NCL Fans- what don't you like

[mistshar]

I just searched on google and came up with some. Not all are the most recent.

 

Since I am brand new to NCL the dining was confusing me at first with so many options. I found this to be very helpful. Lists what is included and what is pay eating places for each ship. Helped me become familiar with the names as well.

 

http://www.ncl.com/csimages/872/597/NCL_Dining_Options_01062011.pdf

 

Thank you so much for posting this list of dining options. I have been rather confused to about that but this simplifies it for me. I broke it down into a table for the Spirit and will take it on our cruise with us. It is so helpful.

[janetz]

You can bring wine on NCL....They charge a 15$ corkage fee for each bottle.

 

 

If you bring a bottle to comsume in your cabin, you bring your own opener. :)

[gargoyle999]

Thank you so much for posting this list of dining options.

 

Your welcome. :) It is an excellent guide for those of not not familiar with all the different options on NCL.

[gargoyle999]

If you bring a bottle to comsume in your cabin, you bring your own opener. :)

 

That is what I am wondering. How do you get charged $15 for that if you open it yourself? :confused:

[janetz]

I am sorry. I posted before I read the whole thread. You are charged per bottle as you embark.

[dznymom]

I am not a fan of Second City so I would prefer regular comedians and I would really like if they would do the nightly midnight adult comedy like Carnival. (And that is the ONLY thing I like better about Carnival!)

[Clay Clayton]

In addition to several others that are mentioned above - particularly the lack of seating on the promanade deck, DDP and my pet peeves in no particular order:

 

-while we enjoy the variety of restaurants, we have about decided that the fee restaurants aren't worth their fees. Unfortunately the exceptions to this rule:il adiago (Sun) and Soho (Star) have either been downgraded or done away with. We think the higher cost for X's specialty restaurants is well worth it...don't think that Cagney's for example is that much better than Lonestar or Outback.

 

-NCL's ships that don't have a "Great Outdoors" (boy I am getting to sound like a broken record on that subject.

 

-that all of NCL's ships don't have the make-up room/key holder by the door. We love to leave our key cards in and that way never forget to take it with us when we leave the room

 

-what appears to be the sudden lack of non-europe, non-carribean cruises

 

-the generic-azation of NCL's ships- all of them seem to have basically the same restaurants and menus, it takes some of the interest away from being on a new ship.

[gargoyle999]

-the generic-azation of NCL's ships- all of them seem to have basically the same restaurants and menus, it takes some of the interest away from being on a new ship.

 

That is one of the reasons I want to try NCL. We are very familiar with the Carnival menu since it is the same for each ship. I can see why it would be the same issue for frequent NCL cruisers.

[pmd98052]

We've been on two NCL Alaska cruises (both on the Pearl) and would cruise with NCL again.

 

Things I didn't like:

 

1. Removed a number of the little perks over the last two years (Champagne on boarding, coffee makers in the inside and oceanview rooms, mints on pillows etc) - Some of these were still advertised as features when the cruise was booked

 

2. Menus - The breakfast and lunch menus were identical everyday in the MDR.

 

3. Second year (2010) we cruise the MDR food was not as good - For instance the more esoteric options (Escargot and Beef Wellington) were no longer offered in the MDR - Not sure if this is true across the board?

 

Things we loved:

 

1. Entertainment was very good (obviously subjective) but we loved the shows, Second City, Comedian, Juggler etc

 

2. FreeStyle - Enjoyed the flexibility

 

3. Kids club - That they took our 2 year old when no other line would was a huge benefit since he could go and have fun with our 4 year old there. They even passed up Ice Cream to go to the kids club!!

 

We now book on price/value and itinerary versus cruise line brand and this year we're off on a HAL cruise in a few weeks time - Can't wait to experience the differences.

[KateQ22003]

The thing I'm least fond of on NCL (although it has been a while since our last cruise on this line) is the lack of a minimum dress code. I'm not talking about formal nights or that sort of thing, but just more of a basic standard. We traveled with Oceania (which also does not have specific dinner seating times or tables and has a variety of restaurants to choose from) and most people adhered to a basic level of dress which I appreciated, but found lacking on my previous NCL cruise.

 

I found it slightly disconcerting to be sitting at a beautifully laid table with crystal and china when all those around us were wearing shorts and t-shirts.

 

But, overall, I find that NCL's product suits us for the moment, so I'll just have to get over the disconnect. :-)

 

:-) amcb

 

 

This has been our biggest complaint as well. Too many people think "freestyle" means "anything goes". It doesn't. NCL either needs to enforce the minimum standards of their dress code, or get rid of it all together.

[love2bonboard]

I was so impressed w/ NCL on my recent cruise as the customer service was just fabulous. I am a huge fan of Princess; however, the last two cruises had extremely poor service, so I switched back to NCL. The list of things that I miss that I wish NCL had was:

 

1). Laundry machines for our use

2). Better rewards benefits (free internet packages; like on Princess)

3). MUTS (I LOVE Movies Under the Stars)

4). 24 hour buffet

5). Better Pizza (far superior on Princess as is the Trident grill)

6). Offer creme brulee more often (my favorite dessert).

 

However, NCL had better service and better shows. I'm trying Princess one more time this May and see how it goes.

[lambs2]

That would be my pet peeve...in order to hear the announcements you have to open your cabin door.

