Best Criuse NCL Wind 5/21/05

[shay1]

We just returned home from our Best Cruise (this was #21 for us) on the Norwegian Wind!

 

The Food was excellent (most dinners in the Terraces) we did a couple of breakfast in the Terraces too.

 

The staff and crew were Wonderful, service was Fantastic!

 

Loved the new Captain Lars Bergstrom! We were invited to have dinner with the Captain and his officers I sat next to Captain Lars and accross from Hugo Vanosmael, Hotel Director we had a wonderful time. (Thank you Simone Weigel, Concierge)

 

I big Thank you to Lawrence Lee, Asst. Hotel Manager for being at our Meet and Greet (even though only 5 of us showed up) and for asking us everytime we met him on the ship if everything was ok or if we had any problems to let him know right away. (Thanks Vicki (NCL) sorry I did not get your last name)

 

I will write more when I have recovered from the long flight home.

[nlt46]

What good news to hear. Thanks for the info. Nancy

[e.durban]

Wasn't Mr. Vanosmael recently (Dec.) the Hotal Manager on the Dawn?

[shay1]

He still is the Hotel Director for the Dawn, he was filling in for the Hotel Director of the Wind that was on vacation. I believe Hugo told us he goes back to the Dawn next week.

[jnc411]

shay1: Thanks for the good information we are thinking of a cruise on the Wind, we will be new to NCL, having always used Princess and RCL before, but it sounds like you enjoy your time on the Wind. Thank You.

Cori

[DancingMike]

We were on the NCL Wind on the 4/20/05 sailing.

 

This was one of our best cruises as well. We were invited to the captains talbe as well and had the same exact seating arrangements.

Hugo came to ur cruise critic party (we had 17 in attendance) and made a point all ten days to ask if we were having a good time and if there was anything he or his staff could do.

 

Patty and Jose were great singers in the observatory lounge. In speaking with them, we found out that they were the entertainers on a cruise we did ten years ago on the Oceanbreeze.

 

We thought the food was good and the choice of different dining rooms made it so easy with cruising in Hawaii.

[Joao]

The Food was excellent (most dinners in the Terraces) we did a couple of breakfast in the Terraces too.

Is Terraces the best place for dinner (as compared to Four Seasons)?

[mshe]

Is Terraces the best place for dinner (as compared to Four Seasons)?

 

 

All restaurants seem to have the same menu except for Le Bistro and La Tattoria. Four Seasons had fast service and causal attire while The Terrances tended to be the more formal dining room.

 

I dined in Four Seasons most of the time as it is in the middle of the ship, and was less rocky than the Terrences or La Tattoria. (I got seasick for the first time... :(). IMHO, La Tattoria had good appetizers but bad entrees. Also it seemed that La Tattoria served the same menu every day. The only other comment I have about the food is that the chef is sauce crazy - everything has a sauce on it, from steaks to lobsters. Personally I prefer my steaks plain or with stuff marinated into it rather than sauces.

 

Overall 05/21/2005 was a good cruise on the Wind... I'll post a more detailed review shortly :)

[shay1]

Is Terraces the best place for dinner (as compared to Four Seasons)?

Aloha,

 

Yes I would say that the Terraces is the best place for dinner in our opinion. It has great atmosphere, more ambience and fantastic service the food is the same as the Four Season. You did not have to get real dressed up either (except for formal evenings). I wore capris and my DH wore Hawaiiann shirts with slacks.

 

The Four Season was fine for Breakfast Buffet on port days. But on sea days we also ate at the Terraces. The Terraces was our favorite out of all of them.

 

We did not have any trouble the whole cruise with motion sickness.

 

La Tratoria was very good as well, we ate twice there and the menu had enough items on it to choose from that you did not have to worry about ordering the same item.

 

We did not eat at the pool side buffet. We did try the pizza a couple of times it was good.

 

Really liked the ice cream shack out by the pool even though we did not sit out at the pool.

 

Mahalo

[gamblor33]

So in the Terraces I'd be ok in a polo or aloha shirt and khakis? What about on formal nights? What were most people wearing?

[mshe]

So in the Terraces I'd be ok in a polo or aloha shirt and khakis? What about on formal nights? What were most people wearing?

 

Yes, shirt, pants, shoes you'll be fine in Terrances. Anyhow, all the restaurants except for the La Tattoria serve the same food.

 

1st Optional Formal Night (President's Dinner) - 30% dressed up

2nd Optional Formal Night (Captains Dinner) - 50% dressed up

3rd Optional Formal Night (Farewell Dinner) - 60 - 70% dressed up

 

Guys: Suit/Tie, couple of people had tuxedos

Girls: Evening Dress

 

If you don't feel like dressing up, you can wear shorts too - you'll have to eat at Four Seasons tho - but they serve the exact same food (and often you'll get faster service in Four Seasons too!).

[shay1]

As a matter of fact we were invited to dine with the Captain at the last Formal dinner.

 

We did not bring formal wear! Simone Weigel, Concierge got a blazer, shirt and tie for my husband. I did not have formal dress but did have a semi lenght dress that I wore and we sat right next to the Captain in the Terraces Dinning Room.

 

The other formal nights we ate at the Terraces and or La Trattoria in nice resort wear.

[mshe]

As a matter of fact we were invited to dine with the Captain at the last Formal dinner.

 

Ooo nice... was it by random chance you dined with him? He seemed to be an awfully cheery captain :)

 

My mother dined with the captain too... at the sports bar... in line grabbing food :D

[shay1]

Ooo nice... was it by random chance you dined with him? He seemed to be an awfully cheery captain :)

 

My mother dined with the captain too... at the sports bar... in line grabbing food :D

 

Not sure how they select the passengers that get to dine with the Captain, there were 3 tables of us in the Terraces dinning room.

 

One large table in the center then 2 round tables to the left and right. We were lucky to have been seated at the big table and in the seat right next to the Captain.

 

NCL even took a group picture of all those that were selected with the Captain and other officers and gave to us with a copy of the Captains menu.

 

I have never had such Great Service as we had on this cruise from everyone.

 

We also had been invited to private party at the beginning of cruise with the Captain and Staff and all of them sat down with us to chat. We got to chat with the Captain for quite a while that time as well.

 

The whole crew and staff really like him, they love his sense of humor.

 

The last night when Captain Lars came over the PA system to tell everyone good bye and wishing everyone good health, the staff told us they had never heard a Captain do this before. It just shows what a warm and caring person he is.

 

He told us he found out it was his room stewards birthday (she takes care of all the officers rooms) so he had a cake made for her and gathered them all in his stateroom for her. Said when she came in she was so suprised that she cried when she saw her cake and all of them wishing her Happy Birthday.

 

Mahalo