Cruise Dates: December 14-21,2024
NCL Epic (FAILURE)
Destinations: Puerto Plata, St. Thomas, Tortola & Great Stirrup Cay

After being treated like utter garbage and getting food poisoned by the NCL Epic Thanksgiving of 2017 I reluctantly decided to give them another chance. HUGE MISTAKE! We stayed in cabin ******* (balcony) a tight fit, no real walk-way, the toilet space is beyond tiny as is the shower (separate) and the sitting sofa is awkward making it useless to sit on.

We did online check-in through NCL and picked our boarding time (12-12:30p), however when we arrived at the port, the line was past the security check. This line was merely for check-in to get a number to board in that group. The process to get a group number took more than 1 ½ hour. The process to actually have your group number called to board took another hour. So what was the point in pre-registering and selecting a boarding time if we still had to wait in all these lines?
Upon boarding we were unable to enter the room areas, even to locate your stateroom. The only thing we were able to do was check in at our Mustard station and get something to eat. Because we weren't able to go to our rooms until after 4p (3p is when we were supposed to gain access) and our luggage wasn't delivered until after 8p (7p was when it was supposed to be delivered) we were stuck trying to find somewhere to sit while we waited and because we didn't have access to our luggage, we were still in our travel clothing. Where we left was 32 degrees, FL was in the 70's so it was extremely uncomfortable.
We were supposed to leave port at 4p, however we didn't leave until after 5:30p putting us behind schedule. To try and make up for this late departure, the Captain thought it to be a good idea to go full throttle into a storm. This caused the ship to rock heavily to each side making the majority of the passengers sick. At any given moment you would see vomit on the floor, people walking with bags, and some even had trash cans. The onboard store ran out of motion sickness medication. It was so bad!
Despite the Captain's attempt to recoup the time lost, he was unable to make it to our first destination, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, however we weren't notified until the evening before we were to be there that they wouldn't make it and we would just have another glorious day at sea 🙁! Thus the sickness continued so that the Captain could get us to St. Thomas on schedule.
The onboard activities were less than. Typically there are multiple things to do at any given time and for someone of every walk of life. Here all there was was Trivia games, drinking, laying poolside, the spa or walking the ship. Beyond boring! Our cruise director was less than welcoming and catered to certain people and ignored or rolled his eyes at others.
If you wanted to partake in one of their shows, you had to make reservations in advance (in the Epic Theater) or show up to the comedy/dueling piano show a minimum of 1 ½ hour before the show was to take place to stand in line to get a seat.
The majority of our time was standing in line, from the port, to boarding, for dining, to get drinks, to get on the elevator, to get off the boat, to get on the boat, for shows, for guest services, etc.
Upon our arrival to Tortola it was raining, however NCL did not cancel our beach excursions, instead we were made to proceed or lose our money. Upon arrival at the beach, we then had to pay extra money to get a chair and umbrella to keep from getting soaked. This was a complete and total waste of money and time and NCL should have cancelled the beach excursions and allowed us to do something different. THEY DIDN'T!
When the rained out excursion was complete and we were taken back to the port to board, the line was outside the port. Had we wanted to wander around downtown, we wouldn't have been able to because we would have missed the boat. This line took over an hour to get through port security, then walk the pier to the boat and wait in the line to physically board the boat. Almost 2 hours of our day just trying to get back on the boat, SMH!
We were unable to take a tender at Great Stirrup Cay (private island) because they failed to PROPERLY inform ALL the passengers they were required to register with Guest Services if they wanted to get off the ship and go to the private island. Guest Services would then give you a group # and you would then go to the Manhattan Dining Room when it was called, wait, then board a tender. There were over 19 groups then "Free" boarding would happen, for those that were unaware of this requirement to register. Please note, announcements are not heard in the staterooms, you would be required to be in a hallway or public location to hear anything. Additionally, there was nothing mentioned or printed on the daily itineraries that are handed out the evening before. I kept every one of them in case NCL tried to lie. They didn't begin boarding tenders until after 10a despite arriving at 7a. We then had to be back on the boat at 4p. At 2p they were just calling group 16.
The Taste dining hall is only open from 7a-9a every morning. I am on vacation and therefore will not be able to get breakfast. This forced us to use the buffet or O'Sheehan's. The 1 morning we tried O'Sheehan's, my french toast was burnt on the outside and raw on the inside, DISGUSTING! We also tried lunch there and my burger was bright pink (medium rare).
With our package we received 2 specialty dining experiences. Cagney's was terrific, however La Cucina was worse than Olive Garden. Complete waste of money!
When we kept checking our account via the television and then reconciled it with all the holds they were putting on our card I went to Guest Services to find out what was happening. Jacqueline Gonzalez was less than helpful! When I kept repeating and showing her what our statement showed and what NCL showed she didn't have a response. I then wrote her name down to which she said she "didn't feel comfortable" with me writing her name down. My response was "you're wearing a name tag". She said her name tag was required to which I responded with why does it matter if I write your name down then, I still have it? Again, her response was muttered and unclear.

