I will NEVER cruise with Norwegian again!

[marcar123]

My husband, my two daughters (age 9 & 6) and myself recently cruised on the Norwegian Getaway (Jan 24-31, 2016). This was our 6th cruise, our 1st on a Norwegian ship.

Our first night on the ship we went to Savour restaurant. We arrived (with my sister and brother-in-law and their two kids) at approximately 7pm, we were seated shortly thereafter. We sat and watched 32 wait staff walk past us without recognizing our arrival. We stopped a few and requested a server, they just said someone will be right with you and walked away. Finally, a waiter by the name of Richard came over and very rudely took our food order. We had 4 kids with us, yet we still had to ask for kids menus (should they not be brought out at the time we are lead to our table)? Richard never did take our drink order, only our food order. We had to ask another waiter to take our drink order, after we ordered our drinks took about 30 min to arrive. Our entire meal took approx. 2.5 hours and our food was mediocre at best. I filled in the comment card that was on our table indicating our dissatisfaction with our meal, the next day, Isaac called and apologized and sent us up some chocolate covered strawberries.

We were on the private island the next day. We got off the ship with anticipation of a great day in our minds. The weather was hot so we wanted to enjoy our unlimited beverage package, unfortunately, the lines were so long that it took an hour to get a drink! To me, this is unacceptable! To stand in line for an hour just to get one drink because Norwegian won’t staff appropriately is offensive, the last thing I want to do on a beach is wait in line for over an hour for a watered down beverage. Also, we didn’t have one person stop by and take our drink order. This was the case for the entire trip…it seems not all bars were open and when you went to the pool bar it was 8 deep with people waiting to get a drink and two bartenders there to serve the 100 people waiting. There was another bar by the pool but it never seemed to be open.

Our next experience was at O’sheenans….we went there 3 times and each time we waited over 20 min for someone to come to our table and take our order. The worst was on Friday night, we went at 10:20 to get something to eat before our comedian show at 11. We sat up right at the front of the restaurant on the high stools. The maitradee came over and gave us menus and said that someone would come and take our order…that NEVER happened. We sat and waited and waited…we saw 3 waiters that just walked on by us, the first one was filling napkin containers so he said he couldn’t help us, the 2nd one was cleaning tables and she too indicated she was too busy to take our order, finally, my sister went and spoke to the 3rd one who was inconvenienced to have to come over and take our order, she showed up at our table and literally said in a very rude tone “what do you want”….wow…I have NEVER had service like that in my life, even at Mcdonald’s! She walked away before we could put in our drink order so I went over to the bar and got drinks for our party.

The final straw was on our last sea day, Saturday, my daughter (6) went to the bungee jumping area to jump on the trampoline and play on the slide. When she arrived it was lined up with kids waiting. I told her we would go back at noon. When we went back it was just closing and I was told they were not letting any more kids jump…I asked if it was opening after lunch and the lady indicated that no, it doesn’t open again until 6pm, I said “Really”, it’s a sea day why isn’t it open all day? She indicated they didn’t have the staff to operate it. I can’t believe on a sea day all activities on the boat aren’t open! The only thing open was the obstacle course and it was so busy it took a 45 min wait to get on. The rock wall opened in the afternoon so that alleviated some of the wait time on the rock wall. I sent my daughter up at 6pm to jump on the trampoline before our 6:45 dinner reservation, well, she waited and waited and at 6:35 we had to leave for our reservation and due to the amount of kids waiting she never did get to jump on the trampoline. As a guest that paid a lot of money for a family of four, I find it hard to believe that activities are not staffed all day for the kids to use.

I do have to say that Splash Academy was a great program for my daughters, they enjoyed it and were treated well while they were there.

I question the tipping process, I feel the staff already know they are getting their tips as we have pre-paid them so they don’t have to do work as hard to earn them.

While we did enjoy our cruise, the service was definitely not like we have received on both Carnival and Royal Caribbean. I have never requested my tips to be refunded, in fact, I have always tipped over and above when on the ship as I received great service with both those cruise lines.

[kcwingwalker]

Did you visit Guest Services and inform them of your problems?

[marcar123]

I sure did...after waiting in line for 45 min the lady said all she could do was fill in a form to get my prepaid service fees back, so she filled in the form and I went on my way....submitted over a month ago and still waiting for my refund.

[backsbanny]

Marcar123 i think that you are going to wait even more for the refund...ncl has lost it lately...unfortunately

[marcar123]

Yes, after our first supper I complained and they sent me 4 choc covered strawberries....I'm not going to lie, they were good, but it didn't make up for the poor service we received the rest of the week.

[marcar123]

Also, there were so many people lined up at guest services each time we went that if I was to stand in line for every issue I would have spent the majority of my vacation in line.

