Hooked on NCL

[judyannemt]

I won a cruise from NCL during their 40th Birthday promotion. We were on a 5 day Western Carribean cruise on the Pearl.

My daughter and I sailed 2/11/07 and returned home Saturday night. It was the first cruise for both of us.

 

It was by far and away the best vacation I have ever been on. We upgraded from a oceanview to a BC Balcony room. I loved the balcony so much, I don't think I would be happy with just a window or an inside stateroom.

 

Perhaps because I won the cruise, I had concierge service available to me. Each day, the concierge and/or hotel manager sent treats, like chocolate covered strawberries, swan cream puffs, tasty little sandwiches etc to our stateroom.

 

We were invited to the Captain's VIP Cocktail Party, but I was struck with

digestive problems and was unable to attend.

 

We enjoyed Cozumel and Belize very much. In Cozumel we took a taxi (yikes!) to one of the public beaches. In Belize, we took one of NCL's shore excursions to Altun Ha, the Mayan ruins. We had a wonderful time.

 

We got VIP Tender tickets, and VIP Disembarkation tags, which made our lives easier.

 

After being on a Freestyle cruise, I can't imagine doing it any other way. We ate when we wanted, with whom we wanted. We were free to stay in our stateroom or wander the ship at anytime. We loved every minute of it and were sad to see our cruise come to an end.

 

I'm not very good at reviewing things, but if anyone has questions pertaining to our cruise, I'd be happy to answer them.

[Leafpeeper]

Congratulations. I entered for the contest too, but didn't win anything. We just sailed our second NCL cruise on NCL Star. We knew we'd love the ship because we had sailed her twin, NCL Dawn, two years ago.

 

We've sailed Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Princess in those two years between NCL cruises. We really enjoyed coming back to freestyle dining. I've never enjoyed a restaurant on a cruiseship as much as the Japanese one on the Star. The food was great. How unique to have so many dining venues and options.

 

We will continue sailing on other cruiselines too because we like variety and different itineraries and entertainment. However, NCL is our favorite cruiselines thus far. We enjoy Princess too because of the anytime dining--just that there aren't as many restaurants as on NCL. We don't like large noisey dining rooms, so we stick to smaller venues and a table for 2--unless we have company sailing with us.

[sailsman2]

welcome to the club.we are all hooked:) glad you had a great cruise.first of many to come.

[Maryfrei]

Judyannemt, thanks for letting us know how well your cruise prize turned out, that is great news. We will be taking our cruise prize soon, and I hope it turns out as well as yours:) !

[judyannemt]

I forgot to mention that the last night out I had service on my cell phone with Verizon. I'd say we were 10 hours from Miami, and I was surprised that it worked.

Hope this helps for those of you who had questions about cellphone service through Verizon.

[cruiser82]

Congratulations on winning the cruise. I entered just about every day and didn't win so I'm a little bit jealous of you!

 

I usually cruise with my mother and we too like freestyle cruising for the same reasons you mentioned, especially how we can always get a table for two.

 

Welcome to cruising, NCL and being addicted to both! :)

[BeachBumMama]

What a great way to experience your first cruise... FREE! Welcome to the addicted family of freestyle lovers. And yes, you'll have a hard time going to inside or oceanview after a balcony. Then you go the suites and see a whole new addiction. Then again, cruising itself may become more important and doesn't matter what room you're in!