:-( NCL Gem 6/1 - 6/8 gluten and special needs review

[TN56]

Ncl remembrances. * *

 

There were 3 sisters on this cruise. I traveled with wheelchair due to my degenerative disc & joint disease. I can not walk long distances *or be on my feet for a long time without considerable pain. I actually bring an anti-gravity chair with me to sleep in on cruises because i can not sleep in beds. My diet is low fat, low sodium, low gluten, no dairy & mostly pescatarian. *My youngest sister is entirely gluten free. Middle sister is on Atkins although in the cruise she pretty just ate whatever was placed in front of her. . None would have been a big deal on RCI - I have been on one cruise a year for the last 4 years with RCI - no big deal!

 

Day 1 Saturday - NYC

 

Embarkation was a nightmare! We arrived at the ship early because we wanted to be able to get a thermal spa pass for the week. *Normally *quick boarding for someone using wheelchair; actually took 2+ hours. We missed lunch entirely & thus did not get an opportunity to talk with special needs dining mgr - Shetty. *This led to difficulties and misunderstanding later.*Guest services gave us all a free meal at the speciality hibachi restaurant to make up for boarding nightmare! *More about that one *on day 7 :(

 

They called Shetty for us to talk with - he basically took our dinner order. *

 

*We were in an accessible stateroom & our assigned muster station was way on entire opposite end of ship instead of right out side the door where there was one.*

 

After the most useless muster I have ever attended! (this opinion was voiced by more than one passenger during the week) We found out that our only available meal was the BBQ *on the pool deck. It was only ok for what it was.*

 

We then went up to sail away party - had a great time dancing with Jergen (like the lotion) . *Jergen was one of our favorites of the week!

 

Dinner that night was not particularly good. I only like salmon that is rare and had explained that when I ordered it. It was well done. *The second one arrived as ordered. Gluten free option offered was bread. When she asked for it, they brought about a lot - like about 1/3 loaf for one person. My *other sister said her steak was okay. *This was to be her comment about most of the food on the Gem. It was okay - not great - just okay.

 

Show the first night was a lot of fun - I really enjoyed Jeff Harms & would have him enjoyed seeing again. Middle sister was not interested in seeing him again. This reminds me of another big unfavorable difference between RCI and NCL. All RCI ships have a place and a way to get there for handicapped individualswho prefer to sit at the front of theatre if they desire & get there early. *NCL has no accommodation :-( *

 

It is my hope to get pictures added to this review. Assuming my iphone recovers from its bath

 

Day 2 coming....

[mpk218]

It does not sound like its going to get any better .. Sorry to hear you had a rough go of it..

 

Im going to take a leap of faith and guess you wont be cruising NCL again ;)

[TN56]

Day 2 Sunday - Sea Day

 

Elevators out midship were out of service - my sister was with me & my holding walking stick - service person by the elevator suggested using stairs - OMG! - asked when elevators would be fixed - "do not know" was the answer - a different person did offer to push my wheelchair for me - & and proceeded to push me into the wall 3 times - 3rd time I decided to use my walking stick - that hurt less than being run into walls

 

So I wanted to eat at the outdoor cafe - we get there only to be a few minutes before serving time over for breakfast - when sister told them she needed gluten free - suddenly breakfast service is over *& we are instructed to go back to buffet for lunch. *Buffet not impressive at all for my dietary needs - i ended up having a salad and rather tasteless steamed veggies. My gluten free sister was very unhappy - after fussing a lot - they brought egg omelet and 4 slices of gluten free bread - they are giving 2 sisters a cocktail with dinner - I don't drink so well- there you go.

 

They left a wait person with us at lunch - Karim from St. Lucia - who was very personable & helpful.

