Pros and Cons of NCL

[bulgargirl]

I've noticed a lot of people come here just to bash on NCL and what a horrible time they had. And some people here clearly love NCL and think NCL can do no wrong. Obviously, both sides have reasons for their opinions. :)

 

I was just wondering if people could list some of their concrete, specific reasons for their opinions?

 

What makes NCL great?

 

Did you hate your trip? Think service was poor? What specifically was poor about the service?

 

I'm just trying to get a well-rounded picture of what the pluses and minuses of my cruise might be! I'm excited!!!!!! I want to accentuate NCL's strengths and avoid it's weaknesses (:eek: )while I'm on the ship, if at all possible.

 

Thanks for any info!

[MidtheNight]

The newer "built for Freestyle" ships are wonderful dining experiences with a lot of variety and I love NCL for that reason.

[ute_fan]

Interesting questions. For me, that main advantages of NCL are due mostly to the aspects of freestyle cruising. I really didn't want to cruise at first, and here were my objections:

 

1) I wasn't comfortable leaving my kids. That has nothing to do with the cruiseline, and would have been solved by internet communication with any line. It was also helped that they were older teens by the time DH finally got me to go.

 

2) I don't own a formal dress. I didn't want to spend the money for a formal dress that I'd only wear once. NCL is a perfect fit for me when it comes to freestyle dressing.

 

3) I didn't want to eat at an assigned time, with assigned tablemates. I have a slight hearing loss, and am not comfortable making "small talk" with strangers. Our family has never had a set schedule, and it would drive me batty to have to be at the dinner table at a certain time each night. Again, NCL with freestyle dining to the rescue.

 

As far as service issues, we've never had any, in 3 cruises with NCL. We do tend to "tweak" freestyle a little bit. If we find a waiter that we really enjoy, we normally ask to be seated in his/her area most nights. That may have helped with the service issues, but it also helps because they do get to know your personal requests. Drink sodas -- they come right over. Want a fruit and cheese plate? Delivered as soon as they saw us come in. I did notice on our last cruise that it definitely takes longer if you have a larger party. We dined some nights with 4 of us, and some nights with 8. The nights we dined with 8, we were later getting done with dinner, but that same thing would probably happen in any restaurant. Not everyone inhales their food as fast as my family :rolleyes: .

 

We've never had problems at all with our room not being cleaned. Note, however --- these were all NCL cruises, not NCLA. I'm not certain that same standard always works there. Our stewards were not always visible, but our room was always clean. Our first cruise, we saw her periodically, but she wasn't extremely friendly. It may have been a language issue, as she was from one of the Eastern European countries. We hardly ever saw the ones on the Sun, our second cruise. Our last cruise included a marvelous steward, who knew our names, was always in the hallway and greeted us, and gave us absolutely excellent service.

 

As far as waiting to be seated, on formal night for our first cruise, we did have to wait for about 15 or 20 minutes, for a party of six. Our last cruise, we had asked to be seated in a specific area. They were unable to accomodate us without an hour wait, but were able to seat us immediately in the other dining room. The rest of the time, we've never had a wait. We tend to eat fairly early -- around 6 PM, so that may help.

 

For us, freestyle is the only way we currently choose to cruise. Does it work well for everyone? No, definitely not, but we'd have a really hard time cruising on a traditional line.

[ce2000]

My biggest disappointment with NCL (Jewel Dec 05) was the quality of lunch and dinner in the main dinning rooms. Breakfast in these dinning rooms was very good. Dinner in Gagney's Steak House was very good. We also had trouble with the toilet in our cabin, everything else was very satisfactory.

[AmberTeka]

I loved the Jewell. My husband and I cruised on NCL when they had two boats out of Miami. They were little, had few if any stabilizers but we had the time of our lives. He was in the Coast Guard and I don't--or did not---get sea sick in rough weather!

Then daughter came--The House of the Mouse (which I love) was our destination for many years when summer came around. Now daughter is grown and we went on the Jewel.

I liked the passengers. Many were Brits or Scottish and they were good fun fellow passengers. I liked the activities. I liked the decor. The ship was clean, clean. My husband and I ate alone and it was romantic. And I have never dined with a group on any cruise where I found them unpleasant--but it was romantic and we are quite old.

The food was the best I have ever had on any cruise ship. We eat early so we took advantage of 'Happy Hour" where surcharges were reduced by half--don't know if they still do that--Mama's Italian Kitchen was my favorite but I like them all. And we ate in all of them except the Japanese Restaurant. ChinChin was my husband's favorite. Mamas, Tangos (ribs, mac and cheese,Blue Lagoon which had the BEST hamburger I have ever had on any cruise ship are all Free. Cagney's when half price is $10 per person and well worth that. Le Bistro came with a potato on top of the filet migon. DH and I are not exotic diners. He asked the waiter if the carved potato was a candle. He meant it. I thought it was a candle too and just another innovation of haute cruisine. The waiter was hysterical and then with great good humor doted on us for the rest of the evening. What a fun night to remember!!

