Trying to pin down what went wrong

[kelmac]

I'm following the letter of the forum rules. Rules are clear that this is a site for fans and that they might not appreciate criticism.

 

It was systemic. We brushed it off the first few days, but it was quite consistent, right up to the last day.

 

We took NCL out of New York. This is our second NCL cruise out of NY. We are two married couples. We all experienced the same thing. One of us is a travel agent, and he is the most frustrated of all of us. He eventually just gave up eating.

 

Examples:

1] We found the food quality deplorable - particularly the buffet. (This in particular surprised us. Surely the buffet is part of freestyling.) Food was consistently stale and cold, selection was fixed (breakfast and lunch were identical) and never changed day-to-day. The restaurants were acceptable but not superior. I did not find a single shrimp in any restaurant or at the buffet. eg. Their shrimp "cocktail" consisted of a salad sprinkled with baby shrimp.

 

2] We felt bled for money at every turn. (We are used to the fees on other cruises. This was notable.) The last straw was when we booked for dinner at the main dining room, only to arrive to find a 40 minute wait. We were advised to wait at a nearby bar, and were automatically given 2-for-1 drinks. This was an obvious ploy to bleed us for money at the expense of our time. Restaurants had the expected freestyling fee of $25, but then had to pay an additional $10 premium if we wanted lobster.

 

3] Even the chocolate buffet was astonishing. No sculptures and no frills, but mostly no selection. No chocolate fountain, no chocolate fruit, etc. There was nothing but trays of little chocolate cake squares and some chocolate bombs - maybe six items in all, spread across a hundred trays comprising the entire buffet. That was it - nothing else.

 

 

I keep wondering if we've just become spoiled. But no, our experiences on Carnival were exactly opposite. Every day brought a new, pleasant surprise in the form of some awesome dish, or treat or service that we weren't expecting.

 

Dave,

If food quality is a priority for you, (I know it is for us) move up to one of the Premium lines, like Celebrity or Holland America.

I didn't care for the food on NCL either.

 

The costs on Celebrity or HAL are not that much more compared to the mass-market cruise lines; sometimes it's even less.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[Warmer Climes]

Guys, I'm not here to bash the cruise line. I am trying very heard to find out what exactly went wrong so that I do not avoid the wrong thing in the future. I've had four fantastic cruises and one bad one. I would hate to avoid a particular cruise line unjustly, if that was not the source of the problem.

 

For example some people have suggested that this might have been a "booze cruise", which concentrates more on drinking and gambling and less on food and service. if so, that is useful info.

 

These are the kinds of things I'm considering.

 

But if your reponses are "so avoid NCL" then you are telling me in no uncertain terms that NCL is the cause.

 

Dave, we have been on four NCL cruises. The food and service on the Majesty to Bermuda was not good on that cruise. The food on the Dawn and the Jewel out of Miami was ok and the service was very good. The buffet does not have enough variety but I never encountered cold or stale food on either the Jewel or the Dawn. I don't doubt your observations. I think the quality of the food and dining experience may depend on who's running dining services. (My TA sailed NCL out of NY this winter and said the service was not acceptable.)

 

One thing I'd suggest is getting in touch with the appropriate person on the sub-par food ship and letting him/her know what you found. I think the cruise ships take those kind of observations very seriously.

 

Barb

[DaveC426913]

Dave,

If food quality is a priority for you...

Several people have mentioned this. Are you guys getting your cruises for free or something? :confused:

 

On a cruise I paid almost 2 grand for, it should not have to be a priority in order for it to be at least equitable with what I might expect in any restaurant. I'm not looking for five star here.

 

One thing I'd suggest is getting in touch with the appropriate person on the sub-par food ship and letting him/her know what you found. I think the cruise ships take those kind of observations very seriously.

I was mentally composing a letter. They sent me an online survery, which I filled out. Unofortunately, with the exception of the two free-text answers, I'm sure the answers are simply aggregated. I may write that letter afterall.

 

It is my philosophy that, if you have a bad experience with any business - and you do not let them know, to give them a chance to change - you have done them, yourself and everyone after you, a disservice.

[cruiselover57]

Ok, I did.

 

Tell me something: if you don't get a similar read, does that mean my concerns get dismissed?

 

Hi Dave,

 

Although I've never really experienced any food on a ship was that bad, I can definitely say that Carnival goes above and beyond for their lunch buffets - the best I've ever seen. Although NCL started the whole free-style dining and they have many restaurants to choose from, does not excuse them from serving food that was stale (you should've brought that up to the Maitre D' or one of the head waiters immediately). Hopefully in the future, they can try and correct the problem right then and there.

 

Here's some food for thought - we were on the Mariner of the Seas to Mexico over Xmas and I was shocked to see that the lunch menu for the dining room NEVER changed! My husband and I wanted to eat there because we were tired of the buffet and thought, there's nothing new on the menu! So, in my opinion, RCI has been lacking a bit on that part and Carnival beats them hands-down. I know some may tend to disagree with me but until they've actually tried Carnival, they should at least see for themselves. We've never had any bad food or service on a Carnival cruise either - in fact, just booked the Splendor for August. Princess though in my opinion, still ranks #1 with us - going back on the Golden for the 2nd time this December.

 

Try another cruise line and you'll see the difference!

[kelmac]

Several people have mentioned this. Are you guys getting your cruises for free or something? :confused:

 

On a cruise I paid almost 2 grand for, it should not have to be a priority in order for it to be at least equitable with what I might expect in any restaurant. I'm not looking for five star here.

