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Tammy Hardesty

Age: 40
Occupation: Medical Records Clerk
Number of Cruises: 2
Cruise Line: NCL
Ship: Sea
Sailing Date: February 7th, 2004
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

My husband and I enjoyed this cruise. This is the second cruise that we have taken with NCL. Last year we took the NCL Island hopping cruise on the Norwegian Star. This ship was a lot smaller and older than the Star.

We were able to take advantage of the Latitudes program and were able to check in quite quickly. We had booked one of the ocean view staterooms on Deck 8. We had room 8206. We had a view between 2 lifeboats. We had concierge service which we highly recommend. Carlos was our concierge. He got us on early tenders and reserved dinner tables for us. We also found treats from him and the other staff on deck 8 every day after we came back from excursions.

The food was great. We enjoyed eating in the Four Seasons restaurant. It was quieter than the 7 Seas. But the food was similar in both places. We found out that they do serve lunch in the Seven Seas restaurant on Embarkation day. It is on the 4th deck to the right. We recommend going there instead of the Big Apple Cafe. We also took advantage of the 24 hour room service. The selections are limited but some items were very good. Try the chocolate mousse. Breakfast on the early excursion days is a must instead of trying to beat the rush in the Big Apple. Breakfast at 7 seas is very slow. It took us an hour and a half one morning. (this is a good one for at sea days)

We booked 3 excursions through NCL. We found that most of the ports had the same type of excursions available without booking through the cruise line and were cheaper.

They gave all the rooms a card that had a small diamond like stone that said you could be a winner of a $1,000 dollar diamond from Diamonds International. There are at least 1 or 2 winners on every cruise. I won! So make sure you take your card and have them look to see if you are a winner. I didn't even have to buy anything to win either.

We enjoyed the shows, especially George Solomon. Don't miss it if he is playing. The theatre is small so go at least 15 - 20 minutes early to get a good seat. The game shows are fun to play also. They did Wheel of fortune and Liars Club and some others. The staff is great.

We ate at different tables every night but we like to meet new people. You can request to sit at the same table every night if you want to. There were two restaurants that had a 12.50 cover charge per person. They have certain times when it is happy hour and you only pay half. That is when we went to Le Bistro. It was intimate and good food.

The hair blower in our bathroom had very little power. I suggest you bring one if your hair takes very long to dry. Also bring a power strip because there is only one 110v plug open. If you are celebrating a special occasion let your travel agent know or let NCL know if you book directly. They will give you a little card to take to one of the restaraunts and you can have a special dessert.

The crew members were all quite friendly except the reception desk. They really didn't want to be bothered.

We flew into Hobby Airport and ended up sharing a van with 2 other couples to the port. It cost us 43.00. Each couple paid 20.00 (a good tip for the driver). The taxi from the port back to Hobby was 43.00 but we shared with another couple. This was definately quicker than taking their shuttle at the same price.

We did the express check out on Debarkation. It was worth it for us to take our own luggage off. Try not to make your flight reservation too early for the debarkation day. We were delayed by about an hour and a half which made some people miss their flights out. You have to expect some delay.

We recommend this cruise for the price. If you have any questions feel free to email us.

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