NCL Suffers By Comparison .....

[Pianoman6582]

There's a cruiseline for every taste. I have done three NCL cruises in a row and I am very pleased. I have also cruised on Carnival, Princess, RCI, HAL & Celebrity.

 

Originally Posted by nycruise

We were big fans of NCL back in the day (2003). We loved the Freestyle concept (which no other line offered), thought the ship (Dawn) was modern and elegant, the staff friendly, the prices fair, the food varied and good, just an overall good cruise experience.

 

When we took the Star to Glacier Bay a couple of years later, believe it or not we missed Glacier Bay. The ship sprung an oil leak and wasn't allowed to enter the National Park to foul the waters. We also noticed that when we left Seattle, we were docked alone at an industrial port, while other ships were clustered together closer to downtown.

 

Glutens for punishment, we took the Star again later that year on a Mexican Riviera cruise from L.A. to Acapulco. Luckily we made it to Acapulco, but the very next cruise and several more after that, couldn't make it that far South due to engine problems. Our cruise experience was okay, nothing more - particularly compared to the Sapphire Princess cruise to Mexico we had taken the year earlier.

 

We pretty much signed off on NCL and sailed Princess, Carnival, RCCL and Holland America, all of which in our opinion give a better overall cruise experience and also some form of Freestyle of their own.

 

Skip forward to last week when we sailed the Pearl on the 5 day Pacific Coastal repositioning cruise. The ship is pretty much a duplicate of the Dawn and the Star, seems we didn't miss much over the past 5 years. The cruise again started from an industrial pier in Vancouver, not Canada Place as originally planned, and boarding was chaotic.

 

The staff seems very robotic and not really engaged with the passengers. Unlike other cruise lines, our bags were left outside our cabin, instead of brought into the cabin and placed on the bed. The cabin stewardess seemed like she was disengaged, hard to put your finger on it, but she didn't seem to like her job.

 

Much like the dining room staff in the 2 main dining rooms, everyone is going through the motions, no warmth at all. The service was slipshod; we were never offered a beverage with our dinner, some evenings the dessert order was taken at the beginning of the meal other nights at the end. Other nights we had to ask to see a dessert menu. Water and coffee were refilled some nights, not others. The food was mediocre at best.

 

So let me ask, why does NCL charge the highest automatic tip of $12 per day, it's surely not the quality of service.

 

The high pressure sales make Carnival seem like amateurs, drinks, drinks, drinks, drinks? That's in about 3 minutes time.

 

The Food in the Garden Cafe was the best of the cruise and that includes the night we ate in Lotus Garden, which was just okay Asian cuisine, not worth the more than $60 it ending up costing us with one drink each and a tip.

 

Speaking of the Garden Café, why did they take up half of the table space with the kiddie area, getting a table was like find a needle in a hay stack and than you had to protect it with one person sitting guard while the other went back for more food or dessert or a beverage.

 

There was plenty of entertainment for a 5 day cruise; we thought the Four Seasons tribute group put on the best show, Sharkbait and the comedian weren’t our cup of tea.

 

When compared to the cruise experience we had on Holland-America earlier this year, it’s like night and day.

 

We enjoyed this cruise primarily due to the 3 wonderful nights we spent in Vancouver/Whistler and a night in Los Angeles. We viewed the Pearl merely as a floating hotel and a means of transportation from port to port

 

The ship’s tours we took in Astoria and Sonoma were well handled, but all in all we need another long break from NCL.

There IS a cruise line for every taste. I guess there must be two NCL's as well. The NCL My Lee and I sail on is completely different from the one the OP describes.

 

My Room Steward(ess): I always know his/her name and develop, if not a friendship, then a friendly camaraderie. They ALWAYS call me by my name. In fact, other room stewards (that aren't responsible for my cabin) will often greet me by MY NAME in the corridor--"Hello, Mr. John," in their singsong accent. I love it!

 

Wait Staff: We've found, with very few exceptions the waitstaff in the dining rooms to be helpful, careful, and attentive. and eager to bring you your food your way. (IE Double Lobster, NO GROUPER:eek:)

 

Ship: As previously discussed, ad infinitum....ad nauseum in other threads, there must be two different NCL fleets: The fleet that is clean and well-maintained that have the occasional mechanical defect, and the one OP describes.

 

I like that the Libre Class ships (the Dawn and the Star) and the Jewel Class ships are nearly identical in layout. In July, after having been on only the Dawn, the Star, and the Gem, we cruised on the Sky, which is one of NCL older, pre-freestyle ships. She is truly gorgeous and IMHO, wasted on 4-day-3-day cruises from which she never gets a break. It took us the entire cruise to feel completely at ease on in terms of navigating the hallways and decks. In August, we sailed on the Jewel for the first time. Given that the deck plan is nearly identical to her Jewel Class and Libre Class sisters, we felt right at home and immediately knew our way around the ship. Familiarity is a virtue!

