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Hi! We are going on our first Norwegian cruise later this year! Did you like the Starbucks package and feel it was worth it? Did they have alternative milks like coconut milk? Or oat milk for the drinks? How did you like the specialty dining? We currently have one night, but are thinking about buying two more and wonder if it would be worth it? Thanks!
I love this video because I'm taking a Norwegian cruise soon and most of the things you hated, suit me perfectly (Meat, no coffee... I'm vegetarian and hate coffee. Ha ha). This is what I love about cruising there's so much variety. ❤😂
I love NCL! You will love it. In our opinion (my family) NCL is the best value. Free at Sea is amazing. If you play in the casino, be sure to get a players card! Your points can be used at the end of the cruise for $ off your room charges! They take off more than they are worth in free gaming and, once you hit a certain level, other perks are included like energy drinks at the casino bar, premium water, etc! In addition, even if you are not a big gambler, you may be contacted by them for free cabin on your next cruise! You pay taxes, port fees, etc, but cabin comped! If you play a bit more, Haven Suite comps are common! The smaller ships are our favorite. The Gem in particular is our favorite! The Jewel is the exact twin lol. Pearl very similar. Those 3 are our favorites.
Hello again Emma, I’ve just booked next years (2023) cruise and I’m in NCL Sky to to the Caribbean. I’m taking my daughter on her first cruise, she’s vegetarian but I’ve never struggled with veggie food on any cruise. Good to see you enjoying the lovely Illana too 😊
Leaving in 20 days for a repositioning cruise from Barcelona to NYC. It’s a 14 day cruise on the Gem. Much smaller and older ship and more my style. I did purchase the Starbucks package but decided the drink package was too expensive when considering how much I’d have to drink in order just to break even. This is my first NCL cruise so will be taking mental note of my likes and dislikes to share in the new year.
We love NCL! WE LOVE ALL THE CHOICES for entertainment, resturants and the crew was outstanding! We had to use the medical clinic as I fractured my hip on an excursion and they were marvelous. Very professional and competent. We are going on our second NCL cruise this year on Dec 1st to Dec 12th.
I cruise NCL all the time and was on the Joy in June to Bermuda. Never disappointed with the crew. Usually love the food. But have had a couple of meals that didn’t live up to expectations. I do get somewhat bothered with the cost for additional items. But have learned to budget our OBC to cover many of them. So we don’t really count them. Incidentally, the pool deck is the way it is because of the original layout when the ship was built for the Asian market. I believe that deck had a tranquility garden that took up most of the space. Thanks for the video. I enjoy your comments.
My sister and I are sailing next February NCL and also have this drink package. For Christmas and our birthdays we gifted each other Starbucks cards. Now we each have $100 towards specialty coffees 🎉
I have sailed The Breakaway and the Epic. In Oct, of this year I am booked on the Epic again, for a 11 day MED Cruise. Sad to hear about quality of the food, that is has gone down. I have 5 other ladies who are coming with me, who have never cruised. I have sold them on the idea of going. I always had great experience on this line. Love the perks of the package they offer over other cruise lines I've been on. We chose to have the flight included, since we are flying into Marseille 2 days preboarding. It will be the first time I have not booked my own flight. I do hope it will be a good choice for us. Shall see if I would do that option again. I am very organized and research all options for price and convenience. Hard to hand over that part of it and have no control of airline, and scheduling. Thanks for another great video.
First I love Norwegian. I love freestyle dining relaxed atmosphere. I do agree though main dining room can be bland. I prefer specialty restaurant or the local. The up charges can add for sure be prepared. Sorry about Footloose not playing. Norwegian does seem to do entertainment the best with large Broadway shows. Great review though showing all sides.
We recently sailed on NCL Joy in April and it's terrible that NCL charges for bottled water whereas Royal Caribbean gives away bottled water for free if you have a drink package!
Thanks for your comments. We will be avoiding NCL. Our Celebrity cruise was awesome. The dinners weren’t as good as before but hoping this will get better.
@@LifeWellCruised I've gone on one with cruise with Celebrity and LOVED it. Trying a different style with Norwegian but I'm worried I won't like it now:( Celebrity had a lot of different shows each night which is one of my favorite things to do -- worried that NCL won't match. I hope I don't regret spending so much $$
I have been cruising with NCL for over 15 yrs. NCL is good for all ages. I have been on other cruise line and at 10pm the ship is dead and they closed the casino near midnight. I agree that NCL nickel and dime you. Like coffee and water.
Great video, Ilana! Re the drink package, yes it’s kind of a ripoff because they charge you gratuities on the theoretical value of $99/day and exclude specialty coffees, bottled water, and most of the decent wines are priced above the $15/glass limit. But for sparkling water, you can get Bubly or club soda at no extra cost with the drink package.
Thanks Dan, yes I think the drink package isn’t for everyone (even with promo), if they don’t drink enough to cover more than the gratuities. My brother never gets it as they just don’t use it enough
Sounds like we were on the same cruise. I did the 7 day to Bermuda out of Nyc on 11/5. I totally agree with your review. It was all in all a great cruise. Other than the azipod going out 1/2 way home 😆. But yes I’d do NCL again for sure.
