I was disappointed with my first NCL cruise

[jenfromjersey]

I recently sailed the Breakaway (12/28 sailing) with my family. Mom decided in July that she wanted to take the whole family on a cruise, but she didn't want to fly, so our only options were the Breakaway or Quantum of the Seas. Quantum had been her first choice but since it is so new and in demand, the cost would have been almost double and the cabin selections lackluster, so off we were to try NCL for the first time.

 

The ship constantly felt crowded, especially at events in the Atrium. That space is entirely too small for the number of passengers on board. This was the first time I had been on a ship where the "game shows" were held in a small space and not in a theater.

 

We went to the Welcome Aboard show and I immediately understood what people meant about the seats in there. Terribly uncomfortable, and the show itself was boring. We actually left before it was done.

 

I have also never seen such narrow corridors on the cabin decks. My father ended up needing surgery a month before our cruise and got a walking boot just days before we left, so we were unexpectedly traveling with a wheelchair. It was impossible to get by most of the time when the housekeeping carts were out (which is almost always). Even without the wheelchair, you often had to turn sideways to get by them.

 

The food was okay, the selection on New Years Eve was pretty lackluster. I did enjoy the fireworks from my balcony (thankfully we were on the correct side as I was feeling ill that night).

 

Our excursion ended up being terrible, but that was not the fault of NCL. I will say that Great Stirrup Cay was beautiful and we had a lovely time there. Thankfully Dad was able to snag a cabana that someone had cancelled shortly before we left, so he had a place off of the sand to spend his day. It was a nightmare dealing with them not charging the drinks the correct way, and it took several trips to the On Board Credit desk to get that sorted out.

 

Overall, it was just an okay trip, but will be our last with NCL. I think we will stick with Royal from now on.

[Va. Plumber]

No harm, no foul. To each his own. If we all liked the same things, we would all be driving Edsels and sailing on the same ship.

[cage keeper]

Thanks Jen for the review. Did the ship only seem crowded for shows and special events or all the time? Were the bars crowded or were there places to just sit comfortably? We don't do many of the shows but do like the night life and dancing. Would you say these were crowded?

[jenfromjersey]

We didn't do any of the other shows in the theater, but we did go to Howl at the Moon and two of the Second City shows, which were all packed. I feel like the Freestyle name is really a misnomer because if you didn't have reservations, you had to show up super early to have a shot at getting in standby.

 

I heard that the upper decks were a madhouse for the fireworks, so I am glad that I wasn't up there (my brother and his fiancee were).

 

I didn't spend too much time at the bars/dancing venues, to be honest, so I can't give an accurate account of how crowded they were.

[my_crib_too]

Overall, it was just an okay trip, but will be our last with NCL. I think we will stick with Royal from now on.

 

Never hurts to try something new. You now know that Royal is your cruise-line and that's cool. Sure will make planning future cruise vacations easier for you. :D

[caribsun]

But it was a free cruise. :D

[cage keeper]

We didn't do any of the other shows in the theater, but we did go to Howl at the Moon and two of the Second City shows, which were all packed. I feel like the Freestyle name is really a misnomer because if you didn't have reservations, you had to show up super early to have a shot at getting in standby.

 

I heard that the upper decks were a madhouse for the fireworks, so I am glad that I wasn't up there (my brother and his fiancee were).

 

I didn't spend too much time at the bars/dancing venues, to be honest, so I can't give an accurate account of how crowded they were.

 

I will remember that on the fireworks. We have an ocean view so maybe we will try to find an out of the way place. I do worry that we may miss the table mates although we have had both good and bad experiences with set dining. (Like the time we were the only 2 at our table for 12 on 7 of the nine nights.) I know I will love going someplace different every night though for dinner even if it is only the two of us.

 

Joni

[cot427]

I recently sailed the Breakaway (12/28 sailing) with my family. Mom decided in July that she wanted to take the whole family on a cruise, but she didn't want to fly, so our only options were the Breakaway or Quantum of the Seas. Quantum had been her first choice but since it is so new and in demand, the cost would have been almost double and the cabin selections lackluster, so off we were to try NCL for the first time.

