First time on NCL. Not impressed

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

This is exactly what I would expect.  The vast majority of NCL cruisers embrace the free style concepts, including dining only with your own party.

That was one example. How about the vast majority on the roll call who said they would attend the meet and greet including the person who set it up not showing up?

 

I have been on 12 cruises on 5 different lines, and this one was just different.

 

BTW, there has been this discussion before about NCL cruisers and not dining with strangers. And people kept telling me NCL was the best of all worlds because even though most felt like you do, you could still have shared tables because some did want to do that. But on this ship, we could have waited forever and never had dinner that night. We learned our lesson after that and never asked to share a table again.

[ChiefMateJRK]

21 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

How about the vast majority on the roll call who said they would attend the meet and greet including the person who set it up not showing up?

That's likely just human nature.  People volunteer for a lot of stuff and then get distracted and never show up.  I once accepted a (voluntary) assignment as lead usher at a church.  The main part of the job was getting four people to show up (including myself).  This was church.  I generally ran about a 50% failure rate.  One guy always showed up (that was out of a pool of about 8).  Same thing, different context. 🤣

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

That's likely just human nature.  People volunteer for a lot of stuff and then get distracted and never show up.  I once accepted a (voluntary) assignment as lead usher at a church.  The main part of the job was getting four people to show up (including myself).  This was church.  I generally ran about a 50% failure rate.  One guy always showed up (that was out of a pool of about 8).  Same thing, different context. 🤣

We're talking almost everyone who signed up including the person who set it up. I am sure the officers that NCL sent wondered what they were doing there with only 10 passengers showing up and why NCL even provided the space.

[ChiefMateJRK]

12 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

We're talking almost everyone who signed up including the person who set it up. I am sure the officers that NCL sent wondered what they were doing there with only 10 passengers showing up and why NCL even provided the space.

Yeah, that's kind of my point.  People are usually on their best behavior in Church and possibly their worst on holiday.

[complawyer]

hey, cruise ny4life. im still with you. my wife can talk to anyone she wants, anywhere she wants. and frankly scarlett, i dont give a d**n. i still wont be bothered to talk to anyone if i dont feel like it. 

 

that being said, however , so people dont think im a complete a**h**e, if asked a question i will respond and try and answer as best i can. if not, my position is as follows  "i dont know you, you dont know me, and other  than this cruise there is probably 100% chance we will never have any contact again, so please enjoy your cruise, but leave me alone.

 

unless youre chief matejrk, who i amost anxious to meet and share a few drinks wwith

[ChiefMateJRK]

6 minutes ago, complawyer said:

unless youre chief matejrk, who i amost anxious to meet and share a few drinks wwith

Won't that be the day?! 😎

[complawyer]

you got it buddy!

[Go2SeaTheWorld]

On 5/10/2023 at 10:06 PM, MedCruise_2022 said:

Now I am worried haha!

We are booked on Norwegian Epic for October 29-Nov 10, 2024 from Haifa to Rome.

We booked this particular cruise because of its "epic" destination/ports of call: Israel (Haifa and Jerusalem), Cyprus, Turkey (Istanbul and Kusadasi),  several Greek isles, and Italy (Naples,  Livorno, Rome).

Hoping for the best!

Every time I have seen a bunch of negative posters about the cruise we're about to take, I have been pleasantly surprised & hubs & I have enjoyed ourselves immensely. We've booked this cruise, but in reverse, on the Epic Dec 1-12, 2023.  The itinerary looks incredible and we can't wait!

[complawyer]

without trying to be a complete jerk (guess incomplete will have to do) i do not now, nor have i ever had any desire to join a meet and greet.

 

for purposes of cruise critic, ncl ask and answered or the roll call for whichever ship i am booked on, i will try and answer as best i can consistent with my previous experiences sailing with ncl. 25 within the past 11 years

[complawyer]

medcruise. dont pay any attention to the epic nay sayers, IMHO, shes as good or as bad as any other ship in the ncl fleet.  we 've sailed on most of the ncl ships, and on the epic twice. my only complaint was on the 1st sailing we were in the aft penthouse, and the circular bed, took up almost the entire cabin, and i wasnt thrilled with the toilet/shower set up. other then those minor inconveniences, no problem. the cabin steward and butler were top notch.