 

Went back to thermal suite - out of cold water to drink (this was a problem issue that occurred repeatedly) - otherwise wonderful

 

Got back to room at 3:00 pm - now right before we left room we had requested that a table that was just taking up space be removed - *that was not done & the room itself had not been touched - apparently we just supposed to know about some little wheel outside in hallway that needed to be turned to make up room -*

 

We returned room to find that it reeked of *the smell of sewage. * Everyone has a breaking point - and apparently the smell of sewage is mine. I immediately went to guest services and was in tears describing it. They came and did something while we at dinner and the show - it seems to have been fixed it - I hope! - we were supposed to laundry done for free on this one. This did not happen because, well, we will get to that.

 

Both sisters ordered strawberries daiquiris. They were tasteless because apparently when my baby sister said she wanted a fresh strawberry with it - they misunderstood that to mean they wanted only fresh strawberries in it. It had zero taste! I think they used 1 fresh strawberry per drink! So we sent it back. *Next one was fine. After that dinner was great for everyone. I absolutely *loved the salmon tartar. *My sister loved her sugar free carrot cake. Jeane our waitress for dinner was great as was meal itself. *Shetty came by and it was obvious that he had heard about difficulties at breakfast. He actually fussed at us for not calling him about the breakfast kerfuffel. *(On reflection - I would not have known how to call if I known I was supposed to. *But we got his number to use just in case. Good thing! *He took our breakfast orders for the next morning to be delivered via room service. *We once again *prearranged our next days dinner and even warned me about ingredients in one item. *Looking back it would have precluded the next days difficulties if he had suggested preordering lunch as well.

 

That evening we went to brand new Variety Show - dancing was great - especially the tap section

 

The room was mostly picked up and we got our first towel animal I love towel animals:D

[TN56]

It does not sound like its going to get any better .. Sorry to hear you had a rough go of it..

 

Im going to take a leap of faith and guess you wont be cruising NCL again ;)

 

You quess correctly

 

One sister (previous Disney & Royal cruiser) says not unless FREE & other says no more cruises ever - this was her first cruise. :( I love cruising and was trying to share that love with her,

[TN56]

Day Three - Port Canaveral - Monday

 

Room service delivered breakfast as promised - My sisters did not enjoy the eating in the room experience at all. It was too crowded for them.*

 

Lunch - more problems with getting gluten free food - sister asked the buffet staff *for frozen yogurt b/c she had been informed there always one flavor available - the staff member rudely responded "this is all there is!" She asked is there some frozen yogurt elsewhere and again was told "this is all there is!" She went to get gluten free pizza (which she had been told the night before was "always" available - and instead of being okay we will get it for you - she was told "you have to wait 30 minutes. A little difference but after all the other - this was just one unmet expectation too many! This is her birthday cruise and based on NCL website information and expectations set as a result * - *she had expected to be able to really enjoy the cruise food without fussing about it. Shetty had asked us the night before to call him with any problems. Sister said never mind amidst her tears but I went ahead and called him. By the time I got back to the table, there 2 people from the dining staff talking with her. They arranged with her for gluten free pizza on Thursday (in 3 days).*

 

My experience at lunch started out rather traumatically - the nice lady at the door of the buffet offered some hand sanitizer - which I accepted. Somehow along with the hand sanitizer, I got a flying bug of some sort. So when I rubbed my hands together, this made the bug angry! It bit me and to say that it hurt does not get there! I screamed and started crying it hurt so bad. The young lady at the door's response was to step on the bug - after what seemed an eternity the dining room receptionist *who was standing about 5 feet away - says to be me - "Are you okay? Now mind you I standing there with tears flowing *and shaking my hand because it hurt so much! *I rather grumpier responded NO! They asked what happened - I explained & they picked up smashed bug to look at it. By this time, my sister had realized she had left me - came back and handed me *her glass with ice water- I stuck hurting hand into it- the staff got me some ice and honey that I requested. It finally stopped hurting after about 20 min.

