😮

Agree 100%. Love the outdoor dining.

We sailed with NCL on Encore to Alaska last October in the Haven experience and couldn't agree with you more. It's such a different and wonderful experience, and the level of spoiling is extreme and addictive. It's so addictive that we're doing another Haven cruise (on the Escape) this October!

@@ricobhi It changes your outlook. I'm not too sure I can cruise any other way now.

Never never never sail with NCL. They suck

Glad it was helpful!

Just came back from it. Go karts are fun but u can’t pass. If u wanna do smt deck 17 has it all. Vr is fucm but most games are boring. Observatory best place to chill

Good luck. Bring lots of sleeping pills and a few games to help kill the time. I was excruciatingly bored unless I was off the ship which unfortunately did not come often enough. I could list my gripes for an hour, but just know it is not for everyone. There is no shame in liking privacy and the freedom you get when you stay at a hotel. I felt like I was always being followed around by a timekeeper trying to keep me on schedule. The constant announcement blaring in my ears were horribly annoying. I can still hear the Bingo bingo bingo in the bingo room announcements and some stupid art auction. They seem to have gotten internet so that might be something good I cant do at home..........

Hi Matt we are cruising this MAY. on NCL Jade This is my first time on NCL Jade. What did you most like about the ship and least like about it. Thanks Traci

While my cruise on the Joy was my least favorite, the customer service amazing and the price is well worth it. NCL may seem expensive, but add in drinks, specialty food, internet etc, free at sea is the better deal. The Gem Class Ships are our favorite, but it's a matter of preference. We had a great time. We just prefer the smaller ships. You will have a great time!

There is noting free at sea never has been never will b you have already paid for it in your cruise fare.

@@lenvella9541 lmao very true! Doesn't hurt that you get more use out of the money though

I did that cruise last year on the Gem was a great trip enjoy!

how was the epic?

Thanks for the review, I'm planning a solo Alaska cruise next year.

I only travel solo, and yes, I agree. No other line has it cheap for solo travelers

interesting. my first time on ncl in a solo cabin. it's great to know it's pretty much worth it.

Noticed you took a cruise in October to Alaska I believe. Was it really too late and horrible? I might go last minute.

@@chicagomike I loved it. I think the weather was pretty drippy much of the time, but I didn’t care. Late in the season, that’s what you’re going to get.

Jade was refurbished in 2022; my first cruise will be on the jade this summer.

There is no such thing as free at sea you pay for it in your cruise fare do you really think any cruise line would give you anything for free?

It’s horrible for carnival as well. The whole port is a sh!{ show and the one way in and out (a shared two lane street) makes it a giant traffic jam. Especially if there are two ships in one day. My one and only cruise experience with Carnival had me wondering what on earth were they thinking with this horrible set up. It felt like we were being processed into federal prison and there was no organization.

At least Carnival has a garage where they meet you and take your luggage. With NCL you have to fight the two way nightmare and park a block away and hoof it. And then there's the TSA back up. If Orlando weren't a 10 hour drive....

Muster takes twenty minutes. You will live. What is this recent obsession with the twenty minute safety meeting? Endless whining all over the place about it.

That parking in NOLA is a freaking nightmare!!!

NCL is still worth considering. A good travel agent and cruise blog websites can help you pick the cruise which gets you the best value and experience based on your personal preferences.

We've only sailed on NCL. We're happy with that.

We were not impressed by the Joy. We will still cruise NCL but sticking with the Gem Class Ships. I have no desire to go down a waterslide, do the race cars, or play laser tag. Like you said, it was like a cattle call. There were kids screaming and playing in the casino bar at 100 AM. We went to Bermuda and it was too hot in July. Never again. But we are happy we are booked on Jade in February for the Southern Carribean. We are not platinum yet, but we are getting close.

By the way I forgot to mention ,Thanks NCL tested positive for covid 19 Two days after getting off the Getaway ,Thanks NCL

I think Celebrity is a great brand too.

The gratuities are not the big issue, although the percentage in our society has increased tremendously. The issue is - they call it free, but if you select those options, your room charge is higher per person. So not free, you can opt not to take those, and pay less. Calling them free is definitely deceptive.

Free at Sea is not "free" if you have to pay... period.

@@Avaren619 excellent argument. You win. Then don’t take the “free” package and pay the $110/day plus gratuities to drink.

