It was a great cruise minus the issues with our room. The biggest problem was we had to come back to the room. I believe in NCL and I know everyone else on the cruise felt the same way. They might have wanted to wait a little longer before sailing.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Embarkation was a breeze after the Pre Covid testing. Being the first cruisers after 18 months there are bound to be issues.
We were the first passengers to step on the ship since lockdown.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
What can I say. The best meals I have had in years. We ate in all the specialty restaurants along with the main dining rooms and buffet.
Indigo Main Dining Room
5 out of 5
Great food and wonderful staff. I enjoyed a great strip steak the first time and a wonderful salmon the second time.
Atrium Bar & Cafe
5 out of 5
Our go to place after excursions or on those sea days.
Moderno
5 out of 5
What can I say. Waiters bringing meat to you till you are stuffed. Outstanding meal, meats so tender, and salads that helped round out the meal.
Garden Cafe / Kid's Cafe
5 out of 5
Only had omelettes once before we had to head out on excursion.
O’Sheehan’s Neighborhood Bar & Grill
5 out of 5
O’Sheehan’s should be the first place you should eat once you board the ship. Always great for a “hold me over” till dinner. The first time there was Buffalo Wings and Nachos, the second time was the Pub dogs.
Great Outdoors
5 out of 5
Great burgers and pizza. I would come by every morning at 5 AM for coffee and pastries to watch the sun rise each day.
Teppanyaki
5 out of 5
It was an outstanding meal, the filet and shrimp were done to perfection. The show was great also. We also had the signature cocktails.
Summer Palace (Main Dining Room)
5 out of 5
Just like Indigo, the meals and service was outstanding. A lot roomier.
Le Bistro
5 out of 5
It was New Year’s Eve and we had Coq Au Von and shared a Fraisier for dessert along with a wonderful bottle of wine.
La Cucina Italian Restaurant
5 out of 5
The meal was great; the dessert was outstanding. we had the Fettuccine Alfredo with mushrooms along with Cannoli for dessert. I make a great Cannoli but these were at a different level.
Cagney's Steakhouse
5 out of 5
Outstanding food and service. We went to Cagney’s twice during the cruise and both times were great. Both time we had the petite filet mignonette along with desserts and bottles of wine.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Cannot really comment since we did not participate.
Entertainment
2 out of 5
I was hoping for some great entertainment on this cruise. Well, it was good. I understand the smaller ships do not get the same attention as the bigger ships but NCL could have put a little more effort into this area.
It took until day 8 before we even got a piano player in the bar area. His piano skills were outstanding but he lacked in the vocals department. After long consideration I decided that he sounded somewhere between Joe Cocker and someone stringing a cat.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
The staff, waiters, our room steward were outstanding.
Our Concierge Dilip Lopes and Butler Felix Batis went above and beyond taking care of us. I cannot say enough good things about these two gentlemen.
With all the problems that we had on this cruise the crew made it a lot more fun.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The ship looked great and was so clean. I spent a lot of time walking the decks in the middle of the night and the maintenance crew was always at work no matter what time it was.
Cabin / Stateroom
2 out of 5
We were in a Haven Suite and you would expect that it would be above reproach. Well it wasn’t. Hold on to your hats.
First off once we were escorted to our suite we discovered The keycards did not work. I also discovered that the Internet did not work for us also. Once we got new keycards the Internet started working also.
While being showed around our room we discovered the the pocket door between the bathroom and bedroom did not work. On day 11 I tried to move it only to find it was stuck much worst than the rest of the time. We only had enough room to squeeze through the crack. Lucky we are both small framed.
The sink in the powder room leaked. As soon as you turned the water on it was pouring onto the floor.
The chandelier in the dining room had no bulbs in it.
We had problems figuring how to turn lights on and off. Our Butler and Concierge did not know either. This is a training issue. We all got it figured out by day 4.
The shower only had two temperatures, boiling hot, freezing cold. It turns out that every room that had a tub in it and was upgraded during dry dock had the same problem. They had to give us another room to shower in till day 5, Panama where they replaced the entire shower unit. The parts arrived the day before in Cartagena Columbia. I watched them unload an entire panel van full of repair units.
The A/C did not work in the room. The living/dining room area was ice cold and the bedroom was hot. 3 large wet spots in the carpet, and got larger over time.
No shampoo/soap dispenser in the shower.
Ship tip
Buy your Internet package before you board(96 hours). It will save you $150. Also make sure you are in airplane mode and turn off Wi-Fi when not in use.
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