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Cruise ship designer talks about his influence on the industry
On 9/17/2010 12:48 AM, Ari Silverstein, C.T.A. wrote:
Holy ****. We did a Dawn repositioning in 2003, Miami to NYC, looking at the map they gave to us to commemorate. It was service and problem free. Same with our 2005, I had heard NCL had some issues in Hawaii but had no idea they were so screwed to the hilt. Thanks for the update, we were looking at an NCL for next month. I have friends who did their Hawaii and reported unbelievably horrid things like their cabin being filled with dirty linens from other cabins. These people only cruise Carnival and were appalled by the Hawaii cruise with NCL. My cruise was from Seattle to the Inside Passage in Alaska. The crew was not American. The majority were Eastern Europeans and none of them had ever had the slightest training in guest relations. -- Janet Wilder Way-the-heck-south Texas Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does. |
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Cruise ship designer talks about his influence on the industry
On Fri, 17 Sep 2010 08:50:58 -0500, Janet Wilder wrote:
Way-the-heck-south Texas Way the heck South Florida. Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does. Dam straihgt. -- Ari Silverstein, C.T.A; C.T.A.S, FREE Cruise Travel Advisory Services I never have nor ever will solicit or accept a booking. |
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Cruise ship designer talks about his influence on the industry
On 9/17/2010 2:18 PM, peter wrote:
So should we blacklist NCL? Has anyone had a really postive experience on an NCL ship recently? I am guessing that there are folks out there who think NCL is fine. They probably haven't cruised with other lines and this is what they believe cruising is. It's on my personal black list, but anyone else is free to have their own experiences. BTW, after our horrible cruise I sent a 10 page letter to the president of NCL about the complaints in my post and several others that I did not mention here. He wrote back saying that he would take some of my valid comments under consideration and offered me a "free gift" in my cabin on my next NCL cruise. What part of "I'll never cruise with you again" didn't he understand? -- Janet Wilder Way-the-heck-south Texas Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does. |
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Cruise ship designer talks about his influence on the industry
On Fri, 17 Sep 2010 17:50:42 -0500, Janet Wilder wrote:
On 9/17/2010 2:18 PM, peter wrote: So should we blacklist NCL? Has anyone had a really postive experience on an NCL ship recently? I am guessing that there are folks out there who think NCL is fine. They probably haven't cruised with other lines and this is what they believe cruising is. It's on my personal black list, but anyone else is free to have their own experiences. BTW, after our horrible cruise I sent a 10 page letter to the president of NCL about the complaints in my post and several others that I did not mention here. He wrote back saying that he would take some of my valid comments under consideration and offered me a "free gift" in my cabin on my next NCL cruise. What part of "I'll never cruise with you again" didn't he understand? He missed it bigtime, I would have offered you a free cruise to see if you were sincere. -- Ari Silverstein, C.T.A; C.T.A.S, FREE Cruise Travel Advisory Services I never have nor ever will solicit or accept a booking. |
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Cruise ship designer talks about his influence on the industry
On 9/17/10 6:50 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:
On 9/17/2010 2:18 PM, peter wrote: So should we blacklist NCL? Has anyone had a really postive experience on an NCL ship recently? I am guessing that there are folks out there who think NCL is fine. They probably haven't cruised with other lines and this is what they believe cruising is. It's on my personal black list, but anyone else is free to have their own experiences. BTW, after our horrible cruise I sent a 10 page letter to the president of NCL about the complaints in my post and several others that I did not mention here. He wrote back saying that he would take some of my valid comments under consideration and offered me a "free gift" in my cabin on my next NCL cruise. What part of "I'll never cruise with you again" didn't he understand? Some people love NCL. Others love Carnival. And still others love RCI. But none of them would be my first, second, or even third choice. For some Cunard is way too stuffy. But I loved the QM2. And I love Celebrity, and now HAL too (guess I finally got old enough to worry about them hiding me... so I'm old enough to go on HAL)... Different Strokes. --Tom |
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Cruise ship designer talks about his influence on the industry
On 9/17/2010 6:03 PM, Ari Silverstein, C.T.A. wrote:
On Fri, 17 Sep 2010 17:50:42 -0500, Janet Wilder wrote: On 9/17/2010 2:18 PM, peter wrote: So should we blacklist NCL? Has anyone had a really postive experience on an NCL ship recently? I am guessing that there are folks out there who think NCL is fine. They probably haven't cruised with other lines and this is what they believe cruising is. It's on my personal black list, but anyone else is free to have their own experiences. BTW, after our horrible cruise I sent a 10 page letter to the president of NCL about the complaints in my post and several others that I did not mention here. He wrote back saying that he would take some of my valid comments under consideration and offered me a "free gift" in my cabin on my next NCL cruise. What part of "I'll never cruise with you again" didn't he understand? He missed it bigtime, I would have offered you a free cruise to see if you were sincere. Frankly, I would have declined the offer. Even if the crew was better trained and the ship was clean, the dining experience would be that awful Freestyle, which in no way, shape, or form is *my* style. -- Janet Wilder Way-the-heck-south Texas Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does. |
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Cruise ship designer talks about his influence on the industry