Though I’ve never had a bad onboard experience with Norwegian, my next cruise with them to Alaska next year will be my last. I’ve now had several issues with their onshore offices. First, several fails with my OBC and getting funds returned to me (long stories, won’t bore you with the details). And now they’ve somehow given me several different Latitudes numbers, making it (thus far) impossible to accumulate points, or even manage this next cruise. Several phone calls have yet to get it fixed. I agree with most of your points, negative and positive. However, I’ll strongly disagree with your upset concerning lack of shopping opportunities. Big Freaking Deal. Plenty of shopping to be done in ports. Hope you’re well, Illana. Time to finish packing for our Trans Atlantic Holland America cruise. Safe travels to you and your family.
We have traveled NCL about 6 years .. we love everything about the line EXCEPT 1 THING big Alaska cruisers , they screwed us on the itinerary.. Now if we go back to Alaska will never take Ancl
People think we're nuts for loving NCL, but we love the casual-ness, the freestyle eating and the crew, but more importantly, on the cruises we've been on, their response to food allergies is fantastic. The last one I was on, there was an allergy specialist who would give me all the next day's menus and I could find out what was in them and also put in my orders ahead of time. And even on the day we decided to do the Brazilian steakhouse, they were able to adjust all the food for my meal. A far cry better than the other companies we've been on, where it was 'oh just tell the waiter when you order'. Yes, it works, but I hate spending several minutes of my mealtime sounding like Sally from 'When Harry Met Sally.' I like it when it's worked out in advance.
That’s amazing! I was actually impressed that every meal the waiter asked us about food allergies. Even though we don’t, we thought it was conscientious of them to inquire
Doing a bermuda cruise next week in a haven suit. We absolutely love ncl and feel like you can get more of the basics like drink package internet specialty dining for free but if you want more it's only a few more dollars but it's your choice. With carnival you get a cheap fair but you get absolutely nothing with it so it all averages out in the end. If you are looking for cheap you have the discount cruise lines just like flying. You can go first class with American or you can go with spirit.
As someone with food allergies I understand not wanting to do this at every meal. I appreciated that once I told them I didn’t have to do it again and again.
I am going on my first cruise in July. I was in the Canadian Armed Forces…. I was told for over ten years what to wear and how to wear it… the last thing I need on a vacation is to be told what to wear, so I am thankful for the casual…with that being said you want to dress up go a head! I just want to chill, not be judged and simply enjoy💕
I am mainly an NCL gal. I travel alone and love freestyle and the crew as you said are happy and will stop and talk. I always get attention in the restaurants, even though I am eating alone. Just wish all the ships had an observation lounge. The waterfront is wonderful, but sometimes it’s too cold to sit out and the observation lounge is nice.
I have cruised 3x with Norwegian. I like the free style dining. I like eating and getting served at restaurants for breakfast instead of going to buffet. I always choose a 5:30 dinner time, no crowd and then just go to the 24 hour restaurants for light snack after shows.
Thanks! My husband and I have come to love cruising and have almost exclusively settled on NCL. We like the smaller ships; i.e. Dawn, Gem, Spirit, Sun, Pearl, Star, and Jewel and traveling longer (minimum 7 days and sometimes back to back)..31 days is the longest so far. We like the casual atmosphere of NCL, the super cleanliness, extraordinary top notch entertainment and the ever helpful friendly crew and the best buffet on any other cruise line we've been on. We would probably never go on one of the larger mega ships as we are not much on 'amusement park' entertainment or having to make advance reservations for everything as we like the 'what shall we do, where shall we eat today kind of folks. We were thinking of trying the new Prima and/or Viva, but advance theatre reservations are required, plus a couple of other small things we didn't really like; so will probably stick to the same class of ship. I am disappointed in the new charge for room service, but it's small charge and we don't use it often. We NEVER get those expensive drink packages as you really have to be a huge drinker to have it be a value; even if it's offered as 'free' as the gratuities are still 18% of what it would have cost. We instead opt for a 'bar set up' in our room. You pre-order (you have to call as it's not online) includes mixers; cost is more that buying at the store, but way way cheaper than the packages. You have it delivered to your room and there you make your own whenever you want. Please we enjoy local food and drink while in port. Main dining is always enjoyable with great food, specialty dining top notch (love Cagney's), all restaurants and buffet have been wonderful. Coffee, we are lovers (so not Starbucks..LOL) we ask for a coffeepot in our cabin and bring our own coffee (use refillable tea bags) and we're always good to go there! The coffee that they deliver with the pot isn't too back just a bit weak works if we run out. Happy Cruising!
We just did our Alaska cruise via Norwegian Bliss. Although I agree with your comment on the main dining room,the buffet foods were the highlight of my cruise. I was able to taste everything in small portion. I love the foods from India! The drinks,the coffee. I am okay without specialty coffee coz I love just the plain decaf coffee after eating. The Jersey Boys and the Six performances were awesome. I loved it. I never thought I would like musicals. Lol. The entertainment at night in the Atrium were funny😂. I loved my first cruise via NCL..the freestyle sold me to cruising with them again in the near future coz over all, the experience was great and the friendliness of crew were just amazing! Thanks for your review!
