relations department.

I will not go into all the details but NCL was very difficult to reach (over half an hour on hold was not unusual), lied to me about what they would do for us and basically told me that they were sorry they had mis-informed me but they wern't going to do anything about it.

After reading several other cruisers experiences I discovered that it appears to be common knowledge on these boards that if you call NCL guest relations 3 times and ask the same question you will probably get 3 totally different answers and NCL will not feel obliged to abide by any of them.

If you are willing to take a chance that you will have absolutely no problems that will require you to deal with the guest relations department go ahead and book with NCL. If you are at all worried about having any slight thing out of the ordinary that would require you to deal with them don't do it.

If you do book with NCL be sure to book your air fare through them too. (if you need air fare) If you book yourself or use air mile points don't look to them for any help if they decide to make any changes which will affect your tickets.

Lots of people have cruised on NCL and apparently had a great time. Personally after my recent experience I will never cruise with them again.

[Tomct]

We just returned today from our 2nd cruise on the Dawn, 3rd overall, the other was on the NCL Star. Though we have nothing else to compare with, I think our biggest attraction to NCL is the freestyle dining. We have basically liked everything about our 3 cruises, so have no desire to "jump ship". The food has been great, ooutstanding in some restaurants, the service had been absolutely phenominal, and likewise for the cabin service. Yesterday I was telling one of the stewards how attached we get to them, and then they are gone from our lives, but that's the way it is. Moments later we spotted one of our cabin stewards from last year, and it was heartwarming that she remembered us, and several events that took place that week.

 

As for the freestyle, one thing we kept doing this week was changing our daily plans on the fly, depending on activities we got involved with, on and off ship. The flexibility allowed us to vary our dining plans accordingly, mainly to build dinner plans around the needs of our 5/7 yr. old grandkids. Much of the planning had to do with getting they rested and fed, a tough balancing act. It would seem to us that such flexibility would be more restrictive with fixed dining sittings.

 

Another great touch this cruise was some personal contact we had with the hotel director, his assistant, and the food & beverage manager. We met much of the staff at the Latitudes meeting, and from that point on, the food/bev. mgr. often stopped us to be sure everything was going good for us, and where we were eating. The others were very interested in our well being, and always addressed us by name, a great trait to be able to manage.

 

So we have no desire to chanege, based on the saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

 

Tom/Connecticut

 

 

[Dolphins]

Ditto TomCt- After many cruises on other cruise lines, we tried NCL and really took to the flexibility of freestyle dining. We really liked the dining options of the Norwegian Dawn and she has spoiled us for other ships. It will not be easy returning to traditional dining at the same table in the same dining room every night. The fact we can sail her out of New York year round is another bonus.

[sassycruiser]

We have sailed 7 times with NCL. Never had a bad cruise. Last cruise was the Star in Feb 04. We have considered other lines but NCL keeps us coming back!

[Host CMLA]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by bigd332:

Why would I want to do this when we loved our trips on the other two? Convince me that the money I save on NCL will not be met with dimished service or expierence. I'm a cheapskate so help me out.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>In my opinion, I don't think you'll be happy if you choose NCL. It's been my experience that if you spend too much time comparing anything against something new, you might miss out on all the good things the new has to offer because you're missing what you're used to. I'm not trying to talk you out of NCL. I'm saying that if you choose to go with NCL, don't prejudge the ship, the staff, or the customer service. Go into it with the same open mind that you went into with your very first cruise.

 

I've done 11 NCL cruises and I've had 11 great experiences. The staff has always been top notch. The food has varied between OK to fantastic. The newer ships are more appealing to me than the older ships. I've never had a bad customer service experience. I've always been met with a friendly voice that's been willing to help me. I wouldn't hesitate to book again. I hope you find the cruise that's right for you. Good luck.

 

Cecilia

 

I can be contacted at *****@aol.com

 

My Wedding!

 

[awatt]

Have to disagree with momofteens. Service on NCL was far better than on the Disney Magic,much more polished and professional. I expected Disney would be better and so I was disappointed. I will cruise NCL again and recommend it to others. Not so for Disney.

[trish1c]

Why should you go? Freestyle, freestyle, freestyle. Who wants another appointment on vacation?

 

Pack a good attitude & an open mind & you will have a great time.

 

If every little thing is going to make you feel like you lost money b/c of the diminished experience, forget it. I heard a group of women complain b/c they didn't have the flaming baked Alaska parade on formal night. They claimed their vacation was ruined. Give me a break. If you like games by the pool & clapping singing waiters, this line is also not for you. If you like chrome & glitz, you will not be happy on NCL -- muted tones & woods reign.

