Norwegian Wind questions?
 

Hi! <BR>We are booked on the Norwegian Wind to Alaska and have heard comments about smelly cabins due to sewage problems.Has anyone travelled recently and had that problem or has it been fixed? <BR>Also would like to hear your comments on Alaskan tours,food,service and entertainment. Thanks!

Now I'm nervous! We are booked on NCL's Wind this July to Alaska. Do you think we will have a problem???

I was on the Wind last March on a Caribbean cruise. The toilets became stopped-up almost daily and the halls smelled terribly when this happened. The crew was not very responsvie. Overall the food was mediocre and the decor tacky. I would not recommend this ship.

hmmm must have gone down hill very quickly <BR>We cruised on the wind to Alaska last July and found little to complain about.No odors,food always at least good and really friendly waiters and stewards. the tours were generally good if somewhat overpriced if purchased from NCL

<BR>Boy, we must have been lucky, but have been on the Wind twice in the past year, October and April and had no problems. Dining is nice, I've had better on other ships, but also had much worse. We really enjoyed the special dining room option two different nites. they charge a $5.00pp fee. but it was so nice we did it twice. We dined in the Sun Terrace. a smaller dining room at the back of the ship with a Polynesian decor. After all. for the price you pay on the Wind, you can't expect Seabourn food! We never had a problem with sewage or bad smell. Felt the ship was clean and well kept. We liked our room with sitting room. NCL is a cheaper line on par (I think) withCarnival. Carnival has better entertainment and comparable food, but on Carn. we didn't like stepping over the drunks in the lounges and at the pool. we take 2-3 cruises a year with our teen age son. NCL offers a great value in our opinion. Enjoy Alaska..we did it on Celebrity and no matter what the like it'll be great.

<BR> Message: I was on the Wind in Feb 2000 and found the ship to be not very nice. The food was not good (even a staff member complained), the <BR> plumbing system backed up for 5 of 7 days (I felt sorry for the crew - they said the bottom 3 decks were flooded with sewage - a smell which permeated <BR> the ship), the engines had trouble 4 of 7 days causing us to be late into 2 ports (final docking into Miami was supposed to be 6 am - couldn't get off the <BR> ship until noon - many lost flight connections). I've been on Carnival (food was better), Dolphin (old, but better) and Crystal (near-perfect but pricey). <BR> Going on Ocean Princess in Oct-Nov for 14 days, the Maasdam on Feb. <BR>

<BR>Hi Val, <BR> <BR>I am a travel agent and have stated in many of my posts NCL is not maintaining their ships properly. I had the misfortune to sial on thre of their ships last year and all cruises were not pleasant. I was also on the Wind when it crashed into a barge in the Baltic and almost sunk. <BR> <BR>I am not saying that you will have a problem since their problems are occassional. But if you buy extremely cheap, you will expect to sail cheap. If you are concerned you can always cancel and book another cruise line. You will not see much of Alaska anyhow with their itinerary. <BR> <BR>NCL is famous for stating passengers are clogging the toilets. The excuse is getting shopworn. If your toilet closgs up at night do not expect to get it repaired until late morning when the maintenance crews return to work. <BR> <BR>I am not selling NCL unless my customers insist (to save money). The last complaint I received was when the Sea ran aground in Canada. <BR> <BR>You may not have a problem at all. <BR> <BR>Paul

Hi, <BR>Has anyone sailed on the Norwegian Wind to Alaska recently? These messages are old and make me concerned, although the CDC of the Federal Government gave it a decent rating in their inspection report. <BR> <BR>Thanks for your help.

Bonnie on last post - what is CdC you mention? Any folks recently sail the Wind to Alaska? 7 of us are going in about a week and a half and would like any advice, espcially about shore excursions.

<BR>The Center for Disease Control checks food handling and preparation, cleanliness of galley, airborne viruses, bacteria control. Basically anything that has to do with our health onboard. They do not check maintenance. <BR> <BR>The U.S. Coast Guard checks for safety at sea but they do not check how life-boat drills are conducted, condition of lifeboats, how experienced the bridge crew are. They can not, of course, check to see how the crew handles an emergency. They just check the ship's guidelines. <BR> <BR>Paul

Paul, <BR>We are thinking of booking the Wind for an Aust/NZ cruise next Feb. Do you know if the plumbing problems are continuing? I heard the ship has gone in for engine & refitting recently - is that true. Would you recommend this ship? Renaissance R5 is also an option - which ship would you recommend or should we is base our decision on each ships specific itinerary? Thanks.

