hi
this is the first time i have used this site but i felt i realy had to ask for some advice and give warning to other people who intend to use this cruise line(NCL)
i have tried to find an email address for complaints to ncl but cannot can anyone help?
i have just flew back from miami today and i have never had to complain about any cruise i have ever been on except now
ncl cruise was a disaster i was there with my husband ,parents and my sister and her family (her first cruise and probably her last)
sailing the carribean on the ncl pearl
were do io start with what was wrong ,food always cold ,no facilities for the 9month old baby not even a crib in the cabin, had to pay extra every night for so called speciality restraunts if we could get a booking, entertainment same all thru cruise only 4 so called top bill entertainers over a 14 night cruise ,bingo package from $49 to $179 per game per night.
the cruise was in 2 parts even though we booked a 14 night cruise so after 9 days everyone had to be of ship no later than 10am and once again go thru customs waiting in yet another queue before being allowed to go back on the ship.
last five days were a booze cruise people jumping into pools with lit cigarettes and open beer bottles ncl staff turning a blind eye to this only intrested in giving theese people more drink to earn commission, security standing by letting this happen which was a joke as my sister was warned she could not take her baby in any pool (even the so called baby pool)and him with a water nappy on as this was not enviromenltly acceptable
there is so much more i can say but i am exhausted after such a long flight back to the uk
if any member needs to know more i would be glad to reply to any posts
just to let you know again i have never complained about cruising before because i love them my husband and i are only 38years old and my sister is younger but you would honestly think that we had been on an 18 to 30 holiday in magaluf with the antics of alot of the guests
look forward to hearing from anyone else who was on this crise
So sorry you have had such a bad experience. We just returned from MSC Christmas cruise and were disappointed with many aspects which I have posted on cruise reviews. Will stick with good old Thompson ships for service food and entertainment
Take care
supermum
Take care
supermum
Hi Liz and welcome to HT!
Sorry you had such a poor cruise.
I have asked for this ship to be added to our reviews site and would appreciate it if you could post a review once it's been added for the benefit of other members.
luci
Sorry you had such a poor cruise.
I have asked for this ship to be added to our reviews site and would appreciate it if you could post a review once it's been added for the benefit of other members.
luci
You could try uklatitudes@ncl.com they are pretty helpfull usualy, you have doen one cruise so are latitudes now.
Remember a wingy moaning complaint will not get you very far keep it factual and constructive.
Did you raise your concerns at the time with the ships management, they hate not having a chance to fix things.
Anyway good luck with that.
Suprised that you seem to think you had to pay every night there are more included places than those with cover charge. reservations can be an issue especialy in the italian but most of the others are usualy OK as long as you are flexable on eating time.
Research would have shown this was sold as a B2B and the 5n are under £250 and people on short cruises tend to party a lot more than the longer ones.
The pearl is getting some mixed reviews lately especialy on the food front but we have no problem with the two cruises we had on the Gem and there was something on in the theatre every night. it is a good idea to avoid the shorter cruises if you want to try all the restaurants they just canot fit everyone in.
Look forward to the full review.
One trick with NCL is to get VIP status which for most means a suite or above, this resolves a lot of the reservation issues(you only need one suite in a group).
Remember a wingy moaning complaint will not get you very far keep it factual and constructive.
Did you raise your concerns at the time with the ships management, they hate not having a chance to fix things.
Anyway good luck with that.
Suprised that you seem to think you had to pay every night there are more included places than those with cover charge. reservations can be an issue especialy in the italian but most of the others are usualy OK as long as you are flexable on eating time.
Research would have shown this was sold as a B2B and the 5n are under £250 and people on short cruises tend to party a lot more than the longer ones.
The pearl is getting some mixed reviews lately especialy on the food front but we have no problem with the two cruises we had on the Gem and there was something on in the theatre every night. it is a good idea to avoid the shorter cruises if you want to try all the restaurants they just canot fit everyone in.
Look forward to the full review.
One trick with NCL is to get VIP status which for most means a suite or above, this resolves a lot of the reservation issues(you only need one suite in a group).
Hi Liz
The Norwegian Pearl has now been added to our reviews site. You can add your reivew by clicking on Cruise Reviews at the top of the page.
luci
The Norwegian Pearl has now been added to our reviews site. You can add your reivew by clicking on Cruise Reviews at the top of the page.
luci
Windjammer, can you tell me more about booking restaurants on NCL ships? If you're in a suite how does it differ from the rest? I read on a review that you have to stand in line first thing in the morning to get reservations. Can this be true?
