A relaxing vacation without the privacy moments for adults or play opportunities for the child we were hoping for. Still, wonderful ports, possibly new friends, and great memories.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Pre-embarkation communication, ease of testing, speed of boarding were facilitated smoothly, and with the ship at half capacity faster than prior cruises.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Service staff are consistently friendly, courteous, attentive.
Dining room staff not necessarily trained in the specifics of the cuisine norms they are supporting. e.g.
- Sushi restaurant had "hot or cold sake", and by cold it was nigori or unfiltered sake. The norm would be for this to be communicated if a premium cold sake wasn't available
- French restaurant Le Bistro, with dining package, allows 2 appetizers per guest. These were placed on the plates vs. treated as appetizers. The mindset should be shared plates unless specified otherwise
- Food ingredients, e.g. tomatoes, cheese... felt imported from primary suppliers vs. taking advantage of fresh, local, and not expensive produce from the ports in Greece and Turkey. Traditional breakfast options not being an offering was a miss. Produce freshness difference easily noticed between ports and onboard.
- Not being able to take food to the room, e.g. for the jetlagged child, because there is room service for $9.95 was frustrating especially when it applies to even fries
+ Steakhouse, Cagney's, was one of the best service and food quality. Simple presentations that emphasize the ingredients with a highly knowledgable wine specialist
+ Bars are plenty with offerings and options. The "Macallan Experience" is the best deal on the ship for the whiskey enthusiast, where you can taste a $300/bottle spirit as part of a $20 flight.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
This is not a ship for a lot of onboard activities vs. the larger ones in this or other fleets. At half guest capacity, staff and options were also limited.
Photo gallery for a custom shoot was excellent and more fun than we thought
Entertainment
4 out of 5
+ Lots of live music performances.
- It would have been good to know about show schedule ahead of time to plan dining reservations accordingly
Children's Programs
1 out of 5
- Notice 11 day before the cruise there would be no onboard child care for < 12 was a major frustration. We were given a $100 arcade credit instead
- No kids pool / slide. Very little kids activities really, with crafts aiming the older group
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Everyone was friendly, attentive, seemingly happy to be back at work
Only reason for 4 stars is about training. Even guest services did not seem to have their processes down all the time, e.g. shore excursions said they could have helped facilitate a cancellation request. It will come in time. This was 2nd or 3rd week of cruising
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Easy to navigate, lots of location options. Energetic and quiet spaces. No smoking in casino made a difference.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Mini suite was great with privacy curtain between sofa bed and main bed. We missed the flyer details on free laundry in a bag on day 4 for being in the suit. The room location is just by the elevators which was perfect. If you are tall, greater than 180/6' you won't be able to stand in the bath tub without hitting your head :(
Even with the rain, the town, Ephesus, Pamukkale, ... this is a great port. Early arrival and half day meant we visited only the town (during heavy rain). Ideally this should be a full day port.
Amazing city with history spanning over a thousand years. I wish there was an overnight stay here to do more excursions and enjoy night life even, similar to some South American ones.
You know when you see massive castles in movies, this is that, in real life, surrounding a city... So much history, and the excursion was excellent informing what transpired over centuries. Good food and shopping options.
Port was fine but felt overly marketed vs. what we found here. You can take a donkey-taxi (which cruise did not recommend and I did not either) or walk up the 600 levels of steps / ~2000 actual steps (which I did, bring a bottle of water) or take the scenic lift (going down after was a great way to see what I had done :)
Sounds like they had a mixed cruise. But his comment on no food to be taken to the room, only room service. Is that the norm for Norwegian? I have never seen that on other lines.
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