 

When I went I went through the lunch line, the only thing I found was some steamed mixed veggies of asparagus, yellow and zucchini squash while I standing looking for a protein source that had not been breaded, sauced or deep fat fried, a member of staff asked if she could help me. ( I was using my wheelchair as a walker) I said yes and she started suggested the *breaded, sauced or deep fat fried items. I explained what I needed if they could do it - the dining manager came to the table & within a reasonable time I had some fantastic tilapia with Indian spices (no salt, dry cooked). *It was glorious. -*

 

On reflection the process of getting this meal , this well lets say less than satisfactory! What happened was an officer shows up and what I would like. I said I wanted some fish that did not have salt, fat, bread or suaces. He asked asked what I what on it - "garlic" - we don't have garlic - ( WHAT! In my head not out loud ) he did not know what did have though! Then I remembered from these boards that the head chef was Indian so I asked for Indian spices. The customer is supposed know what is the pantry? There came to be points that I wished I could gone in the kitchen & fixed my own meals. Salt free does not have to be taste less - unless one is traveling on the Gem! Nevertheless, once I got it - it was great!

 

Cocoa Beach - we caught the shuttle to the beach with my walking stick and wheelchair *- everyone was very helpful - the walk was not all that far. *At the beach the vendor there picked up my chair & carried to a spot on the beach. One sister decided to walk to the 7-11 about 10 min away by foot to get Diet Coke she was jonesing *for. So then I gathered my courage and walked down to ocean's edge without my walking stick - seemed to make life guard very nervous. Other sister got some pictures! *Then 2nd sister came back with Diet Coke and bananas. After snack we walked back down to ocean - this time with my stick - we walked in about thigh high and played - it was such fun!

 

Dinner *was glorious because there were no problems- one sister & I had salmon (cooked correctly) *and the other sister had gluten free pasta. Gluten free pasta got high praise - "this is almost as good as Mom's. ". That is high praise in my family! *Shetty personal made a piece of gluten free garlic bread to go with the pasta - yippee. *Guess they bought while in cocoa. :D

 

Then we were off to see *the improv comedy troupe Second City. They were a hoot!

 

We tried to go to the *Latin dance on the pool deck - too crowded so we left and went to the "Not so perfect Couples game" *- Lots of laughing!

 

In the same lounge was Sinan, the CD - Stand Up Comedy - parts of it were very funny.*

[TN56]

Day 4- Grand Stirrup Cay - Tuesday*

 

Breakfast in Blue Lagoon was awesome except *sis's gluten free bread arrived cold and not particularly toasted*

 

So I spent this day in the thermal spa while my sister tendered over to Grand *Stirrup Cay and I stayed on the ship used thermal spa pass. *

 

I made this decision becuase folks on cruise critic had said how very very rocky Grand Stirrup Cay was. Wheelchair & rocks - no thanks! My sisters came back reporting i was so right to stay on ship. Love - love - love the thermal spa!

 

My lunch was pre-ordered with Shetty. It was excellent!*

 

Dinner was trout & salmon - both were excellent. I had a bite of sister's potato gnocchi - melt in your mouth wonderful.*

 

Then we went to the World Beat show - Parts of it were fabulous & well worth the time! The African & Irish dancing so fun. The country & clogging were just okay but I from Tennessee where the world's best in that are from - so it was just okay to me.*

 

After the show, we went back to the main dining - Grand Pacific for dessert. So our waiter when my sister asked what a sugar free trifle was - the waiter explained that it pressed berries. She did not like the sound of that and ordered a family fav Southern Pecan Pie - he said " are you sure - it is very good" She was sure - he responded - "well, I will bring both - you can just try" Good thing - the pecan pie *was horrid! However, the trifle was absolutely fab! Approaching TBO land! Other sister had pineapple sorbet & I had sugar free strawberry ice cream - both yummy! *Shetty had promised gluten free cookies to youngest sister - which she asked and Shetty arrived with an entire package of gluten free, nut free & dairy free cookies - the size package you might buy at the grocery store :D Those cookies were only 36 calories each and were chocolate chip - like having a chips ahoy! We all shared with cup of decaf coffee - which reminds the Gem has fabulous decaf coffee - if you get it the Blue Lagoon where you push the decaf button beside the regular coffee *- there is another that is just decaf alone - it is that same nasty stuff one usually finds with decaf

 

While we having our coffee & cookies, Dennis (part of dining management ) came up & we had a very nice visit.