<BR>Many passengers have an average cruise when sailing NCL but there are too many negatives. <BR> <BR>Price seems to win out over brains. <BR> <BR>I cut my throat as a travel agent bringing down NCL but they should not be sailing. <BR> <BR>The Sky was just built two years ago and now the ship tips over on it's side due to no preventive maintenance. There were 78 injuries, 16 passengers with broken bones. This is serious stuff. This should not happen. <BR> <BR>What do you think these passengers will recieve from NCL. I'll tell you..... $200 credit towards their next cruise. Their letters to NCL will result in no response (except for the coupons good for one year). <BR> <BR>Isn't what you read on these posts enough for you? <BR> <BR>Will you be one of the lucky ones that have a good cruise? Only fate will tell. <BR> <BR>I took a look at the outside of the Sky in Nassau a couple of weeks ago and I saw the tender docking door smashed to bits. I was hesitant to inspect the interior of the ship for fear it would probably burst into flames. <BR> <BR>Good luck sailing on the worse cruise line in the world. <BR> <BR>Paul

Paul, <BR>I have taken your advice & cancelled the Wind. After receiving numerous e-mails from other boards, it seems that the Wind & NCL are having PROBLEMS!!! The great majority of replies were very negative - many from prior NCL cruisers who will no longer book with them. Too bad - they had a great Australia/NZ itinerary at a competitive price.

Paul, <BR>Regarding the Sky tipping over, what do you mean by "due to no preventive maintenance"? I am just curious to know if this sort of thing is likely to happen on any other line. <BR> <BR>I don't know if everyone is out of the hospital over that one. I heard a boy was injured when an unsecured arcade game fell on him. <BR>

<BR>Dear April, <BR> <BR>To give you an example of preventive maintenance ....... in your home you have a frayed electrical extension cord. You must repair this cord or throw it away since it may start a fire. You just prevented what may have started a fire. <BR> <BR>Before an airliner flies there is a check-list that the maintenance crew thoroughly goes over. They replace the parts that appear defective. <BR> <BR>NCL apparently does not do this since there are so many mishaps. Their ships are downright dangerous, including their new one. <BR> <BR>The Norway was inspected by the US Coast Guard and they found 105 safety violations. The ship is laid up in Florida. <BR> <BR>Other cruise lines do police themselves because bad press (reports) will bring down the line. <BR>Our travel agent industry news reports on all mishaps that occur. I simply pass that news along to you. I do not make up these stories. Do I cut my own throat? .... Yes I do, but consumer awareness is very important to me and it should be to all of you. <BR> <BR>Pay a few bucks more and sail a reputable cruise line. I guarantee you will have a safe cruise. Cruise ships are not SUVs. A reputable cruise line will sail their ships without a serious mishap. <BR> <BR>I had three frightening experiences with NCL and will not sail NCL but I continue to sail 4+ cruises a year and feel perfectly safe. When I sail I stick my nose into every part of the ship including the engine room. Of course I have been thrown out of many engine rooms and galleys. <BR> <BR>NCL is giving the cruise industry a bad name. Other lines DO maintain their ships and DO hire experienced employees to maintain and oversee their hotel 24 hours a day. Not just during the day. <BR> <BR>Good luck and happy sailing. <BR> <BR>Paul

Thanks Paul. We're booked on a cruise on Celebrity's Infinity. I hope they're okay.

My understanding (from an acquaintance that was on the same cruise) is that only one person was actually admitted to the hospital thought many were checked and released. She said all but two people continued on the cruise so apparently the injuries weren't quite as the news reports would make us think. It could have certainly been a bad thing so it's great to hear that most are okay.

<BR>According to the news reports, there were 78 injuries. Thirteen had broken bones. I am sure they were treated and returned to the ship. Two remained for additional medical care. <BR> <BR>The reason why so many passengers returned to the ship is because NCL would not give them the compensation to fly home. With no money they had no choice. <BR> <BR>Another instance occured in the Baltic when the NCL Dream crashed into a large barge. There were over 500 injuries on both ships. Most were of broken bones, concussions and a few heart attacks. Two were airlifted. The barge started on fire and since their lifeboats ended up on NCL's pool deck they could not abandon ship. <BR> <BR>The Coast Guard came rather quickly and calmed us passengers. The bridge was torn off our ship, two lifeboats were damaged, two cabins were destroyed and the bow of our ship was gashed and pushed back into the ship. We all thanked God the damage was above the water line. <BR> <BR>The resulting tipping on it's side of the ship destroyed just about everything that was not tied down. <BR> <BR>NCL would not let us call home and we all received a $200 credit for our next cruise. <BR> <BR>The result of the investigation .... ineptness of both ship's crew. <BR> <BR>Paul <BR> <BR>

I have heard this board mention two NCL situations. The Baltic Dream and barge incident and the Sky tipping on its side. Exactly when did these two incidences occur?

<BR>August of 1999 for the Dream and May of this year for the Sky. <BR> <BR>The Dream disaster .... no one was on the bridge. <BR> <BR>The Sky turned on it's side twice ... no one knows why as yet. Just that the Automatic Pilot malfunctioned (sure, this happens on all ships). <BR> <BR>For those of you that wish to know why the NCL Sea is not stopping at Grand Cayman .... the tender docking facilities have been damaged. It is not because of high seas. The high seas excuse was poor since other cruise lines sail to the opposite side of the island. I saw the damage myself 4 weeks ago in Nassau. <BR> <BR>Paul