Expected More

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 5

Review summary

This was my first cruise. That being said, I expected a lot more for the price. NCL is purported as one of the "nicer" cruise lines in comparison to Carnival (which is much cheaper) - interestingly enough, I came across several passengers who were as underwhelmed as I was with the Norwegian Spirit and felt that they did not get their moneys worth. The ship was beautiful and had the character that I had hoped for, however, there were other aspects of the cruise itself that were in need of improvement. - The bathrooms in our cabins needed serious updates (aesthetically and in functionality): shower doors would not slide or shut correctly, bathroom shelves sat slanted so everything slid off, tiles in the shower were worn. - There is NO REALISTIC STORAGE for two people sharing a room for 10 days and I can't imagine how it was for people staying longer. The biggest disappointment was the food. The ambiance in all the restaurants was pleasant, but the food was lacking in more ways than one. Steaks from Cagneys was the best food throughout the entire cruise, unfortunately everything else was mediocre at best. We ate breakfast at Raffles almost every morning before our excursions and every morning we said the same thing (scrambled eggs are watery, no labels on the honey or syrup, bread is hard, food taste old and bland) (at night it was that the ice cream machine is broken again or everything is cold or taste like cafeteria food- sorry). My family and I ate at Windows one morning and noticed the same menu as Raffles which would have been fine if our food wasn’t ICE COLD. I have been in the service industry for years and let me say that customers remember the small details. -- If you are going to bring out a basket of cinnamon rolls wrapped in linen, please make sure they are hot. ALL FOOD SHOULD BE HOT when brought to the table. - If the cabin bathrooms are going to get cleaned, make sure the tissue box gets restocked at some point. - If you have elevators on your ship, make sure they are working. - If passengers bought wine off ship, return it to their cabins. - If there is a photographer walking around taking pictures – make sure they ask about group/family photos, the young man onboard took single photos every time he ran into us. The service member that really stood out was Manuel in housekeeping, he was a life saver and so accommodating - awesome personality – awesome person – awesome worker – THANK YOU!

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

Livorno (Florence & Pisa), Italy

Marseille (Provence), France

Barcelona, Spain

Palma De Mallorca, Balearic Islands

Cagliari, Sardinia

Valletta, Malta

Messina, Sicily

Naples, Italy

Disembarkation

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