 

Then we went to bed early because tomorrow is Dolphin Day!

[TN56]

Day 5 -*Dolphin Day -Wednesday

 

Breakfast went well except for a small glitch - gluten free sister had ordered a gluten free blueberry muffin. *So they brought this thing that looked like a extra large hockey puck - sister "I ordered*blueberry muffin." The sweet little waitress says "yes, that is*blueberry muffin." So long story story short - she breaks open the "blueberry muffin" and there are no*blueberries and it tastes horrid! So we point out the missing blueberries to waitress and the next thing we know - here comes Shetty with a steaming gluten free hot blueberry muffin.

 

After breakfast we were off to Dolphin Islands - the ferry ride to Dolphin Island is long - it is a pretty ride with a great view of Atlantis - just loooong & when you already have to back on the ship by 5 pm - it makes for a very rushed experience - 2 sister did the dolphin encounter and has a great time doing it - I watched (as I had just done a dolphin swim in Cozemel for less $$) and took a few pictures of them with Dolphins.*

 

My day pass included lunch and non-premium beach toys. *Lunch was barely edible and that about the best I can say about. My sister's had both brought food with them as their dolphin encounter pass did not include lunch. They were glad they did!!

 

After lunch, we went and got a floating mat and headed for the beach. *I used my walking stick at get out to this.

 

Then I was able to use the floating mat to walk out to the deeper waters and actually swim in the ocean :D. No pictures of that because my sisters both got very nervous that I was going to get out there & drown myself. *After I explained & demonstrated that I can float without even moving, we had a good swimming around in the ocean - well - actually a cove but it was very nice.

 

Before we went back to the ship, we went shopping - I was able to negotiate a 40% discount for a sterling silver dolphin bracelet for DD. :D *there was an artist who made things out of couch shells - found an angel Christmas decoration that was very cool - also found some spices for DH*

 

I had an appointment in the spa to get nails repainted - She did a nice job - I was waiting for my nails to dry - my sister showed up to tell me that the room was flooded! Both of them had taken a shower & it overflowed into the room. They immediately called guest services & informed them. The folks in guest services thanked them for calling. 30 minutes went by - no one came - so my sisters went out to Blue Lagoon & found Dennis - a dining room manager - they Informed him what happened. He had someone to the room almost instantly. *

 

Now back in the spa I asked the nail person if my nails were dry & could I take a shower. (I had been there for nearly. 90 min at that point) She replied yes. So off to take a shower in spa area. As I was on my way back to a wet room, I realized that my nails were ruined! *So back to the spa I went. They offered to redo the spot - but by then my sisters were waiting for me for dinner. I declined and rescheduled for the next morning. The next morning I got a refund. *I just did not want to give them another hour of my life.*

 

So I get back to the room, they have just finished vacuumed up the water. They have plugged in this giant heater with a LOUD fan. *We finished getting dressed for dinner. *The sister for whom this her first cruise declares that she is never going on another cruise.

 

That night we went to the * Magenta MDR - I had read someone say on cruise critic that they *thought the*Magenta MDR was a training ground for the Grand Pacific. It could well be so.*

 

Dinner was awful! As was the service! -the *mahi mahi overcooked & tasteless *- the portion size *was 2 oz maybe. *We had ordered steamed spinach. It was not steamed - it was like someone had used rancid olive oil. Even though we told them about it - no offered to fix us something else. Something that would not have happened on a Royal ship.

 

After dinner, the middle sister went back to room for something. She found the floor still very wet. Room too hot to stay in the room at all. She turned the air conditioning up.

 

Then Cirque like show was okay - my sisters both enjoyed a lot * - I actually fell asleep. *Dollywood has a similar show except with about 14 people not 2. *Result was I found it a little boring.

 

That night there was a party on deck with Rock music. Middle sister had a blast dancing.*

 

When we got back to the room, it was still too hot - the floor still wet & the room again had faint sewage smell again.*:mad: we just closed bathroom door -

[TN56]

Day 6 at sea - Thursday

 

Woke up to a *floor that was still wet. * I spent*most of day in the thermal spa.

