How is the Norwegian cruise line ?

Question

My girlfriend and I are going on a 7 day cruise to the Bahamas, Cozumel, Beliz & Honduras. The name of the ship is the Sun.

I would appreciate any advise/Info

Thanks

Answer 1

I have heard nothing but horror stories about that line.

One person said their whole ship was infested with Bed Bugs.

Another person told me that there are only 5 resteraunts and if you don't book dinner then you will be eating at 11pm.

Their commercial that tries to say other cruise lines are no good and how you have to do certain stuff at certain times on other cruise lines is wrong.  I was just on Celebrity and it was great and ya we had set times but they were not bad at all.  

Lots of people call NCL the dollar store of cruise lines.  Very dirty rooms.  Some people even said that when they arrived to the cruise and finally got their room the room was still dirty from the last people that were in there from the cruise before them.  Food is horrible.

Go somewhere else freestyle cruising with them sucks.

Answer 2

If you have a never been on a cruise before and you want an informal cruise then you will probably like your NCL cruise.  I have been on about 7 or 8 NCL cruises including several since they began the freestyle cruising.  Some people like and some do not.  I am in the category of those who do not care for it.

Now I'll tell you what I think of NCL's Freestyle cruising. Freestyle Cruising means that you do not have to specify a dining option when you book your cruise and thus don't have a table and waiter assigned to you. "FREESTYLE" means you can go to dinner in the main dining room, or any other alternative restaurant, any time of the evening after 6:00 PM.. But you will have to reserve a time in the alternate restaurants. It also means that you don't have to "dress up" for dinner, just go "sports casual". Freestyle also means that you may be standing in line awaiting a table on some days (like we had to do a couple times); not what I want on a cruise. Since you go when you want, you rarely get the same waiter and so never really get to know your waiter and he/she never learns your name or what you prefer as is done on “traditional” cruise lines.

The option to traditional dining on NCL is their optional dining restaurants. However, these dining options can cost $5 to $20 a person for dinner each night. The optional restaurants are very nice, including French, Chinese/Sushi, Tex-Mex, Italian, and steak house restaurants. The daily cruise newsletter that you will receive will specify which restaurants have a fee and how much.  We always skipped the optional restaurants and just got to the main dining early. That worked fine, except on "at sea" days when everyone wanted to go eat early. We later found that we could reserve a time in the main dining room, but when we did this on our last NCL cruise we found that they would take reservations for only two days at a time and so there was the hassle of reserving for dinner every two days. And, we still got a different table and waiter for dinner each night.

I prefer the traditional cruising with "my" wait staff and table and prefer getting to know my servers and have them call me by name rather than "sir/madam". And at the end of the cruise I prefer to know that my gratuities went to the person who served me rather than in a pot that all of the staff split.

So I am not saying that YOU will not like it but that I do not like NCL any more.  You can have a great time on a NCL cruise.  The cruise is otherwise (besides freestyle) the same as on other cruise ships.  You can look at the activities on ship and its layout : http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/fleet/publicRo...

Answer 3

it is in roughly the same category as Carnival, but for the best review you should go to www.cruisereport.com

You can look up reports by cruisers like you and me by cruiseline or ship, whatever you want.

Answer 4

I went on a 7 day trip to Bermuda a year ago on the Norwegian cruise line.

It was an absolute blast! It was beautiful, very clean, everyone was friendly, and the sit down restaurants were wonderful. You're gonna have a ton of fun, I wish I could go again.

I was reading the reviews online before I left and some were pretty bad, but they had crappy complaints like the fact that the gym is too small. So I was pretty nervous, but once I got on the ship, it all went away. The gym is pretty decent size, and who uses the gym on their vacation anyways? Honestly.

Their late night entertainment in their theater is lovely, you guys should definitely check out all the musical/dancing shows.

Answer 5

I went on the same cruise...Norweigan Dawn...xmas 06.  The same places and everything.  In addition to your ports, we went to the cayman islands, and ocho rios jamaica.  Norweigan is excellent, if you like to eat whenever you want, do whatever you want, etc.  Honduras is now my favorite place in the world.  The cruise changed the way I want to vacation from now on.  It was AWESOME!  We left from Manhattan.  

My advice- besides having fun, bring water bottles and refill them with juice and tea and water in the cafeteria.  The food isn't that great, but it's edible.  Eat in the free places and don't eat when you get off the boat to save money.  Make sandwiches  or take fruit with you in the morning, take your water bottles with you when you get off the boat.  Take a backpack or tote bag to put your stuff in.  Bring your own booze if you like to drink because liquor is SKY HIGH.  Put tiny bottles in plastic bags in your suitcases and wrap them in clothes/shoes.  I took stuff that mixed well with juices, which are free...vodka, rum, tequila.  

