NCL Cruise Line

One of the oldest of the modern cruise lines that had not been in the ocean liner business, Norwegian Cruise Line was established - originally under the name Norwegian Caribbean Line - by Norwegian entrepreneur Knut Kloster and Ted Arrison, who later started his own company, Carnival Cruise Lines, in 1966 with a single ship, the Sunward. Kloster added four new ships until 1971, and in 1979 his decision to purchase the former pride of the Grande Nation, the S/S France, made the public sit up and take world-wide notice of his company. The former liner was skillfully converted into cruising's very first superliner, S/S Norway, by Germany's Lloyd Werft shipyard in 1980. She became the prototype of the huge cruise ships of the 1990s and the new millennium. In 1990 S/S Norway was further enlarged by adding two completely new decks. One of the last grand liners of yesteryear to sail the seven seas, the Norway continues to offer traditional cruises in a unique environment. Norwegian Cruise Line accepted delivery of two brand-new ships in 2001, the 80,000 gt Norwegian Sun and the 91,000 gt Norwegian Star. A second 91,000 gt vessel, Norwegian Dawn, will follow in 2002. NCL's innovative "Freestyle Cruising" concept has impressed passengers world-wide, and has already found imitators among competing cruise lines.

• Chuck Brinkley  Norwegian Star  Inside Passage

  We sailed from Seattle 23 May 2009-stayed at SeaTac La Quinta-superb location & free breakfast bar, free shuttle driver helpful & pointed us to Seattle Shuttle to Pier for boarding (14 minutes @... read more

  1 users found this review helpful.
• Chuck Brinkley  Norwegian Star  Inside Passage

  We sailed from Seattle 23 May 2009-stayed at SeaTac La Quinta-superb location & free breakfast bar, free shuttle driver helpful & pointed us to Seattle Shuttle to Pier for boarding (14 minutes @... read more

  2 users found this review helpful.
• Steve Katz  Pride of America  Hawaii

  We were skeptical upon reading some of the reviews. We usually stay at Four Seasons Resorts, but since we did an entire family cruise(13 of us), we decided to try this one. Boy, did we have a... read more

  10 users found this review helpful.
• Mike Breedlove  Norwegian Jewel  Baltic Capitals

  I've got to tell you, I was very impressed with NCL, both before we cruised and during. The Baltic 12 day cruise was awesome with the highlight being the 2 days in St Petersburg Russia,... read more

  18 users found this review helpful.
• Michael White  Norwegian Jewel  Baltic

  Good - staff friendly, competent, well trained. Cabin well looked after. Ship immaculate. Bad - Boarding process long, convoluted colour coded access to ship, cooped up for 1.5 hours in hot stuffy... read more

  2 users found this review helpful.
• TheStoneCrusher  Norwegian Dawn  Bermuda

  One of the big sells of NCL is 'FreeStyle Cruising.' What is it? NCL describes it as the freedom to eat in any of the restaurants at whatever time you select (during proper hours). Well NCL has... read more

  2 users found this review helpful.
• Heather  Norwegian Star  Alaska

  The overall cruise experience was disappointing. We made the best of it focusing on the beauty of the area and the excursions. On board felt like one big hard sell to buy their jewelry...... read more

  14 users found this review helpful.
• Cecelia Garrett  Pride of America  Hawaii

  After a nine hour flight from Houston, it took over 90 min to check-in, due to computer problems. It was not a good start for my first, and probably only, cruise - the one I had always wanted. The... read more

  25 users found this review helpful.
• James  Norwegian Jewel  Trans-Atlantic

  This was a fantastic cruise! It was our third trans-Atlantic, with 2 of them on the Norwegian Jewel. With 6 days at sea, we had planty of time to explore the ship again, and to relax. The waitstaff... read more

  6 users found this review helpful.
• Romeo  Norwegian Jewel  Transatlantic-Miami-Azores-Vigo-Dover

