First time Norwegian Cruise?

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luludoodie

Been on 2 NCL ships, will never go on another one!
Freestyle Dining does not work.

The Dining rooms get booked up every evening. You can't dine when you want to! They give you a vibrating/flashing coaster and call you - up to 1.5 hours later!
They are trying to:-
A) Make you go and spend money in the bars!
B) Make you say - don't want to wait - and go to one of the extra
cover charge (up to $25/each) restaurants!

We were in a suite. We had a priority booking phone line where we could book from 7am the day before! If I left it until 7:30am everything was booked!

HOWEVER when we were in the Dining Room on our booked nights we could count (every time) 6/7 empty tables around us in visual sight, implying there were 30+ empty tables in the whole restaurant.
WE COULD ALSO SEE people being tuned away at the door and being given the coasters!

sigleb07

I cruised on NCL Gem to the mediterranean and I love it. I am going again with them, but only this time is in the NCL Star to Alaska. You have the pools (in the gem there were 2, and not small) The restaurants were great and as the other person said I didn't have to wait. We went to the Tempayaki restaurant but we wanted to go, delicious!!!
* bowling alley ($5)
* golf
* the shows (two thumps up)
* they had a giant WII (yeahhh!!)
* a gym
* the jacussi
* Other games (giant chess)
* climbing wall
I liked it and I recommend you to try it this way you'll know by your own.. Enjoy!!!

LeeBee

I've only ever been on one cruise, so I can't base it against any others, but it was last year and was on Norwegian Jewel. My family consists of four. Myself, my husband and two kids - 2 and 10. We all had a great time. We found that if we aimed to be at the restaurant about an hour after they opened, we were usually able to get a table with a minimum of wait. We also found that the largest restaurant (buffet style) had something to suit all of us and stuck to the same restaurant every night - without ever feeling that we needed to go elsewhere. The choice was good enough as it was, and with two picky eaters who were more than able to find several choices of food, why change?! I'd have liked to try the other restaurants, but for the sake of two happy kids and two not dissatisfied adults... why rock the boat (no pun intended!!). I expected to like the cruise - but nowhere near as much as I actually did, and would go again anytime! I'm sure the other cruiselines are equally good, but it suited us particularly and I'd have no hesitation in recommending it. I'm guessing that there are other people who won't have had good experiences, but I think that's the case with any hotel / boat / flight company / etc etc! I'd certainly go again, and would probably look at the options with Norwegian before trying any others as it suited us just fine. Their website lists the different activities on each boat, so it would depend on which activities you'll get. I really couldn't fault ours. The only minor criticism was that our cabin was tiny - but we booked last minute. With two kids in tow, if I should go again, I'd definitely go for a larger suite (if we can afford it!!).

phantom_of_valkyrie

I have to agree with lulu. NCL is different alright but not in a good way. The food is so little you are always hungry. I ordered every single thing on the menu and still was starving.

The ships are old. The rooms are tiny (far far smaller than Carnival or Royal). The service is rude and I was shocked. Luckily it was my first cruise and all the older people were telling me how different Carnival and Royal were. So I decided to do it again and I love cruising.

There wasn't one good thing I could say about NCL. It's a lot of older people so there is very little younger activities. The good news about that is that the club is never closed to adults. It's always 30 and under so that you have a chance to see others on the ship. Carnival does frequently make the club Teen Night.

Honestly unless the price is substantially cheaper AND you are on a brand new Norwegian Ship since they HAVE to be better (they can't be worse) if it's newer, I wouldn't book it.

Go read reviews on Cruisecritic.com for more. If you enjoy all the fun activities on Carnival and Royal, the games and the awesome drinks, you'll hate NCL. If you dislike the party atmosphere of those ships though, you may like it.

palmyrafan

There are always going to be opinions, good and bad, about each cruise line.

We have taken 3 cruises on Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) and are getting ready for our 4th, this one to Alaska. We sailed on the Starward (no longer in commission), the Majesty (twice) and now on the Pearl. We are leaving in May and have talked to many people who have been on the Pearl. She is a newer ship, holding 2466 (roughly 1100 rooms and suites) passengers with a crew of roughly 400 +

The Pearl has a rock-climbing wall, pools, hottubs, bowling alley, oversize chess boards, golf, basketball courts and many lounges. They also have a Cigar lounge, library, Internet room (nominal charge), shoppes, workout center, spa and salon treatment rooms. If you are in a mini-suite or above you also have access to a concierge and butler service. They offer room service and laundry and drycleaning service.

Check out www.frommers.com/articles/4163.html to see their review or check out www.cruisecritic.com to see reviews on NCL and other ships.

Good luck and have fun.

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