I immediately let my NCL cruise planner know what happened. She advised me to write it up and send it to NCL Customer Service. I also let her know that we would be cancelling our 9-day Alaska cruise if this wasn't made right. I wasn't spending that kind of money for trash. Today, I received a notice from NCL with nothing but excuses, followed by we will give you and your husband $50 on board credit for another cruise. LMAO! If that doesn't show you the type of company Norwegian is I don't know what will. Beyond unacceptable, unprofessional, and a full on slap in my face! NEVER AGAIN NORWEGIAN, 1st time shame on you, 2nd time shame on me - there will NOT be a 3rd time.

Regent Seven Seas Grandeur Disaster

We paid for a Seven Seas Suite on the brand new Regent Grandeur's two week transatlantic NYC-BCN voyage. Our suite was effectively uninhabitable! The veranda door had an air leak so loud it sounded like a whistling train. Their idea of fixing it was to duct tape the door shut. Thus, no more use of the veranda. Several curtains/shades kept falling off and had to be repaired several times through out the cruise. Closet and bathroom doors would not stay closed or latched during the night and would make noise as they opened and closed, until we got rubber door stops to keep them open. Worst of all, the walls of the bedroom made such loud banging and creaking noises that it sounded like someone was hammering inside the walls. All four Seven Seas Suites are at the front of the ship on the slope of the bow leading to the bridge. We spoke to others in the same suites and they also were experiencing these issues. While we were on a "crossing," the seas were never "rough" by any means, at best moderate 6' swells. Every time the bow hit a swell, the banging of the hull against the wave carried straight into the suite. Coupled with the banging and creaking of the wood walls, it made it impossible to sleep. Regent staff on board provided us with a concierge D cabin to sleep in (a cabin valued more than $10,000 less than what we paid). So, every night we had to pack a bag and move from one cabin to the next, then reverse the process the following morning. If we forgot anything, we'd have to wake up in the middle of the night, get dressed, and return to the other cabin to get it. That said, my compliments to the onboard crew (executive concierge and general manager) for being understanding and equally appalled as to what we were experiencing. Several days later, the executive concierge reported to us onboard that Regent was offering us a $2,500 credit towards a future cruise while we were on board, which we felt was an insult as to what we had to endure for the two weeks. Apparently, the executive concierge felt the same, because she said "Please don't shoot the messenger." Other than that, the executive concierge and general manager said we had to deal with Regent corporate upon our return, which we did. Needless to say, we heard back from NCL/Regent today with an increased offer of a $5000 credit towards a future cruise to be used within the next year based on availability! Again, what an insult for all the inconvenience we experience on board their "brand new luxury ship." I know Regent has made a name for itself and has no problems filling their ships, but I'll tell you two things. We are a "younger" couple in our 50's and 60's who are the next generation of cruisers and should be the focus of filling their ships. We have met many wonderful people on board Regent, many having hundreds and hundreds of nights on Regent and one thing they ALL agreed on and shared with us is that Regent is not what it once was. They observed that management (not onboard customer service) has gone down hill as of late and appears to be continuing on a down hill slide. Regent is not by any means the only high end cruise game in town and for us, sadly, we will never use Regent again. I think the saddest and most infuriating thing is that it is obvious that Regent demands and trains its employees to be excellent and of the highest standard (and they are), but when it comes to corporate management, the standard is completely different.

I invited nine family members to the Encore trip to Alaska after taking a few Cruises in Florida with your Cruise line.

I wanted to bring my family on one of your newest ships and in an itinerary that was described to me as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Unfortunately, this Sunday afternoon, I am here in Seattle writing to you after your crew abused and discriminated against my family and kicked us out of the cruise, including my 78 years old mother and two elderly parents-in-law.

We started the onboarding process early today and were informed for the first time that my parents-in-law needed a Visa to Canada. At this point, we had completed the online check-in in the app days before flying to Seattle and uploaded the passenger's travel documentation; we didn't receive a notification about the need for a Canadian Visa.

