Last night on the Sun 12/28. EVER!!!!!

[CanadianTwosome]

Great post!!!! :) I agree with you totally!!!!!!

 

What does DTTT stand for?

[iheartbda]

I must depend on each of sailing and experience, we did find the snootiest cruisers on Celebrity, not our 5 day, but our 7 day cruise. We expected it on HAL but everyone was friendly and accommodating. The type of cruiser was different from NCL but certainly friendly.

 

Nita

 

I just don't understand this thing about Celebrity and snooty cruisers. Please don't think I'm singleing out you specifically, just using your quote as an example. I think you'll run into a cross section of all types of people on all cruise lines. We've been on Celebrity 6 times and I can't say we ran into snooty people.

 

I think it's just as unfair to categorize Celebrity as snooty as it is for some to say NCL is like Wall Mart.

[01966]

Wk - Orlando -

 

I think we must have been on the same cruise! - The Sun for Roatan, Belize, Cozumel and Great Stirrup Cay stops? Our group of 6 - ranging in age from just 9 to 84 had a fabulous time. Seems we must have avoided some of your problems.

 

We NEVER ate the eggs from the buffet. Half of us preferred the restaurant (7 Seas) for b-fast and found the service wonderful and fast. The rest of us did eat at the buffet (outside) and simply used the omelet chef for our eggs. He willingly made fried eggs every morning for me and scrambled eggs (from the kind in the shell - not carton) with cheese for my ever finicky son. We would just grab a table and a juice and muffin and wait til the line was reasonable.

 

We did purchase a drink ticket for the kids but it was unnecessary - several kinds of juice are available at breakfast, ice tea at other meals, water and lemon always. The occasional coke could be purchased and we would have come out ahead.

 

Given the time of the year and the crowd, I thought the service at the ports was fabulous - we just lingered over breakfast a bit before departing and never waited for the tender boats. We were on land by 10 each morning and never bothered with the tender tickets. We slept in and walked onto a tender boat just after 10 with no problem.

 

We ate at the "free" restaurants every night but one and always had a fabulous time. Have I had better food - yes! Better service - actually rarely. But the food was fine and I didn't think the "specialty" restaurants were worth the wait in line for the reservations.

 

My one critique is that the excursions were expensive. Some of our group had been to the area before so we arranged our own excursions - at well less than half the price, but everyone has their own risk tolerance.

 

And come on, WK - wasn't the beach day grand - we all had a fabulous time with perfect weather and managed to get up to the pool deck and grab some tapas from the tapas bar and some cheese and crackers from the buffet and have a glass of wine at the pool with the sun going down and the weather so nice - you missed out on a great day if you were sulking and not enjoying the great day. Oh, my only wish is that we had more than one beach-y day like that - with the same great weather. What a fabulous time!

 

I am sure there are higher end cruises - but we had a great time for the price and I really do think the staff was outstanding, the shows were entertaining and professional.

 

We are sorry you had a bad vacation and hope you make a choice more in line with your expectations next time.

[CorvetteLady]

I'm sorry, but to be surprised when someone tells you that they think you should wait to experience something before forming an opinion is, in my opinion, kind of unrealistic. How can you have an opinion without experience? That's how opinions work... otherwise, it is known as 'hearsay' or 'gossip'.

 

I think you've got the general idea correct about those of us calling ourselves 'Sunshine Cruisers'... but you're missing some of it. :) Yes, we believe that whatever happens, negative or positive, we will make the best of any cruise. We do not, however, expect everyone else to think like we do - in fact, we're very well aware that not all of us think alike. That's OK. :) People keep accusing us of thinking everything is perfect and not acknowledging that others may be disappointed even if we wouldn't be... nothing could be further from the truth - as we keep stating over and over and over. Of course everyone is different, and everyone is going to have a different opinion - while people may agree on whether they liked or disliked something, it will always be for slightly different reasons - because we're all different people.

