The TERRIBLE State of Norwegian Cruise Line in 2024

[david_sobe]

48 minutes ago, Epiro Funchal said:

One other thing:

 

If you watch the video and ignore the sound, other than a few rough patches the ship looks pretty good.

If you watch Epic full ship tours filmed about a month before their video shows none of the dirt and debris and broken chairs.  Clearly NCL started some of the dry dock early or needed to fix engine issues.  Its very possible all those broken chairs were rounded up and put in a line to be fixed.  I cant imagine the possibility of an entire row of chairs on a ship in such horrible condition. 

[LatinaInTexas]

46 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

I believe it's the extent and nature of the cuts that people are commenting on and has people concerned.   Norwegian is not the exception, but they seem to be doing far more than other lines.

Oh yes I get that loud and clear. My comment was more geared towards the comments seem to downplay or defend the issues happening. Just because I haven't experienced a lot of the issues....yet, I have no doubt they are happening. Just wondering how long my luck will last lol.

[Topdog52]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

The outrage if NCL added a fuel surcharge would be thermonuclear.  

It would be claimed that a fuel surcharge is Nickel and Diming, just another way to increase profits at the expense of the passengers.  

 

 

What do you call cancelling ports that people have saved for years to see. What do you call a day time cruise through the Panama Canal, now going through at night. This has been on many peoples bucket list for years!! They are not saving fuel. How much fuel are they saving. They are going to the same number of ports and the ship is running 24/7. They need to let the passenger's cancel if they want. They sold this cruise as a day time Panama Canal transit and now they are going at night.

[yakcruiser]

2 minutes ago, Topdog52 said:

 They sold this cruise as a day time Panama Canal transit and now they are going at night.

I find this hard to believe. They book these Canal time slots months if not years in advance. I don't believe they would be allowed to change even if they wanted to.

[graphicguy]

58 minutes ago, Epiro Funchal said:

One other thing:

 

If you watch the video and ignore the sound, other than a few rough patches the ship looks pretty good.

Therein is the issue with these cruise v-loggers.  I have sailed Epic less than a year ago.  I found her to be in good shape.  Full ship and crew were happy and helpful.  The ship was clean and well maintained.

 

So, my personal experience is the opposite of theirs.  Add that to their MSC fiasco and it becomes clear the audience they believe will offer them the most clicks.  

 

I like watching cruise vids....just not these types.  After a while of watching the cruise vids you more or less understand who is trying to gather clicks and who is reporting more realistically.

 

Reminds me of a young British v-logger by the name of EMMA (emmacruises).  Love her v-logs.  There was one she did a little over a year ago that was titled (paraphrasing) "I sailed what was supposed to be Cruise Critic's worst rated cruise ship".  I think it was a Costa ship.  She cruises a lot, and thoroughly enjoyed it.  

 

I follow her, a lot.  Used to follow "Sean and Stef".  But, Stef's husband, sadly died.  Their last v-log was truly sad to see as his health had deteriorated.  I haven't seen Stef in many v-logs since then, which is understandable.

 

Someone mentioned ParoDeeJay...another cruise v-logger I like.

 

Point is, there are many who do not succumb to the "click bait" sort of cruise v-logs which pander to those looking at little more than the negatives of cruising.  

 

There's just way too much to find that's great about cruising, which is the reason we're all here.

[UKstages]

here's a random selection of recent ben and david video titles, off the top of the pile:

 

First Class on America’s Worst Cruise

5 Cruises To Stay Far, Far Away From. And Why!

I Spend The Night On The Queen Mary - I Was Shocked!

Stop Doing These 12 "Polite" Things Crew Actually Dislike

17 Things to NEVER Do in Your Cabin on a Cruise

Pier Runners Shamed by Fellow Cruisers

ANGRY CRUISERS! "Felt Like Prisoners"

CRUISE ROCKED by Salmonella Outbreak

Passenger Banned for Shocking Safety Violation

WHY ARE PEOPLE FIGHTING OVER THIS LOCATION

I'M HAVING A MEDICAL SITUATION ON BOARD

Solo Single Cruises Exposed: Insider Secrets!

 

oops. sorry.

 

those were the video titles of other respected cruise vloggers, chosen randomly.

 

i regret the error.

 

here are some actual titles of recent ben and david videos:

 

THIS Extraordinary Cruise Ship Got Our BEST EVER REVIEW

We've Cruised over 100 times, THIS IS OUR FAVORITE Cruise Ship of ALL TIME!