 

The ship constantly felt crowded, especially at events in the Atrium. That space is entirely too small for the number of passengers on board. This was the first time I had been on a ship where the "game shows" were held in a small space and not in a theater.

 

The food was okay, the selection on New Years Eve was pretty lackluster. I did enjoy the fireworks from my balcony (thankfully we were on the correct side as I was feeling ill that night).

 

Overall, it was just an okay trip, but will be our last with NCL. I think we will stick with Royal from now on.

 

I too have stuck to Royal in the past, but recent experiences have made me want to venture out of my norm and try something new...Breakaway's sister: Getaway. I am very optimistic that I will enjoy the cruise, however I too am used to things on Royal (or at least the old Royal.)

 

I am hoping that the crowded feeling you are talking about won't be present much on the Getaway in the summer because she leaves from Miami and Breakaway leaves from NY, which is cold in the winters. I'm hoping more people will utilize the outdoors and not crowd one particular place, although I did find it odd that they do the game shows in the atrium. But I did a video ship tour on Youtube and saw that there are a variety of decks you can view the shows from, including O'Sheehans.

 

Hopefully Royal continues to please you in the future!

[UptownGirl212]

I was on this cruise as well, and my first on Norwegian.

 

The Atrium issue was a disaster waiting to happen. We only ate in the included dining rooms and the service was pretty bad, across all evenings. I was very surprised that the New Years Eve menu was as average as it was.

 

I have cruised before on Princess (2x) Royal (3x) and Celebrity. I think I just had higher expectations based on these other cruise lines.

 

We did pay for the Vibe Beach Club -- which was the best $80 I've ever spent.

 

I am though, going back on the Breakaway in September for a girls' trip to Bermuda.

 

I have my expectations set accordingly!

[mjkacmom]

Keep in mind, you were sailing on a mega-ship, in the winter, on the busiest travel week of the year. We sailed the Breakaway on a crowded week in November, and it definitely felt more crowded than our warm weather May cruise on the Jewel, years ago.

 

I don't think it's a NCL thing, I think it's just timing and vessel. These ships carry twice the amount of passengers, but aren't twice as big.

[jenfromjersey]

We did eat at Moderno one evening, and while the food was delicious, the service from our waitress was horrible. It took her forever to bring the drinks, refill water, and bring our sides. My biggest issue with her is that she was supposed to find out if any of the meats were prepared with rosemary, as I am allergic to it. She knew the lamb was, but was going to check on the others. She never reported back to us. Thankfully my future sister in law tasted a short rib before I did and said there was definitely rosemary on it.

 

When we commented on it to our waitress she made it seem like this was unimportant. One bite could have ruined our evening due to her lack of diligence. So if you have food allergies, please be wary, as not all servers seem to really care. That was one thing I missed about a more standard dining. On my honeymoon, I knew I was safe with my meals because they were ordered the day before.

[justhere]

We didn't do any of the other shows in the theater, but we did go to Howl at the Moon and two of the Second City shows, which were all packed. I feel like the Freestyle name is really a misnomer because if you didn't have reservations, you had to show up super early to have a shot at getting in standby.

 

I heard that the upper decks were a madhouse for the fireworks, so I am glad that I wasn't up there (my brother and his fiancee were).

 

I didn't spend too much time at the bars/dancing venues, to be honest, so I can't give an accurate account of how crowded they were.

As was already stated, to each their own and it is always unfortunate when a vacation doesn't live up to expectations.

 

We sailed the Getaway in October and loved it. Definitely will look to NCL for our next cruise. RCCL would probably be my other choice but the cruises I've looked at are always a lot more on RCCL and it's not worth the difference in cost to me.

 

As for Freestyle, I think you mean misunderstanding rather than misnomer. It truly is Freestyle in that you get to pick where and when you want to eat. Just because a certain time at a certain venue isn't available doesn't change whether it is Freestyle or not. If it wasn't Freestyle you would be told "for main dining room you eat at this location at this time". NCL doesn't do that. People just seem to misunderstand how Freestyle works. It doesn't mean that there are unlimited dining times available at every location.

