Quick review 04/24 past CCL first time NCL

I'm doing this quick to the point review to answer some questions I had, being on 3 past CCL cruises and this being my first NCL.

pros: I can confirm the Getaway had Clamato juice at every bar for Canadians and their Ceasars... however the quality of these drinks really depends where you get them. We found the Atrium bar made them the best.

The entertainment was much better than CCL. Burn the floor, Howl at the moon and Levity comedy are must sees.

The Glow party is also a must see.

I normally don't pay too much attention to the Atrium shows... on NCL I found there to be some very good entertainment in that area. Specifically the tribute to Bob Marley and the great Dance competition.

Entrainment quality is a winner on NCL

The food in the MDR'S is terrific and I loved the freestyle program. Taste was out favorite MDR.

It took us a few days to discover how peaceful the Spice H2O zone is and will spend much more time there next time in the waterfall

The waterslides and ropes course beat CCL hands down.

Cons:

NCL really need to increase their bar staff. Rarely even at the busiest bars was there more than 2 servers... usually there was 1 and unless you had a seat or were very aggressive it took forever to get a drink even with a tip. Now most your time is spent going to the bar yourself because servers walking around were a rare sight and because of this even if you found one they were overwhelmed so it was quicker to go get it yourself.

I was hoping it would be more like CCL where you have 2 or 3 servers come past to see if you need a drink before you even finish the one you have. Sadly this was not the case.

Beer... beer needs to be cold. NCL really need to get their bartenders to pull the cold ones and let the warm ones chill. Add to the fact that most are aluminum bottles and warm up faster drinking domestic beer was a waste.

Hands down CCL wins in the beverage service

Balcony dividers: officially can't be opened however we did open ours with our neighbor and were just behind the bridge so I know the officers saw us with it opened. However we made sure to close it everytime we left the balcony so it was never open unattended and we had no issues.

I did see some comments saying how small the balconies were. I didn't find them too small (conparable to Liberty and Magic) but I'm not hard to please either.

All in all we had a fun trip. The debarkation was a mess and we were supposed to be off at 9:55am but because of customs we didn't get off the ship until almost noon. It was 12:45 before we hit the curb. I can't blame NCL for this though as their hands are tied with US customs. I think the process would normally be very smooth.

Hopefully this helped answer a few questions.

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I should add we only ate at the complimentary dining venues with the exception of the last night we ate at Moderno. Delicious. I was extremely happy with the complimentary dining and because of this won't ever consider a specialty dining package. Portions are good, flavors were fantastic and service was amazing.

Breakfast we went to MDR also and we're very satisfied

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Thanks for your review! I too am a primarily CCL cruiser and will be taking my first NCL cruise on the getaway on June 5, 2016. Really pleased to hear about the food in the MDR being better than just edible. I wonder how much of the slow bar staff has to do with the UBP promo?

Thank you for taking the time to post your review.:)

Thanks for your review! I too am a primarily CCL cruiser and will be taking my first NCL cruise on the getaway on June 5, 2016. Really pleased to hear about the food in the MDR being better than just edible. I wonder how much of the slow bar staff has to do with the UBP promo?

In my opinion they are just understaffed. In my cruises on CCL even on the busiest sea days on the Lido I didn't ever have a problem getting a drink and seeing 3 or 4 servers behind the busy bars. I can honestly say not once this time did I see more than 2 at any bar no matter how busy. The floor servers which CCL has an abundance of are pretty much non existent on NCL or they don't venture far before they have a full order :(

Like I said though.. all this aside I had a great time. There are bars you can get a drink easily from its just a long walk most of the time.

Again,in my opinion NCL blows CCL out of the water when it comes to food but I'm only 1 opinion.

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Thank you for your review! I'll be taking my first NCL cruise next year after five Carnival cruises. It's nice to see other cruiser's perspectives on the differences between the two lines. Thanks again! :)

In my opinion they are just understaffed. In my cruises on CCL even on the busiest sea days on the Lido I didn't ever have a problem getting a drink and seeing 3 or 4 servers behind the busy bars. I can honestly say not once this time did I see more than 2 at any bar no matter how busy. The floor servers which CCL has an abundance of are pretty much non existent on NCL or they don't venture far before they have a full order :(

NCL used to have a reputation for "bugging you" all the time for drinks, so some of us would see this as an improvement, but I'm sure there's more of a happy medium somewhere between being asked three or four times before you have even finished your drink and having to get up and wait in line!

I do think the "free promos" has impacted NCL service level greatly.

Thanks for the report.