 

We are going on the 19-deck EPIC in a month and I'm terrified.... Give me the familiar layout of the Jewel Classes PLEASE! What'smore, My Lee and I sailed on the Dawn three times in three years (before going totally cruise crazy last year). When we sailed on the Gem in 2009 for the first time, we walked around the ship saying things like, "oh the photo gallery? That's where the Blue Lagoon 'should be.'" (as in, "That's where the Blue Lagoon is on the Dawn.") "Oh the gift shop? That's where the nightclub Dazzles 'should be.'"

 

When we've gone to the Meet-and-Greets on our cruises, the HD says it EVERY SINGLE TIME: "If you have a problem tell THEM about it DURING the cruise." Don't tell them that everything was fine and come running to these boards and cry about how much your cruise sucked.

 

Look, one of the HD's John O'Hara, has a suggestion box. He CALLS it the "Dear John box." He has a pre-printed form you can fill out. If you have a comment, good or bad he wants to hear it NOW. The box isn't hidden. It's a big thing in the middle of the floor in front of the front desk in the main atrium. He reads the comment cards and responds immediately. My Lee and I had an issue with something. We wrote a note, put it in the box, and within (literally) MINUTES, I got a call from John telling me how HE was going to get on solving that problem right away.

 

My Lee and I had many comments for him during our cruise on the Jewel. A bunch of them were good. There were a few issues we had with some of the crew. EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM WERE TAKEN CARE OF ONSHIPS! And taken careof up to and well beyond our satisfaction.

 

If you had an aloof and disengaged waitress, tell John. Tell the F&B. Tell the Cruise Director. Guess what? The waitress is going to get a talking-to, and YOU'LL probably wind up with a free dinner.

 

You're not going to get a free cruise. Stop thinking that way. Something truly horrific has to happen before they whip out the free cruise vouchers. Forgetting to ask if you're thirsty doesn't qualify as horrific. (BTW, did you ASK for a beverage when none was offered?)

 

Lastly, this isn't a personal attack on the OP. Really. All I am saying is My Lee and I LOVE NCL. I am so often called (most often by my own self) an NCL Cheerleader. It's true. I root for my team. And just like my other team, the Yankees, I root for them through thick and thin. And I yell at the NCL Joe Gerardi (manager, head coach) equivalent when they make moves I don't like or appreciate. A good example of that is the Star's refit, (of which, PS, I'll write in DETAIL about when I get back in November) which I think as a concept is a stupid idea. No public, indoor, front-facing space to me is ludicrous! I don't know. Maybe the new Spinnaker on 7 will aptly replace it. We'll see. But I'm not writing off NCL because they've done something I don't like--just like I'm not going to stop rooting for the Yankees because their idiot of a manager can't make a move without checking with his reference binder to make sure it's okay....

 

Ther is no perfect answer. The is no perfect cruise. But there are plenty of Cruise Lines from which you can pick. My Lee and I have been on 20 NCL cruises. Before the year is out, we'll be doing four more. The only BAD cruise is a a cruise not taken....

 

And I thank you,

JWK: Please pass the NCL pom-poms

[nycruise]

I don't doubt NCL's main dining rooms are just mediocre. DH and I haven't dined in an NCL main dining room for the past several cruises. We always dine in the specialty restaurants. Love the different restaurant decors, the smaller more intimate dining venues, love the food quality, different cuisines, top notch service and we gladly pay the up charge to dine in the specialty restaurants. Our NCL cruises are a notch above the other mass market lines because of the wonderful dining experience we have.

 

I don't list in my signature the different cruises we have done as we will be cruising our 33rd time on Epic in two weeks. We have cruised on HAL, Celebrity, Carnival, Princess, and we are Diamond members on RCCL.

 

 

I think you proved my point the food and service in the Main Dining rooms is mediocre.

[nycruise]

With all due respect to the OP and his opinion, Carnival and Chandris Cruise Lines vs. NCL. I see in his post that he frequently sailed Chandris as well as Carnival. I have been on both of those lines, and in all honesty, NCL is well above in all areas. :)

 

I wasn't comparing NCL to cruises we took in the 1980's, I was comparing it to cruises we have taken since our first cruise on NCL in 2003. Check out some of Carnival's newer ships and than let me know what you think. We thought the food and service on the Freedom and Dream were much better than the Pearl. Just our experience of course.

