I am of average build and have a college degree. I have been on 8 cruises with other cruise lines and would rate this cruise well below average
The check in procedure at the Houston Bush airport was very disorganized with people lining up in the hallway with groups of 3/6/12 people taken out in vans until the bus showed up. Then there was a delay because the bus driver needed to obtain an airport permit to pick up passengers. The bus was an old unrefurbished Greyhound that went the 1 hour drive to the Port of Houston.
This type of `freestyle' type of cruising was OK and related mostly to open seating during lunch and dinner with formal dining `optional'.
However the mandatory tipping charge was not told to us anytime prior to departure. Be aware that $10.00 per person per day will be added to your bill and distributed to the ship staff.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
Food quality was not good.
Mostly cheap fillers were used in all dishes.
Salad bar had only lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes. No beets, garbanzos, croutons, etc. 1 potato salad and one other salad offered.
Lunch offered mostly hot dogs, hamburgers and curried vegetables.
Dinner appetizers were very poor and offered baked potato and no shrimp cocktails. Soups were mostly cheap consummes with any cream soups rarely offered. Dinner selections consisted of cheap meat (flank steak, various types of chicken, pork chops, tilapia). No prime rib, ribeye, t-bone, new york, salmon, tuna, etc.
Room service took a minimum of 1 1/2 hours after the order was placed.
Entertainment
1 out of 5
1 magician/comedian (below average), 1 comedian (below average because of sick jokes), 1 singer (above average), 1 band (below average, 1 show production (average).
Children's Programs
3 out of 5
1 13 year old teen that enjoyed his counselor, activities and meeting other people
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Everyone was very happy on the ship because of the mandatory tipping of $10.00 per day per person added onto your bill. The captain wants to be a comedian but needs to keep his day job.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Many public restoom facilities did not work and were not kept up.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
Rooms were average size with the shower smaller than normal.
Cancun was the reason we booked the cruise since we were celebrating our 25th year anniversary. However, NCL cancelled cancelled Cancun 2 days before our departure date citing `Wilma hurricane damage'. We were offered 2 options 1) Refund of 12.95 per person (port tax) 2) Full refund with 24 hour notice. We already had purchased non-refundable airline tickets so we decided to take the cruise. We feel that NCL knew about the port closure when they took the booking but didn't say anything
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