Goodbye Norwegian!

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 13

Review summary

I cruised on the Norwegian Escape on December 16, 2023. Although this was not my first cruise on Norwegian, it will be my last! I was disappointed with so many aspects of the service provided, that I'm sure I'll forget to mention something. 1. The guest-to-crew ratio was not conducive to great service. I had a party of 7 and meals in the main dining room were at least 2 hours for each meal. We only had one attendant servicing our table. Therefore, there were very long lag times between courses, water was not replenished often and drinks from the bar were slow. 2. As part of our Free at Sea, we received WiFi. That was a joke! The WiFi package only allowed you 150 minutes. However, those minutes were used up quickly because NO instructions were telling you to turn off the WiFi when not using it so that the minutes would not continue to accumulate. I ended up having to purchase another package. 3. I purchased a spa treatment that was a special on board. It was for a 1 1/2-hour massage/facial. A couple of others in my group also purchased the same package. I and one of my travel mates had an appointment at 4:30pm. We were sent to the wait area for our technician to come get us. My travel mate's technician came shortly after we got to the room. A short time later I was told my technician was running late and would be there shortly. Two others in my group who had a 5pm appointment joined me in the waiting room as they waited for their technician. Finally, at approximately 4:50 pm, my technician came to get me. She took me to the treatment area discussed my services and left me to get undressed for my massage. When I last looked at my watch before taking it off, it was 4:59pm. The technician came in and performed my massage. When she said my time had ended, she left me to get dressed. I looked at my watch and saw that it was 6:01pm. I didn't think anything of it then, but realized when I got dressed and left, that I was short 30 minutes of my treatment! I guess the technician was making up the time for HER BEING LATE? The next day I went to the spa to discuss this problem and was begrudgingly offered a day pass to the thermal room. However, because it was an at-sea day, I was told I would only be able to access it during off-peak hours. 8am - 11am and then 8pm - 10pm. These may not be the exact times, but close enough. I did not go because the times did not suit my schedule. 4. The excursion in Jamaica was TERRIBLE!!! We purchased the Dunn's River Falls/Bamboo Beach VIP trip ($149). The trip was to include time at Dunn's River Falls followed by time at Bamboo Beach which included drinks and meals. The excursion was to begin at 9:30am. We were instructed to meet in one of the theaters on the ship. This was the meeting point for most excursions and, therefore very crowded. We were called slowly by excursion to leave to go outside to meet the transportation. We did not get called until after 10am. At that time we were sent outside where numerous people waiting for other excursions were all standing around. It was exceptionally unorganized once outside when trying to determine what line was for your particular excursion. Everyone was counting on the people around them to figure out what line to stand in. After standing at close quarters with everyone around me in an enclosed waiting area, I felt claustrophobic and waited outside. It was not approximately 10:45am. When I asked why the a long delay to get going, I was told they were waiting for the bus which was stuck in heavy traffic. I would have thought the bus would have been waiting at the pier at the departure time. Frustrated, I found a Norwegian staff member to ask how to cancel the excursion and get a refund. He didn't have a definitive answer and somewhat indicated that we would not get a refund at this point. I explained our frustration and gave the names of all in my party (which he wrote down) so that I could address the issue with Guest Services once back on board. The bus finally arrived, and we were on our way AFTER 11am! This delayed departure meant we had already lost over 1 1/2 hours of beach time. We got to Dunn's River Falls and were only able to spend 45 minutes there. Once back on the bus and the long ride to Bamboo Beach, we found it once again unorganized. We waited outside the entry for our guide to get admissions for our group. We were ushered to the section of the beach where our chairs were set up. The food was served by 2 individuals carrying out plates to where we sat in our chairs. Again, with no organization to the pecking order for service. Not sure if we even got all the courses that came out. The watered-down cocktails were also served, which resulted in you spending money to get a REAL drink, not the fruit punch with MAYBE a DROP of alcohol in it. My group finally got their meals 20 minutes before it was time to get back on the bus to return to the ship. By the way, we were late getting back to the ship that was waiting for our group to depart from Jamaica. I say this because we only got to spend a little over an hour at the beach. No need to get in the water when you had to choose between waiting in your seat for food or missing eating because you were in the water. We were served the desert on the bus on our way back to the pier. Once back on board, I spoke with Margaret in Shore Excursions to complain about our experience. Several other people who were on this excursion were in line to voice their complaints also. Margaret was only able to offer a 10% refund which was coming from Jamaican Tourism. She explained Norwegian was also adding a 5% refund. I assured Margaret that this was not acceptable. Her response was that was all that was being offered and that I could take my grievance up with Guest Experience once back home. (Sorry Margaret, not trying to shoot the messenger) Norwegian gets a kickback for this excursion. It costs $99 if you book directly with Jamaican tourism. Norwegian could have AT MINIMUM refunded the difference back to the passengers. 5. Due to the weather, we were not able to go to the Grand Cayman Island, instead we received a $50 ship credit for our additional at-sea day. I wish there was enough entertainment on the ship to give you something to do for the extra sea day. The pools and hot tubs were overly crowded and not many shows, or entertainment to occupy your time. 6. Debarkation. At this point, I don't know why I expected anything better. Once again, completely unorganized! Extremely long lines, waiting to get through customs. I paid for a porter to get me to the front of the lines. I didn't know there were cruise lines that didn't use biometric screening to get guests through customs and out of the terminal quickly. My list can go on and on. The moral of the story, is goodbye Norwegian! Royal Caribbean, I'm sorry I strayed! You can best believe, Norwegian will not see me aboard another of their ships! User's recommendation: Be cautious when booking a cruise with Norwegian. The "free perks" may look good when booking, but you do not always get the bang for your buck. Try Royal Caribbean instead! Even Carnival has better service!

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Cozumel, Mexico

George Town, Grand Cayman Did not visit port

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Great Stirrup Cay (Cruise Line Private Island), Bahamas Did not visit port

Disembarkation

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