[Dr. Jack Daniels]

You're not going to get a free cruise. Stop thinking that way. Something truly horrific has to happen before they whip out the free cruise vouchers. Forgetting to ask if you're thirsty doesn't qualify as horrific. (BTW, did you ASK for a beverage when none was offered?)

 

Lastly, this isn't a personal attack on the OP.

 

Yeah you're right. That's not personal attack in any way shape or form.:rolleyes:

[nycruise]

We were on the Pearl repositioning and our experience was like we were on a different ship! Food and Bev. director, Tony Lockett would have helped you in a MINUTE if he heard you were having food or service issues! We've known Tony since the Star was sailing in Hawaii and he is one of the NICEST, caring individuals we have ever encountered on any ship! He is always amazingly thoughtful and if he hears of anyone having a special occasion, he is ON IT! This is why I hate to read about problems that he didn't even have a chance to rectify! Now I must add that the Hotel Director this trip was the coldest, oddest officer I have ever encountered! I was stunned at the show when he took credit for the food and beverage department along with all the other departments! He then waved his arms like he was Richard Nixon. I am wondering if this doesn't have something to do with the poor morale you noticed in the staff?!

 

The port experience at Balentine WAS awful. NCL should have let us all know of the port change from Canada Place!!!!!!!! We along with most other cruisers had a very expensive cab ride/wait to get to the ship! Nowhere to sit which was tough on many people! We have had similar problems on Princess at Canada Place, so I think the repositionings are something Vancouver will never figure out.

 

We love Astoria just for the "Baked Alaska" restaurant and Chef Chris. We missed The Galoping Gourmet by only one day! He was the visiting chef at the Baked Alaska the day before we docked!!! (don't know if any of you remember him!? We grew up watching him!). Amazing northwestern cuisine and wine. We almost chose the repositioning for this stop! I know we might be considered weird.:rolleyes:

 

San Francisco's pier was not the greatest location for sure! I do think that since it is not a regular port for the Pearl, we probably get last choice...

 

We've sailed HAL in Europe. It was a lovely ship, but we really didn't feel connected to most of the staff on that ship and we really didn't care for the food. I wouldn't say we'd never sail them again, but in general, we'd pick NCL over HAL. Celebrity is great. RCI was good to us. Our luggage wasn't put on the bed on any of these trips...but honestly if we couldn't handle them, I'd ask our room steward and prob. tip for the extra help.

 

In all fairness, we ate at specialty restaurants every night. Really enjoyed every meal.

 

When we took the Star to Mexico, a Princess ship was anchored near us in Cabo San Lucas and when we went to get a tender back, we got at the end of a HUGE line in the hot sun...shortly after we got in line, an NCL officer came and informed everyone that the line was for Princess, not NCL...there was no line for us! We were grateful we were on NCL that day.

 

Sorry you feel you wasted a cruise on NCL when you could have been on HAL. At least you'll know for the future to stick with what you know you like. I guess that's the same (but different;))for us! Cheers!

 

You also proved my point about the main dining rooms, they're to be avoided.

 

We had a fine vacation, but the food and service weren't up to some of the recent cruises we've been on. The ship itself is well maintained, but of course it was only 4 years old so we expected as much.

[nycruise]

I just wanted to address the OP that even on Cunard our suitcases were not placed on the bed. They had the plastic cover on one bed where suitcases were to be laid when unpacking, but we hefted them onto the bed ourselves.

 

The daily service charge on Cunard also ranges between $11 & $13 per day depending on cabin category, so no, NCL is NOT the highest in the industry.

 

HAL is $11 so what's a dollar? Not going to put me off of NCL because of it. ;) In fact, I actually like the service charge, its painless and more egalitarian for the staff. Just my opinon.

 

Don't compare NCL to Cunard, one is mass market the other luxury.

[nycruise]

If you want ultimate pampering, sail with Silverseas, BUT prepare to spend a whole lot more! Luggage will be in room and you will have a Butler that will unpack and repack for you if you want and all drinks and gratuties are included. Smaller ship and personalized service.

 

We're pretty low maintenance, mass market is fine with us, just prefer other lines based on our experiences over the past 5 years.

[nycruise]

There IS a cruise line for every taste. I guess there must be two NCL's as well. The NCL My Lee and I sail on is completely different from the one the OP describes.

 

My Room Steward(ess): I always know his/her name and develop, if not a friendship, then a friendly camaraderie. They ALWAYS call me by my name. In fact, other room stewards (that aren't responsible for my cabin) will often greet me by MY NAME in the corridor--"Hello, Mr. John," in their singsong accent. I love it!

