NCL Review

Since we've been back a lot of people have been asking how our cruise was. Of course we had a fabulous time, it was great to just get away from everything and be totally disconnected. A couple people were asking about how the Norwegian Cruise Line was in particular. So I'm going to break it down. As a teenager I was lucky enough that my parents took us on several cruises, I think like 8 in total. We went on a few different cruise lines so I had a good basis of what we liked and didn't like in a cruise. We'd gone on NCL, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and I think it was either Princess or Celebrity (or maybe it was both, I can't remember those two). Here's my review of NCL:

Price: Let me say I think the NCL was a great deal for the money. For the price we paid (which really wasn't much) I think we got a great deal, it was very affordable. Of course we did go during the end of hurricane season (which did actually effect our trip) but the price was practically half the price of what Royal Caribbean would have cost for the same week. But I also believe you get what you pay for. Was it the best cruise I'd ever been on, no, but was it still highly enjoyable, yes. I went into it not expecting it to be on the same caliber as a Royal Caribbean cruise, I knew it would be smaller and that was ok.

Ship: While I think the ship itself was very nice, it was small. When we were in the port in Nassau surrounded by 3 other ships, Royal Caribbean, Disney, and Carnival, our ship was by far the smallest. The Royal Caribbean ship towered over ours. I kept looking for this grand main lobby when we got on the ship, such as what Royal Caribbean has, but there isn't anything like that on NCL. I think the Royal Caribbean ships have a much more impressive main lobby with better flow. This ship you had to walk through different areas to get to your destination. For example, you had to walk through a bar area to get to the dining room, or you had to walk through the shops and casino to get to the theater. The cabins were nice though, your standard cruise cabin, clean, and got the job done. No complaints there.

Freestyle Dining & Food: Like anything in life I think this aspect has its pro's and con's. It did afford us a great deal of flexibility to decide that day of when we wanted to eat and how it fit into our schedule. The biggest con of course was that we were not the only ones that had the same schedule as us. The first night we went down to the dining room before the show at around 7:00, needless to say we were not alone and waited about a half hour for a table that night. We did have to wait for a table most nights. We started going to to the early show at 7:30 and then heading to dinner after that. Some nights you did have to get a buzzer and wait for a table. While it wasn't a long wait, and it's not like we had anywhere else to be.

We were all very happy with the food on the ship. We ate in either the main dining room or the smaller more informal dining room six out of seven nights on the ship. The one complainant I think we all had was when we all ordered the steak one night they were way over cooked and tough. Other than that we had a few favorite things on the menu, like the spring rolls, those were awesome, at least one of us ordered one every night.

They also had about 10 different speciality restaurants on the ship, ranging from Italian, French, Asian, Steakhouse and more. We honestly had no interest in paying for something like the Italian restaurant. The prices ranged from $10-$25 per person for the speciality restaurants. We were happy to go the dining room for dinner. However on the last day we did splurge and go to the Asian Lotus Garden restaurant. Matthew and Nohra also went to to the Japanese steakhouse on the last day for lunch and they said it was incredible. I thought the Asian restaurant was good, we ordered so many different appetizers and courses and they were all good, although Mike was less than impressed with this restaurant (in all fairness I tasted his fried rice and that wasn't really great), but I think we all enjoyed the meal, but I def would not have eaten in the speciality restaurants every night, once was enough.


Amenities: Another thing I kept looking for but knew I wasn't going to find was another pool area. While the ship has two separate pools they are in the same pool area, on the same deck. One of the things I loved about the last Royal Caribbean ship we were on was the separate pool area located near the spa, it was an adults only pool area and was quiet, separate from all the noise of the pool games and band playing. It was a great spot to get away and read my book. Unfortunately NCL didn't have that feature. While there was enough room for all of the guests to enjoy the one pool area I would have liked to have seen another pool option.

I used the fitness center but only to walk on the treadmill at night before dinner. The gym itself was nice, although on the Royal Caribbean ships you are actually facing out from the front of the ship (that is where the spa is on this ship). I didn't try any of the fitness classes since the free ones were mostly only stretching classes, there were no cardio classes to try. In order to use the spa pool or hot tubs you had to pay $119 to use the spa facilities for the week, I don't remember there a charge like that on other ships.

Entertainment: We went to the shows every night, they were very enjoyable. There was your standard cruise ship productions, they had a Jersey Boys tribute group, an improv comedy group and a juggling act. All were a lot of fun. The Jersey Boys group even inspired Mike and I to want to try and get tickets to go see Jersey Boys on Broadway.

All in all, we were all very happy with the cruise. Matthew and Nohra absolutely loved it. I think Mike and I definitely enjoyed it but I personally would like a little more luxury and amenities as featured on the Royal Caribbean shops. But considering the price of this cruise I definitely think you get a lot for your money. I would go on an NCL ship again but I think at the same time I would save a little bit more and splurge for the Royal Caribbean if we could. But hey, you can't go wrong with any cruise around the Caribbean for a week, even with a Hurricane out there!