  This is our 3rd time on the NCL Jewel in less than a year. We were first on a Baltic Cruise in July 2008. We then were surprised how the service was onboard. We then took a transatlantic from Dover... read more

  9 users found this review helpful.
• Yvette Hayes  Norwegian Dawn  Nowhere

  We just returned from our first cruise experience. The only thing the Norwegian Dawn got right was the "NO" in cruise to "NOWHERE." We traveled with a group of 14. The others were seasoned... read more

  6 users found this review helpful.
• Dave  Pride of America  Hawaii

  Just got back and after reading all the negative reviews before I went and I have to say one thing-DO NOT PAY ANY ATTENTION TO THE NEGATIVE REVIEWS!!. The staff was great - very polite and... read more

  34 users found this review helpful.
• John  Norwegian Majesty  Bahamas

  Very disappointed with this cruise. I thought NCL would have gone the extra mile to make sure everyone had a good time. The pools were cold, even though NCL told me they were heated. The hot tubs... read more

  6 users found this review helpful.
• Sheila Kelley  Gem  Bahamas

  My daugter and I went on this cruise to relax. I had been on 4 other Norwegian Cruises and always had a great time. This cruise was somewhat disappointing. The service was not good on the ship.... read more

  5 users found this review helpful.
• Steve G  Norwegian Sky  Bahamas

  We sailed on the SKY April 20-24 2009. I'll start with the summary, so the "bottom line" folks can read it and run. My wife and I were first time cruisers, we're both in our early 50's. We both... read more

  127 users found this review helpful.
• Ric Engram  Norwegian Star  Mexican Riviera

  We were on this cruise with 23 family members to celebrate my parents 50th anniversary. We had a great time, and everyone on the ship was extremely helpful. We had been on the Star last year in... read more

  9 users found this review helpful.
• Bill  Pride of America  Hawaii

  Contrary to some reviews we found the staff to be very friendly and courteous. We saw no rudeness whatsoever directed at customers although we did hear some grumbling about supervisors. The... read more

  33 users found this review helpful.
• Janet Lemma  Norwegian Jewel  Miami Southern Caribbean

  We researched NCL and decided to give it a try. Since we spend many hours on our balcony, it was imperative to have a balcony that's covered (to avoid rain) and private. In deciding to spend A LOT... read more

  11 users found this review helpful.
• g  Pearl  Western Caribbean

  This cruise company is great if you think eating at your neigbourhood chillis is a gourmet experience. Did not meet simple expectations of our group. The shore excursions were the redeeming part of... read more

  3 users found this review helpful.
• James Miller  Pride of America  Hawaii

  I had read all the reviews of this ship prior to making our plans and was kinda of leary but I was pleasantly surprised. This being our 4th cruise but first with NCL overall they did a good job.... read more

  58 users found this review helpful.
• David Maudlin  Norwegian Dawn  Eastern Caribbean

  If you do not mind being subjected to average service and average food, this ship might be for you. This was our 4th Norwegian Freestyle cruise. The other 3 were wonderful. Unfortunately this... read more

  15 users found this review helpful.
• Baron Sherrill  Norwegian Star  LA Mexico run

  This was our second trip with NCL and I will go over the + points first. I thought the food was great. We hit all the main dining areas and the pay resturants as well. The French resturant and the... read more

  13 users found this review helpful.
• Baron Sherrill  Norwegian Star  LA Mexico run

  This was our second trip with NCL and I will go over the + points first. I thought the food was great. We hit all the main dining areas and the pay resturants as well. The French resturant and the... read more

  3 users found this review helpful.
• Silva  Norwegian Star  Mexican Riviera

  This ship's layout was not very open. Around the ship, there are high plexi glass walls that don't let you look over the ship. Inside the ship, there are no restaruants or sitting areas to view... read more

  5 users found this review helpful.
• Ellen  Norwegian Star  Mexican Riviera

  We went to Mexico with extended family that aged from 8 to 83. We have all cruised before and went on this cruise to relax - and we had plenty of time to do that! There were activities going... read more

  6 users found this review helpful.