Review of 9-day Dawn 12-4-09 (long)

[circuitrider]

This is pretty long, I'll break it into several smaller posts. I'm also including a cliff-notes version at the end, if you don't want to read through all my dribble.

 

Prelude:

 

We were booked for a 14 day cruise on the Norwegian Dawn starting on November 29th. Left out early Saturday morning (the 28th) for Miami. Due to traffic/toll road closure, we arrived pretty late. I checked into the LaQuinta Inn East, settled in, then hopped online for a few minutes. That's when I received the email from NCL stating the 5 day leaving on the 29th was cancelled. It was too late to call, so I go to bed and wake up early the next morning to call as soon as they opened at 9AM. Once I call, I speak to a lady that said I'd need to call a different department (Customer Relations maybe?). I get the number, call it, and of course that department is closed. I call back the main number, and this rep was able to get us booked on the Dawn for the 9 day leaving December 4th. The $1,000 credit from our NCL MasterCard carried over, but another department would have to be emailed for the $250 cruise reward (deposit made on previous NCL cruise). I call a Bluegreen resort in Orlando, get booked for five days, and we spend some time at Disney World. I called NCL back later in the week and verified the $250 deposit was transferred over correctly.

 

Day 1:

 

We arrive at the terminal at approximately 10:20. Go through winding line (not many people at this point) with two kids, stroller, and some baggage. Once at main check-in (where they check passports, take your credit card info and give you your room keys), we have to wait a while, then informed that we were not "in the system." We have to wait in the back area (with two restless kids) starting at 10:45AM.

 

After waiting ten minutes, I called the main NCL line. After 19 minutes I'm told that someone would be there ASAP. We wait another ten minutes. I called again for five minutes. Someone finally comes to get us while I was on hold.

 

We were taken to the check-in, but they wanted us to wait in another line. My wife and myself explained that we already waited in this line and would not wait yet again. The lady stated she did not know we had already waited in line (then why were we waiting in back, and why'd she have to come get us after the problem was corrected?). After 2-3 minutes we are taken to the next check-in rep. They had problems running our card and wanted me to setup our onboard account once on the ship. I told them I would not wait in line a third time, and to just keep swiping the card (which, ironically, was my NCL MasterCard). Eventually it goes through. We finish this line at 11:45AM, one hour wasted!

 

We go directly to our room once onboard (ship sailed in empty due to earlier problems, so rooms were ready). There was something resembling snot on the floor, and the toilet seat looked dirty (there was a hair on it, and it looked dirty though they later claimed it was due to some scratches on the seat). We do have pictures of this. Beds were not put together, no sheet on the pull-out bed, and no crib. When we bring this to the attention of housekeeping, we're told that we were not on the manifest. Basically the same issue as before caused them to not know how to fix the room up (though I think it should still have been cleaned better). While the room steward was present, I asked if he could remove the pay items in the fridge so we could use it. He just removed them and stacked them around the outside of the fridge (something I could have done myself, but I wanted them removed from the room completely, oh well).

 

We go to the Garden Cafe for lunch, and there is a bit of a line (wouldn't have been as bad if we weren't stuck for an hour trying to get on the ship). Otherwise lunch is fine.

 

Notice our cards do not have our latitudes info. They also show our disembarkation as 12-11 (which is a sea day, will we be forced to walk the plank?).

 

Luggage arrives, four coke cans arrive busted.

 

Put our Do Not Disturb sign out. Housekeeping ignores DND and knocks on door anyways. They were delivering our pack 'n play, however this could have been done later that night. I make a sign that says DO NOT DISTURB! and put that out when the kids are sleeping (in addition to the Do Not Disturb on the message wheel thingamabob).

 

Went to front desk to inform of previous issues. Told that they would send someone to our room. I ask if they could do it later, since children were currently sleeping. Told I can just call when ready. I ask if they can fix our cards, but that's a different line (which takes an additional 15 minutes). Once kids wake up, I call front desk, but they have no idea what I'm talking about. Decide I'll just stop by there after dinner.

 

Eat at Salsa's since it was 1/2 off. Free margarita was small, but good. Food not that great. Service was good however.

 

Stop at front desk again with our four busted coke cans. Lady I spoke to previously comes by and says they'll send someone by the room. The housekeeping deck supervisor arrived and brought five cans of Pepsi (not Coke, but I had previously stated that'd be acceptable). We're assured steward would honor DND. We do reiterate that our main problem was due to not being "in the system" and thus not on the manifest. DND not being honored was a concern, but not a huge issue.

[circuitrider]

Day 2:

 

Received a notice that our address and emergency number was not in the system. Have to fill out the form and go to reception AGAIN!