We just returned from our very first cruise ever (which happened to be on the NCL Encore). We immediately noticed the same thing with the staff! They were so fun to be around and seemed to truly enjoy their work. We visited the Local and the buffet often and the wait staff always went above and beyond. We became great friends with some and the others we didn't personally meet were also singing and laughing and interacting with guests. We also experienced the same high level of cleanliness and felt so comfortable! We never worried about germs at all!
I also sailed on the encode. The staff was great. We eat at the buffet mostly and was always met by a lady with a great smile, saying washie washie. I know it's a little thing but something I will always remember.
We have mainly cruised Norwegian. My 93 year old dad loves to go cruising and his favorite place is the cigar lounge. Many of the NCL ships have nice cigar lounges and the staff are always so lovely to him. They watch out for him. We also travel with my 90 year old mother-in-law and the staff is particularly kind and courteous to her. When your parents are treated well and have a great time, it goes a long way with us.
Just got off PR1MA yesterday (Oct 15, 2022). The ship is beautiful in all aspects. We were fortunate to have experienced the Haven. It was amazing. The crew throughout the ship were awesome. Being new, the vessel had its issues, the most notable being the WiFi. It was not very reliable. This was my 27th NCL cruise. I look forward to my next one in December on my favorite NCL ship, Norwegian Dawn.
Hi Paul. I would also love to know what makes Dawn your favorite. My wife and I will be taking our first NCL cruise on the Dawn in a few days (2/19/23) and would appreciate helpful hints.
@@rogerstarr1466 Hi Roger, Dawn is the perfect size ship for us when we are cruising on a mass market ship. We like that she is on the smaller side when compared to the newer, larger ships. She is well laid out and relatively easy to navigate. There are plenty of specialty dining options and the pool area, with it’s tiered seating area is delightful. Mondavi’s wine bar is a favorite, out of the way place to enjoy pre-dinner cocktails or that embarkation day bottle of red we enjoy away from the crowds. We have sailed on her 5+ times now and always seek her out when planning our next NCL cruise.
@@robynjean77 Hi Robynjean77, I am not sure if you can see the reply I wrote below to Roger. I am sorry I had not responded to you. I was on a ship when your question came through and by the time I got home I could not find the thread.
@@paulmoulton4455 Thanks Paul! This will be our first cruise since 2019 and the past 3 were on Viking River or Viking Ocean so we are used to small ship cruising. We have always wanted to try NCL and the size of Dawn was one of the things that attracted us to this itinerary. I love wine so we are definitely going to visit Mondavi's. Thanks for the info!
We were avid NCL cruisers. However they are just charging for item's that are included in the price elsewhere. For example, coffee, mini golf etc. The drink package, internet, specialty dining and 50.00 excursion is sort of packed in when you get the higher priced rooms We've been exploring other cruise companies and are having just as much fun without the nickel and dimming.
That’s interesting. I really did enjoy my cruise, but true that looking at more inclusive lines (that might have a higher up front cost), might be worth exploring
My husband and I were on the Joy in May 2022 to Bermuda. We agree with everything you said. My personal pet peeve was that the only area for adults only was small without a pool. And after 6pm they allowed kids in! WTF. :( We came back to the boat to have a nice drink and sit in the hottub one evening, only to be surrounded by children splashing in the hot tub. That was very disappointing after being on Royal Caribbean where the adults have a separate solarium ALL the time. To me, that was the dumbest thing I encountered on the boat.
Love NCL. It suits my preferences much better than the other cruise lines. The food and entertainment is always better. The service is great. I particularly enjoyed being given a cold drink and towel upon returning back to the ship. It’s the little things in life.
Sorry, but I beg to differ. There is NO WAY that food and entertainment are better on NCL than on Celebrity, which has won numerous awards for BEST FOOD ON THE HIGH SEAS, and their production shows are awesome! I've been on both cruise lines, and Celebrity is SUPERIOR in many ways. Maybe you should give Celebrity a try to see the differences for yourself. 😊
I do like cruising Norwegian. I'm not a huge pool fan, I'm not interested in the amusement park experiences, and do very little shopping on cruiselines, so several of the "didn't care for" things mentioned in your video, really don't matter much to me or my wife. We largely agree with the "things you liked" mentioned in the video. The staff is great, everything is clean, service is exceptional, the shows are in general better than Princess, but perhaps not up to the Royal Carribean level. I also very much enjoy the varried music options and the numerous observation locations to watch the world go by. As for the costs....well, you just have to look at your budget and comparison shop, decide what is important, and remember, you can't take your nest egg with you when you die. The other thing I like about Norwegian is the available itineraries. They go places I'd like to see, as do others, and I sail various lines depending on my vacationing objectives...so virtually everybody has earned a little bit of my nest egg, some will earn more, others won't see another dime. Happy cruising.
NCL is our favorite. We love the laid back freestyle vibe. One major thing for us is BOGO airfare with free at sea. We are landlocked in the middle of the country without a major airport. While we lose control of the times we fly, we can't touch their pricing on our own. We love free at sea, period. If we added all those things to another cruise, it would be the same price, and we did compare. We prefer to pay for it all up front and kind of have that all inclusive feel.
I will be cruising on Viking this Fall for the first time in 20 years. My only previous cruise was on NCL and it left me convinced that cruises want to squeeze every penny from you. It seemed like every time I turned around there was an extra cost! I am excited about going on Viking. This cruise is all-inclusive...free bottled water, wine and beer with every meal, free wi-fi, free specialty coffees, one free excursion in every port, etc! Sounds good to me!
