Trying to pin down what went wrong

[DaveC426913]

I've been on five cruises in 2 years, on three different lines (Carnival, Princess, NCL). This last one was very different from the previous 4. We were very disappointed.

 

I'm trying to figure out exactly what was the problem - the cruise line, the cruise style, the itinerary or perhaps the type of passenger.

 

Can I do this here? It would require me naming the cruise line and describing the things that we were unhappy with.

 

I'm trying to be objective. If it's the cruise line, I'll avoid that line in the future; but if it was something else, I don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

[WeBeGone]

We can't help you with the problem if we don't know what it is. Yes you can tell us the situation.

 

But whatever it was, did you try to resolve it on the spot?

A lot of people get home with complaints that could have been solved while on board. If that's the case, I'm afraid you'll get no sympathy here.

 

The most important thing is preception. 2000 people on the same sailing will result in 2000 opinions about the food, rooms, service, problems, etc. In my experience, the trick to avoiding disappointment is finding a "match" between a cruiser's expectations and the cruise line.

[Traveler353]

Without knowing what you were unhappy with how to you expect anyone to assist you.:confused:

[sail7seas]

By all means you can name the cruise line. It is impossible to talk about a specific ship/cruise without naming them.

 

You have my full attention and I am interested in what you have to say.

 

[paul929207]

Sure, you can name the cruise line and give the areas you were disappointed with.

[Essiesmom]

You need to carefully analyze your cruise experience, taking each day and pinpointing what you were not happy with...was something done poorly, or just differently? By doing this, you might come up with a reason for your dissatisfaction...and how to deal with it in the future. EM

[DaveC426913]

We can't help you with the problem if we don't know what it is. Yes you can tell us the situation.

I'm following the letter of the forum rules. Rules are clear that this is a site for fans and that they might not appreciate criticism.

 

But whatever it was, did you try to resolve it on the spot?

A lot of people get home with complaints that could have been solved while on board. If that's the case, I'm afraid you'll get no sympathy here.

It was systemic. We brushed it off the first few days, but it was quite consistent, right up to the last day.

 

We took NCL out of New York. This is our second NCL cruise out of NY. We are two married couples. We all experienced the same thing. One of us is a travel agent, and he is the most frustrated of all of us. He eventually just gave up eating.

 

Examples:

1] We found the food quality deplorable - particularly the buffet. (This in particular surprised us. Surely the buffet is part of freestyling.) Food was consistently stale and cold, selection was fixed (breakfast and lunch were identical) and never changed day-to-day. The restaurants were acceptable but not superior. I did not find a single shrimp in any restaurant or at the buffet. eg. Their shrimp "cocktail" consisted of a salad sprinkled with baby shrimp.

 

2] We felt bled for money at every turn. (We are used to the fees on other cruises. This was notable.) The last straw was when we booked for dinner at the main dining room, only to arrive to find a 40 minute wait. We were advised to wait at a nearby bar, and were automatically given 2-for-1 drinks. This was an obvious ploy to bleed us for money at the expense of our time. Restaurants had the expected freestyling fee of $25, but then had to pay an additional $10 premium if we wanted lobster.

 

3] Even the chocolate buffet was astonishing. No sculptures and no frills, but mostly no selection. No chocolate fountain, no chocolate fruit, etc. There was nothing but trays of little chocolate cake squares and some chocolate bombs - maybe six items in all, spread across a hundred trays comprising the entire buffet. That was it - nothing else.

 

 

I keep wondering if we've just become spoiled. But no, our experiences on Carnival were exactly opposite. Every day brought a new, pleasant surprise in the form of some awesome dish, or treat or service that we weren't expecting.

[Cuizer2]

So basically your complaint is with the food. Food is subjective. If you don't find NCL to be up to your standards, then stick with the cruise lines that are up to your standards.

 

My one meal in the main restaurant on the NCL Star was the worst cruise dinner I've every had. It was edible, that is all I can say for it.

 

My next NCL cruise was on the Jade, and everything was fine.

 

Still, I must say, Carnival is better than Royal Caribbean which is better than NCL (for the free restaurants). I'm going on my first Princess cruise soon.

[NEW 2 CRUISIN]

All I see is that your "3" complaints are:

 

Food, Food, and Food.

 

What am I missing?

