Margaret Stebbins

Age: 30
Occupation: Store Manager
Number of Cruises: 5
Cruise Line: Norwegian
Ship: Norwegian Spirt
Sailing Date: September 25th, 2004
Itinerary: Alaska

I went on the cruise from Alaska from Vancouver to port in Juno, Ketchikan, and Eureka; however, we only ported in Juno and Ketchikan. We were later informed by another passenger (not by Norwegian staff) that we would not be stopping in Eureka, where we had family waiting for our arrival. Because of the change in ports, I was forced to spend an outrageous $22 to use the internet to inform our family that we would not be arriving. We did port in Juno and Ketchikan but we were very disappointed with both stops, as all of the shops were closing because we were the last ship of the season and nothing was open.

Upon our arrival my guest and I purchased the unlimited soda program for $25 a piece; however, getting a soda was next to impossible. When going to the bar to request a soda, we would receive a cup that was about 5oz., when we requested a larger cup, we were refused each time. Because of the smaller size, we went thirsty the majority of the time. On the other hand, if I was to order liquor, the sky was the limit. You could have a helmet full of six beers at any given time, and the bar tenders and waiters were more then happy to help you if you weren’t just ordering a soda. I feel like the reason we were treated poorly by the wait staff because we did not order liquor and they felt like our business was not as important as those who ordered alcoholic beverages.

Another major concern was that we could not use any of our personal items such as a hair-dryer, curling iron, or iron. We were provided a hair-dryer; however, our clothes needed to be ironed but there was no iron we could use on board unless we wanted to pay at least $5 per item. We were not informed of this prior to our trip; otherwise we would have made other arrangements for our garments, or taken items that did not need to be pressed.

The food was also a major issue on board; we felt that the buffets were terrible! When we arrived at the dinning hall for dinner, all of the portions were children size, so we would leave hungry; therefore, leaving us no option but to pay to go to an optional restaurant on board. Part of the major advertising for your cruises is to bring your appetite because of the large buffets available with excellent food. This is a complete fabrication, because the items on board were not extraordinary, nor were we even close to being satisfied after leaving. I’m sure that was the intent of having such a terrible buffet, is to get passengers to go to those other restaurants and spend money. Unfortunately, that is the only place where we found that the food was even half-way enjoyable. There was no midnight buffets offered, not even on the last evening, only finger food in the casino, and a small café with little to offer.

We were horribly disappointed and feel the cruise was misrepresented and did not deliver all that was promised to us.

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