 

Think of it this way, if you are at home and decide to go out for dinner, you get to chose which restaurant and what time you go. If they are full at that time you have to wait or go elsewhere, just like on NCL.

[cage keeper]

Yes, there are great advantages to having the same waitstaff through out.

[jenfromjersey]

It was more the shows that I felt was the lack of Freestyle. You need reservations for everything (with the exception of the main dining rooms). I completely understand the concept of Freestyle, but when you have to make reservations for everything, there is nothing free about your schedule.

[cage keeper]

It was more the shows that I felt was the lack of Freestyle. You need reservations for everything (with the exception of the main dining rooms). I completely understand the concept of Freestyle, but when you have to make reservations for everything, there is nothing free about your schedule.

 

OK, so I guess this means tonight I should go over everything with DH and start making those reservations. Do you know if we will be able to get specialty dining reservations on board? Was hoping to use onboard credit for them.

 

Joni

[mizLORInj]

I wouldn't let one NCL cruise dismiss the whole cruiseline. If I did that, I would have stopped cruising RCL after our first "eh" Explorer of the Seas cruise in 2009, but I gave them another chance.

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Quantum is awesome (did 2 nighter on it) but way too much $$ right now. Breakaway was more $ when it was brand new too.

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I think there are certain areas of ships that will usually feel more crowded than others. That's ok with us.

Edited January 9, 2015 by mizlorinj

[beautifullady]

I recently sailed the Breakaway (12/28 sailing) with my family. Mom decided in July that she wanted to take the whole family on a cruise, but she didn't want to fly, so our only options were the Breakaway or Quantum of the Seas. Quantum had been her first choice but since it is so new and in demand, the cost would have been almost double and the cabin selections lackluster, so off we were to try NCL for the first time.

 

The ship constantly felt crowded, especially at events in the Atrium. That space is entirely too small for the number of passengers on board. This was the first time I had been on a ship where the "game shows" were held in a small space and not in a theater.

 

We went to the Welcome Aboard show and I immediately understood what people meant about the seats in there. Terribly uncomfortable, and the show itself was boring. We actually left before it was done.

 

I have also never seen such narrow corridors on the cabin decks. My father ended up needing surgery a month before our cruise and got a walking boot just days before we left, so we were unexpectedly traveling with a wheelchair. It was impossible to get by most of the time when the housekeeping carts were out (which is almost always). Even without the wheelchair, you often had to turn sideways to get by them.

 

The food was okay, the selection on New Years Eve was pretty lackluster. I did enjoy the fireworks from my balcony (thankfully we were on the correct side as I was feeling ill that night)..

 

Our excursion ended up being terrible, but that was not the fault of NCL. I will say that Great Stirrup Cay was beautiful and we had a lovely time there. Thankfully Dad was able to snag a cabana that someone had cancelled shortly before we left, so he had a place off of the sand to spend his day. It was a nightmare dealing with them not charging the drinks the correct way, and it took several trips to the On Board Credit desk to get that sorted out.

 

Overall, it was just an okay trip, but will be our last with NCL. I think we will stick with Royal from now on.[/quote

Sorry your family cruise was just ok! I wanted to try the breakaway and oasis by rc, but the mega ships are always crowded which means longer lines and waits! But dont let just 1 ship discourage you from a cruise line you tried just once!

[beautifullady]

I recently sailed the Breakaway (12/28 sailing) with my family. Mom decided in July that she wanted to take the whole family on a cruise, but she didn't want to fly, so our only options were the Breakaway or Quantum of the Seas. Quantum had been her first choice but since it is so new and in demand, the cost would have been almost double and the cabin selections lackluster, so off we were to try NCL for the first time.

 

The ship constantly felt crowded, especially at events in the Atrium. That space is entirely too small for the number of passengers on board. This was the first time I had been on a ship where the "game shows" were held in a small space and not in a theater.

 

We went to the Welcome Aboard show and I immediately understood what people meant about the seats in there. Terribly uncomfortable, and the show itself was boring. We actually left before it was done.