 

been on your itinerary, and you will have an excellent time. the greek isles are by and large amazing (every one of them) if you get the chance (and we've done this before,) we hired a cab in liverno to take us to florence, and hired one in naples to take us to the amalfi coast. in the past, ncl offered a shore excursion but no longer. scenic wise it is breathtaking.

 

if you look for problems, im sure you will find some. i have no qualms at all about booking the epic. depending on it's itinerary

[MedCruise_2022]

42 minutes ago, complawyer said:

medcruise. dont pay any attention to the epic nay sayers, IMHO, shes as good or as bad as any other ship in the ncl fleet.  we 've sailed on most of the ncl ships, and on the epic twice. my only complaint was on the 1st sailing we were in the aft penthouse, and the circular bed, took up almost the entire cabin, and i wasnt thrilled with the toilet/shower set up. other then those minor inconveniences, no problem. the cabin steward and butler were top notch.

 

been on your itinerary, and you will have an excellent time. the greek isles are by and large amazing (every one of them) if you get the chance (and we've done this before,) we hired a cab in liverno to take us to florence, and hired one in naples to take us to the amalfi coast. in the past, ncl offered a shore excursion but no longer. scenic wise it is breathtaking.

 

if you look for problems, im sure you will find some. i have no qualms at all about booking the epic. depending on it's itinerary

Thank you very much!

I am more than confident now to sail with NCL Epic! Our past cruises (not with NCL)  have been based more on the itinerary and not with the ship. This will be our first with NCL-- and so looking forward to it.

We are particularly excited about the Greek Isles, and Istanbul/Kusadasi - where we have not yet been to. I have been to Israel decades ago (on a training grant), and would want to re-visit the holy sites I have been to, so we plan to spend 3-4 days pre-cruise.

Thank you for your suggestions on tours/excursions. We have done "Amalfi and Pompeii by land and sea"-while on our Mediterranean Cruise and it was amazing. Approaching Amalfi while on a boat was simply breathtaking., but since we were in a big group and time was a constraint-everything was in a hurry.

As a side note, we are doing a land/train trip from Venice-Padua/Verona-Florence-Pisa-Cinque Terre this September, to explore more of Italy, hopefully in a leisurely way.

Again, thank you for your kind words.

[MedCruise_2022]

1 hour ago, Go2SeaTheWorld said:

Every time I have seen a bunch of negative posters about the cruise we're about to take, I have been pleasantly surprised & hubs & I have enjoyed ourselves immensely. We've booked this cruise, but in reverse, on the Epic Dec 1-12, 2023.  The itinerary looks incredible and we can't wait!

I am excited for you! In 7 months, you will be cruising such wonderful port-intensive itinerary.

Would love to hear your updates.

[Go2SeaTheWorld]

34 minutes ago, MedCruise_2022 said:

I am excited for you! In 7 months, you will be cruising such wonderful port-intensive itinerary.

Would love to hear your updates.

Thank you! I will definitely do that. BTW, saw you're Dallas area, we're Hurst-Euless-Bedford. cliche, but true...Small World!  

[MedCruise_2022]

4 minutes ago, Go2SeaTheWorld said:

Thank you! I will definitely do that. BTW, saw you're Dallas area, we're Hurst-Euless-Bedford. cliche, but true...Small World!  

Wow! That is so great! Imagine that. We are from Irving, actually! Small world indeed.

(My son's first house was in Euless--and for two years I baby-sat our grandson in the afternoon in their home in Euless - love Euless btw).

[ontheweb]

12 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Yeah, that's kind of my point.  People are usually on their best behavior in Church and possibly their worst on holiday.

Well we are not going to agree, but let me say one last thing. The vibe on this ship that particular cruise was just different than any other ship we have ever sailed on whether NCL or any other cruise line. Maybe it was just that voyage; I don't know.

[ontheweb]

11 hours ago, complawyer said:

without trying to be a complete jerk (guess incomplete will have to do) i do not now, nor have i ever had any desire to join a meet and greet.

 

for purposes of cruise critic, ncl ask and answered or the roll call for whichever ship i am booked on, i will try and answer as best i can consistent with my previous experiences sailing with ncl. 25 within the past 11 years

It's fine not to join a meet and greet, but if you do commit to going to the meet and greet, you should go. NCL provided the space and sent officers because there was a large commitment.

