NCL is Costing Travel Agents Business (Including US!)

3 with NCL and done. The “personal move consultants” are worthless

Travel agents may be losing business because they are not telling their customers what to expect.
Cruising is not cheap. Agents need to do some research and communicate. Not just be order takers.

Cruising has become more complicated, more expensive and less fun.
I'm starting to believe it's not a good value and not worth it.

I'm sorry to say I agree with you. I've been taking cruises for over 40 years, so I can make reasonable comparisons. My first NCL cruise was way back when they were known as Norwegian Carribean Cruises. Yes, cruising has changed (yay) and the cruising demographic has changed. Now that I am in my mid 60's, I still want my age group to be catered to. Norwegian seems to be looking to the young, family demo (many cruise lines are), but they don't provide quality service to anyone. I took a 12 day cruise to the Eastern Carribean in April, 2024. I saw my cabin steward only 3 times in 12 days. My cabin was not cleaned until most days 3 p.m., and one day it was after 5 p.m. I know this poor kid had an entire hallway to care for by himself. I blame the line. There is also no other option than "anytime dining". As a solo cruiser, this meant that I ate alone for the first 6 days. I asked when making a reservation if they would seat me with someone else. they only did that once. Thankfully, I made a friend who I ended eating with for the remainder of the time. I really missed being seated at a large table in the MDR and meeting new people.

The moment NCL went against Florida residents and our state government in 2020 was the moment it sealed its fate. We remember what NCL did and will never sail them ever, even if it were free.

We sailed NCL years ago from Seattle to Alaska. First time with them , never ever again. The crew allowed a large group of people to dominate the cruise, closing down entire restaurants and bars just for them. This same large group totally took over the photographers on formal night, designing different poses with a variety of members of the group. They kept allowing people to cut in line. All in all, my family never got to take any photos because we were going to miss the show. Terrible experience. Terrible service. Terrible crew. My family prefers to spend our vacation dollars on cruises with Princess and Viking. Quality all the way around.

Ncl better get there act together I am a cruise agent i agree 100% cant speak to any customer service !! royal caribbean the best and the main stream cruise lines are there for us they needs to have offices in usa..

I had to go to the Better Business Bureau to get a very significant financial issue resolved after trying to get resolution for six months by submitting those dumb online forms!

I was sailing on NCL mostly because of the solo cruiser benefits. But gratuities going up and service cut down to once a day, every little thing costing extra, massive cancelations of sailings, and a "Take it or leave it" attitude towards clients I'm done except for one group cruise I won't cancel yet. Have a great day

I have been on one NCL cruise, and I loved it! It was a foodies paradise! The Viva🥰🥰🥰

I’m so glad to see your honesty here. My husband and I no longer cruise on NCL. They double charged us for a diamond ring. We disputed it with TD Bank. They agreed we were overcharged. NCL would not honor the bank’s decision after the bank analyzed the cruise bill and charges on the card. NCL banned us. We were high level-2nd from the top. I don’t recommend them. We went online and found others with similar issues.

I have sailed NCL twice in the past year. I do not recommend NCL for Alaska. We sailed Encore in July. It got us to where we were going, and that's about it. Suggest Holland America or Princess for Alaska. We sailed this November to Carribean on NCL Joy. Night and day difference! We had a blast! I will say that NCL is making their drink package worse! So, they are just shooting themselves in the foot.

Honestly I went on one NCL cruise to nowhere back around 2010...on the Dawn. It was absolutely horrible; our group of 4 cabins scattered around the entire ship all had plumbing issues....food was terrible...service so-so....and I want to explicitly call out how awful the Italian upcharge restaurant was - cold apps, slow service, and couldn't cook a medium rare steak despite multiple attempts.

I want to be clear...I've loved carnival for years so it isn't exactly like I'm demanding or expect 5 star everything. But for a supposed "step up" cruise like I felt like everything was a step backwards.

Some of the newer ships sound cool and look great..and I've tried to keep an open mind since it was just 1 bad experience...but when I start to price out things I just can't justify it vs Carnival or Celebrity.

Fwiw I'm early 40's. And good on you all for speaking out on the issues you've personally experienced.

What a bunch of complainers and whiners. Good lordy, this was a ridiculous waste of time. Everything you said can be said about all the cruise lines.
I wonder if all your bitching about NCL is why they don't respond to you?
You barely book anyone with them.

Correct. I sailed NCL as an adult on The Vloggers Extravaganza and it was my LAST. Customer service desk terrible. Customer service bad all around. 0/10 wouldn’t recommend.