 

:confused:

[DaveC426913]

All I see is that your "3" complaints are:

 

Food, Food, and Food.

 

What am I missing?

 

:confused:

What makes you think you're missing anything? Should I expect lousy food and restaurants? I could list more details, but I don't see the point.

 

Yes, the food and food service was by far the biggest complaint. By contrast (and to check myself that I'm not just unilaterally complaining), we had no complaint with our room, excursions, bars, entertainemtn, ship condition and about a dozen other factors.

[6rugrats]

I've been on five cruises in 2 years, on three different lines (Carnival, Princess, NCL). This last one was very different from the previous 4. We were very disappointed.

 

I'm trying to figure out exactly what was the problem - the cruise line, the cruise style, the itinerary or perhaps the type of passenger.

 

Can I do this here? It would require me naming the cruise line and describing the things that we were unhappy with.

 

I'm trying to be objective. If it's the cruise line, I'll avoid that line in the future; but if it was something else, I don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

 

How can anyone else here tell you what went wrong for you? Can't you figure out for yourself what the problem was?

 

All you've complained about is the food and service. I think you already have your answer. Avoid NCL.

[bbwex]

Sounds as if NCL has convinced you to change cruise lines. Simple enough. I appreciate that you have had a good experience with them previously, and it is one thing to give a restaurant another chance after a bad experience, but the cost of a cruise is pretty high. Check the boards, find a line that seems to be good across the board and try them out.

 

Having perhaps been spoiled by Oceania, we are going on HAL to Alaska this summer (Oceania doesn't go to Alaska yet), and I have my apprehensions, but I figure the itinerary will offset any deficiencies that we may find. I am hoping that there won't be any. But specifically as to food, the food on Oceania was consistently good to excellent.

[DaveC426913]

So basically your complaint is with the food. Food is subjective.

No it is not.

 

Find me someone who:

- likes their bread dried and crusty on the up side and fresh on the under side.

- likes their eggs on English muffins that are so stale they cannot be cut through with knife and fork (and believe me, I tried)

- likes their eggs and sausages stone cold

- likes to have the exact same choice for breakfast and lunch for 7 days straight

- likes to pay extra for a freestyle meal in addition to the cost of the cruise, likes to reserve their seats a day ahead of time then likes to have to wait 40 minutes anyway (hwat's the point then??) and likes ot be manipulated into buying drinks.

 

Don't get me wrong, don't think I'm just being nitpicky over a meal here or there. There is no way to be specific without it seeming like I'm being niggling. It wasn't one muffin, or one egg, it was consistent and widespread.

[Cuizer2]

No it is not.

 

Find me someone who:

- likes their bread dried and crusty on the up side and fresh on the under side.

- likes their eggs on English muffins that are so stale they cannot be cut through with knife and fork (and believe me, I tried)

- likes their eggs and sausages stone cold

- likes to have the exact same choice for breakfast and lunch for 7 days straight

- likes to pay extra for a freestyle meal in addition to the cost of the cruise, likes to reserve their seats a day ahead of time then likes to have to wait 40 minutes anyway (hwat's the point then??) and likes ot be manipulated into buying drinks.

 

Don't get me wrong, don't think I'm just being nitpicky over a meal here or there. There is no way to be specific without it seeming like I'm being niggling. It wasn't one muffin, or one egg, it was consistent and widespread.

 

Look, I realize you were not happy. But if you are going to pick apart a neutral reply then that is your choice. Nonetheless, food IS subjective. I didn't allow my bad experience in one restaurant on the NCL Star to ruin my cruise.

 

All we have is your word that it was as bad as you claim. Why don't you give us the dates of your cruise so we can look at the reviews others posted and see if they found the food to be as bad as you claim it is.

[DaveC426913]

How can anyone else here tell you what went wrong for you? Can't you figure out for yourself what the problem was?

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you posted this before reading my elaboration.

 

All you've complained about is the food and service.

Why do you dismiss that? Should I expect bad food and service?

 

I think you already have your answer. Avoid NCL.

That is not an answer. OK, well, maybe it is. Are you saying that, in your judgment, the cruise line NCL is the cause of the problems we encountered?

 

That it is not due to some other possible cause? Perhaps all freestlying is like this. Perhaps cruises out of New York are different from cruises out of Florida. Perhaps N.Gem is plagued with trouble as opposed to other NCL ships.

