Tenderpaw

They really are following the Carnival naming convention. At least the other names (Fantasy, Dream, Magic) fit the Disney theme. Destiny? Nothing magical about that. They could have used Disney Princess and been unimaginative but at least had a name fitting with the Disney theme. After the first Noro outbreak, she will be known as the Disney Dysentery! Just like the Carnival ship was....

Not much thought went into that! A recycled Carnival ship name! They could have done better.

I understand the frustration but in 50 cruises I don't think I've ever gotten money back after final payment, but we have been able to move up to a better cabin before. But we haven't tried that since covid either. Regarding Lahaina, I've never heard of not getting the port fees back on a port cancellation. Even if the fees changed (went down), you'd still get something back. Maybe they had already credited them prior to final payment?

Thanks for your helpful response about the numbers on the wall. No one would have thought of that without your witty input. The reality is a couple a magnets on the door or wall aren't the reason for the "ban". It's because of the excessiveness of a few on every voyage. Corporations will always use a safety argument for policy if they can because it sounds much better than "because a few clowns are excessive with door decorations, causing damage, and we don't want to police it, they are all now banned".

People ask for compensation for stupid stuff all the time, but this isn't one of those times. Having sewage over flow in your bathroom should be worth some small comp. Getting sprayed by the toilet should warrant more including medical review, everything touched by sewage cleaned/sanitized/dry cleaned, and something extra for your trouble.

This is an example of why cruise lines ban things. Someone always has to go and do something crazy and ruin a fun thing for everyone else. Like the person who hid 500 ducks on the one of the Disney ships. We were on the Prima in January and had a couple of magnets on the door and a couple on the wall to help us find the cabin. One of the wall ones was jacked on the second to last day and we figured it was a kid because the kid's club was nearby. Annoying but you don't put anything out there you don't mind losing. And no, we didn't know they weren't allowed.

What are they? We sailed Celebrity last year and thought the Elite benefits aren't as good as Diamond benefits, specifically the time and limited menu of free drinks. I do recall a bag of laundry that was nice on a long cruise, but what other benefits are a lot better?

Yep, even well into the 2000s you could find a good selection of higher end food on the buffet. It's quite sad how the food has devolved on cruises compared to what it once was. But the cruise line executives are happy that people won't complain! Bigger bonuses for them! Bring on the mashed potatoes, rice, cheap cuts of meat, and currie sauce!

W Well, we don't know that they have cruised before. And, people may think because the ship is new and the fares are SO HIGH that Icon will have a higher quality buffet. Who knows what they are thinking. We did a cruise once that had a special VIP event on board the day we sailed. The next day, the buffet had some much better choices. I guess they overbought food and it wasn't all needed. That quickly was quickly consumed, never to be seen again.

We were on the Jan 5 cruise and if you call the res number on the phone in your room, you can make Comodore and Hudsons reservations. But if you go to the reservation table in the atrium, they will say you can't. We found the food to be good on the ship and better than we've experienced in recent cruises. Not better than years ago though. And yes, the spaces on the Prima are all small.

I'm seeing pics on FB of food in the WJ for these VIP sailings of the Icon. Lots of lobster, shrimp, steak, etc and people are posting about how good it looks and how they need to book a cruise! Aren't they in for a surprise when normal sailings start and its just the regular WJ food laid out for them! No lobster for you! Just normal WJ gruel! I know, there are good things in the WJ, but it will not be what is being served to these VIPS.

The lack of indoor space on Prima brings chair hogging to the extreme. Obs lounge had hoggers too. They camped out all day. Or at least their stuff did.

Those balcony rooms are the best! One of the nicest non-suite balconies we have had. Nice chairs too, but ours had the reclining mechanism bolted in place. I don't know if they all were, but I don't know why just ours would be. I assume someone managed to hurt themselves reclining and sued the cruise line to ruin it for the rest of us.

