glthrailkill

"Improved" policies on NCL include disallowing carry on of sodas and water and charging $7.50 per day for Pepsi products only, charging a $139/person spa fee for many features that used to be included, taking an elegant dining room and having someone with zero artistic taste paint stripes, circles, etc. across formerly elegant prints, and finally replacing an indoor pool with additional high dollar cabins to further facilitate the separation of "classes" rather than supporting the wonderful process of allowing folks to just be people in community.

The staff, everyone we encountered, was wonderful, helpful, smiling, kind, etc. etc. as anyone could have imagined and hoped for.  Our room steward was one of the best we have had in 64 cruises, a waiter in Venetian Dining Room was so great we made sure we got him again.  The ship was clean, most things worked well, the entertainment was good and GREAT, the food was excellent, and the overall experience of the ship and staff were all one could hope for.

A couple of the "ports" were particularly disappointing. We travel at least a week a month and have for 25 years. One of the great experiences is getting to meet people where and how they live.  Two stops were basically cruise line owned island shopping centers and had nothing to do with the actual countries of Belize or Honduras. 

Overall, what's to gripe about when you get to spend a week on a ship with zero responsibility and being waited on.  We will continue to cruise but will consider other lines a bit more favorably than NCL in the future.

Good basic cruise, great weather, etc.  Room steward was excellent.  The ship staff from officers to cleaning people were all pleasant and welcoming.  The entertainment by ship's performers and a couple from Russia were outstanding - some of the very best we have experienced on a ship. Food was generally very good - fairly typical cruising fare.  Our first meal in Tzar's restaurant was cold and inedible, but the rest of the meals there were great.  Ate in two of the specialty restaurants and they were excellent.  We are platinum or diamond with five cruise lines, and have concluded that "bang for the buck" NCL is probably the best.  We will concentrate on NCL for future cruises.

Since our last Carnival cruise in January of this year, definite evidence of this ship line trying to compete with the cutbacks we are all experiencing now when we fly.  We had to request ice in our stateroom rather than it being provided twice a day, the pillow chocolates have disappeared, reservations totally ignored our request for a dining time, and of the three options, relegated us to the one we would have picked third.  The balcony outside our cabin, 1101, was dirty when we got on board and experienced no improvement during the week.  Had we gone out barefooted, we would have gotten grit between our toes!

Partner and I, who are both Platinum with Carnival, took my two sisters on their first cruise, so they were not expecting anything.  The table we were assigned was in a corner of the dining room with a service area between the table and the main room so that all the shows were completely blocked.

Mail was mistakenly delivered to our stateroom - right room, wrong name.  I took it to guest services.  They quickly corrected the error and delivered the same item to us again.  They had a couple of other opportunities to be helpful, but alas....

BUT our stateroom steward, Jefferson, and his assistant, Ika, were two of the best we have ever had in 52 cruises on six different cruise lines.  Our dining staff, Brian and Omar and cannot remember lead's name, were phenomenal.

And, cruising is still one of the best bargains out there for overall ease in a vacation.  We are booked again in June/July, 14 days, and for a week, Jan. '16.

Really ticked when arrived at ship and told it was no longer "legal" to bring canned soft drinks aboard - had taxi go out of way so we could purchase.  Zero notification from NCL, but we are only Platinum.  Purser's Desk personnel were less than helpful on the two occasions we had to interact with them.  While the wait staff were all very friendly, the service in regular and the two specialty restaurants we used was slow.  Regular dining rooms the food was nothing to get excited about. Room steward and other wait staff were fantastic.  Spa staff were very nice as well.  Overall, we were really disappointed in NCL and almost wish we did not have two more cruises booked with them.  There were two really great shows and the captain was an incredibly humble and delightful man.

Gary Thrailkill, NCL #224535085

Partner and I are both Platinum w/NCL, and it used to be our favorite line of the five on which we are Platinum or Diamond.  However, this cruise did not measure up, nor did the one prior to this one.  The stateroom (balcony) was probably the smallest we have ever encountered.  The arrangement of the men's very small and cramped dressing room being separated by a public hallway from the steam and sauna was just poor.  The food choices and quality were markedly below the level we had become accustomed to w/NCL, and in some cases dining room food service was tediously slow - started dinner one night at 5:30 and missed the 7:30 show.  This was our 55th cruise overall, but we will do more research before selecting the next NCL ship.  As usual, the room steward was fantastic, but some of the staff were less than helpful and guest services was just rude.  The entertainment was truly great though.