Am I the only one?

[Ellis1138]

I read the negative reviews, too. Not so much for entertainment, but to see if there's any valid complaints that would also concern me. Like finding out about The Sewer Smell in the aft part of the Pride of America. (And looking up what I can do about it, if it happens to me.) Another one, a thread here, was the Coffee Mate thing. It means a lot to me to have actual cream in my coffee, so having the forewarning was good. 

 

Some stuff is ridiculous, like the woman who couldn't find anything to eat. If I, with my severe food allergies and restrictive diet, could find plenty of options, I feel like anyone can. I also deduct points for reviews that start with "I am a Platinum/Titanium/Gold-pressed Latinum level" or "I've been on (number) of cruises and..."

 

And some stuff is valid but doesn't affect me, like long bar lines, chair hogs or getting into the small entertainment venues. 

 

But you're not the only one perusing the low-rated reviews. 

 

[UKstages]

57 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

I was floored anyone would make a butler stand by their table at Cagneys and cut their meat.

 

i always appreciated that mummy did that for me.

 

you make it sound like it's a bad thing.

 

anyway, i didn't realize others were looking at us. but, yes, the butler would always cut my food for me. i was only 7, however.

 

 

[Panhandle Couple]

Then there are the "Captain Obvious" ones.

 

I took my kids on cruise the first week of February, they had no other kids to play with and the kids club was only open 2 hours a day.

 

I went on a  mid July cruise and it was jammed packed and kids were everywhere, I could never get a spot in the hot tub and the kids were running around the pool with no parents, the buffet was always packed with kids, etc.

 

Our October Alaska cruise was cold, wet and windy...the outdoor bars always seemed to be closed.

 

There is never any music on the ship... 

 

They didn't have our favorite Vodka on board.  I don't care if they have 11 other brands.

 

Or the conflicting ones.

 

The drinks were watered down girly drinks.  They must be skimping on alcohol to save money.

 

The drinks were too strong, they must be trying to get us drunk quickly so we won't eat a lot of food so they can save money.

 

[Panhandle Couple]

 Like finding out about The Sewer Smell in the aft part of the Pride of America. (And looking up what I can do about it, if it happens to me.)

 

Um, can you elaborate?  Cruising on POA soon.

[david_sobe]

I remember a few times people had no shame to post here some grievance they had with NCL.  It could be a price drop frustration or air fare fiasco.  I have seen more than once people saying how angry they were and the cruise was going to be ruined but they were going to "use the hell" out of the butler to make up for it.  They were angry and were openly planning revenge on the poor butler and try and make him/her some sort of personal servant to make up for their grievance with NCL.

[yakcruiser]

14 minutes ago, Panhandle Couple said:

 

 

The drinks were too strong, they must be trying to get us drunk quickly so we won't eat a lot of food so they can save money.

 

Did somebody actually say that?

[ChiefMateJRK]

23 minutes ago, yakcruiser said:

Did somebody actually say that?

Of course not.  The bartenders pour what you ask them to.  Ask for a double, and you get a double.  Except for my now good friend on my cruse last April who told me he didn't do doubles.  Only triples (which he did).  I don't think it had anything to do with saving money on food.  Just having fun.  @graphicguyis my witness. 😎

 

I think it was later Harvey who had just made an ice run and was muleling one of those big buckets of ice.  About the same time, a passenger asked my barkeep for a drink with a lot of ice.  He mentioned it to Harvey, who promptly hoisted that five gallon bucket of ice up onto the bar. 🤣  A good time was had by all (actually, the unsuspecting passenger may not have had as much fun as the rest of us).  

[oteixeira]

1 hour ago, libtrek said:

That said, my hubs with dementia finds cutting his steak just too much. I, with much mother-experience, just grabs his steak and cuts. On the Jewel last year, our adorable waitress said, oh let me do that for you with a huge smile. ❤️

She was going WAY above and beyond, I hope she got a hero card and a nice tip from you that night.  What an amazing thing she did for you and your husband.  

[libtrek]

28 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

She was going WAY above and beyond, I hope she got a hero card and a nice tip from you that night.  What an amazing thing she did for you and your husband.  

She did.

[Panhandle Couple]

1 hour ago, yakcruiser said:

Did somebody actually say that?

The inference was that a stronger drink caused the passengers to either consume less, or spend more, and all lead to more corporate profit for NCL.  As do weaker drinks.

