mommysoncruiser

Thanks for the review and welcome home. Glad you had a good time despite the weather at GSC. I don't complain either at restaurants. But fries will taste like that for not changing the oil frequent enough. You were paying at least $60 to eat there. If it really was the worst steak you ever had and the fries were bad, you should have sent it back. Don't pay that kind of money for a meal that was so bad.

I am very lucky. I have eaten at Cagneys 8 times and never had anything but fantastic service and wonderful food.

I see that you are going on the Getaway. I want to get on that ship too. Hope you have lots of fun. I hear that ship is amazing!!

Thanks for the review and welcome home. Glad you had a good time despite the weather at GSC. I don't complain either at restaurants. But fries will taste like that for not changing the oil frequent enough. You were paying at least $60 to eat there. If it really was the worst steak you ever had and the fries were bad, you should have sent it back. Don't pay that kind of money for a meal that was so bad.

I am very lucky. I have eaten at Cagneys 8 times and never had anything but fantastic service and wonderful food.

Thanks. I'm glad your experience was better than mine. I am not one to make a big fuss about things as such and didn't want my dinner to be extended another hour plus. For me, it's just a lesson learned and I did what I thought best, Not eat there again. Le Bistro more than made up for everything. I am sure that Cagneys is different on every ship as they have different chefs and different staff. Maybe on a different ship my experience would have been different. Maybe on a different night it would have been different. Idk...and it doesn't matter because my trip went on and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I look forward to trying different NCL ships and vacations. I really liked freestyle although I tended to make set reservations each night, lol...

I am now trying to plan a cruise to the eastern Caribbean. I think it would be amazing. Was looking into doing it this summer but the prices are way overboard. It's double what we would pay now. I am now looking more towards December. We shall see. My son is now hooked on cruising.

It took a while to recover but I am back. Overall the cruise was a Success. I purchased the Ultimate Dining Package and the Birthday Package. I also prepaid my gratuities ( I highly recommend doing this). I was traveling solo with my 10 year old for his birthday. Well here goes the start of the review.

Day 1 Embarkation

Embarkation was a breeze. I was really shocked. We arrived to the Dock at about 10:30 am. We went through security and received our room keys and given a group boarding number. We were in group 3. I think they let us onto the ship at about 11:30 to 12. We proceeded to lunch in the Crossings restaurant. The service was good and the food was so so. While dining we received the message from the captain that our rooms would be ready by 2pm. I actually think they were ready around 1 pm. Well after we finished lunch we went to our room and my son was surprised by the beautiful room decorations and his wonderful birthday cake. It was a nice little setup and our room was very spacious. We went out to the pool deck and waited for the drill to start. I must say that the drill was very short and hectic but efficient. We then proceeded up to the pool deck and waited for the ship to leave the port. At this time my son was enjoying the pool and had a blast. I must say that he wasn't even aware that we were moving. (Oh I forgot to mention that this was his first cruise). We made reservations at Cagneys Steakhouse and ate there for our first dinner. I must say that it was a total disappointment. The service was not only slow, but it was pretty bad. No one seemed to care at all about providing good service. I ordered the ribeye and it was the worst steak I ever had. The macaroni was flavorless and the cagney fries tasted horrible. It tasted like they fried them in over used oil. Needless to say, that was the ONLY time we ate there. The night ended well and was overall great!

Day 2 GSC- Private island

We got up early at around 8 am and the weather was the pits. It was raining and super overcast. We proceeded to breakfast at the Garden Café Buffet and it was pretty good. We actually sat outside in the rain, lol....nuts I know. After breakfast we went to get our tender tickets and continued onto the tender boat. OMG, the waves were super rough and I was shocked that we even were allowed to go to the private island. The tender boat was hitting the side of the Sky really hard. my son was scared but I tried to ease his mind. Finally we got moving and the ride over to the island was very rough and the rain sprayed the crap out of us. It was really cold. I was determined not to miss out on this experience/port so we took it in stride. Once we got to the island I was pleased with how beautiful it was. I loved it. Beach chairs everywhere and the beaches were beautiful. I bought us a clamshell $29.99 which were plentiful because no one was on the island. It was worth it by the way because it protected us from the rain and the eventual sun that appeared. Anyhow A few hours after we got there more people started to arrived and by the time lunch rolled around, the island was filling up pretty well. The music and entertainment was so so and the buffet lunch was ok. The food was bland and not really all that appetizing but edible. Around 12 pm or so the rain subsided and the sun came out. It was only when the person next to me told me that they had suspended service to the private island for a while that I realized why it took so ling for people to come ashore. My son snorkeled on his own and I am very happy that we did not pay for that excursion. It was not worth it at all. We brought our own snorkel gear and saw that the excursion group was in the same area that we were snorkeling for free. We got some great pictures and had a blast at the private island. We headed back to the boat at 4pm and had time to watch sail away. We then got ready for dinner at Le Bistro ( we had 7 pm reservations). Let me tell you, Le Bistro was amazing and well worth going to. The service was excellent and the food matched. By far my favorite restaurant on the ship. This is a must go. I ordered the Escargot-Delish and the Duo De Canard (Duck) and it was superb. I really enjoyed this restaurant and wanted to go again. The night ended well and we eventually retired to the room to get ready for day 3.

