I don't normally write reviews, but since my experience was so similar to the person's below me (right down to the "Bagel Lie") I thought I would chime in. I cruised this past weekend (July 18-21) and it was also my first experience with Norwegian Cruise Lines, after being a lifelong Royal Caribbean devotee.

So, the "Bagel Lie"... I also ordered a bagel on the Sunday morning of my cruise (in the dining room) to go along with my scrambled eggs. When my meal arrived, the waiter told me they were out of bagels, so he brought me a plate of English Muffins and regular toast instead. Not thinking much of it, I had an English Muffin, no biggie. But then, as we're leaving the dining room that morning, I see plates being carried out from the kitchen that had - you guessed it - bagels on them. My theory about what happened is that they had several meals on the menu that revolved around a bagel (i.e, a bagel and lox) so maybe they were running low on bagels and were saving them for people who actually ordered a bagel meal, as opposed to someone just ordering as the bread to go with their meal (like myself). Not that big of a deal, but still, a weird lie and one that makes an impression (as it did on myself and obviously the person below me).

Overall, I thought the service was pretty sub-par. I found the majority of the crew to be friendly-ish, just very overworked, and the ship seemed to be understaffed, particularly in the dining room. Just getting water when we sat down was a chore most days. Service was also pretty inconsistent - some nights, we would be offered the wine menu, some nights we wouldn't. Some days they would bring a personal carafe of coffee to the table for "self-serve" refills, some days they wouldn't. My boyfriend and I also commented on how inefficient the service was - he would order hot tea each morning, and it would take the server four trips to the table for him to get all the necessary tea components - the cup, the water, the tea selection, and honey. They literally brought each item out one-by-one. Once again, I don't necessarily blame the crew (who were obviously working hard and a little frazzled), but rather, Norwegian Cruise Lines, who seem to be cutting corners with headcount or staff training or somewhere. Read more