unionhall

I completely agree that the quality of the NCL product has declined. I have sailed with them for forty years but this past 10 day Caribbean on Getaway in February was my last cruise. I wasn’t happy on the 5 day Bermuda Getaway in January with the temperature of the food at breakfast in the Buffet and American diner so I didn’t eat there on the February cruise. We had two bad meals in O’Sheehans and then we didn’t go again. I tried to avoid what wasn’t working for us. We had a very good dinner at Cagneys and Teppanyaki but the rest were just okay. For me I liked the hash browns with breakfast, the cookies in the afternoon, the occasional towel animal. They like the thin mint on your pillow and cabins done twice a day are gone from NCL. The most frustrating part for me is how long it takes to get a response from guest services. We had a problem with the casino and I want to know who to get in touch with. I filled out the form and they told me I will get a response in 15- 30 days. That is just to get the name of who we have to contact. My up coming cruises are booked with Royal in April,(Bahamas/Florida/perfect day) two with Celebrity in July (Japan and Alaska)and back on Royal in September for Canada. Out of the nine people with us on our last trip only two are booked on a future NCl. The rest are moving on.

Sorry about the typing! For those who asked… I am Sapphire on NCL (25 cruises, 16 different ships) The cold food was every breakfast. My brother in laws plan for the next cruise is to go to Taste or Savor so he can hopefully enjoy a hot breakfast. We got off the Bliss on March 15,2020 when the world was shutting down for Covid. Since cruising resumed we have done eight cruises on NCL. As previously stated I tried Prima twice and didn’t like the ship. I have no interest in Viva. My observation is NCL keeps cutting back in areas that I notice. The cleaning of the cabin once a day is fine in cold weather but when your in hot weather, returning from the beach in the afternoon or the pool and having those sandy towels taking up space in the bathroom till the next day is not good. I feel bad for the cabin steward. We used to enjoy Le Bistro but the menu changed and none of us will eat there again. I have never liked La Cuccina on any NCL ship and the meat at Moderno was not good this last trip. I don’t eat Seafood so hopefully Cagneys will still be good on the next cruise. The biggest changes in my opinion have been in the last eight months. Less cleaning, less professional entertainment, and long lines for anytime dining. Quality of food is on the decline. I also miss the hash browns. Yes we got to Bermuda. It docked two hours later then planned because the seas were so rough they slowed the ship down. I was grateful for that but we also didnt have any plans for Bermuda.

We are just back from the 5 day Bermuda cruise on the Getaway. These are my comparisons from cruises this past year. We never had a bad meal on Virgin Scarlett Lady and we never had a great meal on the Getaway. The food was cold in American Diner and in the Garden Cafe consistently. The salad bar and dessert were better than the meat in Moderno. This was the first cruise for me where there was always a half hour wait when we went to OSheehans and we tried all different times. I believe there were 4400 passengers sailing so it was a busy ship. The food was not once worth the wait. The best meal we had was at Teppanyaki and we all joked it was because it was hot when we were served. The entertainment is lacking during the day. The worst was a Scattergories game where the host didn’t give a letter for the question so it went on for way too long listening to over 30 people read out their answers.(ie.. the way the game is played the question is name 5 countries that begin with C. When people write the same country you get knocked out but when your not given a letter there are way too many options.) There were no afternoon shows in the theater. There was a time when you could see a magic show, a juggler or a mentalist but now it’s bingo. There was more daytime entertainment on the RCL Oasis and definitely more evening shows. Million dollar Quartet was enjoyable but we have seen it many times. Rumors was not on this week in Syds. I liked the late night pizza on Oasis over the wings in Osheehans. Watching a football game in Playmakers is fun watching the games on Getaway with no sound not so much fun. The casino could do with the glassed in section for smokers that other NCL ships have. Oasis wins there with its non smoking casino in a different area. Getting a drink while playing slots in the casino was almost impossible some nights. The worst was when they took your card and then didn’t come back for twenty minutes holding you hostage to the area. We had previously booked the ten day Caribbean cruise on the Getaway for February and for the first time in over 45 years of cruising I am not looking forward to a cruise. I was platinum on Carnival when I stopped cruising that line in 2016 because of the poor quality of food. I am Sapphire on NCL and I do enjoy the dinner with the officers but that isn’t enough to get me to book NCL again. We sailed on the Prima in January out of Port Canaveral and then in March to Bermuda. The ship isn’t for me. I liked the cabins and the food hall. The outdoor space was amazing when you could use it but out of NY in the cold weather there wasn’t much time. It was too crowded inside on the bad weather days. The point of my post is we are lucky that there are so many options to chose from when you want to cruise. When your usual line no longer makes you happy don’t be afraid to try out another brand.. I am booked on Royal and Celebrity this year and I am looking forward to finding the line that suits me now. If Virgin would home port in the NYC area that would be the front runner.

Chief Mate JRK why do you find my post highly suspect? I had just sailed the Joy when I read the post about the refurbishment question. Before the dinner I had no idea the ship was going into dry dock. The topic was bought up by the officer. She has been on the ship since it went into service. Two days after the dinner we were invited to a party in the Brew House attended by a lot of the senior officers. We had another conversation with a different officer about the changes coming after drydock. He said the same thing about cabins being put back in part of the OL. Interestingly CWMixer the deck plan you showed doesn’t have the two bathrooms that are currently at the front of the OL entrance.

The officer did say that they had removed cabins from the observation lounge when it came from the China market. If you’re booked for 2023 Canada/New England cruises you will still have that spacious lounge so enjoy it. We did two sailings on the Prima this year. One was the western Caribbean and the other was Bermuda. On both those cruises we found the Observation lounge too small. It was often hard to get seating for four people together.I am not a fan of the Prima except for the cabins, Deck 8, and Indulge Food Hall. I think NCL should never take that ship to cold destinations. It should be in warm weather climates so everyone can enjoy the beautiful outdoor space. Just fix that black stuff that falls on the furniture. I don’t know what it is. My favorite observation lounge is on the Bliss.

We were just on the Joy and had dinner with an officer. Some of the changes they told us were The Galaxy arcade is going to be a thermal spa and they are adding 24 cabins to part of the observation lounge. I really liked all the space that was in the lounge but I guess they need to up the revenue. They also talked about the changes the Joy went through when it came back from sailing in China. There used to be a lot of high end stores on it, three casinos, the Social was a casino and there was real Bermuda grass on the pool deck and a live tree in the middle of the deck. The brew house was a tea room.Another really interesting story was none of the cabins end with the number 4 because in Asia it is considered unlucky. Even in the theater the seat numbers skip over 4.