Never, ever, ever again. We loved Azamara. Everything was almost always perfect, or they'd try to fix it for you. Not on Norwegian. Not at all. The SABENA comes from the former airline (people in the travel business said it stood for "such a bloody experience, never again. The ports were actually one star better than I wrote- somehow the 'overall rating' gives each one an equal rating with things like food. It absolutely was a 1 star experience
Embarkation
2 out of 5
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
The food was a major disappointment. It was pretty much tasteless. On par with a frozen grocery store entree. Not sure what their problem was- the ingredients looked good. You can eat slightly better in the speciality restaurants (see below for 'milking your guests'). But even then- in the Italian restaurant my risotto was undercooked. My wife ordered a pizza. She got a 14" pizza. Very basic. The crust was better than frozen pizza, otherwise it wasn't. The ship ran out of wine. White wine. Or so they said. They were generally too lazy to go and get some. I insisted. Strangely, it eventually appeared. Except for the last night, when at the Italian restaurant when it genuinely seemed they were out of wine. The steward did the proper thing and brought us out a better (more expensive) wine, without charge.
We always like going out for dinner. Get dressed up. This ship was full of SLOBS!!! The most unsightly group I've seen. The dining room- wear whatever you'd like. No matter how greasy the t shirt.
For some reason they have this elaborate tracking system. Like google following your searches. Why? IDK. You have to give them your card to get a table at an included restaurant. What are they doing with that information? Who has access to it. Apparently the photographer who shows up at the table with pictures you don't want
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
Milking your paying guests seemed to be their intended activities. Really, there wasn't much to do other than things they wanted you to pay for. They love announcing 'art' auctions, gift shop 'special events', casino and bingo stuff. The excursions we were well used to being outrageous (we didn't do any. Their pricing seems to be to charge triple what it would cost to do it yourself. Consistently.
The ship was a noise factory. Lots (too many) people crammed onboard. If you did find a place without the noise, they supplied it. Techno. Poolside music. Even the hallways outside the cabin played some techno repeat (repeat is implied by techno). At the restaurant, there was always some waiter clearing dishes. They threw them into the container, making one hell of a racket, beside the table. The wait staff regularly would have a loud discussion over several tables away.
There might have been adequate staff onboard, except they are distributed in 'money making' ways and not where they are needed. There were regularly ten photographers on the dock leaving the ship. The casino was very well staffed. The casino- it takes up the whole 7th floor, and to go to a restaurant, or to walk to the other end of the ship, you had to go a long way to avoid it. I know I'm good at math, but who really can think they're going to leave with more money? Maybe those with an addiction.
Amazingly the casino reeked of smoke. Gawd knows when the last time you could smoke inside.
Entertainment
2 out of 5
Service and Staff
1 out of 5
see above.
There were not enough stewards to clean the cabins. They only did it once a day. I'm not such a prince that I can't live with that, but remember the gratuities they charge? Pay the people what they are worth. A living wage. Don't make it the guests responsibility.
Ship Quality
1 out of 5
too many people, too far to get to the two sets of elevators onboard.
Cabin / Stateroom
1 out of 5
I can't get the website to accept our true cabin number. It was 11128. A balcony cabin. It was OK. But we sure did have to spend a lot of time in there (to avoid the anxiety inducing noise and crowds)
Two days before we were to arrive in Bermuda they cancelled the stop. I get that weather can affect that. We were in BVI. There must have been a dozen ports of call within the same distance. They didn't try to go to any of them
NCL is very relaxed with dress code, they tell you that upfront, I don’t let what other people are wearing bother me anyway. Not sure what other cruises you’ve taken but on every ship I’ve been on or looked at possibly booking, the casinos are big and allow smoking to some extent. Some cruise lines, not just NCL, only clean cabins once a day now, which I actually don’t mind but I agree it’s not great that they up daily gratuities at the same time. Got to make money back somehow I guess. Hope your future cruises are better.
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