 

Ate lunch at Venetian. Service was lacking, but food was decent. Well-done steak had small area between pink and red, but rest was fine (and not burned!). The apple bread pudding was more like a custard.

 

Dinner at Venetian. Low wait time to be seated. Long wait for our first food order to come, but rest came out right afterward (we asked that everything be brought as soon as it was ready). Had another wait for dessert.

 

Day 3 (Samana):

 

Wife had breakfast at Venetian. Tried to take order before menu received. Did not receive side of sausage and hashbrowns ordered.

 

Tender went fairly smooth. Went to deck 4 when our number called, but we were told to come back in 5-10 minutes. We ride the elevator up to deck 13 and back (making several stops along the way), then told to stand off to the side. Boarded tender shortly after.

 

Took motorcycle/trailer taxi to beach for $30 round-trip. Spent $5 to rent chair at beach, and another $5 tip for the taxi driver. Pretty nice day at the beach.

 

Once onboard, went to the Blue Lagoon for a late lunch. Received all food ordered except for spinach dip. I had to ask for it a second time. Then I saw a table that arrived after us get TWO orders of the spinach dip. Finally got my order, and it turned out to not be that great. Buffalo wings were pretty good though (my wife disagrees).

 

Dinner at Venetian. Approximately five minute wait to be seated. Bread and menus brought quickly. Initial order took a while to arrive, then everything arrived right afterward (as requested). Still had to wait for dessert. Wife and myself both ordered Roasted New York Sirloin (on the special daily menu), but received the Grilled New York Strip (always available) instead. Well-done steak was burned on one side (at least it was facing up and not hidden). No pink. Still grissly, not a good steak. Told no Heinz 57 available, though it's on every table in the Garden Cafe. Why?

 

Given VIP invite for Captain's Drinks. No dress code or other info given. Not sure why this was received.

 

Day 4 (Tortola):

 

Breakfast at Venetian was ok.

 

Disembark and embark went fine. Browsed some shops, didn't buy anything.

 

Lunch at Venetian was ok.

 

Dinner at Venetian. Initial food received quickly, then staggered. Waitress was very professional.

 

Day 5 (St. John's, Antigua):

 

Wife was up early as usual with kids. Went to eat breakfast at 6:40 in the Blue Lagoon (early breakfast was posted as being from 5:30-7:00). Only thing available was some danishes and pastries. She gets a danish and menu (which the waiter saw) and waits seven minutes. She finally gets him to come over and he informs her that they do not start serving breakfast until 7AM. She asked whether they cook food 24 hours, and the waiter replied they do not cook now. She asked if she could order off the 24/7 menu and get buffalo wings, was told that she could order buffalo wings at night but not now. She left Blue Lagoon with two hungry kids in tow. She saw someone at the reception desk and told her about what happened. The lady's response was "They don't cook for you?" She did not ask for my wife's name or room number, or write anything down.

 

Wife went to Garden Cafe. Kids seating area was closed.

 

Walked around port, more browsing, didn't buy anything.

 

When we came back onboard, we notified staff of alcohol we were bringing back. They seemed somewhat confused and tried to find a bartender. No bartender around, we weren't going to wait forever so just went back to our room with alcohol in tow. No issues.

 

Lunch at Venetian. Penne Pasta not good, I ran up to Garden Cafe and had some sushi rolls. Went back down to rejoin wife and kids for dessert. Service was slow considering the small number of passengers there.

 

Tried to book Cagney's. Called reservations before 5:30, no answer. Called front desk, given same number. Finally get number for Cagney's, busy until 5:35, then no answer until 5:40. They were booked until 9.

 

Dinner at Venetian. Skirt steak undercooked. Crab cakes and mushroom ravioli were good. Hot dog ordered for son still had not arrived, gave up and went to Garden Cafe for pizza. Hot dog came out as I was getting back to the table. Wife wasn't told the dessert she ordered was not available until the other desserts arrived. Received New York cheesecake instead of Mocha cheesecake (mocha turned out to not be good, re-swapped it for the New York cheesecake).

 

Went to VIP party a little late. No other kids present (I did ask at the front desk if they could come). Talked to a few officers, then left once son got bored.

 

Day 6 (St. Lucia):

 

Browsed more shops. Took water taxi one-way, walked back (gave our half-used tickets to people waiting for taxi, probably confused them). Bought some maracas which promptly broke.

 

Lunch at Venetian. I brought pizza from Garden Cafe for our son. Angus burger came without bacon.

