NCL is now our cruise line of choice

[cruzbums]

AWe have sailed on HAL (9 times), RCCL (3 times), Princess (3 times) and NCL (1 time). The NCL cruise was in Aug., 2006.

 

We have always been big fans of HAL because of the service and the smaller ships.

 

We just returned from a cruise on HAL's Zaandam last month which was very dissappointing. The food was below par, we were in the Penthouse suite and didn't have heat (it's a good thing it was summer). They couldn't figure out what was wrong with the heat and informed us that the temperture was within their limits. In general the cruise just didn't live up to past cruises on HAL.

 

My wife also has a special medical need in which cases of medical supplies need to be taken. There are seven boxes which have to be in our room prior to sailing or we have to leave the ship. I mark the boxes on all four sides with her name, room number, ship and sail date. When we board the ship I go to the concierge and make her aware of the boxes and that they need to have priority. Two cruises ago HAL lost the boxes and we had to leave the ship. Only because we had a TA did we get the cruise replaced as HAL tried to blame everyone but themselves for the error. I also inform the HAL home office medical dept. of the situation and get their blessing. On this last cruise the concierge seemed to not understand the seriousness of the situation so the boxes didn't arrive until just 15 minutes before sailing. We were getting ready to leave the ship again.

 

I won't bore you with all the details about why we are not happy with HAL anymore.

 

By the way we live 60 miles south of Seattle and only cruise to Alaska because of the special needs but still love the ships.

 

When we went on the NCL Star last year we were very pleased even though it was a much bigger ship than we are use to and we weren't use to Freestyle dining and didn't take full advantage of it.

 

We had an AA suite and really loved it. It is in my opinion a better suite than the Penthouse suites on HAL.

 

Anyway to make a long story short we were met at the pier by the concierge and she had been informed by the people in Miami that we had a medical need and she took care of it immediately and the boxes were in our room within half an hour. The fact that this became a priority to her really impressed me.

 

In general we really enjoyed the cruise in spite of the fact we didn't take full advantage of all the amenities available. The service on the ship was great and the people were really friendly. We have booked the Pearl next July and are really looking forward to it.

 

Anyway in my opinion NCL has just as good service as the othe cruise lines.

 

Happy cruising!

[ce2000]

It is nice to hear about some very good service with NCL. I think that you have found your cruise line. It seems to me that the cruise line business is very competitive, and service (good or bad) is something that most people notice.

[dwrist]

We were on the Star in Feb to the Mexican Reviera and in Aug to Alaska. We love the Star and we love the Northwest. You have the best of both. Enjoy the Pearl in July. We are on her in April for the Panama Canal.

[uneamie]

Glad to hear of your good experience with NCL. We love NCL as well. We also love the Carnival Legend but ever since we discovered "freestyle" we probably won't do Carnival till they adopt something similar.

I've read so many bad reviews of NCL lately that I was beginning to worry about our next crusie on Dawn. Your post has reassured me that it's all relative to the individual person and since we loved the Dawn a year ago....can't see why that would change.

[hotspur]

We have sailed on HAL (9 times), RCCL (3 times), Princess (3 times) and NCL (1 time). The NCL cruise was in Aug., 2006.

 

We have always been big fans of HAL because of the service and the smaller ships.

 

We just returned from a cruise on HAL's Zaandam last month which was very dissappointing. The food was below par, we were in the Penthouse suite and didn't have heat (it's a good thing it was summer).

Thanks for posting. I was beginning to feel like a lone voice crying out in the wilderness regarding HAL's dining room food.

 

Best wishes on your Pearl cruise.

[CruiseAddict58]

Our family has 3 cabins booked the week of Thanksgiving on the POH. Thus far, NCL has been a pleasure to deal with. Our cruise specialist is very friendly and has been so helpful. All reservation confirmations received by email were perfect.

 

I booked all of our excursions and received confirmations also by email for all of them. I have read nightmares on several posts by people trying to book their excursions online, so I was a little worried about doing so; however, it was so easy!

 

Like I said...so far, so good! Just waiting on final document packets and flight schedules. Will update when those are received! Who knows, the "up-sell" fairy might even call; however, it will have to be a great deal because we plan to spend very little time on the ship. Can anyone tell me when NCL calls about an upsell, how long to you have to let them know or must you give them an immediate answer?

