The TERRIBLE State of Norwegian Cruise Line in 2024

[D_And_K_gocruising]

3 minutes ago, jibbity said:

Newbie here...great site & great posters with info and advice! Glad I found it - my situation is while I've booked an NCL cruise next May (on the Getaway), I can still cancel it as final payment not due until January. It was a great deal with the liquor package and other perks included (internet, excursion credit, etc)  but now I'm second guessing it and whether I should cancel and find another option. I've been on one other cruise before - NCL Sun to Alaska over a year ago. While it seemed ok I had nothing to compare it to. I can say I wasn't blown away by it but I know the Sun is an older ship and booked said cruise due to , again, a great deal.

 

I know some will say for a better experience go with a more exclusive line but I'm not to where I can splurge on such (and I'm glad, but envious, lol, of those who can). 

 

In the future I plan on cruising more as I get to full retirement so another concern is going with and stick to a line for the customer loyalty thing - and from what I'm reading & seeing, NCL may not be the one. 

 

Would Royal, MSC or another be a "like" cruise line to go with vs NCL at this point??

 

 

If you look you'll find people complaining about every line out there.. There is another thread titled something like "Is NCL still worth it" or some such.. Check it out.  For the way they run stuff, we've only been on 1 cruise, it was on the Escape, and we loved it.   We have no plans on changing just because we like how NCL does dining and drinks at this point..  So unless either on of those changes drastically, I think we'll stick with NCL.   

[DCGuy64]

8 minutes ago, jibbity said:

Newbie here...great site & great posters with info and advice! Glad I found it - my situation is while I've booked an NCL cruise next May (on the Getaway), I can still cancel it as final payment not due until January. It was a great deal with the liquor package and other perks included (internet, excursion credit, etc)  but now I'm second guessing it and whether I should cancel and find another option. I've been on one other cruise before - NCL Sun to Alaska over a year ago. While it seemed ok I had nothing to compare it to. I can say I wasn't blown away by it but I know the Sun is an older ship and booked said cruise due to , again, a great deal.

 

I know some will say for a better experience go with a more exclusive line but I'm not to where I can splurge on such (and I'm glad, but envious, lol, of those who can). 

 

In the future I plan on cruising more as I get to full retirement so another concern is going with and stick to a line for the customer loyalty thing - and from what I'm reading & seeing, NCL may not be the one. 

 

Would Royal, MSC or another be a "like" cruise line to go with vs NCL at this point??

 

 

Two things about NCL and bad reviews:

1. Happy people don't post. Unhappy people do. Bad reviews aren't representative.

2. Many allegedly unhappy people (including those who say "I'm done with NCL") end up coming back again and again, which makes them untrustworthy.

 

The above applies to every major cruise line. If you read threads on Royal, Carnival, MSC, etc. you'll see the exact same thing. NCL is great and we love it.

[UKstages]

you're going to find differing views on any internet forum.

 

happy people do indeed post reviews. unhappy people, however, are more inclined and highly motivated to post reviews of their terrible horrific unpleasant or unseemly experience. bad reviews are therefore entirely representative of that particular person's experience, which may differ significantly from your own experience and the experience off others. it doesn't make the bad review "wrong," nor should it be summarily dismissed.

 

bad things and distressing things do happen on cruises. NCL frequently disappoints or could have done a better job with this thing or that. bad reviews are generally real and are a good representation of a cruise that has gone awry or somehow missed the mark. look at the contributor's other posts to determine for yourself whether the review or post is credible or whether it is the rambling of a madman with an agenda. look especially for reviews that praise some things, but are highly critical of others... those are the most credible, to me.

 

YMMV.

[D_And_K_gocruising]

Also, sometimes people just get a burr in their britches about something that happened and from that point forward, nothing that anyone does will change their mind and they will look for ANYTHING to complain about from that company..   While 10's of thousands of folks if asked probably had a great vacation with no complaints..   Again, you'll find it on ANYTHING.. If you arent comfortable, by all means, cancel and go with someone else.  Especially if you are going to have it in the back of your head that it's going to be a bad experience because of what you've read.. 

[graphicguy]

17 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Two things about NCL and bad reviews:

1. Happy people don't post. Unhappy people do. Bad reviews aren't representative.

2. Many allegedly unhappy people (including those who say "I'm done with NCL") end up coming back again and again, which makes them untrustworthy.