 

Wait Staff: We've found, with very few exceptions the waitstaff in the dining rooms to be helpful, careful, and attentive. and eager to bring you your food your way. (IE Double Lobster, NO GROUPER:eek:)

 

Ship: As previously discussed, ad infinitum....ad nauseum in other threads, there must be two different NCL fleets: The fleet that is clean and well-maintained that have the occasional mechanical defect, and the one OP describes.

 

I like that the Libre Class ships (the Dawn and the Star) and the Jewel Class ships are nearly identical in layout. In July, after having been on only the Dawn, the Star, and the Gem, we cruised on the Sky, which is one of NCL older, pre-freestyle ships. She is truly gorgeous and IMHO, wasted on 4-day-3-day cruises from which she never gets a break. It took us the entire cruise to feel completely at ease on in terms of navigating the hallways and decks. In August, we sailed on the Jewel for the first time. Given that the deck plan is nearly identical to her Jewel Class and Libre Class sisters, we felt right at home and immediately knew our way around the ship. Familiarity is a virtue!

 

We are going on the 19-deck EPIC in a month and I'm terrified.... Give me the familiar layout of the Jewel Classes PLEASE! What'smore, My Lee and I sailed on the Dawn three times in three years (before going totally cruise crazy last year). When we sailed on the Gem in 2009 for the first time, we walked around the ship saying things like, "oh the photo gallery? That's where the Blue Lagoon 'should be.'" (as in, "That's where the Blue Lagoon is on the Dawn.") "Oh the gift shop? That's where the nightclub Dazzles 'should be.'"

 

When we've gone to the Meet-and-Greets on our cruises, the HD says it EVERY SINGLE TIME: "If you have a problem tell THEM about it DURING the cruise." Don't tell them that everything was fine and come running to these boards and cry about how much your cruise sucked.

 

Look, one of the HD's John O'Hara, has a suggestion box. He CALLS it the "Dear John box." He has a pre-printed form you can fill out. If you have a comment, good or bad he wants to hear it NOW. The box isn't hidden. It's a big thing in the middle of the floor in front of the front desk in the main atrium. He reads the comment cards and responds immediately. My Lee and I had an issue with something. We wrote a note, put it in the box, and within (literally) MINUTES, I got a call from John telling me how HE was going to get on solving that problem right away.

 

My Lee and I had many comments for him during our cruise on the Jewel. A bunch of them were good. There were a few issues we had with some of the crew. EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM WERE TAKEN CARE OF ONSHIPS! And taken careof up to and well beyond our satisfaction.

 

If you had an aloof and disengaged waitress, tell John. Tell the F&B. Tell the Cruise Director. Guess what? The waitress is going to get a talking-to, and YOU'LL probably wind up with a free dinner.

 

You're not going to get a free cruise. Stop thinking that way. Something truly horrific has to happen before they whip out the free cruise vouchers. Forgetting to ask if you're thirsty doesn't qualify as horrific. (BTW, did you ASK for a beverage when none was offered?)

 

Lastly, this isn't a personal attack on the OP. Really. All I am saying is My Lee and I LOVE NCL. I am so often called (most often by my own self) an NCL Cheerleader. It's true. I root for my team. And just like my other team, the Yankees, I root for them through thick and thin. And I yell at the NCL Joe Gerardi (manager, head coach) equivalent when they make moves I don't like or appreciate. A good example of that is the Star's refit, (of which, PS, I'll write in DETAIL about when I get back in November) which I think as a concept is a stupid idea. No public, indoor, front-facing space to me is ludicrous! I don't know. Maybe the new Spinnaker on 7 will aptly replace it. We'll see. But I'm not writing off NCL because they've done something I don't like--just like I'm not going to stop rooting for the Yankees because their idiot of a manager can't make a move without checking with his reference binder to make sure it's okay....

 

Ther is no perfect answer. The is no perfect cruise. But there are plenty of Cruise Lines from which you can pick. My Lee and I have been on 20 NCL cruises. Before the year is out, we'll be doing four more. The only BAD cruise is a a cruise not taken....

 

And I thank you,

JWK: Please pass the NCL pom-poms

 

We have very different ideas of cruising, were all about new ships and new itineraries. I see you have sailed only NCL and 10 times on the Gem.

 

Regardless of the line we like to try different ships, even if the layout is the same at least some things are different. I'm sure somewhere down the rode we will be back on NCL, enticed by an interesting itinerary but for now we'll go back to other lines.

 

Would like to try Celebrity next if the ports are interesting.

