Norwegian Cruise LineReviews 233

Norwegian Cruise Line RUINED our vacation! Norwegian scheduled us on flights that would not get us to the port on time to board our NCL ship before it left port. When the flight schedule changed, NCL told us it was fine as long as we got to the port by 5 pm. The next day, NCL told us we had to be at the port by 4 pm & would not be able to board the ship. We then had to make our own flight arrangements to get to another country, the ship's 1st port of call (this despite purchasing trip insurance from NCL!). When I asked for help making flight changes from NCL, the NCL agent hung up on me! So here we are stranded in another country waiting to join the cruise we paid for & having to cover expenses for unexpected hotel stay for 2 days, meals & transportation! We have lost 2 whole days of our NCL cruise vacation, have additional unexpected expenses in a foreign country & no help or customer service from NCL. As long as NCL has your money, they could care less what happens to you or even if you ever get to enjoy the vacation you worked so hard to plan & pay for. Boo NCL! Your customer service stinks, or should I say WHAT customer service!?!

Ok,when we first enquired about the cruise, they offered all sorts of discounts. 2 weeks later when we decided to go, all those discounts were gone. We had to pay $ 1000 more. Sooo we gave these crooks $ 8000 and some change. Later we found out that we had to have passports. (ours had expired). So we called Norwegian. They said that we did not have to have passports then later called back and said we did and if we did not get them in a week we would forfeit all of our money. Ok, We paid another $1000 to expidite our passports. When we tried to check in online the app kept rejecting our photos. I called again and the ncl line rep said there was nothing that they could do and to use a smart phone. I told her that we are Senior Citizens and I don't have a smart phone. I have a flip phone -- She said too bad.
Later I found out that the ncl rep have scheduled us to fly to Miami in the middle of the night.
What More Can I Say --- NEVER AGAIN NCL!

Do you spend hours searching for the best boat to suit your preferences? Do you spend way too much time trying to get the best value for pleasure?! NCL disrespects your time by changing their itineries and cutting time from ports without any compensation in your travel. When they canceled the primary port (honduras) of our trip and replaced it with a beautiful but boring bahama stop, AND shaved off 2 hrs from Mexico they would not refund any money, add a drink package, provide a free ride for the kids on the go-karts- NOTHING to help make us feel we got value for our trip in the end.
Their customer service would listen but kept repeating "sorry you feel that way, but I can do nothing about it". When asked to speak to a supervisor, hoping they could see how the price of the trip should be adjusted if their service advertised is cancelled, or try to accomodate the swing in value- the supervisor just spoke over me explaining the situation and then hung up!
We loved cruising in the past, but our time is valuable and they disrespected all my hours of planning and hours of overtime to make this trip happen for our family. I'll never use NCL again- awful customer service and NO respect for our dollar.

We were told that gratuities were included and they were an additional 400.00 during registration. Then we purchased the drink package, and then during registration they wanted an additional 498.00 per person for premium drinks. What a scam! We just signed up yesterday for this cruise for 4000.00, and we have been on several cruises with Royal Carribian, and Priness, and have never experienced this. Avoid Norwegian.

I am going to keep this short, there were numerous relatively minor issues on the cruise itself (shortened port stays, and one port cancellation, mediocre service at times, our room was not very clean, and lots of small things). Most of these things would have been generally tolerable EXCEPT for the fact that our flight was cancelled and the NCL representative told us to book to the next port of call (which we did) and submit receipts for reimbursement after the cruise. AND NOW THEY ARE REFUSING TO HONOR THE AGREEMENT. I can handle a lot, but being lied to is a deal breaker.

We upgraded our beverage package to highest level to prevent nickel and dining. Were still charged for a drink at a bar the first day and charged for mini bar in our room (we were told this was included in our package). There is no clarity in their charges. It's quite expensive to upgrade to start with. Still has been resolution to this matter. It doesn't amount to much money, but it is the principle.

This was our first NCL joy cruise to Mexico e and loved the advertisement of free booze and internet... BUT. It is not free. The booze and internet cost you upfront and a 20% service fee for staff that you mostly never meet and can't reduce if service was not great
Then they add service fees on specialty dining 20% on top of high meal coats and it never ends. In the end we think NCL pimping us for fees pays for the entire staff on the whole ship and sucks. We were forced to pay fees for people we never saw?

