Having cruised 2 other times with NCL and over 20 cruises on different cruise lines, we were disappointed. It seemed as if everything was "extra". We had the beverage package. My husband doesn't drink alcohol, but a bottle of sparking water was extra. We had to pay extra to get a decent wifi package. It was extra for the "priority" embarkation and disembarkation". We had paid for the gratuities beforehand, yet they continued to bill us $40.00 a day per cabin. They had an exclusive area called The Vibe Beach Club on the ship. You had to snag a pass at the port during embarkation. People still snuck in. The observation reckon 15 forward is beautiful and serene, until kids start running around and screaming. It should be an 16 and older area.
Embarkation
2 out of 5
Embarkation was fairly smooth except we all waited until the one door was opened, and everyone stampeded to get through. I don't know why, because once onboard everyone was locked out of their cabins until 2:00pm, then another stampede and wait for the elevators
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The Garden Cafe was very tasty. Good flow through the food stations and plenty of seating. The desserts on board were disappointing. Food Republic was very good, but it was an alacarte menu. A tad expensive. The French restaurant was decent, however the Italian was not.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
Service and Staff
2 out of 5
There were some standouts. Marvin H. the cook went above and beyond. Terso? the greeter at the Garden Cafe was always happy and effervescent. Adrianna at guest services was extremely helpful, with a smile on her face.
All four of us in my party said it seemed as if the rest of the staff were not very friendly, and were doing their job with no excitement or fun. Our room stewards Kennet and Rolly were very sweet and kept our cabins immaculate.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
1 out of 5
Booked adjacent cabins. The first two nights there was a horrible noise all night after about 11:00. Notified Guest Services after the first night. Denny the deck 14 manager gave me his card to call him anytime if it happened again. It did the 2nd night so I took a video of the noise and called him at 2:00am. Garry an engineer came. The next morning guest services offered us a different room. Same floor but toward the front of the ship away from our kids (teenagers). It was also a lower category (and price point) than what we had purchased. So then they offered to move us to what I guess was a mini suite (still lower price point) on the same deck, midship. We took it because we were exhausted and needed to sleep at night. We were told at first that the noise was from the smoke stack. Then they said it was from one of the pool pumps. Neither explanation made sense as there was no pool above us.
Cute. Beautiful tropical shopping avenue. Friendly locals. Hired a taxi to take us into town and show us around. The driver stayed with us and pointed out nice shops.
Tour was nice and the beach was beautiful. Wish there had been more time to shop. Stood in line with everyone only to realize it was for the other ship in port. There should have been an NCL worker directing Encore cruisers.
The island is beautiful. We rented a cabana which was lovely. There were some issues with the excursions we had planned. You are only on the island from 10:00 until 5:00. Should have been longer. I had looked forward to swimming with the pigs for weeks. I was a little disappointed. People stood around in knee deep water and the pigs swam around for apple pieces. It was fun, but I don't know that it was $199 worth of fun.
First time sailing with NCL and I advised my TA that I didn’t want any surprise charges and prepaid gratuities for $560 and was told that should cover the daily “hotel” fee. Is this incorrect?
Good review from your perspective. But there is nothing you said that you shouldn't have known before your cruise.
You paid for your drink gratuities, but you did not prepay your daily service charge, which is assessed on all major cruise lines.
It is clear in the documents that water is not included in the drink package.
The Vibe passes are available long before embarkation, and rarely on embarkation day. No one who "sneaks" into the Vibe will be there very long.
Thank you for the review. Prior research does wonders.
If you had proof you already prepaid the gratuities then it’s their mistake for adding them again, so I hope you went to guest services and got them removed from your bill!
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