Norwegian Wind really that bad?

[paulabr]

We booked a cruise on the Norwgian for Jan of 07, but everything I read on this ship is terrible? Has anyone had a good time on this ship?:confused: How can A ship be that bad and stay in service?

[newcruisers2]

We booked a cruise on the Norwgian for Jan of 07, but everything I read on this ship is terrible? Has anyone had a good time on this ship?:confused: How can A ship be that bad and stay in service?

 

We sailed on the Wind to Alaska May 7-14/06 and had a wonderful time. I guess it all depends on your expectations. We didn't have any ...our main goal was to go and have a wonderful vacation ...which we did. The ship is older and smaller than some of the others(this was our first cruise so nothing to compare it to) but we loved the charm of it. Sure, it was a bit of a chore getting around on some decks...having to navigate around the Stardust theatre, but that was half the fun. You get to explore! We read all of the negative reviews (the few we could find) and decided not to pre judge. The food was fine...the service was great...staff was ever so friendly. I don't know what more one could ask for...so my advice is to go and " you be the judge";) Have a great trip!

[LFM]

We haven't sailed on the Wind, but we did a 10 day on the Spirit and was great.

[Des1996]

We sailed on the Wind in Dec. '05 & had a great time! The crew & service was great! I was a little leary after reading a lot of negative reviews, but had a wonderful time. It is an older, smaller ship, but the crew was always cleaning, varnishing or painting to keep her looking nice.

[hotspur]

We've sailed the Wind's twin, the Dream, twice and enjoyed both cruises very much. No, you won't come home and boast about how your ship had a bowling alley or a skating rink or gimballed billiards tables or a climbing wall or an umpteen-story atrium, but you'll have a very comfortable ship with attractive cabins and public areas as well as much more open deck space than newer ships which use almost every inch of outside space for balconied cabins. The Wind and Dream also offer much more intimate dining rooms with lots of window expanses to enjoy Alaska views.

[Planer's Edge]

We booked a cruise on the Norwgian for Jan of 07, but everything I read on this ship is terrible? Has anyone had a good time on this ship?:confused: How can A ship be that bad and stay in service?

 

Saying that a ship is terrible is just wrong without examples. We have sailed the Wind twice and had wonderful cruises. Now I could compare her to the Jewel and make it sound like she was a garbage scow. Or compare her to the Crown and make them both sound like exquisite sailing vessels.

 

She is older and not designed for the "freestyle" model of cruising, but they are doing their best. The crew is pure NCL on this and all of the older ships. This is their home and they welcome you with open arms.

 

PE

[kamfan]

My wife and I sailed to Alaska June 4-11,2006 on the Wind for our first cruise and found it quite enjoyable. We are people that do not let any little annoyance ruin our good time, and did notice that the ship could be fun to get around on as said before, especially around the Stardust, and the Four seasons, but still found it quite nice. I imagine after looking at other ships that are newer, bigger and have more of everything, you could be dissapointed with the Wind, but we found nothing lacking from the experience. We found the crew extremely nice and very hardworking (I am glad I don't have to work that hard) and found the food to be very enjoyable as well. Never found a menu without something we wished to try and never tried anything we did not find up to our expectations. I can see how others have said the portions may not be up to their expectations. but with all the courses we could not have eaten anymore if we tried, and we are very big eaters. The entertainment was enjoyable and they worked hard to get the crowds into the acts as well. One of my favorite things about the ship, is that there was always a quite spot we could sit and just enjoy time together. If your goal is have a new, big, flashy ship, then the Wind is not for you. If you just want a nice ship to get you where you are going with good people and good food, then the Wind is for you.

[cruzeluver]

Here is how I look at reviews:

 

Are the issues somebody has with something I care about, and is the person stating a fact or an opinon.

 

For example, I could care less if the children's program is any good as I don't have any kids. I don't care if the booze is over-priced as I don't drink.

 

Now food I do care about! If the reviewer says the food was bad, I ignore that because it is their opinon. If they say there were no lobsters offered that would concern be, because they are stating a fact (unless they are just making stuff up because they were already unhappy).

 

Also look at the overall tone of the review. If it starts with "I have previously only sailed with XYZ cruiseline, but my wife made me try NCL" I know this won't be good. Or if they have absolutely nothing positive to say, then they are probably just one of those people who are never happy.

 

Look at reviews for other ships. Pick one of the newest, most innovative ones out there, and you will find plenty of negative reviews.

 

Now search for one of the oldest ships afloat. One with tiny cabins, few amenities and little to do onboard. Betcha can still find people who love it.

 

Guess what I'm saying is don't worry about it. Go, and have a wonderful time. NCL is one of the best lines out there IMO. They would not continue to sail a ship that cannot meet the expectations of most of its passengers.

