The TERRIBLE State of Norwegian Cruise Line in 2024

[mking8288]

Rather to be derailed into making our personal critics of other vloggers on other platforms, whether we agree or disagree, dislike or like A vs. B over C or D ... let's stay on topic on the current state of NCL in 2024.  I choose to ignore comments and remarks made here selectively and don't bother to quote or respond to their views, it's easy & simple, really. 

 

I have some good news 🙄 to share, LOL ... a) my BIL got 2 CN Deposits back into his Sapphire account this morning, less than 48 hours or 2 days after calling in to cancel a booking with final payment coming up.  They voted and decided to not go with Bimini instead of Nassau, and yes - they have mobility issues in their mid/upper 70's ... otherwise in relatively good health.  b) as for NCL in 2025 - bargain cruise on sale.  If you have a NCL booking next March out of NY on the Escape, prices are dropping, faster than we can keep up in re-pricing them again, and again.  Club Balcony Suites for less than the "typical" prices of an Oceanview during "busier" weeks and this is for a 8 nights milky way itineary, round-trip out of NYC.  This isn't quite a mysterical cruise to somewhere yet, but with GSC - private island as 1 of the other 2 planned stops, success in tendering is always 50:50 or less since we are all waiting for ribbon cutting of the promised pier construction.  

 

News aren't all terrible, while certain itineraries and sailings are booked solid & sailing full, there is plenty of inventory across multiple cabins on a given sailing; and, for those that are strong supporters of NCL being a good, solid & trusty travel partner in upholding contracts.  These evolving changes can be a win-win.  Be mindful that early March is still officially winter in the Northeast, NYC included and not uncommon to experience delays, winter storms and even a late season blizzard ... subways underground and trains are sometimes the most reliable & more dependable option to get around.   Don't forget, buy your CFAR insurance, except of course, it is not available to residents in the State of NY unless you buy a different type of coverage directly & sold only thru NCL.  

 

Terrible, maybe not ... Well, another cancellation might be forthcoming soon - before final payment this time, fortunately.  The way to play this game, cancel and wait until final payment & penalty kicks in - I predict prices will drop or slide further south, strictly my own biased opinion ... unlikely to see NCL quickly filling up hundreds of berth in the next 2 weeks.  Wait, it is the one and only ship sailing in/out of NY this winter, I must be missing something by playing "Let it Ride" instead of "The Price is Right"  

 

Don't worry, no need to book anything at 125 days since ... B'day like theatrical entertainment isn't important to the contemporary demographics, whatever that means - probably can just walk in and without making any reservations.  More At Sea in 2025 ... Terrible, hmmm.  

[PATRLR]

On 10/25/2024 at 12:48 PM, periduncan said:

Ben and David, who pay for their own cruises

I've seen this posted a couple of times.  How do we know this to be true?  I'm not being argumentative here, I'd like to know.  I've assumed that most of these frequent vloggers were sailing at least partially on the cruise line's dime. 

I'm not a fan of B&D, I just don't like their style - their signal to noise ratio is just too low, IMO.  So maybe one of the vlogs explained/proved that they pay their own way - sorry if I missed it.

[UKstages]

yes, well, the good people of this forum will simply have to watch the videos to see them say they decline all "fam" trips and freebie cruises and to see the copies of receipts they offer up to show how much they paid for a particular cruise.  this cruise - the one they walked off - cost them £4500.  also, in this particular video, they show an email inviting them on a cruise in MSC's yacht club for free, but they explained that they turned the offer down because they wouldn't be able to offer honest opinions. indeed, as noted upthread, they show the terms of that offer that would have required them to hand over almost total creative control and rights to the resulting video, including MSC's insistence that they would create the title and captions for the video!

 

it's not that one of the vlogs explains that they pay their own way. it's pretty much that all of them do. when the good people of this forum ask "how do we know they pay their own way?" it is really an indication that those folks have watched virtually none of ben and david's videos.

 

and that's fine, we all have our favorite content creators. some of us watch no youtube cruise videos at all. nobody says you have to watch ben and david. but if the good people of this forum are going to critique and lambast ben and david, they should probably sit down, spend and hour or two and watch three or four videos. the good people of this forum lose all credibility when they start making outlandish accusations and misstatements of fact regarding what actually takes place in those videos.

 

you don't like their style? that's fine. you think the signal to noise ratio is off? that's fine, too. but it does make one wonder what it is that the good people of this forum really don't like. this was discussed upthread, too.

 

just don't go saying they're on the take, or question whether they are paid for their reviews, or that they created a hissy fit or that they claimed they were kicked off the ship or that they staged an encounter or that they were disruptive. even the staunchest critic of B&D would know those things are emphatically not true... if only they watched the video. 

 

Edited 10 hours ago by UKstages

[DorothyB]

and now YouTuber Don is also spreading the news of NCL's policy of changing ports / itineraries after final payment date.

[Menocchio]

Well, NCL and MSC fans can lay down their burdens. Ben and David have discovered Costa and declared that to be the new worst cruise line. 

