GIVE GUESTS THE OPTION OF CHANGING THEIR FREE PACKAGE ONCE THEY'VE ARRIVED ON THE SHIP. (remove the 48 hour prior policy).
This would be valuable to a first time cruiser, or helpful to those who cancel an excursion, for whatever reason while on board, or to someone, like me, who realized I'd prefer to have the drink package. The corporate offices in Florida, should be able to find a way to accommodate this adjustment. Work to find a solution, to allow for this to happen.
As you know, at the end of the day, it comes down to customer service!
Overall, it's a nice ship, and the staff worked hard to accommodate such a large crowd.
I felt nickel & dimed to a significant extent. There is a mindset by many, that a cruise is an all-inclusive experience. The added costs add up, and breach the trust between passenger & cruise line.
For this reason, I'll be looking towards smaller ships that offer more a better value as part of the package.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Pretty good. We weren't told we needed to check out luggage by anyone. The result-we had to carry our luggage on board.
The captain & crew left on-time and handled the ship extremely well in & out of NY!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
The Garden Café was room-very crowded.
Average food quality, but a very good selection.
The Deli meat looked highly processed!
The main dining rooms were excellent. Good selections & tasty meals.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Pool area was very crowded, relative to the # of guests on board. The ship should put an extra pool in, during it's dry dock period.
Options for shade should be an option on upper decks. Built-in stands to house portable umbrellas installed on low-wind days at sea.
Fitness center was excellent.
The slides were very good.
No need to upcharge for spin/yoga, or classes on a cruise ship. Tacky on NCL's part. This should have been built into the price. Allow for pre-sign ups before cruise starts. Guests should be allowed to combine spa coupons towards the high cost of services on board. This deterred us from investing our time & money in the spa, and therefore altered our experience and perception of the cruise ship. (Once again, nickeling & diming the guest).
Entertainment
4 out of 5
*Rock of Ages was horrible.*Burn the Floor was excellent!*Magic Show (Justino & wife) was pretty good- a little hokey, but some good magic.*Cirque should be free-typical big-top type show, rather than the true Cirque-type experience.*Howl at the Moon is excellent! *The Comedy Show was excellent too! It's great they offer a child-friendly option.*The entertainment offered in the lobby area was good too-specifically the dance-offs.
Children's Programs
our 12 and 15 year olds didn't have an interest in participating. Perhaps an interactive parent/teen intro activity could be offered day 1 or 2 in the Atrium.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Excellent! They are all hard-working individuals, who gracefully accommodated a gluttonous, sloppy & pushy crowd overall, during the week we were on board.
Prakash in Savoy is very personable.
Steward for cabin 5165 is sweet.
Maddy, the Asst Cruise Dir is very good at her job! She should get a promotion when one becomes open.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
The ship was kept very clean, despite the 2 people who threw up while we were on board. The pool was cleaned up efficiently out at sea, and the staff cleaned the table in Manhattan efficiently when the guest threw up at dinner.
The bathrooms were kept exceptionally clean, in deference to large scale use by passengers.
The layout is excellent. The design was well thought out.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
The Steward was a Chinese man-don't recall his name, but was very efficient, clean, sweet and good at this job.
There were 2 people in our party. The cabin was well designed, with a good sized bathroom. I was very pleased!
The lights flickered behind the headboard, but no complaints.
Ship tip
1. Don't do the excursions package. Only take the drink package. The value for the drink package is there.
It's a $50 per cabin per day discount, which, in the end, did not discount our kid's one day excursion enough to make the discount attractive. It left a poor taste in our perception of a value being offered on board, given the expense of the dolphin experience.
2. Be prepared for big crowds everywhere! This impacts opportunity to make reservations, and wait time for any free options on the ship.
The beverage package is the best to save money.I sailed the breakaway many times and always got it.No other line can compare with that.You buy what you want you are on vacation enjoy yourself.I never felt I was pushed into buying anything.You know what you get going on.
wowowowowowow! Slow down. Cruise888 , who advised you on selection of the package. THERE IS NO MORE GENEROUS CRUISE LINE THAN NCL when it comes to the beverage package. You choose to be nickelled and dimed.
Anyone who intends on consuming the alcoholic beverages while on the ship should ALWAYS pick the UBP at the time of booking and even the soda package for anyone . Try to do that on other cruise lines and see how much it will cost you.
Its not like they are forcing you to buy the stuff. If you dont want the photos then dont purchase them. You want souvenirs then you buy them. We always use OBC and purchase liquor. Also, many people forget about the daily service charges that are added to your final statement.
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