why am i reading so many awful norwegian reviews?

[SteveH2508]

Princess was like having to go out for dinner with the boss. NCL was like going out for dinner with the neighbour. (from another thread)

 

 

...it took an hour and a half for dinner, on our line it only takes 90 minutes...

 

There's two brilliant lines I've read in the last 5 minutes!

[Shoof]

Other than the QM2, I think this is a little misleading. The number is probably closer to 500 pax. Now if you go up a bit in GT, the RCCL Liberty/Freedom/Independence OTS ships are larger with fewer passengers. Certainly a little more elbow room.

 

I wonder if part of Breakaway's problem with "crowds" is are in part due to:

1 - Specialty restaurants. They accomodate eating space to passengers on board. Which means the MDR can't seat everyone that they want when the want. Without driving enough pax to the Specialties, it can become a problem in the MDR

 

2 - 678 Ocean Place - All the nighlife seems to be crowded into the same central area of the ship driving everyone there in the evening. Had they spread venues throughout the ship, I wonder if this could have been alieviated. Of course...the more you decentralize, staffing needs are increase...so it's probably more fiancially prudent to have it the way it is.

 

Just my opinions. I guess I'll find out for myself in May.

 

 

Granted, there are ships out there that are larger (e.g RCL Freedom class, over 1,100 feet long), but their capacity is still under 4000 (3,600'ish, to be exact). Only the Quantum class is even longer with a significantly higher capacity. Let's agree to disagree. It could very well be that the Breakaway ship layout does not work well with the passenger capacity. I was on the ship last week, and one of my major complaints were overcrowding/not enough seating or space to handle the crowds.

 

I recall being on Voyager of the Seas about 10 years ago, maybe it was because it was my very first cruise, who knows, but that ship seemed so much more spacious than my recent cruise aboard Breakaway. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed myself on the ship. I just felt like it seemed overly crowded and/or there wasn't enough space for everyone.

Edited February 6, 2014 by Shoof

[mrs.cool]

I have found that if a bad review is being written that they are generally written by passengers who have sailed other lines and are trying NCL for the first time and usually their complaints revolve around Freestyle (it took an hour and a half for dinner, on our line it only takes 90 minutes), the quality of the food as compared to "their" line, and the lack of friendliness in the staff (or a combination of the three).

This was our experience on the Dawn last week. I'm going to write a review shortly, if anyone is interested.

[Sir_Randy]

so what is with all the negative Norwegian reviews... okay be honest?? how does Norwegian compare to royal Caribbean? how is the food on Norwegian compare??

 

hmmm thinking of doing the mediterrean on Norwegian.. will I regret it.. prices are muchhhhh lower for Europe on ncl vs princess or Norwegian??:confused:

We did the Norwegian Jade-Mediterranean-10/2011 and loved it! We are boarding the Dawn in 17 days.

There are more complainers and whiners in the world than people that will pay someone a compliment! If all else is equal (Ports, Dates, length of cruise) I go with the best price. I have never starved on a cruise ship, and I have never fallen off one, and I can sleep on just about anything after an all day excursion and a couple beers.

A friend was trying to talk me into doing a cruise with a group of theirs, and kept harping on "it's a 5 1/2 star ship". I am sorry, it was also 50% more than the NCL cruise I am taking with the same itinerary! I can buy a lot of beer and DOD's and do some nice excursions for the 2 of us for the $800 that we saved by going on NCL.

[LrgPizza]

This was our experience on the Dawn last week. I'm going to write a review shortly, if anyone is interested.

 

After reading your comments on the UBP thread with the issues you had with your statement, I'm very interested in your review!

[david_sobe]

The Breakaway is really being trashed lately. A few months ago, Breakaway was riding 68% approval on cruise critic. That has come crashing down to 61%. One common theme is the crowds and not enough space for everyone.

[Babyrocko1908]

Just off the Breakaway from this past weekend's CTN and it was my first cruise on NCL. I had a great time. I didn't think the ship was too crowded at all but remember, the folks complaining about it being too crowded may have sailed in the winter months which means most folks were inside most of the time.

 

Bottom line, take a NCL cruise yourself and judge the ship, service, food, and entertainment for yourself.

[Delbankin]

We've been on several RCL cruises and two NCL, including Spirit within the last 3 weeks.

