Comments on 14 day sailing 1/17 to 1/31

[FranknBeans]

We did not enjoy this cruise as much as all of our others and have come to the conclusion that the larger ships are not for us, this is our 2nd and our 1st was the Epic for the simple reason just too many people.

 

Main reason for not enjoying this cruise was the increase in out of control drinking due to UBP pkg. Folks were loud, obnoxious, over drinking, throwing up and screaming to friends and others from one end to the other including the specialty dining rooms. The drinking started early and ended late. The more they drank the louder they got.

There seems to be no control by wait staff and saw on many occasions in the Vibe where people were getting drinks (even while showing up with drinks in hand) for friends and tipping the bartender who was posted there for most of the cruise.

We thought that the Vibe Club was going to be a quiet getaway as experienced on the Epic but we were totally wrong.

Having done the island's too many times to count, for us its about staying on ship while in ports and enjoy the quietness, but the the drinkers decided to do the same, gee I wonder why.

I brought this up at the Q&A with officers and was told that the bartenders are suppose to be monitoring persons purchasing/drinking routine but obviously was not being done.

Also when I brought up the question there was applause from a lot of the audience in attendance.

For us NCL has always been about quiet fine dining and to find quiet places to sun and read. This is obviously not the case any more.

I also get the fact that its a business and the cruise lines have to make money. The demographic's have obviously changed and that just maybe cruising isn't for us any more as has always been the case for us for all inclusive resorts.

 

With both myself and partner working in the service industry I don't see the UBP pkg changing anytime soon and wonder how they make money from this. Maybe it will have to take a few people to fall overboard or down the atrium staircase to get change.

 

As one person sitting behind me said "they should put jails cells onboard".

 

We have one cruise left which we will keep a close eye on the UBP promo's as I think that Hawaii may be a different experience for them due to cruise being so port intensive.

As for the Cruise Next Pkg its a great deal but we decided not to.

 

As for the cruise itself we found the staff to be over the top and the food to be as good as any of our other NCL cruises.

 

Any questions feel free and I'll try to answer.

[rochelle_s]

Thank you for taking the time to share your post cruise thoughts. I'm sorry your cruise was not everything you had hoped it to be.

 

Please do't take this the wrong way but I would suggest you give Holland America a try. They have beautiful ships and you can really have a very nice and relaxing time never leaving the ship. You won't find much in the way of late night entertainment but perhaps that is not what you are looking for to begin with.

 

I very much enjoy cruising NCL but I have sailed more on HAL. Celebrity is another wonderful alternative and could suit you well if you stick to their smaller ships.

 

Wherever you sail next. and with whatever cruise line you choose, I hope it brings you back to the love of cruising.

 

 

Rochelle

[TardisDance]

We must have been on a different cruise, because I saw none of this. It felt like a floating nursing house the entire trip, because there were so many guests 60+ years old in walkers/wheelchairs. Even Scott, the current cruise director, made several jokes about this. My biggest complaint were those permanently "parked" sleeping and/or reading at the bars and atrium areas. It was hard to find a comfortable seat to enjoy a drink, especially on the sea days towards the end of the cruise.

Edited February 1, 2016 by TardisDance

[luvtheships]

What ship was this?

[bluesea777]

We must have been on a different cruise, because I saw none of this. It felt like a floating nursing house the entire trip, because there were so many guests 60+ years old in walkers/wheelchairs. Even Scott, the current cruise director, made several jokes about this. My biggest complaint were those permanently "parked" sleeping and/or reading at the bars and atrium areas. It was hard to find a comfortable seat to enjoy a drink, especially on the sea days towards the end of the cruise.

 

LOL, if we were on the same cruise with YOU and the OP we'd find it somewhere in between ...

 

If you don't like what you see, go elsewhere on the ship ... the ship is huge!

[bluesea777]

What ship was this?

 

Breakaway.

[Sauer-kraut]

What ship was this?

 

Looks like it was the Breakaway

[TardisDance]

LOL, if we were on the same cruise with YOU and the OP we'd find it somewhere in between ...

 

If you don't like what you see, go elsewhere on the ship ... the ship is huge!

 

Oh believe me, I did, I was surrounded! The age demographic had to be 95% of guests that were 60+.

Edited February 2, 2016 by TardisDance

[luvtheships]

Oh believe me, I did, I was surrounded! The age demographic had to be 95% of guests that were 60+.

 

 

Count your blessings you could have been on the gem this timeframe

[watchdiva]

No one in their right mind should book a cruise this time of year unless they check to see if certain schools are on break. What a nightmare.....

 

 

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[Wavesprite]

What schools are on break at the end of January? I would have never even thought there would be 10 kids on board......

 

 

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[jd1966]

Oh believe me, I did, I was surrounded! The age demographic had to be 95% of guests that were 60+.

With luck, you may be 60+ some day! :eek::eek::eek:

[TardisDance]

With luck, you may be 60+ some day! :eek::eek::eek:

 

Give me around another 30 years and I will ;) I know, I should have expected very few people still working would be able to take 2 week cruise. It didn't ruin my vacation, but it would have been nice to see more people around my age. I heard that the Splash academy had so few children, they had to make only 1 group of all ages.

