We will never cruise NCL again. There was very little positive about the cruise. On the second day, my husband was quarantined to his room because of food poisoning although the ships doctor never diagnosed it as food poisoning. The service all around the ship was terrible. The extra curricular activities were quite expensive as $50 for bingo and $29 for Deal or No deal.
Embarkation
1 out of 5
Do not waste the $179 on priority access. We gained nothing by purchasing it.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
The only good food on the ship was in the specialty dining, which obviously cost more. Shanghai Noodles was complimentary and good but extremely difficult to get reservations. The buffet was terrible - food was cold and the same offerings every day. Main dining was simply okay except they all offered the same menu. Savor did have a good breakfast. The freestyle dining is not good for a family of 17 that wanted to sit together and have dinner. Most of the restaurants were sold out before we boarded the boat.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Pools and splash pad for the kids were nice. Rope course was fun too.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Loved Million Dollar Quartet and was glad I booked that in advance because it sold out quickly. Burn the floor dancing was good but the story line was redundant and boring.
Children's Programs
3 out of 5
My grandson loved Guppies but it was only opened for 30 minutes two times each day. He had no where else to run and use energy and that made the trip tough on all of us.
Service and Staff
1 out of 5
Room steward was fabulous. Good bartenders were difficult to find. The only bar with friendly service was the Atrium bar. We sat at pool for 3 hours with grandson and had only 1 waiter come by to take an order. Most of the drinks were not good so I stuck to wine since there was no mixing needed.
Ship Quality
2 out of 5
Not enough elevators. If you are midship, be prepared to do a lot of walking. Seems they needed an additional set of elevators in the middle. The atrium is in the middle and has stairs to some of the floors and that made it easy to get from floors 6, 7, and 8 but otherwise, you had to walk to aft or forward to take an elevator.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
Cabin was a little small but we unpacked suitcases and slid them under the bed to save on room. Bed was comfortable to me but my husband had issues sleeping.
Ship tip
Make as many reservations for dinner that you can before boarding ship. You can cancel when you decide where you want to eat each day. Otherwise, you're stuck at the buffet or left with unused specialty dining days because you an inability to obtain reservations.
We traveled as a group of 17. Mother was on a scooter and a 2 year old in a stroller. The elevator to get to the action across the street from the port was broken so we had to walk a good ways down the street to cross. It was dangerous with no crosswalks. By the time we got across the street, we were not feeling comfortable in the environment and turned around and went back to ship.
Was told the "last minute issue" prevented us from docking so we would be taken to land by tender boats. The tender process took forever and the town was a hell hole. My son actually paid someone to leave he and his family alone as he felt threatened.
Belize was our only fun day on land. The island felt safe and secure with lots of water features. The sand was coarse so difficult to walk but the views were pretty. They had a splash pad for children but no pool for the toddler.
In an effort to have the cruise enjoyable for my mother, we rented a scooter that was delivered to her room. A wheelchair was needed to get to the scooter. When we left the ship, the attendant wanted to leave my mother in a chair 50 yards from the closest parking space so that he could take the wheelchair back. We kept telling him that she could not walk without a walker and he kept insisting on taking the chair back.
Yes from what you posted it sounds like you were very unprepared as far as research. Another issue that hindered your time is the incapacity of several people in your group making it hard for you to get places ( not the cruise lines issue). Your husband getting quarantined is so he didnt infect others like whats going on right now on Norwegian Joy. Im sorry you didnt have a good time. Maybe next time choose a ship geared towards people in scooters and strollers. There are cruises like that.
*Cruiseline.com is not a booking agent or travel agency,
and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. Our partners
(travel agencies and cruise lines) provide prices, which we list for our
users' convenience. Cruiseline.com does not guarantee any specific rates or
prices. While prices are updated daily, please check with the booking site
for the exact amount. Cruiseline.com is not responsible for content on
external web sites.
Contact us
Submitting...
Need help from a personal vacation planner?
Loading...
Find the perfect cruise with weekly tips and cruise deals for as little as $30/night!
Sign up for weekly cruise deals
Join other subscribers and get the best
cruise deals of the week in your inbox every Thursday.
