The Good, The Bad and time to try another cruise line

My family (my wife, son 8, daughter 6) sailed on the NCL Dawn from Boston to Bermuda from July 29-August 5. It is our 3rd NCL cruise over 3 years and with each cruise the quality and service has declined. Our first cruise was in 2009 on NCL Spirit to Bermuda. What a trip--we could not have been happier or more impressed. As we got on the boat the had a brass band played, champagne was handed to us and from then on the service to us and our children was first class. Our waiters/waitresses were extremely attentive knowing our children by first names and attempting to seat us at or near their favorite table with each meal in the restaurants. Kids Crew was fantastic! There were many counselors for the children, lots of activities and a terrific kids pool with plenty of seating to watch the children. The following year, we did the same cruise. Gone was that champagne, the band, some of the personal attentiveness of the staff. By this 2011 cruise, though we've upgraded our room and paid double what we did over the first year, we've gotten far less in quality and service. Except for our wonderful room steward and the people working in the specialty restaurants, the staff was all together indifferent about nearly everything. Gone was the fun party atmosphere of 2009 and attention to detail regarding service. What worried me most was a lack of attention to our kids and safety.

THE GOOD: The food shines. We ate at the two restaurants (Venetian and Aqua) at almost every breakfast and lunch and of the 6 nights, 5 at specialty restaurants. The food at Venetian and Aqua is so good you don't really need to go anywhere else. Read more