1st and Last Norwegian Cruise

I returned from the Getaway on 5/16 after a 7-day cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. I am just now recovering from the worst cruise ever. I know a lot of people on here are fans of Norwegian - I am just going by what happened to me and my husband. We have been on a total of 19 cruises - mostly Royal Caribbean, 1 Princess, 2 Holland America, 7 Carnival. I have never seen such lack of customer service as we did on Norwegian. The ship was nice enough, even though the zipline was down for the entire trip. We had an aft-balcony (9920) with a huge balcony - which was the only good thing on the entire trip. Every restaurant we tried -the food was cold, we complained to the maitre d' and she was useless - the other staff on the ship did not even know who she was (Anna Maria). At one point after not getting service after sitting 10 minutes in the Savor restaurant, we chose to leave - and had to walk by 2 men in full HazMat suits cleaning something up - it was disgusting. We had the UBP - the only way you could get a drink was to go to the bar yourself because there were no servers offering drinks (casino and restaurant). Only one server - Elvis - in O'Sheehans ever offered me a drink refill. Our room steward never introduced himself - when I asked for an extra bath towel he said he used one of the towels for the one and only towel animal we received. When we asked for clean pool towels (since they were on the bed when we first arrived) -he said - take the dirty ones to the pool and change them out yourself. Great customer service. We stayed on the ship when it docked in St. Thomas - just to be able to get to the pool - tiny in comparison to the amount of people. Be sure you wear your sandals as the deck is hot metal and will melt your feet. The second port - Tortola - beware - we got off and there is nothing there - they are in the middle of building a shopping area but it is far from complete. We attempted to find a drug store to buy some band-aids and after being given strange directions ended up in an alley that had an actual sign that said "Enter at Your Own Risk." Are you kidding me? Then when we went to the Bahamas where we have been on multiple cruises - we didn't arrive until 12:30 in the afternoon and had to be back on the ship at 6:30 - great planning on Norwegian's part. This was an anniversary trip for us and the only incentive was the UBP - which in no way could make up for the lack of service. At one restaurant, Savor, we had 4 different people introduce themselves as either waiters or assistants, and it took one hour to be served one appetizer and cold Prime Rib with a baked potato that was so hard you couldn't eat it. When served the Prime Rib in O'Sheehan's - it was dropped off by the waiter, no knife to cut it with and again - cold meat, hard potato. We tried the Noodle Bar - cold noodles with cold shrimp - on a dish that was meant to be hot. I know a lot of people will think I am nitpicking but seriously - even after complaining to the maitre d' you would think that the service would improve. Good luck to anyone who is booked on this ship - if you still have time to cancel - do it.

Bad luck. Never heard of this many things going wrong. You better go back to the other lines where things are much better than NCL.

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Thanks for posting your review and thoughts.

On May 31st we'll be going on our 6th NCL Cruise. We haven't had a terrible cruise yet. However we have noticed a drop in the quality of food and service.

Thinking of trying something different the next time. Of the other cruise lines you've sailed on. Do you have a favorite and one that stands out?

Thanks for posting your review and thoughts.

 

On May 31st we'll be going on our 6th NCL Cruise. We haven't had a terrible cruise yet. However we have noticed a drop in the quality of food and service.

 

Thinking of trying something different the next time. Of the other cruise lines you've sailed on. Do you have a favorite and one that stands out?

Our favorite would be Princess - Panama Canal on the Caribbean Princess, second favorite would be Royal Caribbean - Oasis of the Seas - absolutely amazing.

Bad luck. Never heard of this many things going wrong. You better go back to the other lines where things are much better than NCL.

 

 

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We will go back to the "other lines" - where things are so far and above Norwegian's customer service.

We will go back to the "other lines" - where things are so far and above Norwegian's customer service.

Excellent! Problem solved.

That sucks!! My first NCL cruise was equally bad. I still can't get over how horrible the overall service was. But, I gave them another chance a few years later, and it was wonderful. So you just never know. For that reason, I always say not to base your overall impression of an entire cruise line on a single experience on a single ship. Regardless, sorry you had a crappy experience.

Make sure the new CEO sees your review. We've never had a disappointing cruise or bad service on NCL, but then we have yet to sail under the new management.

Make sure the new CEO sees your review. We've never had a disappointing cruise or bad service on NCL, but then we have yet to sail under the new management.

How do I contact the new CEO - do you know?

We were on the Getaway the week before you and I have to say we found the staff to be friendly and helpful. We were also on deck 9 in a large balcony cabin. Our room steward didn't introduce himself either but we started communicating through notes and ever crazier/funnier towel animals - great fun. I didn't see a huge amount of servers offering drinks but it didn't stress us to take a mosey over to the bar. There were loads of plus points and everyone worked so hard.

