Norwegian (non diving) Cruise story...LONG

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RICHinNC

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RAEFORD. NC
Ok, If you are the type of person where everything has to be absolutely positive, I would not recommend reading any further. This was my first boat cruise (non-diving) and it didn’t go very well. The only reason I decided to go ahead and put this on the board was just in case anyone else was considering the same cruise. At least they would be forewarned.

My girlfriend and I have been talking about a cruise for some time and decided to try the Norwegian Sea Cruise because it was….short (only a week)….was close…(East coast)…..and reasonably priced. Normally our vacations entail us flying somewhere...usually Europe or Ireland….renting a car and just driving the back roads and seeing the sights. Never the same place two days in a row unless there is something very interesting there. So, we were not too sure how this would work out.

My GF lives in Harrisburg, PA so I had to fly up there from NC. Her parents were going as well ….and there was some anticipation about that, but that part worked out splendidly. The tour offered a bus ride from Harrisburg for only $50 a person and we decided to take that offer because of the pain of driving to the New York city dock area and the cost (and danger) of leaving the car for a week in the city.

The bus was right on time. However, the bus driver had no idea how to get back to the New York dock area. If it had not been for some guy on the bus that had been to NY city before we would have been hosed from the start and missed the boat.

We finally found the dock area with the one guy sitting in the step well of the bus and giving “turn here” directions. Unloading and luggage actually went pretty smoothly. We got into the dock area and on into where the boarding process was to take place. Here is where it all fell apart the first time.

There were over 2,000 people waiting to get on the ship. Some had been there since 10 o’clock that morning, and, it was already 8 in the evening. Apparently, the ship was 6 hours late getting berthed in the harbor. Now that wasn’t entirely their fault. Apparently, that weekend was also the same weekend for some major boat show….regalia…or whatever they do with boats. Point being….there were literally hundreds of boats of all sizes blocking the big ships from entering the harbor area. Every big ship was late that night.

However, and I mean however…..the ship’s crew or Captain did absolutely nothing to tell the people what was going on and what was causing the delay of getting on the ship now that it was docked. A comment was made by one of the crew that they were looking for 5 people that were missing. Don’t think that didn’t cause a little stir !!! A little information would have gone a long way.

We didn’t get on that boat until after midnight. People were tired, kids were crying and screaming, old folks (about 90% of the people were over 60) were literally dropping like flies. One old guy was in such a panic because his wife’s oxygen was about to run out and her spare tank was in her luggage. It was one zoo. Now like I said, the delay was not their fault. But, they did absolutely zip to keep the people informed as to what was going on and why. Also, once it was all over, there was one small apology and nothing offered as a “thanks for being patient”. Not a free drink, not zip. Now, you can call me small here I guess, but, if you don’t think there was about 2,000 or so upset people for being put out the way they were and not getting even a free drink…..

Anyway, we finally got on the ship and made our way to our room. Now I had read a number of reviews about how small the rooms were. Personally, I thought the people were pretty stupid to think they were going to encounter large rooms on a cruise ship. But, people will be people. Our room was not bad at all. We spent the extra bucks and got a room with a window (waste of money). There was a TV and a phone (but you better make more $ than I do if you plan on calling anyone…wow!!) and the bathroom was not bad at all.

The only “gripe” I had about the room was in the bathroom. The toilet had a huge sign over it….”Pull up silver handle to flush”. So, tell me how would you have tried to flush it??? Well, I pulled and pulled and pried the dang thing with my credit card…with the ice handle thingy…and couldn’t get that silver handle to come up and flush at all. Then my GF came in and moved the towel and there was a button. Yep, you got it. Push the button….flush the dang toilette. What an idiot I can be I guess….reading directions and trying to follow them. Duh.

The whole first day we were at sea and headed for Halifax,Nova Scotia. The whole first day I spent trying to get my sea legs. I am an old Army guy…not Navy….and I was one sick puppy. NEVER did the deed….but was sure woozy for a while. Thank God that feeling finally went away. We spent that day just getting familiar with the ship. In fact, as some of you probably know….there is a mandatory life boat drill the first day at sea. Well, they called it a life boat drill. We never saw the boat, never learned how to get into it or anything like that at all. All we did do was show up, stand in the freezing wind, and participate in a roll call.

