Norwegian gripes and comparison to other lines

[jjikids]

Just back from Norwegian Gem - 9 night out of NYC - Not really thrilled. It was just okay.

This was my second cruise on NCL. Most of the cruises I have been on have been with Carnival. I cruised once on RCI on Explorer...just to give you an idea of what I am comparing it to.

1. Food in the main dining room or the buffet was not as good as Carnival or RCI. We mostly ate in the "Magenta" Restaurant (which is the casual version of the main restaurant). Found the food to be bland and not very creative or tasty. Soup selection was not the best. The onion soup tasted like a bouillon cube. The broccoli soup was also bland and with the cheese melted in it reminded you of snot or the slime from the TV show...you can't do that on television. The size of the lobster tail they served was a joke. It looked to be the size of the mini ones you find frozen at the supermarket. Also, it was served on the first night of the cruise so if you were tired after traveling and didn't feel like dealing with a restaurant on the first night and just wanted the buffet...you missed it. The buffet food was also bland. The only thing that was good was the desserts. By far the desserts on NCL are better than any other cruise line. The rumor is that NCL makes the food bland everywhere else but the specialty restaurants so you want to pay to go to the specialty restaurants...but I have to say...we paid the extra money to go to the Italian restaurant and the sauce was just blah...I think Ragu tastes better.

2. The casino had hardly any quarter machines. Most of them were penny machines and when you hit max bet it was like $4.00 a pull. On RCI and Carnival, they always had the quarter machines with the old basic slots with the wheels and at least a couple machines where the max bet was $0.75. Plus...on Carnival your room card and your casino card were one in the same and you could take money from your on board account and use in the slots. NCL you had a second card for your points and they only took cash. So if you didn't bring enough cash to play you were either out of luck or had to pay $5.50 to take money out of the ATM. I didn't even bother playing because it was so inconvenient and trust me...I normally play enough that I get the free drinks and also Carnival sends me the players club free money and room offers.

3. There didn't seem to be a lot going on during the day or at night on the Gem except bingo. On Carnival and RCI there always seemed to be something fun to do. NCL had the "white hot party" and the midnight chocolate buffet both on the same night other than that...it was kind of mellow. The only thing I really liked show wise was the "Second City" and "Graffiti" performances which were people they brought in from the outside to perform. The regular dancers, singers, and entertainers were just average...wasn't blown away

 

4. What's up with the room sizes. Seemed a lot smaller on NCL which is something we noticed on the first NCL we went on but didn't remember until we got our room this time.

 

They did give us all a bridge tour and held a nice reception for us as CC members...The staff were all pleasant and really made the trip enjoyable.

 

Trust me...I wish that I had a lot of positive things to say...Maybe their bigger ships are better? Plus on top of it all...our trip ended on a Friday morning...Thursday night I come down with a sinus infection and diarrhea. As I am waiting around for my color tag to be called to disembark, I notice there are a lot of other people around me coughing and sniffling. I don't know...like I said...I wish we had a better time. Think I'll stick with Carnival and RCI...Sorry NCL.

I wish I could say that I had a great time...

 

We are on our fifth NCL cruise in May and the second one on the Gem. As to meals in the MDR, we always checked the menus out each day. That was how we found out about the lobster. By following CC I knew to ask for two lobster tails and no steak. Smaller portions are the way to go. You can always have seconds. We never found the food to be bland. We have cruised on CCL only once and that was one too many. We found our days were so full by going to all the talks and programs. We did not play bingo or deal or no deal. In fact we had a lovely time just walking the ship and seeing what everyone was doing. The cruise is what you make it. We go in knowing we will enjoy ourselves and we do.

[Love my butler]

Be sure to fill out your post cruise survey with your concerns. When enough people point out the flaws, something might change.

[swedish weave]

Be sure to fill out your post cruise survey with your concerns. When enough people point out the flaws, something might change.

 

Flaws ????? Did you mean the ship should be changed to suit ALL personal likes and/or dislikes ???? Not possible...

[JuneauWhatIMean]

Incredible. Just another thing that makes you go "huh". ;)

[Sauer-kraut]

I personally think Carnival has better desserts... ;) But everyone has their own tastes.

[SteveH2508]

Be sure to fill out your post cruise survey with your concerns. When enough people point out the flaws, something might change.

 

LMB is correct. Feedback is what every organisation needs to improve its product. The point has already been made about giving feedback on board, but the post-cruise survey (if you get one) is also a good tool for praise and for criticism/suggestions.

[Barb Nahoumi]

All the complaints by OP has rattled my curiosity.

 

In all the Meet and Greet sessions I have attended on NCL, the officers practically beg us to let them know of ANYTHING they can do to make our cruise the best.

 

Did OP let them know of the complaints, or did OP wait to get home to post on CC about his gripes??

 

They have always been very anxious to correct problems that are brought to their attention.

 

We recently attended a meet and greet on RCI's Explorer of the Seas. No officers were there.