 

This is what I'm trying to determine.

[Cuizer2]

That is not an answer. OK, well, maybe it is. Are you saying that, in your judgment, the cruise line NCL is the cause of the problems we encountered?

 

That it is not due to some other possible cause? Perhaps all freestlying is like this. Perhaps cruises out of New York are different from cruises out of Florida. Perhaps N.Gem is plagued with trouble as opposed to other NCL ships.

 

This is what I'm trying to determine.

 

Fine, post the dates or your cruise so we can see what others have to say about your cruise.

[DaveC426913]

Look, I realize you were not happy. But if you are going to pick apart a neutral reply then that is your choice.

 

Nonetheless, food IS subjective.

There are elements of food that are subjective. The items I listed are not subjective.

 

You cannot argue that food so stale as to be inedible (literally, uncuttable) is a subjective call. You cannot argue that hot food should not be served hot. You cannot argue that this happening consisten tly represents a problem.

 

I didn't allow my bad experience in one restaurant on the NCL Star to ruin my cruise.

Neither am I. I think I've been pretty clear about that.

 

All we have is your word that it was as bad as you claim.

This is why I've been specific. I'm not simply claiming "I didn't like the food."

 

Why don't you give us the dates of your cruise so we can look at the reviews others posted and see if they found the food to be as bad as you claim it is.

I was on NCL Gem out of New York Feb 20-27.

[DaveC426913]

Fine, post the dates or your cruise so we can see what others have to say about your cruise.

Ok, I did.

 

Tell me something: if you don't get a similar read, does that mean my concerns get dismissed?

[Cuizer2]

Well, here is what other February 2010 cruisers on the NCL Gem had to say ...

 

FOOD, BUFFET, QUALITY: B+ Lots of good fresh salad stuff. Lines at the separate stations weren't too bad if one avoids obviously crazy times. Closes a little early at 9:30 PM. Pizza was not as good as on Carnival Conquest etc. Several types of things to choose from.

FOOD, BUFFET, SEATING: F This situation was abysmal. Because it is cold most of the cruise, folks avoid the out of doors, thus crowding everyone into the same turf. This super sucked. A ship that has this itinerary maybe should be specifically designed for it, with more heated seating for the buffet.

FOOD, MAIN DINING, QUALITY: B+/A- Everything I got was quite tasty, hat's off to the cooks. I particularly like all the vegetarian dishes I got, and I am not a vegetarian. It was usually something spicy.

 

 

We were later than usual to dinner and for the first time ever experienced a wait. After being told that it would be 30 to 45 minutes, we were handed a pager. In 15 minutes we were paged. Lobster night! Glad we did not miss it.

 

 

The above person did not comment much about the food, but did rate it a 5.

 

 

Been on the Gem twice. Noticed differences, as follows: No fresh berries (blueberries, strawberries), when same was requested in main dining room, request went all the way up to head of food. Told not enough fresh berries on board (no excuse for that)

No chocolate on the pillow at night.

Heavy pepper used in food preparation. Spicy seasoning even on lamb chops in Cagneys steak house. Only good main course there was the 12 oz. filet mignon. Not worth the $25.00 extra for other entrees.

Staff in dining room did not seem to work together. Did not help each other, if I needed coffee refill had to wait for my own server.

 

 

 

NCL used to be my first choice. I don't think so after this cruise. It used to have that nice niche with the freestyle eat any time you want deal. However other lines offer this now so NCL no longer has the monopoly on this. Service in MDR and Magenta was inconsistent as was the food. Food was average and nothing special. Wait for food at the table was long and waitstaff apologized profusely. I felt bad for them. They used to have Healthy Choice selections but that appears to be replaced with about 4 choices that were on the menu every night. We did not do any specialty restaurants this time. I was afraid I would be paying for average food and as prices are $10-$25 each, did not want to invest and be disappointed. We did like the Garden Buffet. Food was good and we like the layout of that area. We ate there a few nights to avoid that wait in the MDR.

 

 

The next person didn't talk about the food, but rated it a 5.

