The TERRIBLE State of Norwegian Cruise Line in 2024 

The $20 a day grat has been around since 2022 when I worked at NCL. I never had someone come to our table trying to upsell. I was on the Joy back in March and not once were the announcements in any other language but english. Our cabin steward was on top of everything. You were in the Medd on the Epic, you're going to have multi language announcements. Do the Epic in the states and it's a whole different experience. I sell NCL and can say that most of their state side sailings are sold out for 2024.

This is so sad. I used to only cruise with them but in the past few years have branched out. I am now loving Celebrity and Princess.

I was on the Norwegian Escape in August and the ship was in perfect condition. Took me 5 minutes to get a drink and the service was good. The buffet was WAY better than the buffet we had on Royal’s Freedom of the Seas in November 2023. I received multiple messages and letters selling me another cruise but I just ignored them. My trip was not ruined for spending 5 seconds throwing those letters in the trash can. The programmed 9 ports where not cancelled with plenty of time on most ports. All companies cancel ports all the time anyway. There was one excellent show and one not so good show. But I wouldn’t go to MSC because of that. Trashing one company for one ship is a good way to get thousands of views but is negative advice for people who would miss a good experience in another NCL ship.

Everything you have said is 100% true. We cruise NCL as our casino perks are great. However, our last 2 cruises were disappointing. The upsale is out of control. The buffet was so bad, I refused to even eat breakfast there. The quality has slipped dramatically. We are not giving up on NCL. We were reall hoping they would build smaller.ships in gne future but nope. The venues are way to small. If you are not in the Haven, you wont be seeing a comedy or music show. Seating for less than 200 wben there are over 5K onboard??? It just isnt worth the fight. The specialty restaurants were not as good. Last cruise was on the Jade. She was recently updated, but they skipped the cabins. It fet like 1990 lol. It's a bummer as our favorite ships are the Jewel Class.

Hearing about them changing their itineraries at the last minute on cruises over the summer was enough to count me out of using Norwegian.

I took NCL Dawn back in August 2024. If it hadn't been for the wonderful itinerary of ports we had, I would have really been angry. My cruise was ok. I agree, a lot of upselling - this is especially true for the CruiseNEXT office. Daily flyers, a couple of envelopes with flyers in them (to make them look more important), and urgent messages left on the cabin phone (which really angered me considering it could have been a family member that was trying to reach us) Not taking another NCL cruise.

I went on my first NCL cruise in December 2019 and again last year in November. The state of the ship, crew, service and quality of food was so different. I was so sad and found myself just feeling so bad for the crew. Not to mention, everything was sooo much more expensive. They were obviously overwhelmed, burned out but trying their best to make things enjoyable. I will be going on virgin in March and looking forward to the simpler charging.

We've done several NCL cruises. They are our preferred Cruise Line..we’re on Celebrity in a few weeks. We were on Pearl this past Spring and had no issues with the ship. It was spotless and the crew were fantastic! While disappointed with the loss of known Broadway Productions, I do understand the costs of copyright and keeping understudy on board can make it cost more prohibitive than musical Productions. We're scheduled on the Aqua out of Southampton, and we can't wait for the new Prince Tribute Production. Do correct me if I am wrong, but I was under the impression that on your last NCL Cruise that you purposely searched for the worse rated ship and room and booked it for algorithm clicks. So that's not quite a proper comparison 😉.

My wife and I were on a 9 day NCL cruise earlier this year out of Miami. It was our first time on NCL and were very disappointed. The entertainment was high school quality at best and the food was fair at best. It was the most expensive cruise per day that I had ever booked and will probably never book with them again.

Yeah they need to stop that especially with the crazy prices of the cruises

We are taking the exact same cruise with NCL exactly one year apart (14-day Prima repositioning out of NYC). It will be interesting to see what's changed year-to-year. Given your critique, I'm thinking it may be our *last* NCL cruise and we'll stick with our favorite, Virgin Voyages. I'm sure NCL sees these same criticisms on their feedback cards and online forums and obviously ignore them. The best way to reject these changes is to vote with our wallets!

Ncl i love their drink package. No better cruiseline for that.

I was on the Joy in August for a trip to Bermuda. The food quality in most of the specialty restaurants was just ok (not as good as my previous sailing with them in 2021 on the Escape) so you could tell there cuts. The show Elements just was not as good as when they used to have Broadway shows {yet another cut} and there were no other shows during that 7 night sailing. The staff on the ship seemed generally happy but you could tell they were overworked. I do have a sailing with NCL booked in 2025 on the Viva, so I'm hoping it was just the Joy that was the fluke in my bad experience with over 10 cruises completed with NCL.

You start mentioning a cut of 500 Million. However the text states 300 Million? Something does not stack up. Taking my first NCL Cruise in November. 2024. Curious to compare them.

Could not agree more. Went on the Bliss this summer to Alaska and upselling was way, way over the top. Close to predatory if not crossing the line a few times. Also the crew seemed stressed and miserable. I went in with every intention of buying a few CruiseNexts for future cruises. I didn't have a good enough time to justify buying any. I think I'll be avoiding NCL for the foreseeable future. What a shame.

That is not good you paid already why are they bothering you with more sales. They cut the shows that was a main perk of going on the ship.

The sad state of NCL is the same on the sister brands. Regent has seen massive understaffing as well and is committed to the same cost cutting along with price increases. These are the behaviors of a company on the decline and nearing the end. Look at the level of debt NCLH is carrying compared to the value of the company and compare it to RCCL who has payed down their debt in a big way.

Just disembarked off the Epic and I have to say they must of seen your review😊 as the areas you pointed out as dirty were all cleaned up. I can’t fault the staff or the food in both dining room and speciality restaurants. You may have lucked out on your cruise as I couldn’t really fault much at all. I did not like the room with the weird toilet and shower situation however room was clean. Love your reviews and honest commentary. If you want to see a shocking state of cruise’s come on down to Brisbane Australia and board P&O Pacific Encounter. I was shocked by the smell of poo and the food was sooooo bloody bad. That ship needs to be scuttled😂

Waiting until you make final payment...that is just dishonest. Even if it didn't matter to me re: missing a port etc. It is just dishonest and I can't respect that.

Used to love NCL, it was my favorite line. I thought their entertainment was the best in the industry. Kinky Boots and Choir of a Man - Amazing! But that is all going away. Plus some of the decisions that they are making now, nope. I won't be sailing on them I'll take my money to other lines. NCL is no longer as inexpensive as it was for what you get. I now wish I wouldn't have bought stock and would have went with Royal. Yes I realize all lines are out for money and there is a place for everyone. NCL is just no longer for me.

Some of this is paying off their debts. Some of this may be just greed. During the pandemic, many of the cruise companies racked up a lot of debt. Unfortunately, it may be a spiral downhill. They cut service, so fewer people want to go back to cruise with them again, so they cut even more, and it gets worse. They are going to need a way out of this spiral or else they will be in even bigger trouble.

The original nickel and dime line... shockingly managed. The suits need clearing out and starting again.

Great video!!

😊

Wow

this saddens me. i have cruised with ncl (well not recently) and i loved them. i like no formal night and really loved their solo things they do. this saddens me