This was our experience last week too, although we didn't have near as many kids, thank goodness. Sids, Improv, Obs Lounge, and Atrium were packed for events. Theater was overloaded once that we witnessed, so maybe its OK. Metro and Belevedere had capacity with Metro becoming our go-to bar. People would chair hog in the Obs Lounge such that getting a seat was not possible often. Comedy is popular on ships, so I don't know why NCL would think the small capacity of Improv would work. People would line up early to get in and then once it, it was wall to wall packed. Deck 8 was popular but we could usually find nice seating down there, thank goodness. Deck 17 pool area was a zoo for which I wanted no part. I love the cheerleaders doubling down with the "arm chair" comments! If we are just rubes who don't know anything, why do we get asked for comments by cruise lines at all? "Just shut up and take it as you don't know what's best! NCL's designers are experts." Companies make stupid decisions all the time or think consumers will do certain things that they don't end up doing even though they are "experts". New Coke. The Edsel. Not allowing people to remove food from the buffet (NCL). Charging for Pizza (almost Royal who took note of the non-expert opinion).

What is wrong with input from experienced cruisers? Not complete design, but input would be good. I recall listening to a talk from the head of the Disney Wish project bragging about how they had input from people "who never had been on ship"! She was proud of that fact, which is asinine. And the Disney Wish is not their best effort either, when it comes to Disney ships.

They do have heaters over the outdoor seating, so I guess if its just cold, it might be ok but if you add some rain to the mix, not so good. Somehow NCL thought that people would be more dispersed. Well, it isn't happening and that assumption should have been studied further before spending hundreds of millions on a couple new ships. People tend to want to do the "big" things all at once. Sid Normans and Improv spaces are a joke. The Observation lounge has great views and very little seating. And the buffet? Well, I'm not sure "retraining people" will work. Locals is good though. Food Hall is ok. And the dining rooms are an option but I don't think the lunch menu changes day to day. Dinner menus do change.

I understand what you are saying. Another day or two would have been fine, but I think i would have grown bored over another week of an identical experience.

Gotta love cruise critic! Can't have an opinion or criticize because "the nautical engineers know best" and your not a "nautical engineer. I guess you mean Naval Architect. Or, can't suggest LESS revenue because the cruise lines have to have revenue!. LOL! I'm sure the "nautical engineers" could have done better and were limited in solutions due to requirements from NCL "non- nautical engineers. And no where did i say "illiminate ALL revenue". Again, other ships somehow have larger spaces and still make revenue.

My issue isn't the ships overall size, but rather the public venues are too small. All of them are too small for the number of passenger. And arriving super early to get one of the limited seats isn't something we should have to do on vacation. I said make the ship bigger as a solution. But another solution would be to have a couple of less revenue producing areas so that the ship could have 2 large public venues for events and entertainment. YOu know, like most ships have.

And they've already made one copy (Viva) and will likely grind out 3 more! Honestly, if they made the ship longer, they could correct some of the issues.