 

As has been noted, there are almost no threads without debate. Whether they start positive or negative, there are always posters who disagree and say so. There seems to be some sort of preconception in life (not just here) that if you're saying something good, it shouldn't be taken as 'seriously' as something negative. It's as if the expectation is that if people are to be 'truly honest' they MUST find something negative to say - and if not, they're 'deluding themselves' or 'don't want reality'. What I keep seeing, though, is that while it is apparently wrong of us to try to point out positives when people are being negative, it's quite alright to do the opposite. Not only that, but people are encouraged to share their negative opinions by people who then say we're not being realistic because of our positive ones. Huh? :confused:

 

I just keep wondering when it became a bad thing to try to help another person see something positive in an otherwise bad experience. I guess I missed the memo.

 

It is fine to point out positives. Some posters do it in a way that infers the complainer must be wrong, or not on the same cruise as the positive poster. Can't they just say my experience was different from yours without implying the other poster is an idiot?

 

I for one don't think you have to experience something in order to form an opinion about it. I have never fought in a war, but my opinion is that war is hell. Just as long as I don't mislead someone in how I formed my opinion. This is from Webster's: opinion 1. a belief not based on absolute certainty or positive knowledge but on what seems true, valid, or probable to one's own mind. That's what makes it an opinion not a fact.

[jeffs55]

I love these boards, but when I first started here in 2004 it kind of scared me.

I was preparing to take my Mom to Bermuda on Norwegian Crown.

"Oh the foods awful, the ship's old, the crew is unhappy!" Yeah NCL food is not the best but it's better than what I cook and I don't have to wash the dishes. We had a great time.

Next up QM2! "Oh the ship is laid out all wrong, it takes 3 hours for dinner because the dining room is all messed up!". Wrong again we had a splendid time.

After that Celebrity Zenith. "Ship is old and rusty and dirty"

Deck furniture was past due replacing but everything else was first rate.

Then Norwegian Dawn. "Oh the food is worse than ever, we lost weight on our cruise!" Once again had a great time, see above regarding NCL food.

(Le Bistro on Dawn was fabulous by the way!).

Next Noordam HAL. She really didn't have much bad mojo on the boards, Westerdam had noro and Osterdam was having pod issues so she seemed to be spared, Great trip.

Next up is RCI Enchantment. She needs a new flux capacitor and proceeds more slowly than expected. We'll deal with it.

Than back to NCL Dawn, which we're already familiar with.

I don't want to pretend that the people who post here don't have real issues

I'm truly not sure, but either I've been really lucky to not get hit with major problems at sea or maybe I'm too stupid to know the difference.

Jeff

[Cosmopolitan]

I love these boards, but when I first started here in 2004 it kind of scared me.

I was preparing to take my Mom to Bermuda on Norwegian Crown.

"Oh the foods awful, the ship's old, the crew is unhappy!" Yeah NCL food is not the best but it's better than what I cook and I don't have to wash the dishes. We had a great time.

Next up QM2! "Oh the ship is laid out all wrong, it takes 3 hours for dinner because the dining room is all messed up!". Wrong again we had a splendid time.

After that Celebrity Zenith. "Ship is old and rusty and dirty"

Deck furniture was past due replacing but everything else was first rate.

Then Norwegian Dawn. "Oh the food is worse than ever, we lost weight on our cruise!" Once again had a great time, see above regarding NCL food.

(Le Bistro on Dawn was fabulous by the way!).

Next Noordam HAL. She really didn't have much bad mojo on the boards, Westerdam had noro and Osterdam was having pod issues so she seemed to be spared, Great trip.

Next up is RCI Enchantment. She needs a new flux capacitor and proceeds more slowly than expected. We'll deal with it.

Than back to NCL Dawn, which we're already familiar with.

I don't want to pretend that the people who post here don't have real issues

I'm truly not sure, but either I've been really lucky to not get hit with major problems at sea or maybe I'm too stupid to know the difference.

Jeff

 

And, that say's it all.

 

Isn't life (and cruising) great:)

[CanadianTwosome]

It is fine to point out positives. Some posters do it in a way that infers the complainer must be wrong, or not on the same cruise as the positive poster. Can't they just say my experience was different from yours without implying the other poster is an idiot?