 

Dinner at Cagney's (1/2 off). 5:30 reservation, did not open until after 5:35. Reservations desk asked if we needed high chair (which we did), but not ready for us when we arrived. Had to wait a bit for the high chair, it was received with no tray and a missing strap. Pizza ordered off kids menu came quickly (you could tell they just ran down to the Garden Cafe to get it). Crab cakes were ok, not as good as previously in the Venetian. Filet Mignon well-done was slightly burned, no pink. Once the burned part was cut off, it was a very good steak, best I had in a long time. Sampler plate, raspberry creme brulee, and apple crisp a la mode was ok but not great. Milk ordered for our son never came. For 1/2 price it was so-so. For $10-$15 a couple it would have been an excellent deal.

 

Housekeeping came, cleared all but two dishes (one with three-day-old jello, other was glass with cheerios and fruit loops). Took clean (empty) liner out of trash and did not replace. Had to scavenge for another bag. Did leave our electric toothbrushes alone (left note to not stand them up else water would get in the battery compartment).

 

Day 7 (St. Kitts):

 

Wife had breakfast at Venetian. Didn't receive waffle or sausage ordered, only oatmeal. Brown sugar was rationed out, she had to finish sweetening it with regular sugar.

 

Walked around St. Kitts. Got lost. Found nice park under construction. Bulk of shopping done here. Cheap polos, even cheaper rum cakes, some jewelry, etc. Saw multiple shops selling replica watches (have not seen them openly displayed elsewhere).

 

Lunch at Venetian. Wife ordered salad without blue cheese, with ranch dressing. Had blue cheese all over. Was fixed.

 

Dinner at Le Bistro. Mushroom soup ok. Onion soup was just French Onion Soup. Beef tenderloin was way undercooked, very thick and no suggestion to butterfly. Recooked, still one step underdone. I ate the well-done section and left middle for my wife (I ordered well-done, she ordered medium-well). They acted as if not charging for the kids was a favor (perhaps due to messing up our tenderloins?). Kids ordered pizza and grilled cheese off the kids menu, so there wouldn't be a charge anyways (we had previously verified this with the Reservations dept.).

[circuitrider]

Day 8:

 

Breakfast at Garden Cafe. Time changed back an hour, so kids were up earlier. Had to have food! Garden Cafe opened five minutes late. Entrance to waffle station was not initially roped off. Wife got in line but was then told that section was closed (someone was manning the waffle station and making waffles though). Section then roped off, wife had to cross roped area to get out. Went back later to get sliced bananas for our son and a cream cheese roll for myself, both next to the waffle station. I sat in a chair in front of the roped off area at 6:50, finally opened at 7:00. Was very upset that section was not opened on time, especially since the only thing they were waiting on was the guy that makes omelets.

 

Kids pool to be open at 8, wasn't opened until 8:28AM.

 

Lunch at BBQ and Garden Cafe. Hot dog was luke-warm but otherwise fine. Sprinkles had rum raisin, green tea, and raspberry. Was ok.

 

Dinner at Impressions. Food cooked ok, but not that great.

 

Day 9:

 

Breakfast at Garden Cafe. Went fine.

 

Went to front desk, waited in line (some people cut line on the other side). Had tip adjusted for 20% housekeeping and 80% dining. Only used housekeeping twice, didn't want to change actual tip amount though.

 

After much discussion, decided to go ahead and sign up for two cruise deposits. After our experiences on this cruise we'd normally stay away from NCL for a while, however due to previous cruise being canceled we should have nearly $1,500 to use on a future cruise. We'll most likely book two rooms, hence two deposits. Hope we don't regret this.

 

Went to Blue Lagoon at 10:50AM for a snack. Wife went first and specifically asked someone behind the counter (one of the chefs?) if lunch could be ordered and was told yes, they were switching over to lunch now. At 11:00 I went to get a menu and was told it'd be close to an hour before we could get lunch. I stated we wanted to order off the menu that specifically states 24/7, I was asked if I could wait 30 minutes. Supervisor was called (not requested by us). Someone came over and said we could order and they'd do their best (also confirmed that it was not really 24/7). As I was ordering buffalo wings the waitress walked away. Shortly afterward a manager came over. We explained the problem, he asked repeatedly for our room number (so it could be notated on the complaint, we didn't feel it'd do any good but my wife finally gave him our room number). We just left after that.

 

This was the last straw. Told my wife to go ahead and go back to the front desk and reduce our daily tip to $4pp ($2pp for housekeeping, fair due to only used twice). We'd just go and tip extra at the Venetian, since we ate there most of the time and our infant could make a bit of a mess at times. She gets through the line, explains everything, then is told she is not authorized to make that change, only I can. She's authorized to charge to the account, but not to reduce a tip? We all go back down, wait in line yet AGAIN, and are given the form to fill out. Still no good explanation as to why my wife can make charges to the account, but not adjust the tip. We adjust the tip to 1/3 the previous amount, and have the note removed about splitting 80/20 (so housekeeping still gets 1/3 of the normal tip despite us only having two turn-down services).

