Worried about bad reviews

[qtbranda]

My husband and I went on our first cruise three years ago to Hawaii. We were on the NCL wind that went to fanning island. The only thing we didn't like about the cruise was fanning island. We are thinking about booking another cruise. I really want to go back to Hawaii. I keep reading all these horrible reviews and I am now scared to book with NCL again. They are the only cruise line with a negative review from the BBB. Is it true? Is the service to Hawaii as bad as they say? Need advice.

[johnql]

They are the only cruise line with a negative review from the BBB. Is it true?

Where did you hear/read this? I just did a quick search on bbb.org's web site and Carnival came up as "Unsatisfactory". I picked Carnival only because it was the first cruise line that came to mind. I didn't bother with any other searches.

[JolieMadam]

My 95-yr. old father-in-law recently got back from that cruise in Hawaii. They left his luggage on the dock when he had paid to have it transported from the ship through to his return destination in California. He had to cough up nearly $200 to have it retrieved. He said he would never travel with them again.

[qtbranda]

Where did you hear/read this? I just did a quick search on bbb.org's web site and Carnival came up as "Unsatisfactory". I picked Carnival only because it was the first cruise line that came to mind. I didn't bother with any other searches.

 

you are right. they are unsatisfactory as well. i didn't check carnival because i didn't plan on ever booking with them. but ncl is unsatisfactory as well.

[jgiants21]

My search on the BBB web site shows NCL AMERICA (Hawaii cruise ships) as a satisfactory.

 

Where is everyone getting there information.

[KeystoneCruiser]

Don't believe the BBB. Their ratings are basically meaningless. They won't allow a negative report about one of their members. (I know, I filed one with the local agency and when it didn't appear, I called and asked and they said that they were in the business of "promoting their members, not harming them."

 

So basically all a negative review from the BBB means is that NCL isn't a member and won't pay the BBB to keep things only positive

[BeachBumMama]

You will always read both bad and good reviews on these boards for every ship in every line. There have been several recent threads on the Hawaii cruises and I would scan the first 6 pages to find them or do a search and you should be able to make a better decision on what is best for you.

 

Some people want towel animals and complain if they don't get them.:rolleyes: Some people can do without. I only use that as a reference that you have to decide what's important to you and your cruise and what would make or break it. And also who you choose to believe in their reviews and postings. Many people simply have no life and want to come onto cruise critic and begin a thread about how much they HATED their experience. I call them '1 post wonders' and in my opinion anyone that simply wants to come on here to complain (if they actually did take the cruise), is a complainer of many things in life.

 

You'll find these kinds of people on all the boards. So it's important when doing your research that you consider the source and the complaints.;)

[BeachBumMama]

So basically all a negative review from the BBB means is that NCL isn't a member and won't pay the BBB to keep things only positive

As a business owner who has received many sales calls from them to join, I was surprised to find out the BBB is actually simply a business like any other and out to basically make money.:confused:

[pd4travel]

OK, this is almost funny. Does anybody actually read the whole thing... NCL has a negative rating due to unresolved issues, fine... but READ the report, folks:

 

1 unresolved advertising issue of 24

1 unresolved repair issue of 4

1 unresolved customer service issue of 62

3 unresolved product issues of 102

1 unresolved billing issue of 32

 

Come on... you've got to be kidding me. What do they have, like a MILLION passengers in a year?!? So we're talking about .00007% of people being dissatisfied?!?! Have you ever seen how crazy and belligerent people get? I was on a trip once with NCL where a woman was screaming so hard she fainted because she wanted a new roll of toilet paper in her cabin every day, whether she used it or not. I honestly don't know what people think they are supposed to be getting for a very moderate price. I've also seen people shouting at the front desk people because the 'didn't know it wasn't traditional dining' and they wanted 100% of their money back. Well, it's only in EVERY piece of printed matter, and spoken in every radio and TV commercial... so...

 

I've been on NCL more times than I can count, and have always had a great value for my money. I can count on one hand the number of issues I've had, and all were taken care of immediately upon my request. It is what it is, people... do they treat you better on Seaborne? Yes. Is a Lexus more luxurious than a Toyota? Yes... doesn't mean the Toyota is a bad car, or a bad value!