 

We all had lunch *in the buffet - it was okay. *Baby sister finally got her gluten free pizza. It did not impress.*

 

Dinner MDR -I had *red snapper & grilled shrimp. My sisters both had steak & shrimp. The service was excellent *- I immediately wished we had had this person all week! Carmella came by and informed us that we were each getting $100 *OBC *for all problems we had. *While it was appreciated, my baby sister said it best - "the only way I am ever getting on another NCL ship is for free"*

 

Day 7 - Friday

 

We spent the day in the thermal spa - Lots of wind & waves due to being on the edge of tropical storm.*I loved it!

 

Lunch in MDR *was fine.

 

Dinner was in the speciality Hibachi *restaurant. This was the meal that we got for $0 cover due to the horrible embarkation experience. *Best thing I can say is sure glad I had not paid for this! Apparently NCL does not know how to make good tasting low sodium or gluten free food. *Their solution to 2 of us asking for no soy sauce was to give twice as much of the worst fried rice I have ever tasted in my life. *The cook accidentally threw a knife in my general direction! He got my plate and not me! There were 4 slices of grilled veggies per person *- he then dumped enough melted butter on top of the "veggie sandwich" *- enough to fill up the entire cloth napkin that I used to blot the butter. *I would not have believed that one could make calamari, scallops, lobster and shrimp tasteless. I was wrong! Sisters were equally unimpressed. *As were our "honeymoon" table mates. *My baby sister checked with some of the folks from other tables who reported their food was great. At the end of the meal Shetty showed up with a gluten free*birthday cake. *It was very appreciated and tasty.*

[TN56]

Disembark Day - Saturday

 

Breakfast in MDR very good and disembarkation went very easy & fast.

 

 

In conclusion:

 

I went on birthday cruise on RCI Freedom of thr Seas on 6 weeks before this disaster of a cruise on the NCL Gem. So my evaluation of this cruise, is colored by that cruise.

 

Embarkation - F

 

Scale of 1 to 10 - minus 20

 

Stateroom - F

 

for the 1st time in my life I did even consider leaving an extra tip for our stateroom attendant. *Most days even when the room was "made up" - it was not clean. Trash left on floor, etc. We only got towel animals 4 out of 7 nights. The night of the flood he asked non-cruising if she wanted him to come back & turn down room later?! She does not like to ask for stuff & thus said no. :confused::mad: I used the stupid wheel to try to communicate that I actually did want room turned down. Wheel system stinks!!!!! Plus there is the flood and sewage smells!:mad:

 

Entertainment - A

 

while not as good as the Freedom, *which was awesome, it was *very, very good!*

 

Handicapped Accessible Issues - D

 

there are lots & lots of "lips/bumps" in the floors on the Gem (similar to RCI Monarch -which I will not travel on just for this reason alone) Also - they need to go visit the handicapped accessible bathroom designs on the Freedom to see how it should be done! So the problem - you push a button & the door opens - so far so good. At this point, you better be a quick roller because that door is going shut quickly - I can not tell you how many times I got bumped by a heavy door (RCI solution - push a button inside bathroom to shut door once you are safely in) - now you are in - the Gem's system assume the door is locked - there is no way additionally - so of course one night I got walked in on by a staff member who suggested I should have locked the bathroom. Looked very confused when I pointed out there was no lock:mad: - then to get out push button - be quick about it or bumped you will be!

 

Food - D

 

:-( worst ever on any cruise! This is after the RCI Freedom being fabulous on the exact same eating plan!

 

Disembarkation - A It was fast and efficient.

 

We had some good times on the Gem. However, this trip did not meet my expectations in any way, shape or form.

[mpk218]

Okay then ... ;)

[DM_KidAtHeart]

But but but . Once conditioned to playing the me card its hard to go back ..

 

Onward ;)

 

My mother doesn't do this. She is actually the most un-me card person I know. One of her sister's not so much. But regardless, you NCL cheerleaders are being downright mean. All she's done is given an honest review of what happened on her cruise.

