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Norwegian Cruise Line

MS Norwegian Sea

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: Julie Zimmer
# previous cruises: 8
Date of Trip: March 15, 2002
Itinerary: Bahamas

My family and I sailed on the Norwegian Sea last March on her 3-night Bahamas itinerary. Before I get to all the details, let me say right off that we had a wonderful cruise. We are a family of four, two adults, 1 daughter age 7 years and another daughter age 8 months. We are CRUISE ENTHUSIASTS and this was my 8th cruise, husband's 5th and kids' first! we greatly enjoyed our 3 night getaway. I would certainly recommend the NCL 3-night Bahamas cruise aboard the Norwegian Sea.

My overall impression of the Norwegian Sea is that she is beautiful and well-cared for. I love the line she cuts in the water and the view of her from the private island. We enjoyed walking the decks at night and found that if you go as far forward as possible on the Promenade deck, you can get out of range of the lights. This allows your eyes to adjust to the darkness so that you can look out to where the sea meets the sky and enjoy the stars (one of my favorite cruise pastimes). The Norwegian Sea is not glitzy, flashy, neon infused floating hotel, and that suits me just fine! I thought the public areas were well designed and appealing.

The Buffet in the Big Apple Cafi was serving food as early as 12:10. I found it to be quite nice, with plenty of main dishes, salads, and desserts. The fresh fruit and baked goods (cookies and dessert breads) were especially good. We were disappointed when we discovered the Indian food station just around the corner from the main buffet, as we were already too full to try any of the offerings there. The Big Apple Cafi is enclosed by a glass or glass-like window-wall and it got pretty warm there, so we didn't dawdle.

We had a very good experience with Freestyle Dining. We ate only in the two main dining rooms, the Seven Seas twice for dinner, once for lunch, and twice for breakfast, and the Four Seasons once for dinner. We preferred the Seven Seas as the chances of being seated near a window are greater than in the Four Seasons. We dined early each night and were seated immediately upon entering. The food was perfectly suited to my personal taste. I ordered an excellent scallop dish the first night, melt in your mouth Mediterranean chicken the second night, and duck the third night. I love how Norwegian has such varied menus with such flavorful dishes. I do NOT prefer bland food and am not into steak or other plain meat dishes as many people are. NCL does a great job with its sauces, spices, and flavor combinations. There was not anything brought to me over the three days that I did not wholeheartedly enjoy. My husband did not rave, but had no complaints, and he is what I consider a very picky eater. Our 7 year old loved the kid's menus, different each meal and with activities and puzzles on each one. The baby had a great time dropping spoons on the floor and eating a little bit of everything, including the garnishes.

Service in the dining rooms was friendly and efficient. Our dinners usually took about 45 minutes to complete. The night we dined in the Four Seasons, our main dishes were delayed for some reason. Our waiter was very apologetic and kept checking on them for us. We didn't mind all that much, as we were pleasantly plied with bread, soup, salad, and appetizers. Our daughter was late to Kid's crew, however, as this meal took nearly 1 hour, 45 minutes. We made use of our comment cards after every dining room meal, in order to commend our service personnel and to give valuable feedback as to how Freestyle was working for us in the absence of tips directly given from passenger to server. We think it works wonderfully.

NCL's new Freestyle concept worked quite well for us, although we were on a ship originally designed for traditional cruising, without all the extra restaurants, etc. of the newer vessels. We did not try "Le Bistro", the alternative restaurant, as we were perfectly happy in the main dining rooms.

As stated above, Freestyle dining worked well for us. It was INCREDIBLY convenient to be able to drift in for breakfast, lunch, or dinner whenever the kids got hungry. We never had to wait for a table, although we usually ate early at dinner. We did not want to inconvenience later diners, who may not have appreciated the presence of young children as much as earlier diners seemed to.

Cabin: 8037 (Cat D, obstructed view outside stateroom) was our home base for the 3-night Bahamas Cruise. It was clean, comfortable, and had plenty of creative storage areas. The bathroom was a perfectly adequate as well. As to the beds, I must tell you that I slept so well on the Sea. I thought the mattress was more comfortable than our nice, loftily-priced one at home! I was pleasantly surprised, because vacation beds are usually something to be tolerated for me. I settled in the first night and was surprised at how comfortable I was. Our daughter used the Pullman upper, which was a great treat for her. It is quite large and sturdy and the cabin steward set it up each evening so that it was ready for her at bedtime.

We agree with the experts that NCL offers some of the best entertainment afloat. We particularly enjoyed a rather hyper/slightly risqui comedian/magician in the Cabaret lounge. His act included a rather large skunk (need I warn you not to sit in the front seats?). Overall quite a lot going on at all times and we were never bored.

Our 7 year old daughter LOVED kid's crew. She had a great time and couldn't wait to get there each night. We also purchased the Kids Crew backpack. It included a souvenir drink cup with unlimited refills throughout the cruise, shirt, baseball hat, luggage tag, as well as the backpack itself. It also had a few added bonus items not advertised (sunglasses, shoelaces). She loved being a part of Kids Crew and her special Kids Crew stuff. Photos were $9.00 for the 5x7 size. The 8x10 portraits were $20 each, and will the purchase of 2, you got the third free. There were also some other offers for packages, etc. I found the prices to be reasonable considering the cost of professional portraits/photographs on land. Also, I have enjoyed my cruise portraits much longer than any other souvenir, some for 16 years now. At $6 apiece (at that time) it has cost me only 40 cents per year to enjoy my favorite cruise picture.

Gift shops were pleasant, offering lots of merchandise in many price ranges. We were in the budget category this trip, and were pleased to find good quality T-shirts in sizes from XS to XXL for $10 each (much cheaper than similar quality at Disney for $28 each). We also got a $10 watch or two and the 7 year old had a great selection of items also under $10 including NCL logo gear and Beanie Babies.

Our port stops were Nassau and Great Stirrup Cay. I thoroughly enjoy the Bahamas every time I go. Nassau has many things to do and very nice people (once you get past the initial "portside crowd" hawking taxi rides, hair braiding, etc.) Take some time to chat with the locals, distinguish yourself from the "ugly American" types who look down their noses and complain about how inferior this place and these people are. You will find that Bahamians to be quite friendly. This trip we took a city bus (van-like bus) from the straw market to the base of the Paradise Island Bridge, then walked over to Paradise Island. In the past, we took the walking tour, carriage ride, local Drumbeat Club tour, etc. Nassau has lots to do, and with the ship docked close by, you can always take one load of purchases to the ship, or stop for lunch, and head back out for more.

The day at Great Stirrup Cay was my favorite of all. White sand, the Caribbean Sea, snorkeling, cool drinks, beach games, a fantastic barbecue buffet, and Island music in the background to make it all perfect.

Fellow passengers were fun loving, nice, friendly, easygoing people of all ages. As this was a weekend cruise, there were also a few young folks quite "immersed" in the bon voyage party, but overall quite pleasant. I would gladly entertain most everyone we met and spoke to.