 

We are ready and counting the days!

[CruisinMK]

I loved my HAL experience but that was a long time ago.

I think a lot of the cruiselines are cutting food budgets, not just one or two.

 

People try a new cruiseline, find food isn't as good as they hoped, then go back to their old favorite -- only to find the food there isn't as good as it once was either...

 

For people who look down their noses at NCL because of freestyle or whatever, there are a few surprises such as the ones mentioned here --

 

1) Specialty restaurants are really good and worth it. Well at least they were worth $10, but they got mean and upped it to $15. :) Who can blame them when they are packed?

 

2) NCL's penthouse suite (&above) product is better than many would assume, better than many mainstream competitors. Bigger beautiful rooms, butler service is quite a feature, lots of little perks, even the bitchin' espresso machine. Then the whole garden villa level is something even more special that many don't know even exists. I think people would be surprised if they switched.

[electricron]

I loved my HAL experience but that was a long time ago.

I think a lot of the cruiselines are cutting food budgets, not just one or two.

People try a new cruiseline, find food isn't as good as they hoped, then go back to their old favorite -- only to find the food there isn't as good as it once was either...

 

What do people expect when fuel prices have increased 50% to 100% in the last few years, with fares remaining fairly constant? Something has to give for the cruise lines to keep steady profits, and that means cheaper food selections at the free restaurants, amongst other things.

 

Also, I believe most would expect better food selections and better service if you paid more at the surcharged restaurants, and since you can't improve service and selections much more than what existed in the past, that means less service and selections at the free restaurants today. Otherwise, if 5 star service was maintained at the free restaurants, who is going to pay more to dine at a speciality restaurant? Wouldn't everyone prefer to dine at Outback Steakhouse at McDonald's prices, or for free?

 

The free restaurants service really isn't as bad as many state, while I agree it isn't 5 star anymore, which I doubt it ever was, it's still far better than what you'll find at most restaurants ashore. Everything is relative, and food has got to be the most subjective issue around.

[melika091900]

We love NCL also.

we have been on carnival and celebrity 1 time and NCL 1 time and we are booked on NCL again

freestyle dining was awesome,

the ships are beautiful and the service was good,

we loved the shows. everything was great.

we are in our late 20's and celebrity was more ritzy to us, carnival was nice also. but nothing beats NCL.. !@!!!!!!

take care everyone

melissa

[samtig]

We have been on 3 Carnival & 2 Norwegian and enjoyed them all. Each cruiseline has their positives as does each ship. However, our favorite ship is the Norwegian Sun. Everything was great & best crew yet. We have an RCI scheduled just to try another cruiseline. Also have another cruise scheduled on our favorite, Norwegian Sun. We prefer Free Style dining. Much better to just show up for dinner when we feel like it. Don't like "schedules" on a vacation but will do regular dining again cause we like Carnival. Happy cruising.

[Mekamax]

I noticed the service on the NCL Sun last cruise was awesome and the people were all very friendly. I have cruised now twice on NCL with a third coming up. I was thinking I still prefered Carnival (been on 11 Carnival and 6 RCL) but now I upgraded to a balcony on the Dream - I told my hubby that if I keep getting balconies on NCL I'm staying with them!!! :D I'm glad you got the service you needed and hope that all future cruises will be same. All I hear from my father in law is "You wouldn't want to travel either if you didnt' feel well" - "Yes I would" I tell him. It is nice to see you are traveling together and enjoying life. :) Debbie

[Johnsy81]

I loved my HAL experience but that was a long time ago.

I think a lot of the cruiselines are cutting food budgets, not just one or two.

 

People try a new cruiseline, find food isn't as good as they hoped, then go back to their old favorite -- only to find the food there isn't as good as it once was either...

 

For people who look down their noses at NCL because of freestyle or whatever, there are a few surprises such as the ones mentioned here --

 

1) Specialty restaurants are really good and worth it. Well at least they were worth $10, but they got mean and upped it to $15. :) Who can blame them when they are packed?

