Overall, it was a good cruise - not outstanding, not excellent, just a basic cruise. This was the first cruise that we had been on since the pandemic that had been completely full, and it was apparent that combined with reduced staffing, the cruise experience suffered a bit. The "low's" of the cruise were mostly offset by the "high's". In spite of positioning itself as a "higher-end" cruise line, the reduction in staff resulted in moving it closer to the "run of the mill" cruise lines like Carnival. A little disappointing for those of us that have done a substantial number of cruises on NCL.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Being Platinum Latitude members, we had virtually no wait in line and our check-in went smoothly.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Again, overall - just OK. It was somewhat disappointing to not have a food selection that is a "local item". Cagney's was very good - Le Bistro also very good. O'Sheehans was disappointing - cold food and slow service. The mid-ship dining room (Alizar) was seriously sub-par with abysmally poor service and lack-luster food served lukewarm. The maitre'd did apologize profusely and arranged for a credit against our bill in Le Bistro.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
The weather on our cruise was not conducive to outdoor activities and we had limited time to utilize the fitness center, but when we did there were plenty of machines available.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
The stage shows were great - excellent band and spirited performers. The illusionist was very good as were the vocalists.
Children's Programs
No children were with us.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
Very hit or miss. Specialty restaurant staff were great, main dining room staff seemed overworked or understaffed. It was disappointing that the room stewards no longer had time allowed to perform the evening turn-down or provide extra services such as providing daily ice in the room.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Being one of the smaller ships in the fleet, it was easy to navigate. All venues had plenty of seating capacity. The ship was spotless and well maintained. One problem with the room (sewage odor) was taken care of immediately.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Somewhat disappointed that there were no top sheets provided for the bed. No body lotion was provided in the amenities. The room size was fine and was in good condition. Heating and cooling was fine.
Ship tip
Maybe consider taking breakfast in the dining room rather in the buffet due to limited seating at busy times.
The island of Cypress was beautiful and worth coming back to, but the "overview" tour was a disaster - no admissions to the historic places, no bathroom stops until late in the tour.
Rhodes is a beautiful island with a lot of history. We took a hop-on bus tour which was very informative and allowed us to get a good sense of the history of the island.
Interesting, very large city with more to see than time allowed. Took the ship's "highlights" tour that gave us a good flavor of what the city had to offer. The market area was fascinating.
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