[Jorhammer]

We were on the 4/14-4/22 Epic sailing. Our second time on this ship. We left very disappointed with our experience on the ship. First night in the MDR we never met our waiter, the manager ended up taking care of us when she noticed we have not had anyone come over after being sitting for about 25 minutes. Funny thing is that the waiter assigned to us kept looking our way but avoiding us. At Le Bistro, where the food was outstanding, our server did the bare minimum to interact or take care of us. She was only friendly and chatty when she saw the cash tip I left her. Half the meals we had in the MDR or O’shehans were not that enjoyable when one of us would get their meal first and eat by themselves while we waited for the entree for the other… I know the crew members are overworked, but so are the rest of us. My expectations are not paying for something and accepting lesser service because the cruise line management does not know how to manage people. We decided to try a new line four our next trip and see if there is anything better out there for the same cost.

[cruiseny4life]

3 hours ago, ontheweb said:

It's fine not to join a meet and greet, but if you do commit to going to the meet and greet, you should go. NCL provided the space and sent officers because there was a large commitment.

I agree. If you say you're going, then go. It's disrespectful to the organizer not to show up. Some organizers spend a ton of time putting these together. Others don't. You don't know (well...you can guess) until you go. I signed up for one Meet & Greet. My husband and I went. We don't go to them anymore. But, I also don't sign up for them. I'm completely with you on going if you say you're going to go! It's just being a decent person.

[ChiefMateJRK]

7 hours ago, Jorhammer said:

our server did the bare minimum to interact or take care of us.

 

7 hours ago, Jorhammer said:

She was only friendly and chatty when she saw the cash tip I left her.

Why did you leave her an additional tip if she did such a bad job?

[Jorhammer]

Duplicate 

Edited May 17, 2023 by Jorhammer
.

[Jorhammer]

19 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

 

Why did you leave her an additional tip if she did such a bad job?

 

19 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

 

Why did you leave her an additional tip if she did such a bad job?

 

Never said she did a bad job, just the bare minimum. Tipped cause of guilt of being in Le Bistro, I guess…. 
 

Our next meal was at Moderno and the service was worse. We received the sides by the time we were done eating. did not tip…
 

my wife has a theory that makes sense to me. Since the service charge was introduced it feels like most employees might not feel that they have to go the extra mile for service. since most everyone pays for this, given the few that take it off.
 

Now there is no incentive to do more than the bare minimum, other than being a nice human or hustling for the cash tips. 
 

We booked a 2 week cruise in December on the MSC Seascape YC to try it out. Might cruise again on NCL in a few years when maybe they have restaffed to the levels that will support their prices.

[complawyer]

after the1st tip (and we tip almost everyone that provides a service) the entire staff seems to bend over backwards to take care of us. at the beginning of each cruise,  i tip the maitre"d a $20 and he becomes most accomodating throughout the cruise. last year on the bliss, i tipped our breakfast waiter an extra $5.00 and after that he couldnt do enough for me. whenever he saw us on the shipped, he begged us o use the restaurant again. 

 

i believe that most of the wait staff do not get tipped, but that doesnt preclude them from giving their best attempt at service.

 

tipping has been discussed on this sight many times. there is no right or wrong answer. since the service charge is all ready factored into the total cost, anyone should not feel any remorse if they choose not  to tip any further.

 

i find that when i do (always btw) everyone benefits.

 

as an aside, i never, ever sign up for a meet and greet, and if i did, i would never think  of being a no-show

[amygutman]

On 5/9/2023 at 2:14 PM, FitchburgWIFamily said:

So this won’t help the OP, but for other people who have not yet cruised: Either at the cruise critic meet and greet, a latitudes event, or maybe even by request at guest services, you should be provided the contact numbers for all of the senior staff.

 

I would never use it as my first course of action, but if I were the OP and had to go to guest services more than once for the same issue, I would be picking up the phone in my room and calling the Hotel Director.

 

In my experience, the staff wants to address the issues while you are on board.  Use them as needed.

 

We had an issue where a fellow cruiser was making it uncomfortable for us to be on our balcony. We notified staff, and asked for a different cabin. There wasn’t one available but the ship understood we wanted to be able to sit outside, and made a private area of the deck available to us.  
 