Why do you ask people to reserve an embarkation time when no one enforces it. The terminal was jammed with people and we waited over an hour to board. Some elderly passengers had difficulty standing so long.
The quality and choice of food is not what it was, it was just okay.
Excursions were again long lines waiting in the hot sun with no place to sit for the elderly.
Our last port was cancelled and we spent an additional day at sea making a 12;day cruise have 6 days at sea. Our first port at San Juan was so late that it was too dark to take photos so we did not get off the ship
As a gold member, I expected more than the two tiny cartons of water. Precovid I would get a complimentary bottle of sparkling water. On my first princess cruise I received a box of Ferrara rocher chocolates. Really, NCL, you could spring for water!
The ship seemed overbooked. It was hard to find a quiet spot. It was not possible to use our specialty restaurant promotion since everything was booked and the only available reservations were after 9 pm.
On a positive note the staff and our steward were lovely, friendly and helpful. My understanding from reading other articles is salaries are being cut and additional work added and many of the staff are in fear of losing their jobs. I do not know if it is true, but I heard many staff are leaving to join other cruise lines.
This is such a shame, I had previously enjoyed sailing with Norwegian.

The customer service was poor, food poor quality, events were late. Boarding was 3 1/2 hours outside in the cold, no communication from NCL, they had one table to get your luggage tags and the line was LONG.
Cabins are small. There was a pole that divided 2 rooms and you literally had to turn to the side to get in and your luggage in the door. A JOKE! Toilet and shower clogged, smelled like a sewer in the cabin. Took a few hours to get the toilet fixed had to use the bathroom up a level. Many guests did not get 7-8 hours in CABO because it was unorganized. If something goes wrong and you tell them about, they don't care and will not compensate you. They care about the money not the people.

When I booked my cruise I was given some nice perks and a "complimentary upgrade to cabin 8255" for the " best Freestyle Cruising experience" Yesterday at check in I found I had been downgrade to cabin 4006, in the bottom of the boat. I asked why and was told it was due to work being done on the room I booked. The supervisor said since I didn't pay for the higher room I could be downgraded but my confirmation gave me the higher room. I asked for an equal room and she said the ship was 100% booked and 4006 was the only room available other than inside cabins. I feel sad about the downgrade and the lack of compassion by the supervisors. The customer service people are really nice but can't fix it. I feel devalued, uncomfortable about the trip, and fear my exciting "freestyle experience" is a bust. This is the last trip I will take on Norwegian.

Changed the destination minutes before boarding. Couldn't get off the ship because it docked late at night only for a few hours. Closed the kid's club that night too. My children weren't "allowed to charge to my account." But we got turned around at the door leaving and weren't allowed off the ship until I paid the charges on my "children's account" $2,200.

Food was terrible. Waited 30 minutes for room service who never answered the phone.

At home I noticed my credit card was charged thousands of dollars more than my invoice stated.

Pool was closed 1 out of the only 2 decent weather days while at sea.

Not clean at all! No one was disinfecting the common areas where thousands of people touched while on the ship. Gross! Many people including my family got sick before our trip was over.

I filed a complaint while still on the cruise. Followed up with a formal written complain online. And have not had a response.

This was one of the worst cruises that we have taken in the past 20 years. ( 15 or more). We booked this cruise to visit the Panama canal and paid a surplus to cruise the locks which was amazing. But if you did not book a tour with NCL you did not get to visit the area because we were kept hostage on the ship in the lake after going through the locks. During the 11 day cruise we were offered a fantastic show which was repeated once more during the cruise. Also the main 4 singers put on a fabulous show once during the 11 days. Oh yes, they consider their exclusive ship board " Deal or no Deal " entertainment! It is simply a cash grab for NCL. You buy cards to play along with the stage game on the hope that you could win a prize or some cash. If one looks at the cards ( $ 29.00 each or 3 for $ 60.00) and check the possibilities, the chances on winning are slim and none. They have 2 great bands that play at poolside and a venue called the bliss. For 11 days we could almost sing along with them as most of the repertoire was repeated through the cruise. These bands are overworked. They do not have the seafood ( lobster tail) night any longer. No dress up night or any special evening where one can put on a suit or fancy dress. The menu as very limited and the food was just average to poor. Most ports of call were very limited. Average of 4 to 6 hours of ones that we visited, 5 in all. They now have a private island called harvest Quay where one can use their ship card meaning that that most proceeds are shared with NCL. I remember most cruise lines have a private island where you can enjoy a terrific BBQ and sit at the beach and listen to some great island music. NCL has one but chose to use this cash grab other private island on this cruise. After waiting 3 years because of COVID and finally able to cruise once again, NCL let us down, "BIG TIME ". The only memories we have are the crossings through the locks and a server named Norman who made our dining experience a highlight of the cruise. It will be a long time or never to book with NCL again. I would suggest before booking any cruise in these days, where the cruise lines are trying to save money, that you should check all the reviews before booking any cruise.

