Why I cancelled my Breakaway Sailing and views on my Encore Sailing

[zerooveride]

So I was scheduled to depart on the Norwegian Breakaway on 12/26/21. This would have been my 5th cruise on Norwegian. Today, I cancelled that cruise and my experience on our 08/21/2021 Norwegian Encore sailing is the reason why.

 

Here is what bothered me about the Encore sailing I was on:

 

• Our Cabin: For the first three nights we had NO air conditioning in the cabin. As both me and my wife use CPAP machines, we like the air a little cooler when we sleep. Well we were sweating being in this cabin. It appears, after talking to others in neighboring cabins and walking through the hallway leading to cabin, that there was an issue with the air flow. So the first night we called Guest Services who said someone would look into in. After more than an hour we received no callback and no one came to look at it. I called again and got the same response as the first time and again no one showed up. After going to Guest Services the next day, someone ended up coming and then during the day the air started working. But alas, the same happened the second night and again the next day, the same thing (“it’s fixed”, but still not fixed) happened. Eventually on the fourth night it was fixed.
• There was a large group on the ship that was part of some function (family reunion maybe, a couple hundred people) and they were absolutely rude the entire time. Jumping in front of people who had been waiting to get on the elevator, bumping into people without apologizing, taking people’s seats in the buffet (we had our Starbucks on the table and went to get more food, came back and there was a couple from this group sitting at our table, mind you with our Starbucks sitting there, and they tried to argue and give me a hard time about getting our table back!), etc. On top of all that this group had “rented” out the pool deck for 2 nights; so for two nights we were not able to use the pool deck and pools. No offense, but I paid for 7 days that included pool access not 5. And it wasn’t just the same couple of people from the group, it was a majority of the group.
• Another thing was the handling of COVID both pre and post cruise. We knew COVID was on the ship from reports of the Tyvek and N95 suited people cleaning different passenger decks (happened at least 2-3 times). Then when we were at Dawes Glacier we watched the NCL excursion ferry, after disembarking the excursion guests, load a person and their family on to it. Again the crew members had Tyvek suits and N95 masks on while doing this. No announcement (like they usually do for medical emergencies) was made and as we had just left Juneau, it felt very shady. To top it off, because of this the ship never did spin the 360 degrees so our side of the ship could see the Glacier. On top of that, we received an exposure notification on our phones for an exposure on the final sea day a couple of days after we returned. This notification coincided with the next sailings guests receiving notice that crew members had tested positive; this was three days after we disembarked so with the incubation period, these crew members were positive on our sailing. NCL never notified us, those who had just disembarked, of this and when I informed them of the Exposure Notification (for a date we were at sea 8/27) they told us that it wasn’t thier problem and to contact our local health authorities.
• The food: Mediocre at best. Even the Specialties. I ordered the Tomahawk steak with a lobster tail at Cagney’s and it was a waste of money. First the steak was unevenly cooked and tough and the lobster tail was quite small, shriveled up and was also tough (wish I had brought my phone to dinner that night to snap a pic). The buffet (except embarkation day) was very underwhelming. The best food we had was at lunch one day in the MDR where we each got Chicken Parm; that was absolutely amazing.
• Finally, the icing on the cake that caused us to cancel was the denial of my bonus Latitudes points. When we got home we noticed we only received 1 point, which is the usual. We had though booked under a promotion that was supposed to add 2 bonus points, for a total of 3 for each day. When both me and my TA reached out, mind you with evidence of the promotion, the Latitudes department refused to correct the issue. While minor, it is the principal of it and just shows how they think of their customers.

 

These were the main factors that caused us to cancel and switch to Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas for our December Cruise. Will I sail NCL again, maybe if the price is right.

 

P.S. Some Good from the Cruise (so no one thinks I’m all negative):

• The Crew! The crew were absolutely fabulous! Really nice. I want to shout out Deepak (the GM) who always stopped to chat and say hello, Putu (my cabin Steward on Deck 8 Port Forward) who took care of whatever I needed, Andri (who was usually working the MDR and the Manhattan Room) who whenever he saw me always spent some time chatting and making sure I had what I needed (even if he saw me in the Buffet), Nikkie (one of the busers in the Buffet) for spending time talking with us (she was so nice and always busting her  . . . I asked why she wasn’t doing something better (like MDR waiter) and she said she didn’t get her promotion on her last eval: This lady deserves it!), The bartender in Maltings (didn’t catch name; glasses with a partially bald head), and Silas (the Cruise Director) who always stopped us to chat and say hello.
• The Meet and Greet: They did a great job and was probably the best one I’ve attended. Really went out of the way for the group!
• The excursions: This is the first time I can honestly say that what I paid for was worth it. Great excursions.
•  

 

I know I will probably get crap for this post, but it is my opinion and experience.

