Smoky and skipped Roatan

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 25

Review summary

First the positives: The service staff was fantastic. All of them work incredibly hard and are incredibly friendly and really want you to have a great time. Passenger numbers were around 2200, making it not difficult to do almost everything you wanted and not feel crowded. The ship certainly did not feel empty by any means. The pool was always busy, but you could find a lounger no problem. Six is a fantastic show, highly recommend The activities (when available) on the boat are really fun and the ropes course is pretty impressive. The food was good. Not amazing (other than Cagney's, which is on par with most steak houses landside), but definitely good. The negatives: SMOKE SMELL: From just outside of the MDR's at the aft of the ship, up to where Syd Norman's is (so call it 1/2 of the indoor area on decks 6/7/8), there is a reeking smell of smoke from the casino. The majority of the main public areas on decks 6/7/8 of the boat just smells like an old Vegas casino. This is just due to the layout of the casino being open and there being two atriums that allow air/smoke to circulate (and of course, NCL allowing smoking in the casino). I get it, you want smokers to stay at the tables and not leave, but it really stinks up the ship. A redesign of the casino to create a smoking area would do wonders to overall quality of the boat (for non-smokers in my opinion). ROATAN: NCL really needs to figure out Roatan.I would love to know the number of times in 2022 that this port has been skipped. On our cruise, we woke up, you could see Roatan on the port side of the ship and mainland Honduras on the starboard. As we approached the island, all of the sudden w e turned around. The captain came on and said due to the winds, he could not safely port and we would have a sea day. A huge bummer, as we had chartered a boat to take us snorkeling all day in Roatan. To make matters worse, as we sail away, a RCL ship (I believe the Allure), goes right into the port. I attended the Q&A with the Captain a few days later and the first question asked was about Roatan. He said, when the Breakaway docks in Roatan, the positioning of the dock is such that the winds hit it broadside. If the winds are over 33 knots, he cannot hold the ship. He said theRCL Ships dock at a different pier in the same port where they are not positioned broadside into the wind. From what I've read online (taken with a grain of salt), RCL invested in infrastructure in Roatan and built (or funded) the pier they dock at so that they can get ships (even bigger than the Breakaway). NCL has not done this and I know that out of the past 3 cruises, Roatan has been skipped twice. NO MINI GOLF OR CLIMBING WALL: Despite advertisements (including videos ON the ship) there is no longer Mini golf or a climbing wall. Some people have said these were removed due to new scrubbers for the exhaust, which could make sense for the climbing wall, but there is basically a huge empty area under the ropes course with NOTHING there. I have no idea why that couldn’t be used for mini golf. IMPROVEMENTS SUGGESTED: Work with Roatan to figure out a way to get a consistent way to dock or find a different port. Fix casino layout to trap smoke in a smoking section Use Spice H2O (outdoor area at the back of the ship with a huge screen) more for activities. Everything is in the Atrium, which is fine, but not really a distinctive or interesting place to be. Spice H2O was underused.

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Children's Programs

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

New Orleans, Louisiana

Cozumel, Mexico

Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras Did not visit port

Harvest Caye, Belize

Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

Disembarkation

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