 

Lunch at Venetian. Went to get pizza and hot dogs for our son. I ordered Angus burger and fish 'n chips. Burger once again came without bacon. Wife ordered chicken sandwich with extra cheese and bacon. Came with bacon but no cheese, and was cold (sandwich and fries). Was brought two pieces of cheese. Wife then asked to have dessert brought out, then to bring another chicken sandwich so she could take it to our room and eat it. Instead the chicken sandwich is brought out first, then dessert. On the way to our room we decide to stop and eat at the empty Salsa's restaurant. Sandwich was ok, and view was good (dishes were taken up to Garden Cafe, not left in Salsa's).

 

Dinner at Venetian. Again brought food down from Garden Cafe for son, and also ordered chicken tenders. Chicken tenders came out fairly quick. Wife didn't like beef stroganoff, chicken breast was ok though. Gave Maitre'd envelope with additional tip ($55) to be shared amongst Venetian staff. He asked if there were specific people we wanted it to go to. Briefly explained that due to some problems we reduced our tip amount, but wanted to have this tip amount go direct to the Venetian staff (since we ate there most, and our infant could be quite messy). He said he'd take care of it.

 

Went to under 2 zoo to let kids play some (it was after hours, but toys had not been put up for the night). Wife went back first, but room key would not work. She had to go back to the front desk, they remade everyone's keys instead of just hers. Of course mine no longer worked once I got to the room, so she had to wait in the room to let me in.

 

Received preliminary account statement. Looks correct except two $100 cruise rewards credits are not showing up yet. Will double-check that they are posted by the final statement (they did).

 

Disembarkation:

 

Went fairly smooth. Opted for the walk-off option. Did as instructed, did not crowd the gangway, waited until an announcement was made. Of course there were a LOT of people in front of us, though we went straight to the gangway. Had to walk all the way forward then double-back once outside. Saw several people "cutting" in line (instead of making the loop, they took a closer door that led right to the end of the line; NCL staff were holding the doors open, but of course they weren't when we were still inside). Other than having people continue to try to get in front of us, things went pretty smooth.

 

Once off the ship we did have some problems trying to get to the correct area (we had to take the elevator due to having a stroller, long wait due to many people with luggage that would easily fit on the escalator trying to take elevator instead), but of course any (minor) issues here had nothing to do with NCL. I will state that even though we did declare some extra liters of alcohol (I think we were 2.75 liters over our allowance) we were just waved through at Customs. Then it's off to a taxi, dropped off right at the LaQuinta Inn East, load up and drive back home. Thus concluding our trip.

[circuitrider]

Summary:

 

Put simply, our cruise started off on a pretty sour note. Not being properly notified that our initial cruise had been cancelled (didn't find out until I checked email in Miami). Not being "in the system" and thus waiting an extra hour to board with two restless kids. Not having our rooms properly cleaned and setup. It would have taken a good bit of good service to overcome this, unfortunately that didn't happen.

 

I do not like the new menus. Most days the only thing I really was interested in was the same old steak (which wasn't that great). Same exact menus every day for lunch, which also included the same old steak. Getting the same old steak on the one night that another was offered (and ordered) was another disappointment (who knows, maybe it would have been great).

 

The only restaurant that might have been worth the cover charge (to us) was Cagney's. Basically, I think that the MDR should have been about 75% as good as Cagney's. The quality of food and service at Cagney's should be what the MDR aims for. Food quality was more than adequate, and other than being a bit burned the steak was simply great. Staff went down to Garden Cafe twice to bring food for our kids (we just ordered off the kids' menus, but apparently it was much faster to just run down and grab what was needed).

 

Hours should be honored. It's not fun to lug two kids around, tell our son that we're going to eat shortly (or play in the pool, etc.) and then have to leave. We don't mind if things aren't available at all hours, just let us know when they will actually be available!

 

While we did find service a bit lacking, we felt this was just how things were done; i.e. we weren't getting poor service while people next to us were getting great service (this happened to us on a Disney cruise with our wait staff).

 

I know it sounds like we're just pounding on NCL. Many will probably comment that we didn't go into this prepared, had unrealistic expectations, etc. I should note that we've been on three previous cruises with our son (this was our daughter's first cruise); Disney, NCL, and Princess. Disney fully met our expectations except for the wait staff. Our previous NCL cruise went without a hitch. Princess...well let's say I started to keep a journal on everything that went wrong, but after being denied boarding for the second part of a b2b until they could get things straightened out (oddly enough, our son and my mom had no problems getting back onboard), I just gave up (we won't be returning to Princess). NCL didn't screw up badly enough for me to swear them off entirely (though I'd probably wait a few years or so if it wasn't for the credit we received for our initial cruise being canceled).

[RalphWiggum]

Boy, I was suprised by your summary. I was really expecting you to go off on NCL.