I agree and If you don't have the free at sea you are paying per drink which will add up quickly if you have a few at the pool, some at dinner and some after dinner drinks. It's called free at sea because you pay a little more but once at Sea you are not paying. I've done both and I can tell you all those room charges add up quickly if you drink say 5-7 a day and I can tell you drinking 5-7 is easy lol.. So if you like to drink get the package and pay a few bucks more. Servers should be tipped and 20 bucks a day is each I tip on top of that usually a 20 to who ever is working the pool that day so they know me and get me taken care of asap. I do agree they have increase fees but everything else in the world has gone up to! I'll continue to cruise NCL, good luck to those to choose them or any other cruise line.

​@@Avaren619 they are free. You're not paying for them. The fee you are paying is gratuities for the staff. If you received a free meal at a restaurant, wouldn't you still expect to pay a tip to the staff? Or would you argue that the meal is free so all the staff get screwed out of the tip as well? Think about it.

Agreed 100%

Really great detailed explanation thanks for sharing new cruiser here whom really appreciates it.

I really advise against the DRINK PACKAGE, free drinks and you will be charged a ridiculous amount of gratuities no matter how much you do or do not drink. Those fees will apply to everyone in you party. We had it removed and just kept the other 3 (nothing is FREE) and they deducted well over $200 from our cruise. Check all of these things out. Enjoy your cruise

I just got back from my first cruise with NCL and the thing that bothered me most was the reservation for everything. Having to make reservations for dining and shows way ahead of time seems to be totally against the "free" at sea concept, because you're always worried about your reservations. I was told that Cagney's has the best steak dinner so I tried booking on the second day to find out it was fully booked the whole cruise. So I went and stood in line each day and couldn't get in, till the last day, a couple added me to their party so that got me in. The NCL free at sea dining concept is completely flawed, as far as I'm concerned. They advertise that you can eat when you want but everyone runs on the first day and books up all the reservations. That's for shows too. Everything else I enjoyed and I have to agree the food is probably not as high end as it was before covid. I think that is to be expected on all the cruise lines.

Cruised 5/21-5/28 the joy to NYC-Bermuda the cruise was a terrible experience completely disorganized and pourly run. Its been 5 months and they still owe us 3,500$ in refunds from group deposites and booking credits. From the very start the boarding experience was chaos. Just mobs of people being told the wrong information over and over. People being yelled at by staff for doing things other staff members told them to do. No organized line systems or anything. The food was not good at all. One of the main reasons we book Norwegian. The food at the buffet was mostly over cooked or mushy, a few people even got sick from the buffet. The main restaurants were not much better and only open form 12-1:30 for lunch. The specialty dinning was never available due to the fact people were making multiple reservations for the same day and then canceling the ones they don't want last minute. No regulation at all. We were never able to book things as a group. The one dinner we were able to book ahead of time, when we showed up they didn't know anything about our reservation. They told us we could only sit in tables of 8 and there were clearly other groups with tables of 12. All the tables were suppose to be together but they were separated by massive pillars and walls completely isolating 3 of the tables all together. The laser tag was only open for 2 hours per day and weather permitting. When I tried to book the group they said they needed the room number and the fact that I booked as a group didnt mean anything. I explained I was the group leader and asked for a list of the rooms in my group and they told me thats private information. They said they couldn't accommodate us at the go karts either. But doesn't seem like we missed out sine an electric shopping cart moves faster. The entertainment was really bad. Footloose felt like a high-school production. Most people were falling asleep or walking out after 20 minutes. They messed up several people's reservations in my group and kept sending them to talk to different people but no one ended up helping them. Several people told me I was gonna have a butler and when I went to set it up I was basically laughed at and told I only get a concierge. The "Concierge" that I was assigned was barley available and when they were they would direct me to talk to someone else. I talked to so many long time Norwegian cruisers and they said it was hands down the worst cruise they have ever been on. Some of them have been on more than 30 cruises. Even the staff was apologizing for how crappy it was. This was our wedding cruise. I am so embarrassed. I told all my people how great and fun it was going to be. I told the how great the food was going to be. I told them how great the entertainment was going to be. I told them all the stuff I was told and it was a lie. The ship was not intended to be a family cruise ship. Nor was is designed for that level of open water. The ride was so turbulent. It was designed to be a gambling boat. It is nothing more than a slightly refurbished casino boat with a few pourly thought out and designed "family fun features". We really feel scamed, cheated and lied to about this cruise it was definitely not as advertised. And we are not the only ones there are thousands of people on social media with similar or worse complaints.

You must be from the US don't you realise the rest of the world pays honest salaries to workers so they do not have to practically beg for tips. Gratuities are for services provided meaning after you have had the service not before and now this is thrust upon the rest of us because Americans tip no matter what. Take a line through P&O Australia no gratuities and no they are not included in the cruise fare at all.

