I do not write this to disparge anyone, or to denigrate anyone's vacation choice. My wife, who's been on both cruise lines, turned to me on the 2nd day and said, "we're on a Carnival cruise." That was not meant as a compliment. I 've been on 3 NCL cruises; this is the first one where I wish I had my money back.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Embarkation was good; well managed.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
If you have a "Specialty" restaurant, it should serve SPECIAL food. I cannot remember one memorable meal onboard, except that my steaks were well done on two consecutive occasions...Once at Cagneys, the supposed "Steakhouse" onboard.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
The Vibe Beach Club, and its terrific staff, get FIVE STARS; the rest of the ship gets TWO STARS...hence, the 3 star rating.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Burn The Floor, Million Dollar Quartet (SIX STARS!), and Cirque were all excellent...This and the Vibe Beach Club are what literally saved the cruise for my wife and I
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
It was OK all around...Excellent in the Vibe Beach Club, disorganized at the restaurants, generally OK everywhere else.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
In our society, you head into a vacation like this with high expectations. If you notice nothing wrong, then they've done their jobs.
Cabin / Stateroom
1 out of 5
Cramped; tiny balcony; horrible excuse for a shower (with NO water pressure). But lets talk about the air conditioning. We're vacationing in the Caribbean, so it's going to be warm. We would have liked to have a cool room. THAT is an impossibility, since you can't have any electricity in the room without your key card; and if you have a key card in, the air conditioning will only run for about 15 minutes, then shuts off. We got up 5-6 times EACH the first two nights in order to turn the AC back on. Unacceptable.
Ship tip
Be cold blooded, so you won't need AC; no matter what your budget, buy a weekly pass to the Vibe Beach Club-you will have a full return on your investment once you see the disaster that is the pool area on at sea (AND non-at sea) days. And go to EVERY show you can. If it wrren't for Vibe and the shows, this cruise would have rated a 1-2 stars.
NCL Island; sand was rough, there were places to spend your cash everywhere. We had the unlimited drink package, which DOES NOT apply on the NCL Island. Par for the course.
Went on a beach excursion with thousands of our closest friends; beach was nice, but was too rough for any activities. Had a buffet featuring "mystery meat."
AC will only stay on for 15 minutes if you use the fast cool button. Adjust the thermostat by using the up and down arrows and it will stay at that temperature all night
I've been on 10 cruises all with ncl....not sure what you wanted and didn t get, course there are something you may or may not care for just as any vacation ....i enjoy cruising and look forward to the next one. I was on the getaway just a few weeks ago and did this same cruise....yes agree the sand was rough at harvest key ....far as the drinks and food goes, we didn t care cause the ship wasn't that far if you were hungry we didn't spend a dime off the ship at believe other than a soda and a bottle of water....cruise and have fun and enjoy it, places you get to visit have it WAY worse than we do on those mega fantasy ships, just saying
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