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Note - this page contains multiple reviews.
Name: Jo Ann Turner
Email: Turner_Joann@bls.gov
Age: 38
Occupation: Unix System Admin
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: NCL-Leeward
SailingDate: September 19, 1998
Itinerary: nowhere
FoodDiningRoom: 88
CruiseDirector: 85
CabinComfort: 97
FoodRoomService: 87
CruiseStaff: 90
CabinAmenities: 95
FoodLidoDeck:
DiningRoomService: 83
CabinQuietness: 90
FoodMidnightBuffets: 75
CabinSteward: 90
ShoreExcVariety:
FoodVariety: 95
DeckService: 90
ShoreExcValue:
GoodForHoneymoon: 90
CasinoStaff: 99
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 95
TenderService:
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff: 70
EntertainmentLounges: 90
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 80
OverallPortsofCall:
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 85
CruiseActivities: 80
Casino: 90
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 85
EmbarkDisembark: 88
DiscoNightclubs: 80
DeckSpace: 90
Stabilization: 95
ShopsOnBoard: 90
SpaceRatio: 95
OverallCruiseValue: 90
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 24 Sep 1998
Time: 12:02:35
Remote Name: 146.142.67.198
Remote User:
Comments
NCL M/S Leeward
2 day cruise to nowhere from Alexandria, VA
Sept 19, 1998
Background: 1st Cruise!
Saturday morning got a ride from neighbors to the pier. Took about 15 minutes. Got a very
nice view of the ship going over the Woodrow Wilson
Bridge. The neighbors wanted to check out the ship, so we parked about 1 block away and
walked from there. I had debated whether to check
any luggage or just carry it all on. (I got a lot of grief for how much I packed for 2
days.) When we got to the ‘only ticket holders from this point
forward’ spot, there was no one receiving any baggage and we were anxious to get in
the steadily growing line so the decision was made for us,
carry it all on. We got in line at 10:50 am. Embarkation was scheduled to start at 10:45
and there were already over 100 people ahead of us.
There were quite a few chairs set up and also water and punch for waiting in line, but you
would have to have someone save your place and get
out of line to take advantage of either of these. 35 minutes later, photo was taken and we
were walking on the ship!
Originally we booked a Cat E, (cheapest outside cabin) with a porthole on the lowest
level. A month before departure when we got our tickets we
were happily informed that our tickets should be showing up in our mailbox but that they
would have the wrong cabin assignment. We had been
upgraded to a Cat B deluxe oceanview cabin complete with large picture window,
refrigerator, sitting area and queen size bed on level 4. There
was plenty of closet space and 8 drawers. In addition, a desk unit with chair plus an
additional chair and sofa by the window. The refrigerator was
under the television and I was impressed that inside the fridge the shelves were arranged
to accommodate large bottles! (Did they know we would
be smuggling champagne onboard?) The bottles we put in never did get very cold, but the
ice bucket took care of that. Only two other negatives
about the room. The window was dirty which was kind of annoying and the inside of the
refrigerator smelled like vomit, which made our bottles,
smell the same way. I didn’t notice the smell, but my husband pointed it out to me
when we were about to have our champagne the second day.
This got noted on our comment card. If we were going to be on the ship any longer, I would
have had it taken care of.
We ran into our cabin steward, Petry on the way to the cabin and he introduced himself to
us and said to leave a note if we ever needed anything.
But we never did. I did notice that the ice bucket was only half full on the second day,
but coincidentally needed the room for the champagne
bottle, so it wasn’t a problem.
Once we dropped off our luggage we made a beeline for the spa. The other thing that I
wanted to do for the first time was have a massage and I
knew the slots would fill up fast. My massage was for 3:00 that afternoon. I thought it a
good way to start a vacation. I wasn’t real impressed with
the massage however and it convinced my husband to cancel his appointment for the second
day. I put the money saved to better use at the
blackjack table (for as long as it lasted anyway).
