Norwegians shocking demise of quality on all fronts

[JT222]

Hi to all

 

I’m interested in everybody’s feedback regarding NCL product these days. As a very loyal cruiser to NCL I have decided not to book with them again! Since Del Rio left there has been a MASSIVE drop in quality from food to service to entertainment.( This could also just be coincidence or result of covid debts).Is it us or are other loyalists of the same opinion? Even senior management (Katty Byrd) can not be bothered to respond to questions. 
 

The food quality has plummeted in all venues INCLUDING SPECIALITY. The Shrimp in Cagneys was cheap and crunchy. The buffet is repeated and boring to say the least, The entertainment poor. Guest services rude and miserable, Bar staff understaffed( along with many other departments) and overworked. 
 

I could go on and on but more than anything I’m so sad that this once excellent cruise line has become so poor. So are we alone in this thought or are other loyalists feeling the same? To senior management I challenge you to join me on a cruise of MY CHOICE undercover to see what your decisions have done. Enjoy the boom now but when things calm down you will suffer as people go elsewhere. 
 

I would also like to invite management to discuss their love of the environment. Selling a cruise and then changing the itinerary to save fuel is NOT done for the environment. It’s to SAVE MONEY. So sell the cruise with less stops initially so environmental lovers can book and feel so good about it!

 

Anyway, what’s all your thoughts and maybe someone will listen before the damage is not reversible.

 
Regards

[zqvol]

Are your statements about food from personal experience or just what you have read?

[yakcruiser]

I do agree with what you're saying. But it is not just NCL. All the other mass market lines have joined the race to the bottom. Until occupancy rates go down and cruise lines have to compete for business it will not get any better.

[hallux]

I was on the Bliss for a cruise ending earlier this month, I noticed no reduction in food quality.  The service in the MDR (usually Taste or Savor) left a little to be desired at times, but was otherwise acceptable.

 

As for entertainment - the loss of some of the Broadway-level shows is a disappointment, but the bands on board were excellent.

[zqvol]

I have not noticed any decrease in service in the past 8 to 10 years. It is just like it has always been. 

[hallux]

1 minute ago, zqvol said:

I have not noticed any decrease in service in the past 8 to 10 years. It is just like it has always been. 

When my water glass is empty and the waiter walks past 4 or 5 times before I ask to get more I consider the service needing a boost.  That was the main thing and it was almost every night.

[EngrJones]

2 minutes ago, zqvol said:

I have not noticed any decrease in service in the past 8 to 10 years. It is just like it has always been. 

Same here.

[JerseyHorseLover]

I was on the Joy in October and the food quality was excellent.  The coffee is good also. No complaints here. 

[DCGuy64]

While perhaps not a "loyalist," I would say I and my wife both really like NCL. Our last cruise (November 2023 on the Breakaway) was very good. We had outstanding food at the specialty restaurants. The only downsides were sometimes slow service at the bars, and it seemed generally very crowded. But otherwise, we had a great time.

[schmoopie17]

We’re on the Jade right now. Service has been outstanding (as usual). Food has been pretty good (as usual).

 

Given the great results at the earnings call yesterday, (as well as the stock going up 13% yesterday), something tells me that cost-cutting has been a rousing success business-wise. There’s no reason for them to change going forward (unless they cut even more).

[julig22]

I sail for the itinerary, not the ship so many of the things that bother others don't impact me. I'm not a foodie, so I'm OK with pizza and burgers if it comes to it - but on the other side, those items should be good quality for the prices I'm paying. 

 

So far, the entertainment in the theaters hasn't been overly different for me, but I usually sail the smaller ships, so no Broadway-type shows in the first place. Some good CDs, some nearly invisible.

 

But because I sail for itinerary, the changing itinerary does affect me and I'm looking at other options at this point, after loyalty to NCL for 6+ years, Diamond status. NCL has some great itineraries but if they never get there, that's a problem. I understand that things happen, I'm not privy to why - but if there are significant changes to an itinerary after final payment, they need to change their cancellation policy.  And do better with compensation for cancelled cruises. I was offered a 20% discount for the Jewel in Alaska or Asia (to be used by Feb 2024) - when my Australia cruise in late 2024 on the Spirit was cancelled. Other cancellations for the same ship at least were offered a discount on the same ship at a later time. Crickets from NCL.

 

And the lack of customer service/outright lies when there is an issue is concerning.  I recently asked for FCC for a price drop - it wasn't much but still within their policy. The BOGO airfare was still in effect (through day 110, I made my request on day 111), I was denied, reason being that there was no price drop and or airfare had increased. Wrote back, still denied, due to increased airfare. Unfortunately, I didn't take a screenshot proving the advertised pricing.

 

A little nervous because my upcoming TransPacific in April has disappeared from the website 6 weeks prior to the cruise - it was showing as sold-out the day before. Not believing it suddenly sold out - but on the other hand, they do have to bring the ship from Tokyo to Alaska. As an "extraordinary journey" it goes to unique ports and is quite early in the season for Alaska. We've already lost 1 port in Alaska, no excursions listed for most of the others. Time will tell. 

 

[gmbhardy]

For those of you who haven’t noticed a steep decline in the NCL cruising experience, I suggest you take your blinkers off.

[zqvol]

Just now, gmbhardy said:

For those of you who haven’t noticed a steep decline in the NCL cruising experience, I suggest you take your blinkers off.

For those of you that have I suggest you realize you are on a low level mass market cruise line that provides exceptional value 

[Anoynmous Phoenix]

My biggest bugbear with NCL is twofold; their failure to proof read material they produce both online and on their ships AND their lack of the real reason when Itineraries are changed, as is said above "changing the itinerary to save fuel is NOT done for the environment. It’s to SAVE MONEY."