[TraJon9]

You scare me. I was looking into booking one of the 13/14 day cruises in Jan 2017.

 

Read the latest Gem cruise reviews! I thought I knew school holidays and such. I had no idea what took place in January. I live in southern NJ, and I have never heard of such a thing. The poor passengers that were not part of that group. Even if they made the best of it, that was not a vacation anyone deserved.

[cookmg40]

Read the latest Gem cruise reviews! I thought I knew school holidays and such. I had no idea what took place in January. I live in southern NJ, and I have never heard of such a thing. The poor passengers that were not part of that group. Even if they made the best of it, that was not a vacation anyone deserved.

 

 

I remember reading the reviews from January of last year, also on the Gem. Same week, same school holiday, all the same issues. Probably good to remember to check reviews from the same weeks in prior years!

 

Since the Gem had a shorter cruise itinerary, that's where the families went. The Breakaway two-week itinerary was too long.

 

 

 

 

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[Jerseygirl1416]

I'm in NJ also and have no idea what schools have January break. Can someone just say what schools and the week so people can plan accordingly?

[luvtheships]

What schools are on break at the end of January? I would have never even thought there would be 10 kids on board......

 

 

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Most of the schools taking the break are in Brooklyn and rock land

 

It's called Yeshiva Week and it's not tied to any religious holiday....just a time off.

[luvtheships]

I'm in NJ also and have no idea what schools have January break. Can someone just say what schools and the week so people can plan accordingly?

 

 

The Jewish religious schools take the 3rd week of January off.

 

It's doubtful this week is big anywhere other that the NYC/Brooklyn/rock land area

[luvtheships]

Give me around another 30 years and I will ;) I know, I should have expected very few people still working would be able to take 2 week cruise. It didn't ruin my vacation, but it would have been nice to see more people around my age. I heard that the Splash academy had so few children, they had to make only 1 group of all ages.

 

 

The early part of January cruises will always have 20 somethings on board

 

College kids with their families are the most common pax

 

I've done 2 early January cruises in a row and loved them

 

I also find the weather milder compared to later winter cruises

[MsTabbyKats]

The Jewish religious schools take the 3rd week of January off.

 

It's doubtful this week is big anywhere other that the NYC/Brooklyn/rock land area

 

And they have very large families....so "kids sail free" is perfect for them.

 

Being "non-religious" but of the faith, I do wonder how they justify things on the ship (besides the food issue) such as males/females being in the same pool at the same time.

[roxette]

I was in the same cruise. I was really surprised that there were almost no lines in the bars. Ever. And I don't think I ever saw one person I would consider drunk.

 

And, as said above. Lot's of bars were used as reading places. Only the smoking bars on deck 8 could be somewhat busy. But I don't smoke, so no problems for me.

[FranknBeans]

Thank you for taking the time to share your post cruise thoughts. I'm sorry your cruise was not everything you had hoped it to be.

 

Please do't take this the wrong way but I would suggest you give Holland America a try. They have beautiful ships and you can really have a very nice and relaxing time never leaving the ship. You won't find much in the way of late night entertainment but perhaps that is not what you are looking for to begin with.

 

I very much enjoy cruising NCL but I have sailed more on HAL. Celebrity is another wonderful alternative and could suit you well if you stick to their smaller ships.

 

Wherever you sail next. and with whatever cruise line you choose, I hope it brings you back to the love of cruising.

 

 

Rochelle

 

Thanks for your input.

[luvtheships]

And they have very large families....so "kids sail free" is perfect for them.

 

Being "non-religious" but of the faith, I do wonder how they justify things on the ship (besides the food issue) such as males/females being in the same pool at the same time.

 

 

I totally understand what you are saying

 

A ship that holds 2300 pax might be too large for them to charter and too expensive but that might be a thought

 

Fwiw this large group did seem to treat the ship as though it was their personal charter

 

I couldn't believe when I read on the gem thread that the kids were doing cannonballs from the Bali hai bar!!!!

 

How can any person or group be so callous with their actions?

[Cruisin KLS]

We were also on this cruise. Sailing for 14 days we fully expected an older crowd but I have never seen so many walkers, wheelchairs and scooters in the same space! There were also a lot of foreign speaking people on the ship. Not sure if it was the amount of people on board but after 14 days I was sick of being stepped on and cut in front of.

 

We never had trouble getting a drink at the bar. Never saw any overly visible drunk people; just people having a good time. Didn't see anyone stumbling or getting sick, except maybe that second to last sea day. Boy was the ship rocking!!

 

The service on this ship was amazing! Staff was great! Food was decent but the buffet, IMHO, was repetitive and boring. My one complaint was that for us there were too many sea days. Wasn't sure that it would be an issue going in but won't plan on having more than 1 or 2 anytime soon.

 

We enjoyed O'Sheehan's, the Noodle Bar, Moderno and Cagney's. I liked Le Bistro but DH said that it was not his favorite. Met lots of great people and took full advantage of our drinks package trying lots of different things!

 

-Kristi