First & last NCL cruise

[Desert_ Dweller]

What graphicguy just said.🥰

 

We just got off the Star in Rio.  We had missed ports and all, it was still a great trip with so many new  faces and now new friends.  (If only our old friends had joined us. )

[G-DawgMN]

But how were the ports?

 

 

[dhanakorn]

I was on the cruise before the OP's leaving from Rio and the food on this particular cruise has not up to the usual NCL standard. I was on Star this summer and the food during the cruise to Norway was significantly better (in terms of taste and options) than the cruise in South America. 

 

The cruise director is british and she has certain way of doing things. I found her not as entertaining as other CDs I've experienced. I've been on many cruises with NCL and usually never make a complaint. The experience while on board the Star on this particular cruise would rank bottom on my list.

 

The inconsistency is what most people don't like. 

 

 

[itsnotjustme]

8 hours ago, Obobru said:

I am wondering what people think is good about them? 

Sorry you had some less than fantastic experiences.  I have only had minor issues across 12 NCL cruises, and generally they have been corrected.

 

What I find good about NCL:

 

1. Itineraries
2. Food Including: Breakfast Buffet, Lunch Buffet with fresh hot pizza, O'Shehans, Jasmine, MDR, Cagney's, Le Bistro, Los Lobos, La Cuccina
3. Free at Sea: Specialty meals, WiFi, Shore Ex $50 credit, Drink Package
4. Relaxed style: Dress code, dining times
5. Entertainment: Shows, music, karaoke, trivia, not so newlywed game
6. 10% Military Discount
7. Value

[ChiefMateJRK]

Louis Rizon shocked me with this on our cruise a month ago.  Don't miss Louis.  He's currently on holiday, but will next appear on the Escape.

 

 

Edited January 7 by ChiefMateJRK

[nimbex1970]

I sailed my first NCL in Nov. on the Sky of all ships and loved it!  I like NCL for the ports, pricing, and casual experience. We experienced excellent service, even in the buffet, where we did NOT like the food.  For NCL, I found that I am a pay for upscale dining gal for dinner.  Other than that, I've found a new line that I will and have booked again!  

 

[mistertomatoe]

Loyalty implies that I will sail with them no matter what and that's not the case. I try to get the lowest price possible and I don't pay the daily service charge until I get onboard. I will absolutely not risk paying too much for an NCL cruise unless I can stack a few discounts (CruiseFirst/Next, Amex offer, myVEGAS, Shareholder OBC, etc.) I've been disappointed too many times and I try to buffer myself. Something negative usually happens and if it's big enough I go NUCLEAR and take off the daily service charge. It's been happening more lately and that's what my relationship with NCL has devolved too. I still am willing to try different ships and itinerary as long as I can get the cheapest price possible. I definitely have much lower expectations than when I started.

[cruisersMandW]

I'm sorry you experienced this.  My first NCL cruise almost 25 years ago on the Wind was similar.  I thought that was it for NCL.  But then one cold winter we were enticed back by a great deal and had a wonderful cruise.  So here we are platinum heading to sapphire.  There are things we're still not always happy about- we learned the hard way that the large ships like Getaway don't suit us, and the food can be hit or miss.  But we've also had some great experiences along the way- especially on the Sun for a transatlantic and last Christmas on the Pearl.  Hope your next cruise, on whatever line you choose is a winner. 

[Beer Belly]

We had a less than satisfactory experience on the Getaway in 2022, even worse on the Prima in 2023, this year we're giving Royal a go in April, do have NCL to Alaska later this year, unless Royal truly impresses.

[happy cruzer]

Perhaps you expected too much from a main stream line?  All the main stream lines except celebrity allow smoking in the casino.  Also they all tend to have inferior beef in complimentary restaurants.  Smaller ships have fewer choices for entertainment;  some would prefer the options you had.

 

ncl tends to be favoured by cruisers who like the casual/freestyle environment including the many specialty restaurants.

Edited January 7 by happy cruzer

[Obobru]

21 hours ago, Candy Apple 12 said:

Which ship? 

 

If you have sewer smells from the bathroom drain, pour water into the drain. 

It was the Star. We covered over the floor drain and bought some air freshener as the room attendant has none which seemed odd. The smell always came back it was a problem in some other rooms from talking to others. 