After setting up our massages, we checked out the buffet, but opted to have lunch in our
dining room. (The Leeward has two dining rooms roughly
the same size; we were in the Seven Seas dining room on level 8) I had a slice of quiche,
the chilled blueberry soup, a salad and vegetarian
lasagna. The salad was dull, but the rest was excellent. My husband had coconut chicken
fingers, chowder and a Cuban sandwich. I liked the fact
that the portions were small enough so that if you saw something else you wanted to try,
you could without stuffing yourself or wasting a lot of
food. We ate lunch with 3 very nice couples and had pleasant conversation. Afterwards we
went down to unpack, then it was time for the drill. After
that we put our lifejackets back in our room and picked up the video camera and headed to
the top of the ship to wave goodbye. They had music
playing and everyone was real excited, this was definitely one of the high points of the
weekend! After heading down the Potomac we decided to
check out some of the other spots on the outside of the ship. There were small decks on
the back of the ship on the upper 4 or 5 levels. Only on
deck 5 could you walk all the way around the ship (5 laps to a mile) but there were
outside stairs between all these decks in the back. There was
also a hot tub and another outside bar, besides the one by the pool, on deck 5 (aft?) as
well. We settled into a couple of deck chairs, watched the
seagulls chasing us, and got comfortable. I checked my watch. We left the dock at 1:30 pm,
the time was now 2:32 and it was official I WAS
HOOKED! It just doesn’t get any better than this! After a while we decided to check
out some more of the ship.
We ran across a long line of people outside the other dining room. They were getting their
seating assignments straightened out. We had received
our table assignment when we checked in. When we went back to our cabin, we found a note
slipped under our door that our table had changed.
I think that this was unfortunate because we ended up at a table with 8 people that were
all traveling together and did not have anything in
common with us, so our dinners were mostly spent listening to them talk to each other.
They did however sing 'Happy Anniversary' to us on the
second night after seeing the waiters do the same at another table (not to mention at
least 8 'happy birthdays') and remembered that was part of
the reason for our cruise. With the exception of the ordinary breakfasts, I didn’t
like the pancakes, the lunches and dinners were very good, as
well as the desserts, except the no fat, no sugar strawberry mousse that was also no
taste. The chocolate pie made up for it though. We sampled
as big a variety as we could and it all was good. I stopped in to check out the midnight
buffet right before midnight and there was a serious line
formed. They let me go in before they opened and I took lots of pictures of all the people
and animals they made out of food. Very humorous. I
couldn’t resist going back after the line for a taste, but the food (uncarved or
sculpted) was rather dull.
I had called the travel agency that leased the Leeward out of Alexandria, after being told
to by NCL, to inquire about the dress for each night on
the ship. The two-day is not one of their regular itineraries and was not listed in the
brochure that came with the tickets. I was told that there would
definitely be a formal night and it was always the first full day at sea and would
therefore be the second night. When we got on ship, we found out
that it was the first night. Most likely because a Captains Welcoming Party seems a little
silly happening on the last day. I hoped there weren’t too
many women counting on getting their hair done! My husband thought he was going to be
overdressed in the tux he ended up renting at the last
minute, to go with the long black dress I ended up buying at the last minute. I decided to
scope out the early seating captain’s party (we were late
seating) and see what people were wearing. I saw a few tuxes and lots of long black
dresses. As it turned out, our whole table was in tuxes. There
seemed to be a lot more people dressed up for late seating. I noticed a lot of people back
into their casual wear after dinner however.
The captain’s cocktail party was nothing special. We walked into the room and a very
personable fellow in a tux with a brightly colored
cummerbund and matching tie greeted us warmly. I extended my hand and said hello (I
thought I was speaking to the captain) then got ready to
move on, next thing you know, this guy in a white jack grabs my hand and pulls me around
and stands real still waiting for my husband to get close
up. Another picture goes off and he lets go. It ends up the personable guy was the cruise
director and of course the guy in the white jacket and
pants was the captain. (I don’t know what I was thinking; I used to watch the Love
Boat) The captain had 'GOD, HOW I HATE THIS PART' written all
over him, and I wondered why they put him through it. The complimentary champagne was a
nice surprise though.
Before dinner, we peeked in the Tradewinds Lounge near our dining room. I had read in
another review that a real good blues style singer was in
there and he did sound good. We ended each of our two nights in that lounge. Listening and
dancing to Stan Sykes was another high point of the
cruise. After dinner, we went and saw a comedian and a singer in the show lounge. We
thought the comedian was pretty good, I though the singer
was ok, but he talked too much between songs. We actually had quite a lengthy conversation
with the comedian in the Tradewinds Lounge the
next evening. It was very interesting to hear about cruising from an employee’s point
of view, and about what kind of accommodations the crew
has. After the Tradewinds lounge closed for the evening we went and checked out the disco.
