Captain_Morgan

Firstly this is not meant to be a rant or complaint ridden thread, simply an objective account of our experience as first time NCL cruisers after having cruised many times on Princess, P&O, Cunard, Seabourn and Viking.  
 

We chose NCL as we wanted something different, a short trip, and to just get away from the cold winter weather and the 5 day holiday cruise on Getaway ticked the boxes.  
We arrived at the port approx 10:00am as we always travel light anyway and on this trip we weren’t checking in any large cases so were able to avoid a lot of the chaos…or so we thought.  As expected the outside of the terminal was a zoo with people everywhere waiting to board buses and the hapless ground staff were attempting to corral people much like herding cats.  Due to the lack of obvious signage amidst the throngs of people, we were guided to the wrong door and were abruptly told off by a terminal security guard for not having a wristband (identifier for having been tested in the terminal).  Not the most welcoming start to a vacation but not the end of the world and when we finally found where we were meant to be, the process was straightforward so long as you had your testing barcode and ID in hand ready for inspection.  
Testing in the terminal was another herding exercise, but nonetheless easy and painless as you stick the swab up your nose yourself instead of having someone scrape the back of your brain for you.  After all the testing was complete the actual terminal check in was quick and easy which was appreciated and the waiting began as with the ship returning to the US from Europe it meant Coast Guard inspections, etc resulted in a not too unreasonable delay.  
Once onboard we did the muster station check in, and off to the cabin we went which for this trip was a standard balcony on Deck 13.  
 

The cabin itself was as expected with enough space to be comfortable but the design/location of the closet was a bit of a pain unless you’re petite (which the majority of passengers onboard were most definitely not) and the couch/seating area was more decorative than comfortable.  
The bathroom was pleasantly larger than expected and it was nice to have a shower with a door and not a curtain that attacks you; however, the water pressure was abysmal and was more reminiscent of that in a campground than a cruise ship. 
The bed as well, albeit large enough for two people to sleep in was the opposite of comfortable and both my wife and I woke up most mornings feeling like we had been through Boot Camp.   
 

The ship itself was in good condition and the level of maintenance was visible with crew cleaning regularly; however, the concept of social distancing and other COVID protocols were paid lip service more than being enforced and the signs all over the ship were clearly for decoration.  Hot tubs were jammed full most of the time, the buffet was busier than most freeways at rush hour with people entering from all angles and the hapless crew standing near the sink with a bottle of hand sanitizer trying to get as many people to ‘washy washy’ as they could were missing more people than they were catching…but let’s not forget that hand sanitizer is not soap and water!

The design of the ship seemed very choppy and broken up with questionable use of space.  We enjoyed the Spice H2O area as it was relaxing most of the time during the day and there was always plenty of space to grab a lounge chair in the sun.  
The food onboard was mediocre at best although the presentation in the buffet was visually appealing even if it was the same offerings every day, or so it seemed.  
Moderna was very underwhelming and although not comparing it to a land based restaurant of the same theme, the entire experience was just very boring as the crew seemed very disinterested not only in the restaurants but generally around the ship.  
 

Further to the crew being less than helpful, I made an inquiry on day 2 about the pre departure COVID testing as was advertised at the time of booking.  The young lady at the desk said she had no information about testing being done this cruise but would make a note and get back to me.  Suffice it to say no attempt to ‘get back to me’ was made and it wasn’t until I followed up the day after (day 3 of 5) that someone replied that a note would be sent to the cabin IF testing was to be done which again didn’t instil any confidence in their process or protocols.  We eventually got the letter advising that testing would be done on the morning of the 26th (day 4) at 8:00am in the Bliss lounge and we had to tell them what kind of test was required (PCR or antigen).  
Testing went as scheduled and again, no onward information was provided re. when to expect results but knowing we wouldn’t be leaving the ship without them I didn’t worry too much.  
Morning of disembarkation and no results from our tests outside our cabin as I expected them to be which prompted a call to the desk for assistance.  After being asked by the person on the phone if I had checked outside the door, and confirming that I had with no success he then stated that the information had been sent by housekeeping at 5:00am and that he would chase it up for me and get back…again, famous last words!   After nearly 90 minutes with no results I chased again for the information and went through the same process of confirming I had checked outside the door, etc and was told they would get back to me.  Much to my surprise, this time someone did actually call me back and confirmed they had the information at the desk and would have it sent up.  As it was disembarkation day I knew it would be further delays for someone to drop off an envelope that should have been delivered hours earlier so instead i just said I would get it myself.  
 