We Spend a Week in a HUGE SUITE: FIRST CLASS on Oasis of the Seas

We Visit 4 SPECTACULAR Hawaiian Islands on a Cruise

UK to New York Transatlantic on The World's ONLY OCEAN LINER!

Boarding the POSHEST Cruise Line in the World!

FIRST CLASS Cruising on a LUXURY Ship around Iceland

We STAYED AWAY from Disney World And Universal Studios and Did THIS Instead!!

 

yes, they also have some videos in which they proclaim that things were the WORST or TERRIBLE or BAD, but their videos are full of positivity and frank discussions about the merits of whatever ship they are on and they have talked repeatedly about eschewing youtube's algorithms and clickbait philosophy. many of their videos and titles do.

 

both sets of titles above are clickbait, but one is filled with generally positive messages absent from other youtubers' titles. and, not for nuthin', but if the ship is bad, then your title is probably going to mention that it was BAD or the WORST or the MOST HORRENDOUS.

 

hyperbole? perhaps.

 

but youtube has told them, explicitly and tacitly, to title their videos exactly like that. whether the review is generally positive or negative or a mixed bag, all the titles are like that.

 

folks, hate the sin, not the sinner.

 

if you don't like clickbait, you're pretty much locked out of viewing almost any youtuber. complain about youtube, not content creators. and, especially not about ben and david, who participate in this unseemly practice, to my mind's eye, far less than anybody else.

 

Edited Friday at 07:29 PM by UKstages

[Topdog52]

9 minutes ago, yakcruiser said:

I find this hard to believe. They book these Canal time slots months if not years in advance. I don't believe they would be allowed to change even if they wanted to.

I will let you determine if they did. Coming from LA, they are going to dock in Colon Panama at 7am. It takes about 8hrs to go through the canal. When do you think they will transit the canal?

[bortman23]

2 hours ago, scooter6139 said:

All the cruise/travel bloggers I watch, including Ben and David, hate the YouTube algorithm that promotes and pushes for these types of headlines and thumbnails, and they even have YouTube videos talking about it.

 

They hate it but then do it.

 

[yakcruiser]

4 minutes ago, Topdog52 said:

I will let you determine if they did. Coming from LA, they are going to dock in Colon Panama at 7am. It takes about 8hrs to go through the canal. When do you think they will transit the canal?

They probably will transit the afternoon before and hang out offshore until morning. You really don't want to be in Colon after dark! 

[IAcruising]

40 minutes ago, UKstages said:

if you don't like clickbait, you're pretty much locked out of viewing almost any youtuber. complain about youtube, not content creators.

 

For sure. I guess the non-clickbait viewers never watch Gary, Tony, Emma, Don, Morgan, etc., etc.

 

[david_sobe]

Its funny because I used to subscribe to their channel but I unsubscribed for their tantrum on MSC.  I thought they were overly dramatic to leave a cruise midway at the next port. Its ok they did not like the experience but at least finish the cruise.

Regardless of NCL I think they do point out many shortcomings of cruise lines.  I really enjoyed their Royal suite review and they had lots to say how many Royal amenities were bad for the price they paid.  Many popular cruise vlogs just go with the flow.  But David and Ben are reviewers and critics which is why people love or hate them or call them unfair.  Its what critics do.  I also applaud their cruisers are not paid by the cruise line.  People forget but many of the glowing reviews and the vloggers that get invited on board have biassed reviews because of that.  NCL used to give many people that posted reviews here access to the Haven for breakfast and lunch.  

[IAcruising]

7 hours ago, UKstages said:

if there's, um, something else you don't like about ben and david, then by all means, share your thoughts here. 

 

@UKstages, you are being far too coy. They're gay. There is a percentage of the population who are misinformed, ignorant, improperly raised bigots that refuse to accept the realities of the real world.

 

That's their problem.

 

[Topdog52]

6 hours ago, yakcruiser said:

They probably will transit the afternoon before and hang out offshore until morning. You really don't want to be in Colon after dark! 

That makes no sense. The whole reason for doing this is for fuel efficiency. Coming in the day before and just sit there negates their whole reason for screwing up our trip.

[yakcruiser]

1 minute ago, Topdog52 said:

That makes no sense. The whole reason for doing this is for fuel efficiency. Coming in the day before and just sit there negates their whole reason for screwing up our trip.

I agree! Just received email today that we are leaving Colon at 6PM instead of 9PM but we are not transiting the Canal until the next morning. Along with cutting an hour from most of our stops.