But not the worst either. We had a good time, but it wasn't a cruise where I wished I was staying another week. Cabin- Very nice. We had a regular balcony and it was great. Nice sized bathroom with a standard sized sink, and a nice sized shower. Storage was great too. The last new ship we sailed on was Disney Wish and this cabin was superior in every way except for lacking the Disney Split bath. And we were Concierge on the Disney ship. Food- Complementary dining was better than Royal's new menu and better than Disney too. Also better than on the Celebrity cruise we did last Spring too which is a sad fall for Celebrity considering what they once were. "Free" dining meals were good. Buffet was ok. The buffet area on the Prima is too small with NCL expecting other venues to absorb part of the load but people still gravitate to the buffet for breakfast and lunch. They use one of the specialty restaurants for overflow seating which helps a lot and is actually nice because people don't want to walk the extra 50 feet to use the space and it wasn't croweded in there. Specialty Dining- we are platinum so we got 2 meals for "free" excluding gratuity. NCL's ala carte pricing is ridiculously high,approaching the cost of a land restaurant even though you technically already "paid" for the complimentary dining. The food was ok, but not worth the money if we had to pay outright. Service- it was fine. Entertainment- Weak. They had a Donna Summer Story musical, which was good with very talented singers. One comedian was great, the other comedian not great. They did The Price is Right Game Show and it was a lot of fun. One or two nights it felt like there was very little but the singers in various bars. Cruise director was weak and his style was somewhat annoying IMO. Itinerary- We were supposed to stop at NCLs Harvest Cay, but they screwed us over and changed the port to Belize at the last minute. People were pissed too because it was cancelled for a charter on the Norwegian Joy that stayed there overnight and NCL obviously knew that was going to happen but waited to cancel until after final payment date to lock folks in. Total bait ansd switch deal. The ship- This is an odd ship. The show lounge is dual purpose where about 2/3 of the seating is collapsible like in a high school gym. So one deck in front of the stage turns into a large open area if they desire. They use it for the disco and other things. It is innovative, BUT the room seems small for shows. The adult comedy show in there was over flowing with people having to stand. Other than the show room, there are no large lounge areas. There is a bar (Sid Normans) that they use for a lot of things and a comedy club, but they are too small and always over flowing. We never got in to those venues. Even the observation lounge at the front was small and always full. It was small because behind it is a very high tech virtual reality gaming area (extra cost). The lido pool area is tiny and we never went there other than to pass through. They do have lounge areas and infinity pools on deck 8 promenade, so they helps make up for the small lido area. We did use the infinity pools on some port days and enjoyed. NCL has a LOT of couches, bed loungers, and comfortable seating available on deck 8, probably more than other lines which is a plus. Of course the chair hogs "reserve them" with towels and personal effects all day. The go-kart track was FUN and well done (extra cost). They also had a high tech putt putt golf course that was very fun and puts other ships miniature golf to shame (extra cost). There was a gaming area with pickle ball, shuffle board tables, ping pong and other things that was very nice (free). They use the atrium for events, and even though its a nice area, it lacks capacity and seating. The ship carries 3K people and is 980ish feet long and 130 wide. If she were 100-120 feet longer, they could have a couple of large lounges plus additional cabins. Since the Panama canal can handle longer ships now, why not make the ship longer? Maybe its for docking in some ports? The Breakaway class is larger and better designed. Customer Service FAIL- We at a meal in Palomar and charged the gratuity to our account. When they entered the charge, they entered it twice. An easy error to happen and to fix. I went to the front desk on day 6 to have corrected and was assured it would be. Well, the next day (disembarkation) it was still there. So back to the front desk. Of course, they aren't empowered to do anything and have to have a manager from Palomar remove the charge. So we wait, and wait, and wait. The guest services guy to his credit had to call 3 people before someone came down. The Palomar manager lady didn't say anything, didn't acknowledge me at all. No apology. She just looked at the account and disappeared because the adjustment had to be made in the actual restaurant. I obviously inconvenienced her for turnaround day with my issue concerning their screwup. Plus it delayed us getting off the ship. But it did get fixed. We had a good time, but again, I didn't wish for another week on board.

Just off the Prima, and the doors are NOT metal. I think they are some sort of fiberglass. Magnets would not stick. The wall next to the door is metal and magnets stuck. NCL didn't seem to care about our magnets as they stayed up the entire cruise. And no, we weren't aware they weren't allowed.

I'm glad you like it and I didn't say it was all bad. I actually like the taste of the ultra thin sliced prime rib, which used to be thicker. And the Southern Fried Chicken is tasty but shouldn't be a dinner item IMO. But they are massively cheapening things and they are not nearly as good as in the past. The MDR isn't supposed to be Chilis or Applebees according to cruise line marketing. But it does save Royal money and make for better executive bonuses. "Look boss, i cut another $500K from the food budget by slicing the rib thin, serving fried chicken for dinner, and having more Indian dishes at the buffet".

Wow! Some folks on this thread really must like Disney, considering some of the comments. We like Disney and have done several cruises on Disney post kids, but while Disney is a nice premium cruise product, they are cutting things too while raising prices. We've also done Royal, Celeb, HAL, NCL, etc. Is Disney better than Celebrity (also premium)? Well, in some respects, yes, especially in entertainment. And yes, the buffet has shrimp and crab, but the rest of the buffet really isn't better than Royal. They Disney Dining room food is way down in quality compared to not to long ago. On our last cruise on the Wish, the dining room food definitely decreased in quality. We were had a concierge cabin, and the suit lounge experience wasn't as good as the suite experience on Royal considering the cost. But, the Disney shows are great and the character meet and greets are great too on Disney. I do wish Disney had live bands and such, something they've never had. But have you seen what Royal is charging for the Icon and Star? Actually more than Disney! I guess like on Disney, people are willing to pay.

Seriously? Are you saying we are imagining the food quality has decreased or exagerating the fact that its crappy? It's a known fact they have cut the food budget to the bone. And cruise line executives LOVE when the cheerleaders say "food is subjective", "you can't feed large numbers of people and maintain quality", and such. Well, years ago they fed thousands of people and the food was much better.