We were not the only ones experiencing this situation at onboarding; as it seems to be an issue happening often enough, I would recommend you invest in automating a flag system for Visa requirements per ship/ itinerary and passenger nationality, from my perspective as a client you don't offer such information or have an efficient method to prevent having people crying in your boarding ports because of a step that can be solved with technology.

We spent four traumatic hours at your onboarding area making travel arrangements to leave my two elderly parents-in-law. Finally, the only solution was to lose another party member, and my sister-in-law ended up staying with them until they could make the trip back home.

After saying goodbye to 3 members of our party, my wife, my two kids, my niece, and my mother were given keys to our three staterooms and proceeded to onboard the ship, and that is when the real nightmare started.

A few hours later, close to the sailing time, we had already unpacked and were having dinner when we were interrupted by a call from Guest service stating my mother needed to offboard the ship due to an onboarding mistake from your staff.

After a conversation with a careless guest service team, they mentioned that they required my 78 years mother to be offboarded immediately and requested that we don't leave the guest service desk until someone escorts us to get our belongings from the staterooms and out of the ship.

Your staff proceeded to gather our luggage, breaking one of the carry-on pieces as they rushed to kick us out, putting our belonging in a black trash bag ( picture attached), which they carried out of the ship. I have a few uncomfortable videos and pictures of all the unfortunate events; I am only attaching a few to give you some visuals and will keep some for further action if this is not resolved as we would expect from NCL.

In some videos and pictures, you can hear and see your employees being rude and even accept that this situation was another NCL department mistake. Your Guest Service management denied us free transit on the ship as they needed to rush our offboarding. They broke one of our luggage, pulled my 78 years old mother, and basically kicked us out with a team of people carrying our belongings across the ship, embarrassing my family and me along the way. I bought this trip for the nine family members so we could enjoy a great week pampered by the team of what I thought was one of the best cruise lines.

There was an evident lack of care by your employees and the unfortunate way your team handled this situation was unbelievable. They had two chances to make this right. They decided to discriminate against my family and me, illegally holding us in custody against our will and finally damaging our property and kicking us out of the ship.

The Cherry on the pie was that they wanted to force us to give them the keys we had for the boat, which is our way to show that we were onboarded and then kicked out.

After I mentioned I wanted to keep the keys, my 78 years mother, who was getting off the boat, was pulled back by a security guard so she would comply with their demands. I had to defuse the customer service and discrimination disaster in front of my eyes and told your staff that I would write to the executive team and C-suite at NCL, investors, the press, or whoever I needed to, and they let us go. We had to wait another 40 minutes on the street in front of the peer 66 entrance until they finally gave us all our luggage.

1. When we arrived at Check-In the clerk was sneezing and coughing all over my passport and paperwork. I told her she needed hand sanitizer. She said she didn't have any and kept working. There was hand sanitizer on the wall right behind her she just did not get it. I reported her to the "manager" and he acted like he wanted to know who she was. I showed him and he did not do anything.
2. She asked me for my credit card and I told her to use the one on file. My daughter was with me and she asked for hers and I told her to use my card for her as well. She told us everything was good and set us to board the ship.
3. We got on the ship and I asked one of the attendants if there was karaoke and she did no we don't have that. At the sail party I asked again and was told it would be tomorrow night.
4. We got on the ship and there was no Wi-Fi. My daughter was charged 60.00. When I tried to connect, I got an error message. I called guest services and was told There was no card on file.

5. I went to guest services desk and gave the same card and she registered it and it was fine. I told her about the charge. I told her about the offer and she said they were all gone. And was told to see the internet specialist. She did not bother to tell me that person was not at work.
6. I went to use the bathroom on desk 7 near the Local. And locked the door but somehow a man got in. He said oh sorry and left.
7. I came back down to see the internet specialist and he was still not at work.
8. I went to the guest services desk and asked to speak with the guest services manager. Stephen told me he wasn't there. I asked when he would be there or if I could speak to somebody else. He didn't stop walking looked back at me and said there is no one. He told me to go to the end of the line and wait. Frustrated I told him I wanted to speak to the manager or I would go and speak to the captain. He looked at me flipped his hand and said do what you will.