[4 cruisers]

Yes, there was a person with a really nasty response. The Cruise critic police was good enough to delete the post. I had responded to the rude post and they deleted it, as well (since I referenced the rude post). Good for Cruise Critic!!!!! I get really upset at how angry and mean some of the posters are and I'm glad they are being deleted.

 

Thanks for the clarification! I got it and agree!:cool:

[GigCrusier]

We were big fans of NCL back in the day (2003). We loved the Freestyle concept (which no other line offered), thought the ship (Dawn) was modern and elegant, the staff friendly, the prices fair, the food varied and good, just an overall good cruise experience.

 

When we took the Star to Glacier Bay a couple of years later, believe it or not we missed Glacier Bay. The ship sprung an oil leak and wasn't allowed to enter the National Park to foul the waters. We also noticed that when we left Seattle, we were docked alone at an industrial port, while other ships were clustered together closer to downtown.

 

Glutens for punishment, we took the Star again later that year on a Mexican Riviera cruise from L.A. to Acapulco. Luckily we made it to Acapulco, but the very next cruise and several more after that, couldn't make it that far South due to engine problems. Our cruise experience was okay, nothing more - particularly compared to the Sapphire Princess cruise to Mexico we had taken the year earlier.

 

We pretty much signed off on NCL and sailed Princess, Carnival, RCCL and Holland America, all of which in our opinion give a better overall cruise experience and also some form of Freestyle of their own.

 

Skip forward to last week when we sailed the Pearl on the 5 day Pacific Coastal repositioning cruise. The ship is pretty much a duplicate of the Dawn and the Star, seems we didn't miss much over the past 5 years. The cruise again started from an industrial pier in Vancouver, not Canada Place as originally planned, and boarding was chaotic.

 

The staff seems very robotic and not really engaged with the passengers. Unlike other cruise lines, our bags were left outside our cabin, instead of brought into the cabin and placed on the bed. The cabin stewardess seemed like she was disengaged, hard to put your finger on it, but she didn't seem to like her job.

 

Much like the dining room staff in the 2 main dining rooms, everyone is going through the motions, no warmth at all. The service was slipshod; we were never offered a beverage with our dinner, some evenings the dessert order was taken at the beginning of the meal other nights at the end. Other nights we had to ask to see a dessert menu. Water and coffee were refilled some nights, not others. The food was mediocre at best.

 

So let me ask, why does NCL charge the highest automatic tip of $12 per day, it's surely not the quality of service.

 

The high pressure sales make Carnival seem like amateurs, drinks, drinks, drinks, drinks? That's in about 3 minutes time.

 

The Food in the Garden Cafe was the best of the cruise and that includes the night we ate in Lotus Garden, which was just okay Asian cuisine, not worth the more than $60 it ending up costing us with one drink each and a tip.

 

Speaking of the Garden Café, why did they take up half of the table space with the kiddie area, getting a table was like find a needle in a hay stack and than you had to protect it with one person sitting guard while the other went back for more food or dessert or a beverage.

 

There was plenty of entertainment for a 5 day cruise; we thought the Four Seasons tribute group put on the best show, Sharkbait and the comedian weren’t our cup of tea.

 

When compared to the cruise experience we had on Holland-America earlier this year, it’s like night and day.

 

We enjoyed this cruise primarily due to the 3 wonderful nights we spent in Vancouver/Whistler and a night in Los Angeles. We viewed the Pearl merely as a floating hotel and a means of transportation from port to port

 

The ship’s tours we took in Astoria and Sonoma were well handled, but all in all we need another long break from NCL.

Thank you for a candid review. I appreciate your thoughts and wish I could apoloize for all the folks here that can not just let someone have a different view point and feel the need to defend and attack. Kind of makes me wonder where some of these folks are getting thier pay check from or.... "PERKS" ???

[Richpontone]

Been on five NCL cruises and one Carnival, and I love NCL. Got no money from them to say so. The food even in the MDRs was good and had no cause to complain. No personal attacks here, just my opinion. If I want pampering, then I will pay more for a luxury line or a suite.

[Mr. Luckytoo]

You also proved my point about the main dining rooms, they're to be avoided.

 

We had a fine vacation, but the food and service weren't up to some of the recent cruises we've been on. The ship itself is well maintained, but of course it was only 4 years old so we expected as much.

 

Just curious but do you feel that this difference in the quality of food between the MDR now and your prior cruises was unique to this NCL cruise or do you feel this is an industry-wide phenomenia?

[newmexicoNita]

We were big fans of NCL back in the day (2003). We loved the Freestyle concept (which no other line offered), thought the ship (Dawn) was modern and elegant, the staff friendly, the prices fair, the food varied and good, just an overall good cruise experience.

