1st and Last Norwegian Cruise

[legion3]

Well, that's enough to ruin a cruise:eek:

 

No probably not, but I would be disappointed if I or my kids were really looking forward to it.

[klingoncruiser]

Bad cruise happen on ALL cruise lines. Our first cruise on Celebrity was our worst ever. However, years later (yup, we were really angry) we gave them another try and were glad we did. I hope you one day give NCL another try on another ship. I have found them to be a pretty good line at this point. (We have many cruises on many lines and all have strengths and weaknesses.)

 

Happy cruising to you in the future.

[Beaver1975]

I doubt you sailed the Caribbean Princess through the Panama Canal as it's too big to transit the canal! Once it is widened it will fit but not now.

 

Great catch.

 

Panamax is 100' and the Caribbean Princess is 118' wide.

Edited May 25, 2015 by Beaver1975

[Son of a son of a ...]

My recommendation for the pool towel replacements in your room and any other room issues: Give the steward a couple of Jacksons at the beginning of the cruise ... that gets many of our wants and needs fulfilled promptly.

 

If you truly want exceptional service, then get a cabin in the Haven.

 

Otherwise, strap on a steel beak and peck shyte with the rest of us birds :)

[luv2cruisecats]

We were on Getaway in January and enjoyed it so much we booked again for early June. We love Celebrity but always want to try newer/different ships (we booked Escape for the fall crossing).

 

The question is if you had so many things go wrong why did you not insist on a direct meeting with the Hotel Director? Gather the facts and present them as you observed...I'm sure you would have been listened to and some action(s) taken by the staff where warranted. If you don't do this how will things ever improve?

 

I would hate to think that anyone will take the advice to cancel seriously and the OP was out of line in suggesting this anyway. People reading this post tend to be more adult like than just reacting emotionally; my personal reaction was what other agenda might you have? The majority of reviews are very positive.

[sid_9169]

I'm going on the Getaway in 5 days, and I plan on having the time of my life. I don't mind going up to the bar for my own drink, and as for cold food? There is plenty to eat on a cruise ship. Sorry for your horrible experience...

[LMaxwell]

The question is if you had so many things go wrong why did you not insist on a direct meeting with the Hotel Director? Gather the facts and present them as you observed...I'm sure you would have been listened to and some action(s) taken by the staff where warranted. If you don't do this how will things ever improve?

 

You raise a good question; but some people just don't want to do that sort of stuff on vacation. Or a problem seems systemic and not something likely to change with a meeting. But, yes, if management doesn't know they can't fix it.

[jackiewarren50]

I have just returned from my first time on a cruise ship. I have a problem with my leg and back which means I cannot do certain things. I was very impressed with the staff on NCL Epic. I was treated with respect and they always had a friendly attitude.

 

The ship was managed well and the Captain kept us up to date on all the good things and the bad. The steward Roy on Deck 11 was a joy to have. I had a few silly things go wrong, mainly my fault and it was sorted out within 15 minutes or less. I had a problem with my suitcase and when I asked Roy, or indeed another of the stewards to lift it on to my bed to unpack and also to pack, there was no hesitation to help.

 

The Bar staff were friendly and continually walking around the lounges to see if anyone wanted a drink. They did not push you but were friendly and any question asked were more than happy to answer.

 

One of two waiters in the Manhattan Restaurant did seem to be looking around all the time and were not always concentrating when they were collecting plates, or sometimes when they were giving you your meal. This did mean a slight accident with something or another but not enough to spoil my evening or stop me from going back to the same restaurant. I realise there is a lot of pressure for these waiters to try to give everyone their meals etc as quickly as possible. This perhaps could be discussed with Management.

 

Every hotel, restaurant, or cruise ship have their bad days and when you consider that these ships have approximately 1000+ staff, one or two being rude, or not as helpful as you would like, surely can be forgotten, unless it happens every time you speak to them. The other 990+ should be remembered, not the odd one or two that are having a bad day,not well or are tired. After all they work long hours and are human. Don't we all have these days at home and sometimes in work?

 

Overall it was a very good Cruise and considering there were a possible 4500 holiday makers on board the service was very good. The Cabins and the rest of the ship were kept clean and the staff worked hard to help you have a happy holiday.:):) I will definitly go back to NCL Epic or perhaps try their new ship just to see what it is like, in the future.

[suecruises]

I can certainly back up sue's experience.

