What do you like most about NCL?

[NJcruiser21]

Hi all,

 

Just curious what everyone here loves most about NCL. Taking my first cruise in 3 weeks and so excited! Love to hear comments and feedback.

 

Happy cruising,

 

Tim

[dougp26364]

Not having sailed with RCI, I'm interested in what everyone else thinks as well. I can't really vote as I've never set foot on an NCL ship but I'm interested in what those who have like the best.

[Dolphins]

1) Freestyle Dining with variety in times, restaurants and menus.

2) Round trip cruising year round out of New York

3) New ships like Dawn and Jewel, designed for freestyle dining.

4) Great Musicians in the various lounges.

5) Outstanding staffs that know how to pamper passengers.

[WaldosPepper]

1) Freestyle Dining with variety in times, restaurants and menus.

2) Round trip cruising year round out of New York

3) New ships like Dawn and Jewel, designed for freestyle dining.

4) Great Musicians in the various lounges.

5) Outstanding staffs that know how to pamper passengers.

 

All of these, plus:

 

6.) Innovative new itinerary choices

7.) Entertainment variety

8.) Their First-Class response with a post-wave 50% plus 50% for all passengers.

9.) and Banana Margaritas :D

[lhall85917]

Love this positive thread! Now thats the way to do a poll! :D We love the Freestyle dining. This June we will be on Carnival just for the itinerary and we are a little leary of scheduled dining times. I'm sure it will be fine, but we just prefer to go when we're ready.

[cuppy]

I selected other.

 

I like the round-trip Honolulu to Honolulu cruise option. I don't mind the sea days, but I don't want 4 -5 in a row as soon as you get on the ship, or your last 4 - 5 days depending on your booking.

[shoreguy]

Love this positive thread! .

 

 

Shhhhhhhh ....... they will be here before this pole is done

 

Freestyle dining and all the choices is number 1 on my list.

 

Having the Dawn 45 minutes from home makes it two easy to cruise :eek:

 

The funny thing I avoided NCL (except the Norway) for 3 years after they started Freestyle. When I first read about it I had a vision of giant buffets that might work in Asia but never here. How else could everyone go to dinner at anytime. :confused:

 

The only reason I returned was because my GF at the time could never be ready on time for anything. I figured we would end up in the buffet at 9 every night without open seating. Never though a negative would turn into such a positive :D

[Suesan Jean]

:) Well, it has been seven days since my FIRST cruise with NCL, and my FIRST TIME on the DAWN, and ALL I can say is that is was FABULOUS!!! The Dawn itself is truly a WONDEFULL ship, her staff and crew are just SUPER!!! I can't wait till we go on her again in February 2006, and who know's, when the itenerarry comes out for 2007, I just may start thinking about a cruise then, :D .......

For us, my DH, DD and I, "Freestyle" is PERFECT!!! As Shoreguy says, it really is amazing AND impressive, that with SO MANY people that need to be fed, that there really is NEVER any waiting time!!! At least for me there wasn't. I think the longest we ever waited was like maybe five minutes. There are just so many restaurant options that, that you will probably spend more time trying to decide "Where do we eat today???"

I also LOVE that NCL sails out of NYC year-round. We are only 45 minutes away from the city, it saves on so much stress and time getting to and from airports. The full day you may spend doing the "airport thing", you spend in luxury aboard a Beautifull ship!!!

I also think that the prices are just a bit better on NCL, at least from my point of view, and they usually offer more ports-of-call during each cruise then most other cruise lines.

So, give NCL a try, hopefully you will be as HAPPY as the rest of us NCL cruisers are AND you will become a REPEAT customer!!!

 

Suesan

[NJcruiser21]

I guess I'll give my answers now :) .

 

What attracted me to NCL first was the sailing out of NY..not having to fly is just wonderful (even though I like flying). I also heard so many good things about the Dawn that I wanted to try it out and lastly I think freestyle is just awesome. I haven't tried it yet but it sounds so much better than traditional. I pick when/where I want to eat every day..why on a cruise should I be forced to eat a specific place/time.

 

Thanks for all your responses so far!

[judyf]

For me it's the freestyle dining. it's just really a vacation when you can eat when and where you want.

