My wife and I are in are 50's. We have been on 10 cruises, the last five were with NCL, we try to go on 2 cruises per year. We were on the NCL Escape from 11/12/15 thru 11/19/15. We had just finished a cruise on Getaway in May of 2015. These ships are beautiful and are basically the same ship except for a few minor changes. We have cruised Royal and Carnival in the past but found we enjoyed NCL out of the three up to now. The reason we have had a change of heart is due to the recent changes in the venues and price increases. We had no problems with the gratuity increases for the workers, but 2 increases in the past 6 months I think was a little extreme. Then an increase in the specialty dining packages making them ala carte.

This was the first cruise we had to make several trips to guest services, and the reason being was because when we booked this cruise we were given 3 nights of specialty dining as part of the booking package as were most guests. The problem we had is that when we boarded the ship they never added that package to our sea pass card so we were billed for the first 2 nights of dining. We approached guest services who told us they would contact the restaurant and have it removed. Well after five trips to guest services they finally did get it removed.

My other complaint is about the venues. Both this ship and the getaway we tried to make several attempts to see the late night comedy show but they were all sold out, this seems to be an issue on the newer ships due to these venues being held in a small area, just as the newlywed game is held in the atrium where they bring out folding chairs and people have to sit on the floor while other guests are trying to walk through to different areas of the ship. I find it hard to believe that a ship of this size does not have the room to accommodate a large group so that everyone onboard could have a chance to see the show that they desire at the time that they desire. Read more