Actually we were the first people to show up in our “boat group”. Man, that wind was whipping around like crazy. It was hard to stand up. Anyway, the crew member in charge of our group kept calling me and her to come out from behind the fantail area and out into the wind to wait for everyone else. I yelled back that as soon as everyone else gets there we would come out, but we were not going to stand in 20 mph freezing wet winds to wait on stragglers. As I was mutinying, one of the ship’s officers came out of a door (hatch?) and hearing what I said, lit into the crew member “”for not using good common sense””…his words… and moving his group to the fantail area where we were standing out of the wind. Man, he really blew the guy away. My old man was an old crusty Sargent Major and I don’t think I ever remember a chewing out as bad as that. I really felt bad for the guy. Any military leader knows you never chew anyone out in front of anyone else. Keep it personal…keep it private. Plus, as the officer went around the corner, he found two crew members playing basket ball during the drill and I swear to the Above I thought he was going to toss them overboard!!!

But, we never were told anything at all about the boats, loading procedures, what to watch out for or anything. They just made us stand in the wind for 20 minutes while they took a roster count. I would have hated to think what it would have been like if all those people actually had to use the life boats. Scary.

We finally got to Halifax and here is where my next two gripes come into play. I won’t even talk about what a pain it was to get off that boat. Two thousand people headed for one exit only….and it was 4 foot wide and 6 foot tall. Talk about one huge traffic jam. By the 5th day the old folks were hitting each other with their canes !!!

Anyway, my first gripe is with the photographer. On every port we entered, he set up right at the end of the gangplank and tried to get people to have their picture taken. If someone did, they stopped everyone else from disembarking. Man were people upset. It really did slow down getting people off the dock significantly. By the 5th day people were just walking around behind and when he said something they said something back I won’t put in here in case some youngster is reading this.

My other gripe was the amount of time we were allowed in port. We always had to be back to the dock by 3:30 or 4 pm. And, we never left the dock before 10 am, so that left us little time to see the sites. We were sitting around talking at dinner one night and most of the table couldn’t figure out why we were given so little time when our ports were never more than a few hours sailing time. (Halifax to Martha’s Vineyard to Bar Harbor, to New Port back to NY…..if I got one out of order…you get the idea…they were dang close!)

One couple who was at the table and taken more cruises than I got bruises from jumping out of airplanes just laughed at the comment. They asked us….how much of your money does the ship get that you spend on shore???? Well, duh. They said that the Norwegian Cruise line was notorious for short shore visits. They wanted you on the ship and wanted you spending money on the ship. Now, I can believe that. We went to play bingo one night. They wanted $36 per person to play bingo! OK, so I am an idiot, it wasn’t for free…..but $36????

The last gripe I will mention is the food. Granted, you could eat 24 hours a day if you wanted. If all the restaurants were closed, you could have room service. Food was not a problem. The cruise director said….often….you come on board as a guest and leave as cargo. Cute the first 20 times I heard it….not there after. Anyway, while the food was abundant….it was really poor quality. We met a number of people that were members of a club called Latitude. Apparently, this is a club of people that are really into cruising. Some of the people had been on over 50 cruises!! A number of them said that this ship’s food was the worse they had ever encountered. We did have a couple of good meals, but for the most part I would have been happier with C-rations.

Was there anything good we liked??? You bet. They had some of the best entertainment we have seen in a long time. In some cases, Broadway quality. If you were a gambler, they had a small but really nice casino. And, if you were a novice, no problem. They took their time with you…..as they took your money. I actually came out even !!! Miracles do happen. And, being an art lover....they had some fantastic art auctions !

One thing really did surprise me though. It was how much the ship rocked. My God !! I thought big ships didn’t do that in calm waters. We never had big waves, no white caps…zip. And yet, that thing rocked liked crazy. Someone said they were having problems with the “stabilizers”. I didn’t know ships had stabilizers. Like I said, Army…not Navy. Anyway, it felt like all the passengers were running from one side of the deck to the other in unison the whole time. Plus, there were times the ship just vibrated and groaned like it was suddenly thrown into reverse. People just ran to grab something when that happened.

So, would we do another cruise?? Actually, my GF is already researching the internet for our next one. Will it be a Norwegian Cruise Line ship???? No way Jose. But, we do want to be fair. We don’t want to judge all cruises by this one. But I can tell you, if the second one is like this….see you driving around Europe!!

If you have done cruises and have any ideas, feel free to let me know. We want to do the Caribbean. I have been trying to find out….do they have ALL INCLUSIVE cruises??? Man, $6 beers can sure add up !!
 
Rich,

As a travel professional, your experience with NCL is very typical. It sounded like you took it all in and were a good sport.

NCL is the "Best Western" of the cruise industry. They do have beautiful ships and they have some real old dogs out there. The staff isn't the best trained either (did you hear about the crew member who dumped raw sewage into Neah Bay? You can bet I am not diving there for a while) NCL is also one of the least expensive ways to go on a cruise. Because their prices are so cheap, they rarely do anything to compensate passengers that were inconvieneced. They also try to re-coop as much as they can while on board. Hence the short shore times in port and high prices for everything while on board. I have never heard anyone rave about the food on the ships but depending on the cruise, some of it is better than others.

