The TERRIBLE State of Norwegian Cruise Line in 2024

[Sizzlechest]

13 minutes ago, Wayward Son said:

 

That's a rather odd statement. There are some of us who prefer not to spend their vacation surrounded by 7000 others within the confines of a cruise ship.

 

Let's say a cruise line puts two theaters on a ship, one included and one that costs extra. Then they add a private pool for suite guests and an adults-only lounge area you must pay for. Let's also say they are so short for space that they do shows in the middle of the ship out in the open instead of a lounge. Oh, wait. You don't have to imagine what it would be like. I just described the NCL Breakaway.

 

It's not the size of the ship or how many people are on board. It's how cramped it feels once it's full.

[tgloersen]

On 10/3/2024 at 10:22 PM, kasimir said:

You can think of Ben and David what you want, but they are stating some obvious facts and its no secret that NCLH is trying for some time to get financially in a better situation. Here are some of the obvious and blatant cost cutting measures that come to mind that have been implemented during the past 2 years: 

- Cuts in entertainment

- Removal of second turn down service

- Lowering of food quality, very noticeable in their meat/fish dishes 

- Complete removal of higher valued food items in MDR, Buffet and Indulge Food hall.

- Increase in service charges

- Lower staff count (this really is noticeable)

- Nickel and diming getting worst. 

These are just a few that come to mind, but what really gave us a sour taste that very recently their cruises are getting more expensive on top of all the cost cutting. I mean if you want to increase prices, fine, but don't aggressively cut your product and service at the same time. 

There are a lot of NCL cruises for 2025 that are being priced equally or more expensive than Celebrity or Princess. And I am afraid that this way NCL will upset their loyal customers. 

 

Again, you might not like Ben and David or their style of content, but you must be blind (or haven't been on an NCL ship in the past 2 years) to have not noticed that NCL is going in the wrong direction at a very fast pace. 

I think he is spot on!

[graphicguy]

Personally, it depends on what I'm in the mood for.

 

The larger ships , on every cruise line, are stuffed with things to do.  Getting to those things and actually doing them is a different issue.

 

At some point, curiosity will get me to sail something like Royal's Icon.  Right now?  Not quite in the mood to fight that sort of crowd, especially for the fares they're charging right now.  I'm sure the fares will come down to the point I'll jump on the Icon at some point.  It's just not in the foreseeable future for me to fight that sort of crowd just to be on a Humongous ship.  It's just not that important to me.

 

To this day, Liberty of the Seas and Allure of the Seas are my faves on Royal..both are more than 10 years old.

 

I like the Breakaway Plus ships, too.  Again, I have to be in the mood to sail them, though.

 

Personally, I like the layout, the look and the size of the Prima class ships on NCL.  I like their entertainment options.  I like the way they offer such a variety of dining options.

 

Obviously, you look at all these threads for all these cruise lines, no matter how much the cruise lines try to be all things to all people, someone...somewhere is not going to like something they do or have done.  That's just the nature of the beast.

 

It is great we have so many choices.NCL has been scratching my cruising itch for a while.  I like them.  I keep booking them.  In general, I don't agree with some reviewers and some I do agree with.  I find I follow the "lack of drama" cruise vLoggers than those who make it obvious all they are looking for.  I don't find those folks credible....especially when my personal experiences aren't anywhere close to theirs.

 

Not everyone likes Princess, or MSC , or Royal, or Carnival, or......

 

It's great having choices.

[wncretired]

11 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Personally, it depends on what I'm in the mood for.

 

The larger ships , on every cruise line, are stuffed with things to do.  Getting to those things and actually doing them is a different issue.

 

At some point, curiosity will get me to sail something like Royal's Icon.  Right now?  Not quite in the mood to fight that sort of crowd, especially for the fares they're charging right now.  I'm sure the fares will come down to the point I'll jump on the Icon at some point.  It's just not in the foreseeable future for me to fight that sort of crowd just to be on a Humongous ship.  It's just not that important to me.

 

To this day, Liberty of the Seas and Allure of the Seas are my faves on Royal..both are more than 10 years old.

 

I like the Breakaway Plus ships, too.  Again, I have to be in the mood to sail them, though.

 

Personally, I like the layout, the look and the size of the Prima class ships on NCL.  I like their entertainment options.  I like the way they offer such a variety of dining options.

 

Obviously, you look at all these threads for all these cruise lines, no matter how much the cruise lines try to be all things to all people, someone...somewhere is not going to like something they do or have done.  That's just the nature of the beast.