 

We were on the Sky in March & loved it. Thought it was a great value, but the service, especially in the dining room, left something to be desired. There were bright spots too. We will go back b/c we remain confident that the kinks will be eliminated.

 

Trish

[ninafromct]

Trish,

 

I have to agree with you, I loved the ship, the decor, the freestyle concept, but apparently the service has only gotten worse with the whole Pride of Aloha turnover to the point where it was almost literally unbelievable. They should give everyone on the ship a rebate for enduring this training run, because obviously that's what it was. Like I said, I'll go into details later but the service was a fiasco from the busboy who literally couldn't poor water to the waitress who started crying in the middle of the dining room because she couldn't handle the "pressure".

 

No tagline, on the grounds that it may incriminate me.

[LETS GO DOWN]

TO NINA. ALL I CAN SAY IS "DITTO". WE ARE ALSO 7 TIME NCL CRUISERS. I DON'T KNOW WHAT HOT SHOT MARKETER THOUGHT FREE STYLE WAS A GOOD IDEA FOR EVERYONE, BUT I HOPE THEY READ THIS. WHOEVER HEARD OF WAITING 2 HRS FOR AN ENTREE. RUNNING OUT OF BUTTER, UTENSILS,DISHES AT THE GARDEN CAFE, ICE MACHINE BROKEN ALL WEEK, VERY VERBAL ARGUEMENTS BETWEEN PASSENGERS AND A DECK STAFF PERSON. ATROCIOUS. NO BACKUP HELP , NO APPARENT SUPERVISION IN SIGHT AND STAFF THAT SURE WERE ENJOYING THEMSELVES MORE THAN WE WERE. ON A PLUS SIDE, FOOD WAS GOOD WHEN YOU FINALLY GOT YOUR ORDER.. AFTER WE FOUND OUR WAITER LARRY AND BELINDA, WE FREQUENTED THE SEVEN SEAS FOR DINNER. UNFORTUNATE FOR THE SKY LARRY IS BEING TRANSFERRED TO THE LEO. LUCKY LEO. HOPEFULLY WITH A PROMOTION. THE SECOND WAITER WAS MEL WHO WAS EQUALLY AS EFFICIENT.(THIS WAITER WAS EVIDENTLY ON A CONTRACT HOPING TO BE REINSTATED.) HE CERTAINLY DESERVES THE JOB. IF YOU INTEND TO MAKE ANY OF THE SHOWS, JUST TELL THE WAITER AND HE WILL SEE TO IT THAT YOU ARE OUT IN TIME. GIVE DINNER AN HOUR AND A HALF AT THE LEAST. IF YOU SAY NOTHING YOUR DINNER WILL BE ENDLESS. I PREFER ASSIGNED SEATING AND WILL NEVER CRUISE AN ALL FREESTYLE CRUISE AGAIN. PRINCESS IS NOW OFFERING BOTH. I AM HOPEFUL THEY WILL NOT GO TO ALL FREESTYLE. HAVEN'T EVER TRIED RCCL. HEARD THEY KNOW WHAT CRUISING IS ALL ABOUT. MY NEXT CHOICE..

[Zeno]

I am inclined to agree with Cecilia on this one - anyone who needs to be "convinced" to go on an NCL cruise probably will not like it. Starting off with a negative attitude only amplifies every minor annoyance.

We went on the Sky at the beginning of Feb. and loved it. Service was excellent (However I must comment that we had the "old" crew who knew what they were doing and did it well. We NEVER experienced excessive waits for anything. 3 minutes was the longest we had to wait to be seated in the dining room and we always finished our meals in plenty of time to get to the shows. Service in the dining rooms was professional and efficient. Our room steward was excellent.) Food ranged from OK to quite good. We really only ate breakfast at the buffet restaurant - I just don't get how people insist on eating a lot of meals there and then complain about "cafeteria" style dining and food. I can honestly say I was only disappointed with one meal in the dining room. The rest of the dining room meals were as good as any I have had on other cruiseships and actually the two days I had the buffet lunch, it was a better buffet than I have had on other cruiseships. The BBQ ribs and swordfish skewers were very tasty. We loved the freestyle concept and for that alone I would cruise NCL again. Our next cruise will probably be on the NCL Sun.

 

 Until NCL SKY

 

[Stevie17]

I have to concur with some of the other posters. If you think you'd enjoy the freestyle dining concept, then go for it. We sailed on the Sun in May of 2002 and had a wonderful time. We Loved the dining options and found the flexibility of freestyle dining to be perfect for us. I honestly don't know if I would ever want to go back to assigned dining. I know that some people swear by assigned dining times and table mates, but not us.