It was ok as discos go, but not very many people
there as things were winding down. We ended our first evening with a stroll on deck and
watched as the ship went through the last bridge/tunnel
of the Chesapeake Bay by Newport News. Up until that point, I was not able to detect any
motion that would indicate we were anywhere other than
land, then almost as soon as we got out of the bay, as we turned in for the night, you
could feel the occasional sway of the ship. I thought about
how nice it would be to be rocked to sleep, just like a baby!
I had room service bring us coffee and a danish in the morning (left the order on the door
the night before). Only drinks, breads, cereals and fruits
were available. This was another first for me. They called to say they were on their way,
which was nice, and were prompt. The coffee didn’t taste
as good as in the dining room however. Then, because it was only a two day cruise (and I
had a review to write) we went to breakfast in the dining
room as well! (I had a job to do after all VBG) The breakfast was ordinary. Eggs are eggs
and the pancakes weren’t that good. We ate in the other
dining room, they seemed about the same.
After breakfast(s), I decided to try Bingo after being suckered in by the free cards they
left in our room. Once I arrived, I found out that the free
game was the fourth game, but that of course you could buy cards for the first three
games, as well as additional cards for the jackpot game after
the free game. I was beginning to notice how clever they are at separating you from your
money considering this is touted as an ‘all inclusive’ type
of vacation! I played bingo a bit in earlier years and enjoyed it, but the thrill was gone
so this is one thing I won’t spend my time doing anymore. We
also peeked in to check out the Art Auction and weren’t impressed with that either.
(Never did find the napkin folding though VBG)
After Bingo, we checked out the casino. It was nice with a roaring twenties theme. Said
goodbye to a little more of my money before going to lunch!
I was hoping there were not too many gambling enthusiasts on board for that purpose
because they would have been disappointed. Originally
when I booked the cruise, I was told the casino would be open within an hour of sailing.
Then when the tickets arrived there was a note saying it
couldn’t open until 10 or 11 hours after leaving port. It ended up only the slot
machines would open the first evening. (A few hard core slot junkies
were sitting in the empty casino when we passed by at 1:45 am waiting, turns out until
3:00) The rest would only be open between 10:00 am and
10:00 pm the next day. It was never crowded when we were there, but we were told that more
people would probably be there that evening.
After lunch, we hung out on deck and watched the antics of the bar staff balancing trays
of drinks and bottles of liquor on their heads bopping to
lively music. They then cajoled some of the women passengers into helping with a drink
mixing demonstration, which involved a lot of hip wiggling.
It was during this time also that we made an important discovery. Now all you veterans
will laugh at this but… we were amazed at how blue the
ocean was! It was beautiful! After having grown up in Iowa, then seeing the ocean only
from Ocean City, MD, I though that blue ocean stuff was in
books or maybe just the Caribbean. We were used to seeing that brownish greenish water but
this was something else. This was another highlight
of the trip. I couldn’t believe it when the next day while we were waiting to debark,
we were chatting with another couple in the Sports Bar
(listening to Bill Clinton) who also said this was there first cruise. When I spoke about
how beautiful the blue water was, they said, 'Oh, we hadn’t
noticed, I guess we never looked'.
The late afternoon was spent by me giving the casino another chance to give back some of
my money, (but it declined), and my husband watching
the Redskins lose in the Sports Bar. Then we went down to our cabin to enjoy our sitting
area and our champagne before getting ready for dinner.
We dropped in on Stan in the Tradewinds Lounge before dinner and met another couple of
gentleman on their first cruise and had a nice
conversation and exchanged telephone numbers. After dinner we went to the Broadway/Las
Vegas style show Sea Legs of the Copa, but it was
disappointing. We were sitting up front; otherwise I probably would have walked out in the
middle. The show was full of those scantily clad women
with those thong like outfits on. I got a good giggle when my husband looked across the
room and pointed out that all the gentleman looked quite
comfortable, and all the women were sitting their stiffly with their arms folded across
their chests! We then ended our last evening in the
Tradewinds lounge with Stan playing lots of requests to a packed crowd.
The next morning, late seating breakfast was at 8:45. This was a bit early considering our
late evenings, however it was then or never. The Sports
Bar was only serving continental buffet until 9:30, not much later. I pulled myself out of
bed, but my husband opted for a little more rest. I realized
later that this was probably a real bummer for our cabin steward because it appears they
use that breakfast time to get a jump on cleaning your
room (at least get the bed made) to get ready for the next group getting on board.