[complawyer]

why would you expect crap for voicing your honest opinion?  i'd be major po'd if my air conditioning didnt work, and a few 100 people hogged the facilities. i also need a cpap machine.

 

taking your seats at the buffet is really, really rude, but like a wise old man once said "you cant fix stupid"

 

finally, i am surprised that ncl is cheating you out  of the points. usually if you check under my ncl, looking under latitude status, at the bottom of the page if directs you as to who to contact if the points are incorrect, that's why i'm surprised at their lackof action or concern

 

sorry you has a bad experience. hope royal works out better for you

[aubreyc1988]

1 hour ago, zerooveride said:

So I was scheduled to depart on the Norwegian Breakaway on 12/26/21. This would have been my 5th cruise on Norwegian. Today, I cancelled that cruise and my experience on our 08/21/2021 Norwegian Encore sailing is the reason why.

 

Here is what bothered me about the Encore sailing I was on:

 

• Our Cabin: For the first three nights we had NO air conditioning in the cabin. As both me and my wife use CPAP machines, we like the air a little cooler when we sleep. Well we were sweating being in this cabin. It appears, after talking to others in neighboring cabins and walking through the hallway leading to cabin, that there was an issue with the air flow. So the first night we called Guest Services who said someone would look into in. After more than an hour we received no callback and no one came to look at it. I called again and got the same response as the first time and again no one showed up. After going to Guest Services the next day, someone ended up coming and then during the day the air started working. But alas, the same happened the second night and again the next day, the same thing (“it’s fixed”, but still not fixed) happened. Eventually on the fourth night it was fixed.
• There was a large group on the ship that was part of some function (family reunion maybe, a couple hundred people) and they were absolutely rude the entire time. Jumping in front of people who had been waiting to get on the elevator, bumping into people without apologizing, taking people’s seats in the buffet (we had our Starbucks on the table and went to get more food, came back and there was a couple from this group sitting at our table, mind you with our Starbucks sitting there, and they tried to argue and give me a hard time about getting our table back!), etc. On top of all that this group had “rented” out the pool deck for 2 nights; so for two nights we were not able to use the pool deck and pools. No offense, but I paid for 7 days that included pool access not 5. And it wasn’t just the same couple of people from the group, it was a majority of the group.
• Another thing was the handling of COVID both pre and post cruise. We knew COVID was on the ship from reports of the Tyvek and N95 suited people cleaning different passenger decks (happened at least 2-3 times). Then when we were at Dawes Glacier we watched the NCL excursion ferry, after disembarking the excursion guests, load a person and their family on to it. Again the crew members had Tyvek suits and N95 masks on while doing this. No announcement (like they usually do for medical emergencies) was made and as we had just left Juneau, it felt very shady. To top it off, because of this the ship never did spin the 360 degrees so our side of the ship could see the Glacier. On top of that, we received an exposure notification on our phones for an exposure on the final sea day a couple of days after we returned. This notification coincided with the next sailings guests receiving notice that crew members had tested positive; this was three days after we disembarked so with the incubation period, these crew members were positive on our sailing. NCL never notified us, those who had just disembarked, of this and when I informed them of the Exposure Notification (for a date we were at sea 8/27) they told us that it wasn’t thier problem and to contact our local health authorities.
• The food: Mediocre at best. Even the Specialties. I ordered the Tomahawk steak with a lobster tail at Cagney’s and it was a waste of money. First the steak was unevenly cooked and tough and the lobster tail was quite small, shriveled up and was also tough (wish I had brought my phone to dinner that night to snap a pic). The buffet (except embarkation day) was very underwhelming. The best food we had was at lunch one day in the MDR where we each got Chicken Parm; that was absolutely amazing.
• Finally, the icing on the cake that caused us to cancel was the denial of my bonus Latitudes points. When we got home we noticed we only received 1 point, which is the usual. We had though booked under a promotion that was supposed to add 2 bonus points, for a total of 3 for each day. When both me and my TA reached out, mind you with evidence of the promotion, the Latitudes department refused to correct the issue. While minor, it is the principal of it and just shows how they think of their customers.