Book a family trip and they give you a flight that keeps a child up until 1am. Talk about trouble free cruising been on the phone for and they keep on giving us crappy flights and then not giving us what they said they would watch the small print! Don't believe anything they tell you verbally everything must be in writing cannot be trusted.

After getting the runaround for months.

Book a family trip and they give you a flight that keeps a child up until 1am.

Their pcc were deceptive, they failed to honor anything we were promised by agent and then give you the runaround!

Customer services point the finger agent and agent say it is them
Costing me extra $2000 for better fights

Terrible customer service! NEVER TRUST THEM to book your flights! They booked my flight on the wrong day and I let them know immediately. That was months ago! Now, after several phone calls in which they told me the correct flight booking was being expedited, I'm close to sailing date and STILL DON'T HAVE A FLIGHT!

There is nobody to answer any questions, Berto that i just spoke with actually yelled at me, i have spent hours on the phone with these idiots and nobody and answer any problems i am having. One person says i have airline tickets and they have been ticketed so no changes, the airline says not ticketed, this berto guy gives me a number to call THAT I CALLED AND TALKED WITH SOMEONE EARLIER TODAY that sent me an email with flight info and said already ticketed and there can be no changes. He called me a liar and said they are not open on weekends. I called the number again after we got off the phone and the recording said they were open today from 9 am to 5:30 pm. NCL cancelled our cruise last year on a monday and we were suppose to sail on that friday! And i was stupid enough to book with them again, please do not be as stupid as i am. i hate norwegian

Worst customer service I have EVER seen. We had issues with a flight and our personal cruise consultant never returned emails or phone calls. Asked for a supervisor to call me and that never happened either. We are a group of 22,14 have never cruised before and do not want to cruise norwegian in the future. We will definately choosing a different cruise line for our next trip.

TERRIBLE! TERRIBLE! Service to get reservation and answers to existing reservations.
We have not even start the cruise and we are already VERY DISAPPOINTED with NCL.
We booked a group reservation for 15 of us.
We were given a price that later changed without any early advise
We were booked into different levels within the cruise. Different dates booked for airfares offered by NCL, different airlines. We were offered free luggage on the ship but air fares do not include luggage. You now need to pay extra to change dates and for your luggage. Also on the ship you have to pay add to get drinks (soda, water, juice, food, etc) for everyone since the all inclusive free drinks and food is ONLY valid for two adults per reservation/room.
If you have questions their response is only Well we can't do anything, that is what you get for what you paid… well, we paid aprox $ 18,000 - $20,000.
They do not answer your calls. You have to call 20-30 times to get a response.
We still trying to figure out how we will get to FL on time to our cruise, if we have different dates, airlines, etc… CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY… pick other cruise line if you want to take a cruise.

Let's start with the positive. The employees are nice, and the food was pretty good. That's about it. The ship "The Jewel" feels like you are on a ferry boat. The outdoor pool area is super duper small, not a whole lot to do on the boat. Eveyone is trying to sell you something. The CASINO is the biggest joke! Talk about a snatch and grin for your money! You are a SUCKER for walking into to it! It's almost comical, seriously. We're on the 7 day cruise to Mexico right now, heading back to San Diego. The port stop at Ensenada is the worst port ever. They pushed us onto a shuttle into "the city" but ended up in the back parking lot of a empty building?! I felt really bad for the poor 70+ yr old couples trying to figure out a way back to the boat. No doubt a scam with the taxi companies. Thanks again NCL. And the funny part? I own a boat load (no pun) of NCL stock. Time to dump it next week, last cruise with this company. Sad! It wasn't like this in 17' or 18'. You can't blame COVID! Get you stuff together NCL.

One of our excursions were cancelled and we were not told in time to schedule another excursion. It too us an hour to get on the ship. We were told that each cruise member gets 150 internet minutes but they charged me for my grandsons. Then they said only 2 members get 150 minutes per cabin. I paid for 3 people. Th food was less than par and it took 3 hours to get off the boat.