 

I don't disagree with you about the service issues, having experienced a lot of them in the past with NCL. They didn't bother me too much, but then again, I never had to start a cruise already annoyed (understandably) by my cruiseline.

 

Clearly good service is important to you. I have been on three Ncl cruises and I think service can be NCLs biggest weakness. Generally I am able to ignore the service glitches since I usually get a deal on the cruise fare. For your sake, try to go in with lowered expectations on your next cruise.

[circuitrider]

Boy, I was suprised by your summary. I was really expecting you to go off on NCL.

 

I don't disagree with you about the service issues, having experienced a lot of them in the past with NCL. They didn't bother me too much, but then again, I never had to start a cruise already annoyed (understandably) by my cruiseline.

 

Clearly good service is important to you. I have been on three Ncl cruises and I think service can be NCLs biggest weakness. Generally I am able to ignore the service glitches since I usually get a deal on the cruise fare. For your sake, try to go in with lowered expectations on your next cruise.

 

I think the only cruise I went on where I didn't have realistic expectations was our first cruise (with Carnival). It didn't start too well either, but we made the mistake of driving straight to the port (from Middle Tennessee to Galveston, TX). Never again! Food was bad enough the second night in the MDR (we slept right through the first night) we didn't go back. Room steward walked right into our room even though we had DND out (and I believe it was the kind that went in the card slot, kinda hard to miss). I forgive Carnival for a lot due to it being our first cruise (we still had a blast by the way). Had lower expectations for the NCL Dream, but no real complaints other than long wait times for the MDR (which we knew about beforehand). So, I know NCL can do well enough to satisfy us. I also know that another line can be much worse (Princess).

 

I started writing down my experiences on our Princess cruise. My philosophy is that I'm on vacation, I'm not going to spend unnecessary time at the front desk complaining. I'll bring an issue up once, then generally not bring it up again. Just write it down, then worry about it once vacation's over. Don't want anyone to think I'm trying to find issues, rather I write them down so I can get on with our cruise! Doing so enabled us to still have a great overall time on the Princess cruise (it was Alaska, what can I say?) and we did have a few nice moments on this past vacation (highlight was probably being in Orlando for five days, which was completely unplanned).

 

Just hope that someone who has similar needs/wants to us gets something out of this. I know that many people had a complete blast on the ship, so the issues we had won't affect everyone. I think if you're more flexible (i.e., don't have your heart set on great food, being able to order from a restaurant when you should, if the pool's not open on time you're perfectly happy to go somewhere else for a while; basically if you aren't lugging kids along and aren't too worried about level of service) you'd find this cruise was more than acceptable.

[RalphWiggum]

I hope you didn't think that I thought your expectations were unreasonable. Your review was very detailed and you did a great job articulating what you asked for and what you got. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a bacon cheese burger to be served hot and with bacon and cheese. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a 24hr eatery to serve you any time of day or for the kiddie pool to open at it's posted time. I also think it sucks that a lot of times on ncl in order to get good service you have to ask, ask again and escalate.

 

That said, from reading your review I didn't get a sense that you enjoyed your cruise and that you spent a lot of time keeping tabs on ncl's screwups. You have two more cruises planned with ncl. I'm just not sure you'll be much happier on your next two without an adjustment in your expectations.

[Tideone]

We are scheduled to sail friday on the nine day Dawn cruise... I have always gotten great service on our previous NCL cruises, including the Dawn...

I make it a habit to stay away from the Blue Lagoon and the Garden Cafe... I can eat fast food at home and when I am on a cruise, I want someone to wait on me...

I hope the Venetian has some dishes, other than steak that I like...

I am curious if you told the officers at the Captain's party about the problems you were having... I would think Hugo, the hotel director, would have gotten your problems straightened out right away... he is not going to be happy to read that you had service problems...

[flrealtorlady01]

WOW! Sorry you had such an unpleasant experience with NCL. We are going on this cruise on Friday and I am hoping it's not as bad as you make it. This is our 2nd NCL cruise, 1st one being on the Pearl 3 years ago and I have to say I was very impressed with the service we received. We have also been on 2 Carnival , 1 being good the other not so good last year. Thanks for the post, while I understand it is hard traveling with little ones, Perhaps Disney is your best bet. We have a 14 year old son who actually likes NCL that is one of the reasons we decided to try them again, not to mention the itinerary was interesting. Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!:)

[tjaker11]

We are scheduled to sail friday on the nine day Dawn cruise... I have always gotten great service on our previous NCL cruises, including the Dawn...

I make it a habit to stay away from the Blue Lagoon and the Garden Cafe... I can eat fast food at home and when I am on a cruise, I want someone to wait on me...

I hope the Venetian has some dishes, other than steak that I like...