 

These were the main factors that caused us to cancel and switch to Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas for our December Cruise. Will I sail NCL again, maybe if the price is right.

 

P.S. Some Good from the Cruise (so no one thinks I’m all negative):

• The Crew! The crew were absolutely fabulous! Really nice. I want to shout out Deepak (the GM) who always stopped to chat and say hello, Putu (my cabin Steward on Deck 8 Port Forward) who took care of whatever I needed, Andri (who was usually working the MDR and the Manhattan Room) who whenever he saw me always spent some time chatting and making sure I had what I needed (even if he saw me in the Buffet), Nikkie (one of the busers in the Buffet) for spending time talking with us (she was so nice and always busting her  . . . I asked why she wasn’t doing something better (like MDR waiter) and she said she didn’t get her promotion on her last eval: This lady deserves it!), The bartender in Maltings (didn’t catch name; glasses with a partially bald head), and Silas (the Cruise Director) who always stopped us to chat and say hello.
• The Meet and Greet: They did a great job and was probably the best one I’ve attended. Really went out of the way for the group!
• The excursions: This is the first time I can honestly say that what I paid for was worth it. Great excursions.
•  

 

I know I will probably get crap for this post, but it is my opinion and experience.

Sorry you had a crap time. As for your latitude points, did you show them your original invoice with the latitude codes that appear? 

[KruzPrincess]

I’d be upset about some of those things, too, especially the air conditioning. Sorry to hear you had so many things go wrong. 

[zerooveride]

1 hour ago, aubreyc1988 said:

Sorry you had a crap time. As for your latitude points, did you show them your original invoice with the latitude codes that appear? 

First they said not eligible then the TA sent them proof that we did and they never even responded back to us. 

[zerooveride]

37 minutes ago, KruzPrincess said:

I’d be upset about some of those things, too, especially the air conditioning. Sorry to hear you had so many things go wrong. 

It is what it is. 
 

Will I sail NCL again? Probably at the right price/itinerary. 

[aubreyc1988]

Just now, zerooveride said:

First they said not eligible then the TA sent them proof that we did and they never even responded back to us. 

I'd keep pushing and calling a bit more, but that is just me...triple points is a hard loss to swallow

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, zerooveride said:

Finally, the icing on the cake that caused us to cancel was the denial of my bonus Latitudes points. When we got home we noticed we only received 1 point, which is the usual. We had though booked under a promotion that was supposed to add 2 bonus points, for a total of 3 for each day. When both me and my TA reached out, mind you with evidence of the promotion, the Latitudes department refused to correct the issue. While minor, it is the principal of it and just shows how they think of their customers.

What promo codes did your actual NCL invoice indicate?

[cuterlmt]

We were on this sailing too. We loved our trip and our cabin - we were upgraded to a balcony two days before sailing. With regard to the temperature in the room - I think they turn off the AC when you are asleep or not active. We like to sleep with it a bit cooler and would notice that we would wake up uncomfortably hot. While we were awake and moving around, the room was comfortably cool. 

I will agree with you about the family reunion folks - they were incredibly rude. When we were getting our COVID test pre-boarding at the Marriot, the family group  was pushing through the lines and trying to get ahead of everyone, only to be sent back to a different area - from what I gathered, at least some of them had not pre-registered for the COVID test. 

There were several times my husband and I were on the elevator and then got crowded into the elevator with these folks and ended up stepping off the elevator. Given that it was a maskless cruise, I really didn't want so many people in my space. We avoided the elevators by the Manhattan room as it seemed to be a gathering place for them.

When we were in the casino playing cards, a dozen or so of the group would gather behind us talking very loudly and standing very closely. It was a bit disconcerting and very distracting. At one point, my husband asked them to back away and they did. 

As far as the latitude points - I would keep trying - we received ours without problems.

We did not hear about the COVID issues until we got home, but I'm hopeful all the passengers and crew were ok. 

We had great food, and wonderful crew - everyone we met was so friendly and outgoing and made our trip very special. We had great meals at the specialty dining venues, including Cagneys. I would be very disappointed if a Tomahawk steak was not cooked properly! I'm sure it's something you looked forward to! It was nice to have lobster back on the menus  and I enjoyed my lobster tails twice. They were small, but quite tasty to me. I was pleasantly surprised at Ocean Blue and the American Diner, two venues we had never tried before since this was our first time on this class of ship.

