I'm a first time cruiser and I learned so many things on this trip. More so on what NOT to do. I need to be on a larger ship, more activities especially on the sea days. I would do more advance research on the ports to maximize time. I would evaluate booking the excursions through the cruise line as I feel they gouge you. So disappointed they would charge $79 for a tour of the ship. I would have been willing to pay $15 as I was so desperate to have an activity option. My next cruise will not be on Norwegian.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
Booking the trip was the easiest part of the trip. From there... not so much. This was my first cruise. Paid for charter bus through Norwegian from airport to port. That was about an 1 hour 20 minute ride on a hot bus. Lines to get registered in were confusing. They were handing out Customs forms for entry into Canada in the line which was confusing as people thought they had to fill them out before they boarded.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Always heard that there was 24 hour service. In this case, yes.. if you go searching for it. Main buffet had average tasting food. The coffee and tea were terrible tasting. Tried them more than once just to see if it was a fluke... nope.. it was standard. They offered to make an organic juice drink, but looking at the fruit /veg they were using.. pass! Cagney's Steakhouse was GREAT in both food and service. Moderno Brazillian restaurant was my second favorite. Teppanyaki restaurant was average in food and very poor in service. A few left even before we could get to the dessert.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
Weather not conducive to pool activities. Thank goodness for the fitness center.... Other than that, not much else to do and while walking around on the ship, not many others participating. This was definitely an "older" passenger cruise.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Thank goodness for a daily one - hour show. The entertainment cast does a great job that is the only reason I am bumping the rating to 4 stars. It's too bad most of the audience isn't energetic and participatory enough to really help bring up the energy level during the shows. Despite what I felt was a lukewarm audience at all of the performances, the cast was great. The "white hot" party was a bust. Once again, the energy was lacking. Most of the music was 60's with a little bit of newer music. But, that was indicative of the age of the majority of the audience... Sadly, the 20 minute trivia game and the hour long towel folding were my highlights. Would have loved to take a tour of the cruise ship but they wanted $79!!!?? REALLY????
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Hit or miss on this one. Depended on the day and time.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
Decent cabin. Our Steward Laze was very personable. Bed was comfortable. Room was clean. The tv needs to be a little larger. i have good eye-sight, but wow.. I know the purpose of the cruise is to not be in your room, but due to the lack of activities, it was either watch tv or cram into the casino. The hair dryer cord is short so be prepared to sit or slump over when drying hair.
Ship tip
If you are looking for activities and action.. this is not the ship to be on. Maybe if your are limited in your ability to get around or taking a cruise if you have nothing else going on for a week in your life...
Hop on Hop off bus. Enjoyed the Citadel. Walked most of the port area even after talking the tour on the bus. Friendly environment, great service, great food.
The small towns are nice, but unless you booked an excursion, there is not much to offer. Knowing this now, I would have caught an Uber to the State park and went hiking. Thankfully, I had booked an excursion to Camden. However that was disappointed as it was mainly shops for 3 hours. The people of Camden were very lovely. Obviously had time to visit the coffee shop, Uncle Willy's Candy store, Federal Jacks..... Still confusion if I could bring other "food goods" like maple syrup (sealed), candy, chocolates (sealed) back onto the ship. Talk about that in the announcements instead of the fine print.
Chaos. People were confused on which way the lines went and curved around. You see people waiting on the sides and you don't know if they are in line, or waiting to have their color called.
The baggage collection was easy though.
The charter bus transfer to the airport was better. Bus had better air. Driver was still confused.
You need to let people know in advance that they get dropped off and have to walk to the next terminal at LGA If it had been raining, I'd be very upset not knowing in advance and trying to juggle luggage.
interesting view for a first timer. All I can say is my first cruise was on the GEM and I absolutely loved it. Then again I am a reader and having sea days to just sit in a bar have drinks served to me and read was perfect. We also sailed SOUTH to the Caribbean and the poolside was great.
I can tell you this though, for our second ship we were on the double sized Breakaway and were very much disappointed. the bigger ships don't have any more to do, only 3 extra decks of people. The only difference we noticed on the bigger ship was that it was much more crowded, to the point of being frustrated with the cruise.
We have been on the GEM ever since and still love it. We'll be back in March 2018!
Aw, I'm bummed to hear you didn't like Teppanyaki especially! I sailed Norwegian for the first time last month and we did Teppanyaki on Norwegian Star - it was one of the most fun dining experiences of my life. I guess it just depends upon each ship and its crew :/
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