On Sep 17, 4:49*pm, Janet Wilder wrote:
...Even if the crew was better trained and the ship was clean, the dining experience would be that awful Freestyle, which in no way, shape, or form is *my* style. Janet Wilder It'll be interesting to see what I find in March, when we're cruising on the Norwegian Spirit on a group cruise for Mardi Gras. We cruised a similar itinerary out of NOLA in January '07 on the Norwegian Sun. The ship had just come out of a 4 week drydock. At the time, I was quite favorably impressed by the general service level on the ship - it was much better than I had feared from their Freestyle product. The food in the MDR(s) was also quite good, including their famous dessert souffles each night. Other aspects of the cruise didn't suit me too well, but for the dirt cheap price, it delivered excellent value and provided a good validation of the Freestyle concept. That was our 17th cruise and our second on NCL (the first was a charter on the Majesty in 2000). Since then, we've been on six cruises: Amsterdam, QE2, QM2, Eurodam, QM2, Crystal Serenity. Needless to say, the experiences on these ships have been quite different than our NCL cheapie. That's what I expect. I expect good value for the price point, a product that matches their marketing promises and a successful execution of their product on its own terms. However reading recent accounts, I suspect that our generally positive experiences with Freestyle may be different four years later on the next cruise. Could be. Who knows? In any event, I'm sure we'll have a great time. The cruise will follow two days in the Quarter during Mardi Gras week (Fri & Sat nights) with a group of 6 friends as part of a gay group of 200. Mark |
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Cruise ship designer talks about his influence on the industry
On Fri, 17 Sep 2010 19:23:38 -0400, Tom K wrote:
Some people love NCL. Others love Carnival. And still others love RCI. Thank you, Capt. Obvious -- Ari Silverstein, C.T.A; C.T.A.S, FREE Cruise Travel Advisory Services I never have nor ever will solicit or accept a booking. |
#9
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Cruise ship designer talks about his influence on the industry
On Fri, 17 Sep 2010 17:50:42 -0500, Janet Wilder
wrote: On 9/17/2010 2:18 PM, peter wrote: So should we blacklist NCL? Has anyone had a really postive experience on an NCL ship recently? I am guessing that there are folks out there who think NCL is fine. They probably haven't cruised with other lines and this is what they believe cruising is. And they're right - that's what cruising is, one kind of cruising anyway. Not everyone wants the same thing out of a vacation. I've been on three NCL ships (Pride of Hawaii, Norwegian Sun, and Gem), and three non-NCL ships (SS Independence, Celebrity Infinity, and Celebrity Mercury). So I don't have your vast range of experience, but I do have some basis for comparison. I never had any problem with cleanliness or service on any NCL trip. NCL has problems, I think in two areas - food, which declined in quality from 2007 to 2009, and the constant din of advertising in the public spaces. What people say here leads me to think that those problems aren't exclusive to NCL. Or maybe it was just the Gem that had problems for some reason. The other problem is that many people want NCL to be something that it doesn't claim to be. It's not Crystal or Oceania or Celebrity - it's a lower priced cruise line with relatively informal service. My impression from your postings is that you have an attitude of privilege and expect to be catered to. If so, NCL is not the line for you (maybe the suites would be OK). "Freestyle" is not what you want. |
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Cruise ship designer talks about his influence on the industry
On 9/17/2010 10:26 PM, Jack Hamilton wrote:
On Fri, 17 Sep 2010 17:50:42 -0500, Janet Wilder wrote: On 9/17/2010 2:18 PM, peter wrote: So should we blacklist NCL? Has anyone had a really postive experience on an NCL ship recently? I am guessing that there are folks out there who think NCL is fine. They probably haven't cruised with other lines and this is what they believe cruising is. And they're right - that's what cruising is, one kind of cruising anyway. Not everyone wants the same thing out of a vacation. I've been on three NCL ships (Pride of Hawaii, Norwegian Sun, and Gem), and three non-NCL ships (SS Independence, Celebrity Infinity, and Celebrity Mercury). So I don't have your vast range of experience, but I do have some basis for comparison. I never had any problem with cleanliness or service on any NCL trip. NCL has problems, I think in two areas - food, which declined in quality from 2007 to 2009, and the constant din of advertising in the public spaces. What people say here leads me to think that those problems aren't exclusive to NCL. Or maybe it was just the Gem that had problems for some reason. The other problem is that many people want NCL to be something that it doesn't claim to be. It's not Crystal or Oceania or Celebrity - it's a lower priced cruise line with relatively informal service. My impression from your postings is that you have an attitude of privilege and expect to be catered to. If so, NCL is not the line for you (maybe the suites would be OK). "Freestyle" is not what you want. I certainly would not call it an "attitude of privilege"! The fact that every other cruise line in the lower price ranges still has traditional dining as an option seems to say that many people still prefer it over Freestyle. I am certain that I am not alone in enjoying the pampering I get from a well trained dining room staff. It's one of the things I love about cruising. To me, the dining experience is an integral part of my ocean cruise vacation. There are many people who just want to eat, and for them NCL would be fine. For those of us who want to "dine", it probably isn't the best line to choose. AS I previously stated, I will not consider cruising with NCL even if someone gave me a free cruise. -- Janet Wilder Way-the-heck-south Texas Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does. |
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