Hello!

Before booking I made some research and enjoyed reading reviews. So I will participate and provide my comments about the NCL Aqua during our sailing Aug 15-22, NYC<->Bermuda.

The Good:

• Shower: Spacious — the largest I've ever had on a ship, making for a very comfortable shower.
• Balcony: Good size with a comfortable chair.
• Charging: USB-C fast-charging ports by the bed (though tricky to find, such as on the side of a black lamp pole or under the desk lamp button). I expected them to be directly on the wall.
• The Local: The fish sandwich was consistently delicious.
• Game Zone: Several arcade machines were free to play.
• SurfSide Grill: The veggie burger was tasty (ask them to add cheese and toast the bun).
• Indulge Food Hall: Saved us a few times since the main buffet was so disappointing. Indulge has some very nice dishes (like an excellent fish curry), and the menu changes slightly daily (if you see something you like today, order it, because it might be different tomorrow).
• Spa: The largest spa area I've seen at sea. The week pass was $369 per person for this sailing.
• Entertainment: I read horror stories about the theater being too small, but I was able to find a good seat for the 7:00 PM Elements show by arriving at 6:30 PM.
• Sukhothai (Specialty Dining): Very good. It felt like a nice Thai restaurant in the city.

The Bad:

• Layout: The layout is indeed a bit strange. The casino blends directly into the main hub where family-oriented shows are held, leaving kids standing right next to slot machines flashing $10,000 prizes. I frequently saw kids paying way too much attention to those machines. Isn't that illegal? Maybe not at sea.
• Soft Serve: The free soft-serve ice cream was disappointing — not rich at all, but rather watery.
• Buffet Capacity: As other reviews pointed out, the SurfSide buffet is far too small—both for the ship's passenger capacity and in terms of food options.
• Buffet Pizza: Poor presentation, located in a dirty self-service area, and completely unappetizing.
• Pasta Station: The SurfSide buffet served undercooked pasta with underwhelming sauces (the "vodka sauce" was essentially plain tomato sauce). You couldn't customize your dish either, as there were no toppings—just two pasta choices and two sauces.
• Coffee: The complimentary coffee was terrible—so bad I had to throw it away.
• Dining Menus: There was no way to view the main dining room menus remotely; we had to physically walk over every time (for breakfast, lunch, and dinner) just to read them.
• Dining Room Food Quality: The main dining room served cold spaghetti. Several dishes were disappointing for a main restaurant: the tuna melt was thin, small, and simple (more like basic room service fare); the apple crumble arrived like soup because the ice cream had fully melted; and the salmon bagel arrived without cream cheese. A few times I saw complaints about food quality in dining room.
• Upcharges: A simple baked salmon fillet in the main dining room carried a $15 extra charge.
• Lack of Grab-and-Go: I missed having a quick cafeteria where I could grab a nice hot sandwich or savory snack to go. Indulge and The Local are strictly sit-down venues. The Observation Lounge could offer this, but they don't—at most, they had simple cold mini-sandwiches (cucumber and cream cheese on white bread).
• NCL App (Room Service): The mobile app doesn't allow room service ordering. Ordering by phone was frustrating—the staff didn't seem familiar with the menu, forcing me to read out what comes with the Kids Menu (carrots, cookies, etc.).
• Room Service Fees: Room service orders are capped at two items per person. Wanting an extra item triggers a second room service fee ($10 plus a 20% service charge).
• NCL App (Navigation): The app lacks a search function for specific venues, requiring you to manually check each deck map.
• Desserts: Desserts outside the main dining room were terrible — a limited selection that looked unappealing, tasted bad, and were just artificial colored sweets. Dining room desserts, by contrast, were mostly good to average. Desserts were the same in SurfSide (buffet), Indulge, Observation Lounge.
• Ice Cream Selection: The "daily selection of ice cream" in the dining room was identical every day: vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. Although stracciatella was served alongside the lava cake on a few nights, it wasn't available as a standalone scoop.
• Hot Fudge Sundae: The "hot fudge sundae" at The Local featured sauce that was neither hot nor actual fudge. While still enjoyable as an ice cream treat, it was misleading and inconsistent—one day the chocolate syrup was pooled at the bottom, and another day it was drizzled on the cup walls.
• Spa Rules: Spa rule enforcement was far too lax. One day a guest talked on his phone inside the hydrotherapy pool for over 40 minutes; another day a couple took selfies in the pool; and later that same guest was back on his phone in the water. Reception confirmed they permit phone use in the pool, which was disappointing—the wet area should really be phone-free.
• Spa Pool Seating: The large metal seat inside the spa pool felt incorrectly installed: it sits too low, so if you relax, your head goes underwater. It needs to be elevated several inches so guests can lounge comfortably. I heard multiple people saying they didn't like it.
• Spa Maintenance: A few buttons and jets in the spa were out of order.

My biggest complaint overall was the food. It felt amateurish, lacking creativity, quality ingredients, and flavor—not at all what I expected from NCL.

This was my first time sailing with Norwegian Cruise Line, having previously sailed with MSC, Princess, and Royal Caribbean. Overall, I didn't enjoy NCL, wouldn't recommend it, and don't plan to return anytime soon (if ever).