 

As for the NCL America question, I've been on the Aloha and the America. I was also on the Sky (which became the Aloha) 3 times out of San Juan while they were training the first American crews. Are the American crews up to the standard of the international crews... not exactly. Would it discourage me from sailing again? Not a CHANCE. Look at your average cost for a hotel room in Hawaii, AND the cost in time & $$ to get from one island to another, what with repacking and returning rental cars, airport security and the like. Our time on both ships was perfect. The overnights in Kauai & Maui were great... we ate ashore, anyway. So, we had a reasonably priced hotel, that gave us a good breakfast and late night snacks follow us around Hawaii... all for about $100 a day. Please - it's a steal.

 

I narrowed down a very simple difference in the crew, and it may sound silly, but it really accounts for alot of what people perceive to be 'bad service'. It's the language. On an international ship, the crew has English as a second language, and at that, they learn British English. The American crew are -- well-- American kids. As such, they are very informal, and use the same slang as every other kid in town. So, when we asked for tea as our server passed the table, instead of "right away, sir" in a lovely accent, we got, "I'll have it out in a sec."

 

There are two other points I'd like to bring up. First, if you expect to have a bad time, you will. If you take with you a whole laundry list of imperfections that others have pointed out... you WILL focus on them, and they WILL bother you.

 

Second, as I said, I was on the Sky for 3 weeks while they trained Americans. The turnover was astronomical. From what I gathered, some of the early recruiters were less than ethical, and painted a picture like the 'Love Boat', and these kids got on a plane to go 'hang out' while cruising around like the TV characters. Ship's crew is a grueling schedule of very hard work. Many of the disenfranchised bailed and began badmouthing the line.

 

All blog type reviews are blind. You don't know who the reviewer is, and what their axe is to to grind. It's like when someone I've JUST met tells me how much I'd LOVE the book they're reading. No I wouldn't, I HATE reading books... you've JUST met me, how can you possibly know what my priorities are???

 

I can't tell anyone I don't know that they'd LOVE NCL or NCL America. I can tell you that I love them both. I can tell you I think both offer a tremendous bang for buck ratio. I can tell you that in my opinion, about 90% of the negative things I've read are either grossly exaggerated or simply untrue.

[lakelady01]

We leave on the POA in 2 days; I promise to give you a review when we return on the 26th. We are looking forward to being with friends, cruising, and exploring the islands in a rental car. Will let you know!!

[BeachBumMama]

I was on a trip once with NCL where a woman was screaming so hard she fainted because she wanted a new roll of toilet paper in her cabin every day, whether she used it or not.

Whoa...:eek:

How did you stop yourself from laughing?:D

[pd4travel]

Oh, honey... I NEVER said I didn't laugh out loud! (as is my custom when faced with profoundly ridiculous people.) I had a lady tell me she HATED the service on NCL, because in the dining room, she had to wait 5 - 10 minutes between courses, and when she goes out to eat at home, they just bring everything all at once, so she doesn't have to wait. I gently (ok, very sarcastically) pointed out that what she described is also called McDonalds. Now that lady will go poison 100 people, telling them dining room service was bad. It's all perspective, kids.

 

I was on the NCL Crown around Cape Horn last year, and video taped a woman being attacked by a penguin. They had 2 guides on the bus warn you during a 3 hour trip, 10 guides at the rookery warned you, and she just had to get up by the 1 crazed penguin in the colony of 1 million. She was warned away 5 times more, and continued... I had tape rolling on her, when you could see the bottom of her slacks were torn away and she began bleeding on her shin. On the tape, you can hear my partner say, "shouldn't we be helping her?" to which you can hear my reply, "no, this is really good TV." (don't EVER tell my mother that story... she'd KILL me.)

[KSTAZMAN]

Well said man.

Going on Aloha in August. Planning to have a fine time.

John

[BeachBumMama]

I was on the NCL Crown around Cape Horn last year, and video taped a woman being attacked by a penguin.