 

I would find it hard to take an unpleasant cruise. But I loved, loved the Jewel.

[Zeno]

First a comment or two:

1. I have only been on NCL cruises, never on NCLA (Pride of.... ships).

I am sure the all-American crew on the NCLA ships are different from the international crew on the NCL ships.

2. Before I cruised on NCL, I took 3 "traditional" cruises. Although I enjoyed myself on these cruises, there were a couple of things I was not thrilled with:

a) Having to eat at the same time every night with assigned tablemates

b) Having to wait in public areas to disembark when the cruise ended.

c) Having to "dress up" formally for a couple of nights.

 

So why do I like NCL:

1. I LOVE dining when I want to and with whom I want to. I have never waited longer than 10 minutes to be seated in a dining room on NCL.

2. I LOVE waiting in my cabin for my disembarkation colour to be called rather than being in an over-crowded noisy lounge

3. I LOVE not having to EVER dress formally unless I want to (which I don't)

4. I LOVE the professional, friendly attitude of the NCL crew.

 

Any serious complaints about NCL:

Nope: I have always had a very clean cabin. When something broke, it was fixed literally withing minutes. (On one cruise we had 2 minor plumbing problems and they were fixed so quickly that we joked that the maintenance guy must be living in a closet just around the corner.). I found (my opinion) that the food ranges from OK to quite good and that is just fine with me.(I don't expect gourmet dining on a cruiseship). In 3 cruises, I have only had one main course (the hideous lamb kebab) and one appetizer (which oddly my husband loved) that I actually disliked.

 

I had to deal with Customer Service on my last cruise and honestly never experienced the problems some people complain of. My calls were answered promptly and when someone did not know the answer to a question they either got a supervisor or honestly told me that their current info was not up-to-date and when they thought it was likely to get updated. (I was supposed to be on a New Orleans cruise last year and there was lots of re-scheduling.)

 

Minor complaints:

I miss some things from their "old" menu - rack of lamb and they used to have cold soups every night - now they are scarcer.

[Parrot Mom]

I've noticed a lot of people come here just to bash on NCL and what a horrible time they had. And some people here clearly love NCL and think NCL can do no wrong. Obviously, both sides have reasons for their opinions. :)

 

I was just wondering if people could list some of their concrete, specific reasons for their opinions?

 

What makes NCL great?

 

Did you hate your trip? Think service was poor? What specifically was poor about the service?

 

I'm just trying to get a well-rounded picture of what the pluses and minuses of my cruise might be! I'm excited!!!!!! I want to accentuate NCL's strengths and avoid it's weaknesses (:eek: )while I'm on the ship, if at all possible.

 

Thanks for any info!

 

Up until this week I'd be the last one to bash NCL.. have sailed her 14 times...the big bash (and I must right a review and letter to NCL this week) is the Customer Service since May when I had been calling about something and I have the time wait documented... and the poor food quality and selection on the NCL last week.. Everything was incredible from the service to the ship....

[sauvichick]

Pros:-you can eat anytime you want, you don't have to sit with the same people. Plenty of places to eat at tables for 2.(I have to say I've been on NCL before freestyle and other cruise lines and we have lucked out with wonderful tablemates.)

Cons:too casual for my taste-we like dressing up! People don't follow resort casual. Kids in adult bars and shows. Food was mediocre even at the steakhouse. But Le Bistro is incredible!

[uneamie]

We've done 4 traditional cruises and "one" NCL cruise and we are booked on NCL for this comming spring.

In comparing cruise lines I'd have to say that out of all the cruises we've taken, and that is including "Disney Wonder"....The Legend of Carnival cruiseline was the best all around for quality of service and food (surprise surprise but it was.:eek: )

That being said, the only reason we are not doing Carnival again and again like we are NCL is simply due to the "freestyle dining". It really does come down to that for us. When and if they adopt this way of life on their ships we will be doing Carnival cruises again. Not because NCL is bad or anything like that but because we did like the food, buffets, and shows much better on our Carnival cruises.

For some of us, after experiencing "freestyle" you just can't go back to traditional.

[newmexicoNita]

A great subject:

 

Pros: of course free style dining and the many choices of places to eat.

by far the friendliest and most relaxed crew at Sea (we have cruised

all but 1 mass marketed cruise lines and most more than once.