Edited March 8, 2016 by marcar123

[SteveH2508]

A note to the Hotel Director is the way to go - they usually have a box for comments etc. near Guest Services (I agree it shouldn't be necessary but...).

[Victress2007]

School break of some kind?

Edited March 8, 2016 by Victress2007

[megansdad1]

School break of some kind?

 

That shouldn't make a difference on the speed of dining service. the ships usually sail full.

[blackwing]

Sorry you had a bad time, it sounds to me that you must have gone on a particularly crowded sailing. With so many people cruising from all over the country and Western Hemisphere, it's highly likely you could have encountered a spring break crowd as that could happen anywhere from late January to mid April.

 

I do feel that not being served promptly in a restaurant is an issue. But some of the other issues you described (waiting in line at the bar to get a drink at the private island, crowded bungee trampoline, and crowded ropes course) is pretty normal as far as I'm concerned. When you cruise the big ships, you should be prepared to wait for things.

 

We went on Getaway two years ago during a March spring break, and my son probably waited an hour to do the bungee trampoline. That should be normal and expected. Generally I found that going to things right when they opened (especially the ropes course) was advised. I'm not at all surprised that the trampoline closes at times. All of those activities (ropes, rock wall, trampoline) have the same set of staff day in and day out, and they need breaks. They're not going to hire someone to staff the trampoline 12 hours a day every day. They rotate the people around to the different activities, and they make it very clear what activities are open and at what times.

 

Sorry you had a bad cruise, and I guess you are going to give up on Norwegian, but I would expect you to have similar issues on any large ship sailing during Spring Break season.

[NLH Arizona]

Also, there were so many people lined up at guest services each time we went that if I was to stand in line for every issue I would have spent the majority of my vacation in line.

Did you happen to go to the meet and greet? Usually you get a card with all the manager's direct phone numbers on it. I'd bet a quick call to the Dining Manager or Hotel Director would have rectified your dining issues immediately. As for the long lines, well that comes with the territory of cruising on one of the mega ships.

[vicocala]

I'm sorry the cruiser had such high expectations on a large ship. See my signature for my thoughts on that. I personally have been on the Getaway and the Sky and will be on the Spirit in a little over a week and have to say that NCL has been the best line I have sailed with. Service has been good to great across the board and there were four bartenders working the far bar on GSC and wait time was minimal in December.

 

Hopefully I will be as satisfied after cruising the Spirit.

[cruis247g]

i think staffing is a constant (and challenging) balancing act, that is, enough to keep quality service, but not so many that it kills profit. However, adequate staffing is an essential ingredient of a good cruise. No one wants to wait in long lines for everything. It's unfortunate that you had this experience.

Edited March 8, 2016 by cruis247g

[Obx_1974]

 

 

 

Sorry you had a bad cruise, and I guess you are going to give up on Norwegian, but I would expect you to have similar issues on any large ship sailing during Spring Break season.

 

 

We have sailed Oasis class the past three spring breaks and haven't experienced similar issues. We are sailing Escape this spring break. I'm excited to compare

 

 

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[beckyjohns]

I do agree with the service on the Getaway. We were on in November and the service in the Tropicana Room was awful. It was terribly slow, there seemed to be some communication troubles because every night that we asked for a regular menu for our kids, we never seemed to get them. When they tried to place their order off the regular menu (not the kids menu), that really seemed to throw the waiters for a loop. We all agreed that the food was great, but the service was just lacking.

 

That said, did it ruin our vacation? Absolutely not! We just accepted that as one of the very few things that we didn't like about NCL, but there were way more things that we did love about NCL. Accepted it and made the best of it.

 

Were there lines for the activities on sea day? Yep, but that's expected! Have you seen the lines for the flow riders on RCCL? You just have to plan around it. Get in line early before it opens. Work around it. You're on a cruise ship with thousands of people: THERE WILL BE LINES!!!

 

We've cruise many lines and every single one of them has its' positives and its' negatives. I've yet to find any cruiseline that is absolutely perfect in every way for me. You just have to weight the pros and cons and decide for yourself which you prefer.

[welove2cruise*]

Sorry to hear your experiences were bad. I would have been upset myself. I am hoping it was just bad timing or something that they will take note of and correct. We like NCL better than any other line (35 cruises or more at this point with several lines).

 

I hope you take the time to write to guest relations to let them know what happened and I hope they offer a small incentive of some type to give them another try. [emoji6]

[xcell]

The "free" restaurants are so slow...I could run to the buffet and back and have my order ready, eat and be done before I get my bread basket..

 

I have seen this on every NCL cruise I have been on regardless breakfast, lunch or dinner...so, I tend to choose the UDP/SDP or buffet. Don't know what I "try" and give another chance, just to be disappointed.