I am cracking up... and your secret's safe, I won't tell mom!;)

[electricron]

I've seen and read as many good reviews as I have bad ones on this forum, where no payment is required to express an opinion. Over the years, I've read bad reviews on every ship, for every cruise line. I've also read great reviews on every ship for every cruise line.

 

So, who's telling the truth? One time wonders; those who come back day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year; or everyone?

 

You make the call! You are free to believe who you wish.

 

Personally I feel some people expect too much, some people are too selfish to share the crew and ship with everyone else, and some people just aren't well adjusted to cruising and should take another type of vacation.

[thawan]

I took some great advise I read, I read 6 cl boards so I don't remember which one. This cruiser suggeted when reading a negative review - ask yourself if whatever was wrong would bother you. So I started reading them with that in mind.

 

There are very, very few things that I have read that would upset DH and I. And the things that would I learned on these boards how to resove them :)

 

Some of them are soooo funny

 

P.S. I booked the Wind when it was getting very bad reviews, but by the time I cruised,(10 months) all was good.

[7SeasLover]

Some of these minutia filled negative folks are spilling over to another forum called "Latitudes" saying they'll NEVER sail NCL because they can't get confirmation of excursions when, in the same breath, the person states they had telephone confirmation. Duh. That person also said it was their first and last NCL cruise.

 

You're absolutely right. WHAT are they complaining about? No towel animals, no ice in the bucket, plane was late. Sure, I want a perfect vacation, but WHAT in life is perfect?

 

I always go away from home believing that everything I experience from the time I walk out my front door until the time I return will be an ADVENTURE. It will be something to go in my bank of memories. Even when the airline smashed my hard luggage and had to tape it closed, to when I sailed and forgot to pack underwear! (duh)

 

All of these things are fond memories. I say as long as I'm not dead, dying, or bleeding I'm going to have a grand time! (By the way, travel insurance got me a brand new suitcase.)

 

Personally, I wouldn't sail NCLA because of the American crew. And folks. there is a diffence between NCL and NCLA. My 10th NCL cruise is this a week from tomorrow - South America on the Crown. Yippie!

[Socref124]

you are right. they are unsatisfactory as well. i didn't check carnival because i didn't plan on ever booking with them. but ncl is unsatisfactory as well.

 

Unbelievable, If I were you, I'd check out Carnival. After a less than satisfactory experience on NCL Star:( , I was hesitant to cruise again. When checking out prices for an anniversary vacation, I stumbled upon a price for the Carnival Glory that was fantastic so we decided to try cruising again. I had heard all the rumors about Carnival being the drink till you drop and party hearty cruise line, in fact, this ship just had a man jump overboard while drunk. It is spring break. We didn't see any of this on our cruise and we were very pleased with the food and service:) . While the food may not have been quite as good as the Star, the service was far superior. Since the Glory we have been on two more Carnival cruises and have a third planned for next year. We still haven't seen the bad behavior and the poor service that so many people talk about. I think to many people and TA's have heard that a friend of theirs has a friend whose uncle was on a Carnival cruise in 1976 during spring break and they said that there were a lot of rowdy partying young people on board getting drunk all the time:mad: . I read these boards and hear a lot of people that bash Carnival that have never been on a Carnival cruise and bash NCL and have never been on an NCL cruise. Since I have been on both, it is my opinion that Carnival is a better choice:D . With that said, my DW and I are planning on going back to Hawaii in 2009 and are looking at NCL. I'd love to do Carnival but not four or five days in a row at sea and NCL doesn't have sea days unless you take the cruise to Fanning Island. Something to remember, most people only make comments regarding negative experiences so when looking around you will not hear of the millions of people that had a great time on NCL, Carnival or any other ship. This is one of the reasons I love these boards. You can go on the ship review section and find out how people rated their cruise. Since they were on the particular ship they are reviewing. It's not like the message boards where you hear people that have never cruised NCL talking about how bad the line is. Check out the reviews of the ships and go and have a great cruise;) . Good luck.

[Bennett'sCruise]

, to when I sailed and forgot to pack underwear! (duh)!