They didn’t address the problem the way I wanted them too, but the earnestly tried to address the issue.

 

So if you find yourself in the OP’s position, reach out to senior staff.

.

@FitchburgWIFamily ok...I am terribly curious (and please tell me to MMOB if I'm out of line) as to what your neighbors were doing that the cruise staff could not put a stop to? It's awesome the crew found a solution for you, but smoking, loud music (or relations, ahem) usually get swatted down quickly. 

Now...we've had some a--hole behavior from neighbor smokers who we repeatedly reported, but i'm pretty selfish about my time / money / vacation and don't give a hoot about pissy looks and grumbled obscenities from bad neighbors. Just put an upside-down pineapple on their door as pay-back. 😁

Warmest, Amy

[FitchburgWIFamily]

On 5/24/2023 at 9:15 PM, amygutman said:

@FitchburgWIFamily ok...I am terribly curious (and please tell me to MMOB if I'm out of line) as to what your neighbors were doing that the cruise staff could not put a stop to? It's awesome the crew found a solution for you, but smoking, loud music (or relations, ahem) usually get swatted down quickly. 

 

It started before we even left port on embarkation day.  My octogenarian mother, my just graduated from college niece and I were on our balcony having a conversation when our neighbor told us that we needed to NOT talk on our balcony.  Balconies were for quiet time.   He had a pretty thick German accent if that helps you hear it.  We stayed on our balcony and whispered.
 

It would’ve ended there if our neighbor wouldn’t have used their balcony to smoke. (Probably why he tried to get us off our balcony). I called to report him right away, and they did find cigarettes in his waste can,   He was warned not to do ismoke again and was advised that the steward would be watching for evidence he was still smoking.
 

What followed were a series of retaliatory attacks from him: he played the TV show Scrubs on his laptop dubbed in German at full volume for hours. He threw breadcrumbs to seagulls toward and even onto our balcony. He body-checked me when I went to the bar to get a cocktail and said excuse me, like he had “tripped” but I knew it was deliberately done.  

We asked for another cabin, but there weren’t any equivalent cabins available. I would have to go from a suite with a balcony to a regular balcony room.  

He essentially made it so that we couldn’t enjoy our balcony and had to be vigilant when we were out and about.  The suites’ concierge found us a private deck area ( part of the crew’s deck area) and set up special chairs and tables for us.

 

I wanted them to kick the jerk off the boat…but they didn’t.  I do think they had another conversation with him because the seagull/body-check day was our 4th day and we never heard him or saw him again.

[amygutman]

2 hours ago, FitchburgWIFamily said:

It started before we even left port on embarkation day.  My octogenarian mother, my just graduated from college niece and I were on our balcony having a conversation when our neighbor told us that we needed to NOT talk on our balcony.  Balconies were for quiet time.   He had a pretty thick German accent if that helps you hear it.  We stayed on our balcony and whispered.
 

It would’ve ended there if our neighbor wouldn’t have used their balcony to smoke. (Probably why he tried to get us off our balcony). I called to report him right away, and they did find cigarettes in his waste can,   He was warned not to do ismoke again and was advised that the steward would be watching for evidence he was still smoking.
 

What followed were a series of retaliatory attacks from him: he played the TV show Scrubs on his laptop dubbed in German at full volume for hours. He threw breadcrumbs to seagulls toward and even onto our balcony. He body-checked me when I went to the bar to get a cocktail and said excuse me, like he had “tripped” but I knew it was deliberately done.  

We asked for another cabin, but there weren’t any equivalent cabins available. I would have to go from a suite with a balcony to a regular balcony room.  

He essentially made it so that we couldn’t enjoy our balcony and had to be vigilant when we were out and about.  The suites’ concierge found us a private deck area ( part of the crew’s deck area) and set up special chairs and tables for us.

 

I wanted them to kick the jerk off the boat…but they didn’t.  I do think they had another conversation with him because the seagull/body-check day was our 4th day and we never heard him or saw him again.

Wow...just....wow. 

It sounds like the crew were your heroes and you behaved much better than we would have. I feel bad for all three generations of your family. Just proves that even if you have enough money for a suite, that doesn't mean you can buy class.

If anyone tried to shoosh me on my own little piece of balcony heaven, I would certainly have brought my inner demons out to play.