Although the issues and observations we encountered might seem trivial to some, we just found the entire experience to be something not worth repeating in future.  
We are not ‘cheap’ but appreciate value for money and it just seemed that at every turn we were expected to spend for things which were either grossly overpriced (dinners, Starbucks, tours) or generally disappointing.

Crew from top to bottom seemed ‘put out’ to do basic things and the cruise director sounded and acted like a reject from a Nickelodeon kids program with his childish antics and sound effects during announcements. 
 

I’m sure many people enjoyed their cruise and will continue to funnel money into NCLs pockets but we will not likely be among them as the lack of value, woeful lack of interest and knowledge by crew and constant barrage of marketing nonsense was not something we are likely to sign up for again!

Currently onboard Getaway and the majority of people are wearing masks indoors; however the notion of social distancing is a laugh.  10 people jammed in a hot tub, crowds throughout the buffet of masked and non masked, crowded bars of maskless people, etc. 

yes we were all tested prior to embarking but the antigen tests are not the most accurate and as we all know by now the test is just a snap shot in time and not a guarantee to be accurate.  Add to the fact the majority of people seem to have gone ashore today in Cozumel so fingers crossed they’re not spreading or receiving some unwanted Christmas COVID…

23 hours ago, julig22 said:

If your TA is "C",  they don't participate.  But you can check here for certain

https://upgrade.plusgrade.com/offer/NCL/

Thanks for the link, but unfortunately for some reason it doesn't recognize my rez# despite it showing up just fine on the NCL site....guess its due to not having been offered the chance to bid so there's nothing to check?

I didn't book with "C" but i did book with Air Canada Vacations, which is odd if they didn't participate as I know they use the Plusgrade system for their flights...oh well, what to do?!?

1 hour ago, sunshine4me2 said:

We are on the Getaway, 12/27, and have 4 upgrade bids for Haven staterooms.  Anyone hear anything yet?

We are on the cruise prior and haven't received any emails for bidding so either they're sold out (i highly doubt it) or the online TA we used doesn't participate....either way its just going to be nice to be somewhere warm for a few days this winter

24 minutes ago, justhappy said:

When you log in to your NCL account and 

click on view reservation,  the first thing you’ll see is a Let’s Get You Upgraded 

banner if you get the offer. Not everyone does.it doesn’t matter if you booked direct or not.

And some travel agencies do not participate, including some big box retailers.

 

Thank you for the information, its very much appreciated and clarifies the entire approach

Bit of a silly question perhaps, but where might this 'upgrade banner' be found?  I presume it would be either on the booking summary page or similar?  Is there any correlation between booking direct with NCL vs a travel agent with respect to whether an option to bid for an upgrade is offered or is it strictly based on capacity?  We're still 39 days out from our cruise so still plenty of time and truth be told its more curiosity that's getting to me than anything else 😁

1 minute ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

No need to apologize. The information on/opinion of other lines is appreciated. 

Good to know!  Sadly it can't be said the same on other sub forums on here whereby the notion of being a cruise 'critic' is considered trolling by the kool-aid drinking sycophants 

We have our first NCL cruise on Getaway coming up over Xmas and are very intrigued by the notion of bidding for an upgrade on a cabin.  I've done it several times with airfares so not new to the concept, just the application with respect to a cruise.

Is there any ballpark time frame when the emails usually come out (if at all) or is it completely by chance (obviously based on occupancy, etc)?

Thank you to @KeithJenner and @Two Wheels Only for clarifying and confirming what I thought was the case.  Looking forward to our first NCL experience as it will be interesting to see how much 'value' is actually achieved with the FAS promo.

@mianmike we've sailed P&O, Princess, Seabourn, Viking, Cunard and can honestly say that the higher end cruises are not as dissimilar as some might believe.  Sure the price point is noticeably higher and there are definitely some things missing on the likes of Viking (no kids, casinos, photographers) and the cabins are generally larger in comparison because in the case of Seabourn and Viking they have outside cabins only, but we found the general ambiance of the so-called higher end lines to be more toxic than the mainstream brands. 