 

Sailing out of NY had postives and negatives for me.

 

The postives:

No airfare only a 1 1/2 to 2 hour drive

No wasted days at the airport

No need for a pre or post cruise hotel

 

The negatives:

Higher price cruises out of NY almost adds up to the same as a Fl. cruise with air added

Ports you visit are not my first choice.

Parking fees!

Sea conditions are most of the time a little more wavy

Cooler sea days coming and going.

To add to the last of the positives I like added days in Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando (Disney) pre and post cruise to extend the vacation and get a little Florida sun.

 

But NCL sails from the Fl. ports too!!!!!!! And I plan to book a cruise on NCL to Hawaii gotten love that itineray!!! And the overnights!

[Cruise_More_Often]

My choices were:

 

(1) Freestyle: It will take a lot for us to sail with another line now. We like the choice of restaurants and choosing to eat by ourselves or with others. We did a short Baja cruise in January with RCI and were seated with people who were lacking the "talk" gene. Thank goodness it was just four nights! And disembarkation is wonderful on NCL.

 

(2) Service: We book directly with NCL, and we have had spectacular service from the reservations and Latitudes people in Miami. And the service aboard the Sun last year was wonderful. We usually ate in the alternative restaurants, and the servers are not too busy to stop and chat with you.

 

(3) Price: NCL is very competitive everywhere they sail. That's important to us.

 

(4) Itinerary selections: We like NCL's Homeland sailings, both for the itineraries and for the excellent price. We are leaving in seven days :D for our second repositioning cruise along the Pacific Coast. (Shhhh, don't tell anyone, but they're really inexpensive.)

 

For those of you who are new to NCL, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. NCL has more than met our expectations.

[Dolphins]

Welcome aboard the Dawn of a new cruise era for you.

[Zeno]

1. Freestyle dining, disembarkation, resort casual dressing

2. Itinerary selections

3. Price

4. Service

[crusingranny]

Sailed on the Spirit as my into to freestyle dining and loved it.

Great service was also a big fav.

Now I will be sailing on the coveted Hawaii, Honolulu to Honlulu cruise and ready to experience new things by this company.

My one problem is the hard beds and I have read this was being fixed and then there won't be any wrong things :D YAAAAAY

I am at the age of slow down and understand this is a cruise for more active people but I'll find wonderful things to do and am looking forward to it.:cool:

[coka]

I could vote on all the options! One thing not yet mentioned is that they remember you. Seriously. They remember your name, when you sailed, on what ship, and others you were with. For example, on one sailing I was asked by a barstaff "where is (my husband's name)" who had sailed two years earlier. On another sailing I was asked by the Captain "where is (my friend's name) who I sailed with one year earlier. I was boarding an NCL ship one time with my sister and we hear my name being called...it was the DJ from a previous sailing. A salon worker remembered, etc. etc. etc. I used to think they were just trained to say things like that until I asked back:

What was his favorite drink? What was my favorite song? What was my friend's son's name? How did you cut my hair? All their answers were correct.

 

So, kudos to NCL for remembering their passengers. I am booked for my upcoming 14th cruise with them since 1999.

 

Coka

[NJcruiser21]

My parents told me the same thing about NCL! Great story. :D

[shoreguy]

I could vote on all the options! One thing not yet mentioned is that they remember you. Seriously. They remember your name, when you sailed, on what ship, and others you were with. For example, on one sailing I was asked by a barstaff "where is (my husband's name)" who had sailed two years earlier. On another sailing I was asked by the Captain "where is (my friend's name) who I sailed with one year earlier. I was boarding an NCL ship one time with my sister and we hear my name being called...it was the DJ from a previous sailing. A salon worker remembered, etc. etc. etc. I used to think they were just trained to say things like that until I asked back:

What was his favorite drink? What was my favorite song? What was my friend's son's name? How did you cut my hair? All their answers were correct.

 

So, kudos to NCL for remembering their passengers. I am booked for my upcoming 14th cruise with them since 1999.

 

Coka

 

Coka

 

I think you as always nailed it. It is remarkable to board a ship after twelve months and have crew greet me by name. Last cruise one of the staff was upset because I did not remember her. It is remarkable with freestyle and 2500 passengers a week that they can remember anyone.