 

We have a certain expectation level of service from cruising with RCI. We just never expected NCL to be that much worse about the exact same requests we have had on all the previous RCI cruises.

[tempura]

You people need to lay off my mother. We go on RCI once a year, and never had any of these problems with them. We love cruising with RCI.

 

And for the record, RCI doesn't require you to do anything for the staff to come and clean the room. We leave and do whatever, and they clean it. No wheel to turn or anything else. They just do it.

 

Best to stick with RCI then! ;)

[DM_KidAtHeart]

Best to stick with RCI then! ;)

 

We plan to.

 

 

Sent from iPhone using Cruise Critic App

[DM_KidAtHeart]

Wow!!!! Open forum, you post on it, you get responses. On RCI, if you put up do not disturb, your saying they will come in anyway???

 

Sounds like your mom and her sisters will be better off on RCI and are not NCL candidates.

 

We don't ever put up the do not disturb sign. No reason to. And the point would be that the room has always been cleaned whenever we came back without our doing anything.

 

 

Sent from iPhone using Cruise Critic App

[david_sobe]

Thank you for sharing your review of the Gem. It takes time to write a full report like that. And thank you for your bravery since posting a mostly negative review is a magnet for criticism. My sister is disabled with M.S. so I admire your determination to go on a cruise. I agree with you that with modern ships, NCL should have wheel chair priority seating in theaters.

 

I really found your review entertaining and I hope you dont take that the wrong way. Your review really blew me away with how service orientated NCL is. You had your own personal food order person that made special request foods for you and your sisters. Even a gluten free birthday cake. With the free dinner and free drinks, I almost felt jealous. I just got the feeling the NCL staff was bending over backwards to please but unfortunately they came up short in your opinion. Sad to hear that. Having 3 sisters cruising together with each their own special diet would be quite a hard task to keep everyone happy all the time. That is LOTS of special requests. Sorry the Gem was not for you. Happy cruising in the future :)

One question I have is how can 2 people shower in the room and not know the room is flooding? Isnt one there to see the flooding?

I know this sounds crazy and I dont mean to be a devils advocate but your review actually had the opposite response you were hoping for towards NCL. I was very impressed with every response NCL had to your complaints. Very strange. And I am not a NCL cheerleader ;) I hope you also realize embarkation issues are normally not the fault of the cruise line and cabin wheel "clean cabin" messages will always be honored even if you forget to change them.

 

Happy sailing and thanks for shaing :)

[Lizcourt]

My mother doesn't do this. She is actually the most un-me card person I know. One of her sister's not so much. But regardless, you NCL cheerleaders are being downright mean. All she's done is given an honest review of what happened on her cruise.

 

We have a certain expectation level of service from cruising with RCI. We just never expected NCL to be that much worse about the exact same requests we have had on all the previous RCI cruises.

 

Did your mother really expect no one on this board to disagree with her evaluation of her cruise? You don't have to be an NCL cheerleader (and, having only sailed them once, while I have been on RCI more than a dozen times, I'm the farthest thing from an NCL cheerleader that you could find on this board) to take away from her review that NCL made real efforts to address her (or your aunts') issues repeatedly -- or that some of their issues are, frankly, just bizarre (a bee sting is NCL's fault? not knowing that you can't shower after just having your nails done is NCL's fault? not reading the do not disturb/make up the room signs on your door is NCL's fault?). That's not to say that all of her complaints are of that ilk -- certainly the sewage smell and room conditions were a legitimate concern, and probably would have been met with a very different response on this board if they were contained in a less whiny review.

 

Look your Mom is entitled to express her opinion -- and those of us who read the public review she chose to file on a public message board are entitled to express ours. She laid out the facts, and we don't agree with her take on them. If she can't handle that, she could post a review in the member review section rather than in an active thread -- she's much less likely to get responses that would upset her.

