Seas2mountains

Here is the response I received from the guest experience team after creating a ticket. This was my first experience with submitting a ticket. My husband sent in a ticket like this about 10 years ago when the pool and hot tubs were shut down on the Jade for the first day due to equipment from a charter cruise before our cruise. We received some FCC for the loss of the use of the pool/hot tub on the first day of the cruise. I did not ask for any compensation as I just wanted to ask about the expectations and to share that it was not a great experience. We are concerned to learn of your disappointment with the experience you had at the thermal spa. We make every effort to ensure a positive cruise experience for all our passengers and we regret yours was diminished due to these circumstances. Please let us to assure you that your experience was unusual and not at all indicative of the experience provided on a Norwegian Cruise Line voyage. Feedback from our valued guests is vital to the continued success of our organization. Please be assured the constructive criticism you have offered has been forwarded to the various departments involved, so they may be aware of your impressions. It is by receiving feedback such as yours that we are able to highlight areas that may need closer attention. Thank you for this opportunity to review your concerns. We certainly hope that aside from the points mentioned, you found other aspects of your voyage enjoyable and trust you will consider Norwegian Cruise Line for your next vacation. It would be our pleasure to welcome you back onboard any one of our vessels soon. I would interpret that to mean that the sentence I changed to bold font indicates NCL also expects it to be a quiet area? We will find out on the next few cruises with thermal spa passes. As mentioned, we had a great time on this cruise and are fortunate we have had the ability to cruise and get the opportunity to go again so I don't want to sound like too much of a complainer. It seemed like something that could be corrected with reminders, signs (no signs on the Breakaway), and with the spa personnel who are present in the area with the authority to provide gentle reminders to offenders with the spa manager walking in the area on occasion. I can only hope it improves but know there will always be inconsiderate people who won't care to include spa personnel who don't wish to confront passengers. I may reluctantly pack some ear plugs but don't care to use ear buds or headphones in the spa at this time. Thank you for the responses as I appreciated reading about the experiences of other CC members.

I wondered that, too, which is why I asked the question here on CC and also followed up with a ticket to guest experience team and did get a response. Since the Breakaway had no signs posted warning people that it was a quiet place, I wondered if NCL was intending for it to be like a lounge or pool area where talking was the norm. The response I received indicates that NCL also expects it to be a quiet area. I'll post the response I got below.

This is wonderful to hear as you can guess which ship we are on next and if you guess the Prima, ding, ding, ding, you are correct! We did get the thermal spa pass and hope it is as quiet as you described. Fingers crossed. Yes, this cruise had a lot of large groups of friends and families sailing together which meant they went to the thermal spa together. We did try going in the morning around 9am. What ship will you be on? That is great to hear that you have another cruise booked!

You can find this on the Contact us section of the NCL website. This was the first time I have used this option. When completing the survey, it says that they will not get back to you for survey comments and to contact them if you want a response to a concern. To share any questions or concerns with our guest experience team after your cruise, please click below. We will respond to your concerns as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Click here to submit any post-cruise questions, concerns and/or feedback.

It is good to know the signs are posted on the Encore or were posted in December 2023. It is helpful to know that others also expect a quiet experience. On the Breakaway, there are no signs at all. We have been on most NCL ships and the number of conversations happening in the spa suites seems to have increased in our opinion in the past year of cruising. It is a problem that can so easily be corrected.

Thank you. My husband and I both provided the spa feedback in the post-cruise survey earlier this week and I also provided additional information in a guest experience case that was submitted shortly after. We have not yet heard back from that form. We did not request a refund from the amount we paid for the spa suite but asked if this problem can please be addressed to improve the experience since it was happening on several ships.

I agree with you about a form with the spa expectations just like they have forms signed for spa services with a reminder at check-in.

Welcome back! Thank you for the time you spent to take us with you and share your experiences on the three ships. I look forward to reading any final remarks. The "adventures" with your need to get an emergency passport were unforgettable and I am sure that will always be something you will remember. I am so glad it worked out!

Please do! I really enjoyed reading your live review with photos! It was great to read about your experience on the Escape and I also really enjoyed your contributions to @mking8288 very detailed and informative live review on the Prima! I appreciate the time you all spent to do these live reviews. We embark on the Prima in 15 days - can't wait!

I don't want to bring a phone to the spa and don't care for ear buds to listen to music.

They definitely seem to have enough personnel assigned to the spa as there are often 3-4 people working behind the desk in addition to the 1-2 people who are using the squeegee to keep the puddles off the spa floors. I also wish one of the staff members could help to keep the spa quiet. Yes, sadly it has gotten worse this past year. With small signs or no signs, it got to the point where it was no longer worth the money spent for the spa pass to go hear people yell at each other in the spa pool.

