We had a great time on the cruise, but I think next time we will be going back to Carnival! We also are looking at smaller ships as it is just too crowded on these larger ships- hard to get a drink...hard to do anything. The food did not live up to our expectations, So we get more bang for our buck on Carnival we believe. We missed the movies under the stars, the larger pool area, and many other things. The cruise directors also are better on Carnival, I feel. we did not like ours on this cruise. But we didn’t let those things wreck our vacation; we still had a great time and it’s hard to be back in the snow again!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Fast!!! We got there early about 10:40 and were boarded in 20 minutes! Port staff a little gruff.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Food was excellent in Specialty restaurants. Cagney’s and Moderno were great! The Manhattan room was also very very good. The buffet... on the other hand... which I expected to be way better than Carnival’s was only subpar, and actually worse than Carnival’s. Powdered scrambled eggs, which I hate. No strawberries to be seen. Food pretty much the same each day and not a lot of flavor. O’Sheean’s was absolutely horrible. The food was cold...the wings were over breaded and soggy/ cold. Nachos had about 3 tablespoons of cheese on the top. Received a dry baked potato with a small nickel sized dollop of sour cream and no butter. Could not get a waiter to bring us back butter until we were finished. No prime rib anywhere. “Ribs and shrimp” consisted a few fatty ribs with one lonely shrimp on top. Getting refills of drinks was nearly impossible.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
There were always a lot of choices of things to do on board. However, I did not like the shows and things held in the atrium....it was just way too noisy there and impossible to get a seat!!! Some of them cost extra money as well....it seems like most activities are a way for a Norwegian to make more money. The bowling machine in O’Sheehan’s ate my money, but did not work. The activities by the pool were also impossible to watch because of it being way too crowded.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Very good shows... and I loved Syd Norman”s!
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Overall, the service was very good... however I feel the employees are way overworked... and because of that seem overwhelmed.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
I did not like the small area near the main pool...not enough seating for everyone and impossible to see activities. I also did not like the atrium big screen and activities there the noise and crowdedness made it impossible to enjoy... and even went upstairs to O’Sheehan’s, which affected the environment there as well. The balcony cabin was way too small, and the configuration of the bed right next to the closet made it impossible to use the closet easily. otherwise the ship was very clean and decorated nicely. However, it took several minutes and Minnie pushes on the flush knob for our toilet to flush in our room. My sister next-door had the same issue. There was also a strong sewer smell one day up near the mini golf area and my nephew witnessed flooding of stool in the men’s bathroom.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
Noise from the shuffleboard players down below and not a lot of privacy at times on our balcony. Room was too small... and the closet too close to the bed. We are used to Carnival, and they have larger balcony rooms. The cabin was clean but steward never checked with us as to our preferences. No towel animals.
Ship tip
Go to the screens by the elevators right when you get on to sign up for times for the tenders! The bar at Margaritaville is the very best one, and Leonard there is amazing!!! The drinks there are way better than the rest of the ship. You can go there...just walk up to the bar and order... without having anything to eat.
Had fun on our Discover Cayman tour. However, the turtle farm was a disappointment... we couldn’t go into many areas because we didn’t have the upgraded tour. Got to see Hell and some history of the island, but no real view of 6 mile beach. We explored on our own in town afterwards and got a few souvenirs. Very safe. Next time we would go snorkeling again.
Our trip to passion Island was canceled at the very last minute on the pier at our meeting place!!! This was through NCL. The provider hand even let NCL know about it. Canceled because of rough waters... but it would’ve been nice to let us know earlier! We were refunded our money and then ended up booking an excursion to Playa Mia...which was a lot of fun, but we wasted two hours with the whole ordeal. They had amazing liberal free drinks and a good buffet! Beautiful beach and resort. Next time I think we would just book an taxi/ excursion there on our own! They even had people there trying to sell them that day by the pier.
We weren’t able to go to this port because they said they were strong waves... even though it they did not look that strong. Sounds like they’ve been canceling this port a lot...maybe it’s time to consider a different port?
Great port... as we sailed out, we even got to see the SpaceX rocket that had launched, and was brought back in. We stayed a couple extra days at the Holiday Inn club Resort, and it was awesome! Embarkation super easy.
All our previous cruises have been on carnival. We go on her in 17 days. We are a little apprehensive due to the "freestyle, but have to book everything way in advance" process this far. We will give NCL a try, but at the end of the day, any day on a cruise is better than not being on one!
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