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Dwayne Klimenko

Age: 38
Occupation: Auto glass installer
Number of Cruises: 2
Cruise Line: NCL
Ship: Crown
Sailing Date: April 25th, 2004
Itinerary: Bermuda

This cruise was very disappointing, but I will try to be fair and point out the things that were good.

We sailed out of Philadelphia and check in went very smooth. We arrived about 45 minutes after the initial boarding time and did not have to wait in any lines at all. The check in people were very nice and made us laugh a lot with their jokes.

We had what is called a “mini-suite” and we were very happy with the room. There was a very large bay window that offered us views forward and aft. The small sitting area gave us plenty of room, and the bathroom was spacious with a shower and tub. Plenty of closets and drawers for our belongings, and our empty luggage fit nicely under the bed and out of the way. Our room was located at the back of the ship which was very convenient when wanting to visit the pool or just be outside, but the vibration when the ship turned or did any type of maneuvering was very annoying, especially when it happened while trying to sleep at night. But, that was a small issue compared to other things. The room steward was very attentive and courteous…one of the few crew members that treated us the way we expected. He called us by name from the moment we arrived at our room and continually made himself available for any needs we had.

We found most of the staff in the restaurants unenthusiastic and some were downright rude. Whenever we asked about a particular dish being offered, none could tell us anything about it. This happened over and over again in every restaurant. Whenever they did not know an answer to our question, they would simply send some double talk our way and then move on. This was very frustrating when trying to choose between unfamiliar dishes. Many of the waiters seemed to have an attitude that we were bothering them by coming in to eat. At least that is how we felt much of the time. The food was good, but not great. Only a few things served earned a comment at the table of how good it was.

Bar service was better than the restaurants, but even then, if you got a certain bartender, you would be treated as if you were bothering them. This seemed to be the case more with the men who were on the staff as opposed to the women. Even around the pool area the bar service was mediocre at best. Every once in a while someone would come around and mumble “bar service” and keep walking like they were in a trance. It took a good effort to get their attention.

The casino was another disappointment. Again, our experience with the female dealers was good, but the men were rude and displayed practically no personality whatsoever. On dealer in particular stood out as being especially nasty. He would continually anticipate bets at the blackjack table and more than once he would deal a card or pass a person over before they actually made their intentions known. When challenged on this he would fall back to the pit boss who always took his side. On two occasions he even collected chips from players who had actually won their hand. When challenged on this, he simply returned the chips with the winnings. No apologies or acknowledgement that anything had happened. Needless to say, when this man was dealing, we didn’t play.

The activities for teens were practically nonexistent. We had two 14 year old boys with us and they were not shown a good time at all. Our day at sea was spent mostly indoors because of poor weather, and they were very bored. They went to the posted activities, but they were so poorly handled that they ended up doing things on their own.

When we arrived in Bermuda, we left the ship for a couple of hours. When we returned, all power was out and toilets did not work. After a few hours power did return, but there was no hot water. Everyone we talked to at dinner had to take ice cold showers before coming to dinner.

Later that day, diesel fumes leaked into about 50 cabins, making people sick. It was also said that there were people sick from food poisoning which I really do not know if it was true or not. But, after that was said, they became very strict on having people sanitize hands all the time, and even the food in the buffet was served by the crew and could not be picked up by anyone else. This seemed to me to be a good thing in that they appeared to be taking every precaution possible to prevent the spread of any illnesses.

Many people complained to the point where they refused to stay on the ship any longer and were flown home from Bermuda.

We did not take any shore excursions. We were most interested in snorkeling and swimming in the ocean and we found that we could do both for very little cost on our own for as long as we wanted to, as opposed to paying NCL a bunch of extra money for a limited experience. Travel around Bermuda was very easy using their public transportation. An all day pass costs about $12.00 and you can go anywhere you want on the busses or ferries. We rode both and found it to be a very fun way to see the sites at our own pace. Everything offered on the shore excursions was easy to find and cheaper to do on your own.

I was very disappointed with the cruise, as was everyone else in our group. None of us would sail with NCL again. The biggest reason for this is because of the way we were treated by the staff. If morale would have been better and they would have been even a little bit less rude, it would have changed our opinion very much. But, as it stands, we are planning another cruise with a bigger group, only we will definitely be spending our money on a different cruise line.

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