There's something very fishy about their video. It's mostly about how bad the buffet is. There's only one other meal at the suite-only restaurant. No specialty dining and the Main Dining Room is dismissed with "and we've heard it's pretty bad too". You've heard? My dudes, you're the ones making the review. Go yourself and then you tell me. For that matter, try the specialty dining and then tell me if it's actually worth the cost. Why are you staying in a suite and then being budget conscious on your meals and activities? It's very valid to say the ship has too few things included, but in a review I'd also like to see the extras reviewed. Even more than the Epic reviews I think they went looking for a bad time and found it. Maybe there's going to be a third video in the series where they try those things but it doesn't sound like it.  

 

For an example of a better review, I'd like to offer this one from Fraser at Sea about the infamous Margaritaville at Sea Paradise:

It's also ultimately negative on balance, but he's not looking for a punching bag. He walks through the strengths and weaknesses of the ship and basically finds it better than its reputation, but probably still not a great value while there's comparable fares on newer ships from the likes of Carnival. Even with a really bad boarding experience, he's still pretty positive where it's deserved. It's fair, it's thorough, and I do not get the impressive he went in looking to tell a story he'd already decided on. 

[david_sobe]

I watched that last night and enjoyed it.  They were so miserable they were actually laughing about it.  I cannot imagine a cruise line that does not even offer pizza or burgers at the buffet.
No European cruises for me ever. No matter what the line all I hear about is the pushing and shoving.  No thank you.  I can get that in Miami, I don't need to go to Europe for that 🙈

[periduncan]

1 hour ago, Menocchio said:

Well, NCL and MSC fans can lay down their burdens. Ben and David have discovered Costa and declared that to be the new worst cruise line. 

There's something very fishy about their video. It's mostly about how bad the buffet is. There's only one other meal at the suite-only restaurant. No specialty dining and the Main Dining Room is dismissed with "and we've heard it's pretty bad too". You've heard? My dudes, you're the ones making the review. Go yourself and then you tell me. For that matter, try the specialty dining and then tell me if it's actually worth the cost. Why are you staying in a suite and then being budget conscious on your meals and activities? It's very valid to say the ship has too few things included, but in a review I'd also like to see the extras reviewed. Even more than the Epic reviews I think they went looking for a bad time and found it. Maybe there's going to be a third video in the series where they try those things but it doesn't sound like it.  

 

For an example of a better review, I'd like to offer this one from Fraser at Sea about the infamous Margaritaville at Sea Paradise:

It's also ultimately negative on balance, but he's not looking for a punching bag. He walks through the strengths and weaknesses of the ship and basically finds it better than its reputation, but probably still not a great value while there's comparable fares on newer ships from the likes of Carnival. Even with a really bad boarding experience, he's still pretty positive where it's deserved. It's fair, it's thorough, and I do not get the impressive he went in looking to tell a story he'd already decided on. 

They reviewed Costa because cruise sites like this one labeled them the worst. So did multiple other bloggers like Emma and Gary Benbridge.
 

One verbatim comment of Gary was “it’s cruising that’s very different from what Brits and Americans are used to and expect”.

 

Emma was less critical of having to pay for everything and the hour and a half the buffet was open at meal times (seriously?) and not being allowed to take food from the buffet (never heard of such a thing on 10 cruises on 4 other (American) lines, but Emma penny-pinches, which is not a criticism of her—it’s her business model. I watch her for what it is and she seems to be a sweet young woman. 
 

Clearly, many here dislike B and D’s business model. So don’t watch them. Some people here like the Cruising la Vida Loca couple; I don’t. Watched them for a year and they began to grate on me. That’s no reflection on them or those that like them. Some people like McDonald’s and others like Burger King. 
 

Happy Cruising all. Enjoy Costa if that’s your thing. It’s not mine. I love Carnival (and have been to the Med, Baltic, and Alaska on them) and some people on here hate it. So don’t book on it. Cheers. 

[periduncan]

3 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

I watched that last night and enjoyed it.  They were so miserable they were actually laughing about it.  I cannot imagine a cruise line that does not even offer pizza or burgers at the buffet.
No European cruises for me ever. No matter what the line all I hear about is the pushing and shoving.  No thank you.  I can get that in Miami, I don't need to go to Europe for that 🙈

It really is a cultural difference. I did the Med on Carnival when the Vista was on its 5th cruise post launch. The Southern Europeans weren’t bad, but I think it was because it was an American ship run with English-speaking culture.  But after all the vlogs I’ve seen of European lines, I will stick to Carnival, RC, NCL and the like. 
 

im going on a Danube cruise in April and am glad I chose a British line now. 

[UKstages]

geez, i dunno. i just watched the ben and david costa cruise lines video mentioned above. nothing seems fishy to me, except maybe the salmon david eats in the suite restaurant.  it seems pretty fair and reasonable to me. both the positive and negative points they make are corroborated by video "evidence" and nothing they say seems mean spirited or premeditated, as if they came gunning for costa. they do here what they do in all their videos... react to the products and service they've experienced. and they do it with a bit of fun and an acknowledgement that no matter how much inconvenience they may encounter, they are still quite privileged to be onboard enjoying a cruise. and that's the exact attitude i see expressed by many of the good people of this forum.