 

I for one don't think you have to experience something in order to form an opinion about it. I have never fought in a war, but my opinion is that war is hell. Just as long as I don't mislead someone in how I formed my opinion. This is from Webster's: opinion 1. a belief not based on absolute certainty or positive knowledge but on what seems true, valid, or probable to one's own mind. That's what makes it an opinion not a fact.

 

I agree with you on both points. I do not think it is appropriate to use derogatory language towards anyone, whether their opinion is positive or negative. I don't mean to imply otherwise, it just seems like at those moments when my patience hits its limit, I seem to be replying to a negative poster... of course, I admit that I probably take their slurs more personally since they are so often directed in general at anyone who has a more positive opinion.

 

I definitely agree that it is possible to have an opinion about war without having fought in one. I think according to the definition you provided, you are absolutely correct. I think on these boards, though, a lot of what people discuss, and the opinions expressed, are based on personal preferences, which I think in general people expect a person to base on personal experience. I have no idea what opinion you were expressing, so I really can't say. If you said that you thought NCL had lousy food, I would question it. If you said that you thought NCL had lousy itineraries, I would accept it.

 

According to the definition you've provided, it is "a belief not based on absolute certainty or positive knowledge but on what seems true, valid, or probable to one's own mind." Perhaps the people replying were not so much attacking you as attempting to give you information that might change your mind - since without personal experience, you must have based your opinion solely on information provided by others in the first place. :) (Again, I have no idea what happened, so I'm just speculating)

[CanadianTwosome]

I love these boards, but when I first started here in 2004 it kind of scared me.

I was preparing to take my Mom to Bermuda on Norwegian Crown.

"Oh the foods awful, the ship's old, the crew is unhappy!" Yeah NCL food is not the best but it's better than what I cook and I don't have to wash the dishes. We had a great time.

Next up QM2! "Oh the ship is laid out all wrong, it takes 3 hours for dinner because the dining room is all messed up!". Wrong again we had a splendid time.

After that Celebrity Zenith. "Ship is old and rusty and dirty"

Deck furniture was past due replacing but everything else was first rate.

Then Norwegian Dawn. "Oh the food is worse than ever, we lost weight on our cruise!" Once again had a great time, see above regarding NCL food.

(Le Bistro on Dawn was fabulous by the way!).

Next Noordam HAL. She really didn't have much bad mojo on the boards, Westerdam had noro and Osterdam was having pod issues so she seemed to be spared, Great trip.

Next up is RCI Enchantment. She needs a new flux capacitor and proceeds more slowly than expected. We'll deal with it.

Than back to NCL Dawn, which we're already familiar with.

I don't want to pretend that the people who post here don't have real issues

I'm truly not sure, but either I've been really lucky to not get hit with major problems at sea or maybe I'm too stupid to know the difference.

Jeff

 

Flux capacitor. :p

[Toyz711]

too much late night TV?

 

speaking of which, i thought i was the only late-night person? just got the database for the members of our club..105 names. wheee...now to post them.

[CanadianTwosome]

CorvetteLady, I just wanted to say that I was curious so I looked back at your beginning posts and found this:

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by CorvetteLady

I don't really think that Carnival's speciality restaurants can be compared to Freestyle. We ate there on the Glory and it was special. What I have read about the ones on NCL just sound like going to a Logans or an Olive Garden, not the kind of service we got on the Glory.

 

This was the reply you are referring to, I'm sure:

 

Another worthless posting. "What I have read about the ones on NCL!" What's the value of that? Someone passing judgment on something she hasn't even experienced? Utter nonsense.

 

I think this was completely out of line! You were very clear about the fact that you were speaking about what you had heard, and what you said was absolutely appropriate for the thread. I wasn't on the thread, but I definitely would have said something if I had been. I'm sorry that was one of your first experiences on the board. I'm glad you didn't let it drive you off. :)

[Cosmopolitan]

too much late night TV?

 

speaking of which, i thought i was the only late-night person? just got the database for the members of our club..105 names. wheee...now to post them.