[Obobru]

21 hours ago, Asawi said:

I'm also curous about which ship this was. Star? Some (but not all) of the complaints remind me of things I saw/experienced on Star.
Not all ships are the same. I  sailed Spirit, Star and Gem during 2023. Of them Star was my least favourite. Still OK for me, but I'm glad my transatlantic was on Gem. I will sail Star again because she is on some seriously good itineraries. I will come prepared and not with too high expecations. Hoping to be pleasantly surprised. (And having travelled on her before I know what to look for food-wise)

Yes it was the Star. We went on it because we wanted to see Antarctica which was stunning but it was Xmas and New Year and expensive so expected better. 

[Obobru]

20 hours ago, julig22 said:

As a solo traveler, the cost is more affordable.  I cruise for the itinerary, not the shows, food or drink - and NCL offers better itineraries IMHO.

I took a 14-day Antarctica cruise on the Star from Buenos Aires last year - and I am considering a similar cruise in the future. The on-board guides (biologist, geologist & historian) were excellent, with multiple daily programs and play-by-play commentary while we were cruising in Antarctica. I have no idea how other cruiselines would do on the same itinerary.  

 

So to address some of your comments-

No, there probably won't be a comedian on a ship that departs from Buenos Aires, as English isn't the first language for many passengers and comedy shows don't translate well. 

Not sure where in Antarctica the ship could re-provision? WiFi isn't going to be good in remote parts of the world - not sure how much difference the planned upgrade to Starlink will make.

Did it occur to you that the "drill" might not have been a drill? I've been on 20+ NCL cruises and never had a drill while all passengers were onboard (except the old muster drills). You go to your room before you're told it's ready, complain it's not ready and then expect a pleasant response from someone trying to get thousands of passengers onboard? Refunds for missed ports is a much-discussed topic, you are never guaranteed a refund, due to the way they ESTIMATE fees years in advance.

I can't speak to tendering, our stop in Stanley was cancelled at the last minute (tenders went to dock, weren't able to dock due to weather) - but I had a NCL excursion booked, so had no need to wait for tickets.

 

Good luck finding a cruiseline that meets all your requirements. NCL works for me.

That's for the detailed post. 

 

I do agree they have some good itineraries, I wish other cruise lines would step up on that front. 

 

I would estimate 70% of guests were English speakers so comedy, visual magic, etc could have been offered. We have been on cruises all around the world and it's a basic of entertainment so I don't agree on that point. 

 

The ship could have been restocked in Ushuaia, 3 other ships were taking on stock and we were informed by one of the very good Antarctica speakers that 50 cruise ships of various sizes are in Antarctica this season! They just didn't want to pay as apparently it does cost more to load food there. 

 

The drill was a dill, not sure if I didn't make that clear but it was repeated 20 or so times over 2 hours. The crew were saying to us that they also found it stupid doing it when the ship was full and at sea, some crew said openly that the captain is a bit of a idiot. 

 

Again maybe you are not reading what I wrote I went to the room when crew were opening the doors to the corridors and telling people "the rooms are now ready" the clue is in what they said. You are making excuses for rudeness, not sure why you think being rude is acceptable when I just asked simply if someone could come and vacuum the room when they had time as it hadn't been cleaned the simple response is "sorry it must have been missed I will have someone come this afternoon" easy peasy. 

 

And yet again you have selective reading, a letter for a missed port is standard as people with missed port insurance need a letter stating the port missed, date, reason. It's really not that hard to understand or to supply. 

 

I am glad NCL works for you, you seems to defensive of them it's almost like work for them. 

[Obobru]

20 hours ago, yakcruiser said:

Don't judge all the NCL ships by what you experienced on the Star. The Star is developing quite a reputation. I was on a 15 day cruise last April with no sea days but the limited time I was onboard I noticed it wasn't on par with the rest of the fleet. Too bad because it was my favorite ship many years ago.

Thanks for the feedback, glad to hear it's more of a ship issue than a company issue. We did meet a family on the last day who have been on a few NCL cruises and said they had some many problems some the same as ours, they did say it wasn't typical. 

[Obobru]

20 hours ago, david_sobe said:

The Star never got great reviews.  An Antartica cruise is not a fair judgment of a cruise line.  The ships are smaller and its expensive.  I am still jealous because I can only dream about sailing to Antartica. 

Antarctica was truly amazing, we were so lucky with the weather. I hope one day your dream comes true and you get to see it, even if it is on the Star 😉

[Obobru]

19 hours ago, yakcruiser said:

We had a young lady from Serbia as the internet manager in April. She seemed a little grumpy at first but after using the computer next to her desk for about 30 minutes I understood why. What a bunch of rude, entitled and demanding passengers!

