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Less than expected by
A Traveler from Salt Lake City, UT Sailing date: May 2012Pros: Ports Cons: Time on the ship Would not recommend this cruise line to friends or family, have cruised princess line before so much better than Norwegian or this ship at least. Shouls NOT offer excursions early in the season unless they will be available. Had no idea the cruise line would receive the lion share of the revenue or would have booked independtly. Ship QualityDecor is old and dated, stained furniture in common areas. Dining/FoodHORRIBLE, cheap buffet food, cold more often than not. Stateroom QualityBed linens were torn Ship Staff QualityLanguage barrier and overall not flexible or accomodating. 0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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   Not a memorable cruise by
Sokha N. from California Sailing date: Oct 2011Pros: Nothing really stood out except murder mystery group. Lunch was awful though. Cons: The included food was awful an entertainment was extremely limited. This cruise is for older people. Activities were extremely limited and the cruise director did not do a good job of hyping up and publicizing events. Events were lack luster and every ends at around midnight. If you are a night owl, this cruise is not for you. However, there were a few shows that were entertaining.
The inclusive food is mediocre and it was a nuisance trying to cruise "freestyle" like the company promotes when dining in each area is limited to certain hours. The food that is inclusive did not taste good. Some of it was good like the salmon but all else was blah. Don't try anything fried but it never comes out crispy. Just soggy. However, although not inclusive, the restaurant Le Bistro is good. Some of the servers were rude and made dining unpleasant. Overall, I'm not ever going to cruise here again. The princess cruises are much better. Heck, I'd even try carnival cruise next time. At least I hear they low how to party. Ship QualityNot the biggest but not the smallest either. Dining/Food
Stateroom QualityVery clean and looked nice. Ship Staff QualitySome staff, particularly some of the waiters were rude. Our room attendant Rommel made us feel awkward. He kept interrupting us or stopping us in the hallways when he can clearly see that we didn't want to converse with him. He also woke us up from our sleep. Entertainment & ActivitiesAwful. I major in marketing and have hosted several events and just can't believe the level of entertainment and promotion is not better. I expected more of NCL. 
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Cozumel, MexicoWould be nice to explore less touristy areas.
Don't Miss: Tequila tasting. Delicious. Conch ceviche with locals. George Town, Grand CaymanNot much to do here in the short time docked.
Don't Miss: Rum tasting and lunch at Guy Harvey's. Ocho Rios, JamaicaDunn river falls is nice but crowded with tours. You are better off grabbing a taxi and going there ourself. Its cheaper. And you will probably end upfollowing a tour anyway due to the crowd. I wish we could have stayed over night to explore. Jamaica is very interesting.
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Terrible customer service by
A Traveler from slc , Utah Sailing date: Oct 2011Pros: The second city show was great Cons: The customer service was the worst i have ever experienced on a cruise ship From the get go something was just off. I was traveling with my mother who was in a wheelchair. We got no help just getting on the ship. We rented a scooter and it was placed in another persons room. We went to the front desk who was not very helpful. We finally got the scooter when we went to dinner it was quite some time between courses. One of our bags didn't arrive until quite late the first night. Most of the public restrooms were out of toilet paper and paper towels and were dirty. One night the button for the toilet wouldn't work and 2 days our room smelled like sewage. I told the front desk, but they really had no reaction. The girl in the gift shop was rude most of the time. The one excursion we booked was not wheelchair accessible at all which is not what the web site says. Everything wasn't bad, at least the ship had a bright feel to it. The spa was well worth it and the second city show was really enjoyable. I also enjoyed the french bistro restaurant Ship Qualitypublic restrooms were dirty and half of the stalls had no toilet paper and were out of paper towels Dining/FoodFood was good but it took about 5 days or the dining room to seem organized. Took a long time between courses. The dining room was nice looking Stateroom Qualitybeds were not that comfortable. If you have more than 2 people in room the extra bed was a bunk bed or roll out bed which left you no room. the bathrooms were a good size because we had a wheelchair accessible room. Closet space was smaller than other ships i have been on. There were a lot of shelves though Ship Staff Qualityterrible, worst i have ever had on a cruise ship Entertainment & Activitiessecond city was great, the rest was average 2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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1st and last cruise by
