Introduction - We arrived in Miami the day before the cruise and stayed at the new Royal Palms, a Crowne Plaza resort on South Beach. The hotel is nicely decorated in the traditional art deco of South Beach. It is located next to the Loews on the beach near 16th street. They charge a $10 per room resort fee which includes, boogie boards, beach chairs, kayaks, windsurfers and floats. The chairs at the beach were padded with a nice 3 inch cushion and the staff offered cool towels every hour. The location was great. After we checked in we walked to Lincoln Road an area closed off to cars that has dozens of restaurants, shops and art galleries. We had a great Cuban lunch and spent the rest of the day at the beach. At night we walked down Ocean Drive to see the sights of South Beach and decided to eat at our favorite Chinese restaurant Wok and Roll. After dinner we toured a few hotels and found nothing noteworthy and decided that if Loews was not available or too expensive the Royal Palms was a great alternative.
Check In
We went to the pier around 12:30 pm on Saturday. Since we were traveling with the NCL seminar at sea we at no idea what our cabin number was. The porter at the pier handed us a list and we looked up our cabin. Delighted that we had an outside cabin we proceeded to the terminal to check in. All went pretty smoothly but the lines were long and it took about 1 œ hours till we were on the ship. The last line held us up about 20 minutes, this was the line to have your souvenir photo taken. Had we realized what we were waiting for we probably would have bypassed the line.
Cabin
We were in cabin 4020 a category GG on deck 4. There was plenty of storage in our cabin and it was always very clean. Our cabin steward was not the best we have experienced. He never introduced himself and could not seem to keep our ice bucket full. We usually ordered ice from room service and left it in the refrigerator.
Restaurants
Las Ramblas – One of our favorite restaurants. They offer hot and cold appetizers. The menu changed every night. This was a great place to go for a snack before dinner.
East Meets West – This restaurant has a $10 per person cover charge but was well worth it. Especially if you go before 6:30 pm when it’s half price. The meal was very good. I had dim sum for appetizer and a wonderful rack of lamb for my entrée. The desert was equally interesting. They had a chocolate tempura cake. They coat a piece of chocolate cake in a batter the deep fry it briefly. It is served warm with a caramel sauce. It sounded unusual but it was actually very good.
Le Bistro - This restaurant also has a $10 per person cover charge. The food was excellent. I had my favorite escargot and Dave and I both had Filet Mignon for entrees. Mine was with a béarnaise sauce and Dave had Foie gras. Both were very good and cooked to our liking. For desert we had the chocolate fondue. If you’re a chocolate fan don’t miss it!!
Il Adagio – This restaurant also has a $10 per person cover charge. We had the Caesar salad which was prepared at our table by our waitress. For dinner I could not decide between the shrimp scampi or the trio of pasta. Then I remembered I’m on a cruise. So I ordered both. The shrimp were huge and cooked very well. The pasta was a nice complement, I especially like the risotto.
Seven Seas & Four Seasons – These are the main dining rooms and they have nearly identical menus (side dishes & appetizers vary). One of the nicest things about NCL’s Freestyle dining is the fact that you can dine with others or by yourselves. Dave and I occasionally asked to dine with others just to get their opinions on the cruise but we loved dining alone. Most of our dining companions were very cordial and said they enjoyed their cruise. We never had to wait more than 5 minutes for a table, even when we went to dinner at 8:30 pm (prime time). The food was good but not as good as the specialty restaurants. The service seemed a bit more relaxed and not quite as attentive. We ate breakfast in one of the main dining rooms nearly every day. There was nice selection and the service was quick enough to get us out in 30 minutes to catch our excursions. My only complaint was on formal night. Dave and I chose to get dressed up. Dave had his tux and I had a nice outfit on. We were seated with another couple and a mother and daughter. The mother and daughter were dressed formally but the other couple was not. This did not bother us but the couple clearly seemed uncomfortable. Formal dress was clearly the minority. In my opinion it would have been better if they sat people according to their dress or made one of the dining rooms a formal only option.
