Probably our last NCL cruise

[woodley]

We have just returned from NCL jade South Africa and Namibia cruise.  In October we did the NCL Star cruise which was awful and had we not already booked this one would not have used NCL again.  However the Jade was a lot better, food was good as were the drinks and our cabin was great as were all the staff on board.  The entertainment was ok but nothing really stood out as being great.  

We had one port removed Durban with no explanation or return of port fees which seems to be a pattern with NCL now.  The spa prices which were always more expensive on board ship are now so high priced that I chose not to partake as were the minimums on the gambling tables.  These were two areas that we have always enjoyed but sadly now are out of our price range, the fun has gone and only serious gamblers would partake.

 

Shore excursions.....what can I say except the ones we did through the ship were awful.  One was a bus ride for 90 mins to shop at a gift shop area for one hour then a ride back to the ship 90 mins.  This was described as Kynsa at leisure a total waste of our money and time.  They also advertised one as a safari, snorkel and barbecue $399 each. We decided to get a private guide at this port and for £87.00 each did the exact same trip except we had lunch on our own (restaurant or snacks).  WE know we did the same trip as we followed them around.  We were in a very nice air conditioned van for most of the trip then on a safari jeep and pontoon boat for the rest of the tour.  

I know NCL supporters will jump on me but this post is to help others make informed decisions.  I was a loyal NCL customer but no more.  In my opinion they have cut back so much with all the little extras and priced some things so high, spa, gambling tables, shore excursion, specialty restaurants, drinks etc. that NCL is no longer the cruise line for me.

[cruiseat50]

So, which line will you try next?  I hope they work out better for you so that you can continue cruising.  If they are please come back here and tell us which line and why they are better.

 

[woodley]

4 minutes ago, cruiseat50 said:

So, which line will you try next?  I hope they work out better for you so that you can continue cruising.  If they are please come back here and tell us which line and why they are better.

 

We have one booked with MSC and one with Azamara.  Lets hope they are better.

 

[Seas2mountains]

52 minutes ago, woodley said:

We have one booked with MSC and one with Azamara.  Lets hope they are better.

 

MSC in Yacht Club or not? We just got off MSC Divina in YC last month. The areas outside of YC were packed and reviews posted by those not in YC make it sound like it was not a pleasant cruise due to the crowds, lines for food and the food quality. The reviews might be helpful to know what to expect. 
 

Was your last NCL cruise before your October cruise in 2010? That’s really a long time and I can imagine a lot changed in 12-13 years.  
 

 

[JT1962]

2 hours ago, woodley said:

We have one booked with MSC and one with Azamara.  Lets hope they are better.

 

I just got off the MSC Divina and loved it. It was my 4th MSC cruise in a year and 3rd on Divina since October. I was in. regular balcony and had no issues. The food, service and entertainment were good to excellent. Fastest boarding and debarkation I have had.

[njkate]

Unfortunately NCL current pricing is over the top imo as well. I’m on Dawn in March, then have a trans Atlantic booked for April 2024 that I may or may not take.

Unless you want to float around the Caribbean for a week deals are hard to come by.

Some of the cruises I checked what would get me a balcony room back in 2019 barely covers an inside. 
 

Yes I know covid, inflation blah blah blah but it’s time for me to really shop other lines.

[terry&mike]

3 hours ago, woodley said:

We have one booked with MSC and one with Azamara.  Lets hope they are better.

 

We tried Azamara in 2022, and loved it. Booked them again for September 2023, and are considering another one for November 2023.

We have an NCL cruise booked for March of this year, it's a rebook, but when it's done, I'm not sure of our future with NCL.  If you look at our cruise history in my signature, you can see we've sailed a lot on the mass market lines, but I think we are moving out of them.

[EllieinNJ]

Last year Carnival had it's 50th anniversary with a 50% off sale so I wound up booking five cruises (yeah, I know) one which I took in April and was pleasantly surprises how nice it was, two which are back to back in Europe this year and two which are side to side in California for 2024.  Now when I was looking to extend my time in California by adding on a RT Hawaii cruise, Carnival was more money than Princess and Celebrity. 