Breakfast was interesting. The waiter and busboy were very
flustered. They kept running around looking confused, they were running out of everything,
the food took a forever to get to the table, the part
that hadn’t run out by then, people were served out of order, they started putting
juices on the table, then realized they were for a different table,
but left them anyway. Once, the busboy offered me more regular coffee, I asked for decaf
and he said fine. He then went to the other side of the
table, refilled three cups and came back and refilled mine with regular and scurried off.
Ten minutes later he was walking around with the decaf
trying to find that person who said they had wanted it! It was a good thing for them this
was after we all gave out our tips the night before. Does it
always fall apart on the last day? Speaking of tips, I gave the suggested (price went up)
$4 pp per day to the waiter and cabin steward and $2 pp
per day to the busboy. I had put the $1.50 pp per day to the maitre de in the envelope,
however on the last evening I realized that I didn’t even
know who he was. I had remembered comments from others about how they do a lot of
glad-handing on the last night, but no one even stopped
by our table. So that was never delivered.
After breakfast I went down to the cabin to collect the rest of our things and my husband.
He wasn’t quite ready yet and a couple of times before
we left the room we could hear the cabin steward kind of rattling his key in our lock.
Guess he was anxious to get us out of there. I got the
impression that everyone else must have dutifully left their room with all their
belongings like good passengers should and went elsewhere.
However, after relocating to the Sports Bar then taking a stroll around to get a peek at
the other sized cabins, I came across lots of people all the
way until noon that stayed in their rooms watching TV or lounging on the (made) bed. I
guess if you get out of there long enough in the morning to
let them get started, you can hang out there after breakfast. What is the protocol on this
exactly?
Now for the lines…..Customs reporting was at 10:30. At 10:30 there was a line going
from the door of the lounge where it was to take place that
snaked all the way across the ship, through the casino and ended I don’t know where.
I figured I would wait elsewhere. I had also heard that the
people in front had already been there an hour just to be first. Around 10:45 or 11:00 I
went to the pursers desk to inquire about my husband
getting off the ship early, while I waited for our color to be called because he had
somewhere to be and they pointed out it would be a while
because the customs people were not even on board yet. Those people were still standing
there at 11:15. Around 11:45 I happened by and
noticed everyone was gone, I thought maybe I missed it but walked in and went to the
table, showed them my paper, they took it and said ‘thanks’.
I was glad I didn’t stand in line for two hours just for that! Next thing you know,
there was an announcement to tell everyone that hadn’t gone to
customs to do so and poof, there was another line! People are funny.
The ship arrived on schedule at 10:30. The other thing I thought was amazing were the
people that were told we wouldn’t be allowed off the ship
for probably at least two hours after docking that still chose to lug all their baggage to
the exit door and sit uncomfortably on steps and on the
floor for over 2 hours, ignoring several announcements over the intercom not to do so!
They told me at the pursers desk that the first color called
were people with special permission to go ahead of customs, as they had planes to catch
and what not, but that as soon as the next color was
called we could go ahead and get off. We heard red, but then my husband decided to wait
with me. Next thing you know, our lounge was empty,
and only two colors had been called. We finally decided to just leave and after getting
outside found most of the luggage to be gone, all colors
were out there in their slots (what was left). I don’t think they called any more
colors after the first two. I guess they were stampeded and just gave
up. Needless to say, debarking CAN be painless, if you don’t stress about leaving. I
plan on never having to be anywhere before 5 if I can help it
and let everyone else get off first. One lesson though, before we were allowed off the
ship, which was 3 hours after breakfast, the Sports bar ran
out of juice, tea and punch as well as any cups for the only remaining liquid, coffee. I
had wished that I had saved a couple of those wonderful
white chocolate/macadamia nut cookies from the afternoon snack the day before. And I know
my husband, who opted not to have breakfast, was
starved.
We walked off the ship, found our luggage right away as there wasn’t much left and
called and waited for our ride.
Additional Comments. When we took the elevators they were very quick. The ship never
really felt crowded to me, I would almost think that at any
given time half the people must have been in thier rooms. The ship was very relaxed and
casual, with no rude or impolite people ruining others’
vacations. I never did experience the Lido food, or the Cigar lounge and I will just have
to cruise again, because they didn’t do the ‘baked Alaska
thing’.