 

As per the other stuff...they are busy so be first in line...usually, I wait 30 min or more before the line opens, my kids come, and I let them in...

 

Do I refrain for cruising NCL because of this...no, because all cruise lines have their pluses and minuses so I'm just happy to be on vacation

[ShannonSC2]

WE were on the Getaway last spring break and had some of the best service. Usually the bar in the adult area is less crowded than the ones next to the pool. The adult bar has the best bartenders.

 

The first night on the Getaway we ate at O'shenans and the service was slow but we made sure we found someone to serve us within 10 minutes. We won't wait. We will either hunt someone down or keep making eye contact until we are noticed. :)

 

We have waited before for the rock wall and they closed it as we were close to our turn. Of course the children were disappointed but not much we could do at that point.

 

We were on the private island in December from the Sky. The only wait was the food line.

 

Overall I am sorry that the service wasn't up to expectations. I think it goes with change of staff so often, the large crowds and large ships.

[ShannonSC2]

The "free" restaurants are so slow...I could run to the buffet and back and have my order ready, eat and be done before I get my bread basket..

 

I have seen this on every NCL cruise I have been on regardless breakfast, lunch or dinner...so, I tend to choose the UDP/SDP or buffet. Don't know what I "try" and give another chance, just to be disappointed.

 

As per the other stuff...they are busy so be first in line...usually, I wait 30 min or more before the line opens, my kids come, and I let them in...

 

Do I refrain for cruising NCL because of this...no, because all cruise lines have their pluses and minuses so I'm just happy to be on vacation

 

So true that the free restaurants are so slow....We have told our servers in the past that we wanted to catch a certain show and boy they will speed up real quick when you tell them that information. Sometimes we have to remind them. :)

[Mirrasi]

We were on last spring too and had fabulous service. At times things were a LITTLE slow but not bad. Hopefully it's not a staff change. ill come back to this thread and post. We are heading back on the Getaway on Sunday.

[ShannonSC2]

We were on last spring too and had fabulous service. At times things were a LITTLE slow but not bad. Hopefully it's not a staff change. ill come back to this thread and post. We are heading back on the Getaway on Sunday.

 

 

I am jealous! I love the Getaway and wanted to go on her for this spring break but couldn't afford. It was a lot higher than what we paid last year. Doing the first sailing of Empress of the Seas under RCCL instead!

 

I can't wait to see if it is any different from last year!

[Biz64]

We have sailed Oasis class the past three spring breaks and haven't experienced similar issues. We are sailing Escape this spring break. I'm excited to compare

 

 

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I'm sorry to say it's no comparison. We were on the Allure last year and it was a much better experience in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, the Escape is nice and you will have fun, but not compared to Oasis class ships.

[Cuizer2]

I am jealous! I love the Getaway and wanted to go on her for this spring break but couldn't afford. It was a lot higher than what we paid last year. Doing the first sailing of Empress of the Seas under RCCL instead!

 

I can't wait to see if it is any different from last year!

 

The Empress of the Seas sailed for many years for Royal Caribbean. Then it was transferred to a cruise line Royal Caribbean owns in Europe. Now it is back, so this will not be the first time the Empress of the Seas has sailed for Royal Caribbean.

 

The ship is about 26 1/2 years old and is easily the smallest ship in Royal Caribbean's fleet. It is about 48,500 gross tons or about 1/5 the size of the Oasis of the Seas.

Edited March 9, 2016 by Cuizer2

[ntara]

I am not surprised at your experiences on the Getaway. We sailed on the Breakaway for two weeks in January. This was our sixth cruise with NCL and our second on the Breakaway, having sailed on her in 2014. In our opinion, service has deteriorated to the point where we will now take our cruise dollars elsewhere. We had a hard time getting drinks even when we tipped with CASH above and beyond the 18% (among numerous other issues). We don't expect perfection, but we work too hard for our money and there are many other cruise line choices. I think NCL lures passengers in with "freebies" to fill the ships, but cares less and less about customer satisfaction and retention. What a shame.

[hladygirl]

I am not surprised at your experiences on the Getaway. We sailed on the Breakaway for two weeks in January. This was our sixth cruise with NCL and our second on the Breakaway, having sailed on her in 2014. In our opinion, service has deteriorated to the point where we will now take our cruise dollars elsewhere. We had a hard time getting drinks even when we tipped with CASH above and beyond the 18% (among numerous other issues). We don't expect perfection, but we work too hard for our money and there are many other cruise line choices. I think NCL lures passengers in with "freebies" to fill the ships, but cares less and less about customer satisfaction and retention. What a shame.

 

Agree! The service has greatly lessened and decreased our cruise experience and we are now platinum and considering another line.