We only went to the buffet once for lunch - and although it was huge, I didn't see much in the way of selections - I was surprised at how few Indian dishes there were compared to our other NCL sailings. And it was such a big space that I had a  lot of trouble finding my husband. One of the staff had to help me track him down. Thankfully he is unique looking enough that she spotted him right away.  lol. I much prefer the MDR or one of the specialty dining venues. 

We were also disappointed in the lack of the 360 degrees at Dawes. We actually went to dinner at that time thinking we would get a good view but missed out because of the medical transport. The lack of communication about COVID was surprising - I had hoped we would learn of issues while onboard instead of after the cruise. 

Since this was just their 3rd cruise out of the gate since their pandemic break, I thought they did a pretty great job getting back into the swing of things - hopefully the experience gets better and better for folks.

Happy sailing everyone!

 

 

 

[zerooveride]

2 hours ago, cuterlmt said:

I think they turn off the AC when you are asleep or not active.

I can't imagine that being the case, imagine being on this ship, out of Miami in 90 degree weather! It would be unbearable! 

 

2 hours ago, cuterlmt said:

the American Diner,

Your the first person I know of that ate there! lol . . . Everytime we walked by I don't think I ever saw anyone in there.

 

[graphicguy]

Well, that’s distressing.  I’m sorry to hear this.

 

I’ve always believed that the others on the cruise with you can make or break it.  Crazy passengers only happened to us twice.  Once on a Carnival Cruise, where others kept trying to climb over the fence to the “patio” balcony area of the cabin late at night (could fill a whole thread with that experience) and on a Royal Anthem cruise where a group of what I’ll assume was “Diamond” members were sailing together who were bound and determined to prove the ship belonged only to them.

 

As angry as I’ve been at NCL (and to a point, still am), I’ve never encountered any rude co-passengers, and I’ve sailed NCL a lot.  That’s something the ship’s management should have been made aware of.

 

Cagney’s……no doubt I would have sent the meal back.  I did that once on one of the -Away ships.  They fell all over themselves to make it right, and invited me back on their dime as well as giving us a nice bottle of wine as an apology.

 

Room A/C……I don’t know how the HVAC systems work on a ship.  I wouldn’t think that each cabin has their own unit, but maybe they do.  Obviously, something was wrong.  They should have repaired it or moved you to a better cabin.

 

Latitudes points….someone…somewhere can fix that.  Not sure who your TA is dealing with, but clearly it’s not the person who can fix it.  So, I’m looking at the perks right now for booking.  As I read it, it says….

 

-earn one point for every cruise night

-earn an additional point if you book a Concierge Suite or the Haven (full fare suites booked when reservations were originally made)

-earn one additional point over. Night when booking a Latitudes Rewards Inside Offer

 

Is that the promotion you’re speaking of?  I do know there’s an area to report missing cruises.   I would use that link to report your missing points.

 

Again, no excuse for your experience.  I would think they’d like to know about it.  Some of it they could have rectified.  Some of it you chalk up to the cruise experience….especially now.

[All-ready2cruise]

I believe and could be wrong, but, with earlier promos, this was the code: LATDBLX

 

I have the T&Cs here somewhere....

[AstoriaPreppy]

45 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Latitudes points….someone…somewhere can fix that.  Not sure who your TA is dealing with, but clearly it’s not the person who can fix it.  So, I’m looking at the perks right now for booking.  As I read it, it says….

As I've learned from past experiences dealing with NCL shoreside guest services, they *can* fix a lot of things, but they chose not to.

It's almost like NCL guest services functions on some sort of metrics, where agents are only allocated X amount of issue resolutions a day. Once an agent has used up their allocation, it's blanket dismissal or complete dismissiveness. They're still the only customer service experience I've ever had that emailed the phrase "we consider this matter closed" after determining they were just done speaking to me about their screwups. 

[PiperHolliday]

I'm sorry to hear about your experience and I'd be pretty angry, as well. One of my biggest pet peeves is when other guests ruin the experience for others. This most recently happened to me at a resort in Puerto Vallarta - huge groups everywhere that just took over everything. It was absolutely impossible to relax and the staff and resort encouraged that atmosphere. After that last experience, I decided I would do everything I could to avoid places that cater to large groups and as a travel agent, I will never send a client to that resort. I also refuse to book group trips or support mass tour-bus tourism. With cruises, it's a little harder to avoid - but certain lines push groups more than others. I suggest continuously voicing your dissatisfaction with encountering large groups, as that's the only thing that would ever get these cruise lines and resorts to take a second look at how they handle these heathens. 

