This review is written to address several issues that my husband and I encountered while on the above mentioned cruise. We are fairly new to the cruise experience, but having enjoyed our first cruise in February 2011, we have since cruised 3 more times in the last 3 months. We have cruised on Carnival and Princess and we were looking forward to our NCL cruise, however, we were not impressed.
First, some background. We are in our early 50's, semi-retired and we own several small businesses. We are both college educated and well travelled. I have also worked for several years as a "secret shopper" for diverse clients, including Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, The Cheesecake Factory, InSpa, Eddie Bauer and Abercrombie and Fitch... Both my husband and I hold Washington State Food Handlers Certifications. I mention this because I believe it makes us more aware of certain food service related issues,
Our departure date dawned cold and rainy. We arrived at the cruise terminal just after noon for an anticipated 4 o'clock departure. There was one x-ray machine in operation to x-ray all the luggage. Passengers were required to man-handle all their luggage through a small doorway, then push forward to the machine...no clear lines formed anywhere. We were then herded back outside; to wait in the rain as the line slowly snaked forward. We did not actually board the ship until almost 2:30. The entire process was extremely unorganized with people wandering about, cutting lines, no information or help given by any staff at all. We waited in line with a group of elderly Japanese passengers who had just arrived after a 10 hour flight. At no time did anyone approach them and offer them assistance although some of them were clearly finding the standing about very tiring. This was our first indication that we might have made a bad choice. Rather than giving a day by day account of our disappointment, I will address several individual areas.