 

I think you need to do your research in terms of the ship you chose as each line has ships of different size and there are advantages and disadvantages with each. It is worth keeping an eye on reviews as the quality of service can vary depending on where the ship is on it's schedules and who are the officers and managers in charge at any given time.

 

In terms of the overall experience, we view RCL as being slightly higher quality than NCL. When I say slightly I do mean slightly. There is nothing that would prevent us from booking again with NCL. We don't view either line as offering a particularly high end cruise experience and this is reflected in their pricing structure. We cruise with NCL and RCL when we are looking for a cheaper break.

 

We find the food quality in MDR to be more or less similar on both lines which isn't high end but perfectly adequate. We tend not to spend extra money on the speciality restaurants although we did recently on Spirit in their oriental restaurant which was good and not too much more in cost terms. We did find the desserts in MDR not particularly exciting on both lines.

 

Drinks prices are on a par, particularly wines although we found the prices of other drinks slightly cheaper on NCL. We have always had good service in main dining venues and have never had cause to complain.

 

I'm never quite sure why people complain about food on a cruise ship. They cater for large numbers of diners at any time and can't possibly produce haute cuisine. If people are looking for gourmet standard food they need to cruise with some of the six star lines or stay on land and eat in restaurants that cater for small numbers of diners.

 

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend NCL but please be aware what you are signing up to. Same goes for any line offering cruises at lower costs.

[SoCA6ft5]

so what is with all the negative Norwegian reviews... okay be honest?? how does Norwegian compare to royal Caribbean? how is the food on Norwegian compare??

 

hmmm thinking of doing the mediterrean on Norwegian.. will I regret it.. prices are muchhhhh lower for Europe on ncl vs princess or Norwegian??:confused:

As others have said, it is a matter of your personal taste. And for us, sometimes a matter of what we're in the mood for. For example, sometimes we like having the same dining room staff and tablemates (RCI), and sometime we just want to restaurant hop (NCL). Sometimes it's fun to dress up for formal nights (RCI) and sometime you just want to pack wash & wear (NCL).

 

Take a look at what each ship traveling your desired itinerary has, and compare from there. I've been happy on both RCI & NCL.

[lanceholt]

We've been on Med cruises twice on the jade....both were fantastic...will be on our third this spring.

[mrs.cool]

After reading your comments on the UBP thread with the issues you had with your statement, I'm very interested in your review!

I wrote one, and I had a notification on my phone that someone commented on it, but i can't find my review on here, unless I go into "Reviews" at the top of the page, and there are no comments there. :o

[Donna_In_India]

We did our first NCL cruise on the Epic in Dec. 2012 and loved it so much we booked the Breakaway for June 2013 and took family with us. We loved the Breakaway and Bermuda!

 

The shows on both were all very good to excellent. Food was quite good (better than on some other lines) and we never "paid" to eat. Kids enjoyed the pools, splash area, and kids clubs. Enjoyed the live music and activities. Would sail NCL again in a heartbeat. :)

[dolita22]

so what is with all the negative Norwegian reviews... okay be honest?? how does Norwegian compare to royal Caribbean? how is the food on Norwegian compare??

 

hmmm thinking of doing the mediterrean on Norwegian.. will I regret it.. prices are muchhhhh lower for Europe on ncl vs princess or Norwegian??:confused:

 

My husband and I just got off an 8-day Royal Caribbean cruise on the Indy two days ago. We sailed the NCL Epic last January and loved it, and went on our Indy cruise with an open mind. We had a fun cruise, but did not like the food on RC at all. Compared much of it to the food we enjoyed on the Epic. ≈ My husband, who will eat anything except pickles and mayo, had a hard time finding things he liked on the Indy. Food is subjective, though! You may enjoy RC's food more than NCL's.

 

Don't get me wrong - we enjoyed our RC cruise. It was our honeymoon, we loved the ports, the ship was nice, etc. But the food broke it for us! We'd considering sailing RC again in a couple years if they revamp their menus.

 

If the price is much lower, why not give NCL a shot? You won't have a bad cruise!

[jakeT]

Breakaway is so big that people have different point of view depending where you are. Plus NCL service is slipping. Weather because off the new people that had to hire. Or just saving money???