 

Last year I got a balcony on Royal Caribbean and this year it's double the price for the same ship, date and itinerary.  I couldn't find anything reasonable on NCL so in order to use up my two cruise next certificates I booked a short Bermuda trip.  But I didn't realize I was four days short of the 6 months so could only use one.  I might have to forfeit it if NCL's prices remain so high.

 

I'm now going to try MSC.  If I like it I might start using them more often because their prices are very reasonable compared to all of the mass market cruise lines.

[Diver2014]

So the OP didn't like the short excursions.  Reason to go to another cruise line?  Lotsa luck on finding something better since shore excursions are thru 3rd party vendors.  

[life is to be happy]

7 hours ago, njkate said:

Unfortunately NCL current pricing is over the top imo as well. I’m on Dawn in March, then have a trans Atlantic booked for April 2024 that I may or may not take.

Unless you want to float around the Caribbean for a week deals are hard to come by.

Some of the cruises I checked what would get me a balcony room back in 2019 barely covers an inside. 
 

Yes I know covid, inflation blah blah blah but it’s time for me to really shop other lines.

Yep fully agree …cruising has always been expensive but taking into account all that was included in the ones we have cruises with it ended up worth it but imo it’s just getting too expensive with all cruise lines … is it going back to holidays only for the rich ?

[Bruce Knight]

I was on this cruise with my mother and to be fair a couple of the ports options to do anything were pretty limited, there simply weren't well developed ports, and several were industrial in nature so not much of anything to walk around and look at that was close to the ship.  That being said, Cape Town where we started and finished was spectacular, and consider the trip worth it just for that port alone, it was that good.  

 

It was disappointing that Durbin was cancelled after we got on the ship with simply a sign on the shore excursions desk saying more or less "Durbin cancelled you will be refunded any Norweigan shore excursion purchases to your account" - no further explanation provided and no one to my knowledge got a straight answer when they asked.

 

They also cancelled Elements one of the two main shows that was at the end of the cruise with simply posting a sign at the theater entrance saying "technical difficulties" of something very vague.  The random employee posted at theater could provide no explanation.  This was poorly handled in my opinion - the cruise director  had been on stage every night before several days before that really touting this show as their signature show and to make sure we arrived early to get seats.  Please understand that we know that things like the above happen on cruises, but for the cruise director to not be there to explain or make a shipwide announcement (it's not like they don't make announcements several times each day) giving the passengers a full explanation to me just isn't how customers should be treated.

 

Had an awesome time regardless and honestly every employee I encountered or dealt with on a daily basis was fabulous and the pool deck and casino employees definitely took great care of me on a daily basis on the Jade, I certainly would happily cruise on the Jade again and the positives as a whole definitely outweighed the negatives.

 

 

[woodley]

23 hours ago, Seas2mountains said:

MSC in Yacht Club or not? We just got off MSC Divina in YC last month. The areas outside of YC were packed and reviews posted by those not in YC make it sound like it was not a pleasant cruise due to the crowds, lines for food and the food quality. The reviews might be helpful to know what to expect. 
 

Was your last NCL cruise before your October cruise in 2010? That’s really a long time and I can imagine a lot changed in 12-13 years.  
 

 

No it was NCL star october 2023.

[ziggyuk]

On 1/30/2023 at 8:28 AM, woodley said:

We have one booked with MSC and one with Azamara.  Lets hope they are better.

 

 

MSC are an excellent choice, being a family owned business the impacts of the pandemic are hardly noticeable on their product. With no shareholders to answer to, and owning the worlds largest shipping company they have continued without the cost saving cutbacks seen in all other lines.

[woodley]

This is good to hear ziggyyuk, have only been with MSC once before and it was excellent especially as we took our grandchildren and they had a blast in the kids club.  

[njkate]

16 hours ago, life is to be happy said:

Yep fully agree …cruising has always been expensive but taking into account all that was included in the ones we have cruises with it ended up worth it but imo it’s just getting too expensive with all cruise lines … is it going back to holidays only for the rich ?

Totally agree and until people stop cruising due to pricing it’s not going to change.

Haven don’t even get me started, how people in this economy can drop $20k on a cruise is beyond me, needless to say those days are over for me. 
 

Trans Atlantic’s because they need to get those ships to Europe used to be reasonable. I booked mine for 2024 when it first dropped, I look at the current pricing for that sailing and it would be a hard no.