 

clean,well maintained ships

 

good entertainment

 

great escargot and eggs benedict.

 

Cons: normally the food is as good or better than some lines, but it can be

inconsistant at times.

 

cabins are a little smaller than some other lines

 

prices of drinks are among the highest: there is only one other line

that has the same or higher prices: Celebrity

 

cost of bingo totally out of line.

 

NMnita

[karen2cruz]

Pros -

Best concierge/suite amenities of any of the other lines when we've had a chance to use those services (for suite guests - we got an upsell) as compared to RCCL or Disney.

 

Best youth programs on any line (per my 15 year old cruiser son)-teens dont just "hang out" but counselors keep them engaged in games and activities

 

Optional formal night - per my husband who hates to dress up

 

Disembarkaton policy - get to stay in your room until color called. Not so on RCCL, Disney or Princess. HAL has same policy.

 

Cons - anytime dining - we actually like having the same time, table, tablemates and waiters. Princess' policy of Personal Choice gives both options of anytime or traditional.

 

Staterooms - a little on the small side compared to other lines

 

Service - mostly on NCLA Hawaii cruises, but best itinerary for seeing the most islands.

 

Either Pro or Con-

Food - poor in main restaurants BUT very good poolside grill, pizza (per son) and Le Bistro specialty restaurant.

[lasifguvui5uh]

Based on 1 NCL and 7 cruises on other lines:

 

Pros:

-Very fast check in if you are Latitudes members. We weren't but were put in that line anyway.

-Waiting in your cabin until debarkation.

-Friendly service staff.

-Can easily be seated at a table for 2

-Main dining room for breakfast was very good in selection & quality

-New York port

- NCL credit card program

 

Cons:

-Food in main dining room was poor in quality and preparation. Buffet food was several levels below that. Had excellent corned beef hash in dining room, tried it from the buffet and had the consistancy of lentil soup.

-Entertainment was amateurish. (Second City was great though)

-"Help" desk staff was robotic. Would not answer my questions, just kept quoting the NCL manual. Oddly enough, they told me if we didn't want to dress up for formal night we should eat at the buffet.

-Beds were more like padded bathtubs.

 

We will try NCL again either next year or the year after. Inconsistancy seems to be NCL's main downfall.

[leenerh]

We have cruised 4 times. Our first was the ncl starward in 1991. It was great!! It was our honeymoon!!:) Next was rccl Sovereign of the Seas which was great because we were with a group. Next was Disney Wonder which was fine but definitely for our kids. Most recent was the ncl Jewel last Christmas. We love freeestyle dining. We love the optiobnal formal night. The 10 yo boy is not a fan of dressing up neither is the husband. We had great service, the food was good in my opinion and the staff wonderful. We had an experience where my son got sick in the cabin at 2am and our room stewards were there in minutes to clean the room. The next day they brought my son saltine crackers and an apple and checked to see how he was doing. That was so wonderful to see.

We were so pleased, we are booked this Dec. as well on the Jewel.:)

[cruise2much]

Pros & Con’s it’s hard to say it seems to be mostly about opinion.

PRO

The anytime dinning is nice; you don’t feel rushed to return from a port for example. If you have an early seating in traditional dining you want to be back on the ship in time to prepare for dinner, not so with freestyle.

CON

You must make a reservation for the optional dining restaurants and are limited to times available, and if you go to a main restaurant you are likely to wait for sometime for a table after 6:00. Some of the pay restaurants have the tables very close, so if you intend to have seating for 2 you may find it’s really like a table of 4 with 2 inches between the tables. :)

PRO

Embarkation: NCL has changed it embarkation process and it seems to be working rather well, one of the best embarkations I have experienced.

CON

Disembarkation: This can be good or bad. The self assist is nice if you can carry all your luggage of the ship, it can get crazy and you stand a good chance of getting run over. If you cannot carry your luggage it could be a while before you get off. But they do allow you to stay in the cabin while you wait.

PRO SUMMARY

NCL is the innovative and the industry leader in freestyle cruising, with NCL you can basically personally tailor you cruise vacation to meet your needs and likes. Your experience really is what you make of it. ;)

CON SUMMARY

As it is freestyle some may find it intimidating and without prior cruise experience they may miss out on things or become disgruntled by the additional cost for cretin activities. Freestyle cruising is a love hate experience. You will ether love our you will hate it. If you find you should hate it try a traditional cruise before you give up on cruising all together.

