Our family had a great time. It was the first cruise for our kids so they were thrilled and had nothing to compare it to. The service was adequate, the ship was fun and had a lot of options, but compared to other cruises we have been on, I wasn't as impressed as I had been in the past. I don't know if that's the size and total number of passengers on the ship, the cruise line (this was our first cruise with NCL), or maybe the fact that it might take more to impress me than it did in the past. The wait staff and cabin attendant were fantastic. Overall I'd give the cruise 5 out of 5 stars for our kids, and 4 out of 5 stars for my wife and I. Things were great, but some small things could have been improved that would have been the icing on the cake.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
This was my fifth cruise, with multiple cruise lines. Fastest and most efficient check in of any line we've been with before.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Wasn't as impressed with the variety of the menu as I have been on previous cruises. Almost too many options for dining. Some required reservations, some didn't, some had an additional charge, some didn't. It seemed confusing and took away from the idea of "Freestyle Cruising".
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Some really good entertainment options but was disappointed to find that some required reservations, which didn't appear online before we got on the cruise. In the end, the kids got to do almost everything they wanted to do, although we had to adjust our schedule a couple of times to accommodate what we available when we made reservations. Kids enjoyed the arcade, bowling, rock climbing wall, basketball court, and water slides. It did seem like most of these activities were only available when the ship was in port and not while we were actually on the ship. For instance, it seemed like the water slides closed each day right about the time we got back on the ship. The weather was warm and the kids would have gladly used the slides for a few hours into the night after we returned from port.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
Some of the staff were FANTASTIC. We were disappointed by others. We needed services (like booking a show or dinner) a number of times, only to be on hold for a long period of time or to have the office closed until later in the evening. We also went to the purser's desk to change money into Euros on morning as we were getting off the ship, only to be told that the desk was closed until 6 PM that evening. It seemed like those services should be available on a more regular basis, and especially when people are getting off the ship and heading into port.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Ship tip
Think ahead about what you might want to do and try and get reservations ahead of time for everything. We were a little more on the fly with our planning, and found it frustrating to want to eat at 8:00 PM, only to be told that no reservations were available until 9 or 9:30 PM.
Found an English-speaking cab driver and hired him for the day. Went to Pompei and Sorrento. Great excursion and much cheaper (and personal) than anything offered on the ship.
Was surprised by how much we loved Cannes. Spent the afternoon shopping downtown, got some authentic French food, enjoyed all the beautiful boats in the marinas. Ran out of time or we would have taken the helicopter excursion.
Rented bikes and road down the beautiful bike paths along the shoreline. Very inexpensive (less than $100 for our family of 6) and one of our favorite excursions of the entire cruise.
There were cabins above and below us on Deck 11 and 13 so the area was pretty quiet. The only noise really was an occasional group passing in the hallway or the public PA announcements that were somewhat muffled coming through the door. Those are broadcast in the hallways and common areas around the ship, but not directly into the cabins, except in emergencies.
Thank you RKTinAK. We've taken on board (no pun intended!) what you have said and will book a cabin at the rear of the ship either 2 doors down from your cabin or across on the opposite side. Only one more question (honest!) - was it quiet in that area?
If upgrading won't take any money away from other activities you would probably enjoy the extra space. However, it means you would do one less shore excursion or opt out of some of the pay-per-use activities on the ship (we went to the Cirque Dreams show and thought it was incredible!) I would go with the smaller room and the expanded activities calendar.
That's so helpful, thanks. We haven't booked yet but we've been looking at the same family balcony rooms as yours on deck 11 and 12. We are trying to decide whether it is worthwhile paying the extra for a family mini suite which seems exactly the same but a bit longer. It's our first cruise and I'd like to think we're not going to spend much time in the cabin. What a dilemma!
We were on deck 12 in cabin 12292 so you might want to look at the ship map and see if your room is similar. As we were walking down the ship and the attendants were cleaning rooms, we did notice there were some other balcony cabins that had a bigger floor plan than ours did.
We put our four kids (18, 16, 13, & 10) in the balcony room and my wife and I took an interior stateroom. The balcony cabin was very small with four people in it. There is a bunk bed that folds down and once it is down, it makes getting to the balcony difficult as there is only about 16-18" of space between the bunk bed and couch below it and and wall cabinet. The wall cabinet doors also won't completely open with the bunk bed down, which makes getting your stuff in and out more difficult. They don't allow you to store anything on the balcony so empty suitcases (or full ones if you can't unpack all of your stuff) have to be put under the main bed. I didn't hear anyone complaining about the sofa bed but I didn't sleep on it myself. It looks comparable in size to a twin mattress.
The nice thing is that we didn't spend too much time in our room and there are a lot of nice public spaces to spend time on the ship. Since we were mostly in the room to sleep, it was inconvenient but not unworkable. The money we saved by not having another cabin made up for the inconvenience. Had a glorious afternoon sitting on the balcony as we cruised into Palma!! Very beautiful!
Thank you for the review. This is the very same cruise we are going on, with our 2 older children. We're having a family balcony room. Did you find it big enough or were you tripping over each other? And how comfortable is the sofa bed?
*Cruiseline.com is not a booking agent or travel agency,
and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. Our partners
(travel agencies and cruise lines) provide prices, which we list for our
users' convenience. Cruiseline.com does not guarantee any specific rates or
prices. While prices are updated daily, please check with the booking site
for the exact amount. Cruiseline.com is not responsible for content on
external web sites.
Contact us
Submitting...
Need help from a personal vacation planner?
Loading...
Find the perfect cruise with weekly tips and cruise deals for as little as $30/night!
Sign up for weekly cruise deals
Join other subscribers and get the best
cruise deals of the week in your inbox every Thursday.