Don't go to the public beaches...go to the ones that the excursions offer in the booklet you get.   The public beaches can be gross...used condoms, etc.  In Honduras, go snorkeling.  I snorkeled on this beach between two shipwrecks that looked like Pirates of the Carribean.  I will never forget it.  Belize is great... I recommend Alta Hun ruins hike.  It is a hike, so wear the appropriate shoes, and take heavy duty insect repellent, as well as benadryl, niquil, tylenol, ointment, anti itch cream etc.  You may want to take tide or whatever you wash clothes with...my ship had a laundry, and it is a godsend to have a laundry room, because depending on the excursion, you may get mud on your stuff, or wet sand.  Plan on washing clothes and you can take less....if you are going to a beach, take 3 towels per person b/c they don't provide them where you are going, or they are SKY HIGH.  

And work out EVERY DAY.  No excuses.  People got so fat that some couldn't fasten their clothes anymore.  Some people gained 30 lbs.  Not kidding.  I am proud to say that I worked out 8 out of 11 days (with a cold) in the fitness center, walking around the boat on the track, or picking excursions that were physical.  I was exhausted a lot, but I didn't gain a pound.  It was a miracle, because I ate like a piglet.  Norweigan has FREE ROOM SERVICE.  It's awesome.  

Look for phone services at the ports instead of calling people via the ship.  It is extremely expensive.  I used a phone in jamaica that was $1 a minute to wish everyone a merry xmas.  I took my cell, but it didn't work except in Mexico.  And you have to speak spanish, because the operator doesn't speak english.  at all.

Take baby wipes and some travel kleenex when getting off the boat.  some of the bathrooms are nasty, especially if you go hiking or biking.  Take pepto bismol tablets and immodium tabs just in case.  

My last advice to you is to GET ALONG.  I went with an aunt who was a b+++h!  Don't know what her problem was, but I had a fabulous time alone or with friends I made along the way, and even with all of her antics I still had a great time.  Make sure each of you know what the other person's expectations are before you get on the boat.  HAVE FUN!  YOU WILL LOVE IT! I'M SO JEALOUS!

Answer 6

TRS, me, my wife and 2 other couples took sailed on The Sun on that same itineray back on the Feb 16th sail date. we had a good time. we went swimming with the dolphins in Roatan (if you do the same just make sure you don't get assigned to the juvenile dolphin named Anthony or it will be a waste of money) in Belize we did the Altun Ha Ruins and Old Belize River tour. (our guide was Liz or Lisa and she was GREAT!). we chartered a deep sea fishing boat in Cozumel and didn;t catch a thing. and the private beach in the Bahamas was nice. make sure you hold out for Melvin as your beer guy while hanging out at the pool. he'll take good care of you. tell him John with the red Nebraska Football cap told you.

the ship is nice. the Freestyle dining theory is great but the food and service isn't as good as it is on other ships were you do have assigned dinner seating and times. we only hit one of the specialty restaurants (the steakhouse) and had to pay $20 extra per person to get great food and great service. other than that the breakfast buffet is the same foods as the sit down breakfast in the restaurant. getting back to dinner, we had to wait only once...the first night when we went to dinner at 7 and waited about 20 minutes. after that, we went to dinner between 7:15 and 7:30 with no waiting since most of the other passengers wanted to go to dinner earlier.

Answer 7

I have sailed on several cruises with Norwegian & not one problem. The Freestyle Cruising was great. At the Buffet you can eat when you want & what you want. The layout of their ships are great. Very open. Very Friendly & helpful crew.

Everyone has different tastes so if you keep an open mind & relax you will have a great time.

Enjoy.

Answer 8

I saw the NCL Sun last April in New Orleans when it was docked for the day. Very pretty ship. I've never sailed with NCL so I can't help. I can email you some pics if you would like to see it. Email me an email address that can accept .jpgs if you're interested.

Answer 9

I've never sailed with NCL and never will - too many negative reviews.  And the Sun is one of the older ships that has gotten a lot of those negative reviews.

But some people love NCL, so you might like it, too.  

Go to CruiseCritic.com, click on "Boards", then "NCL" and read up.  Or click on "Reviews" and read both the professional and passenger reviews.

Someone mentioned not going to public beaches but rather with the cruise excursions.  Those cruise excursions go to public beaches, so there's no advantage there.  And if you're only going to get a ride to the beach and a chair once you get there, you'll definitely be better off making your own arrangements [assuming you can pay attention to time and get back to the ship at the right time! - they'll leave without you if you don't].  

The "Ports of Call" boards at CC can give you lots of great info about doing excursions on your own.  You might want to do a ship excursion in Belize, especially if you want to snorkel, because they will pick you up right at the ship - you don't have to make that long tender into and from the port.  Coz is an easy one to do on your own.

Hope you have a great cruise.