 

I was also on this cruise the following week (5/16-5/23) and just returned Saturday. I do not have the same amount of cruises under my belt as many of you, but I have been on 5 separate cruises on various lines.

 

I had heard many positives about NCL and noticed on their webpage a promo for $200 on-board credit. When purchasing this promo in late 2014, there was no mention of a stateroom classification requirement. Simply, either $200 on-board credit OR the ultimate dining promo. Our week started with us inquiring as to why we did not have the credit and the staff was extremely rude. My wife and I found this very odd given the fact we didn't expect the credit immediately, just wanted it to post before the end of the cruise. We were told we would be contacted once they received notification on why the credit had not applied. Fast forward three days and still no contact. We requested to speak with anyone who has a supervisory role in guest services. We were flat out told "No, you cannot speak to a supervisor"... What?

 

Not until later in the day did I actually have to track down an officer who would get me in touch with the supervisor of guest services. That supervisor confirmed neither of those promos are eligible for oceanview rooms. Only balcony and suites. The supervisor confirmed they were getting dozens of complaints PER cruise about this issue. While 200 dollars may not be much to some, the fact NCL promotes and distorts this promotion on their own website is very troubling. This is a complaint I have also seen on here now as I go through archived threads.

 

As sue mentioned, Steaks and prime rib were often either overcooked or undercooked. My medium rare prime was always well done (not medium well). While some of you have stated you think Sue is nitpicking, she isn't. I am very understanding with food services as I worked my way through HS and college as a cook. I also hate returning food to those who handle my food.. but I was a bit surprised a cruise line that spends so much promoting their culinary options that the food could be so inconsistent. With that said, I wouldn't classify these dishes as "cold", just poorly prepared or the inability to distinguish how to prepare a particular dish.

 

As far as the room goes, my wife had to call 4 times to notify guest services the toilet wasn't flushing and the shower would fill with water up to and past our ankles. I am assuming the prior guest had children (because the fridge was locked) and their children stuffed the plumbing with some type of foreign objects. Nevertheless, not a fault of NCL. However, calling them 4 times absolutely was.... On the 4th time, we asked the maintenance supervisor why we had to keep calling to get this issue resolved and we were told the service tech kept clearing the job as "complete" when the first three times, no one even showed up. He was actually putting in their system he responded and cleared the system each time while never showing up once.

 

I don't consider myself a nitpicker. Human error occurs. Accidents happen. However, I was rather taken back by the unwillingness to offer assistance by the front line personnel of guest services when that is their ONLY job in that capacity.

 

Last, for anyone planning on sailing on the getaway, I suggest you evaluate what you intend to do on this ship. If you want to be on the sports court, slides, or ropes course all week.. great. Otherwise, you will be sharing two very small pools and about 2000 chairs (only 200 in the shade) with 3,500 other guests. If you were to wake up after 0900am on a day at sea, you won't have a chair. However, that again isn't an isolated issue for NCL, but a common theme that seems to be occurring for the mega ships. A fraction of the shade (for those of you who need it) on the lower deck is dedicated to smokers. The odor of cig smoke has never bothered me, but the complaints you have read here regarding deck 6-8 being influenced by it, are very true.

 

Thank you.

[suecruises]

I never understood these "everything was horrible" reviews. Nothing at all was good? We've never had an issue, thankfully. The crew are what has kept us coming back to NCL. They have gone above and beyond on so many of our cruises. The food issue is unacceptable though. That's a shame, and there's no reason at all for that.

 

I didn't say everything was horrible - the ship itself is beautiful, our aft-balcony cabin had the largest balcony I have ever seen and it was wonderful. Thank you.

[suecruises]

I was very sympathetic, even with my reply. At this point though I find it interesting that you won't reply to any of the friendly responses. It's as if you are only here to argue with those that are being confrontational. It kind of makes me sorry I bothered. Not that I cared about getting a reply, but you are making a point of swinging the other way. It's just kind of weird.

 

I've tried to reply to all reasonable responses - sorry if I didn't address your comments.

[suecruises]

My mistake - Island Princess

[Envelope21]

Sue, I feel your pain. I had one very negative experience on an NCL ship also (Epic). When more and more things go badly with no one caring to correct them, it is hard to maintain a positive attitude. God forbid you ever write about it on Cruise Critic!