 

until we sail!!!

 

 

NCL Spirit - February 2005

Grand Princess - May 2003

NCL Sun - May 2002

NCL Sea - May 2000

 

 

[ninafromct]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Zeno:

- I just don't get how people insist on eating a lot of meals there and then complain about "cafeteria" style dining and food. I can honestly say I was only disappointed with one meal in the dining room. http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=00ffff&cdt=2004;2;1;23;0;00&timezone=GMT-0500  Until NCL SKY

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

Zeno, Just to clarify, I hardly "insisted" on eating at the buffet. I hate buffets, I had no intention of eating at the buffets, but 2 days there was no dining room service for lunch, they simply shut the dining room, and then we were forced to eat at the buffet for breakfast because we couldn't waste 2 hours that the dining room breakfast was taking, we wanted to get out and explore.

 

Trust me, I wouldn't have gone anywhere near that buffet if I had a choice but unfortunately, I didn't. It's not easy to go running around looking for a spoon or juice with a baby in a stroller and a mom with a bad foot. No one was offering to help people with strollers or handicapped people in the buffet. It's too bad that they had to fend for themselves when the dining room was closed and attempt to navigate that buffet.

 

I said it before and I'll say it again, I'm positive that YOUR experience on the Sky wasn't like mine. If it was, there isn't a chance in hell that you would've been satisfied with the service. We had to clean our own tables in the buffet, get our own cream in the dining room, wait for up to 30 minutes for a table (some people told me they waited an HOUR to be seated!) and received a broken crib with an exposed jagged edge for the baby to sleep in after calling 5 times for one. Is this the kind of service you would have happily accepted?

 

No tagline, on the grounds that it may incriminate me.

[Zeno]

Nina - I thought I was very careful to point out that I experienced the "old" crew. Since I was not on a cruise with the same crew as you I cannot comment on the quality of service you received. However since you started on this cruise with a negative attitude to begin with - in all honesty, I do not know whether to take all your complaints at face value. For example you say that you had to wait up to 1/2 hour to be seated in the dining room. Was this one night? All nights? What was your average wait-time? (Mine was 30 seconds.) How many people were in your group? (Larger groups = longer waits). What time were you eating at ? We made a point (since we wanted to get to the shows) of dining between 5:45 and 6:15 most nights AND we told our server that we wanted to get to the show. The one night we decided to dine at 7PM (prime time), we were told we would have to wait 20 minutes for a table or share one immediately. (Although in reality they were able to seat us at our own table in 3 minutes.)

Sorry Nina - I am inclined to think you have some valid service issues with the new crew but after viewing some of your pre-cruise posts, I just cannot take all your complaints seriously.

 

 

 

 Until NCL SKY

[ninafromct]

So don't "take them seriously", whatever that means. I will be posting a very detailed review. I thought it would be done by tonight but it looks like it will take a few days.

Some nights we ate at 5:30 some at 7:30. Does it really matter? Is 30 minutes to an hour an acceptable wait for you? You waited 3 seconds, people on our cruise waited much, much longer. I spoke with people who waited an hour. Maybe they wanted their own table, maybe they went at prime time, I didn't interrogate them and it shouldn't matter, an hour is unnaceptable. I don't care if you take my complaints seriously, I'm not the only one who was on the cruise. If you wish to bury your head in the sand in denial be my guest.

 

If my review is going to be met with skepticism and criticism, maybe I won't bother to post it at all. I hardly need to make the effort to type an in depth review only to have someone tell me that I'm making it up. I have better things to do with my time.

 

I was there, along with 2,000 other people who know what we experienced, and a hotel director who corroborated our experience. I don't need your approval or backing. Now go ahead and tell LETS GO CRUISING and the recent Star cruisers who experienced similar but less extreme service issues that they're making it all up too. It's time to wake up and smell the coffee, this ain't your grandmothers NCL any longer, and it won't be anyone's if they don't shape up.

 

No tagline, on the grounds that it may incriminate me.

[awatt]

debbie1008- Thanks for the chuckle.

[Guest]

Thanks for all the feedback from everyone. I didn't mean to start a heated debate here though. I guess I should have re-worded the title. I am not going into this decision with a negative attidude,but just wanted some varied opions and I got them. My wife and I definitly like the idea of the freestyle dining. We have had early seating and late seating on our previous cruises and it seemed like you were always watching the clock to see if it was time to get ready for dinner. Early seating always seemed too early,wasted part of your afternoon and late seating was a little late at times. Thanks everyone and calm down and think happy thoughts aboput your next cruise on which ever line you enjoy most.