9. I don't believe this was his first time being rude, crude and disrespectful. I believe I was racially discriminated against.
10. I was not going to go without speaking to someone in management. I talked with Allot Pereira. He made an appointment to meet me at 5:30 to handle the Wi-Fi and allow me to file a complaint against Stephen. He told me I could file my complaint at that time. However Allot did not show up.
11. Went to "Savor Restaurant" with a party of 8. We did not have a reservation. We said we understood and we would break up the party in groups of 2 to 3. She said they were still unable to accommodate us even with the change. As we were trying to decide what to do a group of 3 Caucasian girls came up and were seated. To test my theory I asked the young ladies when they made their reservation so we could do the same thing next time. They told me they did not have a reservation. I went to Alexis Panganibon (the hostess) and asked her why wouldn't she seat us. She told me "They had a reservation". I told her "no they didn't I asked them" then she pretended she did not understand when we said we would break up the group. I asked for her name which is why I have it and told her that I would report her.
12. The thing that I find to be true about the staff is that many of them have no difficulty treating me, an African American woman, with disdain. Is this an organization that allows prejudice? People value their jobs. If they thought there would be repercussions they wouldn't do it, would they. Maybe you don't train your employees across culture. Maybe you decided it would be too expensive to train them and less expensive to deal with a disgruntled traveler. Either way, I wanted my money back. They said sorry, no.

Question: Would I ever cruise with Norwegian Cruise Lines again?

I gave my son a cruise to Iceland, Norway, Belgium and Amsterdam as a graduation gift. I booked with NCL because I thought that some of the fellow passengers would be younger (30 to 45). I was wrong.

The deal that was offered to us included free drinks, including liquor priced at under $13. I really do not drink that much, but it was free. Well, not really. NCL charges you a gratuity on everything at 20%, so the free drinks ended up costing us $198 per person. Unless you plan on consuming your weight in vodka, the premium liquor package is not worth the month. If you have the free liquor package, the first $13 on the cost of any drink is covered; you only pay the difference. If a glass of wine is listed at $19, you pay $6, plus the 20% gratuity.

Then there is the free WiFi. Turns out that you get 150 minutes per cabin, but you cannot use the WiFi at the same time as your cabinmate. We're in the practice of communicating by text, but in order for this to work, both of us need to use the WiFi at the same time. So, in order to be able to find each other on this huge ship, we had to pay $399.80 so that we could both use WiFi.

We arrived at 11:00 a.m. to check onto the ship. Check-in went very smoothly and was very efficient. We wanted to check in early because we were told that this is when we could book seats for the shows and spa treatments. Turns out that this wasn't true. At no time could we book seats to anything. On the night of the show you stand in line for over an hour and the seats are assigned on a first come first served basis. We were not given access to our cabin until 2:00 p.m. (and we were the first group called), so we spent 3 hours sitting in the common area. Unfortunately, the ship does not have enough common area to accommodate everyone, and the majority of the guests were sprawled on the floor.

The tour was supposed to have 3 stops in Iceland, but a few weeks before the cruise started, we received an email telling us that the stop to Isfjordur had been canceled. It turns out that this was hardly the first time that NCL had canceled a port on a cruise. I did a little research and found out that the port was probably removed from the itinerary because NCL failed to reserve a spot at the port or failed to pay the port for the right to stop there.

We were now going to spend 36 hours on the ship before stopping at Akureyri at 3:00 p.m. We used this time to explore the ship, but unfortunately, the go-carts, darts, video games, and mini golf close at 9:00 p.m. You want to pass on the video games. The tech is at least 20 years old. We tried the casino, but there were only two other passengers there and it was depressing. Not much to do on the ship after 9:00.

Luckily, I had booked reservations for dinner every night. When we arrived at Hudson's for our reservation there was a huge crowd in front of us. It turns out that if you do not have a reservation, the wait for dinner can be up to 90 minutes.

The food and the service at Hudson's, Cagney's Steakhouse and Palomar was wonderful. Just be sure to book a reservation.

Finding a seat for breakfast at Surfside or a seat for lunch at Indulge Food Court is virtually impossible. We finally paid the extra $5 (plus 20% gratuity) to have breakfast in our room every morning because we did not want to roam around Surfside looking for 2 empty seats. If you want a seat, you have to arrive at Indulge Food Court at 11:45 a.m. and wait 15 minutes until they open. Indulge Food Court is very efficient, and the food was very good. I would pass on the food at Surfside.

We arrived at Akureyri, but instead of pulling up to the pier, we parked in the middle of the fjord. The captain comes over the intercom and tells us that because of our "safety", we would not dock until the following morning. I guess no one told the captain that there is an app that locates every registered ship located anywhere in the world. The true reason that we were not docking that afternoon was that there was another ship using the dock. Seems like NCL forgot to book this dock too. At this point we had missed out on our tour of Puffin Island and our opportunity to ride Icelandic horses.