Seabourn is very status driven and because the ships are smaller people tend to be very territorial, especially if they're a higher tier in the otherwise meaningless loyalty program which many wear like a badge of honor.

Viking has very nice decor but the ships are all identical, bar a couple of the first ones which don't yet have minor inclusions from the newer ones (i.e. planetarium, which is quite small and not very awe inspiring IMO).  Sadly though due to their die-hard passenger base it means they often sell out very quickly so first timers find it very difficult to get onboard and they also require payment in full much further in advance than any other line.  Yes they have included WiFi (which can be very slow and cumbersome when 900 people are all connected 24/7) and draft beer / house wine included with meals as well as an included tour in each port.  Naturally they also offer a 'premium' beverage package for added cost. 

Onboard entertainment on most 'higher end' lines tends to be much less spectacular than what you see on the mainstream lines, and the overall safety / security onboard seemed much more relaxed in comparison to the likes of Princess, etc. which was evidenced by the fact Viking made redundant their Chief of Security, leaving the job to a navigating officer with no actual law enforcement / security background, and Seabourn seemed to have the idea that if people paid obnoxious amounts of money they were somehow lower risk?!?

Sorry for the thread drift, just chiming in on the comment about comparing mainstream to higher end brands based on personal experience

Pardon the ignorance as this will be mine and my wife's first time cruising with NCL (we've cruised extensively with other lines over the years) and we chose our upcoming trip because it lined up well with other plans, the price was 'right', we appreciate the mandatory vax policy (contentious topic for some I'm sure) and of course the 'free' at sea promo.

As it relates to the promo in question, I get that there is an added gratuity on all drinks which is fine, but I've just received my invoice from my TA and I see there is a pre-paid gratuities for the 'free at sea' line on my bill (we also pre-paid the 'regular' per day gratuities) so does this mean when i order a drink there isn't a further additional gratuity per drink as I presume there would be if i hadn't pre-paid? 

Again, apologies if that is a silly question or doesn't come across as making sense as the whole notion of 'free / not free' clearly gets people's dandruff ruffled but so long as i know what i'm paying for it stings a little less.

Also, as part of the promo we're showing '1 meal specialty dining package' with both of our names so does mean we get only 1 x meal in a specialty restaurant onboard or is it an option to dine in the specialty restaurants throughout the course of the cruise for both of us?  

As I say, i don't mind paying 'extra' so long as i know what i'm getting for my money and so far as a first timer with NCL they don't make it terribly clear although its nothing that's going to ruin our trip I'm sure.

Thanks in advance to the 'experts' who can clarify and safe sailing!

The 'Royal Class' ships of which Britannia is one do not have any passenger cabins on Deck 4 where the medical centre is located, as is the case with the Grand Class (Azura/Ventura) with the nearest passenger cabins being on Deck 5 and those are inboard.

If memory serves there are balcony cabins Aft on Deck 8 for Azura/Ventura and I believe they start on Deck 9 for Britannia

7 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Regarding my initial post, please note the full vaccination of crew was stated to be.a goal 😢

If the crew got their first shots in Malta, would they not have to wait a minimum amount of time between first and second doses?  How long was the ship in Malta....long enough to facilitate the full dose?  Sounds like Viking are playing a little fast & loose with their information like other lines claiming pax and crew have to be vaccinated but don't specify if its 'full' or 'half'....in times like these I'd say semantics matter!

1 minute ago, Harry Peterson said:

Conversely, you could argue that if staff are working in the high wage economies of the western world they should be paid the rates appropriate to those countries. And indeed, if they were working within many of those countries, such as the UK, rather than just outside, they would be.

Definitely!  And just to turn the worm a little more, every person working onboard has signed a contract which clearly outlines the remuneration and expectations so if things were 'so bad' as some might believe or be led to believe, why did the person sign on the dotted line to begin with?  

There are very clear laws against changing contract T&C's after things have been signed/agreed to so I can't see any major cruise line (in this case) doing something like that, even if there is a perception of the crew being somehow underpaid/overworked. 

16 hours ago, dwlmg said:

There is a facebook post from one of the people put ashore. Apparently Viking worked a miracle with the government and the people involved are back aboard the Viking ship in their same room.

