Cigarette smoke, annoying music, racy shows, glorified drinking, poor service, food selections running out, long lines at restaurants, confusion surrounding the shore excursions, housekeeping issues, and poor signage. In some ways, it appears that NCL is sort of the same as it was in 1997 when my wife and I went. Those little annoyances would really bug me even with the remaining positives elsewhere. Thankfully, debarkation seems to have gotten better. The cigarette smoke and blasting music would really annoy me to the point of concluding that I would never sail NCL again. I imagine, for example, that DCL has strict guidelines about music volume and aromas that would nullify the music problems and spreading cig smoke.
There is one thing that seems missing as well: Magic and Wonder. I don't mean the names of the Disney ships, I mean the little extra sense that this is a "special" family vacation. I've said all along that family vacations, whenever possible, should some day have that sense that something great happened. A truly great vacation should be remembered years later as a golden time for the family, not just a list of the things we did. It's hard to explain, but I hope our family vacations will be described years later with a sense of grand nostalgia about how amazing it all was. The good things on NCL seemed very nice, but I don't get a sense that they were anything close to a grand experience. Not to cut it down at all, (and I also know that you've been on many DCL cruises by comparison), but I don't get the feeling that if someone asked you, "Name 10 vacations you'd love to take?" that you'd ever in your dreams say, "On an NCL ship."
There is one thing that seems missing as well: Magic and Wonder. I don't mean the names of the Disney ships, I mean the little extra sense that this is a "special" family vacation. I've said all along that family vacations, whenever possible, should some day have that sense that something great happened. A truly great vacation should be remembered years later as a golden time for the family, not just a list of the things we did. It's hard to explain, but I hope our family vacations will be described years later with a sense of grand nostalgia about how amazing it all was. The good things on NCL seemed very nice, but I don't get a sense that they were anything close to a grand experience. Not to cut it down at all, (and I also know that you've been on many DCL cruises by comparison), but I don't get the feeling that if someone asked you, "Name 10 vacations you'd love to take?" that you'd ever in your dreams say, "On an NCL ship."