 

the forty minute review spends about six minutes on the buffet (in two sections), which seems reasonable. and the dudes are reviewing their suite experience onboard, which includes access to a special restaurant. the dudes therefore decided to eat many of their meals in that suite restaurant since they describe the rest of the ship as chaotic. i can't say i blame them. when i'm in the haven, i never eat in the MDR. 

 

i think it's good to remember that cruise vloggers review their experiences, what they've chosen to do onboard, eat onboard and so forth. if i were reviewing, you wouldn't see me mention anything about the spa or the sushi restaurants, or the race track... because i have no interest in those things. ben and david are under no obligation to review the MDR. should they get sick, just so they could review the medical center?

[david_sobe]

13 minutes ago, periduncan said:

It really is a cultural difference. I did the Med on Carnival when the Vista was on its 5th cruise post launch. The Southern Europeans weren’t bad, but I think it was because it was an American ship run with English-speaking culture.  But after all the vlogs I’ve seen of European lines, I will stick to Carnival, RC, NCL and the like. 
 

im going on a Danube cruise in April and am glad I chose a British line now. 

My boss got back from a Mediterranean cruise that started in Europe.  He is born and raised in Miami (rudest city in the USA) and all he could talk about was how rude everyone was.  He's 6' 215 solid guy and he said every day people pushed him out of the buffet line.  During sail away a guy turned to him and asked him where he was from.  When he said Miami, USA, the guy told him "You don't have cruises in your country?  You have to come here?"

Ben and David travel in Europe all the time and constantly say how rude people are especially the children.  All I hear from European cruises is how rude everyone is.  David's describing the yelling of the Italian guy to the staff and she back and forth even made me uncomfortable and I did not even hear it. 

[One More for the Road]

11 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

All I hear from European cruises is how rude everyone is.  David's describing the yelling of the Italian guy to the staff and she back and forth even made me uncomfortable and I did not even hear it.

 

It's only rude if it's not normal or expected. The fact that the crewmember was engaging in the back and forth should tell you all you need to know about how European cruise lines are different.

 

[UKstages]

david (of ben and david fame) also said it almost seemed like banter. 

 

there used to be a venerable restaurant in new york, the carnegie deli, a few blocks away from carnegie hall. it was known for two things... it's oversized sandwiches and it's, um, "seasoned" waiters. the waiters, most of whom had been working there for forty years or more, had attitude. it was sass and sensibility; it was new york pride mixed with yiddishkeit, mixed with the know it all sneer of an elderly new yorker who could not be bothered to  answer reasonable questions, albeit ones that had been posed to him thousands of times before.

 

sounds a lot like traveling through europe on a cruise on an italian cruise line.

[periduncan]

28 minutes ago, UKstages said:

david (of ben and david fame) also said it almost seemed like banter. 

 

there used to be a venerable restaurant in new york, the carnegie deli, a few blocks away from carnegie hall. it was known for two things... it's oversized sandwiches and it's, um, "seasoned" waiters. the waiters, most of whom had been working there for forty years or more, had attitude. it was sass and sensibility; it was new york pride mixed with yiddishkeit, mixed with the know it all sneer of an elderly new yorker who could not be bothered to  answer reasonable questions, albeit ones that had been posed to him thousands of times before.

 

sounds a lot like traveling through europe on a cruise on an italian cruise line.

New York is an interesting analogy. I spent the 1st 43 years of my life in CA and the subsequent 22 in VA, and had heard about the rudeness of New Yorkers. I’ve since been dozens of times and have never experienced what I thought was rudeness. 
 

Abrupt?  To the point?  No nonsense?  Yes. But not rude (and I’m sensitive to rudeness). In fact, everyone has been helpful and kind to me during my interactions. I’ve decided it’s just a personality…style?  
 

I even say this as a person who once got chewed out and my actions called idiotic while stuck in the line for the Lincoln Tunnel—because they were stupid and I was a fault. 😁. But after he vented and I apologized, it was done. 
 

(But I clearly never went to the Carnegie Deli!)

Edited 5 hours ago by periduncan

[PATRLR]

8 hours ago, UKstages said:

t's not that one of the vlogs explains that they pay their own way. it's pretty much that all of them do. when the good people of this forum ask "how do we know they pay their own way?" it is really an indication that those folks have watched virtually none of ben and david's videos.

Not necessarily.  I have indeed watched quite a few of them.  But, as stated, I find their SNR to be too low and if they started going on about how much they paid, I'd be skipping over that nonsense for sure. That's the problem with them, I found myself skipping over too many sections which just isn't enjoyable.  If I did happen to hear them talking about what they paid, I'd still be suspicious and probably dismiss if from my memories as BS.  

But thank you for answering my question:  We know because they told us.  

Edited 2 hours ago by PATRLR