Norwegian Cruise Line

MS Norwegian Sea

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Operator: Norwegian Cruise Line
Year Built / Last Refurbished: 1988
Length / Tonnage: 700 / 42,000
Number of Cabins / Passengers: 710 / 1,504
Officers / Crew: Norwegian / International
Operating Area: year round Western Caribbean cruises from Houston
Telephone / Fax: Tel 110 4601 / Fax 110 4602

Kloster Cruises rode high enough in the mid 1980's to gobble up top-of-the market operator Royal Viking and upper market Royal Cruise Line. For its original brand, 1988 brought the SEAWARD, at just over 44,000 gross tons, one of the biggest kids on the block, a giant of a cruise ship.

A big ship with a big passenger capacity (albeit housed in private quarters never lauded for their proportions), it was everything else about the SEAWARD that brought her the favor of countless thousands of passengers and more than a few travel writers, of whom even the most demanding and persnickety had no problem awarding her rating of four and a half stars. Also making their Kloster debuts that year were the CROWN ODYSSEY and ROYAL VIKING SUN. Royal Cruise Line's CROWN ODYSSEY, a ship designed, laid down, built and decorated by Royal Cruise Line's original owners, is now Norwegian Cruise Line's magnificent NORWEGIAN CROWN - a favorite of passionate cruiser and rational industry observers alike, while the ROYAL VIKING SUN just might be the most overrated ship ever. Now a member of once proud and mighty Cunard's dwindled fleet, who knows what the next few years have in store for her...But when she came out around Christmastime in 1988, the RV SUN instantly relegated RVL's original trio to the second rank among "luxury" cruise ships.

The whole cruise industry was on the move at that time and everyone who could afford them started to order new cruise ships. Kloster put naval architects and designers to work on a pair or a trio of new ships for the group's tony Royal Viking Line division. They were still at work on the plans for these ships when it was decided that competitors new ships in the middle and mass market required NCL to introduce new tonnage or risk losing its competitive position in the 7 night cruise trade. What luck for NCL's crowd that turned out to be for it brought the line a pair of great cruise ships...indeed, it's no stretch to call the NORWEGIAN DREAM and her slightly younger twin NORWEGIAN WIND the two most underrated cruise ships in the business...and for that reason we think the NORWEGIAN SEA is worth a serious look by anyone intent on a one week Caribbean cruise from Puerto Rico.

Consider the NORWEGIAN SEA for many reasons, but high up on the list is a very important one for me...NCL doesn't oversell their products...and in a business so rife with oversold goods, with superlatives and snob appeal with words now close to meaningless...that's one MORE thing we love about them! We've been aboard the NORWEGIAN SEA since we sailed in the WINDWARD and NORWAY not too long ago and know how good they are...with only a couple of caveats we can recommend the NORWEGIAN SEA to most intending cruise passengers.

Without going into too many details of corporate history, let's just say that it seems that in the last couple of years NCL has turned the corner and looks like it's here to stay....and all we can say is HURRAY!!! If any cruise line would accept a most improved cruise line award, NCL really deserves it, and our respect and admiration for this friendly company grows and grows! Not only do we like their ships, we like their crews - afloat AND ashore...NCL has without a doubt the most user friendly shoreside staff we know...and we know 'em all...every department we have ever needed has been friendly and supportive...they're always a pleasure to deal with...we can't say that about all the competition. Another thing we LOVE about NCL is something they DON'T do...as their former vice-president Bruce Nierenberg said: "We don't badger passengers for money..." and lemme tell you, few other mass market lines can honestly say that...Thus, we remain enthusiastically supportive of this phoenix of a line.

The NORWEGIAN SEA was designed to be a ship, not to be a hotel to fit into a floating hull...and that's something that makes her work so well for those aboard...the public areas, both indoor and outdoor, are better for it! Walls of glass and a wide range of public rooms and passenger amenities combine to make the NORWEGIAN SEA a good ship for a casual, relaxed cruise in the sunny Caribbean. She has acres of deck space and those twin swimming pools up top just invite you to take a dip...

Like other NCL ships, there's an accent on sports...both active and passive so if you have the energy...throw on some gym shorts and put on a pair of sneakers (tops optional but I'd say wear one...the sun can be FIERCE) and enjoy yourself on the basketball court...then knock back a few tall ones in the Sports Bar...Revel in the space this ship has... We like the lack of any attempt to make the passenger spend money by blocking fore and aft passages with shops...Casinos, boutiques, bars....Yes the ship has all of those things and not only are they centrally located...they are all easy to find...but you can bypass any or all of them and still enjoy the spaciousness of this grand ship...

Kloster is responsible for introducing the first of the new generation of cruise ships from Miami, engendering in the process this American cruise market as you know it today (which is quite unlike that abroad, I must say)...and the ship's designed by Tage Wandborg for Kloster show a certain family resemblance...at least within. Every cruise ship today offers an entertainment complex, generally including a main (usually a show) lounge, main bar, casino and shopping center...going from one end to the other on most ships you can hardly escape these places unless you go all the way topsides and do it outside or wander along a long corridor lined with identical cabin doors...But you can avoid it with no trouble nor sense of detour here...The NORWEGIAN SEA is extremely well laid out and doesn't make you feel like you are here to be squeezed for cash...