My personal opinion is that freestyle cruising is a wonderful way to cruise but I do think NCL has started to exploit the freestyle experience by continuing to add prices and lessen the quality of what is included to make the payable options even more attractive. But as I said in the beginning it’s all about opinion. I truly hope you enjoy you cruise. :)

[bulgargirl]

Thanks! These are good to know. I think I'll like the freestyle dining much better than set times. And if the food is decent --- that's good enough for me. I live in the middle of nowhere, so having somewhere to eat other than Denny's is great!

 

Service seems to be hit or miss and rooms are kind of small. Drinks can be expensive, but overall it's a better value than most lines.

 

Have I missed anything?

 

What about amenities like the pool? Gym? Spa? Are those good, bad, or indifferent???

[Planer's Edge]

Up until this week I'd be the last one to bash NCL.. have sailed her 14 times...the big bash (and I must right a review and letter to NCL this week) is the Customer Service since May when I had been calling about something and I have the time wait documented... and the poor food quality and selection on the NCL last week.. Everything was incredible from the service to the ship....

 

You constant harping on this issue would have more validity if you could keep your "facts" straight. Has it been 14 NCL cruises of 11 NCL cruises.

 

PE<---has to remember to update his ignore file...

[bulgargirl]

Based on 1 NCL and 7 cruises on other lines:

 

Pros:

-Very fast check in if you are Latitudes members. We weren't but were put in that line anyway.

-Waiting in your cabin until debarkation.

-Friendly service staff.

-Can easily be seated at a table for 2

-Main dining room for breakfast was very good in selection & quality

-New York port

- NCL credit card program

 

Cons:

-Food in main dining room was poor in quality and preparation. Buffet food was several levels below that. Had excellent corned beef hash in dining room, tried it from the buffet and had the consistancy of lentil soup.

-Entertainment was amateurish. (Second City was great though)

-"Help" desk staff was robotic. Would not answer my questions, just kept quoting the NCL manual. Oddly enough, they told me if we didn't want to dress up for formal night we should eat at the buffet.

-Beds were more like padded bathtubs.

 

We will try NCL again either next year or the year after. Inconsistancy seems to be NCL's main downfall.

 

What's the credit card program? Do you mean an NCL credit card or is there something else out there I need to find out about???

[Zeno]

Thanks! These are good to know. I think I'll like the freestyle dining much better than set times. And if the food is decent --- that's good enough for me. I live in the middle of nowhere, so having somewhere to eat other than Denny's is great!

 

Service seems to be hit or miss and rooms are kind of small. Drinks can be expensive, but overall it's a better value than most lines.

 

Have I missed anything?

 

What about amenities like the pool? Gym? Spa? Are those good, bad, or indifferent???

 

I liked the pools on the NCL Sun and the gym was reasonably well-equiped (included reclining exercycles - which is all I really care about in a gym).

Oh and the views from the gym are great.

[ute_fan]

I'm pretty sure the credit card program that's referred to is the NCL card that is offered through BofA, formerly MBNA. If you do a search function for MBNA, you'll find all kinds of threads discussing the program.

 

Since getting the card 2 years ago, I've redeemed $1500 in cruise certificates :D . Makes cruising once a year a whole lot more realistic for us.

[Patpcozy]

Bulgargirl, You can get a NCL mastercard which gives you reward points for a future cruise. ( We got $1000 off our cruise in Oct.) If you go to their site there is a link on the home page. Enjoy your cruise

[claudie]

I was one of those people who said I would never cruise or at least not till I'm over 70. My family said let's go try it. Our first cruise on HAL was wonderful. We then tried NCL because of the convenience of leaving out of NYC. We loved it. Again, NCL, loved it. We will be taking our 4th cruise during Christmas and I'm sure we will love that too. I really cannot think of any valid complaints. We were treated well, ate well, enjoyed the spa and the activities we chose to participate in and the staff was cheerful and accommodating. I'm a hiker that's happy with living out of a backpack and in a tent or shelter for days on end. I have found my cruises on NCL to be wonderful and relaxing. I love the freestyle concept and the fact that I can always find a place to "hide" from the crowds without having to go to my cabin. I've read too many reviews that focus on petty issues i.e. the food, the beds, the crowds, the chair hogs, etc. I do my own thing. I've gotten TONS of good info here and will continue to read the boards. No offense to anyone but there are some posters that you can always count on and then there are those who offer a good laugh. Check out all of the boards for all the different cruise lines. Is there one where everyone is completely happy and satisfied? No way!