[jimc_usa]

We sailed the Wind in October 2003 and had a fabulous time! But we are older folk and do not party. There weren't a lot of children, more people our age. I am easily pleased, and old enough to accept a few inconsistances.

[Druke I]

We sailed on the Norwegian Wind, when she was still the Windward, and thought her a "tidy smaller ship".

 

We sailed on her sister, Norwegian Dream, (former Dreamward) after the stretch and thought the ship somewhat crowded with a poor traffic flow.

 

I don't think either ship was well-served by the stretching, and they were obviously not designed with Freestyle Cruising in mind.

[browniegirl]

Hi there, we also are thinking of booking a 10 day hawaiian cruise on the Wind at the end of January next year. We have 5 kids and are bringing parents and grandparents as well. I am a little concerned, as is the original poster, about the reviews, I have sailed on NCL's Sun ship and it was beautiful as well as Princess. Does anybody have any tips of taking the kids on this ship and to Hawaii and does anybody know what the weather would be like at that time, do you think the caribbean would be better suited for us for a hot holiday? Thanks in advance!!!!:)

[Carey and Kerry]

We have sailed on the Wind twice; first in a balcony stateroom the first week they converted to Freestyle and just recently in an Owner's Suite. Both times, we felt the service (both room and food) were good. There are beautiful views in the dining rooms and lots of places to just sit and visit with other passengers or alone. No, there is not a lot of glitz with this ship and yes, finding your way can sometimes be a challenge, but there is a warm comfortable feeling about this ship and the staff that made us feel welcome both times. I am sorry it will be leaving the fleet and wish we had the opportunity to sail on it again one more time.

[NCmom]

We sailed on the Wind June of 2005, and had a great cruise. We were in a Cat F on the 4th floor with two portholes, and loved it. I thought the food in the dining rooms was much better than the food on our RCCL Radiance. The portions were smaller, but that allowed me to enjoy each course. Just about every staff person I interacted with was very friendly. We were able to get the same waitress for 4-5 nights, and really enjoyed her. We ate earlier than on most cruises (since we were east coasters, our time clock never fully adjusted). I did see some areas of the ship that showed age, but overall I thought it was a wonderful trip.

 

Loved Hawaii, and Fanning Island. I have no hesitancy in recommending this cruise.

[Planer's Edge]

We have sailed on the Wind twice; first in a balcony stateroom the first week they converted to Freestyle and just recently in an Owner's Suite.

 

Are you sure about being on the Wind? The only balconies on the Wind are Owners suites. There are no "balcony staterooms" on the Wind.

 

PE

[TylerMan]

Are you sure about being on the Wind? The only balconies on the Wind are Owners suites. There are no "balcony staterooms" on the Wind.

 

PE

We sailed the Wind 5/28/06 to Alaska and we had a balcony cabin and it was not an owner's suite. Our cabin number was 8010.

[Planer's Edge]

Were those balconies always there??? I am losing my mind, I thought there were no balconies on this ship until the stretch. And we sailed her twice. :confused:

 

My apologies to Carey and Kerry. :eek:

 

PE

 

Found the deck plans...are those balconies sort of enclosed???

[ronheg]

We sailed on the Wind in April 2006. We will not do it again. The things we did not like were: 1. The promenade deck had a terrible sewage odor for about 1/3 of the deck. We really, really enjoy walking for several miles on the deck and we couldn't do it because of the smell. We did our walking on the pool deck which was much more crowded and not as long.

 

2. There were issues with plumbing on the boat. Once we had no running water or toilets on the boat (except for the toilets near the reception desk) for 3 or 4 hours.

 

3. On several days, the crew had hundreds of feet of black snakes out on the deck trying to repair something. It looked and smelled gross.

 

4. The gym is totally inadequate. Most of the equipment was broken and what still worked was 3 treadmills and 4 bikes. This is not enough for 2000 people. I had to get up at 5am and often had to wait for a treadmill.

 

We have been on other NCL ships and they are wonderful. Why cruise on the Wind when there are better ships at the same location?

 

I will say the crew of the Wind was excellent and tried their best to make the cruise a good one.

[TylerMan]

Were those balconies always there??? I am losing my mind' date=' I thought there were no balconies on this ship until the stretch. And we sailed her twice. :confused:

 

My apologies to Carey and Kerry. :eek:

 

PE

 

Found the deck plans...are those balconies sort of enclosed???[/quote']

I forgot the Wind was stretched. We saw the pictures of the "old" Wind on the ship and the balconies may very well have been added after the stretch. The balconies were enclosed and a little small but we enjoyed sitting out there so much while cruising Alaska.

[electricron]

I forgot the Wind was stretched. We saw the pictures of the "old" Wind on the ship and the balconies may very well have been added after the stretch. The balconies were enclosed and a little small but we enjoyed sitting out there so much while cruising Alaska.