 

It is great we have so many choices.NCL has been scratching my cruising itch for a while.  I like them.  I keep booking them.  In general, I don't agree with some reviewers and some I do agree with.  I find I follow the "lack of drama" cruise vLoggers than those who make it obvious all they are looking for.  I don't find those folks credible....especially when my personal experiences aren't anywhere close to theirs.

 

Not everyone likes Princess, or MSC , or Royal, or Carnival, or......

 

It's great having choices.

Nailed it!!!

[bkrickles1]

19 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Personally, it depends on what I'm in the mood for.

 

The larger ships , on every cruise line, are stuffed with things to do.  Getting to those things and actually doing them is a different issue.

 

At some point, curiosity will get me to sail something like Royal's Icon.  Right now?  Not quite in the mood to fight that sort of crowd, especially for the fares they're charging right now.  I'm sure the fares will come down to the point I'll jump on the Icon at some point.  It's just not in the foreseeable future for me to fight that sort of crowd just to be on a Humongous ship.  It's just not that important to me.

 

To this day, Liberty of the Seas and Allure of the Seas are my faves on Royal..both are more than 10 years old.

 

I like the Breakaway Plus ships, too.  Again, I have to be in the mood to sail them, though.

 

Personally, I like the layout, the look and the size of the Prima class ships on NCL.  I like their entertainment options.  I like the way they offer such a variety of dining options.

 

Obviously, you look at all these threads for all these cruise lines, no matter how much the cruise lines try to be all things to all people, someone...somewhere is not going to like something they do or have done.  That's just the nature of the beast.

 

It is great we have so many choices.NCL has been scratching my cruising itch for a while.  I like them.  I keep booking them.  In general, I don't agree with some reviewers and some I do agree with.  I find I follow the "lack of drama" cruise vLoggers than those who make it obvious all they are looking for.  I don't find those folks credible....especially when my personal experiences aren't anywhere close to theirs.

 

Not everyone likes Princess, or MSC , or Royal, or Carnival, or......

 

It's great having choices.

Exactly! 

I'm also a fan of LOTS. Sailed her when she was new with my wife and (when she was young) daughter, and again some years later with a group. Terrific ship 🛳️! 

Recently, it's been almost all NCL, but that could change at any time. 

Sailing Aqua next summer. 

[graphicguy]

2 hours ago, bkrickles1 said:

Exactly! 

I'm also a fan of LOTS. Sailed her when she was new with my wife and (when she was young) daughter, and again some years later with a group. Terrific ship 🛳️! 

Recently, it's been almost all NCL, but that could change at any time. 

Sailing Aqua next summer. 

LOTS was special for a bunch of reasons.  I took my son on it for his 18th birthday.  It was the first time I had sailed Royal.  I thought the ship, while big, was well kept.

 

Love to hear your impressions of the AQUA!  2025 is up in the air as far as cruises right now.  I'm sure I'll find something that "floats my boat"! 😉

Edited Monday at 01:20 PM by graphicguy

[bkrickles1]

6 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

LOTS was special for a bunch of reasons.  I took my son on it for his 18th birthday.  It was the first time I had sailed Royal.  I thought the ship, while big, was well kept.

 

Love to hear your impressions of the AQUA!  2025 is up in the air as far as cruises right now.  I'm sure I'll find something that "floats my boat"! 😉

After sailing Getaway for 10 days in April (excellent cruise!!), my wife and daughter did not want our next sailing to be with NCL. Really only because we had done 5 in a row with them and they were looking for a change.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, my wife and daughter walk in the house and tell me that they want to do Aqua next summer to celebrate my 60th! 

I never say no to a cruise and Aqua is way different than the breakaway/breakaway+ ships and it's new, so we're in.

Prima and Viva have very mixed reviews, but Aqua is supposedly improving on those ships, so we'll see how it goes.

We enjoy every cruise, so I'm sure it will be terrific!

[graphicguy]

3 minutes ago, bkrickles1 said:

After sailing Getaway for 10 days in April (excellent cruise!!), my wife and daughter did not want our next sailing to be with NCL. Really only because we had done 5 in a row with them and they were looking for a change.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, my wife and daughter walk in the house and tell me that they want to do Aqua next summer to celebrate my 60th! 

I never say no to a cruise and Aqua is way different than the breakaway/breakaway+ ships and it's new, so we're in.

Prima and Viva have very mixed reviews, but Aqua is supposedly improving on those ships, so we'll see how it goes.

We enjoy every cruise, so I'm sure it will be terrific!

Leaving on the Getaway on December 1 out of New Orleans.  Really looking forward to that as it's been eons since I've been to New Orleans and I love both Away ships.