[Topdog52]

1 minute ago, yakcruiser said:

I agree! Just received email today that we are leaving Colon at 6PM instead of 9PM but we are not transiting the Canal until the next morning. Along with cutting an hour from most of our stops.

I am confused with your post. We are coming into the canal from the Pacific side and going through. Colon is on the Atlantic side.

[yakcruiser]

3 minutes ago, Topdog52 said:

I am confused with your post. We are coming into the canal from the Pacific side and going through. Colon is on the Atlantic side.

Sorry. I forgot to mention I'm going the other way. 

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, IAcruising said:

 

@UKstages, you are being far too coy. They're gay. There is a percentage of the population who are misinformed, ignorant, improperly raised bigots that refuse to accept the realities of the real world.

 

That's their problem.

 

Coy, one must be, here.

 

You're right, by the way.

[luv2kroooz]

9 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

The outrage if NCL added a fuel surcharge would be thermonuclear.  

Don't you understand. They already have....by advertising and charging customers for X and then delivering a product that is much cheaper than X and keeping the original fare charged. It all falls right to the bottom line....just like a fuel surcharge.

[BirdTravels]

9 hours ago, scooter6139 said:

All the cruise/travel bloggers I watch, including Ben and David, hate the YouTube algorithm that promotes and pushes for these types of headlines and thumbnails, and they even have YouTube videos talking about it.  

They hate it all the way to the bank. The only reason they do it is to make money. Not for providing fair review of ships,,, but by posting clickbait, outlandish videos that encourage more clicks. 

[IAcruising]

7 minutes ago, luv2kroooz said:

It all falls right to the bottom line....just like a fuel surcharge.

 

I haven't seen a fuel surcharge in, forever. A fuel surcharge is when prices go above a certain point, which NCL has to pay. How does that go to the bottom line?

 

[IAcruising]

1 minute ago, BirdTravels said:

They hate it all the way to the bank. The only reason they do it is to make money. Not for providing fair review of ships,,, but by posting clickbait, outlandish videos that encourage more clicks. 

 

So, you watched the video in order to give specific examples of this? Of course you didn't.

 

[UKstages]

content creators on youtube don’t make much money if you click, then abandon the video out of boredom and don’t watch. it’s about eyeballs and ads. somebody has to be watching in order to present ads. THAT’S how they get paid.

 

most ben and david videos are twenty minutes or longer and they have very high completion rates among their viewers, meaning that most of their viewers watch their videos nearly to the end. THAT’S how they get paid. if those folks felt they were being “baited,” they wouldn’t stick around to watch.
 

again, youtube has instructed them to title their videos in the most sensational clickbait-y way. if they don’t, they won’t be displayed as much as the ones from content creators that do. them’s the rules. clearly a lot of people find their content valuable because they typically watch nearly to the end.
 

and they have about 280K subscribers.

[kasimir]

5 hours ago, Topdog52 said:

That makes no sense. The whole reason for doing this is for fuel efficiency. Coming in the day before and just sit there negates their whole reason for screwing up our trip.

You realize NCL talking about fuel efficiency or “sail and sustain” is just some BS excuse to cut cost or make more money. 
Oil prices have been pretty stable over the past months and all cruise lines are paying the same fuel prices, but only NCL is coming up with this. 
 

The reality is that when NCL adjust their route or cancels ports for non-weather related reasons, they are either avoiding high port fees and/or want passengers to stay onboard as to make more money from onboard revenues (casino, shops, paid events, upselling etc..). 
All cruise lines nowadays use onboard revenues as a huge profit source and passengers that are in port all day are not spending money on the ship. 

[MiniJeffrey]

On 10/4/2024 at 12:08 AM, Sizzlechest said:

Is this true? Are the slightly older ships that bad?

 

 

 

I feel these two have become a bit too harsh on NCL. I recently had a wonderful cruise. Yes we noticed some downsides like no more turndown and fewer entertainment but overall we had a great vacation. Beautiful ship, great staff, no long waiting lines, good food. The most upsetting is that everything gets more expensive. Tbh I might on my next cruise go to the service desk and ask them to remove my gratuities. I'm sorry but $20 per day per person, come on guys...

It's not all bad, but I think NCL needs to rethink their business in value for money. Oh and fire your CEO, NCL. 

[DominicAUS]

These guys are just 2 people in 1000’s of cruisers on the same ship and many having very different experiences, some valid issues, some maybe not. 
 

Like anything, go enjoy yourself, nothing will be perfect, if you find a bar busy, find another one. If there are serious issues then raise it to the relevant person and give them the opportunity to fix it.