Don't think we'll ever cruise again, certainly not with Norwegian. It wasn't all bad, but overall not an experience we'd want to repeat.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
It was fairly orderly and quick.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
We ate at three "specialty"restaurants and at the buffets, and the food was universally poor.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
Very limited number of activities. The "basketball/tennis/soccer" options all used the exact same space, so if someone were playing any of the above, no one else could play. The "golf" was a net with a couple poorly maintained pieces of fake grass, plus two 7 irons and some balls.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
The comedian was not funny, though he tried to be - which was somewhat funny itself. The music and dance shows were ok. Nothing else was good.
Children's Programs
4 out of 5
Our kids liked the kids club activities. The employees did a great job there. The only problem is that they only take kids for eight hours a day, separated into three different chunks of time.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Generally nice. We caught bartenders filling vodka bottles with water, but I guess it's an open secret that they do this all the time. All our mixed drinks were extremely weak, and now we know why. Just get beer if you want to get a buzz.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
The size was small but to be expected. When we arrived in our cabin, there were two empty cans on the balcony, the toilet was dirty, there were some peanuts under the sofa, etc. So obviously, not good. The remote didn't work and was covered in filth. The head steward for our area came in and apologized and took responsibility. She was very nice about it. However, all in all, not a good first impression.
Ship tip
It's fairly small, not much to do unless you're a glutton who doesn't mind low quality food.
Have sailed twice with Pearl and did not experience what you did. Have sailed four times with Norwegian and enjoyed each time. Have sailed with Carnival and Princess each was a little different. I prefer Norwegian because of free style cruising.
Celebrity has superior food and performances in my opinion if you venture to try cruising again, even though we like Carnival too for the value, and Carnival comedians are always really good. I’m not sure I believe this revue after the water bottle vodka situation but NCL does give away drink packages more freely than others so it’s interesting.
Of course the grass had to be fake. There is no dirt to put real grass and too much to maintain.
Food, let's see..each chef is different on ships. If food is going to have you not come back, then that should be one problem. Every ship lay out is different for the basketball area and other games.
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