While my family had a good time overall on the cruise, I was disappointed with our experience in comparison to other cruise lines I have enjoyed. Because of that, I doubt I will cruise with Norwegian again.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was seamless and quick
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
The food overall was good, but the specialty restaurants booked up way too quick. We purchased a dining plan for 3 specialty dinners per cruiser, but were only able to use 2 because no restaurants had reservations available. Solution: either require reservations to be made at the time the package is purchased (before the cruise begins), or restrict reservations to be made only while on the cruise.
The main dining rooms (Taste, Savor & Tropicana Room): The menu was basically the same in all dining rooms on every night. There was also very little change to the nightly menus and the "today's specials". On other cruise lines the menu is totally different each evening in the main dining rooms. That would have been better.
La Cucina Italian Restaurant
5 out of 5
Wonderful food!
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
Rock-climbing wall and ropes course were either closed or overflowing with people every time we tried to use them. We never ended up using them.
Mini-golf was too compact and not staffed. No staffing allowed unattended kids to play where ever and however they wanted.
Entertainment
I did not attend any shows
Children's Programs
2 out of 5
I traveled with my 3 kids, ages 12 1/2, 14 1/2 and 16 1/2. There was a free club for kids 13-17 years old, but they would not allow my 12 1/2 to go in with his brothers. That separated my kids from each other, and the free activities for my 12 1/2 year old were very few. This was very disappointing and soured my youngest son's cruise.
Also, there was a splash area for little kids, a small "kids pool" that was only about 4 feet deep, and an adults only pool. The kids pool was good for probably 5 to 10 year olds, but for kids between 10 and 17 years old, there were no pools to swim in, and to top it off, they had to see the adult pool very empty for the majority of the cruise unless an organized event was going on.
As much as this cruise line boasts their family friendly environment, they very clearly lack free activities for kids that fall between little ones and young adults. Plus on other cruise lines, exceptions are made for kids within 6 months-1 year of the age group who are traveling with siblings. The video arcade was a nice touch, but the games were expensive and the room was packed at all times with those kids who didn't fit into a free activity.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
When we had questions, we were either given the wrong information or were told the staff "didn't know". We expected the staff, no matter their position, to be well informed about the ship, it's amenities, etc.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
I learned in the middle of the cruise that there were large portions of the ship that were restricted either by age (i.e. no children), by traveling status (i.e. single travelers), or by class (i.e. special guests, VIP, private). It is my belief that if you want high-end service, private service, or continuous singles events, don't travel with a commercial cruise line unless it's a specialty cruise (i.e. singles cruise).
Having these highly restricted areas limited the overall surface area of the ship for all cruisers. Those large areas could have have been allocated better for all cruisers with activities/amenities for everyone.
Also the smoking area was "separated" by windows that had openings to the main pool area. This caused every who didn't want to smoke to have to pass through a large cloud while walking along the pool deck. Solution: Close off the area and have windows/venting open to the sea, not into the ships common area.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Ship tip
7 to 12 year-old kids have very limited activities.
Beware that there is no pool for kids 5 to 17 years old.
Smoking is allowed on board and you WILL be exposed to it.
Menu is basically the same every night in the main dining rooms.
I guess you need a Disney Cruise next time, sorry you were disappointed this time around, We have the liberty of traveling alone so no troubles there. I wish I had better advise for you. Have fun on your next family adventure.
Yes, it is important to make all your reservations prior to Cruising, and that includes shows. They all fill up fast. I reserve on day 90 when they open up the reservations. And the MDR menus DO change nightly. They offer some items every night, but they also have the new items offered. This way if someone doesn’t like what’s offered, they can order one of the classic favorites offered every night. And as on all cruise ships with multiple MDRs, the menu is always the same in each dining room. No surprise there. Was this your first cruise and you were unaware of this? Reading each description of dining rooms on their website offers this information. I cruised this exact ship last January and back on it this January with our family. We felt it was totally awesome! But a cruise is subjective and people all have their own perspective of what it should be. Just go and enjoy a cruise!
Yes I agree with some of the things u are saying we were on the escape it was very busy and lively!! But parts of the ship are restricted so u have less deck space the meals were the same in each of the dining rooms taste, savor, more choice in the garden cafe we found, the cabin wasn’t as clean as it should have been neither toilet was dirty, surfaces in cabin had big marks and fingers print all over them. The seats in the garden cafe had stains all on them, not all obviously! Bit quiet a few, we prefer Royal Caribbean!! They’d never allow that !! However there only little things we did have a great time!! Believe it or not!! Ha!! 👍
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