 

I have also never seen such narrow corridors on the cabin decks. My father ended up needing surgery a month before our cruise and got a walking boot just days before we left, so we were unexpectedly traveling with a wheelchair. It was impossible to get by most of the time when the housekeeping carts were out (which is almost always). Even without the wheelchair, you often had to turn sideways to get by them.

 

The food was okay, the selection on New Years Eve was pretty lackluster. I did enjoy the fireworks from my balcony (thankfully we were on the correct side as I was feeling ill that night)..

 

Our excursion ended up being terrible, but that was not the fault of NCL. I will say that Great Stirrup Cay was beautiful and we had a lovely time there. Thankfully Dad was able to snag a cabana that someone had cancelled shortly before we left, so he had a place off of the sand to spend his day. It was a nightmare dealing with them not charging the drinks the correct way, and it took several trips to the On Board Credit desk to get that sorted out.

 

Overall, it was just an okay trip, but will be our last with NCL. I think we will stick with Royal from now on.[/quote

Sorry your family cruise was just ok! I wanted to try the breakaway and oasis by rc, but the mega ships are always crowded which means longer lines and waits! But dont let just 1 ship discourage you from a cruise line you tried just once!

[CasinoCruzGirl]

To each their own as the saying goes. I have been on the breakaway twice and have booked it for a third time. Loved everything about it. I never had a bad meal bad service once on the first night at O'Sheehans other than that night wonderful service in every dining venue we ate in. Enjoy royal.

[jenfromjersey]

I'm not sure what the reservation situation was like right when we boarded, as we didn't look to try and make another specialty reservation until several days into the cruise, and by that time they were booked up fully. We booked Moderno ahead of time because we were a party of 7 and wanted to be sure we didn't get shut out as a large party.

 

We also found it strange that it seemed there were more activities to do on days in port, than the days at sea. I have never read so much on a vacation, because when there was nothing fun going on, we sat outside and read (well on the warm weather days).

[m-dfromjersey]

I'm not sure what the reservation situation was like right when we boarded, as we didn't look to try and make another specialty reservation until several days into the cruise, and by that time they were booked up fully. We booked Moderno ahead of time because we were a party of 7 and wanted to be sure we didn't get shut out as a large party.

 

We also found it strange that it seemed there were more activities to do on days in port, than the days at sea. I have never read so much on a vacation, because when there was nothing fun going on, we sat outside and read (well on the warm weather days).

Just to build on the reservation issue for a moment (I have a lot more to say about this, particularly regarding the whole "Cult of Freestyle", but I don't have time for a full post at the moment)...

 

jenfromjersey's father had tried to book the reservation at Moderno online in advance because, as previously stated, we had a party of 7 and wanted to ensure we could get a reservation at a decent hour. (Actually, we had wanted to ensure an early enough reservation so we could catch ROA at 9, but that ended up being a moot point as all of the Friday night shows got moved to Tuesday. But that's another story.) The website (and, indeed, all of the automated booking systems) would only accept reservations for parties of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 8. No 7. (I was reminded of the scene with the Holy Hand Grenade from "Monty Python & The Holy Grail".) He called NCL to try and get a reservation for 7, was told that he had a reservation for 7, and then promptly got an email confirmation...for a reservation for 6. The only way to fix this was to stand on line at Headliners at embarkation and hope the staff there can figure out how to change the reservation manually.

 

One other thing if you're traveling with a group over 6: good luck getting reservations in the main dining rooms. We were told that because we had a group of more than 6, the only times we could reserve in Taste, Savor or the Manhattan Room were 5:30 or 9.

Edited January 9, 2015 by m-dfromjersey
Added detail re: reservation

[UptownGirl212]

we made reservations for shows, but in the end, didn't end up needing them.

We went to Rock of Ages on a different night than we had reservations for, and it wasn't an issue.

 

Second City, the comedy show -- the 18+ show was crowded, but I found a nice wall to lean against and was fine. :) That only happened once. The other nights I was able to find seats.

 

No issues at Howl at the Moon.

 

One evening Fat Cats was standing room only -- just tried another night and there were plenty of seats.