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, Panhandle Couple said:

The inference was that a stronger drink caused the passengers to either consume less, or spend more, and all lead to more corporate profit for NCL.  As do weaker drinks.

My head hurts.....

[DMH15]

11 hours ago, havoc315 said:

In all seriousness, I like reading the reviews, and the bad reviews are the most helpful.

I'll typically ignore the 5 star reviews --- You paid a ton of money for a vacation, and had a great time.  Wonderful -- that's how it's supposed to be on every vacation, but I may as well just read NCL promotional materials.

 

So in reading the more negative reviews:

-- Many I can easily dismiss as someone who is just difficult to please. ("the comedian wasn't very funny... the ship officers didn't even say hello in the elevator").  Some are complaining about things outside NCL control ("The weather was terrible, the airline lost my luggage"), some are unrealistic expectations ("The airline lost my luggage and the staff barely lifted a finger to rectify it! The toilet got clogged and it took maintenance 2 hours to fix it!")

-- So I look for patterns, I look to see if there are similar complaints popping up frequently.  If someone says, "service at Cagney's was so slow, 2 hours and my steak arrived cold" -- Did that person just suffer from a single bad night, or are those complaints popping up frequently?  

 

I haven't been on NCL in about 10 years, but going on my 3rd NCL cruise this coming summer, so I've been reading the reviews intently.

 

Here is what I've learned from reading the reviews:

-- Expect long lines to get a drink, especially at the pool bars

-- Expect "nickel and diming" -- with lots of the activities being either extra charges, or seeking your money.

 

 

I like nickle and diming.  It means I only pay for extras I want. 

[SeaShark]

6 hours ago, UKstages said:

i'm not happy unless my haven butler cuts my steak for me. small pieces. and then i very much enjoy when he or she feeds me, preferably while making airplane noises, while bringing each bite to my mouth in a circular motion. 

 

and i do love it so when peter max draws my bath.

 

literally.

 

i must have six or seven of his bath paintings. it's nice because my haven butler brings them to me and i don't have to deal with park west.

 

No, no, no....it isn't my haven butler, it is my Haven butler

 

You must always capitalize Haven or else the poors might not realize your importance.

[complawyer]

hey, UK, you left out chilling and pouring my champagne, and making my omelet in the morning

[Betsynh]

You are all hilarious! I’m a one-star reader, too. I love writing live reviews onboard of helpful tips. I’ve never done a formal review but no one would read it since I’d give them all 5’s! I’ve never met a cruise I didn’t like although they all have different features and quirks. Happy sailing! 

[havoc315]

10 hours ago, DMH15 said:

I like nickle and diming.  It means I only pay for extras I want. 

While people say they hate “nickel and diming”— customer buying shows the opposite, for exactly that reason. 
Where given the option, plenty of customers will pick the bargain barebones “$299” (airfare, cruise fare, hotel room, whatever) rather than the $429 all-inclusive rate, etc. 

 

If NCL were to become “all inclusive”, the starting prices would be significantly higher. 
 

NCL isn’t Seven Seas. So to some extent, when people complain about the nickel and diming, it’s kind of like complaining that your inside cabin doesn’t have a window. You get what you pay for. That said, I think it’s legitimate to complain about the unending constant barrage of extra charges and upselling. 

[Ellis1138]

15 hours ago, Panhandle Couple said:

 Like finding out about The Sewer Smell in the aft part of the Pride of America. (And looking up what I can do about it, if it happens to me.)

 

Um, can you elaborate?  Cruising on POA soon.

 

On the Facebook page for the PoA, people were coming off and complaining about a terrible sewer smell. I wound up changing my cabin from 9644 to 9622 to reduce the chance that we'd have the problem. I tracked any reviews and complaints for months and made a Google Doc to see if any particular places or cabins were more susceptible.

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/177PtRV7gu31oHHax3Cb2-SY2SRbs4NQ1vfJG9iYCGFc/edit?usp=sharing 

[SeaShark]

1 hour ago, havoc315 said:

While people say they hate “nickel and diming”— customer buying shows the opposite, for exactly that reason. 
Where given the option, plenty of customers will pick the bargain barebones “$299” (airfare, cruise fare, hotel room, whatever) rather than the $429 all-inclusive rate, etc. 

 

If NCL were to become “all inclusive”, the starting prices would be significantly higher. 
 

NCL isn’t Seven Seas. So to some extent, when people complain about the nickel and diming, it’s kind of like complaining that your inside cabin doesn’t have a window. You get what you pay for. That said, I think it’s legitimate to complain about the unending constant barrage of extra charges and upselling. 