The following morning we received the NCL daily newspaper with the headlining "The Adventure Continues" and I thought, do these people think that this is fun? We also learned that our tour for 9:30 a.m. had been moved to 7:30 a.m. I personally do not want to get up at 6:00 a.m. on my vacation, but I wasn't angry until we reported to the meeting area and sat there for two hours while NCL got their act together. Have these people ever planned a cruise before (I found myself asking this question every day)?

It turns out that getting up at 6:00 a.m. was going to be an everyday thing. The ship claims that it spends 10-12 hours at each port. They do not tell you that for the first 4 hours it is dark and nothing is open. Of course, this does not stop the staff from getting on the intercom at 6:00 a.m. and telling everyone that the ship has been cleared for disembarkment. Yes- we did turn the intercom off in our room. It doesn't matter. You can still hear the announcements through the walls.

Finally they loaded 500 of us on buses and started to take around Akureyri. Most of the places that they took us to could not accommodate this many people. It felt crowded, it was impossible to take photos without someone's head in the frame, and using the bathroom was a challenge because the lines were so long. The tour was poorly planned and when we finally reached the botanical gardens, our main reason for booking this particular tour, we were told that we had 20 minutes before the bus left for the ship. Have these people ever planned a cruise before?

Two of the tours that we had signed up for were substantially changed before we left for the cruise. We cancelled these excursions and booked through Viator instead. It was refreshing not to be jammed into a location with 500 other people. We could walk around at our own pace, we took great photos, and we paid 70% less than we would pay through NCL. Plus, Viator actually followed the schedule that they sold you; no changes to the time that the tour started and no changes to the places that they would take you.

We had signed up for beer tasting in Belgium. The tour that we bought was to start at 11:30 a.m., but once on the ship we learned that the tour time was changed to 9:30 a.m. I gave up drinking beer for breakfast when I graduated from college. What were they thinking? Have these people ever planned a cruise before?

The first excursion that we booked was for the Flam Railroad. I realize that it wasn't the fault of NCL that a rockslide had closed the road to the railroad, but NCL waited until 5 minutes before the tour to tell us this and at no time gave us the option to cancel. If we had known before we were walking out the door of our cabin, we would have cancelled the excursion; but that was probably why they waited to share the news.

We were promised that the replacement excursion would be just as fun and just as wonderful. They lied. We spent 9 hours sitting on a bus. We were allowed off of the bus for a one-hour lunch and three more stops at 20 minutes each. Because there were 200 of us, some people spent most of the one-hour lunch waiting to get their food. The three stops included seeing 2 waterfalls and looking at the same fjord that we could see from the ship. Can you imagine sitting on a bus where every seat was taken for seven hours?

I spent the last day at sea sleeping and planning my funeral. It turns out that there was a covid outbreak on the ship, but this information was not shared with the passengers. I managed to go 4 years without ever getting covid, but one week with NCL and there wasn't enough medication in the world to make me feel better.

Because NCL decided to be concerned about the health of their passengers on the last day of the cruise, everyone with covid had to exit at one of two specific times. Based on the number of people in our group and extrapolating from there, I believe that approximately 80 people on the ship were infected with covid. Imagine how many people were not feeling well, but did not want to pay to see the ship's doctor. I understand that there are HIPPA regulations, and I did not want the names of the infected people, but I did want to know that they existed. I would have taken steps to safeguard myself and my son.

NCL comes off as a less expensive option for cruising, but while the charges on the other cruise lines are included, NCL nickel and dimes you for everything. This cruise ended up costing me as much as my Viking Cruise to Venice. This does not count the $1100 bill from the ship's doctor.

There are better option out there and the daily calls from NCL while we were on the cruise to book my next cruise with them is not going to change me mind.