 

For the fireworks -- we avoided the large party at the back of the ship and had a great spot on the pool deck, and wasn't over crowded. You learn pretty quickly on a large, over capacity ship, where the crowds are, and how to avoid them (in most cases)

[mjkacmom]

jenfromjersey's father had tried to book the reservation at Moderno online in advance because, as previously stated, we had a party of 7 and wanted to ensure we could get a reservation at a decent hour. (Actually, we had wanted to ensure an early enough reservation so we could catch ROA at 9, but that ended up being a moot point as all of the Friday night shows got moved to Tuesday. But that's another story.) The website (and, indeed, all of the automated booking systems) would only accept reservations for parties of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 8. No 7. (I was reminded of the scene with the Holy Hand Grenade from "Monty Python & The Holy Grail".) He called NCL to try and get a reservation for 7, was told that he had a reservation for 7, and then promptly got an email confirmation...for a reservation for 6. The only way to fix this was to stand on line at Headliners at embarkation and hope the staff there can figure out how to change the reservation manually.

 

One other thing if you're traveling with a group over 6: good luck getting reservations in the main dining rooms. We were told that because we had a group of more than 6, the only times we could reserve in Taste, Savor or the Manhattan Room were 5:30 or 9.

 

My immediate family is 7 (2 adults, 5 children), and I had the same problem. I just booked for 8, and had the extra refunded when we boarded. Maybe it's because it was such a packed week, but when we cruised with my parents, we were able to reserve a table of 9 with no problem - we usually reserved the day of, as we didn't want to eat at the same time every night.

 

NCL is also VERY good with food allergies - they even have a separate kitchen. We met with someone every evening, and picked out dd10's meals for the next day (celiac). They would also try to put us with the same server every night.

 

In Moderno, our server couldn't have been more helpful! She let us know what meat dd could and couldn't eat, and kept bringing the rolls (which are naturally gluten free). I'm not discounting the OP's experience - maybe the staff was overworked and sad, being away from family at Christmas? Not that it makes being rude okay, but I don't think we encountered one rude staff member on the BA.

[m-dfromjersey]

My immediate family is 7 (2 adults, 5 children), and I had the same problem. I just booked for 8, and had the extra refunded when we boarded. Maybe it's because it was such a packed week, but when we cruised with my parents, we were able to reserve a table of 9 with no problem - we usually reserved the day of, as we didn't want to eat at the same time every night.

 

NCL is also VERY good with food allergies - they even have a separate kitchen. We met with someone every evening, and picked out dd10's meals for the next day (celiac). They would also try to put us with the same server every night.

 

In Moderno, our server couldn't have been more helpful! She let us know what meat dd could and couldn't eat, and kept bringing the rolls (which are naturally gluten free). I'm not discounting the OP's experience - maybe the staff was overworked and sad, being away from family at Christmas? Not that it makes being rude okay, but I don't think we encountered one rude staff member on the BA.

I wish we had received that level of attention to detail. Jen's rosemary allergy (as well as my soon-to-be-sister-in-law's shellfish allergy) were basically ignored in almost every dining venue.

 

I don't know that I would have called any of the staff on the Breakaway rude...at worst, I'd say maybe complacent or uncaring at worst. And please don't misunderstand, we met some absolutely stellar crew members, in particular Sherwin, who was the cabana attendant on GCC (among other jobs around the ship). But many of the staff just seemed to have a "meh" attitude - maybe it was a holiday for the rest of the world and not for them, but the crew sets the tone for the passengers' time on board. That has to count for something.

[mjkacmom]

I wish we had received that level of attention to detail. Jen's rosemary allergy (as well as my soon-to-be-sister-in-law's shellfish allergy) were basically ignored in almost every dining venue.

 

I'm really surprised! Usually people with food allergies report back here with nothing but positive things to say. When we made our reservations, we had it noted (2 cruises), and there was a message on my cabin phone to contact the person, and arrange a meeting. We met with him to arrange meals. When we were seated, we just told the server that we had made arrangements.

 

They would make her any meal she wanted, and they had tons of gluten free products, too, like bread, pizza, pasta, rolls, muffins... Better than home!