A Traveler from los angeles Sailing date: Jan 2011Pros: Eating any time you want. Cons: Having to look at my watch every time we got off the boat. Were a couple in there early 30's, active and easy going. If this sounds like you don't go on a cruise. We heard the saying "just married and almost dead" many times on the cruise it was more of the later. It was almost a retirement home, no one awake after midnight. When you get off the boat, they don't tell you that it take awhile if there is no dock. Small boats take people to shore. At times we only had four hours on shore/ not relaxing when u think u might miss the boat. 2 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
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Think twice about taking a cruise! by
Karen B. from Nashville, TN Sailing date: Apr 2009Pros: The food and food choices were the absolute best! Cons: Felt like a prisoner on a schedule! If your in the market for a vacation...please look into something other than a cruise. On the first day you could check in at 12 pm. to get on the boat, but you could not get to your room until 2pm. and your luggage was not delivered until 7pm. So if you had medication or anything that you needed... forget it unless it is packed in your carry on. This was called freestyle cruising, but the only thing free about it was when you could eat, use the pool or go to a few shows that didn't cost anything. They don't tell you that you MUST pay for your water $4.50 each unless you get it from the tap, soda $2.50 each unless you buy the $6.25 a day glass for refills, alcohol at $7 + up (and you cannot buy it by the bottle and take it to your room to save money, they confiscate it right there til you leave the ship), automatic 15% gratuity added to every bill you make, $12 per day gratuity per person added to your stateroom bill, only 2 small pools (one for kids & one for adults) and not enough chairs for everyone so there's never a place to lounge unless your there very first thing, and don't take any kind of on shore excursion that is over 3 hrs. because you will not have time to spend in the port. When you do get to go shopping in a port - it's not like going on a vacation to an island where you will fiind bargains. These people are oriented to the cruise line and prices and they are NOT cheap or reasonable for the average person on a limited budget! We did play bingo, but it ranged from $20 for 4 paper cards - one paper with 3 cards for each game - on up to $160 for an electronic bingo card. All 4 games took 40 min. and you were done. The casino was decent and you did win some depending on what you played and of course if you knew when to quit. Plenty of kids zones though. They seemed to have the best time. There is more that I could warn you about I'm sure, but at the moment I've hit the highlights. All I also know is that at the end of a week I received a bill for $756 and $113 of it was shopping at their shops and the casino took cash so that was't included. This was for 3 shore excursions, transportation to the boat, 2 games of bingo and a few drinks. So be prepared to spend lots of money if you go on one of these!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ship QualityClean ship, but sometimes you couldn't get there from here sort of thing. Dining/FoodBest food, but be aware of the time schedules and some have charges. Stateroom QualityVery small room and bathroom. Nice balcony. 3 times they made up the room and we got no washcloths, also dirty tissues on the floor when we checked in. Ship Staff QualityExcellent staff and organized Entertainment & ActivitiesLots of activities, but be aware that you will be charged for some.
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Belize City, BelizeDid the mayan ruins and the old belize river. Nice boat ride (boat was in poor shape). Saw some wildlife. Great guide on the way to and including the ruins. She was like a historian. Very well educated. Could climb a mayan temple
Cozumel, MexicoGreat port for shopping. Did the submarine ride. Not too good unless you just want the experience of going on a small sub.
Don't Miss: Shopping Great Stirrup Cay (Cruiseline Private Island), BahamasNot much to do. Snorkeling was poor.
Roatan (Isla Roatan), Bay Islands, HondurasPoor area. Went snorkeling and was made to follow the guide in the water. Gumbalimba park was ok. Cool monkeys.
13 out of 17 people found this review helpful.
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To all cruise lovers: by
A Traveler from Ct. Sailing date: Mar 2009Pros: none Cons: free-style dining I would like to take this opportunity to offer feedback on a (Norwegian
Cruise Line) NCL vacation from, which my husband and I just returned. We
consider ourselves experience "cruisers". This vacation was our 10th cruise.
We have cruise on a variety of cruise lines i.e. 3 on Carnival, 2 on
Princess and 4 on Celebrity. We have a level of expectation for quality and
service based upon our past experiences. ( This is why we love to cruise.)