I had a wonderful time. I’m sure the Leeward is not the fanciest ship, or the newest,
or the cleanest. I’m also sure that everything about cruising
can and probably is done better on other ships and/or other lines, however it was a
pleasant trip and perfection was not what I’m after. The
convenience of having the dock 15 minutes from my house or even just driving distance, was
well worth it, and I may very well have to do it again
next year. Maybe the three-day next time! I don’t think that I would book this ship
for a cruise that was not in my back yard. Too many others to try.
Jo Ann
Name: Oliver Kopplin
Email: graphic@gate.net
Age: 34
Occupation: Business Owner
NumberOfCruises: 2
TravelAgent: No
Ship: NCL-Leeward
SailingDate: 11/30/98
Itinerary: Key West, Cancun, Cozumel
FoodDiningRoom: 85
CruiseDirector: 25
CabinComfort: 85
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 65
CabinAmenities: 85
FoodLidoDeck:
DiningRoomService: 100
CabinQuietness: 95
FoodMidnightBuffets: 85
CabinSteward: 100
ShoreExcVariety: 35
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService: 65
ShoreExcValue: 35
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff: 85
PrivateIsland: 95
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 85
TenderService: 85
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 75
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 75
OverallPortsofCall: 75
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 65
CruiseActivities: 75
Casino: 85
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 35
EmbarkDisembark: 85
DiscoNightclubs: 85
DeckSpace: 75
Stabilization: 80
ShopsOnBoard: 45
SpaceRatio: 75
OverallCruiseValue: 15
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 08 Dec 1998
Time: 19:25:14
Remote Name: 199.227.117.69
Remote User:
Comments
Never again with the NCL, that's all I have to say. Upon arrival at the docks in Miami we
were greeted downstairs (the registration
was upstairs) by a gentleman handing out immigration forms for the Bahamas. First I
refused to accept the forms, explaining to
the gentleman that this would not be necessary since our cruise will go to Key West,
Cancun (Mexico) and Cozumel (Mexico).
So I proceeded to the stairways.
While waiting in line for the registration I received a surprise. Call it "hit by a
hammer', 'stabbed with a knife'. Just casually an
NCL employee handed forms out with a changed itinerary. The new itinerary called for
Freeport (Bahamas), Nassau (Bahamas)
and Great Stirrup Kay. According to the information desk NCL did not offer a refund but a
whopping $50 onboard credit per
person. Since we were coming from Boca Raton (about 60 miles to the north) and our free
shuttle bus had already left we had no
option but to stay and take the cruise. Please be reminded that as a residence of Florida
you can go to the Bahamas for $50 or
less and not four the price of a 4 day Mexico cruise.
Just as a note. Nobody from NCL ever apologized or made any other offer of good will
(besides the lousy $50 onboard credit).
Cabins: After finding our cabin (nobody made the effort on board to give us a hint where
our cabin might be located) I noticed that
instead of a queen sized bed we had to push our beds together. I specifically requested a
queen-sized bed and even changed my
cabin the same weekend after I learned that the initial cabin assignment called for to
single beds. We inspected our cabin and
found out that the flusher in the bathroom didn't work and in the toilet bowl itself was
something left which in return caused the
bathroom to smell just awful. My first call to the reception was made.
Ship overall: After we left the cabin for the first time to explore the boat we found out
very quickly why NCL was so 'gracious' with
those $50 onboard credits. A tropical drink cost $6.00 and up, a bottle of Corona beer (as
close as I got to Mexico) cost $3.50.
Outrageous! The carpet was very dirty; the lighting on the Leeward was very low, more like
a raunchy bar. The cocktail waiters
whom you could find everywhere were way to pushy, literally harassing you.
I don't want to get into details about the trip anymore; it just upsets me too much.
But there were three good things on that cruise. All three had a name: Lee, Mervent and
Duvall. Lee was our waiter, Mervent our
busboy and Duvall took care of our cabin. Those three were the best on this entire cruise,
a cruise on which we counted the
hours down (especially that night when we had no water in the cabin) till our return to
Miami.
Overall the value was almost 0 for what we've paid. The only credit NCL gets is for their
private island.
It was my first and last trip with NCL.