 

The above applies to every major cruise line. If you read threads on Royal, Carnival, MSC, etc. you'll see the exact same thing. NCL is great and we love it.

Yeah...then those of us who enjoy NCL (or Royal, or Carnival, etc) are labeled "cheer leaders" because we like our experiences.  So, damned if you do, damned if you don't.

 

All cruise lines have changed over time.  I'm not one of those "back in the good old days" guys.  Cruises have changed over time.  NCL has changed over time.  The things that have changed are overall positive changes.  

 

Nothing against the "smoking crowd" but I'm glad that smoking has become restricted.  I don't, and never did, like cruise lines' version of "hash browns" (they're not even remotely close to even what you get at McDonalds).  I'm glad they're gone.

 

I wish there was 2x/day turn down service.  There's not.  In reality, it doesn't much matter to me.

 

I like the smaller, better shows (like in Cavern Club and Syd Norman's).  I like some of the bigger shows (e.g. Choir of Man, Million Dollar Quartet, Rock of Ages, Burn the Floor).  I didn't like some of the other bigger shows (e.g. Priscilla, Kinky Boots, Donna).

 

I thought the crews of a dozen years ago seemed over worked and tired.  Some say they still see that, today.  I haven't experienced that.

 

I really, really like FreeStyle (which NCL originated). I can always find something good to eat, somewhere on the ship.  Same with FAS (or MAS).  Love it  The service charges assessed for FAS is a BARGAIN compared to what other lines charge for drinks and dining packages. Free at Sea wasn't even around a dozen years ago.  I was paying for each drink individually.  I can recall getting my folio for my (then) GF and I and thinking...."I'm paying as much for drinks and dining as I am for the fare".

 

Some bemoan the fares.  I have looked up my past fares, and in reality, I'm paying as much now as I was a dozen years ago (right after the start up, way less) and getting drinks and some specialty dining thrown in, getting internet.  Had internet on board a dozen years ago for work reasons (yes it was offered) and ran up 4 figures to do little more than checking Outlook.  You think it's slow now?  Connecting on a ship in 2010?  Yikes.

 

I can find "deals" easier on NCL than I can on Royal and Celebrity, as an example.  Apples to apples, with perks, the deals are even better on NCL.

 

I do find it questionable that NCL (and other cruise lines) seem to be jockeying their itineraries more than they used to.  My guess is they will settle in time as the shutdown is still being felt as they've had to reassess their business models.

 

All-n-all, I may have been younger in 2010, but I don't think cruising was better.  Different?  Sure.  But, not better.

[DCGuy64]

NCL has 21 ships, 19 of which are in service (the Luna and the Aqua aren’t sailing yet)

 

Breakaway

Getaway

Pride of America

Joy

Sun

Sky

Spirit

Gem

Jade

Pearl

Jewel

Prima

Encore

Star

Epic

Dawn

Bliss

Escape

Viva

 

The ship with the smallest capacity is the Sun. According to Cruisemapper, her capacity ranges from 1936-2323. Most of NCL’s ships hold at least 3,000 passengers, but you could say 2,500 and be conservative about it.

If those ships are running at even 50% capacity, which again is conservative, that still means that 19 ships holding 1250 passengers are in service at any given time. 19x1250 = 23,750 passengers. Some itineraries are short, some longer, but if a cruise ship sails even 40 weeks a year doing 7-day sailings, you’re talking 950,000 people a year, 19 ships @ 1250 passengers x 40 weeks. I suspect the real number of people sailing is much, much higher. So if 10-20 people are complaining on Cruise Critic even every week, let’s say you have 20 bad reviews every week for 52 weeks, that’s 1,040 bad reviews out of 950,000 people sailing. 1,040 / 950,000 = 0.1094736842105263%. That means 99.9% of passengers aren’t unhappy. So yeah, unhappy people aren’t representative. Period. If anyone has real statistics that disprove what I'm saying, have at it.

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, jibbity said:

Newbie here...great site & great posters with info and advice! Glad I found it - my situation is while I've booked an NCL cruise next May (on the Getaway), I can still cancel it as final payment not due until January. It was a great deal with the liquor package and other perks included (internet, excursion credit, etc)  but now I'm second guessing it and whether I should cancel and find another option. I've been on one other cruise before - NCL Sun to Alaska over a year ago. While it seemed ok I had nothing to compare it to. I can say I wasn't blown away by it but I know the Sun is an older ship and booked said cruise due to , again, a great deal.

