The crew should get an award from NCL they worked so hard. Some of them haven’t seen their families in months. Even though I didn’t go to many ports out of my 29 cruises on NCL I have never had a better experience. I almost didn’t want to leave but the circumstances on land made me want to go home. The food was Great I had the free at sea dining along with me being a Platinum member includes 7 ...
This cruise left Sydney at the end of February when the coronavirus was just getting started and had not really impacted most countries. There were less than 30 cases in Australia and less than 100 in the United States at that time. The day before we departed we received an email from Norwegian that stated our itinerary had been changed and we would be compensated with a 25% refund and 25% credit ...
We chose this cruise because a Royal Caribbean cruise we’d booked due to leave Singapore was cancelled three days before departure due to COVID-19. I had already travelled to Sydney ready to fly to Singapore and felt fortunate to find this cruise to Burnie, Tasmania, Melbourne and the South Island of New Zealand. Why anyone would include Burnie on any itinerary is beyond belief. We were ...
Sydney (Pre-Cruise)
We landed early in the morning and were in the arrival hall in under an hour. We collected a pocket WiFi that was reserved through Klook and purchased Opal cards from the WH Smith store for the public transportation. We looked for a Wespac Bank ATM (Bank of America’s partner), but were unable to locate one. That was an exception. Wespac branches and/or ATMs were all over ...
This was our second NCL cruise. The other was six years ago and since then we have cruised exclusively on Celebrity. The embarkation was quick and efficient.
We chose a penthouse suite at the back of the ship. This was not part of the Haven but did gain us access to the breakfast and dinner in Moderno as well as other suite perks. I'm glad we did not stay in the Haven. The courtyard and ...
Standing in a queue with 2000 people to disembark in Auckland NZ while 2 staff look up each passenger manually in a book. I'll find out why in an hour or so. Worst disembarcation I've had in 30 years. Crew are stiff. Food is terrible (stale bread served up with dinner multiple times).
Cabin so small there is no chair or table. Not enough space to walk down the side of the bed.
Public spaces ...
We paid top dollar for this average cruise. Had previously been on a Celebrity Cruise and thought the food was bad but nothing could compare to the slop on this ship. Poorly cooked and presented, mostly stone cold and very little supervision from staff. Children digging their hands in the food and not being deterred by staff.
Had to send food back in one of the paid restaurants ( food overall ...
Overpriced everything, in US$, especially drinks, auto 20% gratuity on everything to staff who don't deserve it. Outrageously expensive excursions. On board activities run by staff with English as a second language, they were incomprehensible, activities boring. Food was OK. Specialty restaurants food quality not worth it. Best food was in Azura. Will not be a repeat customer, extremely poor value ...
My wife and I have just returned from a 12-day cruise (Sydney/New Zealand/Sydney) on the Norwegian Jewel.
We have previously been on 12 cruises from 7 to 48 nights with 5 different cruise lines ranging from 3 to 5 stars and rate our Norwegian Jewel cruise at a barely 3-star level for the following reasons:
MISSING LUGGAGE:
We arrived at our cabin to find one large suitcase missing. We ...
This was the Best cruise I have ever been on. It was a Holiday cruise in December and just the Best Time!!! Christmas caroling, cookies and fun things to do. And the Christmas buffets were spectacular. The food was really good and at times excellent. The buffets were just terrific and I spent most of the time eating at the buffets because they were so good, and the staff were very ...