Name: Candida D'Arcy
Email: cjd@minters.com.au
Age: 34
Occupation: lawyer
NumberOfCruises: 6
TravelAgent: No
Ship: NCL-Leeward
SailingDate: 4/2/98
Itinerary: Bahamas and Mexico
FoodDiningRoom: 75
CruiseDirector: 75
CabinComfort: 90
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 70
CabinAmenities: 90
FoodLidoDeck: 80
DiningRoomService: 90
CabinQuietness: 80
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety: 85
FoodVariety: 80
DeckService: 85
ShoreExcValue: 88
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService:
TenderService: 80
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 80
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 90
EntertShowLounge: 80
OverallPortsofCall: 85
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 85
CruiseActivities: 80
Casino:
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 60
EmbarkDisembark: 70
DiscoNightclubs: 85
DeckSpace: 70
Stabilization: 85
ShopsOnBoard: 85
SpaceRatio:
OverallCruiseValue: 85
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 06 Jan 1999
Time: 00:14:20
Remote Name: 203.101.28.233
Remote User:
Comments
I flew from Australia to sail on the Leeward for a week on back to back cruises to the
Bahamas and Mexico.
Overall I thought it was worth the 28 hour flight and I had a relaxing holiday. However I
do think NCL could have
tried harder in some areas.
Travelling on my own, I was looking forward to the advertised singles party. When I got on
board, there was no
singles party organised at all so it was completely left up to me to meet people. Luckily
some of the bridge
officers were very gallant! As it was Spring Break, I am sure there were plenty of single
people on board who
would have appreciated being introduced to each other by the cruise staff.
The ship cleanliness was not up to scratch. The hallways often needed vacuuming. The
outside areas had loads
of trash and empty plastic cups blowing around on the deck. Mostly the deck staff would
just stand and watch it
all blow around instead of picking it up. I have sailed on Star Cruises in the Asian
region and the ship
cleanliness there was way ahead of the Leeward. I was happy with the cleanliness of my
cabin. It was the public
areas that were disappointing.
The dining room was a mixed experience. I only ate there for dinner, as I preferred to eat
breakfast and lunch
outdoors. At dinner the waiters and busboys did their best, especially the wine waiter
Junier. He knew that
Australians like good wine and made a real effort. The maitre d' was pretty hopeless. I
wasn't given a table
allocation for the second part of my cruise and I had to wait in a long line to ask him
about it, behind a lot of
people complaining they had been given the wrong sitting for dinner. He just told them
that the ship was full and
he couldn't do anything - even though some people were complaining about being early
sitting and some about
being late sitting. I thought he could probably have swapped them around except he
couldn't be bothered. When I
got my table allocation it was with a German family who couldn't speak much English - nice
people, but my
German is rusty so conversation was limited. One of the aforesaid gallant officers told me
I was on the
passenger list as Austrian, not Australian, so maybe that is why they thought I could
speak German but it was a
silly mistake on NCL's part. Apart from not having a table allocation I didn't see the
maitre d' again until tip night,
when he put in an appearance at everyone's table. The food in the dining room I thought
was inconsistent - it all
sounded great on the menu and there was plenty of choice, but often it didn't live up to
expectations. Le Bistro
was fantastic - great food, great service, worth far more than the suggested gratuity.
(Perhaps it was the company
of a handsome Scandinavian officer in evening uniform that is colouring my recollection).
Lunches in the Sports
Bar were pretty much the same every day - burgers, fries, that sort of thing but the
advantage was being able to
go into the sunshine to eat. The lines were quite long.
The ports were enjoyable. The port lectures before we docked were a waste of time. They
were given by a large
woman named Michelle and they were really just advertisements for her favourite shops, not
information about
what you could do on shore. In Nassau I walked around the whole town on my own for a few
hours. Nobody
hassled me but some of the local men did approach me - I just smiled, said hi and walked
away and there was
no trouble. Other people told me they had been offered drugs to buy. I also did an island
tour on my own - I just
asked a taxi driver how much to go round the island to see it and he charged me $40 for a
4 hour trip. He was
really interesting explaining what everything was. His name was Charles Rolles and I would
highly recommend
him as a tour guide.