 

We were just on the Star a couple of months ago. We did have a great time, but it is true that the bar service was miserable. The UBP has them all so swamped, that you have to go to them (and wait in a iine), they rarely came to you. We did not have the UDP, but we heard many people complaining that it was very difficult to get a reservation because there were so many with the package.

 

I like NCL well enough and it won't stop me from cruising with them. (Although this whole 'paying-for-room-service' thing really bugs me.) I think if I had had your same experience, I would have been upset too.

[newmexicoNita]

I can certainly back up sue's experience.

 

I was also on this cruise the following week (5/16-5/23) and just returned Saturday. I do not have the same amount of cruises under my belt as many of you, but I have been on 5 separate cruises on various lines.

 

I had heard many positives about NCL and noticed on their webpage a promo for $200 on-board credit. When purchasing this promo in late 2014, there was no mention of a stateroom classification requirement. Simply, either $200 on-board credit OR the ultimate dining promo. Our week started with us inquiring as to why we did not have the credit and the staff was extremely rude. My wife and I found this very odd given the fact we didn't expect the credit immediately, just wanted it to post before the end of the cruise. We were told we would be contacted once they received notification on why the credit had not applied. Fast forward three days and still no contact. We requested to speak with anyone who has a supervisory role in guest services. We were flat out told "No, you cannot speak to a supervisor"... What?

 

Not until later in the day did I actually have to track down an officer who would get me in touch with the supervisor of guest services. That supervisor confirmed neither of those promos are eligible for oceanview rooms. Only balcony and suites. The supervisor confirmed they were getting dozens of complaints PER cruise about this issue. While 200 dollars may not be much to some, the fact NCL promotes and distorts this promotion on their own website is very troubling. This is a complaint I have also seen on here now as I go through archived threads.

 

As sue mentioned, Steaks and prime rib were often either overcooked or undercooked. My medium rare prime was always well done (not medium well). While some of you have stated you think Sue is nitpicking, she isn't. I am very understanding with food services as I worked my way through HS and college as a cook. I also hate returning food to those who handle my food.. but I was a bit surprised a cruise line that spends so much promoting their culinary options that the food could be so inconsistent. With that said, I wouldn't classify these dishes as "cold", just poorly prepared or the inability to distinguish how to prepare a particular dish.

 

As far as the room goes, my wife had to call 4 times to notify guest services the toilet wasn't flushing and the shower would fill with water up to and past our ankles. I am assuming the prior guest had children (because the fridge was locked) and their children stuffed the plumbing with some type of foreign objects. Nevertheless, not a fault of NCL. However, calling them 4 times absolutely was.... On the 4th time, we asked the maintenance supervisor why we had to keep calling to get this issue resolved and we were told the service tech kept clearing the job as "complete" when the first three times, no one even showed up. He was actually putting in their system he responded and cleared the system each time while never showing up once.

 

I don't consider myself a nitpicker. Human error occurs. Accidents happen. However, I was rather taken back by the unwillingness to offer assistance by the front line personnel of guest services when that is their ONLY job in that capacity.

 

Last, for anyone planning on sailing on the getaway, I suggest you evaluate what you intend to do on this ship. If you want to be on the sports court, slides, or ropes course all week.. great. Otherwise, you will be sharing two very small pools and about 2000 chairs (only 200 in the shade) with 3,500 other guests. If you were to wake up after 0900am on a day at sea, you won't have a chair. However, that again isn't an isolated issue for NCL, but a common theme that seems to be occurring for the mega ships. A fraction of the shade (for those of you who need it) on the lower deck is dedicated to smokers. The odor of cig smoke has never bothered me, but the complaints you have read here regarding deck 6-8 being influenced by it, are very true.

 

and I suggest, which I always do, people read all reviews, not just ones like yours. Have you read the Cc reviews on the Getaway? I see so many flaws in your review, not to mention I see,like the OP your favorite line happens to be the same as hers.and you happen to live in the same general location. That seems very interesting to say the least.If you have cruised before and obviously you have, you know all lines have a problem with the pool chair issue. Heck,I have rarely been to a hotel in a resort area where this isn't a concern. I certainly can not comment on your experience with the food, I wasn't on your cruise,but I can say, I was on the Pearl last month and the meat was actually cooked very well. I asked for rare and that is just what I got. Was it top quality? No, but I don't think most of us expect top qualty meat on any ship in the main dining room. I have cruised almost so many times I have lost count and with the exception of the specialty dining rooms I have yet to get great meat. Even going back 30 years ago. You were a cook while in college,I have a degree in foods and am considered a blue ribbon or gourmet cook. I still dont' expect top of the line on a cruise ship. Not to mention food is very subjective.