@@lenvella9541 Not from the USA. Wages are good in Canada but I know that they are not paid well on cruise ships....Since I still choose to cruise, I also pay the gratuities because I know that's how most cruise lines top up the salaries of crew. I too wish they paid better and the cost added to the fare. I know that cruise lines that don't specifically cater to the North American Market do not add these extra gratuities.

No not [art of the fare at all. If you look up what gratuities means you will find same as time for services rendered meaning after you have had those serves not before. You would not go into a restaurant on shore and pay tops or gratuities before a meal would you? The problem iso course we all this of the Asian crew not getting a proper salary or wage bu rthen the problem is the crew do not get the gratuities the cruise lines hold onto them Talk to crew3 they will tell you they do not get passed on. Think of a cruise ship holding 4,000 people such as NCL and charging US 20 per day for gratuities. That is USD 80,000 each and every day they are getting off passengers. In a year 365 days that is USD 29.2 million dollars they are getting from gratuities. That works out at USD 2.43 million every month in gratuities alone besides what they add for every sale of 18%. Can you see a cruise line giving their Asian crew USD 29.2 dollars every year or USD 2.43 every month. Like hell they will that's why they pocket it. No I give generously myself would not trust any cruise line to give the crew the gratuities and P&O Australia do not charge gratuities at all and perfor you ask no it is NOT added in the cruise fare they leave the passengers to pay any garatuiies as it should be. This has been brought upon us all because Americans in various industries get ripped off by their employers not giving a decent salary structure. In most countries there are laws protecting the vulnerable from being ripped of but unfortunately USA has not rec lived the message yet.

@@lenvella9541 I wish the cruise lines would be transparent about where the gratuities go.

@@lenvella9541 By "added to the fare" I mean that the crew should be paid properly and the fares adjusted to reflect this.

I’m sure ur meds were thrown out or stolen

@@joannah.185 probably stolen.

I'll be on your cruise. I hope we get to go to GSC also! First time booking a villa and looking forward to it!

I noticed the same thing and emailed an agent for NCL Who advised they cannot determine what other cruise lines charge. Seriously… that was his answer. How can they charge more??

Same here. The "CursieNext" (?) program appears to be a scam. I signed into it and then cancelled when I could not get the bill paid. Can't believe NCL will give traverlers "free air fair". Best regards. DRS / RVN Vet.

never been charged to go to the adults only area...I don't understand what your doing wrong..

I sailed last week on Encore and what I learned is that everyone tries to early board between 10am to 12pm (huge lines). I boarded at 1:15pm and minimal line. Embarked through full process in 28 mins.

@@user-cd4ml5fl9p They are talking about the Vibe. Many of the newer ships have Spice H2O that are adult only areas, but some don't. I simply sail on the ships with the Spice H2O section. As far as their other complaints there are a few ships with small pool areas for sure. Breakaway and Getaway I think have quite small pool areas. The other ships are very spacious though. I always get the "free at sea" and prepay my gratuities for the room, so I'm just paying it all up front unlike clarencemarquez8134. No nickel and dime to me. The embarkation is also a bit odd if you do show up early, but if you plan for like noon or later you really do get through quite quickly.

@@user-cd4ml5fl9p The Spice H2O Adult area which is on most ships is free but some of the newer ships (Breakaway & Prima class) have a "Vibe Beach Club" in addition to, or instead of Spice H20 and the Vibe requires you to purchase passes to enjoy its facilities.

Hiw did they charge you after you already paid? And for what?

@@guitarn00bie25 Our statement had paid in full. My wife even call NCL x3 and they said it was for gratuities. First two times they didn't know how to explain the charge. We didn't add anything after our full payment. So either we pay or don't cruise.

Did you just come on to brag about how many cruises you have been on? You could not go anywhere on the ship without a conversation about past cruises. Ever stay at a Hilton and actually enjoy a vacation instead of prancing around letting everyone know you are a tenth-tier member of the latitudes club?

Once a day room cleaning has been standard for on land hotels for decades; you can still get extra service, mostly at no extra charge just by calling house keeping and asking your stateroom steward politely. Only in room extra you really pay for is room service, you will be charged a service fee for ordering bottled water and other food or beverages to your room.

I heard MSC is very disorganized...so take caution and do your research.

covid is boring

I am really confused. Just cruised NCL Prima and loved it! Already booked another cruise with NCL to Alaska.

Lol you're going to pay through the nose for icon of the Seas