We were on the Getaway the week before you and I have to say we found the staff to be friendly and helpful. We were also on deck 9 in a large balcony cabin. Our room steward didn't introduce himself either but we started communicating through notes and ever crazier/funnier towel animals - great fun. I didn't see a huge amount of servers offering drinks but it didn't stress us to take a mosey over to the bar. There were loads of plus points and everyone worked so hard.

Oh, and not once - not once - in any of the restaurants - Savor, Taste, or Tropicana - were we asked if wanted anything other than water - not coffee, not iced tea, nothing - just reflects their poor training.

As a fellow Ocalan I am sorry you were not happy with your cruise. We are headed out on the sixth and I hope it is much better than your experience was. I will try to keep my expectations low and hope that execution is high.

I returned from the Getaway on 5/16 after a 7-day cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. I am just now recovering from the worst cruise ever. I know a lot of people on here are fans of Norwegian - I am just going by what happened to me and my husband. We have been on a total of 19 cruises - mostly Royal Caribbean, 1 Princess, 2 Holland America, 7 Carnival. I have never seen such lack of customer service as we did on Norwegian. The ship was nice enough, even though the zipline was down for the entire trip. We had an aft-balcony (9920) with a huge balcony - which was the only good thing on the entire trip. Every restaurant we tried -the food was cold, we complained to the maitre d' and she was useless - the other staff on the ship did not even know who she was (Anna Maria). At one point after not getting service after sitting 10 minutes in the Savor restaurant, we chose to leave - and had to walk by 2 men in full HazMat suits cleaning something up - it was disgusting. We had the UBP - the only way you could get a drink was to go to the bar yourself because there were no servers offering drinks (casino and restaurant). Only one server - Elvis - in O'Sheehans ever offered me a drink refill. Our room steward never introduced himself - when I asked for an extra bath towel he said he used one of the towels for the one and only towel animal we received. When we asked for clean pool towels (since they were on the bed when we first arrived) -he said - take the dirty ones to the pool and change them out yourself. Great customer service. We stayed on the ship when it docked in St. Thomas - just to be able to get to the pool - tiny in comparison to the amount of people. Be sure you wear your sandals as the deck is hot metal and will melt your feet. The second port - Tortola - beware - we got off and there is nothing there - they are in the middle of building a shopping area but it is far from complete. We attempted to find a drug store to buy some band-aids and after being given strange directions ended up in an alley that had an actual sign that said "Enter at Your Own Risk." Are you kidding me? Then when we went to the Bahamas where we have been on multiple cruises - we didn't arrive until 12:30 in the afternoon and had to be back on the ship at 6:30 - great planning on Norwegian's part. This was an anniversary trip for us and the only incentive was the UBP - which in no way could make up for the lack of service. At one restaurant, Savor, we had 4 different people introduce themselves as either waiters or assistants, and it took one hour to be served one appetizer and cold Prime Rib with a baked potato that was so hard you couldn't eat it. When served the Prime Rib in O'Sheehan's - it was dropped off by the waiter, no knife to cut it with and again - cold meat, hard potato. We tried the Noodle Bar - cold noodles with cold shrimp - on a dish that was meant to be hot. I know a lot of people will think I am nitpicking but seriously - even after complaining to the maitre d' you would think that the service would improve. Good luck to anyone who is booked on this ship - if you still have time to cancel - do it.

yes I am a NCL loyalist, but I have cruised a lot more than you and never had as many complaints on any line as you had with NCL. I don't know how much is nit picking and how much is legit, but I have never experienced a shortness of cocktail staff and never had bad serive on an NCL ship. In fact some of the best service we have had has been on NCl, certainly the firendlist.

There is a reason for so many cuirse lines, what one person likes someone else will not.Obviously NCL isn't for you. Now you have done your ranting so it is time for you to return the the cruise lines you enjoy the most. Good luck in the furture. btw, I am glad you love Princess, the worst experiences we have had were on Princess, with totally unfriendly crew, but it certainly wasn't anything like you had on NCL. I do think, telling people to cancel if they can is way over the top. That isn't for any of us to decide. as for contacting the CEO, don't waste your time. Comments like you are making will get you nothing, probably not even a reply and I wouldn't blame him. An objective review can be taken seriously.

BTW: do you have any idea how hard it was to read your so called review It you had used paragraphs it would have been a lot easier.

