Ship's officers and crew, maintenance, security, etc. Top notch. Service staff sublime, as always. Hotel/service Management getting worse each passing cruise. Here's a summation. If they screw something up like your airfare or your cruise credits, expect this response "Tough noogies. Buyer beware. Now go away, you're bothering us. WE'RE NOT LISTENING - Fingers in ears. Nahnahnahnahnanahnah."
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Fine
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Friendly wait staff.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Very different ship layout. No enclosed forward observation area and no observation deck on the fan tail.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Even the comedian joked about how laughable NCL's Air Department is. If you use them, the joke'll be on you.
Children's Programs
No kids
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
As usual, NCL's service staff, just like the ship's crew, officers, maintenance and security is gracious, effective and personable.
Management is just the opposite. Difficult to impossible to communicate with, (read reviews on this and other cruise rating websites for incidents passengers had on this very cruise to see the full scope of this new antagonistic management approach toward guests). They have become ineffective at even the simplest tasks like a credit card swipe or crediting your account for a billing error - and they loudly blame YOU because you've taken a vacation, when you should actually be performing their job! Who do you think you are, Mr. & Mrs. Passenger? The Nerve! Now, get to work and don't come back and pester us until you figure out how to correct our errors! (You think I'm joking but read reviews across the web. This, sadly, has become a very common observation by many reviewers.) Management gets more Pathetic with each cruise.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Ship was Clean, but it's older design seems intended for the Caribbean or Mediterranean. Alot of empty corners, odd humps in the floors and dead ends compared to newer vessels. No bridge viewing room like the Jewel-Class.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Ship tip
Don't expect anything from management. And Don't try to use the airfare option. We spent 6 hours over 5 weeks trying to explain that they had us flying into a City 200 miles from the port and too late to make Embarkation. No response period. At all. We just wrote off the $200 and made our own way to Quebec and then listened at dinner each night to horror stories of people who had similar experiences and complaints. Before you book, you'd be well advised to read the multitude of negative reviews on numerous cruise websites to get a clear picture of just how inept both NCL's Air Department and Management in general has become over the last few years.
Wow! Just, wow! Don't let NCL make you miss this place by flying you into Montreal. It's not worth NCL's "bait and switch" falsehoods when they tell you "there are no seats into YQB." We argued that we had 4 windows open for 4 different Airlines from four different cities - all with wide open planes. We gave up trying to reason with unreasonable people. Fortunately we made our way here and boy was it worth the extra expenditure. You will love it. Allow at LEAST two days at least. We spent four and we still left ground uncovered. GREAT bus system. This city is Priceless.
Probably our favorite. Acadia is worth the drive. Other cruisers say if you're short on funds, the town has a series of free shuttle buses (un-narrated) you can take to see the town and surrounding area, although we took an NCL excursion to the top of Cadillac Mountain inside the Park where the views just take your breath away.
Here's a tip if you have to get from Montreal to Quebec City: ViaRail Canada has a free shuttle from Trudeau Airport to their Dorval Station where they have 4 daily departures. Tickets can be very reasonable depending on your seat choice. There are 4 daily departures at "roughly" 8 a.m., noon, 4 and 8 p.m. There are big advantages ViaRail has over NCLs bus transfers besides price. You won't break down like the bus horrer stories we heard. You can get up and walk around. It's a beautiful trip. There's a dining car. It drops you off at Gare du Palais w/i sight of the ship. You can take a cab the short distance or the #1 or #11 bus to one of 3 stops that service the pier. Or, you can do like most people and just wheel your bags the few blocks. Let's put it this way, it's a shorter walk than you'll take at any major modern airport you've ever traveled through. So if you can traverse ATL, CLT, DFW, DTW or LGW, you can follow (or lead) the other hundred train passengers walking the short distance from Gare Du Palais to "Cafe Du Monde" which bears NO SEMBLANCE WHATSOEVER to the one in New Orleans, other than the name. (Although they do serve a good locally roasted "Cuppa Joe" at the bar that's worth sitting down for. You can look at the stern of the ship while you're enjoying it, because it'll be your last good cup until the next port. Hint, hint. Just sayin' :^)
Thanks for the warning. We sail on the Dawn in January for 11 days. Called about our cabin price being dropped $100 each and all they offered us was 25% which is $25 each. It's a shame management is making the experience a nightmare before one gets on the ship and the staff suffers. We planned to spending much more but given the way they are handling our price drop, I don't see me wanting to give them one dime more than needed. Spa package, 11 nights specialty dining and excursions. Tips will be very tight as well.
We are finding the same experience with the ncl dawn. We are trying to get a few issues fixed and so far no help. I have contacted the president of ncl and i am hoping to hear from them soon. We haven't even left for our trip yet and have several problems. I know we fly to Montreal and have to take a bus from there, we found that odd. But we will get there in time. Good luck to you getting help. Be warned, way to many discrepancies when it comes to NCL. Hopefully all is good when we board.
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