All-inclusive means you already paid for what you are getting! Upcharge on NCL is a choice and it allows more to cruise for less unless they want more!
For similar itinerary, Viking can easily be 2 to 4 times more expensive than NCL, and for those with a tight budget, non Viking cruises provide budget room choices such as oceanview or inside, which are not available on many Viking ocean cruises.
We have done one Viking River (Rhine) and two Viking Ocean (Carribean and Med) and loved all of them. I like the all-inclusive aspect and small ship feel but they are pricey. We are doing our first NCL cruise in a few days on the Dawn and it is going to be interesting to be able to compare/contrast the experiences. We booked with the Free At Sea package so that will take out some of the differences and I upgraded to the unlimited premium wifi package to even things out. At the end, I'm going to break down all the expenses to a cost per day and compare it to Viking to see how much the price difference is. Should be interesting.
Your negatives are the reason we no longer cruise on Norwegian, if you want the quite adult area you must pay extra for Vibe access. No coffee and bottled water included with drink package. Extra costs for activities that are free on every other cruise line. Although the entertainment can be very high end, the big production shows repeat multiple nights so you do not have a new show to attend every-night, which is something we enjoy.
NCL has become my favorite line over the past several years. The freestyle sailing, free at sea, and the crew have made them stand out. The food is overall very good, and if you ever have an issue with an item in one of the dining rooms, if you bring it to their attention, they will go above and beyond to remedy the situation so you are happy. Their staff is AMAZING and will do everything in their power to make sure you have a fabulous time. Each line does things their own way to appeal to specific cruisers, but for me NCL is a great fit!
Just got back from cruising on The Encore. Bigger than the Sky which was our first cruise but I love Norwegian. Didn't really do the pool or hot tubs and just basic dining was great for us. Entertainment was good and we don't drink alcohol or coffee so water, tea and kiwi strawberry worked well for us. Didn't get to try the water slides but did play BINGO. My only drawback this time was getting sick in the middle of the night Friday which I blame on something I ate on the shore excursion. Nurse on board took care of me but my Saturday was wasted until late afternoon. Every trip we learn something but we love the Freestyle. The only other drawback is that the beaches charge for chairs...we just found a picnic table. Our last port there were too many vendors bugging us.
The Haven will definitely enhance your NCL experience. My family and I did NCL Joy this summer and we were in the Haven and I can say that its 110% worth the money. The all you can eat dining room food was phenomenal and having your own private pool, hot tub, and sun deck is game changing and just makes your vacation better. And you get unlimited coffee 😉
Friends of mine tried the Haven and enjoyed it. They said that it prepared them for trying out the ultra luxury ships where all passengers get the pampered experience and the ships can go to smaller more interesting ports. We recently went on a voyage with them on an ultra luxury ship. At first they said that they missed the feeling of being superior to other passengers. But pretty quickly they got used to the great service and the fact that all their preferences were known by the crew. I think it cam home to them when we did dock next to one of those mega cruise ships at one port. Our ship was so tiny in comparison. Our friends will now never go back to big cruise ships.
A Mediterranean cruise with my daughter and grandsons this fall.Treating them to The Haven experience. Once you have experienced The Haven, always The Haven. My favorite way to cruise on Norwegian. Upscale service, accommodations, food, specially 24 hour service. Especially loved boarding and embarking perks. 3/3/2024
I enjoyed the video! I’ve never sailed on a Norwegian cruise before, but I like the ideal of the relaxed dining as an option for the whole cruise! I like knowing in advance my cruise this time is the relaxed dress code, so I’ll take only cruise clothes to relax in. I do like formal nights too, but good to mix the cruise experiences up! I wish all cruise lines would just maybe increase cruise cost up $200-$300 and include some of these items they keep charging for once we are aboard. I choose cruising as vacation because it was an inclusive and affordable way to enjoy a vacation. But if they keep this up, it’s appealing vacation choice will no longer be on the list! Thanks for sharing
I just got back a week ago from a cruise on the NCL Joy. We absolutely loved the ship and crew! The food was excellant at the Garden Café with lots of options. Only complaint was it was so crowded; impossible to use the pool area during the day. We are considering going on the Joy again, but going in October instead of August.
Great Review. We travelled NCL last month (August 2024) on the Norwegian Epic for a 10 day Mediterranean cruise and found the ship's layout and the food in the dining room disappointing. The Epic layout was insufficient for the number of people on board. The ship was at capacity. The two small pools, small dining rooms, etc were not to our liking. This was our 8th cruise, 3rd on NCL, we liked the itinerary but ship and the experience made us not to want to travel on NCL again. The hamburgers at the Garden Buffet were under cooked. I have a photo of a warning about under cooked food warning on the glass cover. I could go on about our disappointments. We expressed this with our NCL agent but I really doubt anything will come from it.
we went with the Norwegian Epic in August from Barcelona and what you say is absolutely correct. i don't like buffet restaurants but the food at The Taste and The Manhattan were not good while buffet was great. I thought that was a shame because with other cruise companies the dining in the restaurants is excellent and here I found that very disappointing. there are indeed countless options to have a nice evening on the Norwegian
We have cruised with Norwegian before Freestyle and after. We were sold on NCL when they started Freestyle. You are right the crew is always friendly and the ship is always very clean. We prefer the smaller ships like the Star and even the Jewel, just to name two. We will be Diamond Loyalty level after our next cruise. And we don’t care for the extras like Starbucks, the race track, mini golf etc.