I agree with you about it seeming like people are less considerate of others and think it got worse after the Covid shutdowns. The lifeguard at the pool is often confronting people for not following the rules such as drinks in the pool and other concerns. Wish the spa personnel were doing the same to enforce rules in the spa as it would allow for a consistent quiet and peaceful experience. That is crazy that you had to confront the man and woman on the Escape. The people I kindly asked to be quiet typically got louder with one exception.

I had the Osso Buco in La Cucina one week ago on the Breakaway. It was absolutely delicious and I would also say it was probably the best entree of the cruise. The service in La Cucina on the Breakaway was also the best service we received in any specialty dining restaurant on that cruise. Highly recommend!

Unfortunately, the Breakaway no longer has the quiet area signs posted. The ones on the Pearl and Gem had such small writing that it could easily be missed. Glad to hear the Bliss still has the signs posted. That is awesome! Too funny! Yes, I also wish those keep the floor dry could enforce the no talking/yelling. I also wish they would remind people when they take their cards for the thermal spa that it is a quiet space and they will be asked to leave if they aren't considerate of other guests using the space. A simple reminder each time would be helpful for people who are new to using the thermal suite area.

Wow! I do think the spa needs a monitor who can take action when passengers get out of line like that.

There is hope. Do you remember if the signs were up on the Encore reminding people it was a quiet space?

Good idea for my husband. I don't want to be connected to any electronic devices when in the spa.

We recently sailed on the Breakaway about a week ago with recent cruises on the Gem in March and the Pearl in December. We purchased the Thermal Suite Spa pass as we enjoyed the relaxing time using the Thalassotherapy pool and especially the heated loungers. We learned it was best to go to the spa earlier in the morning or early evening to avoid people and the heated lounge chair hogging. However, we have noticed on all three recent cruises that no matter what time we are there, people came in and started talking using a loud outside voice to be heard over the thalassotherapy jets. Some actually thought it was okay to yell across the room to their spouse or friends. On the Breakaway, a woman was yelling across the room to ask her friend if her Wifi was working or not. She didn't seem to care that she woke up several people who had fallen asleep and continued to speak loudly with a friend even after we kindly tried to remind her this was a quiet area. The loud conversations were noticed every single time we used the spa on all three ships except one time on the Gem when were the only ones in the spa. We don't remember this happening as often on past cruises even when we went at peak times. I think there were signs posted to remind people that it was a quiet place. We tried involving the spa manager or assistant manager to ask for their help on all three ships but they seemed reluctant to get involved and would only apologize for the loud conversations. I believe the spa services are outsourced to a vendor to run. On the Breakaway, the spa manager said they no longer had the signs posted about it being a quiet area as she said everyone knows it is supposed to be a quiet area. 🤷‍♀️ Ugh! On the Pearl, the spa representatives gave tours for the first few days and didn't attempt to speak quietly. I do remember reading about this happening to @YVRteacher on the Jewel, too, as reported in her live review. Is anyone else also noticing this trend of people not adhering to basic spa etiquette expectations of maintaining a quiet environment or did I miss the update that the quiet environment is no longer expected? We will pack some ear plugs before the next cruise but I will miss hearing the spa music playing in the background.

We are on the same sailing on the Prima. We recommend Onda, Los Lobos, Cagney's and Le Bistro based on our past recent experiences with these restaurants on other ships.

On the Breakaway now. I saw this person posted on the other social media website for this specific cruise and about getting a great solo deal to sail last minute a few days before sail date at under $600 total for an inside guarantee after the cruise had been sold out for several weeks. Yes, it was booked a few days before departure. It’s easy for NCL to provide a full refund plus 100% FCC when the fare is only $600.

You are welcome! Yes, I hope you have great weather and can tender. We really enjoyed our day with the villa. It made GSC a calm and peaceful experience. The pool was so cold in February so we hope it is warmer now. We will be back there a week from tomorrow with family via the Breakaway if the weather is calm for tendering. Have a wonderful cruise!

Here are some photos at Silver Cove Lagoon villas taken in February 2024. We had a studio lagoon villa.

Thank you for sharing the video. We really like listening to Duo Rika. Autocorrect wants them to be Duo Rita. Do you by chance know how long they have left on the Prima? We hope they will be on through early July. We embark on the Prima in about 35 days. Thank you again for all the details you provided in this review! I appreciate it so much!

Thank you so much for taking the time for this live review. I enjoyed reading about your experiences on the Prima on @mking8288’s wonderful live review. It’s so nice to get to hear about your adventures on the Escape. Thank you for sharing the details on how you got from Southampton to Trieste. Enjoy the rest of your cruise!

That’s a bummer. The Port of Miami daily port schedule doesn’t list any ships at terminal B today. I wonder why they used terminal C? Have a wonderful cruise! We embark on the Breakaway two weeks from today.