 

Nope, I'm a late-night. Do my office work and check the posts;)

 

Am I on the list? I still haven't done the avatar:eek:

[jeffs55]

Off from work for holiday, but here I am.

[Toyz711]

gee...glad i am not alone.

Yes, Cos...you are on the list:D

but i after i check a few things, i will be gone for the night

 

If anyone is parting for new year's...make it a safe one!!

[Cosmopolitan]

gee...glad i am not alone.

Yes, Cos...you are on the list:D

but i after i check a few things, i will be gone for the night

 

If anyone is parting for new year's...make it a safe one!!

 

Thanks Toyz....enjoy a "Happy" New Year...with those that you love!

[cruise4kicks]

I don't want to pretend that the people who post here don't have real issues

Unfortunately, this probably describes a few too many posters. Myself included. :p

[Harleycat]

If you are looking for great food and the Snooty people who go to bed after lawrence welk goes off the air then celebrity is right up your ally. Went on it for our 10 year anniversary and it was the most BORING cruise and the people on the ship were stuck up. so if that is what you are looking for ,have a chocolate croissant for me. I would rather have less than stellar food but great comapny. I am not the party animal type but when you walk into an elevator and acknowledge another couple by saying hello a responce would be the polite thing to do. all cruise lines have their faults. But I do NOT think that NCL should be compared to K-mart. I would say it was between a wal-mart(carnival) and Target. you are looking for a macy's at k-mart prices and right now we would all like that but are happy with what we pay for.

 

Agreed. Our first cruise was with Celebrity. The only pluses were a) it was our honeymoon, b) the destination, Bermuda and c) we did manage to meet one couple our age and spent a lot of time with them. Other than that, I was not impressed and had much more fun on NCL.

 

For what we paid for a standard cabin on Celebrity, we got an AC suite on the Dawn. Granted it was an upsell from an AG but we had paid a great price for the AG. We also spent much more on board on Celebrity just to try and have a little fun. We spent half as much on NCL and that included speciality restaurants.

[halos]

It is fine to point out positives. Some posters do it in a way that infers the complainer must be wrong, or not on the same cruise as the positive poster. Can't they just say my experience was different from yours without implying the other poster is an idiot?

 

I for one don't think you have to experience something in order to form an opinion about it. I have never fought in a war, but my opinion is that war is hell. Just as long as I don't mislead someone in how I formed my opinion. This is from Webster's: opinion 1. a belief not based on absolute certainty or positive knowledge but on what seems true, valid, or probable to one's own mind. That's what makes it an opinion not a fact.

 

You have the right to form an opinion about things you haven't experienced...yes. :rolleyes:

But anyone with half a brain isn't going to pay attention to your thoughts on NCL if you haven't sailed them, because your opinion on it is worthless.

If I wanted to hear someone's experience of battle in a war, I certainly wouldn't come to you either. And I think that analogy was pitiful.

 

The ONLY way to know something is to experience it yourself. I listened to people's negativity of NCL for 3 freaking years on this board (people who had sailed it) and swore I'd NEVER sail the line. I just took a 15 day repo on the Spirit and had the most fun I've ever had on a cruise.

Big lesson learned there I tell ya. Even people who have experienced something are not going to have the same opinion as I may have...so why the hell would I listen to someone who has never set foot on one of NCL's ships????

[newmexicoNita]

You have the right to form an opinion about things you haven't experienced...yes. :rolleyes:

But anyone with half a brain isn't going to pay attention to your thoughts on NCL if you haven't sailed them, because your opinion on it is worthless.

If I wanted to hear someone's experience of battle in a war, I certainly wouldn't come to you either. And I think that analogy was pitiful.

 

The ONLY way to know something is to experience it yourself. I listened to people's negativity of NCL for 3 freaking years on this board (people who had sailed it) and swore I'd NEVER sail the line. I just took a 15 day repo on the Spirit and had the most fun I've ever had on a cruise.