 

I understand your disappointment on not getting your OBC you expected, but knowing a lot about cruising and advertising my guess is: the ad you say said something like: up to $200 OBC. I am still wondering why you didn't question the invoice when you recieved one and yes, NCL always sends invoices to either the cruiser or the TA, so I am sure you did get one.

 

I do sympathize with you on the shower problems, I too would not be very happy if I had to call several times just to get someone to respond. Other than that, I don't think your complaints are terribly legit. Are you sure you are not the OPs friend? LOl

[TrinaLC]

First of all, we were on the Getaway - not the Breakaway - second of all - there was no dark cloud hanging over the OP - we just expected superior service and received substandard service - if you don't mind bad service - good for you and have fun on your next Norwegian cruise. As for this "dark cloud cruiser" - we will stick with Royal Caribbean or Princess - just trying to save someone a headache and not have their cruise ruined as our's was - thanks for your comments.

 

Everyone can have a different experience, and you seem to have had a poor one.

 

I just want to chime in for others, though, our experience of a month or so before yours was terrific. We loved the Getaway, had good to very good service (especially from our cabin steward - we had the room next to yours, maybe they swapped crew, or maybe he had a bad week!).

 

I should add, though, I would never cruise on a "mass" cruiseline like NCL, Carnival and expect "superior" service (though I find that some of the crew do provide superior service). I would equally of course not expect "substandard" service - and I never have experienced it.

 

Again, NOT arguing with OP, just trying to balance other POVs.

[Medtech2]

Nailed it.

 

We all got together over the course of a six month period to post at random days about the same reoccurring issues.

 

Or perhaps, this is simply a heads up to people that they may want to call and ensure their on-board credit applies to them at the admission of NCL's own guest services.

 

Don't get me wrong, there were elements that NCL did better than any other cruise. Entertainment offerings were great and frequent. However, not all the cruises here are going to enjoy the glow party at 11pm.

I don't know if this would have helped but I always take a screen shot of my OBC on My NCL and if I don't see it I have them email me an "amenities" invoice where it is listed. Never assume it will be there if they try telling you before the cruise not to worry, it's there in our system. No, I want a hard copy....

[suecruises]

Sue, I feel your pain. I had one very negative experience on an NCL ship also (Epic). When more and more things go badly with no one caring to correct them, it is hard to maintain a positive attitude. God forbid you ever write about it on Cruise Critic!

 

We were just on the Star a couple of months ago. We did have a great time, but it is true that the bar service was miserable. The UBP has them all so swamped, that you have to go to them (and wait in a iine), they rarely came to you. We did not have the UDP, but we heard many people complaining that it was very difficult to get a reservation because there were so many with the package.

 

I like NCL well enough and it won't stop me from cruising with them. (Although this whole 'paying-for-room-service' thing really bugs me.) I think if I had had your same experience, I would have been upset too.

 

Thank you.

[suecruises]

So did ya liked the big balcony ??

 

As I said before, the balcony and the cabin were great.

[suecruises]

Not to mention, she says Princess is her favorite cruise line but her bio says differently. HELLO!!!

 

My most recent cruise on the Island Princess WAS my favorite cruise - however - my favorite cruise line still is Royal Caribbean. HELLO

[Kolten]

You certainly are not going to take reviews like this too seriously I hope. To get a cross section check the overall review section of Cruise Critic.

 

Well said. I will be cruising on her in one week... I will be writing a very formal review with pictures and video of my experience. I will make sure to put it on here... hopefully I can help clear some things up because I'm very big fan of Royal Caribbean and Norwegian.

Edited May 25, 2015 by Kolten

[AlanFromFL]

We too sailed on Norwegian Getaway 5/9 - 5/16, and our experience was 180 degrees different from the OP.

 

The ship is beautiful, tastefully decorated. Arrival at POM to boarding the ship took no more than 20 minutes.

 

Our cabin steward Chris introduced himself promptly upon our boarding, we saw him every morning and evening and were always greeted with a pleasant 'Good Morning/Evening Mr Alan'; cabin was always made up early in the day, nothing to complain about whatsoever. And yes, we had towel animals every night except the first.

