NCL offers the itiniary that we want but the reports here on Fodor's are not good and on Cruise Critic they are mixed. Some have givin great reviews and some have said they will never sail NCL again. Have you had an experience that you can share? They are holding 3 rooms for our family so I have to make up my mind soon.

We are looking at the Sun out of New Orleans or the Dream out of Houston. We want to go to Belize for diving.

We have only only cruised twice - RCCL and NCL, but I think it depends on what your expectations are.

NCL is one of the lower priced cruiselines, so we did not expect the most elite service, food, accomodations, etc. No different than if I pay for Holiday Inn - I do not expect the Ritz.

While some posters here have very specific complaints, we found food, service, staff to be fine. Still not sure how we feel about freesyle dining - has its pluses and minuses. Wait for table at peak times did not bother us anymore than it would at a restaurant - we put our name in, went for a drink, returned about 30 minutes later to table. I did not really expect they would be able to seat thousands of people anytime the were moved to eat.

Buffets were like buffets I have seen at any very large venue or event. Only so much you can do with pre-prepared food.

Did not bother me that there was not an alaborate midnight buffet - eating massive amounts of food at 1 AM is not something that is important to me.

These are some of the things that have bothered previous posters.

What we did find was efficient, friendly service. Our cabin was always cleaned promptly and well. Always found multiple places and choices when we wanted to eat.

Issue of prepaid, predetermined tips to staff also has pluses and minuses. ot sure how else you could do it with freestyle dining. We tipped an additional moderate amount to our cabin steward mid-trip - maybe that improved our cabin service, but it was fine to begin with.

Try www.cruisereviews.com and click on NCL

I have cruised on NCL a couple of times (including on the Sun). Personally I would pick the Sun over the Dream (the Sun is a newer ship and better designed for Freestyle dining). We enjoyed all our NCL cruises and had no complaints about the food or service (our NCL cabin stewards have all been excellent). I love Freestyle dining (our longest wait to be seated was 5 minutes) and Freestyle disembarkation (you can wait in your cabin until your color is called) is wonderful.

I can relay what my travel agent told me....we've only sailed NCL once and it was back in 2002. I've inquired about the NCL ships with our ta and she told us "as long as you stick to the newer ships you'll be happy". She said it is a budget cruise line but generally as long as you know that going in you'll be satisfied. She won't book some ships for her clients but I do remember specifically the Sun was one of the ships she recommended.

Although I haven't been on the Sun, from what I've heard from a former employee that it is a very well run ship. Everybody has different expectations....just go and have a great time.

My sister's family cruised NCL and said it was terrible. Food, service, pretty much everything worse than RC and Carnival. I know it is all opinions, but I'd be suspicious of so many negative reviews. I only cruise once a year on the average and can't afford hit and miss. That's why I'll never go on NCL.

I think it is very important to look at the overall picture.. You can look at all of the NCL reviews and compare against another line like Carnival or Royal Caribbean on cruise critic and if
you are seeing considerably more negative review for NCL its probably a pretty accurate indicator.. I posted my own review last year of the NCL Dream.. I ignored the warnings and ended up a very unhappy traveller..

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful responses. If it were just me and DH I'd go for it, but two of our children have never cruised before and I really want them to have a positive experience. Decisions, decisions.
Thanks again.

Read the negative reviews carefully - what one person finds megative may or may not matter to you. It is not really useful to me when someone tells me a location, hotel or cruise was "terrible" - I want to know what they found objectionable. I also believe people are far more likely to post negative than positive reviews. I read one review complaining there was not a specific service in the spa and that it ruined their vacation.

Think Holiday Inn/Best Western level of service and amenities. Will that do it for you?

Thanks again Fodorites! The decision was made to let the 3 cabins on hold for 24hrs, expire. It was a lot of money to "maybe" not be satisfied. We'll keep looking for something in January 2007 that is warm and fun.

Have you looked at Grand Princess from Galveston? It stops at Belize for your diving. Check with Alex at [email protected] for best price.

I too, have been put off by the negative reviews of the Hawaii "Prides", but the trip still sounds good. Maybe the new Pride of Hawaii?
M

cd...Africa?

We were on the Sun in Feb. We liked it. Have been on Princess, RCI, Celebrity, and Crystal. Really enjoyed free style. Food was about par, better than Princess, about the same as RCI. Entertainment was excellent-best that we have had. Staff/cabin were both great. Embarkation/debarkation ranked in the top 2. This was not an issue for us, but some found the liquer to be expensive. Beer and wine was about the same as any other line. Frankly, I think this comes down to personal taste, ship/crew, and itinerary vs. the specific cruise line.