Big lesson learned there I tell ya. Even people who have experienced something are not going to have the same opinion as I may have...so why the hell would I listen to someone who has never set foot on one of NCL's ships????

very good point: the only time I give an opinion without the experience is remarks from clients, even then I always respond letting everyone know it is hearsay and secondly I have to hear the same comments from more than one client. Even then, experience is the only way to be truely informed.

 

Nita

[CorvetteLady]

CorvetteLady, I just wanted to say that I was curious so I looked back at your beginning posts and found this:

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by CorvetteLady

I don't really think that Carnival's speciality restaurants can be compared to Freestyle. We ate there on the Glory and it was special. What I have read about the ones on NCL just sound like going to a Logans or an Olive Garden, not the kind of service we got on the Glory.

 

This was the reply you are referring to, I'm sure:

 

 

 

I think this was completely out of line! You were very clear about the fact that you were speaking about what you had heard, and what you said was absolutely appropriate for the thread. I wasn't on the thread, but I definitely would have said something if I had been. I'm sorry that was one of your first experiences on the board. I'm glad you didn't let it drive you off. :)

 

Thanks. It did put me off a bit but I kept reading and found out more stuff and kept an open mind. There are a lot of posters who try to be helpful and some of the others you just have to ignore. I had seen a picture of Cagney's on the Gem in a brochure, and it showed wooden tables with benches, so I was suprised when someone said it was white table cloths. Maybe the picture was labeled wrong but it sure didn't look like anything special. I would have tried Cagney's but my in-laws did not want to, we ate in Windows everynight. Breakfast and lunch too, my father-in-law likes to be waited on and can't stand in lines very well.

[beth4652]

Not that y'all need yet another opinion, but I'm posting anyway.

 

Our first "real" cruise was to Alaska on Celebrity. Two adults and four teens (14-18). A wonderful time was had by all. Loved the food. Found other passengers to be friendly. Fantastic crew.

 

Next was a Christmas/New Year's cruise on RCCL to the Eastern Caribbean. Two adults and four kids (older now, of course). Again, great food, crew and passengers. Easily as good as the previous one.

 

Then came a Western Caribbean on Princess. DH, me and another couple. Although I can't rave about it, we did go to new ports, met new people and participated in different activities. Would I do it again? Absolutely!

 

Most recently, did a TA on NCL. Fantastic! I wasn't sure I would like Freestyle, but I loved it. BTW, I still love assigned seatings, too. The crew was the best ever. The Roll Call group of 100+ included some of the best people ever. We'll, no doubt, try to cruise with many of them again.

 

Next up is another Princess (the Emerald) to the Southern Caribbean with DH and another couple. Again, new ports, new ship, new crew, new friends. I have read both good and poor reviews of the ship. Will I have a great time? Yes, I will, unless everything that can go wrong does. Bad food? I'll find something, somewhere, as long as I don't have to prepare it or clean up. Cold food? I'll send it back. Cabin steward not up to par? Hey, I don't always make my bed at home, don't vacuum every day, don't use a clean towel every day, don't clean my bathroom every day, rarely clean the dog's nose prints off the glass door. Raffle? No, thanks. Entertainment not up to Las Vegas standards? I'll suffer through it. Not enough activities? I'll read more or find some new friends to play cards or board games with.

 

If the toilet gets stopped up in your house or the AC goes out or the new recipe doesn't turn out quite right, do you vow never to live in that house again? Stuff happens everywhere.

 

In other words, as some have already said, your cruise is what you want it to be and what you make of it. I try to read many of the reviews, but won't let any of them determine where, when or on which line I'll cruise.

 

The OP certainly has the right to his opinion and, since it is an opinion, it is valid. We can take it as we like. If the things that he feels were substandard are important to us, we might want to take heed. If not, we don't need to bash him. Just put those comments aside. I cannot understand why an opinion needs to generate such vicious responses. If I was not on that cruise, I have no basis for arguing with him. If I was on the same cruise, and had a different opinion, I would post my own thoughts and be done with it.

[sharonax3]

Well said Beth 4562. You said everything I was thinking...

[jeffs55]

I loved my Celebrity cruises. (And my HAL cruises and my Cunard cruises

and my NCL cruises and my Commodore cruise and my Regal Empress cruise!)