 

 

Nickle and diming refers to mandatory extra charges, not to options available for purchase at the customer's discretion. For example, if NCL were to tell you at the terminal that there is a $5 charge for your key card (which you HAVE to have), then that would be nickel and diming. 

 

Society today, whether we like it or not, revolves around the blame shift. Put the blame on someone else, nothing is your own fault.

 

For many people, saying the cruise line is "nickel and diming" gives them better feelz than having to say "I want something, but can't afford it right now".

[chewsifer1220]

11 hours ago, SeaShark said:

 

No, no, no....it isn't my haven butler, it is my Haven butler

 

You must always capitalize Haven or else the poors might not realize your importance.

 

Ah yes. Those of us in steerage

[graphicguy]

Had a bartender at the outside bar for Syd's who would pour doubles of Buffalo Trace without me asking.  One night, I was reveling with one of my new found cruise friends, and the bartender started making up his own drinks for the others in the group.  I asked him to make up a drink for me.

 

He set the ½ empty Buffalo Trace on the bar and said..."here...take this with you.  This is a drink just for you.  He left it on the bar and I ended up pouring my own.  He just asked me to leave the bottle for inventory.

 

Not sure how the whole "nickel and dimming" stuck to NCL.  Royal, Carnival, etc all have the same charges.  Some (like the drink packages) are way more expensive than NCL's FAS.

 

Then there was the dust up a few months ago with some EU cruisers NCL that they were being charged VAT.  According to their "law", they should not have VAT added to their drinks while in Barcelona port.  It's a European tax.  Bring the complaint to Spain.  How do European cruisers not know about it?  NCL ended up eating the VAT because of all the complaints.

 

Just read a review this a.m. that said they did't like Teppayaki because it was "too loud" with all the singing.  SMDH!

 

I used to respond to these reviews.  Now, I read them a chuckle.

 

 

[cruisinmeme]

The people that David mentions just need to stay home.PERIOD!!! Convinced nothing would please them.

[Two Wheels Only]

53 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

For many people, saying the cruise line is "nickel and diming" gives them better feelz than having to say "I want something, but can't afford it right now".

 

What's even worse is the "...I want that...I can afford it right now...but I'd rather complain because others have that and I don't..." crowd.

[Panhandle Couple]

3 hours ago, Ellis1138 said:

 

On the Facebook page for the PoA, people were coming off and complaining about a terrible sewer smell. I wound up changing my cabin from 9644 to 9622 to reduce the chance that we'd have the problem. I tracked any reviews and complaints for months and made a Google Doc to see if any particular places or cabins were more susceptible.

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/177PtRV7gu31oHHax3Cb2-SY2SRbs4NQ1vfJG9iYCGFc/edit?usp=sharing 

Thanks!!

 

Of course some people are more sensitive than others to smells, and types of smells.

We are on deck 10, and the room listed is a few doors away.  None of the deck 9-8 rooms are below ours, so that helps.

Given we will not be in the room much during daylight (barring unexpected sickness) we can keep AC off if anything foul comes in.  I will fill the floor trap just in case on first day.  And we always bring our own air freshener.  

[graphicguy]

The posts on that “social media site” we for some reason are forbidden to mention are even worse.

 

”I sailed the NCL (pick a ship) and wanted to keep the same dining time.”. Well, you can.  Just go to the dining room at the same time every night!

 

For the life of me, I can’t figure out why someone is so bent on working against the Freestyle concept, when it’s NCL’s calling card.  

 

Then, there are those who complain about the entertainment..and at the same time are the ones who show up ½ way through a theater production, stand in the aisle blocking peoples’ view, looking for a seat, or worse, trying to vocally find their friends/family!

[brookie848]

On 1/26/2024 at 9:11 AM, david_sobe said:

Thats no joke.  I was just watching something yesterday and they were saying cruising is more popular than ever.  But they went on to say, youtube channels documenting cruising are even more popular that cruising almost.  These guys are making a fortune and getting free cruises just vlogging their cruises.  Someone I know has a youtube channel with 500k subscribers.   They make $130k just off the youtube channel.  

JimZim (he doesnt' seem to be cruising on NCL right now) was forthright in saying he paid for his cruises from his YouTube money. I think his videos were split between cruises and model trains.

 

And let's be honest, if you've ever watched any of his videos, you keep watching because of his voice.