Because my husband and I were vacationing alone, we decided to try the less
formal type of experience that NCL so highly advertises. Unfortunately the
NCL "free-style" cruising translated to "NO STYLE" cruising. We gave up all
the personalized pampering and service that you automatically receive on all
the other cruise lines. The food selection and quality in the main dining
rooms was inferior and tasteless. If you wanted anything approaching quality
food, you were forced to pay a cover-charge of $15 to $25 per person for the
"Specialty" restaurants. (Is this NCL's way of increasing their profits?)
Cabin service was totally lacking also. We repeatedly had to call reception
for service.
Unfortunately our experience with NCL was disappointing, to say the least,
and will NEVER be repeated. NCL's marketing for "free-style" is deceiving
and definitely not what is advertised.
Dining/Food
Ship Staff Quality
15 out of 16 people found this review helpful.
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Bad experience by
A Traveler from Berkeley,CA Sailing date: Oct 2008Pros: Kids club Cons: luggage was damaged, dirty toilets, short cleaning times, cabin service was hard to get and make less than average job, serves trend to let fall things on you several times or bump into you, iternary change due to rain (missing stops/ harbors), bingo is the major show programm dirty toilets, unexperiend severs (trend several times to let fall things on guests), unmotivated stewards (only once a week you get fresh lines), you have to hone and chase behind your steward to get the cabine cleaned (you have to follow the stewards timetable not yours), cost us sveral attemts to get at least same amount of towels like guests, only possible to check in luggae over ship and than it was damaged, port tours not recoomendable, due to rain port stop was cancelled without alternative stop Ship Quality
Dining/Food
Stateroom Quality
Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & Activities
Children's ProgramsNice staff
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Belize City, Belizeship stop not due to rain
Cozumel, MexicoExpensive ship tour was dominated by try of tour guid to sell and stop at souvinier shops
Great Stirrup Cay (Cruiseline Private Island), Bahamasto small beach for all the guests, better hurry if you want a chair at least in the 5th row, stones in water, other cruise lines have much nicers islands e.g. carnival
Roatan (Isla Roatan), Bay Islands, Honduras
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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"Very disapointing" by
A Traveler from Philadelphia, Pa Sailing date: Nov 2009Pros: The Sharkbait Show Cons: Everything else Not impressed. I have cruised Royal Caribbean and Celebrity in the past and NCL and the Pearl doesn't compare. You are nickle and dimed for everything on the ship. Dining rooms too small, they force you to pay for surcharge resturaunts. Service very slow. I will probably never book with NCL again. Ship QualityShip was clean Dining/FoodFood very bad for a cruise, even in specialty rest. Stateroom QualityBalcony room small but clean. Ship Staff QualityBar waiters very pushy for buckets of beer. resturant staff very slow and not too friendly. Entertainment & ActivitiesThank god for Sharkbait. Children's ProgramsThe girls were very nice. thought the child activities program was included but ended up paying 6 dollars a day for that also. 12 out of 14 people found this review helpful.
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A once in a lifetime cruise. if this is by
Dana from Pennsylvania Sailing date: Mar 2007Pros: Its design. We may never crusie again and certainly if we ever do, it will be on a liner other than Norwegian. Entertainment & ActivitiesActivities: Too crowded and too may drunk people.
Entertainment: Only saw one show and it was very nice.
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Belize City, BelizeGo beyond the gates a Belize.
We left the tourist zone and went into the city and this was more interesting than a fenced in tourist zone with the same shops as Cozumel.
Cozumel, MexicoCozumel on horseback.
Very good. No complaints.
Don't Miss: Tequila fountain at the jewelry store. 2 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
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Nice First Cruise by
RyanM from PA, United States Sailing date: Feb 2013Pros: Destinations and Excursions Cons: Specialty Restaurants Overall a good first cruise with great destinations and excursion. Would not dine or pay extra for the specialty restaurants, as my wife and I dined at Modernos Brazilian Restaurant and were extremely dissatisfied (we received meat that was still frozen on the inside). The Matre D, Jessica for the restaurant was unable to refund the upcharge for eating at Modernos and she also did a poor job communicating with us. 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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