 

As for your points, ask your TA to contact their BDM about it. If customer service won't help your agent, the cruise line is hurting her/his business by creating unhappy customers. That is something the BDM needs to know about - they are like the liaison between the company and the agent. But be sure your agent actually used the right promo code on your booking, since often you need to add them manually - even if it's automatically applied on the consumer site. 

[cuterlmt]

2 hours ago, zerooveride said:

I can't imagine that being the case, imagine being on this ship, out of Miami in 90 degree weather! It would be unbearable! 

 

Your the first person I know of that ate there! lol . . . Everytime we walked by I don't think I ever saw anyone in there.

 

The american diner is only open during the day and is really kind of outside. Hubby loved the burger, and I had the lobster rolls which were delicious! We are landlocked, no where near fresh fish, so I may not know a good lobster roll. But it was really good! Cute atmosphere as well. I wanted to try something different for lunch. 

[The Traveling Man]

2 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Cagney’s……no doubt I would have sent the meal back.  I did that once on one of the -Away ships.  They fell all over themselves to make it right, and invited me back on their dime as well as giving us a nice bottle of wine as an apology.

 

 

We had a similar experience in Cagney's several years ago.  Once we called it to their attention, they also cooked a new steak for us, then comped the entire meal by restoring our dining coupon to my account.  We had dinner in Le Bistro the next night by reusing the coupon.  I am sure that if you had called the problem to the attention of the restaurant manager, he would have taken care of things.  Currently the Cagney's maitre 'd on the Encore is Nikola.  We have sailed with him before and we know that he would be on top of something like an improperly cooked steak in an instant.  Sorry your experience was less than optimal.  We were on the cruise right after yours.  Yes, some things were a bit less than unicorns and rainbows, but as someone else mentioned, this was only the third or fourth cruise for NCL after a year and a half shutdown.  It could have been better, but we tried to cut them some slack and we gave them an A+ for effort.

[Old & Retired]

3 hours ago, zerooveride said:

I can't imagine that being the case, imagine being on this ship, out of Miami in 90 degree weather! It would be unbearable! 

 

Your the first person I know of that ate there! lol . . . Everytime we walked by I don't think I ever saw anyone in there.

 

Free first day lunch here for all Haven guests.

[The Traveling Man]

35 minutes ago, cuterlmt said:

The american diner is only open during the day and is really kind of outside. Hubby loved the burger, and I had the lobster rolls which were delicious! We are landlocked, no where near fresh fish, so I may not know a good lobster roll. But it was really good! Cute atmosphere as well. I wanted to try something different for lunch. 

We had lunch at the American Diner on the last sea day.  We wore our jackets and managed to find a spot out of the wind and with an electric space heater in the ceiling right above us.  The weather still was a bit brisk, but pleasant.  The lobster rolls were listed as an appetizer, but we made them our main course.  They were GREAT!  There are only a few places on the ship where they serve lobster, and most of them have a surcharge.  The bread tasted just like what we've experienced in New England, the lobster was chunky and juicy, and the sauce (or mayo or whatever) didn't detract from the luscious lobster.  There were only two or three other couples there, however, even though it was noon on a sea day.  There were more staff members on duty than there were customers.

[zerooveride]

5 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Cagney’s……no doubt I would have sent the meal back.  I did that once on one of the -Away ships.  They fell all over themselves to make it right, and invited me back on their dime as well as giving us a nice bottle of wine as an apology.

I'm always weird about sending stuff back. It's always in the back of my head that they might do something because I questioned them. I know it's highly unlikely but . . . it's still in the back of your head. Wouldn't have asked for anything comped. Not everything is about getting something for free. 

5 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Room A/C……I don’t know how the HVAC systems work on a ship.  I wouldn’t think that each cabin has their own unit, but maybe they do.  Obviously, something was wrong.  They should have repaired it or moved you to a better cabin.

I thought so too. But it took 3 trips for them to correct it and they never offered to move us. Also, I didn't mention this but we had to have the shower fixed too. No pressure from the wand. This was fixed on the first shot (they replaced the head and it fixed it right away; probably some type of build up in it just like what happens at home).

5 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Latitudes points….someone…somewhere can fix that.  Not sure who your TA is dealing with, but clearly it’s not the person who can fix it.