I am curious if you told the officers at the Captain's party about the problems you were having... I would think Hugo, the hotel director, would have gotten your problems straightened out right away... he is not going to be happy to read that you had service problems...

 

 

I too am curious about letting the officers know of your displeasure, as stated above Hugo definately would have taken care of that immediately. We were also on this sailing and had very few complaints. We were approached many times by officers and Matre D asking if all was ok with our sailing.

We did experience slow service in the Venetian, but made the decision not to go back. We were invited to dine with the officers and did have dinner in Venetian that night and service was much quicker.

We had dinner at Cagney's twice, Impressions twice, Salsa's, and buffet twice (not our favorite, but wanted to catch all the shows on those nights)

DH will be posting a full review.

 

I hope your next sailing will be much more to your liking.

[QuickieGlenn]

I read thru your review. well most of it

You go into so much detail. Did you have a pad & pen or your laptop with you to document every little detail

I also find it hard to believe you kept going back to the Ventian & Blue lagoon when you had troubles.

[circuitrider]

That said, from reading your review I didn't get a sense that you enjoyed your cruise and that you spent a lot of time keeping tabs on ncl's screwups. You have two more cruises planned with ncl. I'm just not sure you'll be much happier on your next two without an adjustment in your expectations.

 

I didn't spend a huge amount of time keeping tabs (which is why I wrote quick notes, inform once, write down, then try to put it out of my mind until vacation's over). And I definitely don't have two more cruises planned with NCL. We'll take one due to the credit we should have for the first cruise being canceled (I probably need to call tomorrow to check on that). Two deposits are for two rooms on the same cruise; I figure our best bet with NCL will be to hire a babysitter (i.e., we pay for cruise, they watch our kids, we brought my sister along once to do just that). With someone to watch our kids, we can focus more on the ports of call vs the ship (aside from going to the beach in Samana, we just got off, shopped, and got back on the ship).

[circuitrider]

I too am curious about letting the officers know of your displeasure, as stated above Hugo definately would have taken care of that immediately. We were also on this sailing and had very few complaints. We were approached many times by officers and Matre D asking if all was ok with our sailing.

We did experience slow service in the Venetian, but made the decision not to go back. We were invited to dine with the officers and did have dinner in Venetian that night and service was much quicker.

We had dinner at Cagney's twice, Impressions twice, Salsa's, and buffet twice (not our favorite, but wanted to catch all the shows on those nights)

DH will be posting a full review.

 

I hope your next sailing will be much more to your liking.

 

I didn't feel that a VIP party (still unsure why we got picked, maybe some get picked at random?) was an appropriate venue to complain to everyone we could grab hold of. Plus I'd already spoke to reception about our issues, wrote down what happened, and got on with the rest of our cruise. I figure I'm spending good money to be on the cruise, I'm not going to waste it by complaining the whole time! That can wait until we're off the ship.

 

You might have seen us at that party thing. We were the family sitting on a couch with our infant, with a 3yr old boy trying to play the slots.

[jmcdon7230]

Sorry you had so many issues to deal with.

 

IMOH, I don't think cruise lines in general, with the possible exception of Disney, handle children well.

 

There's just not that much for them to do and the cabins are so small that even the ones with pleasant dispositions can become annoying.

 

Have you tried cruising without the kids?

[circuitrider]

I read thru your review. well most of it

You go into so much detail. Did you have a pad & pen or your laptop with you to document every little detail

I also find it hard to believe you kept going back to the Ventian & Blue lagoon when you had troubles.

 

Yes, I had a pad and pen (actually used the pad NCL provides in the stateroom). I didn't write that whole review while on the ship, just jotted down quick notes to jog my memory later.

 

There weren't just a whole lot of options as far as places to dine. Buffets can be great (and we did go quite often to the Garden Cafe), but if only one of us goes with the kids, it's impossible to go through the line with two kids and get enough food for all. On port days we'd come back in time for lunch and just wanted to sit and have someone wait on us. I know I posted a lot of issues with the Venetian, but most were relatively minor. Getting the everyday steak instead of the special once-only steak was a bit disappointing, items kept being forgotten and food would come without certain things (bacon was missing twice on my angus burger though it came on my wife's chicken sandwich, her sandwich was missing some tomato jam, etc.). I'd probably say we were mildly dissatisfied with the Venetian. Nothing to warrant a meeting with the Maitre d'.

 

Blue Lagoon was ok the first visit (aside from having to wait forever to get the spinach dip). Second visit they stated they didn't start cooking until 7AM. It was the third visit where we asked before sitting down, waited, then were told they couldn't fix us anything off the 24/7 menu that made me pretty upset.