I returned from the Getaway on 5/16 after a 7-day cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. I am just now recovering from the worst cruise ever. I know a lot of people on here are fans of Norwegian - I am just going by what happened to me and my husband. We have been on a total of 19 cruises - mostly Royal Caribbean, 1 Princess, 2 Holland America, 7 Carnival. I have never seen such lack of customer service as we did on Norwegian. The ship was nice enough, even though the zipline was down for the entire trip. We had an aft-balcony (9920) with a huge balcony - which was the only good thing on the entire trip. Every restaurant we tried -the food was cold, we complained to the maitre d' and she was useless - the other staff on the ship did not even know who she was (Anna Maria). At one point after not getting service after sitting 10 minutes in the Savor restaurant, we chose to leave - and had to walk by 2 men in full HazMat suits cleaning something up - it was disgusting. We had the UBP - the only way you could get a drink was to go to the bar yourself because there were no servers offering drinks (casino and restaurant). Only one server - Elvis - in O'Sheehans ever offered me a drink refill. Our room steward never introduced himself - when I asked for an extra bath towel he said he used one of the towels for the one and only towel animal we received. When we asked for clean pool towels (since they were on the bed when we first arrived) -he said - take the dirty ones to the pool and change them out yourself. Great customer service. We stayed on the ship when it docked in St. Thomas - just to be able to get to the pool - tiny in comparison to the amount of people. Be sure you wear your sandals as the deck is hot metal and will melt your feet. The second port - Tortola - beware - we got off and there is nothing there - they are in the middle of building a shopping area but it is far from complete. We attempted to find a drug store to buy some band-aids and after being given strange directions ended up in an alley that had an actual sign that said "Enter at Your Own Risk." Are you kidding me? Then when we went to the Bahamas where we have been on multiple cruises - we didn't arrive until 12:30 in the afternoon and had to be back on the ship at 6:30 - great planning on Norwegian's part. This was an anniversary trip for us and the only incentive was the UBP - which in no way could make up for the lack of service. At one restaurant, Savor, we had 4 different people introduce themselves as either waiters or assistants, and it took one hour to be served one appetizer and cold Prime Rib with a baked potato that was so hard you couldn't eat it. When served the Prime Rib in O'Sheehan's - it was dropped off by the waiter, no knife to cut it with and again - cold meat, hard potato. We tried the Noodle Bar - cold noodles with cold shrimp - on a dish that was meant to be hot. I know a lot of people will think I am nitpicking but seriously - even after complaining to the maitre d' you would think that the service would improve. Good luck to anyone who is booked on this ship - if you still have time to cancel - do it.

Thanks for the heads up. We are booked for December. Will seriously rethink sailing on this ship with so many service issues. :rolleyes:

Thanks for the heads up. We are booked for December. Will seriously rethink sailing on this ship with so many service issues. :rolleyes:

You certainly are not going to take reviews like this too seriously I hope. To get a cross section check the overall review section of Cruise Critic.

How do I contact the new CEO - do you know?

Don't bother, the new CEO doesn't care what people post online. At a recent speech he referred to people who complain online as "social media flacks" whose opinions he does not care about.

Dang sorry about your service at the bars. But I do have to ask why are you complaining about the port and port times. You knew about those ahead of time, so why did you book a cruise knowing full well the ports and time at ports were not up to your standards?

Dang sorry about your service at the bars. But I do have to ask why are you complaining about the port and port times. You knew about those ahead of time, so why did you book a cruise knowing full well the ports and time at ports were not up to your standards?

Actually, the Nassau Port time was changed from 10 to 12 only a few months ago by Del Rio (another cost cut to save on fuel). If he/she booked this cruise more than a few months ago then he/she might not have known how little time he/she was going to have in Nassau.

We got off the Getaway May 9th. It was our second time on the Getaway. We had great service and had a very enjoyable cruise. I think we have been on around 60 cruises with most on Royal but in our case right now NCL is our favorite cruise line. If NCL isn't for you so be it that's why cruising is great there are many choices. Have fun with whoever you choose.

We got off the Getaway May 9th. It was our second time on the Getaway. We had great service and had a very enjoyable cruise. I think we have been on around 60 cruises with most on Royal but in our case right now NCL is our favorite cruise line. If NCL isn't for you so be it that's why cruising is great there are many choices. Have fun with whoever you choose.

Thanks for not attacking - just stating facts - and in fact, I left a LOT of other problems out of my original post - Norwegian is not for me - just feel that if they had proper training for their staff that it would have gone a lot better -

You certainly are not going to take reviews like this too seriously I hope. To get a cross section check the overall review section of Cruise Critic.

Read the reviews - think twice about Norwegian

As a fellow Ocalan I am sorry you were not happy with your cruise. We are headed out on the sixth and I hope it is much better than your experience was. I will try to keep my expectations low and hope that execution is high.

I hope your experience is better - good luck if you are going on the Getaway

Glad we went the week after you. We were not sure what to expect after reading about the changes. We had 2 cabins for 4 adults and all said the crew were the best we have encountered in years. The entire trip was wonderful. Tried almost all restaurants and food was good to extremely good and so was service. We also had ubp and never had a problem with getting a drink.

Sorry your cruise did not meet expectations. We cruise often and find all the cruise lines to be comparable.

We will go back to the "other lines" - where things are so far and above Norwegian's customer service.

:D:D People are so rude!

Thanks for posting this.. unlike some, I appreciate the good reviews AND the bad reviews. I was thinking about NCL, but with all the recent changes I don't think I'll be giving them a chance.