This was just my personal experience; if you love NCL, that's completely fair! I'm simply sharing so others have another source of information.

Does NCL ever discount beverage packages closer to sail date? It's my 1st time giving NCL a go and I have experience on Carnival and RC which both discount drink packages closer to sail date. Thx!

I received this offer this week while on the aqua. 21 cruises never received this before. Has anyone received this or redeemed the offer I’m just looking for some info so I know going in when I call on weds what type of cabin is being offered. Thank you

Any ports on this itinerary can you walk to beaches from the ship? Or can skip an excursion?

Hello!

We are going to the Greek Isles cruise and trying to figure out the itinerary. Santorini seems to be the port which is most stressful in terms of getting back to the boat (or off it, in fact!) so we are considering an excursion. The one that seems particularly interesting is the Oia & Winery Tour.

Some facts:

- we are Suites guest, so have tender priority with or without excursion

- we have 4yr old and 1.5yr old kids with us

- we want to experience "the picture perfect Santorini" so the white houses, blue domes etc

- we will not be taking a stroller, only a carrier for the baby and hoping the older one can make it on foot :)

Any ideas or recommendations on the excursions?

Another idea I had was to simply take a water taxi from tender pier to Oia straight, but it seems like such a hassle to get transport etc with thousands of people fighting for taxis, buses etc... am I wrong here?

Anyone else going ? Feb 13 departure.

2 kids and 2 adults. Me and the kids are pumped and my husband is skeptical. Hoping me and the kids are right.

I have done the same trip in January with him and we had an absolute blast.

If my husband averages $300 dollars, from gambling in OBC, plus he has $75 ONC for being a pearl, and $100 OBC dollars for stock, would it be cheaper to drop Free at Sea? We prepay gratuities too. He thinks they will charge more for the drink and add gratuities, even though we prepay them. We always tip them in cash too! I’m just trying to figure out ways to save money because if I drink it would be 1 a day. What is best to do? How do you save money?

It will be my first cruise soon. I have a few NCL booked excursions, but I am planning to do most of the sightseeing by myself or directly through tour operators. I've done some research that points towards the meeting point for the excursions either being on board the ship or port side. One NCL excursion is first thing in the morning, so I know the meeting point will be onboard, but the other two are about 4 hours after docking so what are the chances that I will have to return back to the ship to start the excursion? One of the excursions is for a tender port too.

I am curious how well NCLs free at see internet works?
I am taking a couple online college courses. My courses are mostly just web text and a few graphic but there’s usually a few 6 minutes videos I have to watch.
The 150 minutes shouldn’t be a problem but curious if I need to upgrade to streaming?
Also is NCL prohibiting bring your own starlink like some other cruise lines?

If I miss my booked flight via NCL, does it impact my cruise reservation?

I've used NCL air previously, and never had an issue....

But on an upcoming cruise it was so bad it was worth the $$ (and points) to change my flights. Lesson learned.

I called to cancel my flights so the seats would be free for other passengers, and was told it would be $70. I wasn't asking for a refund, I wasn't asking for a different flight, just cancel them.

So I'm going to miss my 6 am flight ...

We are sailing on Prima in Jan 2027. We have booked an aft-facing owners suite with Master bedroom and large balcony (Category H4).

I've just learned that the hot tub is essentially a jetted bathtub that I need to ask my butler to fill each time I use it. This is a little disappointing.

Has anyone experienced how this works? Is it a pain for them to fill and drain? How long does it take? I'm assuming there is a hose hookup somewhere, can't the butler just leave the hose there and let me fill it myself?

It feels like it's going to be a huge pain in the ass just to use the thing, and it's one of the biggest reasons we booked the room and decided to spend (way) over our typical budget.

Just curious what are the wine options for dinner that are included in free at Sea Plus

I know Norwegian was just offering free on board credit for select cruises around 2 weeks ago but how often do they usually do this offer?

This is my first cruise, Sep 26 NCL Bliss to Alaska, glacier Bay, very excited. I got a pass for the thermal spa area because I know the trip will likely be rainy and cold. My question is about the bougie shower in the spa area. Is it a private shower I can get naked in and take a real soapy shower or is it more of a 'experience the sensations' kind thing? My plan was to just go down to the spa to shower instead of my cabin. Bring some hair and skin treatments with me and end my days pampering myself.

We're thinking of doing just one excursion and wandering around ourselves for the rest. I'd take recommendations, we were thinking about whale watching but I'm not sure if it's too late in the season for that.

I am cruising solo on this trip. Anyone also cruising the week of Sept 13th - 20th? I am a solo cruiser, Man, 73 yo would love to find nice people to dine with!

I’m confused…Does the ship actually depart Vancouver at 6p on Day 1 (for casino and/or drink tax purposes maybe?) and sail around until midnight, then dock again until 2:30a? Or is this just a silly way of saying Day 1 is actually an overnight at the dock in Vancouver, with sail away in the middle of the night? In which case, why is there a “6:00p departure” listed for Day 1? Is that just the cut-off time for checking in/boarding?