 

3 hours ago, PiperHolliday said:

As for your points, ask your TA to contact their BDM about it. If customer service won't help your agent, the cruise line is hurting her/his business by creating unhappy customers. That is something the BDM needs to know about - they are like the liaison between the company and the agent.

They are dealing with the Latitudes department. When they reached out to their contact at the cruise line they were told this department was the only one that could help and they could only be contacted by e-mail.

[complawyer]

this is funny, but unfortunately true. when my daughter was about 8 (she's now 50) someone jokingly told her if you send something back, they''ll spit in your food. to this day, she will never,ever send anything back. 

[Mintgreen]

I got off a different sailing, but I echo your feelings. Their attention to detail just felt so off to me- I was in a club balcony suite and had to ask for multiple of the perks (free bag of laundry was a huge debacle).

 

Most of the cruise activity staff seemed bored and like they were just going through the motions. The other reviews I read stated how excited they were to be back so I was expecting some energy there, but I guess it's faded.

 

All my dining was fine. Overall I had a good time, but as I was bombarded with cruise next certificate calls/flyers I just thought "nah".

[ChiefMateJRK]

6 hours ago, All-ready2cruise said:

I believe and could be wrong, but, with earlier promos, this was the code: LATDBLX

 

I have the T&Cs here somewhere....

I don’t think the OP is going to share this with us.

 

14 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

What promo codes did your actual NCL invoice indicate?

 

[phillygwm]

16 hours ago, zerooveride said:

So I was scheduled to depart on the Norwegian Breakaway on 12/26/21. This would have been my 5th cruise on Norwegian. Today, I cancelled that cruise and my experience on our 08/21/2021 Norwegian Encore sailing is the reason why.

 

Here is what bothered me about the Encore sailing I was on:

 

• Our Cabin: For the first three nights we had NO air conditioning in the cabin. As both me and my wife use CPAP machines, we like the air a little cooler when we sleep. Well we were sweating being in this cabin. It appears, after talking to others in neighboring cabins and walking through the hallway leading to cabin, that there was an issue with the air flow. So the first night we called Guest Services who said someone would look into in. After more than an hour we received no callback and no one came to look at it. I called again and got the same response as the first time and again no one showed up. After going to Guest Services the next day, someone ended up coming and then during the day the air started working. But alas, the same happened the second night and again the next day, the same thing (“it’s fixed”, but still not fixed) happened. Eventually on the fourth night it was fixed.
• There was a large group on the ship that was part of some function (family reunion maybe, a couple hundred people) and they were absolutely rude the entire time. Jumping in front of people who had been waiting to get on the elevator, bumping into people without apologizing, taking people’s seats in the buffet (we had our Starbucks on the table and went to get more food, came back and there was a couple from this group sitting at our table, mind you with our Starbucks sitting there, and they tried to argue and give me a hard time about getting our table back!), etc. On top of all that this group had “rented” out the pool deck for 2 nights; so for two nights we were not able to use the pool deck and pools. No offense, but I paid for 7 days that included pool access not 5. And it wasn’t just the same couple of people from the group, it was a majority of the group.
• Another thing was the handling of COVID both pre and post cruise. We knew COVID was on the ship from reports of the Tyvek and N95 suited people cleaning different passenger decks (happened at least 2-3 times). Then when we were at Dawes Glacier we watched the NCL excursion ferry, after disembarking the excursion guests, load a person and their family on to it. Again the crew members had Tyvek suits and N95 masks on while doing this. No announcement (like they usually do for medical emergencies) was made and as we had just left Juneau, it felt very shady. To top it off, because of this the ship never did spin the 360 degrees so our side of the ship could see the Glacier. On top of that, we received an exposure notification on our phones for an exposure on the final sea day a couple of days after we returned. This notification coincided with the next sailings guests receiving notice that crew members had tested positive; this was three days after we disembarked so with the incubation period, these crew members were positive on our sailing. NCL never notified us, those who had just disembarked, of this and when I informed them of the Exposure Notification (for a date we were at sea 8/27) they told us that it wasn’t thier problem and to contact our local health authorities.
• The food: Mediocre at best. Even the Specialties. I ordered the Tomahawk steak with a lobster tail at Cagney’s and it was a waste of money. First the steak was unevenly cooked and tough and the lobster tail was quite small, shriveled up and was also tough (wish I had brought my phone to dinner that night to snap a pic). The buffet (except embarkation day) was very underwhelming. The best food we had was at lunch one day in the MDR where we each got Chicken Parm; that was absolutely amazing.
• Finally, the icing on the cake that caused us to cancel was the denial of my bonus Latitudes points. When we got home we noticed we only received 1 point, which is the usual. We had though booked under a promotion that was supposed to add 2 bonus points, for a total of 3 for each day. When both me and my TA reached out, mind you with evidence of the promotion, the Latitudes department refused to correct the issue. While minor, it is the principal of it and just shows how they think of their customers.