 

Service in all of the dining venues was good to excellent; even in the MDRs we never had to wait long and the service was attentive. MDR food was decent, maybe not quite as good as some of the other lines we've sailed on, but perfectly acceptable. Buffet breakfast and lunch was as good, more than enough choices to keep anyone satisfied. We dined at Moderno, Teppanyaki, and La Cucina; all were excellent and well worth the cover charge.

 

Entertainment was top notch; my DW is still raving about Burn The Floor. We had made reservations for all shows well in advance so we had no problems whatsoever with seating.

 

Crew in general was friendly, I never encountered any surly or indifferent staff.

 

And despite the sturm und drang regarding the room service and carrying out food to cabin, we personally did not witness even a single instance where anyone was prevented from leaving the buffet with food. Maybe they'd not had a chance to train the door dragons to do anything but spray hand sanitizer yet.

 

So in closing, I would suggest to anyone reading this thread to carefully consider all of the reviews, both good and bad, and make your own informed decision. We thoroughly enjoyed NCL Getaway and would recommend it to anyone.

[Illyria]

When someone complains about receiving poor level of service - I would never argue with that, you can't know unless you were there. But complaining that the deck got hot (in the Caribbean!), the port call to the Bahamas was too short (it was on the itinerary that you read prior to booking!) and that someone on shore in Tortola gave you crappy directions - that basically removes the credibility from your other complaints and moves the post to the category of "whining".

[jacketwatch]

Ok so here is my take as there are some similarities to the OP. We were on the Getaway May 2, our 1st NCL cruise after 12 on other lines including 5 on Princess. Over all we were pleased enough to try NCL again. I did think the service level was a notch below Princess and X but there were plenty of shining moments too. For us the food was on a par and we never had slow service except once and there was never cold food. I am sorry you were so disappointed.

 

I did submit an on line survey from NCL which was mostly positive and the same day they replied and gave us a $300.00 OBC for a future cruise. In addition we received an extra $20.00 OBC after our stop in Tortola. Why I don't know but it was welcome.

 

There are shady areas in many ports and no cruise line has control of that. You would have seen that sign if you were on Princess as well.

 

Also for those who say look at the reviews, well I did just that before we booked and recently as well and they are mostly positive. There are many, many crew members on this ship who work very hard and it is a disservice to them to paint all with one stroke of the brush.

 

JM2C.

[suecruises]

and I suggest, which I always do, people read all reviews, not just ones like yours. Have you read the Cc reviews on the Getaway? I see so many flaws in your review, not to mention I see,like the OP your favorite line happens to be the same as hers.and you happen to live in the same general location. That seems very interesting to say the least.If you have cruised before and obviously you have, you know all lines have a problem with the pool chair issue. Heck,I have rarely been to a hotel in a resort area where this isn't a concern. I certainly can not comment on your experience with the food, I wasn't on your cruise,but I can say, I was on the Pearl last month and the meat was actually cooked very well. I asked for rare and that is just what I got. Was it top quality? No, but I don't think most of us expect top qualty meat on any ship in the main dining room. I have cruised almost so many times I have lost count and with the exception of the specialty dining rooms I have yet to get great meat. Even going back 30 years ago. You were a cook while in college,I have a degree in foods and am considered a blue ribbon or gourmet cook. I still dont' expect top of the line on a cruise ship. Not to mention food is very subjective.

 

I understand your disappointment on not getting your OBC you expected, but knowing a lot about cruising and advertising my guess is: the ad you say said something like: up to $200 OBC. I am still wondering why you didn't question the invoice when you recieved one and yes, NCL always sends invoices to either the cruiser or the TA, so I am sure you did get one.

 

I do sympathize with you on the shower problems, I too would not be very happy if I had to call several times just to get someone to respond. Other than that, I don't think your complaints are terribly legit. Are you sure you are not the OPs friend? LOl

 

Ha ha - "Are you sure you are not the OPs friend? LOL - you are so funny - what a self righteous person you are -

[suecruises]

When someone complains about receiving poor level of service - I would never argue with that, you can't know unless you were there. But complaining that the deck got hot (in the Caribbean!), the port call to the Bahamas was too short (it was on the itinerary that you read prior to booking!) and that someone on shore in Tortola gave you crappy directions - that basically removes the credibility from your other complaints and moves the post to the category of "whining".

 

I'm sorry I was such a whiner - as I said before - I thought these forums were for opinions and discussions - not attacks like yours -