NCL experience is great mix of entertainment and party atmosphere. Cruisers all seemed to be energetic. Not good for those who expect organization and traditional experience. Cruise director was a non factor. Minimal exposure during the cruise. His role is especially important to customer satisfaction, communication and overall experience. Perhaps he was trying, but between the weather conditions changing most every outdoor activity, ports of call and excursion confusion he wasn't effective. On top of all of it, common areas were blasting intercomm background music sound tracks that were contradictory to the venue live music or DJ so that most times on deck you may or may not hear the public address. NYC Manhattan terminal is a NO GO
Embarkation
2 out of 5
Longest process ever encountered. Warehouse handoffs to the next checkpoint. Not much of an advantage for all the pre-online checkin
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Buffet better than average, specialty restaurants especially attentive, main dining room staff in disarray, not organized. Local restaurant was the best. That's good for them but doenst speak well for main dining.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
Windy, rainy and rough seas didn't lend on board activities to be accessible
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Very talented and practiced cast for the show. Comedians were entertaining and amusing. Beatles tribute was ace and all of the lounge acts were top notch. If ever there was a reason to go on NCL again it would be for the entertainment
Service and Staff
2 out of 5
Cabin attendant was the best we have ever had ( 17 previous cruises). Bartenders are on top of their game. Wait staff in specialty dining are very professional. Main dining rooms( 3) are consistently out to lunch. They are good people buy they just don't have their act together. Poor coordination of delivery, lack of communication on who is bringing the coffee or what we ordered . Sometimes forget order or delivered to the wrong table.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Well done and unique layout for common areas. Well balanced entertainment and lounge choices with minimal future cruise and "sales" promotion "offices"
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
Balcony cabin layout a bit restrictive for closet access and could have had shelving unit over the headboard for more storage
Ship tip
Expectations for dining: focus on specialty and non main dining. Free style dining to NCL is free wheeling with little control over the traditional dining experience. Other cruise lines with traditional main dining are better organized and focused on the wait staff-customer relationship.
Weather constrained. We were scheduled for a NCL sponsored Waves and Caves tour. Waited at the appointed meeting stop and no one from the ship was there. Eventually we gave up and went back to ship only to find out the tour was cancelled. You would expect someone from the excursion staff would have been at the meeting point to tell us. Guess it was too windy for them but not us getting blown away on the pier.
NCL got us off the ship quickly. Good that we could leave freely and not be rushed. Bad news is that at NYC Manhattan port terminal is something out of waterfront gangster movie. You walk though the dock warehouse, onto the street. Taxi stand is across the street ( no pickup at the terminal), no dispatcher but dozens of hawkers trying to arrange a ride for you for a fee. Excrement all around from the night before.
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