 

Oh, and we did try the specialties too (as mentioned in the review). So we skipped the Venetian for Salsas, Cagney's, Le Bistro, and Impressions. We were willing to pay extra for better food/service, and really only got that at Cagney's.

[circuitrider]

Sorry you had so many issues to deal with.

 

IMOH, I don't think cruise lines in general, with the possible exception of Disney, handle children well.

 

There's just not that much for them to do and the cabins are so small that even the ones with pleasant dispositions can become annoying.

 

Have you tried cruising without the kids?

 

Even though our son was too young to partake in all the fun on the Disney Wonder (he was just under 3mos when he went, luckily he only had to be 12 weeks old), we could tell that kids would have a great time there. But, you pay a pretty big Disney tax.

 

NCL doesn't have to be as good as Disney. If they just had things open at the times listed, that would have helped greatly. Try telling a 3yr old who's got his swimming trunks on that the pool he's standing in front of is not open, even though it should be. Or try telling a hungry 3yr old who's been sitting for 10+ minutes in a restaurant that sorry, no food here, gotta try somewhere else (or who you told would get some sliced bananas cause you just saw them on the buffet next to the waffles and it wasn't roped off, but once your wife gets back she tells you it's roped off).

 

Sorry...rant off. That wasn't really directed at you. Anyways, to answer your question...no, once we had kids we haven't been on a vacation without them. They go wherever we do. 10-day on Disney, transatlantic with NCL, a B2B Alaska with Princess, a drive to Alaska and back (and all over the state too), two trips to Disney (most recent unplanned), and of course this last cruise. I don't see us leaving them behind. Sometimes we'll bring someone else along to help watch them (as we did on the first NCL cruise and the Princess cruise).

[Planer's Edge]

I'm not going to waste it by complaining the whole time! That can wait until we're off the ship.

 

How is waiting till you are off the ship going to solve anything. I think a polite conversation with Hugo would have fixed a lot of these annoyances. Hugo would have been all ears and went to work to try to fix things to your satisfaction.

 

PE

[Tideone]

I have attended numerous CC meetings on NCL ships, and at everyone of them, the hotel director says to please let them know if you are having any problems on the ship so they can take care of it then...

It doesn't do a lot of good to come home and complain about things that could have easily been taken care of when you were on board...

This is one reason why I tell people to go to their CC meetings on board... it always helps to have friends in high places...

[saltmom1]

Do you have the 9 day menus by any chance ?

[circuitrider]

How is waiting till you are off the ship going to solve anything. I think a polite conversation with Hugo would have fixed a lot of these annoyances. Hugo would have been all ears and went to work to try to fix things to your satisfaction.

 

PE

 

Ok, here's what I do when there's a big issue.

 

#1. Notify someone. In my case, I went to the front desk multiple times. They were informed about our initial issues (and send someone in charge of housekeeping). My wife notified them about Blue Lagoon not willing to fix something from the 24/7 menu. We did speak to a supervisor the second time though we did not ask to, basically we were fed up at that point and simply would not return to that restaurant, period (so, no need to inform a second person that they would still not cook off the 24/7 menu, because we didn't care anymore). Front desk was also notified about this when we went to adjust our tips (read the review if you have a question about how we did tips).

 

#2. Write it down. I don't want to spend hours and hours on my cruise complaining about the same issue in vain. I notify them, they can fix it or not. Why spend four hours all upset when it won't change anything (or maybe they'd offer you a free visit to Cagney's, which wouldn't be worth hours of my time)? Writing it down makes sure I don't forget details, and lets me worry about it later. I'd rather spend my vacation time on vacation.

 

Basically, we did notify someone when the situation warranted. We just didn't keep going back over and over for the exact same issue, yelling, escalating, etc.

 

Sorry, I shouldn't have to attend a CC meeting (as fun as it may or may not be) so I can know the name of the person to contact (had already seen Hugo's name mentioned before on the boards). Bringing up an issue to someone at the front desk should be all a guest has to do.

 

That's just me though.

[rjet4]

Sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy your cruise. We were on the same sailing and have 2 kids (aged 6 & 8). This was our first time with NCL. We felt that they were great with our kids. In both the Aqua and the Venetian they even cut the food up for them. We did find that the cabin stewarts were not quite as good as on other ships but we really have nothing to complain about. The Freestyle is definatly the way to go with kids and we will definatly be using them again. As for the ports of call, we managed to get off the ship and tour the islands with our kids. Although my kids are getting older now, we have been cruising for a number of years and the kids have never caused us not to see our ports of call. We purposly choose activities that are suitable to do with the kids. Maybe you need to leave your kids at home and try a more posh cruise lines. It seems that your expections are too high. For any others, I would highly recommend this cruise line and this itineray.