 

 

We ate at the Orchard Garden, Tequila Latin, Cagney's and La Cucina. Each restaurant was great. The food in all was wonderful and must admit we were surprised. When you think oh it's only $15 extra tonight what the heck, you don't realize how fast it adds up. Our bill by far exceeded every other cruise we have ever taken. We enjoyed every minute of it though.

 

 

As I suspected, some enjoyed the food, some did not. As I said, food is subjective. If NCL is not up to your standards, then stick with the lines that are.

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

Sorry to hear that NCL did not provide you with what you expected.

 

I would stay with Carnival as this line seems to provide you with a nice experience.

 

My DW and I went on a Carnival cruise, and with no disrespect toward Carnival, we will not go on another Carnival cruise. The Carnival cruise was not as enjoyable as our other cruises.

 

As for HAL, while this is an excellent cruise line in terms of food and service, the harsh treatment of an especially hard work cruise staff by passengers and HAL officers is not to my liking. To me, a HAL ship is a 19th century plantation, with very hard working (used this twice as it is the best language I can come up with) staff trying to please far too many who can't be pleased by anything.

 

I have been on two HAL ships for a total of 21 days, and witnessed behavior by passengers toward the crew that made me very angry. So, we look at other cruise lines where to me, the standards of behavior are better. The golden rue applies to everyone, and Americans over the age of 21 should know this, even toward brown men and women from the Phillipines and Indonesia.

[DaveC426913]

As I said, food is subjective.

You can say that as many times as you like, it does not apply here.

 

There are certainly elements of food that can be subjective, I am not disagreeing with that. If my complaint was too much pepper or not exotic enough selections, I'd agree you have a point.

 

Are you seriously saying that my examples of hot food being hot and bread not being stale are subjective?

 

If NCL is not up to your standards, then stick with the lines that are.

OK, so in your judgement, are you advising me that the cruiseline is the root of the problems I encountered? It is not endemic of freestyling for example? It is not similar to other Caribbean cruises out of NY? It is not specific to the Gem? Not specific to cruises in February?

[DaveC426913]

Guys, I'm not here to bash the cruise line. I am trying very heard to find out what exactly went wrong so that I do not avoid the wrong thing in the future. I've had four fantastic cruises and one bad one. I would hate to avoid a particular cruise line unjustly, if that was not the source of the problem.

 

For example some people have suggested that this might have been a "booze cruise", which concentrates more on drinking and gambling and less on food and service. if so, that is useful info.

 

These are the kinds of things I'm considering.

 

But if your reponses are "so avoid NCL" then you are telling me in no uncertain terms that NCL is the cause.

[xxoocruiser]

Won't expand on the food issue, as food is very subjective.

However as far as the OP statement "This was an obvious ploy to bleed us for money at the expense of our time." everyone that's ever traveled on a cruise knows that the Cruiseline's main objective is to get you to spend money on the ship. Their profit is actually made from on board purchases not from the cabin sales. So it was your choice as to whether or not you were going to open your wallet to the cruise line or not. Apparently you chose to make the purchases, no one actually forced you, so why complain now ?

[kitty9]

OK, here's my take. If you had read some reviews of NCL, you would find that the biggest complaint against NCL is the poor food and service. Of course, knowing this is subjective, and you'll find those who think NCL's food is fine, it does seem the recurring theme is that the food on that line is lacking.

 

Is this the fault of the cruise line? Of course it is. It has absolutely nothing to do with where the cruise departs or the itinerary. Every ship on NCL has basically the same menu, and they use the same ingredients as the ships are stocked from the same storehouse or providers.

 

Now, as for the comment about bleeding you dry, when you cruise on any mass market line, rather than with an all inclusive luxury line, there will be lots of attempts to separate you from your money. Some lines ARE worse than others with the hard sell and I find the lines that are like that to be RCCI, Costa, NCL and Carnival. I have been cruising with Celebrity recently and did not find the hard sell to be there very much. They don't have announcements about bingo, the art auction and all that. As a matter of fact, I just returned last week from a cruise on Solstice and had the lowest bill ever.

[mr green]

A couple of years ago it was reported on these boards that whereas the regular cruise lines spent between $12.00 to $ 14.00 per day per passenger for food, NCL spent a $7.20!!!

I used to like NCL, but when they came up with 'freestyle cruising', and 'pay as you go' eating', as far as my wife and I were concerned the wheels came off the this cruise line.

 

john