All in all a wonderful experience, super locations and great food. Only criticism is the excessive use (still!!!) of single use plastic and bottles. Come on Norwegian!!! Just STOP using plastic!!! How hard can it be??? Educate your consumers. The one thing I HATED about this cruise was the feeling that you’re being squeeeeezed for every last dollar. Mark up on extras and excursions are in the 1000 percentile, so even when they so generously give you on-board credit or special packages and discounts, you’re still being screwed! And here’s a thought: how about you pay your own staff instead of adding on the daily obligatory $15pp “Service Charge” - effectively making us pay their wages....
Embarkation
3 out of 5
Chaotic and crowded, but guess that’s to be expected when boarding >2000 people in 5 hours.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Food generally varied and very good. Loved the Churrasceria and Teppanyaki.
Drinks limited but adequate.
Drinks-packages are ludicrously expensive though, and we calculated the mark-up on a whisky to be around 6000%! 😳
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Plenty to choose from. Band around the pool at times very noisy and off-key. Preferred the quiet of the aft-deck.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Watched a magician and music show: both were ok, not great.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Staff are great in every way!
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Newly refurbished and clean although our cabin had hair on the shower wall which stayed there all week and the balcony glass was very grimey.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Superb location, good size, quiet, loved the balcony and views!
Ship tip
DON’T waste your money on shore excursions! They are crazy expensive, you get herded about like cattle and generally leave the ship LAST!!! Also, if you want peace and quiet the aft-deck is lovely.
Cabrio tour was the best of the bunch, clean, modern, nice views and good info. Took about an hour so then had plenty time to wander about the old town on our own (which was iconic perhaps, but also very crowded and fairly dirty). The shuttle back to the ship was included (other guests had to pay $15pp) - wayyy too far to walk though.
AVOID Charming Oia!!! Lovely place in theory but 10000 people crammed into 100m*2 is not fun. Our Tender was the last to leave the ship, so sat in the theatre for an hour, 20 min to the port, then a half hour bus ride to Oia, an hour milling through hoards of tourists and then another 20min coach ride back to Fira (nice enough place) to then queue for the cable-car down for an hour. In the end we walked the 600 hot and smelly steps to the dock and waited for the next tender back to the ship
Kayaking was fun but not a “quaint cove” in sight I’m afraid, just paddled to where the Star was anchored, had a swim and paddled back again. Water was full of seaweed and plastic. Didn’t see much of Kotor but wouldn’t mind exploring it in future. Our tender boat took 40min to get to Kotor and we were the very last people to leave the ship. You’re much better off getting a tender ticket as early as possible and then just wander about Kotor on your own.
The Drogorati cave and Melissani Lake are highly overrated and very crowded. Wast of time and money! Just walk into town (not that there’s much there either) or spend the day on board.
Did our own thing. It is what it is, nice city, quirky but crowded around St Marco and Rialto. Lovely and peaceful and much more genuine if you head East.
Our favourite port! Shuttle into town from the pier was free and the town is marvelous: picturesque and clean, not too crowded, lovely coffee shops. Definitely buy some nougat!!! 🤤🤤🤤
My family paid $49pp for a beach transfer to a pebble beach where deck-chairs then cost €20each! Water was full of plastic and everyone got blisters on their feet: AVOID THAT ONE!!!
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