 

I was mentally composing a letter. They sent me an online survery, which I filled out. Unofortunately, with the exception of the two free-text answers, I'm sure the answers are simply aggregated. I may write that letter afterall.

 

It is my philosophy that, if you have a bad experience with any business - and you do not let them know, to give them a chance to change - you have done them, yourself and everyone after you, a disservice.

 

Hi Dave,

 

Lets look at the prices:

All these cruises are 7 nights; Caribbean; Early July, 2010

 

1) Celebrity Solstice -- inside = $799; balcony = $999

2) Emerld Princess -- inside = $749; balcony = $1099

3) Carnival Dream -- inside = $969; balcony = $1269

4) Carnival Liberty -- inside = $719; balcony = $979

5) RCL Liberty of the Seas -- inside = $860; balcony = $1499

6) NCL Epic -- inside = $1139; balcony = $1499

 

Not that great a difference. Celebrity Solstice is the only premium ship in this group. NCL ship is new, but very expensive compared to the competition.

 

We will be on the Solstice!:rolleyes::)

 

Enjoy!

Kel:D

[kitty9]

(Sorry for all the multiple threads, but really they're all separate thoughts).

 

Someone nearby just suggested one thing about this cruise that is different from all other cruises: it is the first cruise I've been on after the economy bubble burst.

 

Is it possbile that all cruiselines have suffered a similar belt-tightening? Is it possible that, if I took a Carnival or Princess cruise tomorrow, I would see just as dramatic a reduction in cruising quality?

 

No, as a matter of fact, we just returned last week from a cruise on Celebrity Solstice and we were concerned about the food business because our last couple of cruises on Celebrity, we noticed a downturn in quality. But now, after being on Solstice, we saw a huge difference in quality, and the food was back to being better than ever.

[kitty9]

If great food is a priority, then may I suggest going on a line like Seabourn or Crystal. From my experience, they have the best food and service in the business, and are ranked at the top of every travel publication. But, if you "only" paid $2K for your cruise, be prepared to spend at least double that on a luxury line. And to be honest, if you paid two grand for NCL, IMHO, you got ripped off. You could have had much better food and service on Celebrity's Solstice at a much lower price. Believe me, I was rather shocked on how wonderful the food has become on Solstice and their buffet area has food that's very good...much better than on any other mass market line I've been on. Their main dining room food was way beyond what I expected and their specialty restaurants are as close to a five star experience that you'll find at sea.

[Bonnie J.]

You've given reasons why we can't stand NCL! We have had to wait for dinner also, 40 minutes, were given a beeper, asked to share a table and got one for two. When we asked about making a reservation we were told they only gave them for 5:30 and 9:30!

On one NCL ship they ran out of beef at the buffet and then brought a roasted chicken and they ran out of jelly and only had orange marmalade! In the dining room the waiters don't seem to care anf really take their time clearing tables for the next guests.

[Tanderra]

So, having read all of the posts I have decided that NCL is not for me.

My nephew is a head chef and a few years ago he got a job as a chef on a cruise line out of Fort Lauderdale...I think it may have been to LA but not too sure on that.

That was the one and only cruise that he did, why???? because he thought the passengers deserved better, food-wise. Apparently the galley was totally disorganized and not up to what he thought the paying passengers would expect :(

No, it wasn't NCL.

[Warmer Climes]

You've given reasons why we can't stand NCL! We have had to wait for dinner also, 40 minutes, were given a beeper, asked to share a table and got one for two. When we asked about making a reservation we were told they only gave them for 5:30 and 9:30!

On one NCL ship they ran out of beef at the buffet and then brought a roasted chicken and they ran out of jelly and only had orange marmalade! In the dining room the waiters don't seem to care anf really take their time clearing tables for the next guests.

 

My experiences on NCL have not been the same as yours, that's for sure. How can they be so different? In four NCL cruises I have never had to wait more than a few minutes to be seated. I have never seen waitstaff who don't seem to care and take their time cleaning the tables. In four NCL cruises, only the Majesty Boston to Bermuda had less than excellent service in the dining room and it wasn't attitude but organization there that was a problem. I can't comment on the jelly situation, however. You may be on to something there.

[jym613]

It is NCL, we cruised with them once and never again. We felt the same as you guys plus the cabins were a lot smaller than CCL.

[cv322]

That it is not due to some other possible cause? Perhaps all freestlying is like this. Perhaps cruises out of New York are different from cruises out of Florida. Perhaps N.Gem is plagued with trouble as opposed to other NCL ships. This is what I'm trying to determine.

 

Naaaa, it's not cruises out of NY that are the culprit. I've cruised out of NY 15 or so times on 5 different lines. I agree with you about NCL food...but ONLY in the MDR at dinner. We had excellent breakfasts in any of the MDR's. And the dinners in specialty restaurants were outstanding. Other than the MDR dinner food...I think NCL has a fine product. Will be back on NCL next year.

[Cruisin_on_th_net]

:confused: BUT The Op's issues are just NOT about the food. I don't consider "not wanting to eat stale bread" to make me into a wannabe connoisseur food consumer.

 

I just want bread that isn't stale. NOT gourmet 5 start productions. I get the impression the Op and their travelling group would have been happy with fresh bread, not some 5 star schmancy bread that they'd get from a premium line.

 

I don't get how posters can make the jump to declaring "premium cruise lines" are what the Op needs to try.

[mizLORInj]

I have been on NCL Dawn and NCL Gem and didn't find the food bad at all. In fact, I'd go back on Gem in a minute, and Dawn only when it gets refurbished. No complaints about the service either. The upcharge restaurants were excellent too.