 

 

From this before and after stretching photo, the balcony cabins have always been there, one deck above the Promenade Deck.

[paulabr]

We thanks all of you that gave us good advice and reveiws now we are looking forward to the wind, we have never had a bad cruise, Just was a little shaken by what we had read. This will be our first on NCL.

Thanks again:)

[spirit rev]

We sailed the Wind over New Year’s 2005-2006. As this was our first cruise we have nothing to compare it with. Others in our party had cruised before and found the Wind to be very good.

Here are some of the things I liked about the Wind.

*The challenge of finding new ways around the ship.

*The lack of rock climbing walls, bowling alleys and other similar entertainment.

*A friendly, caring crew, although the servers responsible for bar service could have been slightly more attentive at meals to those in our party who had soda cards.

*The chance to try food prepared in ways I would not prepare it at home or probably go to restaurants that would. (I really enjoyed the chicken stuffed with shrimp mousse in LeBistro.)

*The four days at sea and visit to Fanning Island. (Yes, we did spend New Year's Day on Fanning Island. I hope to go back there some day.)

*The Hawaiian culture interpreter and lei making workshops on sea days. I heard several comment about the hula classes being very good also.

*The butler bringing coffee every morning without reminding or reordering. (We were in a deck 8 Penthouse suite.)

*A wide variety of activities—low and high energy—available on sea days.

*The “homey” feeling of the ship that really allowed me to relax, unwind and renew.

We did not have the maintenance problems a April 2006 sailing had or even the problems reported on the two sailings before ours. Hopefully its spring dry dock cleared up those problems. So far, I haven't read about these problems on the Alaskan cruises.

[Imagineer]

...speaking of the Wind, since we are taking her north in just two months, I've been periodically taking peeks at the bridge camera shots. Today shows her in Ketchikan, she appears to be in the middle of the harbor whereas HAL and Princess are tied up alongside. This also appears to be the scenario in each of the ports she stops at on this cruise. Is this the case? I also did a comparison of the durations spent in each port and notice the other ships spend longer times in each stop. So I guess my concern is how much time is involved in having to tender each passenger to a dock as opposed to be tied alongside. Seeing that the Wind spends less time there and more time getting on and off, this equals less time for shore excursions...

...does anyone have some recent experence they can share with regards to this?

 

cheers,

 

the Imagineers

upcoming NCL cruise on the Wind - Aug 27/06

upcoming Oceania cruise on the Insignia - Apr 28/07

[sweetpea-2]

We booked a cruise on the Norwgian for Jan of 07, but everything I read on this ship is terrible? Has anyone had a good time on this ship?:confused: How can A ship be that bad and stay in service?

 

I think it depends on your expectations....I usually believe little of what I hear until I form my own opinion....I go on a cruise to simply have a great time period....so if that's your mind set you'll be fine..

[TylerMan]

...speaking of the Wind, since we are taking her north in just two months, I've been periodically taking peeks at the bridge camera shots. Today shows her in Ketchikan, she appears to be in the middle of the harbor whereas HAL and Princess are tied up alongside. This also appears to be the scenario in each of the ports she stops at on this cruise. Is this the case? I also did a comparison of the durations spent in each port and notice the other ships spend longer times in each stop. So I guess my concern is how much time is involved in having to tender each passenger to a dock as opposed to be tied alongside. Seeing that the Wind spends less time there and more time getting on and off, this equals less time for shore excursions...

...does anyone have some recent experence they can share with regards to this?

 

cheers,

 

the Imagineers

upcoming NCL cruise on the Wind - Aug 27/06

upcoming Oceania cruise on the Insignia - Apr 28/07

We took the Wind to Alaska on 5/28/06. We docked at all ports, Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. I remember only one other ship (Princess) in port at Ketchikan so maybe we were able to dock because there were only two ships in port that day. This is just a guess. I have to agree that the time in Ketchikan and Juneau was very short. We did not have any time to shop or walk through town after our Ketchikan and Juneau excursions.

[mel31]

paulabr,

 

DW and I were on the April 30th cruise. We had a wonderful time. Good food, good company, fantastic crew! I had also read some reviews and comments that made me think about it. Looking back, we made the right decision. One thing though that really bothered me.....

 

I think I was on the deck 9 bow observation area. I turned around to look up into the bridge and, low and behold, saw a pair of fuzzy dice hanging in the window right there for inquiring minds to see.

 

This inquiring mind tried for the rest of the cruise to find out the story behind them. All crew members I asked smiled and said they either didn't know, or wouldn't say. Finally, one crew member said it had something to do with a senior crew member (and companion) in a certain port but would go no further.

 

 

If those dice are still there, see if they will tell you about them.

 

Have a great cruise!