We have traveled on 7-8 NCL cruises over the past 15 years. Most were just OK. This month we took a 10 day, Panama Canal cruise out of Miami, April 3-13th. It was so bad, I'm not sure where to begin. We booked a balcony and opted for the beverage package. The free beverage package cost $244 (service charge). In addition, NCL charges $13.99 per day/per person service charge. Total service charge was over $500.00. I'm putting this out there first because I believe it speaks to 2 points. We noticed an erosion of good customer service everywhere we went. The blanket per diem service charge, in our opinion, is a disincentive for the crew to provide service above and beyond. Since they must split the tips evenly, why bother.

The beverage package has several flaws. It does not cover water ($5.50 per bottle), cappiccino of expresso. You pay the difference for all drinks over $15.00. Guess what? Popular drinks like cosmos or expresso martinis are $17.95.

This is a small item, but indicative of a larger problem. we were charged $5.80 for something we did not have from the mini-bar. It took 3 trips to Guest Services to remove the charge. I was questioned repeatedly about the charge. I explained we spent over $5K for the cruise and would not lie about $6.00. Read more