Hi. We cruise quite often, 1 to 2 times a year, usually on Royal Caribbean. Went on the Bliss to Alaska in 2019 and loved it. The ship was very new at the time and was super clean and we loved the modern decor. The entertainment was just so so and the food was just okay in the main dining room, but much better at the specialty and casual restaurants. Also, the crew was great. Overall, we really enjoyed our Norwegian Cruise on the Bliss. Thanks for your very informative videos. Really helps!!! :)
First Norwegian Cruise is in May. A 10 day to Greece and Italy. Looking for lots of tips for packing and do's and don'ts to not look like a tourist. Love all your videos!
I only sail with NCL so I have nothing to compare it with (solo cruiser here), but I agree. The crew really are amazing and love what they do. As for the added costs, I'm personally a bit surprised that they keep using space for things like the Galaxy Pavilion and Go Karts. Personally with the free drink packages, top tier speciality dining, and entertainment, I see NCL as line for people not bringing kids, and in my experience (though I don't sail during holidays) there are very few of them.
This as a solo cruiser and keeping an eye on NCL is an interesting and useful comment to me. Do you use the solo cabins at all or depending on location would you say balcony is better
@@jameswg13 I always use the studio cabins. The solo section is absolutly beautiful, has a nice lounge for a post port snack, coffee or glass of wine/beer during the singles meet and greet, and has all the space I need. Personally though I don't see a balcony as being important whatsoever even if I was with family or friends, so its all a matter of personal comfort. Give the studios a try.
@@brettparnell8254 I definitely want to try them especially with some of their cruises to come. Just I know some of the destinations I want to visit meant to have amazing views and I know I could always go top deck to get the views e.g. Iceland. Or do I really need a balcony for somewhere like Iceland or baltics
I just got off the Norwegian jewel last week, and I will disagree with you on the crew. Everything else I seem to agree with. The crew I believe we’re not as friendly as I’m used to, in fact, were very rude at times, most were very incompetent in their jobs And no way were they happy. This will prevent me from taking another Norwegian cruise. The food was definitely much better than carnival. The entertainment was a disappointment as you say, excursions were low end, we were late, arriving in ports, Way too many problems from getting on board to getting off of board with many issues on board in many different areas. Again, I don’t think I’ll ever sail on Norwegian again.
My first cruise, in 1995, was on the SS Norway the former SS France. The next time was on the NCL Sun however there was no Free At Sea at that time but there was Free style dining. We loved that just like you said, "eat when you wanted"
Sorry to hear of the disappointments, but after 17 cruises and platinum status, I love NCL! I did want to explain the unusual pool deck on the Joy, as I was told it was designed for the Asian market and the large space was some sort of meditation garden. NCL decided to leave the space as it was. Frankly everyone has their own preferences and for us the entertainment has always been the best and the platinum tier has wonderful perks! Happy cruising🚢
We did an Alaskan cruise with Norwegian in August and one of the things we have told everyone about was how amazing the crew members were and how absolutely clean the ship was
Just ba from NCL Epic Mediterranean cruise, extra taxes that we were not told about added 120 euro to cruise,all of our party were double charged and 2 Days we were only able to drink beer and wine, balcony was dirty inspite of being told they would clean it twice. The entertainment was dire apart from Burn the floor ,. Customer services staff were very rude and unhelpful, never ever again.
The free at sea is so worth it. I like the casualness, the fact they mark vegetarian items on the menu, the live music all over (enjoy that almost more than the big budget shows; we were dancing almost every night) We are in our late 60s.
I'm a big fan of Norwegian and am getting ready to cruise again very soon. While booking I did notice it feels a bit like they are moving to the way of discount airlines, using nickel and dime techniques at a level I never saw pre-Covid with Norwegian. I'll be on the Joy and will be aware of the things you included in this video - Thank you.
Interesting. I wonder if this is a tactic to try to recoup the lost revenue from the pandemic. It's a shame they're doing this. I've cruises many times on many different lines (pre pandemic) and never remember there being extra charges for activities.
Be careful - if they or you have to cancel do not take future cruise coupons. Should you have to cancel, there are no refunds for the coupons. Also coupons have limited expiration dates. You could lose your whole investment.
We have cruised NCL more than any other line and overall really like them. I think with the drinks package, if you cruised RCCL and bought a package that included drinks and specialty coffee it might end up being about the same or even more than "free at see". I have found on the Breakaway size ships, pool space was limited particularly trying to find shady areas. I have not been on a ship with a race track yet; but, it worries me that might take away even more such space. I do think getting the drinks and a couple specialty meals is great, we also get two more being platinum which really didn't take us long to attain. I agree their buffets are very good. We found Carnival's to be awful and ended up being pretty disappointed even with Princess. I love that they are all a bit different and seem to suit different people. Thirty years ago, I would have probably loved Carnival.
