Ship is ok. Food is ok. Activities are ok. Ports are ok. Tendering, if there is no dock, was AWFUL! Probably the worst thing we had to do on this ship. I don't know why people take ncl over carnival - next time I'll just do a cheaper one or royal.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Lengthy, but not terrible. Took about an hour altogether.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
We did not do specialty restaurants so I cannot speak for that part, but all the 'included' food was ok. Nothing special, really. I was a little surprised that regular salmon bagels were missing.. I mean, come on! :)
Drink package was kind of worth it, even though we don't drink too much. I do wish they had more interesting drinks and not just a load of sugary crap. We ended up with a couple of go-tos for most of the cruise that didn't have too much sugar in them.
Ice Bar
5 out of 5
Ice bar was sweet - definitely worth $20 or whatever it is. You can freeze your butt off with a few other crazies that you'll meet in there.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Fitness center is pretty nice. Rock wall is a bit small, but I was using it daily. Water slides are ok, but small and get old pretty quickly. Hot tubs are cold and gross - always full of people. Ping pong table are in a TERRIBLE spot - almost always windy. The track is lengthy, but very narrow. Basketball / soccer field is actually quite nice, but it's pretty isolated and I think some people don't even know how to get to it so most of the games were either cancelled or had very few people.
Climbing Wall
4 out of 5
Definitely enjoyed having a wall on the ship. It's pretty easy so you'll need to get creative with it - time runs, arms only, etc.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Nothing amazing, but overall entertainment is good. DJ Leo is cool and personable. Escape the big top was interesting. Stand up comedy was mostly good.
Children's Programs
No kids
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Sport / activities staff was good and friendly. Our room guy was pretty good. But otherwise people are grumpy and don't really help you get into that vacation mood.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
There are very few open areas on this ship - not sure if it's not "new" enough. It was clean and there were no issues that I could tell though.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Very small, but I liked it. Bed was good, shower was good, plenty of storage. No privacy if you need to go #2 so I recommend finding a good public place.
Ship tip
Learn how to take stairs. Elevators on this ship stink.
It was actually quite nice. Plenty of food and drinks and you can use your ship card everywhere!
Bring your own snorkel gear and go to the far side of the beach - amazing views of seal creatures.
If you are not doing an excursion, I recommend staying on the ship.
You better learn how to say NO. A LOT. Lots of people will be harassing you on every corner. And everything tourism related is stupid expensive, even though the place is overall quite poor. Makes no sense.
Margaritaville was awful. Overpriced, loud, annoying, and they make you walk into the gift shop to use your card - they won't do it for you. Very rude servers. I will never go to that place again.
Wonderful island, but you need to be prepared when you get off the ship - know where you are going and what you are doing. Also, the place is very Americanized so expect to pay 'normal' prices for things.
I was positively surprised with this one. We took a VW buggy around the island, lighthouse, snorkel, tequila tasting, etc. Great time for sure, especially if you have a fun and knowledgeable guide. Next time I'll probably visit one of the 'no entrance fee' resorts - those are usually not as nice, but a lot more affordable.
Sugary drinks Did you order them for the umbrella or what. I don't like sugary drinks so I stick to a 50's classic a Manhatten. I can sit and sip that watching the ship go by.
I had my 1st cruise this year on Carnival Breeze and I will be trying NCL next year only because of the Studio option. I want to see if it will be worth to pay the extra on Carnival or not.
You are right about the seafood. It seems to be a trend with a lot of cruise line to cut down on the seafood. There’s a lot less choices then there use to be. Regarding the drink thing, the choices they give are sweet because they are made of pre-made mixes. Faster and easier to make. But don’t forget that you can ask for other type of drinks. I often ask the bartender to make me their favorite drink or a drink they like to make and haven’t made in a while. Breaks the ice. And after that, they remember that you don’t like the usual stuff. I’ve had amazing drinks made because of that.
3.7 was calculated by the site - I gave around 15 individual scores. And ok is definitely not bad or terrible. :)
Drink wise, I was going off their lists and recommendations. We definitely mixed up our own a lot, but I figured if they offer something specific, why not give it a go. It just so happened that most of them were very sweet.
Food wise, there was a lot of stuff, but seafood was limited to crab. I found it to be a bit weird - we are in the sea after all. :D
We like active stuff and sports so definitely going to look into royal. Thanks for recommending!
I guess the cruise was more then just ok because you still gave it 4 stars. As for the sugary drinks. If you don’t want a sugary drink, next time, just tell the bartender. You can ask any type of drinks and they will make it for you. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. And what’s with the salmon bagels? There’s so much yummy food on a cruise. Try something new. You can always have your salmon bagel at home. Maybe your next cruise should be on RCCL Oasis of the seas. Full of activities.
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