Welcome to Cruise Talk the Internet's most popular discussion forum dedicated to cruising. Stop by Cruise Talk anytime to post a message or find out what your fellow passengers and industry insiders are saying about a particular ship, cruise line or destination.
>>> Reader Reviews >>> CruisePage.com Photo Gallery >>> Join Our Cruise Club.
Latest News...Disney Cruise Line announced today that the honorary role of "godparent" for its new ship, the Disney Treasure, will be held by The Walt Disney Company cast, crew, Imagineers and employees around the world. The profound declaration is a heartfelt tribute to the more than 200,000 dreamers and doers who make every Disney entertainment, vacation and at-home experience possible. Disney Cruise Line is proud to celebrate...
Latest News...Carnival Cruise Line is adding to its line-up of 2026/27 deployment with sailings from New York City on Carnival Venezia, and more Long Beach sailings on Carnival Firenze and Carnival Radiance. Our two Carnival Fun Italian Style ships offer great options from the east and west coasts, conveniently connecting New York and Long Beach to popular destinations, while delivering unique experiences on board...
Latest News...Vacationers are in for more ways to make memories across Royal Caribbeans latest combination of tropical and Northeast 2026-27 getaways. The lineup of 12 Royal Caribbean ships rounds out a variety of adventures across Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico and the Northeast for every type of family and vacationer to get away any time of year. Crown & Anchor Society loyalty members...
My experience on NCL last month was not unlike what you report. Most on these boards would agree that NCL needs a major overhaul. I think it needs to be sold and completely restructured by someone who has a clue about running a cruise line. I would still love to see MSC buy NCL and make it their North American brand.
Pam
And I don't think it would be a good thing to see NCL bought by MSC. They are themselves still quite amateurish in some aspects (even if it's improving). Simply look at their North American fiasco.
quote:Originally posted by Pascal:I wonder if NCL "standard" ships are as bad as the NCL America ones ? Perhaps some CTers here who have experienced both could express their thoughts about this.
See our Readers Reviews HERE!
Although the bad reviews tend to reach our ears the quickest, there are some very satisfied customers too! However NCLA does seem to get more mediocre or bad reviews than NCL.
Take a look at the two 2007 'pride of Aloha' reviews - talk about a difference of opinion!
quote:Originally posted by Frosty 4:All gratuities are automatically added to the shipboard bill - even though service sucked!
Many lines now do this. You can request at the pursers desk that they are re-credited to your credit card if you are unhappy with the service.
http://maritimematters.blogspot.com/
I have to speak as I find so I do not know if we were lucky twice but we enjoyed our cruise both times. Perhaps Norwegian Wind was well run. I hope that her replacement in Hawaii, Norwegian Sun delivers the same service as Norwegian Wind.
We did meet a couple on our last cruise who were on one of the NCLA cruises last year and their story was the 7 day cruise from hell due mainly to lack of crew on board.
In general, NCL seems to be the most inconsistent of all the major lines. People have fantastic cruises and rave about NCL, and others can't stand the line. This is true on almost every line but much more prevalent on NCL.
NCL definitely has excellent hardware in place. Most of it is modern, state of the art. It's the software that needs work. As to some of the items specified by the OP. I have never had to "pay" for entertainment on NCL although I think this was considered at one time. Tips on many cruise lines auto-charged so this should come as no surprise. NCL does not hide this fact and the policy is clearly stated in the brochure. The food I had onboard was just as good as any other mass-market cruise line. Sorry about the cabin attendant. Some are better than others, but again NCL America has a real problem in this area. I hope they get it worked out as I truly want NCL and NCL America to succeed.
Ernie
They could call it 'personal choice' Cruising. The sales line would be: Why pay for a show that you do not want to see or food that you do not want to eat?
quote:Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:I can see the day that a cruise line charges a fare of $99 but you pay for everything onboad including the food and shows. They could call it 'personal choice' Cruising. The sales line would be: Why pay for a show that you do not want to see or food that you do not want to eat?
Why not? This could be adequate for a CHEAP cruise. (...which might turn out being an expensive one )If the ship is at sea during breakfast, dinner and lunch time (so that one can not eat ashore) one probably still has to include something to eat - but this could be basic - and why not paying extra for any other benefits like shows, better food etc.
quote:Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:Although the bad reviews tend to reach our ears the quickest, there are some very satisfied customers too! However NCLA does seem to get more mediocre or bad reviews than NCL. Take a look at the two 2007 'pride of Aloha' reviews - talk about a difference of opinion!
quote:Originally posted by Malcolm:I can see the day that a cruise line charges a fare of $99 but you pay for everything onboad including the food and shows.They could call it 'personal choice' Cruising. The sales line would be: Why pay for a show that you do not want to see or food that you do not want to eat?
It would be most unfortunate.
What I think is getting lost in these cases is that, while you might be paying more, you're also paying for the convenience of not having to worry about paying again. If you choose not to go to a show, that's your business. But should you choose to do so, why worry about having to pay for it then and there? Granted, it gets added to your account, but then you still have to worry about the credit bill at the end of the month. I'd rather pay for it up front and be done with it. I can see the value of only paying for what you want, but there has to be some way to soften the blow after the fact.
[ 06-27-2007: Message edited by: BigUFan ]
quote:Originally posted by BigUFan:...you're also paying for the convenience of not having to worry about paying again.
Personally there are already enough extras on board today's cruise ships to worry me. I always check my cashless account before the end of the cruise.
Ideally I'd like a reasonable fare and EVERYTHING included!
It is already here - it is called EasyCruise. Even bedlinen and towel changes cost extra. I thought i could live with a towel for 4 days but they didn't dry out! Up until now I don't think i've used a towel more than once on a ship so it wasn't a problem i was aware of.
I quite like the Freestyle concept of NCL, and the option of paying for premium restaurants. The obligatory service charge will always rankle. Whether the practice lives up to the concept is another matter.
It probably isn't for me as i travel solo and like the fixed seating and the same familiar faces - although on my last cruise I met the most objectionable person in the world - and nearly changed my mind (until she, thankfully, with a little prompting from me, left, but not before having driven 6 others from my table). Freestyle seemed like a very good option then!
quote:Originally posted by geno-er:. And our last cruise on Carnival Holiday last Jan. was only just so-so.
Gene, can you give us details?remember the thread?
Carnival Holiday out of Mobile, Al
Why oh why did they send away the HAWAII and keep the ALOHA? The world may never know!
Bad room stewards happen on every cruise ship. If you have the bad room steward, it impacts your cruise. Our room stewards were fine.
People like to complain and can let small things that are wrong ruin their cruise, though the above review had big things wrong. Maybe we were just lucky on our two NCL cruises, because we enjoyed both of them and have just minor things we found fault with that did not impact our overall experience.
I prefer assigned seating at dinner and am sorry to see RCI going to freestyle. We will soon be booked on the Freedom on the Seas for next April and I was looking forward to assigned seating and having the same waiter. We will be a party of six this time, so we will see how RCI does with freestyle with so many people on board. They did very well with assigned seating in the past.
Ultimate Bulletin BoardTM 6.1.0.3
More Vacation & Cruise Specials...