[hallux]

12 minutes ago, gmbhardy said:

For those of you who haven’t noticed a steep decline in the NCL cruising experience, I suggest you take your blinkers off.

For those of you that assume my experience matched yours but I was too 'blind' to see it, I suggest you remove your head from where it's become lodged.  My experience is what it was, I felt the food was on par with my previous 4 cruises (I'm less than a month from my most recent cruise) and the on-board entertainment was excellent.

[RocketMan275]

57 minutes ago, JT222 said:

Anyway, what’s all your thoughts and maybe someone will listen before the damage is not reversible.

All of your complaints can be traced to a single cause.

Inflation, which is also beyond NCL control.

If you want to do something about inflation, feel free to contact your elected representatives who caused it. 

[vacation44]

Having done five cruises on NCL since the restart, we definitely do see the recent changes.  Food quality/choices at the buffet and nighttime entertainment leading the way.   

 

We tried to place an early room service order for one morning for breakfast and was told the earliest it can be delivered is at 6:30 a.m. which was too late for us.  The MDR was opening at 8:00 a.m., buffet at 7:00 a.m. and the Local at 6:00 a.m.     I do not remember in all of our previous cruises as not having at least two options.

 

We also wished you were still able to reserve the comedy shows as you used to be able to.    On the Encore recently, we had to get to the venue way too early just to get the last two seats.

 

As I mentioned in another thread, while we still love NCL, we love NCL a little less now.   

 

   

[Two Wheels Only]

11 minutes ago, Anoynmous Phoenix said:

My biggest bugbear with NCL is twofold; their failure to proof read material they produce both online and on their ships AND their lack of the real reason when Itineraries are changed, as is said above "changing the itinerary to save fuel is NOT done for the environment. It’s to SAVE MONEY."

 

Maybe NCL will start to proof-read their material when more guests start to actually read and understand the terms and conditions that they agree to. 😉

[PTC DAWG]

2 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

Having done five cruises on NCL since the restart, we definitely do see the recent changes.  Food quality/choices at the buffet and nighttime entertainment leading the way.   

 

We tried to place an early room service order for one morning for breakfast and was told the earliest it can be delivered is at 6:30 a.m. which was too late for us.  The MDR was opening at 8:00 a.m., buffet at 7:00 a.m. and the Local at 6:00 a.m.     I do not remember in all of our previous cruises as not having at least two options.

 

We also wished you were still able to reserve the comedy shows as you used to be able to.    On the Encore recently, we had to get to the venue way too early just to get the last two seats.

 

As I mentioned in another thread, while we still love NCL, we love NCL a little less now.   

 

   

6 seems to be plenty early to me…the crew occasionally has to rest. 

[vacation44]

1 minute ago, PTC DAWG said:

6 seems to be plenty early to me…the crew occasionally has to rest. 

While I would normally agree, we had to meet for our excursion at 6:45 a.m. and we do like some time after breakfast to use our cabin bathroom.   

[PTC DAWG]

7 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

While I would normally agree, we had to meet for our excursion at 6:45 a.m. and we do like some time after breakfast to use our cabin bathroom.   

That’s an early excursion for sure..

[DCGuy64]

5 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

That’s an early excursion for sure..

No way I'm getting up that early on vacation, that's also for sure! I think 6:30 am is more than reasonable for the average cruiser. I highly doubt most people are taking excursions at 6:45 AM. (Not saying no one, but I don't think it's typical, therefore the room service times likely suit most people.)

Edited February 28 by DCGuy64

[zqvol]

10 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

While I would normally agree, we had to meet for our excursion at 6:45 a.m. and we do like some time after breakfast to use our cabin bathroom.   

Private excursion?

[The Traveling Man]

There have been changes, to be sure.  Most of them seem to be cost-cutting efforts.  Given the massive amount of additional debt NCL took on during the pandemic, that is lamentable but understandable.  There have been fewer entertainment options on board the nine NCL cruises that I have taken post-quarantine.  Those that remain have been somewhat less entertaining than the ones they replaced.  There are fewer of the truly memorable menu offerings which I used to enjoy and look forward to savoring.  Several of the cruises since COVID have omitted certain Latitudes benefits which I have come to enjoy, such as dinner with an officer, complementary wine tasting event, behind the scenes tour, and even the Latitudes party.  Occasionally some of the staff have seemed to be less capable or interested in their jobs, but remember that NCL and other cruise lines lost many employees who did not return after the shutdown.  It may take some time for the newbies to get up to speed.

 

In general, however, despite an occasional disappointment, The crew members I have encountered are kind, thoughtful, friendly, enthusiastic and quite able to do their jobs well.  I have found a need to be a bit more selective in my food choices, as not as many mouth-watering selections jump off the menu page as they once did.  I have had a really so-so meal on NCL a couple of times since the return to sailing in 2021, plus several that were edible but not remarkable.  Nonetheless, many of the dinners, especially in the specialty restaurants, were outstanding.  Maybe I've been lucky, or maybe I've just selected the one thing in each restaurant that they still can do well.  I would prefer that they raise the price and return to the quality of yesteryear rather than cheapen the experience, but I am sufficiently happy to keep sailing with them.  NCL does many things very well, so I'll put up with a few hiccups every now and then.

 

[DCGuy64]

48 minutes ago, Anoynmous Phoenix said:

My biggest bugbear with NCL is twofold; their failure to proof read material they produce both online and on their ships AND their lack of the real reason when Itineraries are changed, as is said above "changing the itinerary to save fuel is NOT done for the environment. It’s to SAVE MONEY."

I'm just curious: If NCL sent you a letter or did a massive mailing saying that they were only changing itineraries to save money, would that satisfy you?