I've been on 7 cruise lines and like NCL the least.

My viewpoint is ncl
Lost customer service
They care about sales
I don’t care for cruise line

Ben and David said that NCL has cut back to the bone and other cruisers have said they keep hitting you up for cash. They should care!

I need to send you an account of what happened to us, but it’s too lengthy to post here. Can I email you?

Why even go to Alaska in April and October? If you do your own research you will see the limitations of traveling there during the shoulder season. Plus, usually on NCL to Alaska you have shorter port times. Go to Alaska with Princess or HAL that are experts in Alaska!

I have had such an inconsistent experience with Norwegian. It’s not even funny.

My first cruise, perfect wonderful no issues. my Norwegian Cruise a couple of small issues that were never resolved, but I was like I’ll give them another chance.

My trip was a disaster on so many levels. I am handicapped, I use power mobility aids and for whatever reason the room that we booked was out of service. They moved us to a different room that was not accessible and was a lower level than what was booked. The room situation was hard but ok because I am able to transfer myself. The second problem on that trip was our room attendant never cleaned the room. We are not messy people but wanted fresh towels and had to CALL multiple times for toilet paper. For toilet paper.

Then the food situation, I have severe EpiPen, deadly food, allergies, and on my previous two cruises we were able to make a plan and all of my food was the day before we had a menu that was made in an allergy friendly area of the kitchen. On this cruise, I had salad fruit dry cereal, and grilled salmon, I was not giving any option of variation like I was on previous trips. They made it seem like I was a bother versus the other trips.

Getting the refund on the difference in cabin was like pulling teeth. That poor travel agent fought and fought and fought to get us our money back because how are we paying for a suite and being put in an instructed view and they wouldn’t give us a refund the difference.

My last cruise on Norwegian was this past May to Alaska. And believe me, it will be my last cruise I ever took on Norwegian. I was very unhappy with quite a few things too much to go into here…….

We are platinum with NCL. I don't like having to make reservations for the tiny theater. I do not like removing the observation lounge.

We've had some great Norwegian experiences, including the best of our three transatlantic cruises, but that was some time ago. Lately it's mostly disappointment, especially entertainment and food. On our last cruise, disembarkation was chaotic. We couldn't get off the ship! When we finally were allowed off, no ground transportation of any kind available. We're done with Norwegian!

Why didn't you name the tour operator?

I agree with almost everything negative said about NCL. NCL has become a major disappointment in the last few years.
We have had a couple of issues with NCL in the past that were NCL’s responsibility and they were always resolved in a timely fashion for us. But our last cruise with them was absolutely the most disappointing cruise in our 25-years of cruising, service/entertainment/food quality wise.
We are ‘Sapphire’ on NCL (equivalent levels on 3 other cruise lines as well). We cruised for 46-days with NCL in 2023. After our ‘horrible’ 16-day TA on the Breakaway in November ‘23 we decided to take a respite from NCL. This year we concentrated on our favorite cruise line Celebrity.
Since we are ‘destination’ cruisers we find ourselves booked on a 10-day cruise out of Rome in June ’25 on NCL. We promised our 2 youngest sons a Med cruise and this cruise hits many of our favorite places in Italy/Greece. Plus, we like their 2 for 1 air fare. With that said, not only are back cruising with NCL but we are on the Epic. That’s right, we are really gluttons for punishment. Luckily it is a 10-day cruise with 9 stops, so hopefully time on the ship will pass quickly. After this the boys fly home and we jump cruise lines over to Celebrity.

I usually cruise with my family on Disney Cruise Line. I found a great deal on NCL for March 2025. Now I'm nervous as I was going to be booking an excursion with the cruise line as I am going as a solo cruiser. Wish me luck 🫤

Great work as always! We’ve never cruised NCL, but this honest review is why we keep tuning in. There’s many content providers out there, but none that I trust more than JJ Cruise! Thank you!!

We’ve never had a problem. We’re travel agents

NCL is "dead to me." I've been waiting for commissions from a June group. June...July....August.....September....October...November... and counting.

I was on the epic last for a transatlantic, they had unfinished trouble didn’t tell the passengers, when the fixed the problem they told us we’d miss Gibraltar, passengers asked to be compensated for port fees and taxes. NCL said nope.
Now I was on a 25 day cross the Pacific on Carnaval we missed Guam because of a medical emergency, Carnival gave each passenger 61 dollars, without asking.