 

2) NCL's penthouse suite (&above) product is better than many would assume, better than many mainstream competitors. Bigger beautiful rooms, butler service is quite a feature, lots of little perks, even the bitchin' espresso machine. Then the whole garden villa level is something even more special that many don't know even exists. I think people would be surprised if they switched.

 

As someone who has never cruised on NCL, I find the concept of specialty restaurants a bit of an anomaly. Personally I don't like the idea of paying for a vacation that includes meals then having to pay extra to eat a meal I enjoy because the "included" meals are not as good as the specialty restaurants. Seems to defeat the whole purpose of a cruise for me and sounds like too much work IMHO.

 

I've no doubt that NCL ships are beautiful and service is first rate - it's just not a product we're interested in trying (at least not yet). Someday I hope to try freestyle cruising just for the heck of it but until I'm retired more free time on my hands, my vacation time (and dollars) will be spent elsewhere.

 

Fortunately there are many choices out there so we can all enjoy cruising the way we want to.

[Stillfloatin']

I've only sailed Carnival and NCL so can't make a lot of comparisons, but have settled on NCL because of Freestyle. Love eating when I'm actually hungry instead of on a schedule. Love having all the yummy alternative restaurants to choose from too. Love not having to pack formal clothes anymore. Love the NCL credit card. Guess you could say I'm a definite NCL fan.

[Mekamax]

I didn't like the idea of paying for food either but I will tell you we did take advantage (have to try everything once before I judge too harshly) of the Sushi al la carte and the Tempura at the East meets West Restaurant on the NCL Sun. We walked out stuffed - tons of Sushi - they had like 8 huge California Rolls for the $2 price and for $4 the Tempura was so much better than Benehana's Restuarant here that would have charged me about $8 for less than I got on NCL. So For $8 we were so stuffed and could barely walk out! And they even gave us some soup they just included for free. They had some awesome soups on board - all the free ones.. :) So instead of knocking something before you try it - try it first... Debbie:D

[alwayssingin]

When we cruised the Sun we never ate in a speciality restaurant. All meals were in the dining room or buffet and they were all great. I don't think there is a need to book a speciality for great service/food, but we will have one dinner in Le Bistro - all this talk about the chocolate fondue is just too hard to pass up!

[Dolphins]

We also loved HAL (many cruises) but that was a long time ago. We are now hooked on freestyle dining and would find it hard to go back to traditional dining. We also found NCL treats repeat cruisers a lot better than HAL did. The clincher for us was NCL offering round trip cruises out of New York year round which eliminates having to fly anywhere.

[samtig]

I agree that the meals in the regular dining room on the Sun were very good. We ate at East Meets West one night & the steak was among the best we've had. Service was exceptional. Just love the Sun!

[hotspur]

As someone who has never cruised on NCL, I find the concept of specialty restaurants a bit of an anomaly. Personally I don't like the idea of paying for a vacation that includes meals then having to pay extra to eat a meal I enjoy because the "included" meals are not as good as the specialty restaurants.

I guess this attitude just puzzles me.

 

What makes you think you wouldn't "enjoy" the "included" meals served on the ship? Because the specialty restaurants may be better? What if the "included" meals were simply fine--as I and many others here believe they are--but the specialty restaurants were of the quality of Manhattan's "The Four Seasons" or Boston's "Hamersley Bistro" or Las Vegas's "Bouchon?" Would you complain because the "included" meals weren't as good those served in these fine restaurants and you had to pay something more than the bargain rate charged by mass-market cruise lines in order to have access to them?

 

Seems to me we should view the specialty restaurants as a kind of bonus we are offered by the cruise line at a very moderate price, and it is our choice as to whether we want to indulge ourselves in them or not. Why complain because there may be a venue for even better food than in the no-extra-charge dining rooms? If an NCL ship had a restaurant of the quality of The Four Seasons would you expect to eat there every night for your daily cruise rate of $100-$150/night?

 

The presumption that because NCL and other mass-market cruise lines can serve better meals in their specialty restaurant they should just include this level of dining in their rock-bottom fares is preposterous. You want filet mignon with foie gras at sirloin steak prices, and that makes no sense business-wise for the cruise lines. They would either have to raise base prices for everyone in order to do this or go out of business, and I don't think most people here would like either alternative.