No miracle, more like calling in favors and peddling influence and before anyone calls that bluster, look no further than the below which clearly shows Viking has presence in Bermuda (like many other companies making use of their favourable tax laws, etc)

https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.viking_cruises_ltd.7889ba5a377f1269ba8039f54a8a692a.html

14 hours ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

Their wages may be poor compaired to Western standards but will be huge compaired to the same job in their country.

Exactly!  When considered in context, the best way to look at it would be in saying with £1 or $1 how many pieces of candy can be had in X country relative to the other.  Yes this is an incredibly simple example, but you can't compare what someone in a 'First World' country considers good/bad wages versus what someone in a developing country considers the same as in the latter the £/$ will ultimately stretch a considerable distance/length of time.

3 minutes ago, B_A_H said:

Aren't you all spitting in to a tube everyday?  If so I'd imagine (or hope) that's what caught her change in status. 

Or maybe the onboard testing isn't as full proof as advertised?  Shouldn't be hard to believe if the well published 'rules' aren't even being enforced?

1 hour ago, Harry Peterson said:

On the plus side, if his comments are to be believed some cruise companies may have to increase rates of pay substantially to get people back.

Sadly, the nature of the beast that is the cruise industry is that no matter how aggrieved someone feels because they think they're not paid a fair wage, there will always be someone else waiting in the wings to do that job for the money offered.  I know that sounds like a dark projection, but the same can be said about any economic opportunities whereby the source worker is coming from a developing nation and can earn substantially more working abroad than they can at home.

I recall many years ago on a cruise when we were speaking with the florist who had a lovely flower display in the atrium and he said he was a qualified dentist in the Philippines but made more money working as a florist on a cruise ship.

If P&O (Carnival UK) were so hell-bent on filling ships to the brim, why have they taken a comparitively cautious approach to a return to sailing with only 2 ships (+1 from Cunard) and not sending them all into the fray?

The fact that the ships chosen for restart are the largest of the fleet would indicate to me that they are very mindful and cautious as to their approach, bearing in mind the capacity limitations and ability to achieve a comfortable experience onboard for those who've chosen to cruise.  Imagine what would happen if they went full power with as many ships as they could and did so in a half-measured way and God forbid had an outbreak of some kind?  They would be absolutely excoriated on all levels and people would be screaming from the hilltops about how they should have gone slower and more cautiously.  Damned if they do, and damned if they don't...

There was mention of Viking a few posts back; they have a max capacity of 930 and from what I've heard their domestic UK cruises were sailing with about a 1/3 capacity, not to mention their requirements for 'vaccinated passengers' is misleading as they only required passengers to have at least one jab, and not the full dose.  Sure they might be doing other perceived mitigations onboard in the form of daily testing, temperature checks, etc. but I would prefer to know I was on a ship with fully vaccinated passengers instead of a mix of full and half vaccinated.

Although not a particularly popular point of view as it comes across as being 'negative' or 'anti' but if you were to remove 'Viking' from the below and just say 'the company' it would not be far from reasonable to assume/believe the following:

'the company' has been on a course of rapid growth from the very start, and its not rocket science to believe that these endeavors are not cheap, although by industry standards the ships were built cheaper than comparables at $400m apiece and how better to assist with the bankrolling of future plans than to demand (and receive) what are essentially interest free loans from future customers?

Obviously the monies paid by future guests is not funding the entire future build program, but it goes without saying that 'the company' has managed to secure another revenue stream which it pays no interest on, and in the event a return of the loan is requested, the initial response seems to be the offer of an FCC with a little extra which is akin to paying a loan with an IOU + %

Clearly this method of operating has been extremely successful for 'the company' and the majority of current and future guests appear to be OK with it; however, the question remains what happens to your many thousands of dollars if 'the company' were to become insolvent?  I am not an expert in this field but I can only guess that those holding seemingly worthless FCC would simply be added to a long list of creditors waiting to be made whole.  Of course the upside is the asset holdings (i.e. ships) have value which I presume would be liquidated in some way to pay creditors but it should be no surprise that a percentage of people don't feel comfortable with lending large sums of money to a company on the hope that they will receive what they've paid for 12 months in advance.

