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Norwegian adds an automatic service charge of $20 to $25 per person, per day, to final bills, depending on your cabin category. Depending on the service you receive, you can adjust the amount up or down at the guest services desk before disembarking. In addition, a 20% gratuity is added to the bill at bars, extra-charge specialty restaurants and ship spas. Norwegian is also a mass-market brand, not a luxury cruise operator. Still, as we'll explain below, it offers a wide range of accommodations, some of which fall squarely in the luxury segment.
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Unlike other cruise ships, Norwegian Getaway Bermuda sailings more often than not combine days on the pink-sand island with Puerto Rico, the US and British Virgin Islands, St Maarten and Dominican Republic, among other destinations. Norwegian had several available itineraries in our apples-to-apples comparison, looking for a trip in March within the Caribbean and booking about a year in advance. Prices were about average, starting at $599 per person for a 5-day sailing out of Miami to Great Stirrup Cay (NCL's private island) and Cozumel, and going up to $1,319 for a 7-day sailing from Puerto Rico to Barbados, Antigua, and St. Lucia. Interestingly, a 12-day cruise out of Punta Cana and visiting Barbados, Curacao and Aruba was less expensive, with a starting fare of $1,079 per person. At the time of our review, NCL had a promotion in place offering free airfare for the second guest on the booking, which could be a pretty significant savings depending on your departure port. Similarly, we didn’t have much time onboard Norwegian Sun to experience the entertainment.
Norwegian (NCL) Pride of America Cruise Ship Review First-hand Expert Review - Cruise Critic
Norwegian (NCL) Pride of America Cruise Ship Review First-hand Expert Review.
Posted: Wed, 12 Jul 2023 14:54:12 GMT [source]
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Norwegian Sun had a lot of similarities to what I remember from Pride of America onboard the ship. As we made our way onboard, we were greeted by very friendly crew members who offered us cooling towels. It was hot in Malaga on this day and we were wearing our large backpacks, so the cooling towel was just what we needed. Within 10 minutes, we were walking up the gangway to Norwegian Sun. We were immediately impressed with the exterior appearance of the cruise ship, as the paint looked fresh and the ship was in very good condition. My best friend (and fellow CruiseBlog writer) Hayley joined me for this two night sailing onboard Norwegian Sun.
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We listened to one live musician on the pool deck the first day and then attended one of the headliner shows, Cosmopolitan, on the second night. Because we wanted to enjoy our day in Cadiz, we spent our only full day ashore in the city. We also discovered an outdoor buffet that was located not too far from the Garden Cafe that featured classic pool deck food like hamburgers and hot dogs; however, we didn’t have enough time to try this one out. While searching for spring break cruises, I stumbled upon a very cheap, two night sailing onboard Norwegian Sun.
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Check out of fact sheets of Carnival, and Princess Cruise Lines to see what other options are awaiting you. If a spa experience is what you’re after, consider booking a Spa Suite, Mini-Suite, or Balcony Stateroom. These relaxing rooms are located close to the Mandara Spa and include access to the Thermal Spa Suites, sauna, hydrotherapy pools, steam room, and heated loungers. Hayley and I dined both nights in Norwegian Sun’s main dining room - and it honestly left me a little disappointed. As Hayley and I made our way around Norwegian Sun, we both agreed that it was a ‘no-frills’ type of cruise ship.
The best Norwegian Cruise Line ship for every type of traveler
Instead, you can travel with a state-certified birth certificate or other proof of citizenship and a driver's license or other government-issued photo identification. That said, Norwegian strongly recommends that all travelers bring a passport. As is typical for big-ship cruise lines, Norwegian has an extensive children's program, with programs and activities for children as young as 6 months through the age of 17.
More about Norwegian Sun
Encore cabins range from compact solo studios to huge family suites that can sleep up to six. Few lines offer as broad a range of entertainment and activities on their ships as Norwegian. The line's biggest vessels offer multiple entertainment venues, from theaters to comedy clubs; a wide range of deck-top attractions; large casinos; full-service spas; and even virtual reality attractions. You'll also find a seemingly endless array of bars, lounges and nightspots.
Off the ship
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) is one of the top players in large-ship cruising, and its fleet is seeing one of its biggest refits in decades with its new Prima fleet of ships. Norwegian Cruise Line ships are also known for their colorful hull art that makes them stand out in ports around the world. The ship is cashless, so you'll use your room keycard like a charge card to make purchases, which are then charged to your onboard account.
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However, overlaid across most vessels are high-end suites and services that are at a luxury level, and the line draws a good number of luxury-seeking travelers. The line's nine newest ships are big, bustling floating megaresorts that can carry upwards of 3,000 to 4,000 passengers at double occupancy (and even more with every berth filled). At around 143,000 to nearly 170,000 tons, all eight currently rank among the 50 biggest cruise ships in the world (although their rankings will shift downward as more big ships debut). Instead of a few big main restaurants with fixed seating times, Norwegian ships offer a wide range of eateries and no assigned seating times — just make a reservation. For this 12-night cruise, the Free at Sea package included three meals at specialty dining venues. Additional meals were available as an upgrade — $99 for two more, $139 for three more, and $30 more for each additional meal you wanted after that.
All but one Norwegian ship (Pride of America) has a casino, and on the line's bigger vessels, they are huge operations. The casino on Norwegian Encore has more than 300 slot machines and 26 table games (including blackjack, roulette, poker and craps), plus its own bar. Like Royal Caribbean ships, Norwegian vessels have an inordinate amount of teen- and tween-friendly attractions — everything from some of the largest waterslides at sea to the only go-kart tracks on the ocean.
The entryway to each of these ships, for instance, deposits you at the three-story-high Penrose Atrium, which may be the most beautiful atrium of any big ship at sea. It has a curvy, sculptural feel as if the entire space were an art piece. We've seen these private The Haven suite areas on Norwegian ships before but never on this scale.
Known for being a family-friendly cruise line, there are younger families mixed with multigenerational travelers as well as some honeymooners and younger couples. I enjoyed too much good food in the free and specialty restaurants and did not spend nearly enough time in the gym or spa. My shore excursion ticket was in my room when I first got into my cabin, and it told me when to meet in the theater. At the specified time, someone called the number of the tour, and I went to the front of the theater to get a sticker with a group number on it and got off the ship.
There's an abridged version of Q Texas Smokehouse, serving pulled pork sandwiches a la Norwegian Joy, Norwegian Encore and Norwegian Bliss. There's also a food truck that serves small plates similar to what you can order at Bayamo on Norwegian Escape. Norwegian Bliss and Norwegian Encore are virtually carbon copies of each other. They’re both part of Norwegian’s Breakaway Plus class, offer very similar itineraries in Alaska and the Caribbean, and were built one year apart (2018 and 2019, respectively). However, Bliss has a smaller racetrack and a smaller laser tag area, which are two of the biggest hits on Encore.
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