 

When we took the Star to Glacier Bay a couple of years later, believe it or not we missed Glacier Bay. The ship sprung an oil leak and wasn't allowed to enter the National Park to foul the waters. We also noticed that when we left Seattle, we were docked alone at an industrial port, while other ships were clustered together closer to downtown.

 

Glutens for punishment, we took the Star again later that year on a Mexican Riviera cruise from L.A. to Acapulco. Luckily we made it to Acapulco, but the very next cruise and several more after that, couldn't make it that far South due to engine problems. Our cruise experience was okay, nothing more - particularly compared to the Sapphire Princess cruise to Mexico we had taken the year earlier.

 

We pretty much signed off on NCL and sailed Princess, Carnival, RCCL and Holland America, all of which in our opinion give a better overall cruise experience and also some form of Freestyle of their own.

 

Skip forward to last week when we sailed the Pearl on the 5 day Pacific Coastal repositioning cruise. The ship is pretty much a duplicate of the Dawn and the Star, seems we didn't miss much over the past 5 years. The cruise again started from an industrial pier in Vancouver, not Canada Place as originally planned, and boarding was chaotic.

 

The staff seems very robotic and not really engaged with the passengers. Unlike other cruise lines, our bags were left outside our cabin, instead of brought into the cabin and placed on the bed. The cabin stewardess seemed like she was disengaged, hard to put your finger on it, but she didn't seem to like her job.

 

Much like the dining room staff in the 2 main dining rooms, everyone is going through the motions, no warmth at all. The service was slipshod; we were never offered a beverage with our dinner, some evenings the dessert order was taken at the beginning of the meal other nights at the end. Other nights we had to ask to see a dessert menu. Water and coffee were refilled some nights, not others. The food was mediocre at best.

 

So let me ask, why does NCL charge the highest automatic tip of $12 per day, it's surely not the quality of service.

 

The high pressure sales make Carnival seem like amateurs, drinks, drinks, drinks, drinks? That's in about 3 minutes time.

 

The Food in the Garden Cafe was the best of the cruise and that includes the night we ate in Lotus Garden, which was just okay Asian cuisine, not worth the more than $60 it ending up costing us with one drink each and a tip.

 

Speaking of the Garden Café, why did they take up half of the table space with the kiddie area, getting a table was like find a needle in a hay stack and than you had to protect it with one person sitting guard while the other went back for more food or dessert or a beverage.

 

There was plenty of entertainment for a 5 day cruise; we thought the Four Seasons tribute group put on the best show, Sharkbait and the comedian weren’t our cup of tea.

 

When compared to the cruise experience we had on Holland-America earlier this year, it’s like night and day.

 

We enjoyed this cruise primarily due to the 3 wonderful nights we spent in Vancouver/Whistler and a night in Los Angeles. We viewed the Pearl merely as a floating hotel and a means of transportation from port to port

 

The ship’s tours we took in Astoria and Sonoma were well handled, but all in all we need another long break from NCL.

 

It does sound like you have given NCL more than one chance and it isn't the line for you. Thank goodness no line is perfect for everyone. We love HAL as well but for us NCL is a better fit because there is so much more engergy, both the cruisers and the crew. HAL has better food and nicer cabins.

 

Now, I am not going to pick apart your review as you are giving your honest opinion which is what these borads are all about, but I do wonder about a couple of your comments; 1-The Pearl is even close to a duplicate of the Dawn and Star. They have absolutely no similarities except for maybe the dining options. How quickly we do forget. Even the cabin sizes are different, the layout, the size of the ships, the activities, I could go on and on.

 

You mentioned the crew being robotic. Maybe it was the end of the contract for many, seems a lot of the crew do have vacation in the fall. We have only once found the crew robotic, we have always had just the opposite experience.

 

As for the auto tipping, from what I recently have been told (not my personal experience) NCL isn't the only line now charging $12 per day.

 

As for bags being placed anywhere other than outside the door, we have cruised over 25 times, all mass marketed lines and I don't remember ever having our bags placed on our beds or inside the cabins. If so, it was many years ago.

 

I am sorry your cruise wasn't wonderful, but keep on cruising and enjoy whatever line works best for you.

 

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

Ive been on Celebrity..Holland America...RCCL....and Ive never had my luggage brought into the room.

 

Me either, I did have it taken to the naughty room once. LOL

[newmexicoNita]

We don't expect to be waited on like a celebrity, we're pretty low maintenance. We rarely saw our cabin steward, let alone open our door. There was no sprinting done on this cruise.

 

 

 

I believe it's the highest in the industry, higher than Holland America which blows NCL away for service, food and staff morale.