I sailed NCL Bliss to Alaska for April 22nd of 2023. Did all my Alaska tours get cancelled on embarkation day or day of tour? Yes. Did I find enjoyable backup tours. Also yes. We also got to park at the closer dock in Juneau as the only ship in town. Now I am going back on the Bliss this coming June in peak to see more of Alaska. April, for me, was always intended as just a taste of Alaska. I wish more cruise lines would have solo options as well as they do, but till then I will book NCL. Plus, I have their Mastercard I might as well use it. Hopefully, their CEO gets ousted soon. He has been awful.

Oh, WTF! And, FFS. I was looking at going on an NCL as a solo cruiser. Not now.

Sailed NCL last month out of Cape Canaveral. Never ever again.

I am an NCL fan, but I have seen a stark difference pre-authoritarian lockdown and post lockdown. I can't speak about the customer service, but the pricing and offerings have been greatly affected. My next one may be my last one

I have taken 4 Norwegian Cruises from Boston to Bermuda. We had a great experience, I hope Norwegian improvs like my past experiences.

This takes bold courage & determination to speak out against NCL as their (ex) travel partner about the recent changes, thank you and as the 5% knew already on Cruise Critic, aside from the diehard blindsided loyalists that continue to wave the pom poms, that NCL can do no wrongs & refer to the cruise contracts. This is truly sad but true, IMHO. We are Latitudes Diamond cruisers since 2000 and were happy with the restart ... only to watch the continual spiral to the bottom. We've cancelled 2 NCL cruises last year and 2 more for 2024 and 1 for 2025, down to just 1 and holding numerous CruiseNext (they no longer "expire") and just sad with all the changes, to "sail & sustain" - constantly playing with port times, ship schedules and other More $$$ At Sea for 2025. NCL is now on our "suspension" list - thank you for pointing out the 25 to 30% resolutions rate vs. other lines' 90% plus (+) response. We haven't entirely abandoned but no longer convinced or sold on more is less, and it's not just entertainment & cuts. Another CC'er posted a link to this video on the forum & it was promptly moved/deleted for whatever, not before some of us saw it.

Huh… that’s interesting. Never knew this but will keep my eyes open. Been on NCL several times over 30 years without any glaring issues. Guess we are lucky (knock on wood) so far.

I've been cruising with NCL for 3 years now and I've had zero problems or concerns with the company. The crews and port staffs have been great to me and I look forward to cruising with them again next year 😀

I've done many cruises (mainly princess and carnival) I just did my 4th ncl cruise (ncl bliss) last one was a few years ago. food quality was better that it was a few years ago even though variety was very limited, beatles show was fantastic (saw them every night) other than that. I was bored. Nothing wowed me, cabin attendant was terrible, drink menu was extremely limited and very basic. I have no interest in sailing with them again.

I no longer will cruise on NCL either. If you don't drink or gamble you are out of luck! Even thier cabin names are misleading. Labeling them as suites just b/c it has a larger bathroom in a balcony cabin and you will pay a larger gratuities because of it. I usually pay additional gratuities to my room steward to begin with but being swindled by NCL is something else.

NCL is a very bad cruise line. There are so many better alternatives out there. We are very done with that company.

Will my wife and I have made it up to being platinum on Norwegian however reaching the status we have not sailed on Norwegian due to the way that they have treated us and we will book a cruise, and then they cancel the cruise. Either they sell out the ship to a company, or they decide oh we are now putting that ship in dry dock. And cancel that cruise. So we have started sailing on Royal caribbean.

Have cruised Norwegian on several charter cruises. Our Alaska cruise had to be cancelled due to illness. Norwegian was very quick to refund our excursions and other paid items. However, Aon travel insurance treated me like crap. Very slow to reimburse and what I got back was a pittance. I requested an explanation of how they came upon their figures twice and got no response. Just the check after several weeks of chasing them around.

I have enjoyed my previous cruises on Norwegian ships and thought about going on The Joy in September to Alaska but from your commentary and similar ones from friends that took Norwegian to Alaska last year; I will go ahead and try Princess instead

Would love to hear a response from NCL if they admit to this fault or not and then a follow up in 6 months from cruisers to see if anything has changed.

You guys continue to get more and more negative, and have increasingly sensationalized your channel over the last few months; I’m done with JJ Cruise. You’ve gone from interesting to predictable. I’ve sailed over 35 cruises on NCL since the late 80s; I’ve never had any issue that wasn’t reasonably resolved. My answer to “NCL Lost Us”… who cares!!! 👋

Same mentality is now exhibiting itself on NCLs other lines- Oceania is tanking and RSS is not far behind. Just look at what Oceania has done with their food service in the last 6 months!!

Simply do not cruise with US-owned cruise lines they are only interested in money and nothing else.