[circuitrider]

Sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy your cruise. We were on the same sailing and have 2 kids (aged 6 & 8). This was our first time with NCL. We felt that they were great with our kids. In both the Aqua and the Venetian they even cut the food up for them. We did find that the cabin stewarts were not quite as good as on other ships but we really have nothing to complain about. The Freestyle is definatly the way to go with kids and we will definatly be using them again. As for the ports of call, we managed to get off the ship and tour the islands with our kids. Although my kids are getting older now, we have been cruising for a number of years and the kids have never caused us not to see our ports of call. We purposly choose activities that are suitable to do with the kids. Maybe you need to leave your kids at home and try a more posh cruise lines. It seems that your expections are too high. For any others, I would highly recommend this cruise line and this itineray.

 

Did you try going to one of the specialty restaurants as soon as they opened? Order anything from Blue Lagoon at an odd hour (though 10:50AM really shouldn't be that odd an hour)? Go to the pool at opening time? If not, then you missed a good deal of our problems (edit: the specialty restaurant opening late was not that big an issue, but regardless...). Hopefully your cruise started on a good note, and not canceled and then detained at the port for an hour while they fix some glitch before you can board. Had those two issues not happened to us, I'm sure I'd be griping a lot less. So, NCL's priority should be to make sure passengers have no issues getting onboard (except for reasons out of NCL's control), and revamp the notification system that lets passengers know their cruise has just been canceled (especially when the notification is the day before the ship sails). Then I'd say focus on delivering what's promised (be open the hours that are posted, if that's unrealistic then list more realistic hours). Beef up service overall, improve food quality a bit, and there you go.

 

We've done NCL with our son before. He was too young to use the kids' club, but we still had a great time. So, it's not just a concern with cruising with kids.

 

I forgot to mention this previously, but our son did go to the kids' club on several occasions. He wasn't too fond of having to stop one activity to move on to another he didn't like as much (I had to basically beg the staff to page me as soon as he started to get fussy so I could come get him, I guess they're used to parents wanting the kids to stay there regardless?). He was always excited to go, and upset when it was time to leave. No real complaints about the staff, the only thing I'd suggest is letting the kids have a choice of doing an activity, or keep playing in the different play areas they have (such as the ball pit).

 

I don't think we'd enjoy ourselves as much on vacation if our kids weren't there too. Who knows what the future holds, but for now they'll be coming along with us wherever we go.

[Tideone]

I guess now you know that the next time you cruise not to bother to complain to someone at the front desk... maybe next time you will do what most people do when things aren't settled the way they want, ask for a supervisor or the boss... which in the case of the Dawn, the boss is Hugo...

On your next cruise, do yourself a favor and go to the cruise critic get together... not only will you meet members of the crew but you will also meet fellow passengers...

[cruzinaway]

Told my wife to go ahead and go back to the front desk and reduce our daily tip to $4pp ($2pp for housekeeping, fair due to only used twice).

 

Could you explain this please...how do you only use housekeeping twice? Did they not clean your room, change towels, make beds, etc on a daily basis?

 

Not flaming you or anything, just asking a question! :o

[circuitrider]

We are scheduled to sail friday on the nine day Dawn cruise... I have always gotten great service on our previous NCL cruises, including the Dawn...

I make it a habit to stay away from the Blue Lagoon and the Garden Cafe... I can eat fast food at home and when I am on a cruise, I want someone to wait on me...

I hope the Venetian has some dishes, other than steak that I like...

I am curious if you told the officers at the Captain's party about the problems you were having... I would think Hugo, the hotel director, would have gotten your problems straightened out right away... he is not going to be happy to read that you had service problems...

 

Sorry I missed this earlier.

 

I wouldn't worry too much. Unless your cruise is canceled and they make you wait an hour at the port before you can board due to some glitch, I'd bet your cruise will start off much better. If you don't like the Blue Lagoon, then you won't be disappointed when you go there for buffalo wings and they refuse to cook them.

 

The Venetian does have more than just steak. That was the only thing on the every day menu that really interested me. Sometimes there'd be something different on the daily menu that I'd try, but more often than not it wasn't that great either (I did really like the crab cakes, even better than the ones in Cagney's in my opinion; if I ever have the same option I'll order them for my entree).

 

Are you bringing any kids along? While I don't think for a second that our kids were the cause of any problems, I'm sure they exasperated them (not getting food at the Blue Lagoon is a minor annoyance if it's just you; it's the end of the world if you have a hungry 3yr old who's been promised food and who's already been waiting ten minutes).

 

I do have to reiterate that this was just our experience. It was bad, bad enough that I normally wouldn't rebook with NCL for a while, but not bad enough that I'd discount them forever (due to credit for future cruise, we'll probably be on NCL again within the year; we'll see a different ship makes a big difference). I know many had a great time on this very same cruise, so make of that what you will.