Garden Café and Great Outdoor Café - These are the buffet restaurants and the only ones that disappointed us. The breakfast was very limited and they had the worst scrambled eggs I have ever had. We ate there once for breakfast and then only in the dining rooms after that. Lunch and dinner was a bit better but when you have 9 restaurants to choose from a buffet is not my first choice. Also, they only served water, coffee and iced tea during lunch and dinner and they added orange juice & milk for breakfast. Two of the iced tea machines at the buffet were broken for the duration of the cruise. We only ate here if there was nothing else open and we wanted a snack.
Pacific Heights – Regretfully we only ate here on the last night of the cruise. This was one of the best restaurants and there was no cover charge. The menu was developed by Cooking Light magazine. I had a made to order strombolli that was delicious and Dave had a great grilled vegetable lasagna. The desert was delicious. It was a ring of meringue filled with ice cream and topped with chopped fresh fruit and toasted coconut.
Ginza – Sushi and Teppanyaki is served at this restaurant. Since we have a great sushi bar close to our home we decided not to eat here but spoke with many who did. They all said it was great and even though it is priced a la carte they felt it was still a good value. If you want Teppanyaki, then you need to make your reservation early. There are only a few seats and it fills up fast.
Sports Bar - Although not a restaurant, they did have nachos, chicken wings and pizza available every evening.
Java Café - Again not a restaurant, but worth noting. The cappuccino is free with meals in the restaurants but it was so good I had to have it again after dinner. It was about $2.00 a cup. The café offers many specialty coffees and wonderful pastries. A must for coffee drinkers!
The Ship
The ship was nicely decorated, lots of rich woods and bright areas. The layout was different from other ships we had been on. In order to have so many dining rooms it seems that they had to fit them in odd places. You couldn’t walk straight across deck 5 to get to the Seven Seas restaurant you had to go up or down one to get there. Not a big deal just unusual. The casino was very smoky but I was impressed that they had nickel slots and to get to other rooms on that deck you did not have to go through the casino they had a hallway around. The pools were very nice and never too crowded. The whirlpools however were always full. They had an adorable kids pool with little slide and a whirlpool in the center for the adults. They also had pint size kids lounge chairs and there was easy access to restrooms. We never had trouble finding a deck chair or towel. Our favorite lounge was the Observation lounge in the front of the ship. Great views from inside and out.
Entertainment
In general we were disappointed with the entertainment. We have previously cruised on Royal Caribbean and felt that their entertainment was much better than NCL. That said we did enjoy the headliner Jane L. Powell. She was very enthusiastic and got the audience participating. The juggler was hysterical. We went to the early show and they had kids there from the children’s program. They were about 3-5 years old and were heckling the juggler. He took it in stride and made it part of his act. At one point the kids were pretty loud and he asked if they wanted to have their pictures on milk cartons. Every one of them raised their hand and the audience erupted with laughter. The comedian Tom Brisco was also very funny. He did 2 shows one for the under 18 crowd and 1 that was pg 18. We thought his under 18 show was actually better than the one geared to adults.
The best entertainment in our opinion were the shows put on by the cruise staff. They had “Who wants to be a bazillionaire”, “Weakest link” and “If I were not upon the sea”. The cruise director Rich was wonderful and his assistant Bingo Bruce will also make a great cruise director. They were very funny and played well off of each other. All of their shows were packed and if their shows had been in the main theater they could have filled them as well.
Ports
Grand Cayman – We were so happy to be in Grand Cayman. Our last cruise could not tender because the weather was so rough. Tender tickets are required to get off the ship early. We got them at 8:50 am and we were on the pier by 9:10 am. We decided to spend the day snorkeling and went to Eden Rock just to the right of the pier. The snorkeling was fantastic. We saw more variety of fish than we could count and we even saw barracudas and a sting ray. We rented beach chairs for $4 each and they had a nice restaurant and bathroom facilities. After snorkeling we walked around town and had lunch in a little shack. We felt very safe and really enjoyed the laid back nature of the shop keepers.