[Cruise5life]

Just off an MSC cruise.  I tried it out because off all the bad reviews and had to see for myself.  
And before that was on NCL thought Panama for 15 days.   

MSC was the worsts cruise I’ve taken ever.    The crew was so uptight and not friendly at all.      
the entertainment was a joke   Nothing more than a high school variety show at best.   
the entertainment on my NCL cruise was some of the best I’ve seen.    

and now I’m on RC and so far the entertainment is amazing.     
after this cruise it will be 29 days at see.   
 

And I would never take another MSC cruise again.  
event for the low price I paid of 900 for a balcony.     
mot just wasn’t worth the bad food. Terrible entertainment and crew.    
 

my 1 Dayton RC blew my 7 days on MSC out of the water  

 

 

[7SeasLover]

Our last two cruises were in Haven 2-bdrm suites. While we love the Haven, we had a sewer door with the last cruise. We had crew in our stateroom on multiple days yet they could not fix this issue. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the 3 Haven decks and the staff and restaurant. 
 

My only complaint is that upon return, I wrote a letter describing our sewer issue. I never received a reply. That is what bothered me the most. Not a single word from NCL.
 

On that same cruise, a couple just a few doors down had standing water in their bathroom for 3 consecutive days. Also with crew working in their Haven suite almost constantly. NCL had some plumbing issues to be sure. 
 

We are cruising with NCL this August (Ireland, England, Scotland), but decided to sail back to NY on the Queen Mary II, just to get a taste of her. I’m not going to say I’m not cruising with NCL again, but I just want to say how disappointed I was to be ignored. Frankly, I love cruising too much to cut out any cruise line. And yes, the spa, while nice, is too pricey. 

[Markanddonna]

On 1/30/2023 at 3:28 AM, woodley said:

We have one booked with MSC and one with Azamara.  Lets hope they are better.

 

We are currently on a MSC B2B. So many cutbacks and things broken. No cups or glasses at times in the buffet. Lovely ships, hard working crew, but our NCL in November was much better. 

[DCGuy64]

On 1/30/2023 at 2:59 AM, woodley said:

We have just returned from NCL jade South Africa and Namibia cruise.  In October we did the NCL Star cruise which was awful and had we not already booked this one would not have used NCL again.  However the Jade was a lot better, food was good as were the drinks and our cabin was great as were all the staff on board.  The entertainment was ok but nothing really stood out as being great.  

We had one port removed Durban with no explanation or return of port fees which seems to be a pattern with NCL now.  The spa prices which were always more expensive on board ship are now so high priced that I chose not to partake as were the minimums on the gambling tables.  These were two areas that we have always enjoyed but sadly now are out of our price range, the fun has gone and only serious gamblers would partake.

 

Shore excursions.....what can I say except the ones we did through the ship were awful.  One was a bus ride for 90 mins to shop at a gift shop area for one hour then a ride back to the ship 90 mins.  This was described as Kynsa at leisure a total waste of our money and time.  They also advertised one as a safari, snorkel and barbecue $399 each. We decided to get a private guide at this port and for £87.00 each did the exact same trip except we had lunch on our own (restaurant or snacks).  WE know we did the same trip as we followed them around.  We were in a very nice air conditioned van for most of the trip then on a safari jeep and pontoon boat for the rest of the tour.  

I know NCL supporters will jump on me but this post is to help others make informed decisions.  I was a loyal NCL customer but no more.  In my opinion they have cut back so much with all the little extras and priced some things so high, spa, gambling tables, shore excursion, specialty restaurants, drinks etc. that NCL is no longer the cruise line for me.

Your cruise does sound somewhat disappointing, no doubt. I am sorry for that. You seemed to have outsmarted NCL by booking your own excursion at 87 quid apiece, so good on you! My wife and I have always wanted to do a safari, so one of these days, I hope we will. Apart from the excursions and the issue with the casino, were there some high points for you? Food, drink, your cabin, etc.? I really hope you took the time to complete NCL's post-cruise survey. We had a lovely cruise last month on the NCL Epic and while we were happy overall, there were 1-2 things we were unhappy about, so we brought them to the attention of staff onboard AND mentioned them in the survey. I always feel it's right to give a company the opportunity to improve by sharing my experiences. Personally, and without knowing you it's hard to say, but MSC is a great line for us and you may like it, as well. (We also like NCL a lot.) The Yacht Club is especially nice and, we feel, an excellent value. We just booked another cruise with them yesterday for next January. Hoping your next cruise is a better one, whichever line it may be on.