 

 

NCL has problems competing with Carnival and RCCL which control the market, I think I read that NCL has 8% of the cruise business and is owned by an investment company and Star cruises which I think was recently taken over by another company. Lots of managment turmoil works its way down to the product they are offering and the employee morale.

ok, now you are going to start getting the bash treatment because you ae not be fair or balanced. NCL has many fewer ships than Carnival or RCL. Again, I will mention it is not the highest in the industry. These figures change monthly, so unless you have sailed on some other line in the past month or so, you can make a statement as fact or close to fact.

 

I don't quite know where you are getting the information about management changes either. As I said, now you are discrediting yourself with claims you do not know are true.

[FLACRUISER99]

Ive been on Celebrity..Holland America...RCCL....and Ive never had my luggage brought into the room.

 

We have never had our luggage brought into our cabin either! CCL or HAL.

That's strange I have had it brought into my room many times, I think it depends on the room steward. However it's not a big deal to me.

[newmexicoNita]

That's strange I have had it brought into my room many times, I think it depends on the room steward. However it's not a big deal to me.

 

It must depend. Maybe if you are out doing something around the ship and the cabin steward happens to be entering your cabin for some reason they might move them inside. Normally this isn't the case. Remeber, they are busy cleaning etc as we all all just coming on board or have been on board only a few hours.

 

I would say, if this is something that bothered the OP so much he is high mainatinance and not low maintainance as he claims or that is how I see it.

 

Nita

[Mr. Luckytoo]

ok, now you are going to start getting the bash treatment because you ae not be fair or balanced. NCL has many fewer ships than Carnival or RCL. Again, I will mention it is not the highest in the industry. These figures change monthly, so unless you have sailed on some other line in the past month or so, you can make a statement as fact or close to fact.

 

Actually Nita, CruiseCritic recently did a comprehensive list of the 'tipping/service charges'

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=266

 

The OP was not incorrect.

 

I don't quite know where you are getting the information about management changes either.

 

Again Nita, the OP was correct when discussing the changes in management between 2003 and their recent cruise. In August 2007, Star Cruises took the market by surprise when it sold 50% of NCL for $1 billion to US-based Apollo Management (owners of Oceania Cruises) in order to strengthen NCL's financial position [Apollo invests $1billion in NCL Corp to take 50% stake". Cruise Business Review. 2007-08-17. http://www.cruisebusiness.com/news.php?u=20070817175042. Retrieved 2007-08-17. ]

 

As I said, now you are discrediting yourself with claims you do not know are true.

 

Care to rephrase that? :cool:

 

[newmexicoNita]

Actually Nita, CruiseCritic recently did a comprehensive list of the 'tipping/service charges'

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=266

 

The OP was not incorrect.

 

 

 

Again Nita, the OP was correct when discussing the changes in management between 2003 and their recent cruise. In August 2007, Star Cruises took the market by surprise when it sold 50% of NCL for $1 billion to US-based Apollo Management (owners of Oceania Cruises) in order to strengthen NCL's financial position [Apollo invests $1billion in NCL Corp to take 50% stake". Cruise Business Review. 2007-08-17. http://www.cruisebusiness.com/news.php?u=20070817175042. Retrieved 2007-08-17. ]

 

 

 

Care to rephrase that? :cool:

 

 

Well, it is a matter of interpretation and mine differs from yours: he made it sound like the management changes were recent: not the case:

 

Princess tipping, I don't know when the CC tipping article appeared, and I do read almost everything they post, but I am judging what is charged by what appeared last on the Princess thread. I will add, the $12 could be for CC service and above, I am not clear on that. Check the prices for Disney (suggested) much higher. I know this as well as I have had clients pay tips for Disney up front (the cruise line requires it for certain types of fares) it has been over $12 for the past 3 years.

 

I am very much aware as to when Apollo came on the sceen. That was 3 years ago, not recently. Any management changes would certainly have settled down by now.

 

As for my comments, most of us were sympathitic to his disappointment in his cruise until he started coming back with some off the wall comments like the management changes that took place 3 years or more ago. Even the Pres has been seated for 2 years.

 

And you know what? I didn't ask you to explain, I asked the OP where he was getting his information.

 

Geeze, are you going to comment on his statement about luggage being in his cabin or the Dawn, Star and Pearl being just carbon copies of each other? Most of us know, the three are even different classes of NCL ships.

 

You do not have to like NCL, which of course you really don't, and this is an open forum with all kinds of views: that is what it should be, but No, I do not take back anything I said.

Nita

[Mr. Luckytoo]

You do not have to like NCL, which of course you really don't, and this is an open forum with all kinds of views: that is what it should be, but No, I do not take back anything I said.