I think NCL has taken a lot of the above complaints to heart as they seem to be increasing the cruise quality in the Prima class. Food quality is definitely a big thing for them. One of my big likes on the prima is the vastly increased deck space for Adults. They did not get rid of the amusement park stuff but they scaled back the quantity, increased the quality and stuck them in an area that is no longer fighting for space with the more sedate cruiser.
While we cruise Norwegian most of the time, I have to agree with all of your cons here. I would, however, come down harder on the pool issues. I think the pools are very small for the number of people and often find that parents bring their kids into the adult pool. We so seldom find places to sit near the pool that we no longer even go to that area. As for the main dining room, we found ourselves often choosing to do the buffet rather than the mdr on our recent cruise on the Pearl. Specialty restaurants were great, though. Fortunately the pros outweigh the cons for us. It remains the cruise line we most often use for many of the positive reasons you listed.
I was on the Norwegian Epic in February 2023 and my experience was very different than yours. Here is where our experiences were different. 1) There was less variety on the buffet than the other five cruise lines. So much of the buffet consists of hamburgers and pizza. 2) We found the staff to be less trained and a lot less polished than HAL and Celebrity, especially in the MDR. And NO ONE was smiling at all which was a real shock to us. And the supervisors were downright sour. 3) All of the entertainment venues were really small for a large ship. Add to that was the people who was saving seats for all their friends. You had to get there at least an hour earlier to get a seat. My cruise next week will be our 7th on seven different lines. I think that after trying nearly every line, we will be sailing on HAL and Celebrity.
Most definitely, the crew are the kindest, friendly and caring ever. Always available to help with literally anything that you have a question about. My husband and I said on the Norwegian Joy December of 2021 and it was the best.
My husband and I love NCL! We just sailed on the Bliss in November and mostly went for the entertainment. It had Jersey Boys and Six on it. They were amazing shows! I agree with a lot that you said! The staff is always so nice and the ships are always clean. Even the older ones that we've sailed on.
We have sailed on Norwegian six times. Three times on the Pearl and three times on the Jade. We did six Keeping The Blues Alive Cruises (through Sixthman) and have no interest sailing with any other line. The biggest plus before and since the pandemic is the cleanliness of the ship and the friendliness of the crew.
Good Morning Ilana! My friends and I chose Norwegian for my first cruise (the others have cruised in the past) mainly for the freestyle dining and dress. We wanted to be a bit more relaxed for my first try. Hoping to fall in love with cruising....33 more days!
NCL Joy was our first cruise ever so I don't have much to judge by. But my husband and I absolutely loved it and will be going on another in November with NCL Escape. Thanks so much for your review!
So I'm a little confused. In another video when you state that you bought the Starbucks Coffee package, you then stated you didn't take into account that you would be off the ship a lot. So because it wasn't in your drink package it annoyed you. But you know what's going to be in a drink package . It's on their site . The second thing you also said in another video is that you bought a water bottle package, but you didn't use it as much as you thought you would, and you had extras left over. So again it wasn't included in your drink package so this annoyed you. You were annoyed that the pool layout was different than most other ships you've been on but why would you expect them all to be the same. I just think this video was too anti-ncl for decisions that perhaps you should have made differently. It seems to me that only you needed the premium package for work, which in the US would be a tax write-off. So there was really no need for anybody else to have a premium package. Wi-Fi is expensive on every Cruise Line. Notice I didn't put question marks on any of my statements above they are just simply statements. This particular video just rubbed me wrong. No I'm not an employee nor have never been an employee of any Cruise Line. Again it's an opinion, but your opinion carries a lot of weight.
That’s fair Sue. I did know what was included & not, and as I said in another video I could have made different choices (that I only knew once I experienced it). Of course I’m only stating my experiences, of which I had a lot of good
We usually travel NCL but we found the Joy to be very disappointing. We stayed in the Haven and the food was not good. It was never hot even the specialty restsurants were fair. The local had the best service and hottest food. We did like the pools and the hot tubs in haven sundeck were amazing. Chair hogging was so bad but almost comical. We did have the big shows but comedians were awful. We loved the beatles.The casino was the worst could never find a waiter. Interesting you mentioned the cleanliness this was the one ship we got covid from in July and we wore masks but staff kept telling us we didn't need to.There are fewer suite choices on this ship. I love NCL staff. We will be going on the Gem in March. We are branching out though as the cost seems to be getting higher. Shopping was awful on the Joy as well. We had lots of obc we had to spend and we found tje jewelry prices outrageous and most jewelry store staff condescending. Of the six NCL ships we have been on this was our least favorite.
Just got back from a 12 day cruise on NLC Food needs to be better taste!! Wi-Fi $ through the roof$ Staff was great. Do you know/ does their staff get tips at the end of each cruise/ We actually got charge ahead of time for Hospitality/Service charge. I asked a few servers if they get tips, but they didn't under-stand what I was asking. Thank You
I went on my first cruise ever in August and it was on the NCL Joy. I have nothing to compare it to but I loved it. My only complaint would be the small pools and how crowded they were. We did have the Vibe package and without that, I might have been less happy overall. When we went, the Vibe was never crowded and it was really relaxing. The bartenders there were the best! My sister & I plan on going on the Prima in April 2023. She only likes sailing with NCL.