 

:eek: That wasn't when we sailed with you, WAS IT??:eek:

HA! At least you remembered your cologne so I could borrow it and smell good while dining with Captn! ;)

BON VOYAGE, GIRLFRIEND!! You deserve a wonderfully relaxing cruise! (Although I'm not sure *relaxing* is a good thing for you!! :rolleyes: )

 

~d

[cruisequeen10]

Before I decide to cruise a particular ship, I read several of the reviews and yes a lot are negative. If I took them to heart, I would not be cruising, but staying at home watching boring TV. When I board a ship, I completely forget what I have read and enjoy myself. Sometimes when something goes wrong, something in my brain goes off - hey I read about that and then I forget it and carry on. On the 19 cruises I have been on (1980 to present) I have never been on a cruise I have hated. They are very special to me. All my friends enjoy seeing my photo albums when I return and they all want to go.

[BeachBumMama]

Unbelievable, If I were you, I'd check out Carnival. After a less than satisfactory experience on NCL Star:( , I was hesitant to cruise again.

While the food may not have been quite as good as the Star, the service was far superior.

With that said, my DW and I are planning on going back to Hawaii in 2009 and are looking at NCL. I'd love to do Carnival but not four or five days in a row at sea and NCL doesn't have sea days unless you take the cruise to Fanning Island.

Sometimes it's a give and take relationship.;) And of course all it takes is 1 or 2 service people having a bad day and they don't give it a thought as to the impression it leaves on a persons overall experience. I tend to look at cruises as individual experiences and not in a general 'overall' single view in reflection of the cruise line.

 

This isn't to be disagreable or debate you on the subject or for bickering 'in defense of' purposes, I LOVE my freestyle but I'm not a diehard NCL cheerleader... but I've had a less than stellar experience on RCCL a few times, but that hasn't stopped me from booking RCCL again and having a great time on the next. As a matter of fact, on my most recent NCL cruise I had a rude waiter in one of the restaurants for lunch, but that isn't a reflection on the cruise line, it was a reflection on that particular person. That night at dinner I had the best waiter and assistant I've ever had on any cruise.

 

Your experience on the Star left you with a bad taste, but at least you were open minded enough to give cruising another try. And this isn't a 'bash' to Carnival but you could have given cruising another try on any NCL ship, or RCL or Disney or Celebrity or... etc. etc. and your experience would have been entirely different than your first NCL Star experience. Fortunately (or unfortunately, however you want to look at it because it does become an addiction;) ), you had a good experience and know that cruising is something you truly enjoy. And again, not to bash Carnival, but I don't give them full credit. They supplied you with the basics and the opportunity the same as NCL did, and that experience was different as will every cruise be.

 

And because the NCL itinerary is more appealing to you than anything else out there, at least you are open minded enough now to not let your first experience stop you. If you did, you would surely deny yourself yet another opportunity to have a wonderful cruise experience. Hope it works and you'll have a fabulous time.:D

[swalkr]

I keep reading all these horrible reviews and I am now scared to book with NCL again. They are the only cruise line with a negative review from the BBB. Is it true? Is the service to Hawaii as bad as they say? Need advice.

 

Go here for a great review of the Pride of Hawaii - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=476505 She has a wonderful lon-g-g-g-g-g review of their Hawaiian Cruise. I really do think she is objective in her review. If you cut and paste all her individual posts and print them, it ends up being about 40 pages long, but worth the read. She reviews the ship, dining, each port, accommodations, shore excursions, shopping, etc. I printed it and I am in the process of highlighting what is important to us. You can always read negative reviews and I usually take them with a grain of salt, consider the source and go on. Some people are just into complaining - and no one or nothing will please them. They should buy their own cruise ship and do it the way they want. :rolleyes:

[BeachBumMama]

My 10th NCL cruise is this a week from tomorrow - South America on the Crown. Yippie!

Have a great time!

[old faithful]

You will always read both bad and good reviews on these boards for every ship in every line. There have been several recent threads on the Hawaii cruises and I would scan the first 6 pages to find them or do a search and you should be able to make a better decision on what is best for you.