Day 3 Nassau

We awoke early again and proceeded to the buffet breakfast. This day was better as far as weather. Breakfast was good and we exited the ship easily. Nassau we took a tour of the island by cab and did the Queens stair and the market. It was nice. We decided not to do Atlantis because the weather was not all that great and we knew we would come back the Nassau soon so we decided to get the rest of the island out of the way so that we can devote the full day to Atlantis next trip. We got dropped off at twin brothers for conch fritters and a cocktail. It was a disappointment. There was very little of the alcohol in the Miami vice and you couldn't even taste it ( me, being the alcoholic I am, lol kidding, asked them if they gave me a virgin drink and they felt bad and gave me an additional shot of alcohol free). The fritters were a ball of dough and not very good. Oh well, We walked to Junkanoo beach and relaxed a little there before making our way back to the ship. We stopped at Starbucks on the way. It was good! We took some pictures at the shopping area and watched two island ladies fight over a hair braiding customer. Purely unprofessional and entertaining. They totally scared the customers away. Back to the ship and straight to the Jacuzzi. Nice! Time to get a few drinks and relax while the kids played in the pool and Jacuzzi. We then got dressed for dinner and headed to our reservations at Il Adagio. It was nice and again the service was great. The food in this restaurant was just okay. The service more than made up for it however, I think the basketball court was right above the restaurant so there was a lot of loud stopping and banging. Overall it was a good experience. Time to go night night for the kiddies and off to the hot white party. It was freezing and hardly anybody showed up. Literally there was like 25 people of the 2000 on the ship that actually came. I still made the best. The after party continued at Dazzles and was a drunken mess. The People were wasted and crazy. Much fun though until someone stole my camera. Oh well, I did not let this ruin my cruise. Night night until tomorrow.

Day 4 Freeport

Woke up again and got buffet breakfast. What the heck is this? Very industrial. We actually relaxed and chilled a bit on the deck. No one seemed to want to get off of the ship. This port should be eliminated from the itinerary. We took a cab to Lucaya and ate fresh conch fritters there. It was really cool to watch the guy clean and prepare the conch right there on the spot. We had 3 $1 shots and headed to the beach. By far the least appealing port yet but we still relaxed on the beach a bit. Before we headed back to the ship we got 5 more $1 shots. Lol, nothing to do but drink there because there was nothing else to do. Was happy when this port was completed. We went back to the ship and got ready for dinner. Our last night and last dinner was awesome. You guessed it Le Bistro it is! I had the Coq Au Vin and it was delish. At the end of dinner the captain and a small crew came in and some lucky young lady got a beautiful marriage proposal. It was a great end to a great night. We went back to the room and packed for disembarkation.

Disembarkation

The time has come to leave. We decided to turn in our luggage the night before. We got up and did a room sweep then off to breakfast. Our last breakfast was nice and we took our time. On the way off I found the pictures that were taken during the course of the cruise and tried to purchase them. They were already getting rid of all the picture and I was too late because the system was closed. I was devastated and begged the guy not to throw them away and to just let me have them. After a little pouting he finally gave in and gave me the 10 pictures for free. I am very thankful and love Norwegian for this one. It was a great end to a great trip. My luggage was waiting for me at customs and we walked off happy.

Endnote: We experienced none of the spring break madness. We saw a lot of families and made some great friends on the ship. I am impressed as this was my first time cruising NCL. I think I am in love!!! :):):)

I have been reading comments on this forum for weeks and you guys have been terribly helpful- I thought you might be able to help me with my issue!