 

I know some will say for a better experience go with a more exclusive line but I'm not to where I can splurge on such (and I'm glad, but envious, lol, of those who can). 

 

In the future I plan on cruising more as I get to full retirement so another concern is going with and stick to a line for the customer loyalty thing - and from what I'm reading & seeing, NCL may not be the one. 

 

Would Royal, MSC or another be a "like" cruise line to go with vs NCL at this point??

 

 

The worst thing you can do is second guess yourself. If you booked and were happy about it when booking, got for it. Plan your cruise and then enjoy it. Don't look for things to go wrong even though nothing is perfect.

[Ellis1138]

9 hours ago, jibbity said:

Newbie here...great site & great posters with info and advice! Glad I found it - my situation is while I've booked an NCL cruise next May (on the Getaway), I can still cancel it as final payment not due until January. It was a great deal with the liquor package and other perks included (internet, excursion credit, etc)  but now I'm second guessing it and whether I should cancel and find another option. I've been on one other cruise before - NCL Sun to Alaska over a year ago. While it seemed ok I had nothing to compare it to. I can say I wasn't blown away by it but I know the Sun is an older ship and booked said cruise due to , again, a great deal.

 

 

 

I've been on the Sun (my first cruise when she was a new ship in 2003) and the Jade, Escape, Pride of America and Prima.

 

On each cruise, I've had a good time. PoA is unique and not the same experience as the others, but it was still enjoyable. On each cruise that I was having a great time, there were people who were miserable. Cruising is very dependent on the individuals and the situations and circumstances happening to them. 

 

The Getaway should be very good, in my opinion. If you felt the Sun was okay, you should certainly be okay on the Getaway. 

 

I think the only sword of Damocles with NCL at the moment is the itinerary issues that are happening with some ports. I've been lucky and not had many ports missed and the one they cancelled was due to a hurricane.

 

Keep the cruise. If you hate it, come back here and chide me.

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

47 minutes ago, Ellis1138 said:

On each cruise that I was having a great time, there were people who were miserable.

Yep.  I think we all know people who just seem to choose to go through life miserable.  They aren't "happy," unless they're miserable.  Some look for things to be miserable about.  Yeah, that makes no sense. But neither does being miserable on a great cruise ship.

[luv2kroooz]

11 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

. Many allegedly unhappy people (including those who say "I'm done with NCL") end up coming back again and again, which makes them untrustworthy.

Boy, you've been trotting that out a lot lately.

 

Curiously enough, when people leave NCL and say they did, like us, yet continue to post facts here, you call them trolls....when they don't leave NCL and continue to post here you call them untrustworthy. Very sad quite skeptical.

 

What exactly do you want? A forum with people that only sail NCL and love it?

 

Some of the comments immediately above are off the cuff silly, yet predictable. No critical analysis. Just a bunch of platitudes, blind loyalty, and excuses about NCL. How sad to kot be able to think critically.

Edited October 10 by luv2kroooz

[wncretired]

Obviously MANY people think highly of NCL. Stock price nearly doubled in one year!! 
If you bought NCL stock anytime in the past couple of years, you have made money. And if you bought at least 100 shares, you have made even more money with OBC. 
 

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, wncretired said:

And if you bought at least 100 shares, you have made even more money with OBC. 

Why would anybody on this forum buy less than 100 shares?  That would be stupid.

[Vegasvolfan]

At this point kicking myself for only buying 100.  Soon will have 5th shareholder credit and as of today up 98% from when I purchased. So great investment plus shareholder bonus hard to beat.

[OttawaJohn]

21 hours ago, jibbity said:

Newbie here...great site & great posters with info and advice! Glad I found it - my situation is while I've booked an NCL cruise next May (on the Getaway), I can still cancel it as final payment not due until January. It was a great deal with the liquor package and other perks included (internet, excursion credit, etc)  but now I'm second guessing it and whether I should cancel and find another option. I've been on one other cruise before - NCL Sun to Alaska over a year ago. While it seemed ok I had nothing to compare it to. I can say I wasn't blown away by it but I know the Sun is an older ship and booked said cruise due to , again, a great deal.

