1. The Ship
It was very obvious that Star/NCL did not spend a lot of money building the Norwegian Star. The quality of the interior was poor. Unlike Princess or RCI where beautiful and surprising artwork greets you around every corner, Norwegian Star had very little artwork of any kind. This made the ship feel boring, uninspired. And good heavens I’ve never seen so much fake walnut paneling in my life! Worse, every panel was identical—not even an attempt to make it look authentic. It was like laminated wallpaper.

The layout of the public rooms was also disjointed. They did not flow nicely from one to the next. Long boring hallways often linked one public space to the next. No teak decking anywhere, although the promenade deck was very wide. And the single pool was nowhere near large enough for a 90,000 ton ship. One must keep in mind that Nor. Star was a prototype ship—the first in its class. Later versions seem to have made improvements to the layout, flow, and decor. I would be interested to experience Norwegian Jewel, Gem, or Pearl and compare them with Star.

One redeeming quality was the Spinnaker Lounge forward on deck 12. This is the observation lounge above the bridge, and one of the best views I’ve ever had on a ship. My favorite seat was over the bridge wings. From there you could look forward over the bow, or look aft and see the whole side of the ship. Every cruise ship should have a room like this. Sadly, this wonderful room on Norwegian Star (its best feature) has been changed on the newer ships in the class. The height of the room has been reduced, and it no longer extends over the bridge wings.

2. The Service
Mediocre is the word that comes to mind. Our first night onboard a terrible banging noise erupted under our cabin on deck 11. We couldn’t sleep. At 4am we finally called the desk about the problem. After 30 minutes of back and forth they finally gave us a new stateroom (along with three other couples also disrupted by the noise). NCL took care of the problem, but during the entire fiasco there was no apology for the inconvenience, no offer to compensate us for the move, no attitude of service to make things right. We were merely a problem to be handled. Not passengers to be cared for.

The crew was polite and appropriate, but they never excelled. They never impressed us. They did their job. Period. On my more recent cruises with Princess I felt the crew had a sense of pride. There was an atmosphere about the ship—we were on a Princess cruise, and that was something special. And the crew felt it too. They wanted us to have a special experience. There was no such pride among the NCL staff. No attempt to go out of the way to make a special effort. Is this an outcome of the line’s automatic tipping policy? I think so. Why should the crew go over the top if their tip is already guaranteed?

Sadly, NCL is one of the most renowned names in cruising. They virtually invented the cruise industry in Florida, and have a wonderful heritage. But that sense of heritage, pride, and being part of something special seems to have been lost. NCL doesn’t seem like a cruise line with a 40 year heritage. It seems like a line with 6 years of turbulent market performance.

NCL may have a 40 year heritage but their present owners Star Cruises are one of the new companies running cruise ships.

Your report does not surprise me as it seems all their ships suffer from poor service from the crew which results in various passenger complaints.

The Norwegiian Spirit had a Oriental theme from its original years of sailing in Southeast Asia. I liked the Oriental touches throughout the ship. We had a balcony on this ship and our room was very colorful in how it was decorated. It was not my taste, but was done nicely. The room was also well planned. I liked the ship itself. There was also a large bar that wrapped around the bow of the ship that was a wonderful place to sit on a sea day. It also had the wings off the side of the ship from this bar and this was a great place to watch the ship cut through the water and enjoy the sea.

I did not find service to be superior on either ship, but I did not have reasons to complain about it, either. The dining room service was much better on the Norwegiian Spirit. Both ships need to work on how to manage a restaurant crowd. They also need to have the right size tables set up for the passengers on the current cruise, so large groups can be seated, and parties of two can be seated, without long waits.

1. Repeal the automatic gratuity policy.

2. Keep the Freestyle dinning options, but also give passengers a traditional dinning choice with the same table and server.

3. Invest in art. Other cruise lines have learned that the ship is the destination, and they must compete with land-based resorts. Make NCL ships an unforgetable environment from the cabins to the open decks.

4. Resurrect NCL's heritage, don't hide from it. Make passenger feel part of a culture larger than themselves; larger than their single cruise. Cabin TV programming should highlight NCL's history and pioneering spirit. Decor and artwork as well. Create a bar/lounge on every ship that is themed around NCL's history--former ship models, images, etc.

5. Create some universal NCL experiences for passengers. Princess (at least in the past) always played the Love Boat theme during sail away. They always have a champaign fountain at the captian's reception. Costa had their toga nights. Other lines have their trademark experiences. NCL needs these as well. Something uniquely NCL (other than hull art).

6. Emphasize the "style" in freestyle. Give the cruises a bit more class, an aire of sophistication. Despite signs discouraging it one still finds many people eating in the main dinning rooms at dinner in shorts and t-shirts. Don't eleminate options for those who want to be totally casual, but don't pander to them either. Carve out space for some formality.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Fairsky:
1. Repeal the automatic gratuity policy.

---

Personally I don't believe that staff can only do a good job if they have to work hard for tips.

[ 05-08-2007: Message edited by: PamM ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Fairsky:
Here are a few of my suggestions for NCL:[/qb]

---

1. Repeal the automatic gratuity policy.

Most lines do this now; I don't think any will move back.

2. Keep the Freestyle dinning options, but also give passengers a traditional dinning choice with the same table and server.

This option has always been available; arrange with M'd on the first night.

3. Invest in art. Other cruise lines have learned that the ship is the destination, and they must compete with land-based resorts. Make NCL ships an unforgetable environment from the cabins to the open decks.

Some NCL ships have the 'best' art of the lot - N Dawn. If it is still aboard?

4. Resurrect NCL's heritage, don't hide from it. Make passenger feel part of a culture larger than themselves; larger than their single cruise. Cabin TV programming should highlight NCL's history and pioneering spirit. Decor and artwork as well. Create a bar/lounge on every ship that is themed around NCL's history--former ship models, images, etc.

I wish all lines did this. But most cruisers just are not interested in such things. Norwegian Sun had a nice display of nautical bits and pieces.

5. Create some universal NCL experiences for passengers. Princess (at least in the past) always played the Love Boat theme during sail away. They always have a champaign fountain at the captian's reception. Costa had their toga nights. Other lines have their trademark experiences. NCL needs these as well. Something uniquely NCL (other than hull art).

Enya? queue Malcolm [Costa only have Toga nights when sailing from the US].

Pam

[ 05-08-2007: Message edited by: PamM ]