[Markanddonna]

The only thing we didn't like about the Epic was the bathroom layout. Otherwise, we were very pleased. It is always better to NOT take ship excursions.

[DCGuy64]

5 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

The only thing we didn't like about the Epic was the bathroom layout. Otherwise, we were very pleased. It is always better to NOT take ship excursions.

Yes, that bathroom layout was odd! We managed, and I will say we had more storage space than we knew what to do with. But there's a good reason they didn't build any more ships like that, and not just due to contract issues with the ship builder. We've had pretty good luck with ship excursions, actually. They tend to cost more, but there's always that "what if we don't get back to the ship on time" aspect that scares some people away from booking the independent ones.

[DCGuy64]

1 hour ago, Cruise5life said:

my 1 Dayton RC blew my 7 days on MSC out of the water  

Since when are there cruises from Dayton, OH? That's a new one on me!

[New2cruise2022]

The value of this kind of review is to gather feedback. When something is disappointing the eyes start to wander. We start looking at the grass elsewhere to see if it really is greener. A lower price tag can seem attractive until you enter the buffet and there are no glasses or plates available or the entertainment is lacking. 
 

The hope everyone seems to hold is that the cutbacks and disappointments are not industry wide. So passengers will give other lines a chance to see what the rest of the cruise world offers. 
 

For what it’s worth, there is a whole world competing for these vacation dollars. Apart from cruising, do land hotels and resorts (all inclusive or otherwise) have any pricing or amenities or service to win the war for those vacation dollars. 🤷🏿‍♂️ 

 

It’s impossible with time and money constraints for any one person to sample every offering. So we rely on the reviews and experiences of a community of others to understand where a particular line, like NCL, stacks up. 

[DCGuy64]

2 minutes ago, New2cruise2022 said:

It’s impossible with time and money constraints for any one person to sample every offering. So we rely on the reviews and experiences of a community of others to understand where a particular line, like NCL, stacks up. 

That's an excellent point. It's always a good idea, and maybe it's just me, but always put reviews (positive or negative) in perspective. Two people can be on the exact same sailing and come away with very different impressions. I read that a lot on the MSC forum, where someone trashed almost everything about his cruise and another passenger piped up and said "I was on the same cruise, and thought it was amazing." The satisfied or delighted rarely* bother to post reviews, but the angry are more likely to, which necessarily skews the view people get from reading them. Furthermore, there are things you have to contend with on a landbased vacation that don't apply to a cruise. If you go to Jamaica and there's an uprising or a spate of thefts, you have to leave. A cruise ship can just not dock or find a new port. Same with weather: if a bad storm system comes in, you just have to live with it. A ship can make a detour, and you can stay inside and enjoy the onboard activities regardless of the weather. I like all-inclusives a lot, but for me, cruising is superior.

 

*rarely as in there might be 4,000 passengers on one sailing, but only a handful will bother to write about it.

[vacation44]

1 hour ago, 7SeasLover said:

Our last two cruises were in Haven 2-bdrm suites. While we love the Haven, we had a sewer door with the last cruise. We had crew in our stateroom on multiple days yet they could not fix this issue. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the 3 Haven decks and the staff and restaurant. 
 

My only complaint is that upon return, I wrote a letter describing our sewer issue. I never received a reply. That is what bothered me the most. Not a single word from NCL.
 

On that same cruise, a couple just a few doors down had standing water in their bathroom for 3 consecutive days. Also with crew working in their Haven suite almost constantly. NCL had some plumbing issues to be sure. 
 

We are cruising with NCL this August (Ireland, England, Scotland), but decided to sail back to NY on the Queen Mary II, just to get a taste of her. I’m not going to say I’m not cruising with NCL again, but I just want to say how disappointed I was to be ignored. Frankly, I love cruising too much to cut out any cruise line. And yes, the spa, while nice, is too pricey. 

What NCL ship were you last on?   I agree, you should of had a reply to your letter. After spending $1000s I would not be too happy about the sewer issue.