 

I know some will say for a better experience go with a more exclusive line but I'm not to where I can splurge on such (and I'm glad, but envious, lol, of those who can). 

 

In the future I plan on cruising more as I get to full retirement so another concern is going with and stick to a line for the customer loyalty thing - and from what I'm reading & seeing, NCL may not be the one. 

 

Would Royal, MSC or another be a "like" cruise line to go with vs NCL at this point??

 

 

 

My wife and I primarily sail with NCL.  We've had some bad experiences but still overall enjoy it. 

 

Some of the things, and one of the ships, that we hate are things others love.  And some stuff others love, we disliked. 

 

You will always find people who hate on stuff, and people who are ride or die for a brand and it can do no wrong. 

 

Will you have problems if you cruise with NCL?  Possibly. 

Could you have problems with any line?  Yes.

 

I'd not take anything too seriously at this stage, but that's just me.

 

All I can recommend is that you look to see what made you choose to book this cruise in the first place.  Was it the price, the itinerary, the dates, or something else?  And is what you've heard/seen worth the change?

 

[Topdog52]

7 hours ago, Vegasvolfan said:

At this point kicking myself for only buying 100.  Soon will have 5th shareholder credit and as of today up 98% from when I purchased. So great investment plus shareholder bonus hard to beat.

I have used my shareholder credit several times over the years. It usually shows up in my account in a couple of weeks. But with my European cruise next , I am having problems with NCL posting it, to my account. I have emailed them my account and have even mailed them everything. I have been trying for 6 weeks now. I hope it is posted soon. I wish I could talk to someone, because my PCC has no idea what is going on.

[Vegasvolfan]

I had one time it never showed up in my account prior to the cruise.  I went to service desk on second day of cruise showed them all the emails and proof of ownership they sent copies to the home office and got the credit applied to my account.  Was a small pain but worked out in the end.

[UKstages]

6 minutes ago, Vegasvolfan said:

…they sent copies to the home office and got the credit applied to my account.

glad to hear that.

 

but that’s a perfect example of how poorly NCL often manages even the most simple customer issue. once onboard, staff should be empowered to handle almost any mishap or inconvenience as it’s brought to their attention… in real time. you weren’t asking for a 7K adjustment or something of great value. a problem as simple as this shouldn’t require someone in miami to get involved. not for nuthin’, but it cost them more in man hours and inefficiency to process this request than the value of the OBC.

[DCGuy64]

12 hours ago, luv2kroooz said:

Boy, you've been trotting that out a lot lately.

 

Curiously enough, when people leave NCL and say they did, like us, yet continue to post facts here, you call them trolls....when they don't leave NCL and continue to post here you call them untrustworthy. Very sad quite skeptical.

 

What exactly do you want? A forum with people that only sail NCL and love it?

 

Some of the comments immediately above are off the cuff silly, yet predictable. No critical analysis. Just a bunch of platitudes, blind loyalty, and excuses about NCL. How sad to kot be able to think critically.

Your mind is made up about NCL and me, so what's the point of my arguing with you? You have a blessed day now. 😉 

[mking8288]

34 minutes ago, UKstages said:

... (another) example of how poorly NCL often (micro) manages even the most simple customer issue. once onboard, staff should be empowered to handle almost any mishap or inconvenience as it’s brought to their attention… in real time. you weren’t asking for a 7K adjustment or something of great value. a problem as simple as this shouldn’t require someone in miami to get involved. not for nuthin’, but it cost them more in man hours and inefficiency to process this request than the value of the OBC.

Ditto, explains why even when we had email and amenity statement onboard showing GS that $250 non-refundable OBC from NCLH needed to be escalated to Miami with a 3 days turnaround in resolution and a case number generated, and I waited until day 4 of our 15 days on the TA to even ask about it.  

[luv2kroooz]

11 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Your mind is made up about NCL and me, so what's the point of my arguing with you? You have a blessed day now. 😉 

You please do the same. My comment this time had nothing to do with liking or disliking NCL. I was pointing out to the community how you seem to dismiss any and all opinions that are not glowing reviews of NCL, referring to people that you dont even know as untrustworthy or trolls. That just seemed like strange logic to me. 

