We chose to cruise because my wife and I have never been to this part of the world (French Polynesia, American Samoa, New Caledonia) and we wanted to see Tahiti & Bora Bora, especially (Tahiti because of its history of the Bounty mutiny).
About NCL: We picked Norwegian Cruise Lines because of our past cruising wonderful experiences with NCL (Alaska & Hawai'i).
Because of the priority ...
We chose this cruise as friends that were travelling with us had Tahiti as a bucket list. The islands that we visited were wonderful. The ship was super clean and the food was excellent.Service was poor or lacking in many areas although our cabin steward was amazing and we tipped very well. Entertainment was disappointing with the odd exception. The cruise destinations were wonderful but we all ...
My dream was to go to bora bora and with this itinerary I could see it plus other French Polynesia islands
We started in Honolulu and the embarkation was the best I have ever done , fast and easy. Then we got onboard unknown to us that every Hawaiian port you must pay port taxes although not high but on every drink. We had already paid gratuities and taxes for our drink package.
Then we ...
We had a wonderful cruise. The itinerary, Hawaii and the Polynesian Islands, was fabulous. We were worried about all of the days at sea but we found plenty to do and were not bored. Of course the islands were terrific. We especially liked the snorkeling/beach day in Moorea.
The staff was very friendly and hardworking and the ship was clean and pleasant. We did not eat in the specialty ...
We booked this cruise for the itinerary - and the fact we could do back to back all the way to Sydney.
We had a balcony cabin - number 9644 in this case
It was perfectly fine but since the ship was in dry dock, the cabin has changed slightly in that only one side of the bed has a cabinet. This was a little awkward and I don't really understand why they did this. The storage was adequate with ...
Loved the idea of a repositioning cruise and that part was great. Could sail forever. However, the service on board was indifferent, to say the least. The people who ran the "kid's club" were fabulous and my grandchildren had a great time. This was the best part. Ebarkation and disembarkation were flawless. Food was another matter. It was, to say the least, somewhat strange. Clearly it was mostly ...
Well, here we are back on the Jewel (sailed Sydney - Singapore in February), but this time in the Haven. Why? We wanted to see Japan and we wanted to do Alaska and ‘transpacific’ helped complete our journey around the planet (although, technically, the Bering Sea may not actually be the Pacific). Anyhow, this was a repositioning cruise and we decided to take advantage.
Unlike our last cruise ...
Great ship and great weather were the highlights, but too many boring sea days. It could have been much better with some more speakers and better entertainment on those long sea days. The best part of sea days was a geology professor guest lecture. Embarkation was much slower than disembarkation. Nice cabin with reasonable bathroom. Too cool for pool and sunbathing on this route. Port in Japan ...
This was the first time on Norwegian Cruise line and was very impressed with the service, food and the entertainment.
There was never any waiting for a table in any dining rooms, the staff were very attentive.
I have cruised with a lot of other cruise lines and you always feel you are being push into a paying speciality restaurant in some form or another like serving crap food in main ...
The Jewel has been refurbished but not to the extent that it needed.
I have never seen a harder working general manager (still hotel director to me) than Stephen. His problem is he can only deal with the staff he has been given.
I certainly understand that all the employees from the Joy needed to be dispersed throughout the company but the lack of a clear understanding of English is a ...