I can imagine they do get some people like this, we did see rude customers shouting towards servers in some restaurants and I can imagine with all the internet problems some people go crazy at them but they just seemed to be refunding most people packages from what we heard but that's no excuse for him being rude to people who weren't being rude to him. 

[KKB]

@Obobru

If that had been my 1st NCL experience that would give me pause too.

BUT I know that in any chain (cruise, airline, hotel, etc), there can be a situational snag.

Sailed MSC in Feb & didn't love it...gave it a go again before I decided not my thing.

(many reviews supported my opinion...not a situational thing)

 

We have ONLY sailed Breakaway class on NCL & I don't think we would like any thing "less"

We have sailed most mainstream lines & like NCL (Breakaway class) as well as any others.

We find that even lines are not consistent within themselves.

There are things we love about various ships on various lines (and always things we wish we could change)--if only we could take the best of each ship & put it all on one!

 

My advice--give it a try on a different itinerary & better class of ship before passing judgement as to whether NCL is right for you.

[KKB]

2 minutes ago, Obobru said:

I can imagine they do get some people like this, we did see rude customers shouting towards servers in some restaurants and I can imagine with all the internet problems some people go crazy at them but they just seemed to be refunding most people packages from what we heard but that's no excuse for him being rude to people who weren't being rude to him. 

100%.

The further you get from the equator, the less likely satellite internet is going to be reliable.

But the rude crew member--HE is the problem, not NCL.

[Obobru]

16 hours ago, complawyer said:

 

while i feel bad that you spent all that money and had a lousy time/experience, if you decide never again to sail ncl, while i'm sure they'll be devastated,(sarcasm intentional) im also sure they'll quickly get over it. 

 

I don't expect they will give a toss but with their stock oke of the worst performers this week and endless lines of people complaining at the guest service desk every single day it does seem to indicate an issue. People here say it's a Star problem rather than an NCL problem overall. 

[schmoopie17]

1 minute ago, Obobru said:

I don't expect they will give a toss but with their stock oke of the worst performers this week and endless lines of people complaining at the guest service desk every single day it does seem to indicate an issue.

The stock went down because there were people complaining at the Guest Services desk? If that were the case, the stock would be at zero. People line up at Guest Services to complain on every cruise (yes, including me).

 

I bought the stock a few weeks ago at $12.90. In the next two weeks it shot up to over $21.00. Yes, it had a bad week but it currently sits at $17.80. Not too bad...

[ChiefMateJRK]

6 minutes ago, Obobru said:

with their stock oke of the worst performers this week

Are you suggesting that the stock dropped because of widespread problems such as yours?

 

ETA: looks like Schmooper beat me to it.

Edited January 7 by ChiefMateJRK

[Obobru]

15 hours ago, KSSS2013 said:

But how were the ports?

 

 

Punta Arenas missed 

Montevideo lovely but it was a Sunday so quiet 

Stanley total mess with the tenders 6 hours to get everyone off and last tender was 2 half hours late 

Punta del Este again tenders a disaster and such a short time in port. 

 

[Obobru]

2 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Are you suggesting that the stock dropped because of widespread problems such as yours?

 

ETA: looks like Schmooper beat me to it.

Nope but it indicates a problem. The guest services was the worst I have seen on any cruise, mainly internet problems, food, and port issues due to the awful handling of those. We never complained as it's pointless as someone on the desk can't fix the port tenders we will feedback to head office. 

[Obobru]

Thanks everyone for your feedback both positive and negative. It seems to be the consensus that the Star is the ugly duckling with issues but since we are not loyal to any line we will try a few more and maybe try them on a different itinerary a few years. 

 

Hope you all enjoy your future cruises be it on NCL or not. 

[lacabina]

I completed a voyage of 18 nights from Lisbon to Brazil 12/12/23. I am Sapphire on NCL. I’m willing to kick my status to the curb after this trip. The food was generally awful. The first 5 days we were on balsamic vinegar rations, I bought my own at the grocery and offered to buy some for ship. The breakfast and lunch buffets were dismal. Rarely found berries at breakfast, never salmon. Salad at lunch might have a sprig of arugula or spinach here or there, mostly romaine, never radicchio. On day 2 I asked to speak with food and beverage director, he never responded. I’ve lost count as to the number of NCL cruises I’ve taken. Without a doubt I’m certain this one was my last.