 

Got some surgeries coming up the first of the year.  So, don't know how long recovery will be.  But, once recovered, I'm going to splurge on some cruise, to somewhere, on a ship that I haven't sailed yet.  Could be Aqua, could be Icon.  Who knows?

[RocketMan275]

9 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Got some surgeries coming up the first of the year.  So, don't know how long recovery will be.  But, once recovered, I'm going to splurge on some cruise, to somewhere, on a ship that I haven't sailed yet.  Could be Aqua, could be Icon.  Who knows?

Wish you well.  

[cruiseny4life]

On 10/12/2024 at 1:22 PM, david_sobe said:

NCL is not mentioned that much in this video. 

NCL isn't mentioned, but NCLH is! Both Oceania and Regent scored very poorly within their markets. Apparently Oceania has a "MORE" Program and Regent just isn't hitting the right boxes for their upscale clientele. Based on how Gary positioned Royal and where MSC fell, it seems that NCL must have been in third position. While third isn't normally that bad, it's worse when you know there were only four contenders in that mass market lineup. Based on what he said, it's 1. Royal, 2. Carnival, 3. NCL, 4. MSC. 

 

On 10/12/2024 at 8:24 PM, Sizzlechest said:

 

It sounds like customers would do well to pick the cruise line that is building the newest and biggest ships. The longer one stays with a "loser" cruise line, the more cognitive dissonance will set in.

The loser cruise line is for me! Why? It has the Haven and doesn't require me to dress up. Perhaps I'm a loser for wanting a suites-only space that allows me to go to dinner in a t-shirt and shorts. The Retreat on Celebrity requires a more upscale dress and MSC's Yacht Club does as well, though it seems to be not quite as stuffy as The Retreat. 

 

So, I'll take that loser cruise line, so long as I don't have to dress up and can have a quieter experience with a pool, hot tub, and restaurant that serves better food than any other venue on the ship. 

 

22 hours ago, graphicguy said:

At some point, curiosity will get me to sail something like Royal's Icon.  Right now?  Not quite in the mood to fight that sort of crowd, especially for the fares they're charging right now.

I'm so going to sail on Icon! Someday. I love the whimsical look of the ship and while it doesn't have as good a space for suite's guests as The Haven, I'm sure I'll survive going on the "winner's" cruise line. Does Royal allow losers onboard? Hmm.

[schmoopie17]

43 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Does Royal allow losers onboard? Hmm.

I guess so...they let me on in 2006.

But haven't been back on since. So maybe they're telling me once is enough.

[graphicguy]

47 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

 

 

I'm so going to sail on Icon! Someday. I love the whimsical look of the ship and while it doesn't have as good a space for suite's guests as The Haven, I'm sure I'll survive going on the "winner's" cruise line. Does Royal allow losers onboard? Hmm.

You and me both can sail as "co-losers" on the Icon.  I am sailing as a loser on the Getaway, and looking forward to it.

[graphicguy]

57 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Wish you well.  

Thanks!  I appreciate it.  I'll be fine.  I'm at an age where they have to start replacing worn out parts.  LOL!

Edited Monday at 02:47 PM by graphicguy

[Gatordad1967]

that's the beauty.  sail what makes you happy.  i like MSC and NCL, but have sailed RCCL, Celebrity, Carnival..... I would go back on all but Carnival

 

[Goldenknight]

On 10/14/2024 at 6:54 AM, cruiseny4life said:

 

 

 . . . . 

 

. Perhaps I'm a loser for wanting a suites-only space that allows me to go to dinner in a t-shirt and shorts. The Retreat on Celebrity requires a more upscale dress and MSC's Yacht Club does as well, though it seems to be not quite as stuffy as The Retreat. 

 

 

 

 

Strange, you think the Haven is "suites-only".   Hmm.  For example, courtyard penthouses on Bliss are definitely small, and definitely not suites.  

Going to dinner in a tshirt and shorts (or swim trunks) . . .  well at least that is factual, saw that on Prima.  Hmm.

[cruiseny4life]

3 minutes ago, Goldenknight said:

Strange, you think the Haven is "suites-only".   Hmm.  For example, courtyard penthouses on Bliss are definitely small, and definitely not suites.  

Going to dinner in a tshirt and shorts (or swim trunks) . . .  well at least that is factual, saw that on Prima.  Hmm.

Welp, call me corrected! Penthouses and Suites, they are! 

Awwwwwwww, you remember!!! 🤩

Edited 13 hours ago by cruiseny4life