 

The above is one of our pet peeves too! Sometimes I have to make a mad dash to open the cabin door to hear an announcement and I end up missing the most pertinent part because I am too slow. I never seem to be able to get the TV tuned to the proper station in time to hear it

(I keep forgetting the station number the announcements are on! :eek:)

[gargoyle999]

4). 24 hour buffet

 

I did like the availability of the buffet on Princess. Though the Blue Lagoon will have more options than what I am used to on Carnival (pizza only-besides room service).

[sjbdtz]

That is what I am wondering. How do you get charged $15 for that if you open it yourself? :confused:

 

Corkage has nothing to do with removing a cork. Restaurants do the same thing too. It's obvious that anyone not actually running a winery, marks up their wine to cover their overhead expenses. Corkage charges are a reflection of that overhead charge, applied to wines of your own choosing.

 

 

 

This has been our biggest complaint as well. Too many people think "freestyle" means "anything goes". It doesn't. NCL either needs to enforce the minimum standards of their dress code, or get rid of it all together.

 

I agree. They should get rid of dress codes.

 

 

 

 

 

The self-serve laundries are a big thing, NOT because I do laundry, but when unpacking I like to do a quick pressing of everything before hanging it....and they don't like to distribute irons & boards on embarkation day because they're doing a million other things.

 

So I have to hang everything creased. Then the next day I have to unhang everything again, iron & re-hang.

 

WAY too much work for vacation......

 

NCL: please either put irons back in a central place, OR offer people a mechanism to pre-order one for embarkation day, so that they're in-cabin already, when the cabins are released for embarkation.

 

:)

 

 

 

Oh...and the CD reading the Daily... irksome!!! I can read it myself.

[ClarkBHM]

Oh...and the CD reading the Daily... irksome!!! I can read it myself.

 

Yes, but consider that there may be vision impaired passengers on the ship. They don't want to have to print extra large print copies, and they certainly don't want to print braille due to the added expense of the specialized printers.

[sverigecruiser]

I should like if NCL had at least one formal only restaurant on every ship.

 

I should enjoy my dinners in Le Bistro more if it was formal.

 

I should also like if they had a Monte Carlo casino instead of a Las Vegas casino.

[newmexicoNita]

I should like if NCL had at least one formal only restaurant on every ship.

 

I should enjoy my dinners in Le Bistro more if it was formal.

 

I should also like if they had a Monte Carlo casino instead of a Las Vegas casino.

 

What is a Monte Carlo casino?

 

As for formal dress, the extra cost of luggage is one reason I am glad there is no more formal nights, but my granddaughter would agree with you. That is her favorite part of cruising and she is in her early 20s.

[gargoyle999]

I like informal dining so that is why NCL is on my next to try list. :)

[Why Knot Me]

I would like that either Cagney's or LeBistro does not allow kids under a certain age... like age 10 or 12. Too often we sit down for a quiet, relaxing dinner in a wonderful atmosphere and there is a crying kid, or one that is running around the table etc. My worst was two kids running around the table, eventually taking their socks off and throwing them around all while the parents and kids were singing some Barney song.

[cruisendave]

We like so many things about NCL, but if we had to choose something to complain about it would be room size and layout. We travel as a family of four, and wish all ships had 2 pull down bunks from the wall. On the Dawn (and this summer on the Jewel) we will have to put up with a trundle bed. The room size is also tight, but we guess we would rather have more "public space". :cool:

[mmceachn]

NCL used to be my first choice, but I don't like the food and service in the main dining room any more. On my last two NCL cruises on the Dawn and Spirit, the dining room was understaffed and the menu selections were not as good as they had been in the past. We ponied up the money to eat in LeBistro three times. Lol....

The buffet and desserts had also changed and not for the better.

That being said, I have read on these boards that NCL has changed the menus again, so I would be willing to try another NCL cruise if the itemerary and price were right.

 

I liked the food on my last four (princess) cruises much better, but enjoyed the entertainment on NCL a lot more . NCL has lots of live music all over the ships.

[sjbdtz]

I should like if NCL had at least one formal only restaurant on every ship.

 

I should enjoy my dinners in Le Bistro more if it was formal.

 

I should also like if they had a Monte Carlo casino instead of a Las Vegas casino.

 

 

I enjoyed my Le Bistro dinner a couple of weeks ago, more because it was non-formal.

 

 

 

.

[electro]

One thing I love is that the showers have doors and not curtains!

 

I hate being attacked by shower curtains on other lines I have sailed.:o

[mianmike]

The buffet and desserts had also changed and not for the better.

 

I hope this not a fleet-wide trend. The dessert selection on our November Sky cruise (in the buffet) was marginal to say the least.

 

While on the Pearl we really enjoyed the cookies as a quick snack.

 

We're hoping our upcoming Epic cruise is decadent sugar heaven. :D

 

I've been working-out everyday in anticipation of eating the desserts!

[dockrocker]

I miss the self-serve laundry on the longer cruises. I just don't feel I can send anything but the toughest (usually cotton, and sometimes not even them) clothes to the ship's laundry, since everything is washed on hot and dried on high. (That's true for all ship's laundries, not just NCL).

 

I wish the chefs didn't find it necessary to put alcohol in almost every dessert and a very large proportion of the entrees and appetizers. I wish that since they insist on doing so, they would consistently note this in the menu descriptions of the dishes.

 

I wish cabin storage were better on the newer ships -- haven't been on the Epic so can't speak to that, but on the Jewel-class ships, the storage is scarcer than on the Dawn, Star and Sun. The Sun is the very best for cabin storage, IMO.

 

I wish they hadn't added surcharges to some of the previously free restaurants (Tango's and Mama's on the Jewel, for instance). Having several free alternative restaurants was a nice perk.

 

That's really all I can come up with.