My one cruise was an NCL from Galveston... and they never told us that several of the engines had been down for the past month! The Captain came on the loud speaker to say it was too dangerous to go all the way to Belize/Honduras with possible hurricanes (he didn't mention they were slow due to broken engines). He decided we'd go to VeraCruz instead! With a short excursion in Progresso (Chichen Itza). AND he did NOT tell us this until we were away from dock & streaming to the Gulf of Mexico -- we were stuck. We complained later & only got credit for another NCL cruise, which I'll never do! Also, average food, often boring.
I love cruising because of its inclusive nature: food and most activities to name 2. We were on NCL Bliss last December. While we liked the ship, we were disappointed that NCL charged for anything mildly interesting. Yes, NCL always marketed itself as the cruise line that offers the most choices. That’s true as long as we are willing to pay in addition to the cruise fare. At least on our cruise the mini-golf was no-charge. So they are charging extra fees even for mini-golf, next they’ll charge for the use of onboard water slides. All these extra charges are eroding NCL’s value for money. We can book into MSC Yacht Club for not much more than we paid for the Club Balcony on NCL, and for Haven prices we can get on Viking for its small-ship experience. Yeah, we won’t be sailing with NCL again anytime soon.
Thank you for the review. We are going on the Joy, for the first time, in August. NCL is our main cruise company. Some of the extras are annoying. But I did notice when we went on cruised that were all inclusive, I did not use all the amenities that I already paid for. So I'm not sure how much money I really saved versus pay as you go. I guess having to pay extra onboard makes me less likely to pay for something I really am not interested in. I know a lot of people complain about the internet. But if you are not running a business (such as travel agent or blogger), why do you need to be online so much on vacation. My phone is only a camera when I'm on a cruise. Everything else can wait until I get home.
Just booked my first ever NCL cruise, my first time without my darling husband too! I’m taking my daughter on her first cruise. I love formal nights so I’ve persuaded my daughter to bring her evening dress.
Congratulations on your Holland America invitation, Ilana! What a testament to all the hard work you've put into your channel. And the fact that it also presents the challenge for you to address your anxiety around flying is an important bonus. Great decision to get support as skill building and grounding will only help you to visit farther and more exotic destinations and expand your cruise line options. Like me, I'm sure your followers can't wait for more incredible reviews, guidance and more of your overall cruising expertise. Sailed on the Joy a few weeks ago as a solo cruiser and LOVED it so much I'm booked for '23. Some of the points you raised I totally understood. Regarding the food served in the Main Dining Room, I agree it was often mediocre. But I was grateful for the variety that NCL Joy offered like the Garden Cafe Buffet, The Local, Taste and Savor and of course, the specialty restaurants - which were extra $$. If I was dissatisfied with a meal or was hungry later, I would visit another venue. Regarding the beverage package, I agree, it is pricey. But honestly I do think the premium beverage package was worth the upgrade as it included unlimited water, unlimited Starbucks and just about most top shelf alcohol options. Having unlimited Starbucks throughout the day, Chi-Chi's by the pool (Pina Colada with vodka - Grey Goose) and bottles of Moet at dinner really put me in vacation mode. Yes, the extras will definitely add up. But until I'm ready to Ievel up to Celebrity or Viking - NCL is great. I am thinking about Royal Caribbean and Virgin in my not so distant cruise future. Again, thanks for your insight, feedback and honest reviews.
I am planning a cruise in April down to Mexico. An agent just emailed me info/pricing for the Norweigian JeweI, but after watching your video i have some concerns about your reveiw pertaining to "just ok" food in main dining room for this boat. Would you say that all of the Nroweigian dining halls would have a "just ok" food rating? I mean... are all the boats consistant when it comes to food quality and taste within the Norweigan Cruse line? This concerns me as i am a Foodie and my number one priority when choosing a boat is the food within the dining halls and buffets.
With the exception of 1 Carnival cruise I always go NCL. And I agree with you on most points. I am not a shopper so could care less about that. I would like the bottled water and Starbucks to be included but I’ve gotten used to those extra charges. The last NCL cruise was Alayna k in May. Jersey Boys was supposed to perform every night but ended up just the last 2 nights. As disappointing as that was the show was amazing! You are absolutely correct about the cleanliness and the crew. They were so much fun.
I agree with you on the food quality. My husband and I quit sailing Norwegian because of the quality of food in the MDR. I felt like we were being forced to do specialty restaurants in order to get good food. I don't like all the extras they are charging for. I don't like the fact water bottles aren't included in the drink package. I'm a water drinker but my husband like the alcohol. I'm paying for a drink package that I can't even get water.
The last time I took an NCL cruise was 18 years ago when they were pushing their Freestyle dining. The MDR was almost empty every night and the food was subpar. Decided to go to the other specialty restaurants and found them to be adequate at best. I felt coming off the ship I was nickeled and dimed on almost every activity. Haven’t gone back to NCL since. I find RCCL and Celebrity to be more my style and within my vacation expense.
I had the premium dining package and never had a bad dinner in the speciality restaurants (steakhouse, Italian, French, and seafood) that I tried last week.
We’re cruising on NCL for the first time in may 2023 - 10 day on odyssey of the seas - Italy and Greece ! I’ve cruise many times before on Carnival! Thank you for the tips !