 

Some people want towel animals and complain if they don't get them.:rolleyes: Some people can do without. I only use that as a reference that you have to decide what's important to you and your cruise and what would make or break it. And also who you choose to believe in their reviews and postings. Many people simply have no life and want to come onto cruise critic and begin a thread about how much they HATED their experience. I call them '1 post wonders' and in my opinion anyone that simply wants to come on here to complain (if they actually did take the cruise), is a complainer of many things in life.

 

You'll find these kinds of people on all the boards. So it's important when doing your research that you consider the source and the complaints.;)

 

I loved the tone and message of your post - I laughed out loud about the towel animals =)

 

Old Faithful

[old faithful]

OK, this is almost funny. Does anybody actually read the whole thing... NCL has a negative rating due to unresolved issues, fine... but READ the report, folks:

 

1 unresolved advertising issue of 24

1 unresolved repair issue of 4

1 unresolved customer service issue of 62

3 unresolved product issues of 102

1 unresolved billing issue of 32

 

Come on... you've got to be kidding me. What do they have, like a MILLION passengers in a year?!? So we're talking about .00007% of people being dissatisfied?!?! Have you ever seen how crazy and belligerent people get? I was on a trip once with NCL where a woman was screaming so hard she fainted because she wanted a new roll of toilet paper in her cabin every day, whether she used it or not. I honestly don't know what people think they are supposed to be getting for a very moderate price. I've also seen people shouting at the front desk people because the 'didn't know it wasn't traditional dining' and they wanted 100% of their money back. Well, it's only in EVERY piece of printed matter, and spoken in every radio and TV commercial... so...

 

I've been on NCL more times than I can count, and have always had a great value for my money. I can count on one hand the number of issues I've had, and all were taken care of immediately upon my request. It is what it is, people... do they treat you better on Seaborne? Yes. Is a Lexus more luxurious than a Toyota? Yes... doesn't mean the Toyota is a bad car, or a bad value!

 

As for the NCL America question, I've been on the Aloha and the America. I was also on the Sky (which became the Aloha) 3 times out of San Juan while they were training the first American crews. Are the American crews up to the standard of the international crews... not exactly. Would it discourage me from sailing again? Not a CHANCE. Look at your average cost for a hotel room in Hawaii, AND the cost in time & $$ to get from one island to another, what with repacking and returning rental cars, airport security and the like. Our time on both ships was perfect. The overnights in Kauai & Maui were great... we ate ashore, anyway. So, we had a reasonably priced hotel, that gave us a good breakfast and late night snacks follow us around Hawaii... all for about $100 a day. Please - it's a steal.

 

I narrowed down a very simple difference in the crew, and it may sound silly, but it really accounts for alot of what people perceive to be 'bad service'. It's the language. On an international ship, the crew has English as a second language, and at that, they learn British English. The American crew are -- well-- American kids. As such, they are very informal, and use the same slang as every other kid in town. So, when we asked for tea as our server passed the table, instead of "right away, sir" in a lovely accent, we got, "I'll have it out in a sec."

 

There are two other points I'd like to bring up. First, if you expect to have a bad time, you will. If you take with you a whole laundry list of imperfections that others have pointed out... you WILL focus on them, and they WILL bother you.

 

Second, as I said, I was on the Sky for 3 weeks while they trained Americans. The turnover was astronomical. From what I gathered, some of the early recruiters were less than ethical, and painted a picture like the 'Love Boat', and these kids got on a plane to go 'hang out' while cruising around like the TV characters. Ship's crew is a grueling schedule of very hard work. Many of the disenfranchised bailed and began badmouthing the line.

 

All blog type reviews are blind. You don't know who the reviewer is, and what their axe is to to grind. It's like when someone I've JUST met tells me how much I'd LOVE the book they're reading. No I wouldn't, I HATE reading books... you've JUST met me, how can you possibly know what my priorities are???

 

I can't tell anyone I don't know that they'd LOVE NCL or NCL America. I can tell you that I love them both. I can tell you I think both offer a tremendous bang for buck ratio. I can tell you that in my opinion, about 90% of the negative things I've read are either grossly exaggerated or simply untrue.

 

I pushed back my chair - stood up - clapped, cheered, & smilled - pulled the chair in ... and typed this ...

 

well said, well said !!!

 

Old Faithful