Cruises are always a good idea but this one was a little lacking for us due to the lack of personal service and complimentary food options. I dislike having so much more costs involved after I have already paid for the cruise. It even charged an additional fee for charging money to the card for using the casino machines on a so-called cashless ship. This was my 47th cruise so this being my 1st NCL cruise I was a little under-whelmed. The people were all courteous but they are spread too thin.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
As expected
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Too many specialty dining rooms. Food in main - complimentary dining was okay but lacking. In 12 days no Prime Rib, Filet Mignon or Lobster which is standard on other cruise lines. Buffet was always the same options. Food was good but nothing special
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Only did the Hot tub once. Nice but not as warm as expected.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Fun, good performances
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Service was good but nothing great. Because there is no assigned dining, the staff is just like any restaurant, no personal service. Most of the time we ate at the Tzar Restaurant and the Buffet but the staff was always different and impersonal. In 12 days, I never met my room steward. On 3 of those days we left our cabin early in the morning for breakfast with the "welcome or Make up Cabin' sign out and when we returned after lunch it was still not made up.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Very beautiful ship! I especially LOVE the fish swimming upstream on the hall carpets so that you can easily tell which direction you are going.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
This was a comfortable room but the bed hurt my back by the end of the cruise
Ship tip
If paying more for specialty dining restaurants or room service is your preference, this is the ship for you.
Quiet town and the people and the free shuttle service were outstanding! We visited the Killer Whale Museum, shops and had a wonderful walk with a view of the coastlines.
It was not easy to get to this port. The shuttle was expensive so after walking into the port area, we just turned around and went back to the ship within 20 minutes.
The best was the feeling of welcome that we were given by the people. The free shuttle service delivered us to town where we could walk around the beach and town and then we booked a tour to the Wildlife zoo, which was amazing but it was a long drive. However, the countryside was beautiful.
Tender process was horrible. We were in line to pick up tender tickets by 6:40. They began giving out tickets at 7 and we were just into Group 3. First group went at 7:40, Second group went at 8:05 and our group went 2 1/2 hours later. Our pre-booked tour was for 10:30 - We got to the bus just after 11. The tour company was amazing and tried their best to get everyone taken care of. However, we were not able to do a good portion of our tour. We got the 3 hours travel time to and from the Antarctic Center and then only a fraction of the time for the experience. Everything else in the tour was eliminated due to the lack of time.
Fabulous people and free shuttle service to town. We wondered around, watching children performing Scottish dances in the park and then booked a boat harbour cruise, which was very nice.
The free shuttle took us to the very art deco town of Napier. We walked around town and along the coast, then we went to the wonderful museum. It told us much about the city, people, earthquake and more.
Excellent port. The people were great and our excursion took us to visit a Kiwi farm, the geo thermal park and Maori people, Rotorua and the Redwoods along with an amazing lunch. Informative and Educational.
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