We had a really nice time. The ship was nice. We got the drink package as part of their pick your perk promotion. If we had purchased it, it wouldn't have been a good value for us, but it was convenient. I recommend it. The entertainment was top notch, take time to see each of them. The ports we visited were also very nice but make sure you choose a nice long excursion at Costa Maya because there really isn't much to the shopping village. I do not think we will cruise Norwegian again unless the price is really low. I could deal with the bland food but despite discounts and such, you still pay a lot to take a cruise and want to feel a bit special or at least welcomed. As stated earlier, I appreciate that the cruise line wants to be family friendly, but then either exclusively cater to family (like Disney) or make or adult only spaces and enforce the adults only activities you do have.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Very efficient
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
This is being generous. Food in main dining room, steakhouse very bland. Buffet had themed nights but lacked a station with consistent staples. You could get a burger, but no carving station..or one night only turkey. This made it unpleasant for my husband who is a meat & potatoes guy. The one good experience was the Italian restaurant and the pub was terrible! Burger made me sick. Also, the staff was very robotic--no personality, no interest in your needs, no attempt to make your experience special and when we complained about food and service at the pub the girl ran to the other waiters and started complaining about us. Also, they should ban strollers from the dining areas, it is hard enough to get around at the buffet but then to dodge parents with strollers who use those things as weapons is just downright dangerous.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
Bingo was boring because the ship's staff was so bland, to nearly the point of talking in a monotone. The trivia games and other activities were made fun by the passengers but the cruise director and staff had zero personality. Even the New Year's celebration, the hosts acted like they were bored to death. So sad. I have been on Carnival cruises and they really make it lively and fun. Even when the cruise director came on he sounded super bored and impatient. So disappointing. The spa was very nice, the girl who did my massage was very sweet but even the attendants there were snotty.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
This is where Norwegian excels! The dinner show, Cirque Dreams and Steam was amazing and the costumes were fabulous! Million Dollar Quartet was outstanding! Comedians funny but wished they would enforce the no kids rule at the late show. No employee was willing to do their job and ask kids to leave. Also, parents would let their kids sit up front, run all around while the parents sat in the back & got drunk. Norwegian needs to do better about requiring parents to manage their kids. The dueling pianos was also a lot of fun, but again, unsupervised kids ruined things at some points. The best part was at the end, some of the cast of Million Dollar Quartet came on stage & jammed with the piano players.
Children's Programs
We did not travel with out kids but apparently those who brought their kids didn't use these services either. Kids were running everywhere and very rude.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
They did their job. That was it. Our steward was friendly, the bartender at the steakhouse was nice other than that no one went out of their way to make you feel welcome. I've had more pleasant servers at McDonalds. And heaven forbid if you expressed a complaint, they cut you off and basically didn't care.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Everything was nice, I wish there were a set of central elevators though as it was kind of annoying to run to the front or back of the ship each time you wanted to go somewhere. Everything was clean. I wish there was an adults only pool area or maybe a sun deck connected to the spa to get away from the annoying kids that were everywhere. And the annoying adults who hogged 10 chairs but only 2 people sitting there for 4 hours. I know Carnival enforces the 1 hour policy for unattended chairs but it seems like Norwegian employees just don't care.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
It was really nice. I would have liked either more drawers or more hangers in the closet. Also the mattress was no comfortable for my husband. He said something and all they did was switch his mattress to my side. It didn't bother me, but that's not really the way to do things.
Our excursion was Tabyana Beach Club and snorkel. The snorkeling was amazing, my husband loved it. The resort was no frills but everything you need, employees were awesome! They kept the solicitors that wander the beach from bothering you and the picnic lunch was again, no frills but very nice. It was a perfect place to relax! Also the shopping area was very nice, not too big and not too small with reasonable prices.
We did an excursion but not through Norwegian. We went to Chocoben and our tour guide was excellent! Transport was nice, not overcrowded, a/c worked and guide very informative. They had water and umbrellas when it started to rain. The port itself and shopping area was not good. Limited shops and prices were very high. No one wanted to negotiate. Don't walk through the dolphin area if you are sensitive to animal rights. It made me sad seeing them in such a small enclosure. Our favorite part was at the very end, the Mayan performers at the center of the shopping area. At first we thought they were just posing for pictures but they did several dances including a spectacular aerial finale...and, they had the best booth for jewelry and crafts. Be sure to make some time to watch their show and drop a few bucks in their hat.
We did a fun ATV ride through a mud cave but not with Norwegian. There is a lot to do in this port. You could spend all day shopping and a lot of variety of excursions. These shop keepers will negotiate and we were pretty happy with the outcome. We also stopped at one of the cafes: Tacos and Tequila (I think) in the main shopping area. The waiter was fun, there was music and the food was nice & spicy, not touristy bland. It was a fun day in port.
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