 

I have sold my house and moving soon but I can spare a month or a month an a half for a once in a lifetime trip!

 

I am looking for long cruises that I will not be able to take again in the next 30 years or so. I am 30 and between jobs and can afford to-so why not?! :) (Have already been to one cruise and loved it)

 

I would rather leave from anywhere in the US (west coast preferable), I would rather leave next month (April) or May or June (worst case scenario).

 

I want a long trip (over 17 days or even around 30 days) but what I am mostly concerned about is finding a ship that has a lot of activities on board and hopefully a nice group that will be around my age? I heard some of these cruises are really only for 80+ people and I am 30 :)

 

I am interested in going to Hawaii, Tahiti, Alaska, Australia, maybe Europe, Asia... I am not terribly interested in the Caribbean or Panama Canal or Mexican Riviera..

 

My worry with Europe is that I will be rushed on ports and won't be able to see as much as I'd like...

 

I am open for any suggestions, ideas, thoughts or general comments-anything you can share from your experience would be helpful :)

 

I am also a solo travelers and would love to pay less than 200% for my trip...

 

Thank you everyone!! :)

This is going to sound weird but I am very interested in a cruise like this too. My birthday is the 23rd of April and I would love to do a long cruise (solo) around the world or wherever. I have a huge travel bug and love cruises. I am female and will be turning 30 on the date indicated. Let me know what you find and maybe we can partner up or something. Sorry if this comes off as creepy, lol.. It's just that I would love to do something like this.

I get it, and I'm sure most people on these boards get your cruise enthusiasm too. There was a great article in the New York Times last week about how cruising is kind of a guilty pleasure: totally unhip but who cares?http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/travel/the-unhip-unexpected-joys-of-cruising.html?_r=0

 

I would also love to do a South American sailing. My parents did a 14 night SA last year and loved it.

 

We didn't try the specialty restaurants on the Sky but the MDR was actually very good, so I'm assuming the specialty venues will be even better. And the buffet was surprisingly good quality.

We should plan a S.A. Cruise sometime. Who knows, it might be really fun!

LOVE Celebrity. But to be honest, there's not a whole lot to do for kids. And Celebrity PAX enjoy a more refined cruise experience. Events tend to be more mellow, no loud music on the pool deck, limbo lines, etc. That being said, the few kids I saw on the Reflection seemed to be enjoying themselves. And I've heard Celebrity is trying to do more to enhance their kids' offerings.

 

We also really enjoy RCI. It's more mainstream and lively than Celebrity and there are so many activities it's often hard to decide what to do next. We always walked around with our Day at a Glance in our hands. What's nice is that the newer RCI ships also have interactive LCD monitors on every deck that show you when and where the activities are happening.

 

Bottom line, you won't be disappointed with either. It's just a question of whether you're looking for a more elegant (Celebrity) or festive (RCI) atmosphere.

I thought RCL would be better. Thanks. I'm looking forward to the Caribbean this summer. I want to eventually do a Mediterranean cruise. I think cruises are the best. I like formal dining but am looking forward to freestyle dining. I bought the ultimate dining package because I really want to eat good food. I also want to do a South American tour. I guess I want to cruise everywhere, lol.. And I love that my son has the travel bug too. Makes for companionship on the tours.

I am sure you will figure out your own strategies for avoiding the brat pack. Good luck! As for your future cruise, I've heard great things about Disney. Although Disney cruises tend to be pricier, too. Maybe RCI? They seem to have a good mix of activities and PAX.

Thanks for your response. I guess I will see how everything goes. As for a Disney cruise, I am not sure about them because I don't like children all that much (Ironic) and that is why I didn't consider them. I looked at slot of videos and there were kids everywhere. I can't handle too many kids. I barely can handle me 6 in 1 kid, lol......I was looking at celebrity and RCL. What do you think about either of them?

We're on the 4-night on March 24. I was disturbed reading the original post - vacation should definitely not be like that! Hope not to experience too much of the spring break insanity - fingers crossed.....

I am on this exact sailing too. I am extremely nervous as I have a vomit phobia. I am actually going on this cruise with my 10 year old. His first cruise and my second. First cruise was with carnival ages ago and it was great. Never been on NCL but I really hope that it is not too bad. I had to take this sailing because it's the only time he is out of school and it's for his birthday. I want to do a sailing in the summer as well (8 day +) but am trying to feel out which cruise line would be best. I am very excited nonetheless. Guess I will see you on the ship!!