My husband and I have sailed with numerous cruise lines and this cruise was a repeat NCL cruise for us. But I may have to reconsider any future sailings with NCL because inn all our cruise experiences this was by far the most disappointing and dissatisfying experience ever!
Despite being told the ship had been recently revamped the restructure of the cabins are disastrous! We booked a balcony room and you could hardly move around. Previous cabins had a small night stand on each side of the bed but this room had it on only one side. An incredibly small corner counter was all that was there for a makeup area. The bathroom was so small and the toilet area was incredibly cramped. But on the positive side the cabin was very clean and the bed was comfortable.
In regard to safety we were very concerned with how the evacuation drill we had prior to sailing was conducted. Passengers were told to leave their life jackets in the cabin and meet in their designated lounge/restaurant area, which for us was 3 floors from where we would actually disembark in an emergency. When we got to the designated meeting place people were chatting and milling about, coming in very late, and not really paying attention. It was not being presented professionally and therefore not taken seriously. Having sailed on the Costa Concordia just shy of the disaster that befell that ship we take these drills very seriously. On other cruises, including a previous NCL, passengers were told when the alarm sounded to put on their life jackets and meet on deck where their life boat in case of an emergency would be located. The staff was positioned in the halls and on the stairs directing us to our “muster” stations. For those having trouble getting into their life jackets a staff member showed them how to get it on and then even had them take it off and put it back on until they were comfortable getting into it. We were shown where and how to line up and how we would be taken off the ship if need be. On this cruise, as a safety professional, I was worried how disastrous an emergency evacuation would actually be.
Clean but far too small!
We booked our own private tour of Lerwick and enjoyed it very much. We used Discover Shetland and it was a great tour.
We booked a private tour with Icelandic Taxi Tours and being private it included everything we wished to see. Reykjavik was an amazing and lovely port.
We had a local friend show us around and the history was amazing. A great port stop, so scenic and picturesque.
We did the Discovery tours on our own and loved the food and scenic sights.