Jeff

[newmexicoNita]

I loved my Celebrity cruises. (And my HAL cruises and my Cunard cruises

and my NCL cruises and my Commodore cruise and my Regal Empress cruise!)

Jeff

you and Beth both make great points. I have yet to have a bad cruise (well one was not good) every cruise leaves wonderful and warm memories, everyone leaves something I wish was a little different. This doesn't mean we always turn lemons into lemonade, it is just we close our eyes to the little things.

 

As for Commodore, our first cruise, we actually did them twice and we have some wonderful memories. Many cruisers would never return especially those today, who look for instant gratification, constant entertainment. lavish cabins etc, we were just happy to be cruising....

 

Nita

[clancy1]

Do not even know where to start. The lost reservations, tour bookings, wife's b-day setup...

 

This is our first and last ride on this disaster. Never thought we would find lower, cheaper (not in dollars) and just more 'K-Mart' than carnival...

 

We are frequent cruisers and this is our 4th major line to try. Heard that NCL was comparable to Princesss. Not even close... Would even go so far as to say a half step down from Carnival depending on the ship.

 

The menus were boring and many items not recognizable. They served the same food every morning (water logged eggs and cold everything else). The cruise staff spent the entire ride peddling lottery tickets rather than entertaining. Never saw them do much else. The big scam was pull tab instant tickets that appearently nobody ever wins more than $50 for spending $5 and claims that there are $2000 prizes seem to be unfounded. The casino cashier tells us half the cruises have no real winners....

 

Another sign of being super cheap... They hold up the gangway lines making people sign out forms for towels and then sign them back in again. Lose a towel and it is $25. Damn things cost them less than 25cents.

 

Drinks, pictures, shops, EVERYTHING is more expensive than any other line we have been on for lower quality merchandise and booze...

 

As for food, if you want anything better than low end buffet food (even in the dining rooms) be prepared to pay $20-30 a head as they have moved all of the good food into the specialty restaurants and even with that cover, only tap water is free.

 

Only plus items... Dine whenever, free ice cream, optional formal nights, Park West has taken over the NCL Art Auctions, Colombian Emeralds onboard, good tour selections...

 

Only tour complaint was that they held us on a tender at Cozumel for 45 min waiting for a family that overslept... Two fuddies got sick and barfed from the exhaust fumes and everyone was left sick from the posion air. The Tulum tour barely had time to drive out and back... no beach break and barely the tour... Tour staff was smug and did not give a damn about all the people they made ill...

 

Back to Princess and RCL for us!!! Maybe a Celebrity try next year... NCL not for us... Too expensive for bottom tier experience...

 

Good sailing!!! and Happy New Year!

Seems people get offended if you say anything negative on this site. This cruise is ok if you only spent money on an inside cabin and shore excursions. With airfare, overnight hotel in Miami, transfer to and from port, cost of balcony room for 2. Shore excursions. (spent very little on ship due to poor food and service) If you want to eat something good you have to go to the specialty restaurants. We ate in East meets West which was excellent. Thought we would get something decent paying almost double for a xmas cruise. Yes, you can get free coffee, hot or cold tea, hot chocolate, water but not real orange juice, it's orange juice cocktail. For spending close to 5,000.00 believe me do something else. Booked with NCL because Carnival had bad food reviews. Couldn't imagine food being any worse. Shore excursions fun. Did Tulum, canopy and beach party in Roatan. Embarkation, disembarktion and shore excursions well organized.

[salty dingo]

I can understand how someone can drop 5 grand on a cruise and not feel like they got their money's worth. My advice is to spend less, and with the same food and service maybe you end up feeling differently.

 

A typical 7-day cruise for us, in an inside cabin, including airfare pre-cruise hotel, excursions, one meal in specialty restaurant, photo, souveniers, limited bar bill, tips, and all othe misc expenses is under $3,000. I think you can have a superb time for that kind of dough. Spending more on a better cabin likely won't impact your experience with the food and service. So I just cut back where I can.