 

These were the main factors that caused us to cancel and switch to Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas for our December Cruise. Will I sail NCL again, maybe if the price is right.

 

P.S. Some Good from the Cruise (so no one thinks I’m all negative):

• The Crew! The crew were absolutely fabulous! Really nice. I want to shout out Deepak (the GM) who always stopped to chat and say hello, Putu (my cabin Steward on Deck 8 Port Forward) who took care of whatever I needed, Andri (who was usually working the MDR and the Manhattan Room) who whenever he saw me always spent some time chatting and making sure I had what I needed (even if he saw me in the Buffet), Nikkie (one of the busers in the Buffet) for spending time talking with us (she was so nice and always busting her  . . . I asked why she wasn’t doing something better (like MDR waiter) and she said she didn’t get her promotion on her last eval: This lady deserves it!), The bartender in Maltings (didn’t catch name; glasses with a partially bald head), and Silas (the Cruise Director) who always stopped us to chat and say hello.
• The Meet and Greet: They did a great job and was probably the best one I’ve attended. Really went out of the way for the group!
• The excursions: This is the first time I can honestly say that what I paid for was worth it. Great excursions.
•  

 

I know I will probably get crap for this post, but it is my opinion and experience.

I would send a complaint to Guest Services.  If what they told you was true and the pool was closed for private events, I'd be upset.  I've never heard of such a thing, though perhaps some who cruise more than I do will correct me! 🙂

 

 

 

 

[phillygwm]

5 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

 Yes, some things were a bit less than unicorns and rainbows, but as someone else mentioned, this was only the third or fourth cruise for NCL after a year and a half shutdown.  It could have been better, but we tried to cut them some slack and we gave them an A+ for effort.

I'm not belittling OP's complaints at all.  I'd have been upset in his position and would still be screaming.  But there is something to be said for the above comment.  Not sure how many of the staff has cruise ship (or NCL) experience; training might also be an issue.  Sounds like some of the more skilled staff (butlers, Maitres d, etc) are back but who knows about the majority of the crew?  Clearly, there are still bugs to be worked out.

 

Edited September 14, 2021 by phillygwm

[zerooveride]

3 hours ago, Mintgreen said:

I got off a different sailing, but I echo your feelings. Their attention to detail just felt so off to me- I was in a club balcony suite and had to ask for multiple of the perks (free bag of laundry was a huge debacle).

I had to ask for it but I actually got two. Never got a card.

 

3 hours ago, Mintgreen said:

Most of the cruise activity staff seemed bored and like they were just going through the motions. The other reviews I read stated how excited they were to be back so I was expecting some energy there, but I guess it's faded.

The staff were not the problem on my sailing. They were quite good.

3 hours ago, Mintgreen said:

 

All my dining was fine. Overall I had a good time, but as I was bombarded with cruise next certificate calls/flyers I just thought "nah".

Yes, the CruiseNext was quite annoying!

 

2 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I don’t think the OP is going to share this with us.

 

I might not have said it here, but I don't get NCL's invoice, I get one from my TA which does not have the codes on it. It is there in house invoice. (I answered this over on Facebook, it's hard to keep track sometimes!)

1 hour ago, phillygwm said:

I would send a complaint to Guest Services.  If what they told you was true and the pool was closed for private events, I'd be upset.  I've never heard of such a thing, though perhaps some who cruise more than I do will correct me! 🙂

 

I've never experienced it before either. I've seen a bar or venue, during times it is usually closed, be used, but not during Prime Time when everyone was on the ship.

1 hour ago, phillygwm said:

I'm not belittling OP's complaints at all.  I'd have been upset in his position and would still be screaming.  But there is something to be said for the above comment.  Not sure how many of the staff has cruise ship (or NCL) experience; training might also be an issue.  Sounds like some of the more skilled staff (butlers, Maitres d, etc) are back but who knows about the majority of the crew?  Clearly, there are still bugs to be worked out.

The front facing staff were great! It wasn't a staff issue (for the most part).