Norwegian Review 4/10/22 sailing out of New Orleans

[ksordi]

This will be a longer review- sorry. From the get-go Norwegian service has been sub-par. 

 

Due to Covid this was our third attempt to schedule our cruise.  We had to phone so many times to fix issues or things they forgot. (at least 8 times- I am talking HOURS to get things set up)  We scheduled a speciality dining for day at sea.  Even confirmed it after the fact by date- when we went they said we were the day before (the day we left port)- since I confirmed it - I know this was in error.  They had dob's wrong, boys as girls, names completely off.  I was separate from my family on all airfare and they forgot me completely on the airport transfer.   We did an upgraded "family cabin"  - 13736 - it was small and balcony was tiny.  The "third" bed for our daughter was a foam, uncomfortable sofa.  It was not a bed- maybe a cheap futon.  I say the drink package was fine, though why you can't get a soda is beyond me. The pool was small, pool chairs in main area always had towels on them so hard to get one.  I sat next to 4 lounge chairs that noone was at for 4 hours.  Water slides closed alot and if you wanted to play a game on the arcade pass (if it earned tickets you could not.  So very limited on the games you could play.  Playing on the sports court impossible due to wind and the same for ropes course - if windy no -go 

 

I thought food was okay and choices okay - but not a big cruiser so nothing to compare it to.  I did get charges on my accound that were not mine or my family so that was a pain to get fixed as customer service did not believe me - so had to go to restaurant.  So watch those accounts. It was for wine and I am allergic to wine - so I was sure it was not mine. Teppanyaki was fun but my 3rd person (daughter) cost $60 for dinner - whew!

 

A note on keeping in contact on the cruise.  I would do walkie talkies or build a financial plan for wifi for everyone for length of the cruise.  The app thing we paid for did not work unless you checked the app - you did not know you got a text - no notifications - even though we allowed them etc.  Oh and that free minutes at sea?  You had to login to use it and log out to not have the minutes of unuse  counted against you.  So you could not even use that for texting - because you had to remained log-out.  So really another not really free "perk". 

 

Things to do:   They had 3 shows - Burn the Floor (which was cancelled for the length of the cruise), Velvet which you had to pay for (so did not go) and Six which was phenomenal.  I thought the escape room was fun and wanted to do the Paint the picture - but only had 15 spots - seriously?  It booked up really fast.  

 

The excursion on Cozumel (buggy/snorkle) was a waste of time.  My husband liked it because we drove around the island (but it was basically a rental car drive with a brief 20 minute stop to snorkle in rough water).  No sand driving, it  was not a dune buggy - and because not a protected cove not comfortable snorkling in any way.  Guides were nice.  Never docked at Roatan - didn't know this was a issue, huge disappointment for my daughter as she was going to drive the ATV and hold a sloth.  - Norwegian needs either fix this issue or this is no longer a stop - absolutely ridiculous that they cannot dock at this port very often yet it is included in the cruise and we planned accordingly. As we left the area, watched the very big Allure of the Seas cruise right on up - laughing all the way.

Belize which is not really Belize but a island off of Belize, I do recommend the boat to snorkling sight.  It was beautiful and saw some cool things.  We also ziplined which was super fun and felt super safe.  Costa Maya is a tourist stop, with tourist shops.  If want to walk around for a couple hours (we left at 12:30) this is the town for you.   

We did the "free airfaire" - never again.  We went on Delta there, we went "2" days early so that we could see New Orleans.  We asked for a red-eye so that we could have 2 full days in New Orleans.  Completely inflexible- would not work with us in any way and would not let us change anything.  This is just a FYI for you - we ended up on a flight that got us there after 6 pm.  So - 1 full day in New orleans, but Delta cancelled our flight (no crew - seems a little weird) from SLC to new orleans.  There was no other flight that would get us there for our cruise.  WHAT?   So we spend the night in SLC then next day flew to Atlanta and then to Baton Rouge and then had to rent a car.  There went our day in New Orleans.  United home was delay after delay.  In addition our flight was at 6 pm after disembarking the cruise so the airport transfer was stupid - having to leave the port right after we get off the ship and spending 6 hours in the airport. 

 

They do nickel and dime you to death - so we picked and chose carefully - Bingo, etc.  They do try to sell you alot of stuff too and it is amazing to me in the fitness center that you have to pay for a fitness class.  

 

I am trying to just give you facts so you can make an educated choice on cruises.

[NW Pacific]

Did NCL re arrange your flights after cancellation in SLC?  What about car rental?  Use to think coming in 1 day before departure was safe, then with current events thinking 2 days prior for sure, but sounds like you had a real nightmare.  NOLA has been a favorite departure port for us for sure, hoping you got at least a good dining out experience before getting on the Ship.

[SimplyAlbert]

9 hours ago, NW Pacific said:

Did NCL re arrange your flights after cancellation in SLC?  What about car rental?  Use to think coming in 1 day before departure was safe, then with current events thinking 2 days prior for sure, but sounds like you had a real nightmare.  NOLA has been a favorite departure port for us for sure, hoping you got at least a good dining out experience before getting on the Ship.

 

We/'ve starting flying in 2 days before our cruise and staying an extra day after the cruise.  We've found it makes things much less stressful.  Also, the last couple of time we've cruised it was much cheaper to fly home the day after the cruise.  Last one we did it was $327/pp one way from New Orleans to Boston on Sunday.  On Monday the exact same flight was $127/pp. We ended up spending about $200 for the hotel/food & drink, but it was still a savings of $200 and much easier.