We just completed a 10 day Mediterranean cruise on the Norwegian Getaway - 3 couples and we all agreed we cannot recommend this Ship or Cruise Line
Ship is quite tired- Cruise Line is mediocre
Prices are 5 stars plus and service and quality is 2-3 stars at best
Not better than resorts in Cuba
The buffet is a jungle and the food is cafeteria at best - hard to get a table and a stressful experience
The shows are adolescent -only 2 were better than others and most nights we walked out or skipped the shows altogether
The standard bar package allows any wine up to 15$ per glass - selections are few and boring forcing an upgrade or a settle in
The parade of "NOs " is annoying - no berries - no Cabernet - no tables.etc and it's the same at all restaurants
The restaurants included are also poor in service and quality with repeating menu - 3 restaurants had the same menus - and the food is average
The specialty restaurant are not worth the money - similar food quality and service as the standard ones -
My bisque was served cold and my steaks not to order at the specialty steak house LOL- save your money you'll need it
Be prepared to face quite a bill at the end of your cruise and quite a line up to settle it -
Guest service staff is quite arrogant and try to talk down to guests
I heard many comments on lineup about how people felt disrespected. And the lineups are long
Housekeeping is EU$20 per day -per person ( our total EU$400) and the bedding is not changed often - we were In the room on several occasions and watched the housekeeper get the room done in under 10 minutes -
The internet cost almost EU$300 per phone and no streaming just data
Laundry service which guarantees 24 hour turn around in writing took over 48 hours and several phone calls
The tours are not worth it - we bought two only and one was cancelled after they kept us waiting for an hour to board - the tour manager -who I left a message for - never called me back
The second tour was EU$50 per person and it was like poor bus ride to work - no guide - just looping - we stepped off after 15 minutes - and bought no more tours
The standard bar package limits your wine selections to wines under EU15$ per glass or pay the difference. But the selections are quite limited and some listings are out of stock - forcing an upgrade or an acceptance
They don't treat you as if you're on holidays. They treat you as a money bag and the money grab is excessive-water EU$6.50 per bottle or go fill your own at the buffet
Pay per view is expensive and only 19 selections
Free tv is only 2 movies per day and one tv show channel
Disembarkation is a complete chaos and very stressful
Our ship expenses ( wife and I) included internet for 2 phones ( data only) and housekeeping -and it came to over EU$1000. ( couple)
Find a better ship - and a better Cruise Line - this one is a 3 star floating resort

I called NCL about the following situation and was not afforded any help at all. All NCL staff did was refer me back to my travel agent. Evidently the cruise line is unaware of the changes in visa requirements for Brazil, and is insisting that I acquire a visa that is unnecessary and almost impossible for me to get before I embark. I am a Platinum member of NCL's customer group, but I have been treated terribly when calling the organization and asking for information. This is the second incident in which NCL has provided no assistance for a problem that deveIoped on a cruise. After the following situation, I am almost sure that I will never sail on this cruise line ever again. The customer service is horrible and many of the employees are downright rude. If they do not know the answer to a question, they evidently are prohibited from taking the inquiry to any "higher authority." The customer is hung out to dry.
I am booked on the NCL Star out of Lisbon, Portugal on Nov 24,2023. The cruise visits Portugal, Spain, the Canaries, Cape Verde & several ports in Brazil. Months after booking, NCL informed me that I would require a visa to enter Brazil. I hired a visa company to acquire the document and provided all the necessary information. I will be in Brazilian ports from Dec. 7,2023 to Dec 12,2023, and will fly home from Rio on Dec. 15,2023.
The company, IVisa, and the company, Visa Central, have both informed me that I DO NOT REQUIRE a visa, that the visa exemption for U.S. citizens was extended to January 10,2024. I called NCL to ask if the cruise line was aware of this change and offered to send documentation that the visa was not required. I was given no opportunity to send the information and was told that I could not submit documents to the cruise line. Originally the visa requirement was set to go into effect as of October 1,2023, but the Brazilian government changed the date and, again, extended the exemption until Jan. 10,2024.
No one at NCL was aware of the change and both persons to whom I spoke indicated that I would not be permitted to board the ship in Lisbon without a visa. The problem is that my Brazilian consulate will not consider visas for entry into the country until 60 days prior to the visit. I would gladly pay for the visa just for insurance that I would be permitted to board; however, I will be leaving the U.S. to travel in Europe prior to the onset of the 60 day waiting period, and there is no way I will be in the United States if a problem develops.
Again, NCL has done nothing to rectify the situation. I am surprised at the level of incompetence.

Norwegian was unwilling to offer restitution in any way when contacted regarding our wretched experience with them. They final offered an onboard credit (useless since we will NEVER sail with them again) when we filed a BBB complaint. In an effort to prevent others from the same experience and financial disappointment, I am sharing my survey responses to NCL below:
Part one:
The reasons are too numerous to include here. A top problem was the discomfort of the bed in our stateroom. Two mattresses pushed together with a crack in the middle and the mattresses were hard, like sleeping on the floor. We had back pain and a lack of sleep throughout our cruise. We were told that all the beds on the ship were the same, but this was not true according to other passengers that we spoke with, including our traveling companions.
Dining fell very short of expectations. Instructors didn't show up for origami (so it started 20 minutes late and overlapped with the next activity in area). Typos in daily "Freestyle. Lack of knowledge by Guest Services. The shower water temperature fluctuated frequently during a shower, from nearly scalding to cold, and so we had to constantly adjust while showering. (Side note: it overflowed from a clogged drain on day one.) Our bed was made with a damp duvet cover on another day (not nice at nap time). And on and on.

