High expectations with disapointing experiences

Norwegian Star Auckland to Dubai 37 day Cruise.

  I want to start by saying that I never thought that I would be the person to conclude that this cruise is awful. After all, we booked a suite, and the itinerary sounded so good…

High expectations resulting in very disappointing experiences.

Food is at best OK and if you can believe this no lobster to be had, even if you wanted to pay. Entertainment they bring on the ship has been pretty good otherwise a miss.

With one exception, our cabin steward was exceptional and made what would have been a complete bummer somewhat tolerable during our time onboard. Yes, the Cruise line has choices of where to dock but NCL went above and beyond putting your safety at risk, wasting your time, creating a very bad experience, Get this, they ran out of Pinot Noir wine during the first 19 days. Then they had to break out the good stuff hoping to replenish in Singapore which didn’t happen. So on day 7 of the next cruise they eliminated it altogether. Five days into the cruise the whole ship including the crew were sick with an awful cold. That lasted until Singapore and the next batch of guests coming on board the germ barge. Day seven and the cycle starts all over again, great! Can’t clean old ships they just get crustier!

NCL has become the shadow of Oceania and Regent getting worst day by day. The crew complains about the changes as the guests get less service, amenities, and very bad ports of call. You ARE tendering for 45 minutes and unloading for another half hour or you are out in the middle of a container port escorted by police cars to the gates or walking between containers avoiding being hit by a truck.

Details:

 The ship itinerary changed again leaving us with unused shore excursions. Then we were told our visa was invalid when in fact they didn’t listen to us and supplied the wrong information. Then they threatened to throw off the ship. This was resolved after a face to face with the Australian authorities as I suggested in the first place.

Woken up at 6AM by joggers above us on deck 13. Yes, it was like a herd of elephants trampling over our heads. I have a picture that shows these folks going off the jogging track and running around the front of the ship. Finally, our concierge stood guard making sure the stayed-on track, However, some still ran over the suites after 9AM.

Australia days: We had to tender in Sydney Australia. Can you believe that? And every other port until Darwin which ended up at a crappy terminal and the shore excursions were very limited so you were basically there with nothing to do. They didn’t stop in Brisbane and diverted to Port Klemba.  Carnies was the only place I had a good time and that was completely accidental as the Captain decided to stay longer allowing us to go on the train to Kuranda and hold a Koala bear. The tour all had to stick to the shorter time frame.

Asia days: Singapore was great but we did it on our own and knew what we wanted to do, it was the debarkation day for the first half of the cruise. Port Klang the ship parked at the most remote and desolate pier imaginable, at least that the case then….Penang completely changed since we were last there and was very disappointing. Bali, green water and garbage all over in the water, what happen to this beautiful place? Phuket we didn’t have high hopes as we only wanted to get to a Catholic church and tool around the area. Colombo Sri Lanka is where the ship is parked in the center of the container area so you had to walk through containers trying not to avoid being hit by a track.

India: what a great decision. We left the ship at Cochin in to take the overland trip to see the Taj Mahal. It was a very well organized and the stay at the Hilton Double Tree exceeded our expectations. The  visits to the Taj, Fort, and shopping were very organized and allowed enough time at each place to more than satisfy your needs. The overland flights are in coach and the seats are incredibly close so if you can try to make arrangements for aisle seats. 

Mumbai was again an awful port location and the shore excursions very disappointing.

Oman & UAE were again a total bust with very bad ports and excursions. The tea in Abu Dhabi was OK but the tour bus waited while a guest was late and we all suffered. Then we races around barely able to take any pictures.

Norwegian Star Auckland to Dubai 37 day Cruise.

  I want to start by saying that I never thought that I would be the person to conclude that this cruise is awful. After all, we booked a suite, and the itinerary sounded so good…

High expectations resulting in very disappointing experiences.

Food is at best OK and if you can believe this no lobster to be had, even if you wanted to pay. Entertainment they bring on the ship has been pretty good otherwise a miss.

With one exception, our cabin steward was exceptional and made what would have been a complete bummer somewhat tolerable during our time onboard. Yes, the Cruise line has choices of where to dock but NCL went above and beyond putting your safety at risk, wasting your time, creating a very bad experience, Get this, they ran out of Pinot Noir wine during the first 19 days. Then they had to break out the good stuff hoping to replenish in Singapore which didn’t happen. So on day 7 of the next cruise they eliminated it altogether. Five days into the cruise the whole ship including the crew were sick with an awful cold. That lasted until Singapore and the next batch of guests coming on board the germ barge. Day seven and the cycle starts all over again, great! Can’t clean old ships they just get crustier!

NCL has become the shadow of Oceania and Regent getting worst day by day. The crew complains about the changes as the guests get less service, amenities, and very bad ports of call. You ARE tendering for 45 minutes and unloading for another half hour or you are out in the middle of a container port escorted by police cars to the gates or walking between containers avoiding being hit by a truck.

Details:

 The ship itinerary changed again leaving us with unused shore excursions. Then we were told our visa was invalid when in fact they didn’t listen to us and supplied the wrong information. Then they threatened to throw off the ship. This was resolved after a face to face with the Australian authorities as I suggested in the first place.

Woken up at 6AM by joggers above us on deck 13. Yes, it was like a herd of elephants trampling over our heads. I have a picture that shows these folks going off the jogging track and running around the front of the ship. Finally, our concierge stood guard making sure the stayed-on track, However, some still ran over the suites after 9AM.

Australia days: We had to tender in Sydney Australia. Can you believe that? And every other port until Darwin which ended up at a crappy terminal and the shore excursions were very limited so you were basically there with nothing to do. They didn’t stop in Brisbane and diverted to Port Klemba.  Carnies was the only place I had a good time and that was completely accidental as the Captain decided to stay longer allowing us to go on the train to Kuranda and hold a Koala bear. The tour all had to stick to the shorter time frame.

Asia days: Singapore was great but we did it on our own and knew what we wanted to do, it was the debarkation day for the first half of the cruise. Port Klang the ship parked at the most remote and desolate pier imaginable, at least that the case then….Penang completely changed since we were last there and was very disappointing. Bali, green water and garbage all over in the water, what happen to this beautiful place? Phuket we didn’t have high hopes as we only wanted to get to a Catholic church and tool around the area. Colombo Sri Lanka is where the ship is parked in the center of the container area so you had to walk through containers trying not to avoid being hit by a track.

India: what a great decision. We left the ship at Cochin in to take the overland trip to see the Taj Mahal. It was a very well organized and the stay at the Hilton Double Tree exceeded our expectations. The  visits to the Taj, Fort, and shopping were very organized and allowed enough time at each place to more than satisfy your needs. The overland flights are in coach and the seats are incredibly close so if you can try to make arrangements for aisle seats. 

Mumbai was again an awful port location and the shore excursions very disappointing.

Oman & UAE were again a total bust with very bad ports and excursions. The tea in Abu Dhabi was OK but the tour bus waited while a guest was late and we all suffered. Then we races around barely able to take any pictures.