We agree with all of your positive points. As far as your negative points concerning specialty coffee, souvenirs, special pool areas, steak or heavy beef dinners really don’t apply to us, so we don’t need or miss that. We discovered many dishes that we enjoyed. We enjoyed the entertainment in the theaters and especially the solo artists at different bars and venues. The relaxed atmosphere and dress code was a definite plus (fewer clothes to pack), since sometimes we had to pack for two seasons.
Our first cruise ever was in 1986 on NCL,then we did another 26 years ago and now are going on the Breakaway in January, very happy to hear about NCL. All we have done in those in between years have been Royal, Celebrity and Princess. Thank you for a great review of the ship
Been on about 15 NCL cruises and the last one was earlier this month on the Getaway. Yes, I agree, the staff / crew seemed to always be smiling, joking with us and each other, and genuinely happy. To be honest, I feel like they've always been that way! Hubbie and I actually thought the food in the MDRs were better than in year's past! But, that could just be the difference in ships. Absolutely love the freestyle dress code! My next cruise is just with my daughter this Summer on Escape an can't wait for that one!
I always go back and forth between NCL and RCCL and just sailed on the NCL Prima 10/10-10/15 out of NY. While the ship was beautiful, I found the layout whacky. Most ships have an atrium style center place or center strip, this had neither. It took long to figure how to get around. The dining room meals were just so-so (agree with you on the meats) and waited 45 minutes after ordering every time for the food to arrive. I know that on RCCL you can get frustrated when trying to rest with loud over the top pool deck activities however, this ship had no entertainment pool side. Should be a happy medium. Cabins were large and they somehow managed larger bathrooms and showers a huge plus. The Donna Summer show literally put me to sleep. Dear NCL....Why have comedy shows in tiny pub style venues that allow for a tiny audience? We didn't get to see any comedy as they booked up five minutes after people got on for the entire week. Get a larger location as this is something folks want to do. 3 stars for me. Probably headed back to RCCL.
I've done 3 cruises with Norwegian (including a cruise on this ship in March of this year) and am planning my 4th. I 100% agree on the comments about the crew, they have always seemed very happy to be there and helping the passengers. The cruise directors and their staff have all been fantastic and engaging. Something to consider about this ship in general (relates to the shopping areas and pool area design specifically) - this ship was originally built for the Asian market. When it was decided this ship wouldn't thrive there it went through a bit of a makeover and was brought to the US in 2019
We just cruised from NYC to Bermuda I agree the food on Norwegian Joy was subpar. The main dining room didn't afford the opportunity from any seafood dishes. The offerings were just average the steakhouse Cagney's what's a bit better but not by much the service was really with steaks coming out well before the other items. There seemed to be really poor insulation from Cabin to cabin we could hear conversations in other cabins right next to us and I've never experienced that on Royal Caribbean. There is a total lack of deck chairs the pool area was beyond frustrating where you couldn't even get a deckchair unless you put a towel out at 7 am. A co-traveler of mine had a dirty bathroom with remnants left over from the prior passengers we also heard many complaints from other passengers that they found random clothing in their room when they checked in and very dirty floors. We were on Deck twelve and had people partying till almost 3 a.m. when I contacted guest services they couldn't couldn't figure out where the sound was coming from though I told them when I look out my balcony I can see a crowd of 30 people on the deck having a good old time partying. And meanwhile there are cameras on every deck so frustrating! I was told to complain to the corporate office in Miami. Needless to say myself and my traveling companions are no big rush to go on Norwegian anytime soon.
Just home from a 7-day Princess cruise. They still have formal nights & the other nights are "smart casual." I'm not sure how much more casual people could get if Princess adopted the Freestyle dress like NCL has. There were so many passengers who looked like they were getting ready to pull up the weeds in their yard rather than going out to dinner. I'm all for being comfortable, but some folks took "comfortable" to the max!
You took a 7-day trip on a discount cruise ship, not an ocean liner. Some would argue that a jacket and nice slacks doesn't even qualify as semi-formal either. Doing away with the formal nights is the right way to go. People are on vacation, there not there to impress your pompous, self-entitled person as a source of free entertainment while you complain about prices of a drink package. You want formal, go Cunard.
I guess this is as good of a place as any to tell my NCL story and why it is unlikely I would sail with them again. In October of 21, I took an an Alaskan cruise on the Encore. The ship was great, food was great, I was happy with the service. However I became "disgruntled" as I felt they had lied to me about certain charges. I originally booked a standard balcony and then did the "bid to upgrade" program and won a "Club Balcony Suite." And the word "suite" is what caused the issued. Because on their website (and other places) they say room service charges don't apply to "suite guests." And as it turns out, that's not really what they mean. They mean customers of suites in "the Haven." I had in part, based my bid for the "Club Balcony Suite" on the idea that I would not get charges for room service and I think that's what really set me off. And to this day, after reaching out to their corporate customer service, they have yet to respond to why their info says "suite" guests don't pay room service, but somehow my Club Balcony Suite was not a suite. (Which I get, of course it's not a true suite, but it's what THEY called it so what else was I to think?) And I know, I need to let it go, but something about their petty little word games about what a suite is just rubbed me the wrong way. (Plus while on the cruise I found myself wondering WHAT ELSE was lurking that I was going to get charged for) I get mistakes happen, but they still have that misinformation on their website. And I can't shake the feeling that they're being intentionally deceitful. OK, that's my rant for the day. LOL