[Lisa63]

I also love the way the crew remembers us.

 

In the mid-90s, we were sailing on NCL's Leeward, when we heard someone calling us from behind one of the desks. It was one of the dive-in instructors, who remembered us from a cruise on Windward we took nearly two years earlier.

 

We've also found that many of the staff has been with NCL for years. While on Norwegian Majesty a few years ago, we talked to several crew members who were with the ship before it was even purchased by NCL.

[FLACRUISER99]

Freestyle is the best. Another important point is that NCL always seems to try and make things right when things go wrong.:D

[johnql]

I could certainly have voted for any of the poll selections, but I ended up voting for Freestyle. I love having numerous choices of where to dine. I love being able to eat when I'm actually hungry or when it actually fits my schedule. And I love the resort casual dress code.

[aquatic]

1) Freestyle and casual

2) Duvet Quilts on beds

3) Le Bistro

4) Chocolate Buffet

5) Poolside BBQ's and Outdoor breakfasts

6) Innovative cruise line willing to try new ideas!

[Cruisinbunnies]

We chose NCL over Princess for our first cruise because of

 

1. Itinerary - Just from doing alittle research, we discovered that NCL is a leader in diversity of ports of call and different ports of sail. The Spirit south Caribbean itinerary sounded like fun and WAS fun

2. Freestyle concept - We knew that we would be very active on board and on shore so we wanted the flexibility to plan our days and evenings and to then plan our eating schedule around that. Once we got the hang of it, we reserved when we wanted to eat and where and then let the day take us away.

 

We were not disappointed. For a first time experience, we had a better time than we thought we would. Can't wait to sail NCL next spring!:D

 

jtutak. You are bang on when it comes to NCL getting it right. We had our luggage delayed by three days and NCL gave us a $200 room credit. It did not help replace the clothes for me and my wife (We are tall and large people) but just the fact that they were willing to help out in a situation where they were not directly responsible shows what a classy organization they are.

I think the only reason that we would not sail NCL is if they did not have the itinerary that we wanted. Highly unlikely.

[DawnCruise05]

I took my first cruise in Feb. of this year and was a little terrified...I love to swim, I love the beach, but the idea of being in the middle of the ocean with nothing but sea for miles scared me to death....until I walked onto the Dawn. From the second I boarded that beautiful ship I was at ease. The crew is amazing!!! My mom always told me that "your mouth is your passport through life" and the staff and crew on the Dawn seem to believe this as well. Anything we asked for was given to us. My friend asked if they were going to have creme brulee for dessert during the cruise and the waiter arranged to have it made specifically for her the next night....even found out where we were having dinner!

 

I have looked into other cruises, but the service, location, and the amazing Colin Kerr :cool: (Cruise Director) have made me a lifetime Dawn girl!;)

[houtexme]

I was booked on the NCL Norway the day the explosion happened.

 

I was in Florida coming by car from Cocoa Beach, Florida to Miami to board the Norway. Got a phone call from my home in Texas saying the explosion had happened. Called NCL (had booked directly with cruise line) and was given explicit directions on what to do, what receipts to keep, where to send all information. They helped me make air reservations back to Texas from Orlando and within four weeks I had not only all my expenses paid while in Florida, but also reimbursement for the holiday (Memorial Day) additional airfare back to Houston. Also a "free" cruise on any NCL ship within 12 months plus reimbursement for the aborted trip on Norway. Took advantage of that in a CC cabin on the NCL Sea in September, 2004.

 

NCL is very good to its passengers, keeps its contract solid, and I am an outspoken advocate for NCL due to how I was treated in this unfortunate situation.

[tigerlilycruiser12]

I agree with you guys. The crew is terrific. Our cabin steward went the extra mile for my husband and I involving an incident on our last Dawn cruise. I will look for him on our next cruise in Oct and the one in the winter.

 

The majesty crew is also wonderful. Been on the majesty so many times, I got to know many. They remember us too well and are always pampered by them. I do not know how they do it but remember what we drink and other things. Bravo ncl

 

I can not wait until I sail again.

 

marie