The NORWEGIAN SEA offers typical NCL signature entertainments like NCL's trademark Broadway show, a piano bar, an alternative restaurant...We like the NORWEGIAN SEA for the same reasons we love NORWEGIAN WIND...quiet lounges, active lounges, a fast paced casino...that huge sundeck with twin pools...Steiner's has the concession for the beauty salon here, too...and I remind you that no one can cut my thinning hair as well as they can!

NCL menus include what people want to eat and eschew the unusual and the trendy. No pickled rattlesnake here!!! The NORWEGIAN SEA's kitchens are quite competent and unless you insist on the finest of gourmet delights at each and every meal, we expect the ship can please your palate, too. Like some crackpot travel writer once wrote: "Be HONEST now...even if you don't love the food on any given cruise ship...you didn't often go hungry, did you? Come on, now...confess...you didn't have to go out to the supermarket, schlep the groceries home, store 'em..prepare the meals, serve 'em... clean up after 'em...NOPE...so complaining through EVERY bite...you filled up anyway...I know I have!" and I am as correct now as I was when I first wrote those words...expect a lot of food here, much of it quite tasty.

The NORWEGIAN SEA feeds her passengers pretty well and does it in several venues...In two main dining restaurants is assigned seating at each of two sittings. These rooms differ in decor and layout, and I will let you pick your choice...I'll give you a hint about the one I prefer...it looks out through massive windows aft to the world astern.

Breakfasts and lunches bring buffets to the bright, cheery airy Big Apple Cafe...and continental breakfast is available until after 10am, then it's burgers, sandwiches, franks and salads to feed the hungry between noon and 5pm. The food is good, hot and adequate for a tourist on the go. Want something a little dressier? Open for dinner only is the alternative restaurant, the company's signature, Le Bistro. A quiet room located high up in the ship, it's neither too formal, nor at all pretentious. Main draws of a meal in here are these: you can go in for dinner anytime between 6:30 and 10:30PM, select items not on the menu in the other three dining rooms, and you can have a very nice, private dinner party with new friends who might be assigned to the other dining rooms. There's no longer an extra charge to eat in here (though there used to be - $35.00 per head PLUS tip - so it was EASY to spend a "C"-note on dinner for 2 in here")...now for a suggested gratuity of $5.00 per person, you can dine on specialties of the day or select from Le Bistro's main menu. Reservations are accepted but not required. Combining the five or so entrees from Le Bistro with the menus from the main restaurants means that each night you can consider at least 10 different main course choices every day of your trip... Additional gobbling is available at the ice cream parlor, and besides the late night buffet, and through 24 hour room service.

We PROMISE you, you won't go hungry!

The ship has 774 passenger cabins...that's a lot of rooms and they're ALL small. You don't pick this one for her cabins so don't insist on going for the upper grades here. There isn't a private verandah on the NORWEGIAN SEA, so if you insist on one, this is not the ship for you. For the rest of us, if you look to sail in the NORWEGIAN SEA, consider economizing. Her suites are not much to write home about though the added perqs like concierge service make them worth it...otherwise the benefit of location of a high end standard is not outweighed by anything at all so don't spring for the extra bucks if you don't need to... minimum outside space is fine with us...Most outsides feature beds that can be pushed together so you, too, can have more fun in bed, and each room has storage space sufficient for a cruise of 7 to 10 days and all they have televisions, telephones, and of course, private facilities.

The NORWEGIAN SEA embarks passengers every Sunday at Houston Texas for a 7-day Western Caribbean itinerary. Each cruise begins with a daya at sea. and then stops in Cancun, Cozumel and Roatan, Honduras over the next three days. The final two days of the cruise are at sea.

The NORWEGIAN SEA is a good ship for anyone who wants a totally warm weather cruise with an accent on time in port. She offers good value and with it's very active sports program NCL attracts a lot of younger, active people, but since neither the Dive-In program nor Sports Afloat works is in any way obnoxious, no one should feel guilty if snoozing is as active as you want to get...The NORWEGIAN SEA is popular with families and not only will you run into a lot of people from the mainland, quite a few residents of San Juan like her too, so you will sometimes hear Spanish speaking passengers enjoying themselves here, too...The average age on many cruises is 47...(hey that's MY age...no wonder I feel so at home on NCL)...but the ship attracts and welcomes people of all ages from grandparents to newborns. The NORWEGIAN SEA is popular with people of many nationalities but everyone seems to speak English...so you xenophobes can cruise easily!...almost everyone we hear from is very pleased with the ship, the food and the service. We like her.

Can we give you another hint about this line? They have one of the best past passenger programs in the business...Called the Latitudes Club, it provides members with added amenities such as a separate check in desk, (and usually advanced) boarding , a club tour of the galley, a magazine highlighting upcoming cruises and some perky discounts for selected sailings. Yes, of COURSE we're members...anyone who has been on any NCL should inquire for details...and join.

Are there things we don't like about NCL and the NORWEGIAN SEA? Yes, frankly, there are, but they are minor points, indeed...things like small cabins...and like most cruise lines today there are "art auctions" and though we don't much like them....we know that some others do...never mind that we find this cruise ship feature tacky and objectionable.

Otherwise, the NORWEGIAN SEA is one of those ships I so admire...an HONEST, lovely liner......a people pleaser...she's a real ship and we like her for that. We find her typical NCL... incredibly warm with a staff and crew...of very gracious hospitable people...no snobby noses here! She is no floating palace of corporate egotism. The NORWEGIAN SEA is an honest ship with an earnest crew, generally good food and with a spirit of warmth not outlined in some on board training manual. Who would have guessed that a "mass market" cruise line could produce such a feeling of home?