hi,
yes it is true you queued at the desk in the blue lagoon restraunt to make a booking for specialist restraunts you could phone but mistakes can be made as happened to us we pre booked 24 hours in advance for the french restraunt (partyof 9 at $20 a head)we made this reservation by phone at 8am the previous morning on attending this restraunt we were told we had not made this booking and we were basicaly lying and because we could not tell them who we spoke to and the exact time we called we could not have dinner there as they were fully booked and they could not even sit us at a later time as in the words of the head waiter, they were waiting on a large party of people to attend the restraunt. i explained to them that we were a large party of people they were letting down and give him credit he did try and use a favour to other speciality restraunts to get us a sitting but they were fully booked.
if you are in the owners suite or garden villas i heard you did not have to book at any of the restraunts i assume that because this accomodation is more expensive well there are diff rules but i think that is terrible because between us this cruise cost us in excess of £13000.00 not dollars
yes it is true you queued at the desk in the blue lagoon restraunt to make a booking for specialist restraunts you could phone but mistakes can be made as happened to us we pre booked 24 hours in advance for the french restraunt (partyof 9 at $20 a head)we made this reservation by phone at 8am the previous morning on attending this restraunt we were told we had not made this booking and we were basicaly lying and because we could not tell them who we spoke to and the exact time we called we could not have dinner there as they were fully booked and they could not even sit us at a later time as in the words of the head waiter, they were waiting on a large party of people to attend the restraunt. i explained to them that we were a large party of people they were letting down and give him credit he did try and use a favour to other speciality restraunts to get us a sitting but they were fully booked.
if you are in the owners suite or garden villas i heard you did not have to book at any of the restraunts i assume that because this accomodation is more expensive well there are diff rules but i think that is terrible because between us this cruise cost us in excess of £13000.00 not dollars
Never had a problem booking restuarants on NCL allthough our last two cruises we did get VIP which gave us some perks and we did know a lot of the crew from previous trips which I think helps
We usualy leave it to same day and are very nice and flexable on timings happy to eat early or late. I do get to know the restaurant greeters by chatting even when not wanting a table and this does seem to help when turning up same evening(sometimes we just cannot decide where to eat) they seem to find us something.
The italian and tepenyaki are always a problem because they have limited numbers best to book these as soon as you board, we usualy have a Cruise Critic group do these so not that bothered for the rest of a cruise. Bisto and Cagnies are a bit easier, and look out for the 1/2 price happy hours.
The tex-mex/asian/sushi are usualy much easier to get in even walking up same evening. Look out for sea day openings they usualy do the asian/sushi but also sometimes do le bistro good way to avoid the rush and give yourself a free evening to do other stuff.
If you are in a suite(AE up on the jewel class) then you get concierge service just phone them and they can get you in anywhere usualy, but not allways at peak times.(only one in a group needs to be in suite to get this service). Suites also get to eat b/fast lunch in cagnies with special menus.
We take the romance pack $79 and that get you into the Bisto/Cagnies and two bottles of wine+some other bits and you can book anytime for the full cruise, regular bookings are next day only. I think you may be able to get two of these packages so that cover the two best places that have cover charge.
When you make a reservation over the phone you can ask for confirmation to be sent to the cabin.
Another trick is to make friends with suite passengers and eat with them if invited.
Also avoid the shorter(7n or less)cruises this puts heavy demand on the restaurants.
We usualy leave it to same day and are very nice and flexable on timings happy to eat early or late. I do get to know the restaurant greeters by chatting even when not wanting a table and this does seem to help when turning up same evening(sometimes we just cannot decide where to eat) they seem to find us something.
The italian and tepenyaki are always a problem because they have limited numbers best to book these as soon as you board, we usualy have a Cruise Critic group do these so not that bothered for the rest of a cruise. Bisto and Cagnies are a bit easier, and look out for the 1/2 price happy hours.
The tex-mex/asian/sushi are usualy much easier to get in even walking up same evening. Look out for sea day openings they usualy do the asian/sushi but also sometimes do le bistro good way to avoid the rush and give yourself a free evening to do other stuff.
If you are in a suite(AE up on the jewel class) then you get concierge service just phone them and they can get you in anywhere usualy, but not allways at peak times.(only one in a group needs to be in suite to get this service). Suites also get to eat b/fast lunch in cagnies with special menus.
We take the romance pack $79 and that get you into the Bisto/Cagnies and two bottles of wine+some other bits and you can book anytime for the full cruise, regular bookings are next day only. I think you may be able to get two of these packages so that cover the two best places that have cover charge.
When you make a reservation over the phone you can ask for confirmation to be sent to the cabin.
Another trick is to make friends with suite passengers and eat with them if invited.
Also avoid the shorter(7n or less)cruises this puts heavy demand on the restaurants.
Many Thanks to Windjammer and Liz for the advice, especially about having the confirmation sent to the cabin. We only have a balcony, could probably have had a suite for the same money booking through Vacations to Go and made our own travel arrangements, but we chickened out and booked through our regular TA. If I'd have know about the perks I think I'd have been a lot braver 
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