We always enjoy Norwegian Cruise Lines. We have never booked with another cruise line so I cant say I can compare with any others. But from what we have heard from other sailors they seem to love NCL over other cruise lines. this was our 4th cruise and I can certainly see some changes from our first in 2012 that is disappointing but overall still an amazing fun experience and if we didn’t know differently it probably wouldn’t make much of a difference.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
No issues with embarking. We arrived around 11 and walked right on the boat after going through security.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
The food was superb. We enjoyed checking out the different cuisines offered at Maderno for lunch. Breakfast is good there too. The buffets are good for a late night snack or anytime you need a snack. We enjoyed grabbing ice cream through out the day. Taste and Savor are also nice for something different. For specialty dining we only visited Cagneys and enjoyed it very much.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
My husband and daughter did the ropes course, I didn’t get to this time but have done it before on the identical cruise the Getaway and loved it. My 6 year old did the little kids version and he seemed to get a kick out of it too. Same thing with the rock climbing wall, didn’t get to it this time but did it on the Getaway. Another fun activity, I love that NCL offers these kinds of things to keep you busy on a sea day, especially for someone like me who can’t sit still for too long.
The pools are ok. They are overly crowded on sea days, but that’s to be expected. I wish they could be a little bit bigger, but again, it’s a cruise ship where space is limited. And good luck finding a lounge chair on a sea day if you don’t get out there early.
We didn’t go to the gym, but it looked very nice and they offer a lot of classes and machines, most classes cost a fee.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
My husband and daughter did the ropes course, I didn’t get to this time but have done it before on the identical cruise the Getaway and loved it. My 6 year old did the little kids version and he seemed to get a kick out of it too. Same thing with the rock climbing wall, didn’t get to it this time but did it on the Getaway. Another fun activity, I love that NCL offers these kinds of things to keep you busy on a sea day, especially for someone like me who can’t sit still for too long.
The pools are ok. They are overly crowded on sea days, but that’s to be expected. I wish they could be a little bit bigger, but again, it’s a cruise ship where space is limited. And good luck finding a lounge chair on a sea day if you don’t get out there early.
We didn’t go to the gym, but it looked very nice and they offer a lot of classes and machines, most classes cost a fee.
Children's Programs
4 out of 5
Another area we have always enjoyed, they usually do a great job. We didn’t take advantage of this as much as we have in the past because my parents were able to take the kids around with them when needed care. My son also seemed to be turned off pretty quickly and I think it was because during most the time he was there they did drills.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Staff is always good. I gave it a four star because nothing exceptional. The staff around the boat didn’t seem to interact with us and the kids as much in the past. Some of the workers seemed stressed or overwhelmed. The cabin stewardess was good and nice, but again nothing exceptional. They don’t leave you towel animals in your room anymore, we found out later you now have to ask. They did what they needed but nothing more.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Always beautiful. No issues with cleanliness.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Balcony suite- It was nice. Only complaint is the balcony was directly over a (not sure what’s it called) overhang (?) which took away from the view a bit, but was still a beautiful view.
Ship tip
Be prepared to be nickeled and dimed. You can certainly enjoy yourself by not spending a lot of money but if you want the full experience you will be spending some money.
Another one of our favorite ports. This was the first time we booked an excursion, also off the boat. It was fun, he took us around to the beach, and some yours, and shops. I think I enjoy just walking around and venturing off on our own more though. Maybe next time try a different excursion.
I didn’t spend a lot of time on the island this time around but have in the past. We enjoyed visiting the ruins on our cruise before, again booked off of the boat.
My favorite port. Nothing beats playing with the monkeys. This is the second time we have done this excursion, booked off the boat for less than half the price of onboard. This time they included hugging sloths as well. So much fun. I don’t recall the name of the group we booked through but our tour guide was Mitchell and he was fantastic, he charged us $80 for a group of six, additional $10 fee per person for the Gumbalina zoo entry.
It’s pretty. Nice to get out and enjoy the beach and pool and kids splash zone but other than that its just as much fun if not more fun being on the boat.
Probably my biggest complaint. It was the messiest, unorganized experience. I’m not sure if it’s because we disembarked later than we have in the past but we had to stand in a line that wound all the way through one floor of the ship. It took a good half hour/45 mins. Just to get off the boat.
Nice review. We will be sailing our first Norwegian cruise in 195 days and all are others have been in carnival. Can you expound on spending more to enjoy the whole experiencem
Thank You rcqueen. I didn’t mean to suggest the prizes should be equal to what they make, or even close to what they make. But with what they charge you to play and the quantity of people who play through out a week long cruise, I’m just saying, I work in finance and it isn’t difficult to make a guess at how much they make, the prizes are quite minuscule. You have much better chance of winning money at the casinos.
Great review. NCL is very good but so are the other lines. Don't feel the need to be "loyal" to any one line. Choose itenerary, price, timing, etc over which line and just enjoy the strengths of each of them.
GREAT, thorough, well constructed review! I’m on the Breakaway in February, and am very excited. More so after your review. Our first Norwegian after MANY Carnival sailings. Hoping to see more content from you in the future.
I accidentally copied and pasted the entertainment review incorrectly it should read:
We always enjoy the entertainment aboard a Norwegian Cruise, they really do a great job. However, I did give it 4 stars because of a couple of things I’ll get more into later.
The shows are always fantastic. Just a couple complaints regarding this. First, there aren’t to many shows that are kid friendly. My husband and I went to the cirque dinner show, which was very nice, but has some risqué scenes, same thing with Rock of Ages. I really enjoyed Rock of Ages too, however, this also was not very kid appropriate. The only show that was kid appropriate was Burn the Floor, but still a tad bit risqué. I would have liked to have seen more kid friendly shows. Secondly, on past Norwegian cruises the cast used to come out a talk to the passengers and take pictures, this does seem to be a thing any longer. We really enjoyed meeting the cast and photos made for great memories. Last, the Bingo and Deal or No Deal games are always fun to play but are just money grabbers and the prizes are nothing compared to the amount of money they make from them.
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