NCL does do somethings right: They have the best itineraries and departure ports. They started cruises out of Houston and Seattle; two ports that are extremely popular with vacationers. They are currently the only cruiseline doing 7 night Hawaii year round. They do also have great diving itineraries (Cayman, Cozumel, Belize and Roatan, 7 night cruises) They have excellent prices on cruises (7 night sailing for $399) and great entertainment on board.

Would I sail NCL? NOPE. The price is right but I will pay a few hundred $$$ more and sail Holland or Celebrity. Better yet, I would rather just do a live-aboard. More diving that way.

Amy
 
Amy...

If the fiasco at the beginning had not happened we would have probably just taken the rest in stride, but the bad beginning made us more aware of all the rest.

Yep we hope to cruise again but like you not with NCL.

Do you mind me asking....are there all inclusive ships like there are all inclusive resorts??
 
Cruise ships make money 3 ways: Shore Excursions, Casino and Alcohol. That is how you can get a 1 week cruise vacation so cheap on a cruise ship. Actually, after you pay you bar bill, shore excursions, gamble a bit and tips, you could pay more than you did for the actual cruise.

As for a true "all-inclusive" cruise, not that I know of in the premium market. However, on the high-end luxury lines, alcohol and shore excursions are included; but expect to pay anywhere from $7000-20000 per person for a 7-night sailing.

I know there are live-aboards out there that are totally all-inclusive. Shop around. Otherwise, the all-inclusive resorts is the only way to get your drinks for free.

Amy
 
Last December.

It was wonderful. My ticket was $499, and I was on the ship for four days and three nights in the Bahamas.

Alcohol wasn't free, but the food was unbelievably excellent. And the huge ship (I understand that there's only one cruise ship larger) was amazingly stable at sea. Only a couple of times could you tell that you weren't on dry land... And there WERE whitecaps on the second day!

I even got in two dives on the trip... Fantastic!
 
I went on a Holland America cruise to Alaska last year. They had great food and excellent service. Seemed like we were in port long enough to have a full day of activities and get back to the boat for dinner.

The average age on HA is a bit higher than on other cruise lines but that didn't bother us at all.
 
Of course, I've only been on two . . . but I'm hoping to remedy that soon. :wink:

I've been on the Westerdam (Holland America) to the Bahamas, and on Rhapsody of the Sea (Royal Caribbean) to Alaska.

Had a great time on both, but I preferred the Holland America cruise. There were a few issues about mix up of my shore excursions with Royal Caribbean and the overall quality of the Holland America cruise was a bit higher - but all in all both were good cruises.

The average age of the passengers on Holland America is a little older, but that was not a big deal. Both cruises you paid for any alcohol, gambling and shore excursions separately. I didn't find that the ship rocked much at all - just a gentle swaying at the most.

Unfortunately, going on a cruise does involve standing in line a lot of times - I know exactly what you mean with the disembarkation of the ship - but the cruises I went on they kept the photographer on the dock to the side, so as not to hold up the line. I think at times they may have had two exits, also. I would try a different cruise line next time.
 
SeaJay once bubbled...
Last December.

It was wonderful. My ticket was $499, and I was on the ship for four days and three nights in the Bahamas.

Alcohol wasn't free, but the food was unbelievably excellent. And the huge ship (I understand that there's only one cruise ship larger) was amazingly stable at sea. Only a couple of times could you tell that you weren't on dry land... And there WERE whitecaps on the second day!

I even got in two dives on the trip... Fantastic!

I've done a lot of cruising with RCCL (enough to be a Crown and Anchor Society member) and have never had a BAD experience. Not every cruise was perfect but most of them were and the problems on the "not perfect" cruises were pretty small. I'm not familiar with NCL except they have a ship stuck here in Miami at the moment (boiler explosion w/ six deaths).

Locally, Carnival is considered the low-end of the market, not NCL. Carnival seems to have more than their share of ship problems (like drifting w/o power for 36 hours!). Carnival owns a quite a few brands, including Seabourne and Holland America.

RCCL also owns Celebrity.
 
Well, like i said.....we will try it again.

I didnt mind the age of the passengers....in fact...all the disney red boat would be for me is a mobile platform for a target rich environment.....that means i cant stand kids....why should i suffer for your few seconds of pleasure.....???

anyway i digress....we want to do the carrib...and we want to do the alaska cruise....so i am sure we will do better next time. Now at least we know what to ask about and what to watch out for.
 
I love to dive. My wife does not. She loves to cruise. I do not. The Western Caribbean NCL cruise was a good compromise. I dove GC, Roatan, Belize and Coz in one week. She got to do the cruise thing. I would do that or a similar itinerary again.
 

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