Australasia cruise guide

The ports were excellent and the number of sea days perfect which made the trip great. (A+ ) The ship was very clean throughout.(A+)  Our room steward, Nanda, was the best we have ever had and that is saying a lot as we have been on some 25 cruises, 13 with Celebrity.(A++)  The shortcomings were the main dining room food, entertainment and excursions.  The main dining room food (C) was seriously lacking as well as the service.(Oceanview Cafe food and service was very good and far superior to main dining)  Customer service and attitudes by main dining wait staff needs serious improvement.  Far too many acted as if they just did not care, with one actually trying to debate my wife as to what she wanted that evening.  Theater shows would get a grade of B.  There were a few good guest entertainer shows with the two folkloric shows in French Polynesia and Maui being the best of all ..The shows of the production cast was the worst of any Celebrity ship we have been on.  Excursions are a waste of money.  We took the whale watching tour in Maui and it was a total waste of time and money.  The tour guide on the boat stated that he did not know why the ship sold this tour to us, as the whales had been gone for 3 to 4 weeks.  Independent tours on shore were excellent and about half the price of the ship.

We still like Celebrity very much and favor them over most of the others however, it is not the cruise line it once was.  Becoming more and more main stream.

A fun cruise from Sydney to Honolulu.  Lots to do, including the Equator crossing, at which point I stopped being a polliwog and became a shellback.  Great visit to Auckland to see the Hobbiton movie set.  Bilbo was not at home.  Enjoyed French Polynesia, incredibly beautiful, and journeyed to Hana on the fabled road of 690 curves and 59 one lane bridges, again with incredible views.

Food was great, weather was reasonable.  Had a couple of windy days and rough seas.  Some folks went to Medical, I landed at the Passport Bar, prosecco in hand, watching the surf occasionally reach up to wash the windows.

The itinerary and the cruise ship were both very good. Great ports of call and nice rooms. The food was just OK and the food at the pay restaurants wasn't worth paying extra for. I wouldn't even give them a try if you are going. My biggest complaints were the alcohol. We bought the package...but the drinks were so week I don't even know why they call them alcoholic drinks. Plus, even if you have the drink package, if you want a double you have to pay extra. There were a few martini's that had decent alcohol...but that was about it. Lastly, I bought the internet package in advance in US dollars because they were promoting it as a discount to buy in advance. When I got on board, they were selling internet for the same price...but in Australian Dollars. There were some other customer service issues that makes me want to try a different cruise line the next time around.

Despite a few problems, we enjoyed the cruise very much. NCL has excellent entertainment in most nights; their band, dancers and singers are fantastic. The workers are some of the most friendly people - they cannot trained them so well, so those workers must enjoy their jobs. The food was quite good in this cruise and the different ethnic celebrations in the buffet each night was smart and delicious. Moderno is a fantastic paid option for variation as dinner choice. We were very lucky with the weather. In our stops, don't know why we have to be so far away from all the interesting places and most of the time be tendered to nearest far away harbor. That's upsetting and time consuming. The visas with Australia were not handled well. We suggest NCL requires some sort of visa proof way before one checks in. And when mistakes are made with visas, they shouldn't send ultimate letters to the stateroom. That ruins anyone's vacation. The cruise consultants in this trip were not friendly so no cruise reward buying for us. Finally, NCL has gone paranoiac with bringing water, juices or liquor into the ship. They should cool down and follow their motto: freestyle cruises. Overall, though, we were very satisfied and will cruise NCL again. Always giving them a chance to improve.

The itinerary for this cruise was amazing. We really enjoyed all of the ports as well as the sea days. One of my favorite things about this cruise was the captain who gave us daily reports of the waterways, the ports, the weather and some of the history of the area we were in. 

The downside to this cruise was that there were several changes in the itinerary and NCL was not good about keeping us informed of the changes. Despite this we would definately do this cruise again. It was well worth the money.