Hi Karen. We are booked for the September 4th sailing and I hope the
kids will be back at school. This sailing seem to have fewer takers
since the pricing was $400 lower than the August 28th sailing. We are
doing this as a snapshot, just three week in advance (normally we plan
six months to a year out). Have not tried the Dawn yet so this should
sate our curiosity about Freestyle cruising. I suspect we may not
like it, but we shall see.
>
>This ship was on a short list for the Fall, but I'm glad we didn't
>book it now. Sounds kind of dreadful.
>
>Benjamin Smith wrote:
>
>>Mostly clear skies with 2 very short rainstorms. Full moon (big
>>highlight for me). Calm seas. Hot weather.
>>
>>Family cruise for me but truly a family cruise. Very young clientele, at
>>least 30 babies and 30 toddlers, and a whole community of teenagers.
>>Some public areas repurposed. Family's response to cruising is mixed,
>>perhaps sister is better off on a quieter ship but in no way has the
>>cruising bug. Father enjoyed cruise to be at sea, and of course this
>>cruise in no way compares to our HAL Rotterdam V cruise in 1970.
>>Teenagers in family, 16-year-old, 14-year-old fraternal twins boy/girl,
>>and 12-year-old responded like teens--no stars in their eyes. Lots of
>>karaoke, to a fault, but more on that later.
>>
>>I like overall ship design but it has an obvious flaw--way too small
>>pool area. Overall design works, IMO. Ship felt *very* crowded. Agree
>>about theater seats being narrow. Great showroom entertainment, pretty
>>typical entertainment from musicians onboard, lower-than-average pool
>>combo. Ship feel eclectic, different feels depending on what part of the
>>ship one is in.
>>
>>Saw Disney Wonder (like its appearance), Navigator of the Sea, Regal
>>Empress, Carnival Fantasy. Ship goes to Nassau from 8:00 pm and leaves
>>12:00 the next day, which I found strange.
>>
>>Cruise service seemed spotty, have the feeling it may be subpar.
>>Freestyle dining has multiple choices, but no jeans and t-shirts in most
>>restaurants is enforced--sometimes. And there's an optional formal night
>>with pics taken as well as suggested optional dress codes. We did
>>Cagneys as a family and found service and food very good, wife enjoyed
>>Salsas and I did not, we both enjoyed the Asian restaurant Bamboo,
>>spotty service and food in Aqua, Impressions, and Venetian--the
>>"regular" restaurants. Woeful food in buffet, utterly unpleasant
>>environment. Blue Lagoon, the 24 hour grill/diner a hit, but service
>>quite poor for this crew and one crew member was publicly reprimanded
>>(saw this too on Galaxy, something I don't find professional--she should
>>have been taken somewhere private, IMO). I don't cruise to eat or for
>>restaurants, but for those that do, this ship has a variety of them and
>>they are well integrated into the design of the ship. Aqua's placement
>>requires going up to go down from the Venetian, or for those in cabins
>>floors 5 and under. Doesn't bother me in the least, may bother some.
>>
>>Personally, don't like 90,000 ton ships, though I like this better than
>>Celebrity Millennium class ships in terms of design and variety of
>>public areas. Prefer 50,000 to 78/80,000 ton ships (HAL Statendam class
>>to Celebrity Mercury/Galaxy, RCI Vision, Sun Princess sized ships).
>>Don't see any huge improvements over this ship versus those built in the
>>mid to late 1990s.
>>
>>Most enjoyed full moon, wraparound promenade, Star Bar, Spinnaker lounge
>>--design and some of the activities. Spa staff and quiet spa area. Some
>>crew members and talking to one of the entertainers.
>>
>>Least enjoyed: family cruising, mall-like atmosphere, crowded, pasted-on
>>smiles and sing-song manner of many cruise members (though this isn't
>>only an NCL crew problem), automatic tipping--depersonalized nature of
>>dealing with tipping the staff. Lots of announcements and ridiculous
>>amount of selling. Example, before the magic show an entertainment
>>member pushed some sort of sales tickets on the audience, also all sorts
>>of junk was all over the atrium to sell, and more as the cruise went on.
>>
>>My wife and I have to think about future cruising, the reality of
>>cruising on mainstream lines versus what we want out of cruising, the
>>effect of different itineraries and cruise lengths on cruising, perhaps
>>non North-American lines that have a different emphasis than the current
>>climate of cruising. We want another world when we cruise and this
>>cruise was as much Jersey Gardens mall as any vacation we've been on. So
>>where to go from here, I'm not sure.
>>
>>My wife and I both agree on our ratings. Notch below RCI, Notch and a
>>half below Celebrity and HAL in overall quality. I think this may have
>>been a substandard performing crew, and I'm not sure what NCL's style
>>is. Have to think about it. I think NCL may do better on this same ship
>>at other times when ship isn't as crowded, or on different itineraries
>>with other ships, and I sure hope that NCL has made the pool larger on
>>the Star and Jewel. (It seems to be small to allow for two huge suites
>>on the top level of the ship).
>>
>>More later.
>>
>>Ben S.
Bob Gow
"Experience is what you get when
you expected something else." |