Dan

[shoreguy]

Bigd

As of late every thread here goes negative. You ask a question about the Sun and how it compares to Disney and RCL and you get feedback on the Sky in transition. Lucky you didn't find out NCL won't refund airline frequent flyer miles.

 

That said my $.02 on the Sun. One thing about NCL almost every ship is different and has it's own character. There are those that love the older smaller ships and many who have come to realy love the new ships built for freestyle.

 

I enjoyed the Sun as much as the Dawn and my cruies last Oct. was a remarkable value. With all the competition for the western cruise route NCL discount the Sun heavily in the Fall.

 

As far as quality of food, entertainment, staff, and accomadations the Sun wil match RCL. No clinbing walls, to ice rink but a very classy ship.

 

Freestyle is what makes it work. It is more then being able to go to the dinner when you want. You not only decide when but where as well. You have choices to make instead of being told where you have to be. It is not for everyone but it works for a lot of us.

 

You lose some of the cruise traditions but gain so much more. I don't miss the cattle call for late seating. I love sitting in my cabin and not in a hallway waiting to disembark. I love deciding to skip the shows and go to dinner at 9:30 after a long day in port and a "nap".

 

I love being able to stop and enjoy an entertainer on my way to dinner and not feel like I have to miss the act. We enjoyed the Tapis Bar for an early snack and cocktails.

 

There are a many choices and after you finish your first freestyle cruise you will know if it is for you. If it is you will want to do it again to take better advantage of the options.

 

No mass market cruise is perfect. Yes I had a veal chop in the italian resturant that you could patch a tire with. Yes they replaced it and yes we enjoyed our meal.

 

In short understand as much as you can about freestyle before you cruise. Leverage it don't fight it. I was sure I would hate it when I went on my first Freestyle cruise on the Dawn in feb 03 and I was wrong. This was my girlfriends first cruise and I can't get her to try a traditional cruise. Why would she want to worry if she was ready to go to dinner at a set time even if your not hungry yet or rushed to get dressed.

 

Take the time to search some of the older threads here. Find posters that seem to have similar taste. Check out all the posts from some who seem to only find fault and use CC to vent. Take care in folowing the guidance from those that can find no fault.

 

The Sun and NCL are not perfect but I find on balance a great value. Even if you add $15 per day to eat in the Bistro every night I think you will find an Oct cruise on the Sun a true value and a great week.

 

Seaward 1/89,Southward II 1/91,Windward 10/93,

Norway 3/94,4/96

Dreamward 4/97

Dream 12/99

QE2 4/02

Carnival Spirit 7/02

NCL Sun 10/03

NCL Dawn 2/03,7/03,2/04

 

No Clock = No Next Cruise

[ahoughton]

From our experience with freestyle, don't even take your clock. Just plan on not seeing the shows or being anywhere on time because it takes all night to be served. I think along with freestyle they cut their staff in half. On any other cruise where there is someone at your table about all the time, with freestyle you sit fifteen minutes from the time you arrive to have your order taken and between each course. Yes, you do get to go eat when you want, you also get to stay there all night. There is never a quite meal with the cleaning of tables going on around you. We were never less than two hours for dinner and an hour and a half for breakfast and lunch. You do get to meet different people at your meals but you do that at breakfast and lunch on other lines. And as far as the buffet, NCL don't come anywhere close to RCCL. If you have a buffet worth eating, you can have your freestyle.

 

But freestyle would not keep us from cruising with NCL again. Beautiful ships, great entertainment, fabulous stateroom attendants.

 

Just like a belly button, this is just another opinion.

 

"Baby lets cruise away from here"

[Kuppykat]

Sorry I can't help you with The Sun. We sailed on The Dawn and we just loved her.

 

The main reason I tried NCL and cruising again after many years is because I don't enjoy being told what time to have my meals and who to sit with.

I enjoy my husbands company (lol well sometimes)

and when we are on vacation it gives us time to be together. I don't enjoy sitting with others and making small talk over my meals.

Now that I found a cruiseline that offers this I'm hooked. I love freestyle. Linda

 

Oceanic 8/69

Olympia 9/71

NCL Dawn 3/04

 

"Happiness is a choice"

[maltesemom]

We sailed on the Dawn last June and never missed dinner or a show. Timing is everything!

 

 

Nordic Empress 6/02

Norwegian Dawn 6/03

Pride of Aloha 9/04