Roatan Bay Island - This was originally a tender port but NCL just completed a dock and if there is no wind they will dock the ship. It was an amazing site to see how gently they can maneuver such a large ship up to a pier. This is not a very well developed island so we decided to take an NCL excursion. We went to Tabayana Beach. After an interesting bus ride we arrived to paradise. The beach is gorgeous. Pristine white sand dotted with palm trees. There were plenty of lounge chairs for everyone. You could rent snorkel gear, kayaks and floats. The bathrooms were clean. They served a nice lunch and had live music. The snorkeling was the best we have ever had. The water was crystal clear and the coral was beautiful. It is a nice beach entry so even very young kids were snorkeling. We took a walk on the beach and saw NCL passengers at a beach a few 100 yards away. They were complaining about sand fleas. We had no problem with sand flees and the only thing we can think of is that they must fumigate before passengers arrive. There is only 1 shop NCL recommends in Roatan and you would have to walk on a very narrow busy road or take a taxi so we decided not to shop in town. There was a crafts market across from the port but it did not look appealing either. If you are determined to get a souvenir from Roatan the ships store did offer some.
Belize - Great port!! Even though it is a long tender ride to the pier. There were quite a few excursions to choose from. We decided to visit the Mayan ruins at Xunantunich. It was a 1 œ hour bus ride from the pier. Our guide Furmon was wonderful. The ride went by very quickly as he spoke of the ruins, Belize and his family. Furmon gave a wonderful tour of the ruins and we were able to climb to the top of the largest temple. What a great view. I would recommend this tour for anyone who likes history and adventure. To get to the site, you have to take a hand cranked ferry to cross the small river. After our tour of the ruins, we stopped at a restaurant for lunch and had a traditional Belizean meal of soft tacos and beans. The ride back seemed longer since we were all tired. The passengers voted not to stop at the shopping area. There was a nice shopping area at the pier. We got some great t-shirts and a clay Mayan Sun. I had forgotten my traveler’s checks and credit cards on the ship. We had about $30 in cash left after we bought the kids gifts. I asked how much the sun was and the shopkeeper said $60. I told him I only had $30 left and he said that would be fine!! Dave and I wonder how much less we could have gotten it for if we had bought some more gifts for the kids and has less money left.
Cozumel - We had previously been to Chakanaab park and wanted to try something different. At the suggestion of our taxi driver we went to The Reefs an all-inclusive and got a day pass for $25 each. A bit expensive but we had never been to an all-inclusive before and we wanted to give it a try. They had a very nice beach but there was no snorkeling off the beach as we were led to believe. The food in the restaurant was pretty good. We spent some time at the swim up bar and I quickly realized the value of an “all-inclusive”. They had games for the kids and lots of kayaks, windsurfers, floats, etc. We decided to take a taxi back early to do some serious shopping in Cozumel. Always a unique experience. We ended up at the ship recommended stores. The prices were better and there was no haggling. At one Los Cinco Soles if you paid cash and showed your boarding pass they gave you a 25% discount on silver. This was a much more pleasant experience.
Buffets
Not normally a category I cover in my reviews. I did not make it to the Caribbean Buffet, midnight is just too late to eat!! I did have to make an exception for the Chocoholic Buffet. What a sight, tables upon tables of chocolate desserts. I could not eat that night but they had paper plates that I loaded up with goodies I stored in our cabin’s refrigerator. We had a wonderful day at sea. We watched movies and pigged out on some of the most incredible chocolate deserts I have ever had.
Debarkation
What an incredibly pleasant experience. NCL allows you to stay in your cabin until 10:30 am. You can choose when you want to leave the ship. They still have the color coded tags for your luggage but you can leave at your leisure. One other nice touch, they had the same luggage system as in an airport and they had 3 rooms each for specific colored luggage tags. Once we left the ship we were in a taxi and on our way to the airport in about 15 minutes.
Seminar at Sea
Our DSM Zach was wonderful. We first met him at a cocktail party for agents on the first night of the cruise. They had an open bar and served great hot and cold Hor'devours. I would absolutely recommend this type of party to my groups, they will love it. At the party Zach explained the program. We had one 3 hour class the first day at sea. He was wonderful, very engaging. Dave attended the class with me and we both came away with a much better understanding of the NCL product. Zach also offered one on one meetings with all of the agents. Since I had just met with Michael our DSM I passed on the offer but I heard other agents were very happy with their meetings.
Conclusion
We thought NCL has done a wonderful job with Freestyle cruising and wish more cruise lines would follow their lead. It was the most relaxing vacation we have ever had. The food could have been a bit better and the entertainment was lacking but for the price I would recommend this to my clients. Specifically the ones that do not want the usual regimentation of a cruise. This a great introduction to cruising or a new way to cruise for seasoned cruisers.