Part two:
Additionally: many staff were delightful. However, some were resentful and actually "gave dirty looks" or poor attitudes when interacting.
Compounding the lack of sleep due to poor mattresses, we were woken to a knocking noise in our cabin on more than one occasion (I finally videoed it, if anyone is interested.)
Stateroom- The bed issue: when we requested an egg crate, a flimsy duvet was provided on top of the mattress instead, due to unavailability of egg crates. (Note: if everyone is requesting egg crates it is probably time to do something about the mattresses.) We were not told of the substitution but realized immediately when retiring for the evening. When on a subsequent night an egg crate had been located, it did not help significantly. We were told that there were no other options or different mattresses. This was a lie as we were traveling with others who had a different mattress and we also spoke to other passengers. The towels were small and rough.

The shower issue on day one wasn't resolved until after midnight. We'd used our towels to mop up the overflow of water from the clogged drain. We had to call 5 times (2 ½ hours) to get new towels to take our showers. On the 3rd or 4th time we were told that the system showed we had received our towels. We had not, so it was a good thing we had called…again. The stickers indicating hot/cold in the shower did not match the lever, so we had to figure out which was accurate initially. The bathroom sink seemed to only have hot water.

Dining: meals were usually cold/room temperature. And I'm not sure how NCL has the audacity to make bold claims about dining and then serve what seemed to be instant mashed potatoes in the main dining room. Fruit pies/ desserts were like gelatin in the centers and as bad as those in the grocery store (and served cold). The beets in the roasted beet salad were in fact, not roasted. And there was other "false advertising" on the menus as well. Cruise included (in cost) dining options were minimal and were worse or no better than any other cruise that we've been on. Dining took up to 3 hours, one evening! One of the soft-serve machines was apparently never operational and at the other you were forced to wait in line, and they often ran out. Frequently the only option was scooped vanilla ice cream (as they would also run out of the flavor of the day). One soft serve machine for 1900 people? There was not 24-hour ice cream which was a disappointment to my husband. Usually cut off by 10pm at the latest.
Sign up lists would be filled before sign-up start time (painting Northern Lights on canvas).
Something in the room caused both of us to have frequent headaches.
Instructors 20 minutes late for a 30-minute class (origami: crane) and no visual aid as on other days. Instructors' helpfulness varied.
The smell of cigarette smoke permeates a large portion of deck 6.
Malfunctioning elevator lights (indicating up or down).
Spa: the face donut fell off the bed during my back massage, onto the floor, which was not relaxing. (It was not wiped or anything before being reconnected either.) There was the sound of feet running? Overhead throughout service. The overhead light was too bright (even through the eye pads) when receiving facial/front of body massage. The same washcloth was rinsed and reused repeatedly during my facial, rather than disposables or a fresh cloth. I am a licensed esthetician, and this is a "no-no."
Guest Services: didn't know if there were copy machines on board and told me that I could walk around the ship myself and inquire at different places (such as the internet café). They didn't know how much the cost of painting on canvas was. They often didn't know where things were happening.