2 hours ago, nosapphire said:

While I know this is not the RC forum, interesting article about their planned Israel sailings - which, if the article is correct, may not be going quite as planned for either cruises or crew vaccinations.

https://www.cruiselawnews.com/2021/04/articles/disease/odyssey-of-the-seas-arrives-in-israel-israels-minstry-of-health-still-has-not-approved-royal-caribbeans-health-protocols/

 

Methinks the lines that did NOT declare that all crew would be vaccinated played the sensible card.

Completely agree, and as mentioned I think the lofty remark about having all crew being vaccinated is/was nothing more than a marketing strategy to try and assure future cruisers of the perceived 'safety' from COVID onboard.  Similar I think to another line that was touting their having a lab onboard for testing as a means of marketing strategy in lieu of passengers being fully vaccinated. 

Big deal, all that's going to do is give results based on a snapshot in time for when people are tested but it does little IMO to stop the spread in an already confined environment as was seen onboard SeaDream who claimed to have a  robust testing program as well...

Just now, MX-Drew said:

"Expect to be" and "will be" are very different and in this context just marketing speak in my view. 

I completely agree and think its nothing more than 'pie in the sky' to suggest that crew from all corners of the globe (many from developing countries) will somehow manage to get vaccinated when the likes of Canada and other Western nations are struggling to vaccinate their population

6 minutes ago, Pink-belle said:

Please could you point me in the direction of the information about cruise lines guaranteeing their crews would be vaccinated by the end of the year.  
 

I have only been following Princess and P&O as they are who I will be sailing with, but they both state crews will not be vaccinated, but will have been in quarantine.  I would be interested to read who is stating that they will be vaccinations all their crew by the end of the year.

 

my heart breaks for those in India, I can’t imagine the horror they are coping with right now. 

There is no guarantee about anything, least of all that crews will be vaccinated; however, the likes of RCI and NCL have said publicly that they expect their crew to be vaccinated

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/24657-how-royal-caribbean-group-ensures-its-crew-get-vaccinated.html

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/24691-norwegian-cruise-line-holdings-to-require-crew-to-be-vaccinated-against-covid-19.html

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2021/04/05/norwegian-cruise-line-require-full-vaccinations-passengers-crew/7089216002/

Any mention by cruise lines to suggest that their crew will be vaccinated is just a means to bolster consumer confidence as unless they're manning ships with a demographic comprised of 40+ year olds (on the low side) from the UK or a random mish-mash of ages from the US than where are these mythical creatures coming from?  

Looking at the terrible state of play in India where they're literally setting new records for positive cases on a daily basis (and lets assume the numbers are actually much higher, but they're not being accurately recorded due to lack of access to tests for rural and impoverished) and the fact that at least RCI have stopped recruiting/manning from there which is going to be next line to follow?  

Although not as publicly discussed I wonder what the state of play is like in the Philippines with respect to vaccine rollout, etc?  When you consider these are two of the major players in the industry when it comes to supplying crew to the industry I have a hard time believing any cruise line will be able to achieve their lofty guarantee of having a fully vaccinated crew any time this side of the end of the year.

If anyone thinks that a CSR is going to give them all the answers to the burning questions, they will surely be sadly disappointed.  As has been mentioned these people are reading a script and nothing more, they are not decision makers and have no power whatsoever to assuage your fears.

I imagine that the only upside to sailing in UK waters with UK residents is that if something were to go wrong onboard (i.e. outbreak requiring people to be landed) it would mean less issues politically.

Looking in comparison to the likes of RCCL planning on sailing around the Bahamas with vaccinated adults and un-vaccinated children, they're going to have a much greater issue I would think if they experienced an outbreak for obvious reasons.

Either way, this seems very much like a canary in the coal mine approach which may or may not come back to haunt them...

It's one thing to 'go their own way' but its another entirely to face the fallout when something goes sideways and they get bit in the backside.  As has been referenced already, SeaDream thought they had a good plan and we know what happened there, so does Viking really think their plan is better because they have a lab onboard (has this been confirmed on Venus?) and are catering to a hopefully vaccinated passenger base?  Seems more like a fingers crossed and hope for the best approach, and I can't help but think that they must be worse off financially than others if they're not willing to draw a line in the sand when it comes to mandatory vaccines.