Great Cruise, Especially Dining Options

We booked his cruise last year as a getaway. We had been to Cabo San Lucas before and were looking to visit again. My wife wanted to try a different cruise line and Norwegian Cruise Lines had the destination we wanted and dates that we were able to go.

The first thing that struck me when I went on the NCL site was the amount of dining options. I ended up making reservations for dining in the specialty restaurants on 3 of the 5 nights of the cruise. On one of the other nights we dined in the main dining room. All of the dining experiences were excellent, especially Moderno, the Brazilian Churrascaria and Teppanyaki, the Japanese tepppnayaki restaurant. Even the buffets had delicious food.

After getting the hang of how the website worked, it was easy to sign up for our excursion and dining options. Speaking of excursions, NCL does offer a wide array of excursions. We booked the Sunset Camel Adventure, which we enjoyed very much. Our guide was very knowledgeable and friendly and we had a good group. Though most aspects of booking this cruise was done online, I did call NCL agents to ask a question prior to sailing. The agent was very friendly, answered my question, and even offered some information I hadn't considered. That conversation resulted in me purchasing a surprise gift for my wife.

A couple of areas where NCL could improve: 1) The Freestyle Daily, NCL's in-cabin newsletter. There should be an embarkation issue that contains ship information such as where amenities such as restaurants, gym, spa, buffet, theatre, etc. are located. As it was, we had to roam the ship or walk all the way out to the elevator to see which deck something was on, then had to walk over to a sign on that deck to see where on the ship it was. It should also contain information about which level to board the tenders as well as how and what times the tenders operate. On our cruise, we didn't learn this info until the day before we arrived in Cabo San Lucas. Had we known on embarkation day, we would have made plans to stay in port longer, possibly seeing more of the city. We had to ask several people for information that could have been answered in one newsletter. Imagine the time savings this would mean for the crew by not having to answer the same questions over and over if this information was already available in each guest's cabin. 2) The television in cabin. About half of the time the channels displayed a No Signal message, even while in port. We never did see the debarkation information that was supposed to be on one of the channels; it displayed the No Signal message for the entire cruise back to San Pedro. Something else that could be listed in an embarkation issue would be the movie schedule shown on the in-cabin televisions. 3) The lines for the check-in process was slow. Once we finally got to the desk, we did get checked in pretty quickly. 4) The muster locations at the theatre on deck 7 needs to be improved. Suggest posting signs outside the theatre so guests cross a non-moving crowd of people if they entered the wrong side of the theatre.

All in all, we had a great time on the cruise. One of the reasons we booked this itinerary with NCL is because it stayed overnight in port. We were able to explore a bit of Cabo while on our excursion and still have plenty of time to spend our time in port as we desired. And it afforded plenty of time for us to relax. I am glad we booked this cruise with NCL.