[bulgargirl]

I was one of those people who said I would never cruise or at least not till I'm over 70. My family said let's go try it. Our first cruise on HAL was wonderful. We then tried NCL because of the convenience of leaving out of NYC. We loved it. Again, NCL, loved it. We will be taking our 4th cruise during Christmas and I'm sure we will love that too. I really cannot think of any valid complaints. We were treated well, ate well, enjoyed the spa and the activities we chose to participate in and the staff was cheerful and accommodating. I'm a hiker that's happy with living out of a backpack and in a tent or shelter for days on end. I have found my cruises on NCL to be wonderful and relaxing. I love the freestyle concept and the fact that I can always find a place to "hide" from the crowds without having to go to my cabin. I've read too many reviews that focus on petty issues i.e. the food, the beds, the crowds, the chair hogs, etc. I do my own thing. I've gotten TONS of good info here and will continue to read the boards. No offense to anyone but there are some posters that you can always count on and then there are those who offer a good laugh. Check out all of the boards for all the different cruise lines. Is there one where everyone is completely happy and satisfied? No way!

 

Of course, you're right. Some people are never happy! On the other hand, there are some people that have such blind devotion that no criticism, no matter how valid, is acceptable in their minds.

 

Food is a huge issue for me, but only to the extent that it is edible and enjoyable. I'm not expect Nobu or Mario Battalli to be cooking for me! So that's why I like these specific comments. It helps to see if what bothered someone or what someone else liked is even applicable. Great info, and no one has been bashing too much. I'm surprised.

[cruise2much]

“I've read too many reviews that focus on petty issues i.e. the food, the beds, the crowds, the chair hogs, etc.”

On my 1st or 2nd cruise with NCL I would have been one of those that would have nothing but good things to say; I enjoyed my self immensely aboard the Dawn and would have recommended it to anyone. But, to some me included things like food are not petty, very rarely do I have time to go to restaurants to have nice dinners and enjoy the dishes that I look forward to while cruising. Lobster for example is difficult to come by where I live, there are a few specialty restaurants that offer it and as I said I really don’t have the time. So you can imagine my disappointment that one of the things I was looking forward to was so inept. ½ of a lobster tail?:mad: Now the reason my wife and I liked NCL so much is she does not eat beef or any fancy food,:rolleyes: So for me to enjoy food we used to get I must now go to Cagneys for $50.00 + tip I can get my lobster but my wife will have paid $25.00 for chicken breast. The daily activities are now inundated with things that require you to spend money and like the food the free things are things like Irritable Bowl Syndrome seminars, so compared to that a $60.00 game of bingo looks a lot more appealing. There are some here that have not been on NCL in a year or so but continue to defend NCL from their previous experience; to them I can only say wait and see, and I hope you are not too disappointed to find NCL will have a hard time maintaining balance on the pedestal you have them on. As for other poster’s complaints, to them it was what’s important to them and they have every right to be disappointed especially if it was regarding an experience they enjoyed on a prior voyage with NCL that made them return only to find it changed or discontinued or as is so common now, an additional fee.

P.S.

This does not include complaints regarding weather.:p

[newmexicoNita]

I guess it was too good to be true: sooner or later someone would come on with nothing but what they didn't like about NCL. As for the last posters 1/2 Lobster tail, what is a 1/2 Lobster tail, I have only seen full Lobster tails or 1/2 Lobsters and what is different now than before? Always Lobster has been serviced one night and one night only in the main dining room. To have it more often you do have to choose a specialty restaurant and pay $25.00. His wife's chicken breast would not be $25 in any specialty restautant; $15 to $20 depending on the eatery. As for activities, I agree Bingo has gotten totally out of line, but the rest of the daily activities are pretty much what they have been for years, minus the horse races that is. Trivia several times a day, lectures, card playing, golf clinics and so on. NMNita

[cruise2much]

I guess it was too good to be true: sooner or later someone would come on with nothing but what they didn't like about NCL. As for the last posters 1/2 Lobster tail, what is a 1/2 Lobster tail, I have only seen full Lobster tails or 1/2 Lobsters and what is different now than before? Always Lobster has been serviced one night and one night only in the main dining room. To have it more often you do have to choose a specialty restaurant and pay $25.00. His wife's chicken breast would not be $25 in any specialty restautant; $15 to $20 depending on the eatery. As for activities, I agree Bingo has gotten totally out of line, but the rest of the daily activities are pretty much what they have been for years, minus the horse races that is. Trivia several times a day, lectures, card playing, golf clinics and so on. NMNita

 

There are some here that have not been on NCL in a year or so but continue to defend NCL from their previous experience. A ½ of a lobster tail is exactly what it sounds like; Take the normal lobster tail you would expect to get cut it down the center splitting it in ½. You get one half while someone else gets the other ½. I will agree about the cost of the chicken breast it would only be $20.00 in Cagneys but I suppose that’s really splitting lobster tails, I mean hairs:D