 

I've said over and again we have had memorable, enjoyable times on NCL. We are sapphire, after all. However, their actions and treatment of guests from a customer service standpoint is at a level that has caused us to sail away from NCL to other cruiselines. We have had as good or better times on the competition. We currently hold cruise next certificates and a financial investment in NCLH and have a personal interest in their success or failure. Time will tell, I suppose. Again, be well. Cheers.

[UKstages]

22 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

So yeah, unhappy people aren’t representative. Period. If anyone has real statistics that disprove what I'm saying, have at it.

respectfully, you may wish to revisit post #133.

 

you're arguing with a straw man. math is not necessary. nor are statistics.  
 

the point was that bad reviews are entirely representative of the person's experience who wrote the review, which may differ significantly from your own experience and the experience of others. the point was never that bad reviews or the sharing of bad experiences represent a very large portion of guest experiences. i said in my post that people are highly motivated to post bad reviews; less so, good reviews. there is no disagreement on this fundamental point.

 

the original comment to which i was responding was this: “happy people don't post. unhappy people do. bad reviews aren't representative.”
 

but they are. they are representative of that person’s experience. and that was my point.

 

as for whether unhappy “people” are representative of the cruising public at large. no, they’re not. but neither are happy people who write glowing reviews. your statistics, such as they are, would show that an even smaller percentage of the cruising public write good reviews, since we believe that fewer people are motivated to write good reviews.

 

Edited October 10 by UKstages

[DCGuy64]

1 minute ago, luv2kroooz said:

You please do the same. My comment this time had nothing to do with liking or disliking NCL. I was pointing out to the community how you seem to dismiss any and all opinions that are not glowing reviews of NCL, referring to people that you dont even know as untrustworthy or trolls. That just seemed like strange logic to me. 

 

I've said over and again we have had memorable, enjoyable times on NCL. We are sapphire, after all. However, their actions and treatment of guests from a customer service standpoint is at a level that has caused us to sail away from NCL to other cruiselines. We have had as good or better times on the competition. We currently hold cruise next certificates and a financial investment in NCLH and have a personal interest in their success or failure. Time will tell, I suppose. Again, be well. Cheers.

I'm sure you're familiar with the term "gaslighting," which essentially means to undermine someone's confidence in what he knows to be true by sowing seeds of doubt and pretending things did or didn't happen, in contravention of what actually did. What you are doing is attributing things to me that I never said. Sadly, this has become commonplace on social media (along with lots of logical fallacies like emotion-based arguments, ad hominems, etc., as well as being overly dramatic). I have neither the time nor the energy to disabuse you of the things you falsely say about me. Like I said, have a blessed day. You can continue to believe whatever you want, I won't stop you, even though you're wrong. 

[Vegasvolfan]

Just a reminder bookings are now open for specialty restaurants.  120 days out will be here before you know it!

[DCGuy64]

3 minutes ago, UKstages said:

the original comment to which i was responding was this: “happy people don't post. unhappy people do. bad reviews aren't representative.”
 

but they are. they are representative of that person’s experience.

It seems you are confused by what I meant by "not representative," so please allow me to clarify that. I mean they aren't representative of the whole. Yes, they are representative of the experience of the individual. But they do NOT represent the experience of the entire ship and its passengers. I've even read stories on Cruise Critic about some terrible experience that was refuted by another passenger on the very same cruise. I remember on the MSC board someone complaining about a terrible smell that the author claimed was all over the ship, and then someone on the same sailing said "I never smelled that." So I take a lot of negative reviews with a grain of salt, and I definitely do not think they represent the experience of every passenger. When someone posts a negative review solely with the purpose of telling his story and leaves it at that, I have no problem with it. But when that person tells a personal story and then makes grand statements about the entire line and says no one should sail with them again, that is not confining it to one's own experience, it's attempting to extrapolate a personal experience as though everyone else has to agree and boycott the cruise line altogether. And I will call that out every single time.

[UKstages]

 

15 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

What you are doing is attributing things to me that I never said. Sadly, this has become commonplace on social media

agreed.

 

please see post #151.

 

also, i feel a bit sad. 
 

i may have missed it, but i have not yet been blessed in this thread!

 

7 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

It seems you are confused by what I meant…

 

oh, gosh, no.

 

Edited October 10 by UKstages