Read my comments above for each. Overall, this was a 'Walmart experince in a Neiman Marcus type store' The cruise needs restructuring for much longer time at each stop; not a few hours in rainy Ketchikan ; not get to Victoria in the dark late night for less than 3 hours; not spend a lot of money for excursions in Juneau to be rushed back . The whole experience was bad
Embarkation
1 out of 5
Very rushed and poor direction for where to go
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
The main dining rooms and specialty restaurants were beautifully designed and clean, But the Service was very very Bad. Everytime we went , at least 5 or 6 waitstaff standing in cluster talking while guests are hungry Waiting to be seated or we were seated at their tables wanting to order and Noone was coming to take our order. A majority of the wait staff spoke poor English making communication hard. In the LOCAL Pub , a popular restaurant, the line to get in was ridiculous long, even though there were open tables .
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
This was a cruise to Alaska on Bliss. lots of families with children and teens. Horrible that the Race track carting was always"full " and there was a standby list. Not enough activites . People playing cards in the common areas...really ?? BoardGames, scrabble and Monopoly laying out. In the Atrium, the Deal or No Deal Game was a ripoff; $25 for one card. Activities like napkin folding and cupcake decorating is Not enticing to majority of people.
and Trivia was corny. I can stay home and play cards; not spend thousands on a cruise to sit around bored!!!
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Jersey boys was fantastic.. Beatles cover Band was great; but how can you cram 100's of people in a small confines room, as the Cavern ? All other DJ and Karaoke was bad, Music of Billy Joel and Elton performed by an Older Man had to be in his 70s in observation room was terribly disappointing; He had no vocal range & no personality .
Service and Staff
2 out of 5
Again, Service was Poor... wait staff was not ready when dining rooms opened for meals. ship personnel seemed agitated just to answer our questions. Room steward was polite but did not do a very good job . NO Service nor Staff went out of their way to make us feel welcomed, Unless We and Other Guests Complained. I dont need a plate of chocolate cov strawberries delivered to my room as an apology;;; get thing done properly the first time, please .
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Ship layout is Horrible.. How can Ncl designers place the Guest Service Desk and Excursion desk right next to( less than 50 feet ) from the Atrium, which constantly had either music blasting from band or a cruise person screaming into the Microphone on stage , and crowds of people around, talking or watching , We Couldnt even hear ourselves talking to the Guest service Employees. Very Upsetting THE LINE FOR GUEST SERVICE WAS ALWAYS LONG AND THERE WAS NEVER MORE THAN 2 NCL PERSONS WORKING THE DESK. TERRIBLE
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Room was tight . Not enough space between the end of the bed and the wall, could barely walk past
Ship tip
Way too many people on board. over 4000 Not relaxing. dont waste your money on this to Alaska; Maybe the winter months the ship goes to Carribean is better, but it was a shame; MY IMPRESSION IS- A HIGH END LOOKING SHIP WITH A LOW CLASS BUNCH OF PEOPLE. People wearing their baseball caps backwards, flip flops and jeans in the Fancy dining rooms
We had 2 hours in Victoria, because ship arrived late and getting off the ship was a mess.. did we do an excursion ??? Thankfully No. It was 8:30 on a saturday night, what a waste of a beautiful city stop
Suggestion is to pick your time to do your business, early for breakfast, odd lunch time, seat down dinner or specialty restaurants. The crew are doing their best managing 4000+ passengers. A lot of the arrangements (booking, dining reservation, entertainment can be done pre-cruise day. You do have options and there are many, just know when and where you need to be (escape escalators and Garden Cafe if possible); which goes for every cruise ships anyway.
The short port times are what you get when you do a round-trip cruise from Seattle. They have to shorten the port times in order to make it back to Seattle within the seven day time frame. The stop in Victoria is only to comply with the Jones act and not really set up as a stop for passengers to do excursions. This is why I would never recommend a round-trip cruise unless it was more than seven days.
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