I chose Norwegian bc I was told it was one of the best. I had gone on a Carnival cruise in the past and wanted to compare my experience. The 1st thing you should know is that due to weather we missed 2 of our 4 ports. The last port being cut was a bit of a surprise. We didn't think the water was that bad (we would have taken a boat to shore). Obviously NCL cannot control the weather, but 2 sea days in place of port days is not an equivalent value in my book. The 2 ports we missed were our beach/snorkeling days so we managed to pay for a Caribbean vacation and not set foot on a beach! Extremely disappointed. I had booked a package that included port credits and was not even offered those credits as onboard credits. I understand that cruise lines write contracts to ensure they make money but I think expecting the customer to take all the loss in this case is poor customer service! I would be interested to know how other cruise lines have handled this kind of situation.

Booking experience:

My husband booked our last cruise 5 years ago, so I don't recall if we were a bit blindsided by tipping fees after booking or not. But bc they wanted tips paid up front when I included drink and meal upgrades I assumed that all tips were included and got an unpleasant surprise. They also didn't tell me that there was a cut-off for informing them of food allergies. I had missed the cut off date bc they want 25 days notice, but since no one mentioned it at booking I stumbled upon this info when I asked about bringing snacks a few days after the deadline. Read more