We didn't get to NCL's private island and we were diverted to Freeport instead. They
served free rum punch at the
pool bar as compensation. One of the officers told me the captain wanted to play golf!! I
hope he was joking as I
thought Freeport was a complete dump. I did get the chance to go parasailing. I think it
was probably one of the
most dangerous things I have ever done as there were no safety precautions at all by the
boys in charge, who
looked about 16 to me. I kept thinking how my travel insurance wouldn't cover it if I got
hurt (typical lawyer). Apart
from feeling a bit airsick up there hanging from the parachute it was worthwhile, but I'm
not going to do it again!
All of the shops at Port Lucaya were terrible - just tourist junk, nothing else. I think
$20 for a T shirt is a rip off.
I had a day in Miami while the ship offloaded the Bahamas passengers and took on the
Mexico passengers. The
shops and restaurants near the port were nice, and the Omni Mall was good too. I wanted to
see the Deco
district but I couldn't find it and I couldn't find a cab to take me there so I gave up.
Probably I was really close to it
all along.
The first stop on the Mexico cruise was Key West. We were docked there from 7am until
lunchtime. As one of the
features of Key West is meant to be the sunset, I thought the timing was odd. It was an
interesting place to walk
around but again most of the shops were just full of junk and the same T shirts as
everywhere else.
My real gripe was the shore excursion in Cancun. I chose the shorter trip to see Tulum
rather than the 12 hour
expedition to Chichen Itza because I didn't want to be cooped up that long on a tour. The
ship anchored just off
Cancun and we were meant to be able to come back to the ship after seeing Tulum, and sail
round to Cozumel.
It wasn't to be. For some reason the captain decided to sail to Cozumel shortly after all
the passengers had been
tendered ashore (perhaps there is a golf course there). So after we had been to Tulum
(which was fascinating
and well worth the visit) we had to get a bus to Playa del Carmen and then the ferry ride
from hell to Cozumel.
There was no deck to sit on, none of the windows opened and it was very choppy. Before
long the heat inside
began to build up and kids started throwing up all over the place. The smell was horrific
and I was so glad to get
off that ferry. But more trouble - because the Leeward wasn't expected in Cozumel until
later in the day, there was
no pier space for her, so she was anchored out at sea. We were not allowed to tender back
to the ship but had to
wait on the pier in the sun - hot, tired and nauseous from the awful ferry - until the
Leeward could dock at the pier.
By the time I got back on board it was nearly 12 hours since I left - exactly what I had
deliberately tried to avoid. Oh
well, at least I got a good look at the Norwegian Star at the pier - she sails from
Australia now. The Norwegian
Wind was also anchored out at sea, looking huge after being stretched but beautiful in the
sunset.
The security after the shore excursion was lax - I walked back on board showing my Bahamas
boarding card by
accident and nobody challenged me. They didn't look at what was written on the card at
all.
On board for the sea day back to Miami, there were not enough deck chairs for everyone who
wanted a seat
outside. Also the decks were very narrow and it was hard to walk around the chairs. Star
Cruises and also the
Marco Polo could show the Leeward something here. The gym facilities were quite good.
There were endless
advertisements over the loudspeaker for the art auctions - so much that it would have put
me off going even if I
had been interested. The captain's cocktail party was a run of the mill affair and the
captain seemed pretty bored
by it all. At least the champagne flowed quite freely.
The shows in the Stardust Lounge were OK as long as you didn't expect the same standard
you would get on
shore. The hypnotist was amusing. The Pirates of Penzance was lively but I was confused by
the story line until I
realised one of the girl dancers was meant to be dancing a boy's role. I guess there
weren't enough male
dancers around. The disco was quite good as discos go, full of students celebrating Spring
Break and also full
of crew socialising with each other. I hear now that NCL has stopped the crew discount for
drinks so there are
not so many crew in the disco any more!
Disembarkation was the usual painfully slow procedure with the lounges all packed with
people. I walked
around a rope and sat on a chair on the deck - nobody told me to move so I just sat there
for an hour or so until I
could get off the ship.
I tried to join NCL Latitudes when I got back home. After months of writing letters I was
eventually informed that I
am not eligible as I do not live in the US. Not very enlightened, especially as NCL is
trying to start up here in
Australia with Norwegian Capricorn Line. If they want repeat passengers from Australia
they need to reconsider
that attitude for sure! I think they also need to keep an eye on the competition - Star
Cruises over in this part of the
world have got it together much better as far as knowing what Australians like. I will get
a good chance to
compare them both because I am planning to cruise on Star Cruises' new built Superstar Leo
this year as well
as the Norwegian Star out of Darwin!
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