Nita

 

Please show me where I have written that I don't like NCL? I've done 4 sailings on NCL since 2008 and have two (2) more reservation.

 

I agree that this is an open forum. I've learned many great things from reading Cruise Critic.

 

I've also learned that not many people can admit when they are mistaken..oh well

[Don Haynes]

People spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars for a cruise and then complain about a dollar or so difference in the DSC. While at the same time the difference in the price of the fare is more than a dollar a day? :eek::rolleyes:

 

As Nita mentioned cruise lines change DSC at their discretion. Competition is good for the free enterprise system, not all of the cruise lines are in step with each other, and never will. I can't believe some people do...

 

I have never sailed with Holland American but friends have. From what they have told me Holland American may have better furnishings, but they were satisfied with the nice furnishings of NCL. Not every hotel is the Ritz, and not every cruise line is Cunard...

 

As for service, every cruise member is a different person. I don't expect the same service everywhere. Simply put, if NCL service was so awful they wouldn't have been in business for several decades, would they? NCL must be doing something right. I'll let others do their own judging...

 

As I read all of the boards it seems all of the mass market cruise lines during this recession have made significant service cuts. Having cruised on one cruise line five years ago and attempting to make judgements of five years ago to a cruise within the last month is a bit misleading. If you are going to make many judgements one should do so in the now, not of the past...

 

I will step off my soap box now....

[Ms belp]

I'm still a cheerleader for NCL! And UT!:D I've never had a bad cruise, differences, of course.

[Gohogs34]

Travelpair, you don't have to use that deposit with them, if it helps you, I will use it for my sons wedding. Just trying to help ya out. LOL.

 

 

We sailed in 2009 on the Star for a return to NCL, because we did not have to fly. We were very imressed after a very awful experience on the Sun in 2005. 2010 and we were back looking forward to a week of fun, sun and a repeat of 2009. We had your experience, only slightly worse. Embarkcation took over three hours. Year before no problem. No welcome champagne only drinks for sale in about 4 places before you even walked 100 ft. I hate the hustle and I know the servers are getting presure from NCL to sell, sell, sell. And we still have one of those deposits left. I hate to just let them have the money. Penciled it out and spending a little more up front gets you a better experience.

[cod]

All 20+ cruises on various lines have been enjoyable. I can point to one or two things on each one that I might have changed or done different but - over all - they were all fun. Well, almost all. Scratch the 'sick' Liberty repo cruise from Rome to FLL a while back...2 deaths and hundreds sick and a weirdo CD named John Heald who is lauded like a king over on the Carnival boards!!! If that cruise didn't make land-vacationers of us, nothing could. But enough of that.

 

I like freestyle and the entertainment has been better on NCL than a few of the others (including Celebrity) so I have no qualms about choosing NCL over any other line if the itinerary and the price are right. JMHO

[newmexicoNita]

All 20+ cruises on various lines have been enjoyable. I can point to one or two things on each one that I might have changed or done different but - over all - they were all fun. Well, almost all. Scratch the 'sick' Liberty repo cruise from Rome to FLL a while back...2 deaths and hundreds sick and a weirdo CD named John Heald who is lauded like a king over on the Carnival boards!!! If that cruise didn't make land-vacationers of us, nothing could. But enough of that.

 

I like freestyle and the entertainment has been better on NCL than a few of the others (including Celebrity) so I have no qualms about choosing NCL over any other line if the itinerary and the price are right. JMHO

 

Great post, so was Don's. I would agree. I don't think I have ever gotten on a forum and blasted a cruise line because I haven't had too many bad or iffy cruises. I did compare Princess, several years ago with NCL because some asked me to and it wasn't not a negeative on either line. I may have pointed out a few differennce. Some things I like better about one over the other.

 

Each line has redeeming and/or very positive aspects and each has a few, negatives

 

As for making a deal over $11, $12 or $11.50 a day, first, like Don said, cruise lines adjust these things at a drop of a hat. What was the policy last week could be different today and what difference does a buck make? If we are talking $9.00 a day compared with $12 or $13 and 4 in a cabin, big difference, $1.00 times 2, $14 for a cruise of 7 days, come on you guys, get real!!!!

 

I really do not mind past cruisers. just returning coming on and keeping comments simple, but preferring RCI, Carnival, etc over HAL, NCL or whomever. When they start picking every little detail to pieces that is when my defence reaches the front of my brain. .50 cents here, a buck there, one too many sales pitches, so what? Crappy service, food that has to be thrown in the trash, dirty cabins, then you are talking, but this would never happen on any line unless we are talking about Mr and Mrs hard to please.

 

Nita