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NCL
Norwegian Crown Cruise Review
South America

Marcy
Age: 62
Occupation: retired
Number of Cruises: 13
Sailing Date: December 17th, 2005

For our anniversary and Christmas we signed up to travel with Norwegian Crown to South America. Although we are experienced cruisers this was our first cruise with NCL. We were on Riviera Deck, room 9062.

Imagine our dismay when we saw the faded bedspread, stained decorator pillows on the bed, the torn, non-functioning window shade, drapes that weren't wide enough to cover the 3 bay windows and filthy (in/out), cracked window glass that had green stuff growing on the rubber parts. Upon further investigation we also noticed the nightstand's drawer front would come apart in our hand almost every time we pulled it out, the closet light never shut off and two of the drawers would constantly open on their own just from the movement of the ship.

Three separate times the elevator wouldn't 'go' after pushing the appropriate buttons and when our phone stopped working temporarily we wondered what next? One time during this cruise there was a problem with all toilets not flushing for at least a 2-1/2 hour time period that we knew of. We wondered if the toilet problems were caused by the hoardes of ill-mannered, unruly, undisciplined and unsupervised pre-teens that were on Christmas holiday aboard this cruise.

Considering the condition of our room we were fortunate to have a room steward who did his best to keep our dated, unmentioned room livable. He put a duvet cover on the bed and took the spread away, the pillows were placed behind a chair and the 2 side bay windows were covered with the so called drapes so we only had to look thru the yuk of the center window.

There was complimentary champagne on ice and a fruit bowl in our room--a nice touch. When we took the champagne to the dining room to upgrade towards a favorite brand it wasn't even listed on their wine list. Our server finally got an amount from someone in charge and $22. was deducted from the good champagne that is on their list.

I think concierge Tracy is a figment of someone's imagination. On our desk there was a letter from Tracy welcoming us aboard and if we need anything call this number. We called twice and got her voicemail, but no return call..ever!

Their dress code and lack of enforcement leave alot to be desired. The brochure says 'resort casual' for dinner--why dress up for your vacation? It's your vacation--dress how you want. Ha....not so! Their idea of 'resort casual' is no flip-flops, denim, tank tips, t-shirts or shorts; rather slacks and collared shirts for men and dresses, slacks/skirts and blouses for ladies. Sounds like 'business casual' to me. Okay, you accept their code and go with the flow, but many times we witnessed denim jeans and shorts being allowed into the dining room at dinner time. I was told by the hostess that jeans were acceptable except on formal nights. I must have missed reading that rule. On the plus side the servers made our mealtimes pleasant, the food was decent and hand sanitizer was always available.

The Jean Ann Ryan Co. shows had great dancing, but there was a lack of stage sets or special effects; looked more like a dress rehearsal. The band members wore unmatched outfits which didn't look very professional, but sounded fine.

After reading about 'our room' from wsk3, sailing 8-15-04 on cruise-reviews.com we now know the conditions in room 9062 have been on-going for at least 16 months and the powers that be from NCL have chosen not to address the problems. For anyone sailing on NCL's Crown in the future perhaps you should reconsider and spend your hard earned money on another ship/cruiseline that will care about your safety and comfort.

We know we will never sail aboard the Crown again. It's an older ship that needs to be repaired, remodeled or retired.

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