[russianmom]

wow :eek:

[TN56]

Thank you for sharing your review of the Gem. It takes time to write a full report like that. And thank you for your bravery since posting a mostly negative review is a magnet for criticism. My sister is disabled with M.S. so I admire your determination to go on a cruise. I agree with you that with modern ships, NCL should have wheel chair priority seating in theaters.

 

I really found your review entertaining and I hope you dont take that the wrong way. Your review really blew me away with how service orientated NCL is. You had your own personal food order person that made special request foods for you and your sister. Even a gluten free birthday cake. With the free dinner and free drinks, I almost felt jealous. I just got the feeling the NCL staff was bending over backwards to please but unfortunately they came up short in your opinion. Sad to hear that. Having 3 sisters cruising together with each their own special diet would be quite a hard task to keep everyone happy all the time. That is LOTS of special requests. Sorry the Gem was not for you. Happy cruising in the future :)

One question I have is how can 2 people shower in the room and not know the room is flooding? Isnt one there to see the flooding?

I know this sounds crazy and I dont mean to be a devils advocate but your review actually the opposite response you were hoping for towards NCL. Very strange.

 

Happy sailing and thanks for shaing :)

 

Honest question deserves honest answer - I was not in the room when it happened. But their explanation was: sister #1 took a shower. It was a little backed up at that point and she had memtioned that the shower drained slowly the previous day. Sister #2 got in the shower & apparently did not notice the "small" backup. Then while she showering she noticed and called to sister#1 that the shower had flooded the bathroom. Sister #2 went to check on sister #1 and let out a flood.

 

I do not have any expectations from die hard NCL fans. I knew when I posted this they would show up. I wrote it so that someone else who may have my similar difficulties would be forewarned.

 

BTW - When one sits in a wheelchair, one does not see the wheel thingie that was above eye level when I was standing! Also according to our room steward, apparently it is gag some folks play to move the wheel thingie to the wrong place.

[Sauer-kraut]

Actually the OP seemed to enjoy most of her cruise, and once her meals were fixed she was pleased.

[PathfinderEss]

Very nice review, thanks for posting it.

[Laszlo]

Boy did this get edited :eek:

[oneplustwins]

Boy did this get edited :eek:

I was just thining the same thing. I was having a hard time following the responces since so much is suddenly missing!!! I agree with david_sobe. It appears NCL did try and I don't think there is enough in thei world to be able to meet all three sisters needs at once. I do howevere agree with OP that this many things wrong in one trip would be a total downer for the cruise.

[NLH Arizona]

I usually print the reviews and enjoy reading them over lunch; just read this one today.

 

Am I the only one that doesn't think this review is for real? I really don't think someone would be sobbing because they didn't get a pizza or got a bug bite or there was some sort of smell.

 

I'm also thinking that if it is true, maybe with this many dietary restrictions a vacation where one can do their own cooking might be the way to go.

[tempura]

I usually print the reviews and enjoy reading them over lunch; just read this one today.

 

Am I the only one that doesn't think this review is for real? I really don't think someone would be sobbing because they didn't get a pizza or got a bug bite or there was some sort of smell.

 

I'm also thinking that if it is true, maybe with this many dietary restrictions a vacation where one can do their own cooking might be the way to go.

 

Not only did they not get the pizza immediately upon asking, but NCL had the nerve to offer to make her a fresh pizza instead of keeping slices under heat lamps waiting for a gluten-free request. The horror!

[drsb]

When you are used to having things done a certain way on vacation on one cruise line, it is hard to accept change from another line. I think the OP had very high expectations for her sister's birthday cruise and when things started to not go as expected, she was upset. I can understand that, I have been in a similar situation. At least she has the option to go back to what she is used to, it is unfortunate that the sister who had never cruised will not do it again based on one less than ideal experience. Hopefully she will change her mind and give cruising another try. There are multiple cruise lines out there because people like different things.

 

What I was impressed by in her review is how much NCL tried to go out of their way to please this group of sisters. Such individual service on a ship that big is amazing. Hopefully as time goes by the OP will recognize that and realize that the trip was not all bad.

 

In the meantime, OP, bon voyage whatever line you choose! I sincerely hope your next vacation is better.