I had saved for years to afford to pay for a vacation for my family that they would never forget. The vacation I had initially wanted was about $8,000.00 above my budget. Then I found this NCL cruise that offered a "Free at Sea" special that seemed to meet a lot of what I wanted and was within my budget. I booked through a travel agent and this had worked fine for my previous 23 cruises.
I had been planning this special trip for almost a year. I booked one cabin for my wife and I and one cabin for my daughter and 2 grandchildren. On or about 14 January 2023 I called NCL and requested custom airfare. I was on the phone for almost 45 minutes during which I identified the flight arrangements I wanted and the necessary information for all five of my family members. I gave the representative the flight information for all the airlines and flight numbers that I wanted. I was told that I would get a call back in 4 weeks. I asked why it would take 4 weeks when they had all the information they needed and I was told it was "company policy". So 4 weeks came and 4 weeks went. When I did not get a call back I figured I was being ignored and made my own reservations. On or about 17 February I did get a call saying they were ready to make my flight arrangements. I told them I had made my own reservations and did not need them. Two weeks later I received an email saying they had made my reservations. Naturally they were not what I had requested and were unacceptable. This should have been my first indication that NCl was not treating future passengers with any respect.
I had made excursion reservations with NCL but also 2 other tour companies. On 14 June I received an email from one of the companies that I had booked with that the ship was NOT stopping at Venice day 1 ( 20 June 2023) as advertised. I had not received any such notice from NCL so I wasn't sure who to believe. I called NCL on 14,15 and 16 June (2 different numbers on each date) and was told that there was no change in the itinerary. I made the mistake of believing NCL even after the custom air reservation fiasco. When I got to the pier at Ravenna at about 3:00 PM on 19 June, I was told that there was a change in the itinerary and the ship would NOT be stopping at Venice rather thee first stop (20 June) would be at Koper, Slovenia and the second stop (21 June) would be at Trieste, Italy. I had booked a morning excursion with NCL and an afternoon excursion with another tour company. While NCL did refund the cost of the morning tour I was out the cost of the afternoon tour (about $540.00 since I did not have
The necessary 24 hours to cancel the tour. This was all thanks to NCL. The thoughtless care of passengers continued when I asked that any extra charges for both cabins be charged to my credit card. I was told that this was not possible and cabin charges for my daughter's cabin had to be on her credit card. NCL had NO PROBLEM charging the cost of both cabins to my credit card and the 4 excursions I had made for both cabins were easily charged to my credit card, I could not charge cabin extras for my daughter's cabin to my credit card. When I questioned this I was told it was "company policy". NCL apparently has a lot of "company policies" which I totally disagree with. And, oh yeah, the excursion I had booked for Koper on 21 June required 48 hour cancellation notice so this was another sunk cost I had to eat. I then found out that the passengers in my daughter's cabin had the "Free at Sea" promotion and would not provide any help in finding out why my cabin did not have the same promotion. It turns out it was the fault of the travel agent I worked through and NOT NCL
I decided we would relax at one of the premium restaurants. I ordered "beef strogonoff" and when it was served, it came with some unidentifiable red sauce. As it turned out it was inedible and the restaurant manager came and asked what was wrong I told him and he asked if he could bring me something else. I told him based on what I was served I would not take a chance on another dish.
While the tours I had booked through NCL were not very good, the rest of the cruise was essentially uneventful except that the excursion desk was only open from 8:00 to 9:00 PM each day.
Of the 24 cruises I have taken, this I my first NCL cruise. It is also the LAST NCL cruise I will ever take. NCL treats its passengers like second class citizens. It seems that they only want the money from its passengers and once they have it they can ignore them. While the crew, for the most part were okay, the managers treated the passengers with disdain. I can only hope that all future NCL passengers do not have the same terrible experience that my family and I had to suffer through.

#falseadvertisingNCL We were sold this trip with only one tender and all other stops at Port, port fees where charged, this trip was booked based off of this advertisement (anyone who cruises knows how risky tendering is), on July 2nd we boarded this ship and once on the way at Sea letters went out to each cabin (view picture) it is now 5 tenders with already 2 stops including the famous Dublin cancelled, when speaking with Alain Magnier the
General manager and other staff, he advised us of a Port never being secured from more than 2 years ago, and NCL should have never sold it stating Ports that it must have been a glitch, that caused many people to speak up on the time frames when they purchased their trip, it was done at all different months and different years, thhats not a glitch. Then the Captain made an announcement stating it's been 4 years with knowledge that ports were never secured for 5 of the stops of the 8,2 of the stops have been canceled, one of being Dublin which was the longest stop and most important. The staff on board including the Manager stated said over and over again deal with corporate when you get off our ship (while wearing an NCL badge). This experience has been horrible from the first moment we got on the boat, the crew made an announcement that rooms are ready and cleaned to make our way to the assigned cabin, but we walked in to a dirty room with just the bed made, the sheets where dirty and had hair on it, the bathroom was disgusting and the counters near bed where dirty with hangers, dirty personal towels, dirty cups, the floor not vacuumed with visible debri on it. We had to wait 45 minutes standing outside of the room for the staff to clean it, and had to remind him to vacuum. We've had 4 instances where the staff has come into the room without knocking, even with the sign saying "DO NOT DISTURB" with it being just me and my sister in the room, 2 women, it made us feel unsafe where we were constantly checking that the door was locked. The cruise ship advertises an indoor pool, that doesn't exist (view picture attached) only the spa one exist at a $69.99 charge per day per person. The outdoor activities are closed due to weather, even on days it's been sunny and not much wind. Almost every single activity has a charge associated with it, with high minimums. The Staff has been unprofessional and constantly state there is nothing they can do to assist with any issues, the Customer service Manager Gina Yunzal refused to speak with us after waiting 2 1/2 hours from 8am-10:30, to get a call to our room at 9pm stating she would be willing to speak with us, extremely unprofessional. We still have 5 more days on this Cruise and I can only imagine how much worse this is going to get.