S/O Cruises: Norwegian

Madam A

Anyone been on one of their ships? Ooods, I think?? I have heard really good things about them and one of our top options is with them. I noticed in reading some reviews that some of their "specialty" restaurants have $10-20 "cover charges". Does anyone have any experience with this? Is this ridiculous since you're already paying for food included in your total trip cost? FWIW, The same reviews that mentioned the charge also mentioned it was worth it because the restaurants were awesome.

Hmm.

happywithhim715

We did a NCL for our HM... Pride of America to Hawaii. It was a great ship, friendly staff... clean... nice ship. We choose to eat at two fo the "specialiy" restaurants.. We ate at Little Italy, $10 a person and East Meets West (Asian) for $15 a person. The food was amazing.. worth the money. The nice thing about the speciality restaurants is its an option. You do not have to do it and there are plenty of other places to eat. We liked NCL as there are no set times for meals.... No fancy dinner... It was great!!

Madam A

Awesome! Thanks, I really appreciate the insight!!

LadyJ10

Thanks, Happy! And A for asking!

We still have our heart set on a cruise, but are going to wait to book anything until after all of the house stuff is settled/paid.

amy727

I went on a cruise to the Mediterranean almost 4 years ago with them.  I loved it and had a great time.  We went to one or two restaurants where you paid the extra $10.  It was just something different to do. 

I don't remember the ship name. 

ooodsie

I love NCL.   When we went we paid extra one night for one of the steakhouses, however we all left feeling that we got just as good service/food in the main (free) restaurants, so I don't think its necessary.  The only nice thing about those restaurants is that they are smaller, so they feel a bit more cozier than the big free ones.  They also have less children eating.

happywithhim715

Yeah.. its nice to know you CAN eat somewhere else but DONT have too!! Good Luck Their new ship, the Epic seems AMAZING... and I believe they are still offering the deal of book a mini suite for the price of a balcony too

jackiebean26

i went on NCL to hawaii.  it was fantastic.

Madam A

Thanks girls! We're looking at a 7-day to the Bahamas out of NYC...

ooodsie

I personally don't like the trips out of NYC/Baltmore because you end up with a lot of days at Sea and not as many days in the actual Bahamas.  If you can do 7 days and fly to Miami to start, you'll get way more island-time out of it.  

miguelhilary2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_pennsylvania-philadelphia_cruises-norwegian?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:105Discussion:eb190ba5-aee9-4c40-ad76-c1b93c9f6229Post:bfeaf8e9-1760-47ef-abd0-bd4ce98118c0">Re: S/O Cruises: Norwegian</a>:
[QUOTE]I personally don't like the trips out of NYC/Baltmore because you end up with a lot of days at Sea and not as many days in the actual Bahamas.  If you can do 7 days and fly to Miami to start, you'll get way more island-time out of it.  
Posted by ooodsie[/QUOTE]

I've never been on a cruise, but always tell people this same thing.  If you can find a cheapo flight to FL, it would be worth it. 

Madam A

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_pennsylvania-philadelphia_cruises-norwegian?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:105Discussion:eb190ba5-aee9-4c40-ad76-c1b93c9f6229Post:f0a68801-7bbc-4658-9aa5-6f0a8b22c13a">Re: S/O Cruises: Norwegian</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: S/O Cruises: Norwegian : I've never been on a cruise, but always tell people this same thing.  If you can find a cheapo flight to FL, it would be worth it. 
Posted by miguelhilary2010[/QUOTE]

We were looking at doing this originally... but it seemed like we would be getting another 3 days cruising for the price of round-trip flights...So we thought we would rather have time on the ship for that cost. But maybe we're wrong..??

miguelhilary2010

If you don't mind the ride, check out AC Airport.  Their Spirit flights to FL are cheap.

ooodsie

True that the cost of the flight weighs out the longer cruise time from NYC.   I guess it depends what you're most interested in - being on a beach/island and exploring more, or being on the boat and enjoying the days at sea.  I tend to get claustrophobic/antsy so being stuck on the boat for 48 hours would not go well for me  

The boat is great and there is plenty to do during days at sea... but I don't know if I'd want 2 full days at sea back to back.  I enjoy the random stopping, getting off, exploring and laying out on an island and then heading back and doing it all over again the next day.

Madam A

All very good points! Thanks girls!